EST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS (2005) -GRADE EIGHT-PART I LISTENING COMPREHENSION (30 MIN)SECTION A MINI-LECTUREIn this section you will hear a mini-lecture. You willhear the lecture ONCE ONL Y. While listening, takenotes on the important points. Your notes will not bem arked, but you will need them to complete agap-filling task after the mini-lect ure. When thelecture is over, you will be given two minutes to check your no tes, and another ten minutes to complete the gap-filling task on ANSWERSH EET ONE. Use the blank sheet for note-taking.Writing a Research PaperI. Research Papers and Ordinary EssayA. Similarity in (1) __________:e.g. —choosing a topic—asking questions—identifying the audienceB. Difference mainly in terms of (2) ___________1. research papers: printed sources2. ordinary essay: ideas in one's (3) ___________II. Types and Characteristics of Research PapersA. Number of basic types: twoB. Characteristics:1. survey-type paper:—to gather (4) ___________—to quote—to (5) _____________The writer should be (6) ___________.2. argumentative (research) paper:a. The writer should do more, e.g.—to interpret—to question, etc.b. (7) _________varies with the topic, e.g.—to recommend an action, etc.III. How to Choose a Topic for a Research PaperIn choosing a topic, it is important to (8) __________.Question No. 1: your familiarity with the topicQuestion No. 2: Availability of relevant information on the chosen topic Question No. 3: Narrowing the topic down to (9) _________Question No. 4: Asking questions about (10) ___________The questions help us to work out way into the topic and discover its possibilit ies.SECTION B INTERVIEWIn this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer thequestions that follow. Mark the correct answer to each question on your coloured answer sheet.Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10seconds to answer each of the following five questions.Now li sten to the interview.1. What is the purpose of Professor McKay's report?A. To look into the mental health of old people.B. To explain why people have negative views on old age.C. To help correct some false beliefs about old age.D. To identify the various problems of old age2. Which of the following is NOT Professor McKay's view?A. People change in old age a lot more than at the age of 21.B. There are as many sick people in old age as in middle age.C. We should not expect more physical illness among old people.D. We should not expect to find old people unattractive as a group.3. According to Professor McKay's report,A. family love is gradually disappearing.B. it is hard to comment on family feeling.C. more children are indifferent to their parents.D. family love remains as strong as ever.4. Professor McKay is ________ towards the tendency of more parents living apart from theirchildren.A. negativeB. positiveC. ambiguousD. neutral5. The only popular belief that Professor McKay is unable to provide evidence against isA. old-age sickness.B. loose family ties.C. poor mental abilities.D. difficulities in maths.SECTION C NEWS BROADCASTIn this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer thequestions that follow. Mark the correct answer to each question on your coloured answer sheet.Question 6 is based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10seconds to answer the question. Now listen to the news.6. Scientists in Brazil have used frog skin toA. eliminate bacteria.B. treat burns.C. Speed up recovery.D. reduce treatment cost.Question 7 is based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10seconds to answer the question. Now listen to the news.7. What is NOT a feature of the new karaoke machine?A. It is featured by high technology.B. It allows you to imitate famous singers.C. It can automatically alter the tempo and tone of a song.D. It can be placed in specially designed theme rooms.Question 8 is based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 10seconds to answer the question. Now listen to the news.8. China's Internet users had reached _________ by the end of June.A. 68 millionB. 8.9 millionC. 10 millionD. 1.5 millionQuestion 9 and 10 are based on the following news. At the end of the news it em, you will begiven 20 seconds to answer the question. Now listen to the ne ws.9. According to the WTO, Chinese exports rose _________ last year.A. 21%B. 10%C. 22%D. 4.7310. According to the news, which trading nation in the top 10 has reported a5 per cent fall inexports?A. The UK.B. The US.C. Japan.D. Germany.Part 1, Listening ComprehensionSection A, Mini-LectureI think as seniors, you are often required by yourinstructors to do some librar y research on this topicor that. And, in the end, you have to write aresearch p aper, right? Then what is writing aresearch paper like? How are we going to w rite one?What are the steps in producing a research paper and what are the p oints we need to take careof? In today’s lecture, I’ll try to answer these questi ons.First of all, what is writing a research paper like? We may start by comparing i t to an ordinaryessay, a form of writing you are very familiar with. Writing a r esearch paper is much like writingan essay. Both kinds of writing involve ma ny of the same basic steps. That is, choosing atopic, asking questions to defi ne and develop the topic, identifying the audience, getting rawmaterial to wor k with, outlining the paper, writing it, and, finally, revising it. These are the st epsshared between research paper writing and essay writing.Is there any difference, you may ask. Yes. What makes a research paper diffe rent is that muchof your raw material comes not from your own head, but from printed sources: mainly booksand periodicals in the library. Collecting raw material, that is reading books and taking notes, isvery much like the process of brainstorming at the