星火英語2008年6月版五套預(yù)測(cè)第4課
Model Test Four
Part Ⅲ Listening Comprehension
Section A
Directions: In this section,
you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations.
At the end of each conversation,
one or more questions will be asked about what was said.
Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once.
After each question there will be a pause.
During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D),
and decide which is the best answer.
Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2
with a single line through the centre.
Now let’s begin with the eight short conversations.
11. W: Hi, Harry, it's great to see you again.
I heard you've traveled a lot recently.
M: Yeah.In the past three months I traveled to many countries in Africa.
But I really missed the comforts of home.
Now I just want to take a long break!
Q: What will the man possibly do?
12. W: Oh, the heat is unbearable!
Didn't you turn on the air-conditioner?
M: The heat has blown our air-conditioner on the roof!
I've called someone to have it fixed and they're on the way.
Q: What do we learn about the air-conditioner?
13. M: Wow!You haven't gotten a pay raise for how many years now?
W: It's been three years!
The company keeps losing money and they can't afford to give anyone a raise.
Q: What does the woman imply about the raise?
14. W: My new roommate really annoys me.
She always makes loud noises at midnight and won’t listen to my complaints.
M: Why don't you have a heart to heart, friend to friend chat with her?
I believe good communication will help.
Q: What does the man suggest the woman do?
15. W: Well, I'm really tired from packing all of the stuff today.
And it's about time to clock out.
M: I know. Why don’t we just call it a day
and do it first thing tomorrow morning?
Q: What does the man suggest they do?
16. W: Sorry, I overslept.
I hate to be late, but my clock didn't go off this morning.
M: Again? Your clock never works. Perhaps you should buy a new one.
Q: What can we infer from the man’s words?
17. W: Hey, Larry. Wanna meet a few of us for coffee in a little while?
M: Hmm. I would if I weren't so far behind in this reading I'm doing for history.
Q: What will the man most probably do?
18. M: Hi, thanks for your help. I guess I can handle the rest myself.
But just in case, are you going to be around later?
W: I don’t know, but you can always ask Judy.
She’s really good with these kinds of problems.
Q: What does the woman imply?
Now you’ll hear the two long conversations.
Conversation One
W: Good afternoon. This is Jane speaking. How can I help you?
M: Hi, I am calling in regards to a cell phone I bought from you three months ago.
I am afraid I have to complain about the reception signal on it.
I can’t seem to get incoming and outgoing calls
and it always gives me a busy signal.
Do you know what could be the problem?
W: Could you tell me how long it lasted?
I ask that because it will likely tell me
whether the problem is with your equipment or reception.
M: A couple of days ago.
At first I thought it could be the phone’s problem
but then I realized it was probably the receiver signal.
W: Please give me your number and I will check
whether there is any problem on the line.
M: 9988777.
W: Thank you. Please hold on the line and I will get back to you in a minute.
M: Sure.
W: Sorry to keep you waiting, sir.
I have checked your number and everything is fine.
It could be due to our line upgrading
and sometimes it could affect certain mobile numbers.
Our apologies for your inconvenience.
M: How long do I have to wait before the signal becomes normal?
W: Well, another couple of days.
I will give this feedback to our technician
and if the problem still exists after two days,
please give us a call and we will help you to solve it.
M: Oh. But you bet I will phone if I don’t get this fixed soon.
It’s not as if I can do without my cell phone for very long.
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
19. What is the man’s problem?
20. According to the woman, what could be the problem?
21. What will the man most probably do in the future?
Conversation Two
W: Oh, boy, see you at last.
You’re a hard man to find these days.
Where’ve you been all week?
M: Here, there and everywhere but getting nowhere. So, what’s up with you?
W: Well, I have a paper due this coming Monday and I’m wondering
if it’s possible to find someone to work in place of me,
so I can have a free weekend to finish my paper.
I know you’ve got exams a couple of weeks from now,
so I could free up a weekend for you at that time.
M: That’s a tough one.
I promised my friends to visit them this weekend
and they’re really looking forward to seeing me.
Have you checked with Martin? Perhaps he can help you out.
W: Yes, I did.
He can’t do it either since he has an exam next week.
He said he’s behind on his reading
and wants to spend time doing some catching up.
M: That’s too bad. I wish I could help you.
Wait a minute. I have an idea.
I know Greg is looking for some part time job.
