一、泛听建议：

　　1、完整听一遍，掌握大意。

　　2、继续听，特别注意关键信息。遇到相似的词，写下来。

　　President Obama _1_ at the 91st annual Christmas Tree Lighting near the White House today. As NPR's Ari Shapiro reports the stars came out to the president linked a story of Jesus to that of Nelson Mandela.

　　今天，奥巴马总统在白宫附近举行的第91届圣诞树点灯仪式上发表讲话。据NPR新闻的阿里·夏皮罗报道，点亮星星后总统将耶酥与纳尔逊·曼德拉的故事联系到一起。

　　One singer after another, _2_ endured the steady rain, 91st, Aretha Franklin, Janelle Monae and Mariah Carey. President Obama struck a more serious tone, _3_ the stories of Jesus and of Nelson Mandela both speak to the power of an individual to alter the course of the world.

　　一众歌手冒雨为第91届点灯仪式献唱，包括艾瑞莎·弗兰克林、加奈儿·梦奈和玛丽亚·凯丽。奥巴马总统用更为严肃的语气表示，耶酥和纳尔逊·曼德拉的故事都说明，个人的力量可以改变世界的进程。

　　"It's a message both _4_ and universal. No matter what God you pray to, or if you pray to none at all, we all have a responsibility to ourselves and to each other to make a difference that is real and lasting."

　　“这是一个永恒又普遍的信息。无论你向哪个神祈祷，或是你根本不进行祈祷，我们都要肩负起对自己和对彼此的责任，产生真正而持久的影响力。”

　　The first family lit the National Christmas Tree after an abbreviated countdown. Obama said, we _5_ start at five, since it's a little wet, we shouldn't start at ten. Ari Shapiro, NPR News, the White House.

　　在倒数之后，第一家庭点亮了国家圣诞树。奥巴马说，因为现在在下雨，我们不要从十开始倒数，就从五开始倒数。NPR新闻，阿里·夏皮罗白宫报道。

　　词汇解析：

　　1、make a difference

　　有…影响；起…作用；

　　eg. Where you live can make such a difference to the way you feel.

　　住在哪里会极大地影响你的感受。

　　eg. What you have told me may make a difference to my own position.

　　你告诉我的一切，可能影响我自己的看法。

　　2、abbreviated

　　adj. 简短的；小型的；服装超短的

　　v. 缩写；节略（abbreviate的过去分词）

　　eg:The creators of the original X-Men abbreviated the title of its sequel to simply X2.

　　第1部《X战警》的创作者们把其续集的片名缩写成简单的《X2》。

　　参考答案：

　　1、spoke 2、bravely 3、saying

　　4、timeless 5、are going to