英语四级听力练习集锦5

Hey, Karen, you are not really reading it, are you?

Pardon?

The book! You haven't turned the page in the last ten minutes.

No, Jim, I suppose I haven't.I need to get through although, but I keep drifting¹ away.

So it doesn't really hold your interest?

No, not really. I wouldn't bother with it, to be honest, but I have to read it for a seminar². I'm at the university.

It's a labor³ of labor then rather than a labor of love.

I should say, I don't like Dickens at all really, the author, indeed,I am starting to like the whole course less and less.

It's not just the book, it's the course as well?

Yeah, in a way, although the course itself isn't really that bad, a lot of it is pretty good, in fact, and the lecturers are fine. It's me, I suppose. You see, I wanted to do philosophy rather than English,but my parents took me out of it.

So the course is OK as such. It's just that hadn't been left to you. You would have chosen a different one.

Oh, they had my best interest at heart, of course, my parents. They always do, don't they? They believe that my job prospects⁴ would be pretty limited with the degree of philosophy. Plus they give me really a generous

allowance⁵, but I am beginning to feel that I'm wasting my time and their money.They would be so disappointed though if I told them I was quitting.

1 drifting   

a.弥漫的

参考例句：

• Some people enjoy that kind of life, drifting from pillar to post. 有些人喜欢这种生活，到处漂泊游荡。
• The ship was found after drifting on the ocean for six months. 那条船在海上漂流了6个月后找到了。

2 seminar   

n.研究小组，研讨会，(大学的)研究班

参考例句：

• The seminar aims to provide an overview on new media publishing.研讨会旨在综览新兴的媒体出版。
• The seminar was to discuss diversification of agriculture.该研讨会讨论的是农业多种经营。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

5 allowance   

n.津贴，补贴，零用钱

参考例句：

• My monthly allowance is 50 yuan.我每月的津贴是50元。
• I have to work to earn my allowance.我非得工作挣零用钱。