Maybe you can ask him for help.
W: Yeah, that’s right.
I almost forgot him.
He mentioned once he could do replacement work anytime,
since he’s taking only one course this semester.
I am praying he will help me
because this professor is really critical about late assignments.
You know how much he knocked down me on my last assignment.
M: Not to worry.
I know Greg has a lot of free time on his hands.
W: Great. Thanks for reminding me about Greg.
I’ll let you know what happens.
M: No problem, I hope you can get your work done on time.
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
22. What are the speakers discussing?
23. Why is the man unable to help the woman?
24. What will be the solution for the woman’s problem?
25. What can be inferred about the professor?
Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages.
At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions.
Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once.
After you hear a question,
you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D).
Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2
with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Time spent in bookshop can be most enjoyable,
whether you are a book lover or merely there to buy a book as a present.
Whatever the person, you can soon become totally unaware of your surroundings.
You soon become absorbed in some books,
and usually it is only much later
that you realize you have spent far too much time there
and must dash off to keep some forgotten appointments —
without buying a book, of course.
This opportunity to escape the realities of everyday life is,
I think, the main attraction of a bookshop.
If it is a good shop,
no assistant will approach you with the inevitable greeting: “Can I help you, sir?”
You needn't buy anything you don't want.
In a good bookshop, an assistant should remain in the background
until you have finished looking through the books.
Then, and only then, are his services necessary.
You have to be careful not to be attracted
by the variety of books in a bookshop.
It is very easy to enter the shop
looking for a book on ancient coins
and to come out carrying a copy of the latest best-selling novel
and perhaps a book about house decoration —
something which had only vaguely interested you up until then.
This volume on the subject, however,
happened to be so well illustrated
and the part of the text you read proved so interesting
that you just had to buy it.
Apart from running up a huge account,
you can waste a great deal of time wandering from section to section.
Booksellers must be both long-suffering and tolerant.
Questions 26 to 29 are based on the passage you have just heard.
26. Why may you be unaware of the time passing by in a bookshop?
27. What is the best way to escape the realities of routine life?
28. What is expected from a good bookshop?
29. What might be the best title of this passage?
Passage Two
Doctors say overweight is a very complex condition.
For an overweight person,
a doctor may advise medical treatment in addition to changes in behavior.
But experts say the most successful weight-loss plans
include a well-balanced diet and exercise.
People who want to avoid weight gain have to balance the amount of calories
they eat with the amount of calories they use.
To lose weight, you can either reduce the amount of calories you take in,
or increase the amount you use, or both.
According to experts, to lose weight,
a person should do an hour of moderate to intensive physical activity
most days of the week.
This could include fast walking, sports or strength training.
One should also follow a carefully calculated eating plan
and take in fewer calories than his or her body uses each day.
One of the most important requests in a diet
may simply be lower consumption of sugars.
But there is also a report suggesting that
only a small minority of people have long-term success with dieting.
The report in the journal American Psychologist
was based on thirty-one studies.
Besides, researchers at the University of California medical school
found that most dieters regained their lost weight within five years.
And often they gained back even more.
People who succeed in keeping their weight off generally are the ones who exercise.
Questions 30 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard.
30. What may doctors advise their overweight patients to do?
31. According to experts,
what should a person do to lose weight besides eating a well-balanced diet?
32. What kind of people will be successful in weight-loss
according to the California University study?
Passage Three
The Bermuda Triangle is a triangular area in the Atlantic Ocean.
Stories go that many people, ships and planes have mysteriously disappeared in this area.
Many theories have been given to explain the extraordinary mystery of these
missing ships and planes. But some people believe that there is no mystery to be solved.
The number of wrecks in this area is not extraordinary,
given its size, location and the amount of traffic it receives.
Many of the ships and planes that have been identified as
having disappeared mysteriously in the Bermuda Triangle were not in the Bermuda Triangle at all.
Investigations to date have not produced scientific evidence of any unusual phenomena
involved in the disappearances. Thus, no explanation is needed.
The real mystery is how the Bermuda Triangle became a mystery at all.
The modern story of the Bermuda began soon after
five Navy planes disappeared on a training mission
during a severe storm in 1945.
The most logical explanation as to
why they disappeared is that lead pilot Taylor’s compass failed.
The trainees’ plane were not equipped with working navigational instruments.
The group was lost and simply ran out of fuel.