prewriting stage of an ordinary essay.Generally speaking, there are two basic types of research papers, and a paper may belong toeither type. It may be a survey of facts and opinions availabl e on a given topic or an analytical argument that uses those facts and opinio ns to prove a point. Your instructor maytell you which kind of paper you are e xpected to write. If not, you yourself should eventually choose between surv eying and arguing. You will then have a definite way of managing yoursource s.Now, let’s take a look at how you are going to write a survey-type research p aper or an argumentative research paper. In a survey-type research paper, you gather facts and a variety of opinions on a given topic. You make little at tempt to interpret or evaluate whatyour sources say or to prove a particul ar point. Instead, through quotation, summary, and paraphrase, you try to provide a representative sampling of facts and opinions to give an objecti ve report on your topic. You explain the pros and cons of various attitudes or opinions,but you don’t side definitely with any one of them.While in an argumentative research paper, you do considerably more. You d o not simply quote, paraphrase, and summarize as you do in a survey-typ e paper. You interpret,question, compare, and judge the statements you cite . You explain why one opinion is soundand another is not; why one fact is rel evant and another is not; why one writer is correct andanother is mistaken. What’s more, your purpose may vary with your topic. You may try toexplain a situation to recommend a course of action, to reveal the solution to a pro blem, orto present and defend a particular interpretation of a historical ev ent or a work of art. Butwhether the topic is space travel or trends in contem porary American literature, an argumentative research paper deals actively – I say it again, actively – with the statements itcites. It makes these stateme nts work together in an argument that you create, that is, to anargument lea ding to a conclusion of your own.In the next part of the lecture, I’d like to talk about one of the basic steps in writing Imentioned earlier in the lecture. That is how to choose a topic. Choos ing a topic for a researchpaper is in some ways like choosing a topic for an ordinary essay, but there are somedifferences. As you think about your topic, as k yourself these questions:Question number one: Do you really want to know more about this topic? This is the initial question you have to ask yourself, because research on any subj ect will keep you busy forweeks. You certainly do not wish to waste your time on something you have little interest in.You do it well only if you expect to lea rn something interesting or important in the process.Question number tw Are you likely to find many sources of information on this topic? Youcannot write a research paper without consulting a variety of sour ces. If only one source ornone at all is readily available, you should rethink your topic or choose another.Question number three: Can you cut the topic down to a manageable size? Be reasonable and realistic about what you can do in a short period, say, tw o to four weeks. If your topic is“The American Revolution”,you’ll scarcely hav e time to make a list of books on your subject, letalone read and analyze the m. So try to find something specific, such as “The Role of ThomasJefferson i n the American Revolution” or “The Franco-American Alliance”Question number four: What questions can you ask about the topic itself? Qu estions help youget the topic down to a manageable size, discover its possibi lities, and find the goal of yourresearch, that is, the specific problem you wa nt to investigate. Suppose you want to writeabout the issue of financing a college education – A topic not only current, but also directlylinked to the liv es of most college students and their families. You could ask at least two orthr ee pointed questions: How much does educational opportunity depend on fin ancial status?Is financial aid going to the students who need it most? How m uch should universities andcolleges charge their students? You can ask yourse lf these questions or more as you start workon the research paper.Okay. To sum up, in today’s lecture, we’ve looked at some of the issues in res earch paperwriting, like the basic steps, types of research paper, and how to c hoose a topic. In our nextlecture, we’ll concentrate on how to identify the a udience, how to work out an outline, andhow to edit the draft.Section B, InterviewM: Today, we’ve Professor McKay on our morning talk show. Good morning, Professor McKay.W: Good morning.M: I’ve heard that you and your team have just completed a report on old ag e.W: T hat’s right.M: Could you tell me what your report is about?W: Well, the report basically looks into the various beliefs that people hold ab out old age andtries to verify them.M: And what do you think your report can achieve?W: We hope that it will somehow help people to change their feelings about ol d age. Theproblem is that far too many of us believe that most old people are poor, lonely, and unhappy.As a result, we tend to find old people, as a grou p, unattractive. And this is very dangerousfor our society.M: But surely we cannot escape the fact that many old people are lonely and many are sick.W: No, we can’t. But we must also remember that the proportion of such pe ople is no greateramong the 60-70 age group than among the 50-60 age gro up.M: In other words, there is no more mental illness, for example, among the 60s-70s thanamong the 50s-60s.W: Right! And why should there be? Why should we expect people to suddenl y change whenthey reach their 60th or 60th birthday any more than they did when they reached their 21st?M: But one would expect there to be more physical illness among old people, surely.W: Why should