Section A Short Conversation
[00:02.98]1. M: How is your classmate Lucy,Mary.
[00:07.08]The last time I came to see you.
[00:09.01]you were about to take her to the hospital.
[00:11.44]W: She came home last week
[00:13.40]The operation was very successful.
[00:15.86]The doctor said that she had almost recovered and could go back to college next week.
[00:21.05]Q: What did the woman say about her classmate?
[00:23.75]2. W: Anything new in the papers?
[00:26.57]M:Yes.There's an interesting report about new efficiency in a streamlined unit.
[00:33.33]Then there's a news item about the capture of a gang of smugglers near Guangzhou.
[00:39.55]Oh,and there's an editiorial about cutting down pollution.
[00:43.55]Q: How many pieces of news did the man tell to the woman?
[00:46.71]3. M: This is Charley speaking.
[00:48.93]Could you tell me Mr.Smith's schedule for tomorrow.
[00:51.83]I'd like to met him at his convenience.
[00:54.28]W:Let me see.Well,he'll go to see his mother at 8 and attend a meeting in the morning.
[00:59.95]And,he will be in his office the whole afternoon.
[01:03.22]Q: What does Mr. Smith plan to do at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning?
[01:07.45]4. W: I am ready to go to the railway station
[01:10.69]would you please bring down my suitcase?
[01:13.12]M: It certainly is heavy, are you carrying rocks?
[01:16.33]Q: What did the woman want?
[01:18.05]5. W:Tom,you are interested in table tennis,aren't you?
[01:22.08]Do you know that the finals of the World Table Tennis Tournament will be broadcast live tomorrow?
[01:27.67]M: Really? I do want to watch, but I haven't finished my paper yet.
[01:32.97]Q: What does the man mean?
[01:34.98]6. M: This year's heavy rain fall has caused flooding
[01:38.66]and made it hard to plant new crops in the Yangze River valley.
[01:42.71]Yes,I guess that's why fruits and vegetables are more expensive than last year.
[01:48.28]Q: What is the problem?
[01:49.98]7.I hope you can understand my reasons for deciding to go to another country,Mrs.White.
[01:56.06]W: Do I have to remind you that we have invested a lot of
[01:59.01]time and money in your career here?
[02:01.26]Q: What's the woman's attitude?
[02:03.30]8. M: Maria, I want to rent a house
[02:06.56]do you have any extra money you could lend me?
[02:09.54]W: I wish I could help you.
[02:11.29]I went shopping yesterday.
[02:13.25]Now I have only two dollars till the end of the month.
[02:16.23]Q: Will the man borrow any money from the woman?
[02:18.79]9. M: Do you rent boats here?
[02:21.40]W: Of course,we rent them by the hour or by the day.
[02:25.11]Either way you have to have them back here by six.
[02:28.35]Q: When must the boats be returned?
[02:30.36]10. M:Good morning,madam.What can I do for you?
[02:34.20]W: I'd like an estimate for repairing my emergency brake.
[02:37.70]The car rolls when I park it on a hill.
[02:40.42]Q:Where does the conversation most probably take place?
[02:44.28]Sectio B
[02:45.56]Passage One
[02:46.77]One of the primary materials used in the construction of buildings and roads is cement
[02:52.80]a powder made primarily from limestone and clad.
[02:56.64]Even though the ancient Egyptians and Romans used a kind of cement,it was not until 1824 that an English bricklayer develope
[03:05.13]a cement strong enough for modern roads and buildings.
[03:08.11]While experimenting in his kitchen
[03:10.33]the bricklayer found that a mixture of limestone and clad
[03:13.54]that had been heated together formed a hard
[03:16.26]stone like chunk as it cooler
[03:18.79]When this substance was ground into a find powder it could be stored indefinitely.
[03:24.90]When the powder was mixed with water
[03:27.15]it made an excellent quality of cement that quickly hardened in sunlight or even under water.
[03:33.13]With only a few variations
[03:35.41]this is how cement is made today.
[03:37.89]11. What is the main topic of the talk?
[03:41.13]12. Who developed the kind of cement that is used today?
[03:44.86]13. What was significant about the new kind of cement?
[03:49.28]Passage Two
[03:50.48]In America, where labor costs are so high
[03:53.72]"do-it-your-self" is a way of life.
[03:55.70]Many people repair their own cars
[03:58.21]build their own garages, even remodel their own houses.
[04:01.95]Soon they many also be writing their own books.
[04:04.98]In Hollywood there is a company that publishes children's books with the aid of computers.
[04:09.76]Although other book companies also publish that way
[04:13.41]this particular company is very unusual.
[04:16.37]It "personalizes" the books by having the computer make the reader the leading character in the story.
[04:22.16]Here is how they do it.
[04:23.37]Let us say your child is named Jenny.
[04:25.87]She lives on Oak Drive in St.Louie
[04:28.62]has a dog named Spot, a cat named Tabby
[04:31.86]and three playmates whose are Betsy,Sandy and Jodo.
[04:36.06]The computer uses this information to fill out a story that has already been prepared and illustrate
[04:41.99]The story is then printed with standard equipment as a hardcover book.
[04:46.35]A child who receives such a book might say
[04:49.28]"This book is about me
[04:51.00]the company therefore calls itself the "Me-books Publishing Company".
[04:56.25]Children like the me-books because they like to see in print their own names
[05:00.49]and the names of their friends and their pets
[05:02.86]But more important
[05:04.35]"Personalization" has been found to be an important tool in developing enthusiasm for reading.
[05:10.33]Me-books are thus helping a child to learn how to read by appealing
[05:14.80]to that natural desire to see his own name in print.
[05:18.54]14. What is the subject of the passage?
[05:21.67]15. What characteristics does the company have?
[05:25.38]16. What's the purpose of the me-books?
[05:29.12]Passage Three
[05:30.89]Every word has its own story.
[05:32.96]So does the word "Yankee".
[05:35.52]Where did the word come from?
[05:37.27]What does it meat?
[05:38.81]And how did it get into the language.
[05:41.00]A number of people believe that the word "Yankee" comes from a Scottish word
[05:45.44]meaning sharp and clever.
[05:47.69]But most experts agree that the word comes from Holland.
[05:50.82]Many years ago the Hollanders who made cheese were called "John Cheese" by the German.
[05:57.15]Then some of these Hollanders came to America in the Early 1600s.
[06:02.11]They settled near the New England colonist.
[06:04.88]The Hollanders were great farmers and they laughed at the colonist
[06:08.38]in the north who tried to build farms in the mountain rock
[06:12.14]And so the Hollanders gave their own nickname "John Cheese" to the New England colonist
[06:18.02]In Dutch "John Cheese" was spelt J-A-N-J-E-E-S and pronounced "Yankees".
[06:27.47]During the American Civil War
[06:29.83]that name "Yankee" took on a wider meaning.
[06:32.83]The soldiers in the northern state
[06:34.55]were called "Yankees" by the men of the southern army.
[06:37.51]During World War I
[06:39.31]the nickname "Yankee" spread to Europa.
[06:41.79]The word "yankee" was shortened to "Yank"
[06:44.56]and the words "The Yanks are coming" brought tears and job
[06:48.40]to the people of the Allied Nation
[06:50.38]Today,the word "Yankee" is known throughout the world as another name for an American.
[06:55.69]17.What did the speaker tell us?
[06:55.69]18.According to most experts, where did the word come from?
[07:00.15]19.What did the word "Yankees" refer to during the American Civil War?
[07:06.27]20.What does the word "Yankee" mean today |