No mysterious forces were likely to have been involved
other than the “mysterious” force of gravity on planes with no fuel.
It is true that one of the rescue planes blew up shortly after take-off,
but this was likely due to a faulty gas tank rather than to any mysterious forces.
Questions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
33. What is the legend of the Bermuda Triangle?
34. According to the passage, what is the real mystery of the Bermuda Triangle?
35. What is the possible reason for the training planes’ disappearance in 1945?
Section C
Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times.
When the passage is read for the first time,
you should listen carefully for its general idea.
When the passage is read for the second time,
you are required to fill in the blanks
numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard.
For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information.
For these blanks, you can either use the exact words
you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words.
Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.
Now listen to the passage.
In recent years scientists have discovered that smoking is dangerous to one’s health.
As a result, doctors have made many surveys to find out
the effect of cigarette smoke on the human body.
They have discovered that the most serious effects are hidden.
How does the smoke of cigarettes affect a person’s body?
For one thing it interferes with the basic purpose of breathing.
It prevents oxygen from getting into the blood
by disabling the cells that clean the air in the lungs.
The dirty air in the lung may stimulate the lungs
and this, in turn, causes coughing.
Similarly, smoking cigarettes also affects the heart
because of a drug in cigarettes called nicotine.
Nicotine causes the production of a substance that makes the heart beat faster.
The substance also causes the small blood vessels to become narrower.
When this happens, the heart has to work harder to send blood through the body.
The result is often heart disease.
In addition to affecting the heart, nicotine travels rapidly to the brain.
Within a minute or two after a person inhales smoke from a cigarette,
nicotine is present in the brain.
From the brain nicotine travels to other important organs such as the liver.
In the liver it causes the release of sugar into the blood.
The increase of sugar in the blood makes one feel more energetic
by giving the feeling of a lift. As it is so common and dangerous,
cigarette smoking can be called an infectious disease.
Now the passage will be read again.
In recent years scientists have discovered that smoking is dangerous to one’s health.
As a result, doctors have made many surveys to find out
the effect of cigarette smoke on the human body.
They have discovered that the most serious effects are hidden.
How does the smoke of cigarettes affect a person’s body?
For one thing it interferes with the basic purpose of breathing.
It prevents oxygen from getting into the blood
by disabling the cells that clean the air in the lungs.
The dirty air in the lung may stimulate the lungs and this,
in turn, causes coughing.
Similarly, smoking cigarettes also affects the heart
because of a drug in cigarettes called nicotine.
Nicotine causes the production of a substance that makes the heart beat faster.
The substance also causes the small blood vessels to become narrower.
When this happens, the heart has to work harder to send blood through the body.
The result is often heart disease.
In addition to affecting the heart, nicotine travels rapidly to the brain.
Within a minute or two after a person inhales smoke from a cigarette,
nicotine is present in the brain.
From the brain nicotine travels to other important organs such as the liver.
In the liver it causes the release of sugar into the blood.
The increase of sugar in the blood makes one feel more energetic
by giving the feeling of a lift.
As it is so common and dangerous, cigarette smoking can be called an infectious disease.
Now the passage will be read for the third time.
In recent years scientists have discovered that smoking is dangerous to one’s health.
As a result, doctors have made many surveys to find out
the effect of cigarette smoke on the human body.
They have discovered that the most serious effects are hidden.
How does the smoke of cigarettes affect a person’s body?
For one thing it interferes with the basic purpose of breathing.
It prevents oxygen from getting into the blood
by disabling the cells that clean the air in the lungs.
The dirty air in the lung may stimulate the lungs and this,
in turn, causes coughing.
Similarly, smoking cigarettes also affects the heart
because of a drug in cigarettes called nicotine.
Nicotine causes the production of a substance that makes the heart beat faster.
The substance also causes the small blood vessels to become narrower.
When this happens, the heart has to work harder to send blood through the body.
The result is often heart disease.
In addition to affecting the heart,
nicotine travels rapidly to the brain.
Within a minute or two after a person inhales smoke from a cigarette,
nicotine is present in the brain.
From the brain nicotine travels to other important organs such as the liver.
In the liver it causes the release of sugar into the blood.
The increase of sugar in the blood makes one feel more energetic
by giving the feeling of a lift. As it is so common and dangerous,
cigarette smoking can be called an infectious disease.
This is the end of listening comprehension.
