英语四级听力练习集锦12

In February last year, my wife lost her job. Just as suddenly, the owner of the greenhouse¹ where I worked as manager died of a heart attack.

His family announced that they were going to close the business because no one in the family wanted to run it. Things looked pretty gloomy². My wife and I read the want-ads each day. Then one morning, as I was hanging out "Going out of Business" sign at the greenhouse, the door opened and in walked a customer.

She was an office manager whose company has just moved into the new office park on the edge of town. She was looking for petite plants to place in the reception areas and offices. "I don't know anything about plants," she said. "I'm sure in a few weeks they'll all be dead." Why was I helping³ her select her purchases? My mind was racing⁴.

Perhaps as many as a dozen firms have recently opened offices in the new office park, and there were several hundred more acres with construction under way. That afternoon, I drove out to the office park. By six o'clock that evening I had signed contracts with seven companies to rent plants from me and pay me a fee to maintain⁵ them.

Within a week, I had worked out an agreement to lease⁶ the greenhouse from the owner's family. Business is now increasing rapidly.

And one day, we hope to be the proud owners of the greenhouse.

32．What do we learn about the greenhouse?

（It is a place where we can buy plants.）

33. What was the speaker doing when the customer walked in one morning?

（He just finish making a phone call.）

34What did the speaker think of when serving the office manager?

（He does not know for sure why he helps her）

35. What was the speaker's hope for the future?

（He hopes to be the proud owner of the green house.）

1 greenhouse   

n.花房，温室，玻璃暖房

参考例句：

• Behind the green house was a greenhouse.在那所绿房子后面是一个花房。
• The tomatoes were grown in the greenhouse.这些西红柿是在温室栽培的。

2 gloomy   

adj.阴暗的，阴沉的，令人沮丧的，阴郁的

参考例句：

• A few faint gleams of sunshine lit up the gloomy afternoon.几束隐约的阳光使阴暗的下午有些明亮。
• When I saw their gloomy faces,I knew something was wrong.当我看到他们沮丧的脸时，我知道出事了。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

5 maintain   

vt.支撑；赡养，抚养；维持，保有

参考例句：

• He has to maintain a large family on a small salary.他不得不依靠很少的工资养活一家人。
• We must do our best to maintain sales at their usual rate.我们要尽力使销售额保持在平日的水平上。

6 lease   

n.租约，租期，租；v.出租，租出，租得

参考例句：

• When does the lease of the house run out?这房子的租约何时到期？
• He signed the lease yesterday.昨天他在租约上签了字。