大学英语四级考试巅峰听力MP3与字幕文本下载 Track 15

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[00:00.97]Passage One

[00:03.20]It is an old joke that Americans are soon

[00:07.13]going to lose the use of their legs.

[00:10.09]But it is true that

[00:11.62]few Americans will walk anywhere if they can help it,

[00:16.32]either for practical purposes or for pleasure.

[00:19.71]You can do your banking¹ from your car,

[00:23.10]without leaving the driving seat.

[00:25.52]You can mail your letters in postboxes

[00:28.79]that reach the level of your car window.

[00:31.64]You can watch a film from your car in a drive-in theater.

[00:36.57]At many stores you can be served in your car.

[00:41.27]At countless² restaurants waitresses

[00:44.33]will hitch³ trays to the car door,

[00:46.63]so that you can eat without moving.

[00:49.69]In Florida there is even a drive-in church.

[00:53.85]And in California a funeral home

[00:57.46]has drive-in service for people

[01:00.41]who wish to purchase gravestones and caskets ahead of time.

[01:06.11]Questions 1 to 3 are based on the passage you have just heard.

[01:12.89]1. What is the passage mainly about?

[01:33.68]2. How do Americans do their banking?

[01:54.25]3. What is the tone of the passage?

[02:15.49]Passage Two

[02:19.38]Social life in America

[02:21.57]varies tremendously from office to office.

[02:25.40]Big corporations may have clubs,

[02:28.35]sports teams, trips, dance classes,

[02:32.07]or other employee activities

[02:34.36]which you can join or not as you like,

[02:37.21]while small companies usually can't afford these activities.

[02:41.59]In general, people go to lunch with each other by invitation

[02:46.52]when they feel like it.

[02:48.16]Usually people of higher rank would invite those of lower rank

[02:52.97]rather than the other way around,

[02:55.16]but lines are not closely drawn⁴.

[02:58.17]Except for special occassions,

[03:00.28]everyone pays for himself or herself

[03:03.56]regardless of whether or not an invitation is offered.

[03:07.50]It is quite acceptable for men or women colleagues,

[03:11.76]single or married, to go out together for lunch.

[03:15.05]This may be the extent to which

[03:17.47]your office friends will invite you.

[03:19.44]Although in general Americans readily take people home with them,

[03:23.70]they often do not want to mix business and social life.

[03:27.53]If this is the case in your place of work,

[03:30.27]you will have to seek your friendships through other channels.

[03:34.78]Questions 4 to 6 are based on the passage you have just heard.

[03:41.23]4.How does social life differ from office to office in America?

[04:03.34]5.Who usually pays for the food

[04:08.04]when your office friends invite you to lunch together?

[04:26.20]6.If your colleagues do not want to mix business and social life,

[04:32.76]what should you do in order to get friendships?

[04:52.29]Passage Three

[04:55.05]Every one, young or old,

[04:57.58]feels a special interest in his own name,

[05:00.75]when and how it was created

[05:04.03]and the changes it has undergone through the centuries.

[05:08.29]For a long time,

[05:10.16]people were known only by their personal or given names.

[05:14.97]The family name came into use gradually as the need arose.

[05:21.21]The most common way

[05:23.29]by which given names developed into family names

[05:26.80]was by combining the word “son”

[05:29.75]with the name of the parents,

[05:32.26]to form a compound name:

[05:34.89]such as Williamson, Robertson, Richardson.

[05:40.80]Often “son” was shortened to “s”

[05:45.51]as in Williams, Roberts, Richards.

[05:50.87]Occupational names are especially interesting

[05:55.36]for at first they were not inherited

[05:58.52]but were given to persons mentioned

[06:01.59]by reasons of their respective jobs.

[06:05.09]Most names in this class explain themselves:

[06:09.91]such as Smith, Miller⁵, Shepherd and Bishop⁶.

[06:17.78]Questions 7 to 9 are based on the passage you have just heard.

[06:24.57]7. What is the passage about?

[06:45.36]8. How were people first known?

[07:05.59]9. How did the name “Williamson” develop into “Williams”?

1 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

2 countless   

adj.无数的，多得不计其数的

参考例句：

• In the war countless innocent people lost their lives.在这场战争中无数无辜的人丧失了性命。
• I've told you countless times.我已经告诉你无数遍了。

3 hitch   

v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉

参考例句：

• They had an eighty-mile journey and decided to hitch hike.他们要走80英里的路程，最后决定搭便车。
• All the candidates are able to answer the questions without any hitch.所有报考者都能对答如流。

4 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

5 miller   

n.磨坊主

参考例句：

• Every miller draws water to his own mill.磨坊主都往自己磨里注水。
• The skilful miller killed millions of lions with his ski.技术娴熟的磨坊主用雪橇杀死了上百万头狮子。

6 bishop   

n.主教，（国际象棋）象

参考例句：

• He was a bishop who was held in reverence by all.他是一位被大家都尊敬的主教。
• Two years after his death the bishop was canonised.主教逝世两年后被正式封为圣者。