one expect this? After all, those people who reach the age of 65 or 70 are thestrong among us. The weak die mainly in childhood, then in t heir 40s and 50s. Furthermore, bythe time people reach 60 or 65, they have l earned how to look after themselves. They keepwarm, sleep regular hours, an d eat sensibly. Of course, some old people do suffer fromphysical illnesses, b ut these do not suddenly develop on their 65th birthday. People who arehealthy in middle age tend to be healthy in old age, just as one would expect.M: Do you find that young people these days are not as concerned about the ir parents astheir parents were about theirs?W: We have found nothing that suggests that family feeling is either dying or dead. There donot appear to be large numbers of young people who are tryin g, for example, to have their dearold mother locked up in a mental hospital.M: Don’t many more parents live apart from their married children then used to be the case?W: True, but this is because many more young families can afford to own thei r own homesthese days than ever before. In other words, parents and their m arried children usually live in separate households because they prefer it that way, not because the children refuse to havemum and dad living with them.M: Is this a good thing, do you think?W: I think that it’s an excellent arrangement. We all like to keep part of our l ives private, evenfrom those we love dearly. I certainly don’t think that it’s a s ign of the increased loneliness ofold age.M: Are people’s mental abilities affected by old age?W: Certain changes do take place as we grow older, but this happens through out life. Thesechanges are very gradual and happen at different times with dif ferent people, but, in general, ifyou know a person well in his middle age and have seen how he deals with events andproblems, you will easily recognize him in old age.M: So that someone who enjoys new experiences, travel, education, and so o n in his middleyears will usually continue to do so into old age?W: Exactly. We have carried out some very interesting experiments in which a group of peopleaged 60-70 and a group aged 30-40 had to learn the same th ings. The first thing wediscovered was that the young group tends to be quick er at learning than the old group.However, although the old group took longer to learn, eventually, they performed as well asthe young group. And when we tested the two groups several weeks later, there was again nodifference b etween the two groups.M: That’s very interesting indeed. What else did your experiments show?W: Well, one group of old people agreed to attend evening classes for a year t o study Englishand mathematics. In fact, most of this group became so intere sted in their studies that theycontinued them for another year. Anyway, we di scovered that they did best in the Englishclasses and that most of them steadi ly improved their ability to communicate in both thewritten and the spoken l anguage.M: What about the group who studied mathematics?W: Well, that’s a different story. There seems to be no doubt that people find maths moredifficult as they grow older. Though, why this is so, I cannot say.M: Perhaps pocket calculators will solve this problem.W: I think you’re right. In fact, I’m sure that you are.M: Okay. Time for a commercial. Stay tuned; we’ll be right back.Section C: News ItemsQuestion 6M: Scientists in Brazil claim they’ve come up with a new way of treating burn s. That is, withfrog skin. Researchers say it is cheap and effective. The frog s kin has components that diminish the growth of bacteria, making the wound heal faster and reducing the amount oftime that patient has to stay in hospit al. Researchers said the method had already beensuccessfully used in some h ospitals in Brazil.Question 7W: Once a source of high-pitched business activity, Japan’s karaoke industry has slowed down.Japanese have less to sing about amid sustained economic problems. Karaoke firms are now striving to develop new ideas to attract cos t-conscious karaoke singers. These include a new,high-tech machine that all ows people to sing like famous singers and theme rooms on some ofthe Asia n cartoon figures targeted at younger crowds. The new karaoke machine is b eingdeveloped by a professor from the US Massachusetts Institute of Technolo gy. The machineuses a technology called C-Sound that automatically adjuststhe speed and tone of any songbeing played to match the tempo and key th e singer is using. The tempo can be adjusted manually on conventional kar aoke machines, but the new product is the first machine to do it automaticall y.Question 8M: The China Internet Network Information Center said this week that the nat ion’s online community is expanding at a rapid pace, with 8.9 million users added in the first half of theyear, from January to June. China’s Internet popu lation hit 68 million by the end of June, theworld’s second-largest figure afte r the United States. The figure was 10 million at the end of2000 and 1.5 milli on in 1997.“Cyberspace is a force to be reckoned with in China,” said ChenHua Lin, a sen ior Internet analyst at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Netizens between th eages of 18 and 30 are the driving force. They spend 13 hours every week su rfing the Internet,on average. Their major purpose is obtaining information or having fun. At the same time, only0.2 percent listed online shopping, e-busin ess, and online learning as their main activity. As thenumber of China’s Intern et users grows, so does the junk mail. 8.3 e-mails out of 16参考答案:PART I LISTENING COMPREHENSION (30 MIN)SECTION A MINI-LECTURE1. basic steps2. raw materials3. head4. facts5. explain6. objective7. purpose8. ask questions9. a manageable size 10. the topic itselfSECTION B INTERVIEW1. C2. A3. D4. B5. DSECTION C NEWS BROADCAST6. B7. D8. A9. C 10.。