Listen carefully to the conversations and short passages
[00:07.99]and choose the best answer to each of the questions.
[00:13.56]1.M: The main library is open from eight A. M. Until nine P.M.
[00:20.51]Monday through Friday; noon until six P.M. Saturday and Sunday;
[00:27.27]and twenty-four hours a day during finals week.
[00:32.84]This is a recording and will not repeat.
[00:37.38]If you need further assistance,
[00:41.64]please stay on the line until an operator answers.
[00:47.20]W:Hello.This is the operator.May I help you?
[00:53.08]Q: When is the library open on weekdays?
[00:58.96]2.W: Please turn the television down .
[01:04.71]I can't understand anything my friend is saying on the phone.
[01:10.97]M: Hurry up and finish your call.
[01:15.23]I don’t like standing so close. The light hurts my eyes.
[01:21.16]Q: Why is the woman upset?
[01:27.20]3.M:I heard your boss was really upset when he read your letter of resignation.
[01:37.04]W: Understandably.
[01:40.88]I told him what I really thought about his inept administration
[01:47.36]and his stupid decisions.
[01:51.73]Q: What did the woman mean?
[01:56.69]4.W:We have several kinds of accounts,Mr.Brown.
[02:05.36]The best interest rate is for the customer club account,
[02:11.00]but you must maintain a monthly balance of $ 300.
[02:17.48]M: That will be fine.
[02:21.01]Q: Where did this conversation most probably take place?
[02:28.06]n5. M: That must have been quite an experience.
[02:36.13]W: You’re right! It’s lucky my daughter was still awake, studying.
[02:42.48] Her screaming woke us all up. The house was already in flames by then.
[02:49.74]Q: What is the woman talking about?
[02:55.02]6. W: Hi, Bob. This is Marcia speaking from the agency.
[03:04.97]Can you go on an interview tomorrow?
[03:09.44]I have a law office that’s very interested in you.
[03:14.90]M:No,I'm sorry,Marcia,
[03:18.95]but I've planned to be at school all day tomorrow.
[03:23.99]How would Wednesday suit you?
[03:27.93]Q: What is Marcia's job?
[03:32.61]7.M:Ontario and upper New York State have lots of orchards,don't they?
[03:40.26]W:Yes,many types of fruit grow near the Great Lakes
[03:46.51]because of the northern climates.
[03:50.66]Q: According to the woman,why does fruit grow in Ontario and New York?
[03:58.42]8.W:I just bought this fake-fur coat at a sale.
[04:04.87]I paid only $ 240 for it. How do you like it?
[04:11.85]M:It's very nice,but my wife bought the same thing for half the price.
[04:18.40]Q: How much did the man’s wife pay for her coat?
[04:25.46]9.M:How long will the interview last?
[04:33.01]I have an appointment at 1:00.
[04:37.16]W: Mr.Jordan is a brief man,
[04:42.02]so it's safe to say you'll be out of here no later than 12:30.
[04:48.57]Q: Why is the man concerned about the length of the interview?
[04:55.03]10.W: I thought you threw the money by mistake.
[05:03.20]Oh,no,you are supposed to shower the musicians With money
[05:09.16]to show you liked the music.
[05:13.70]Q: Why did the man throw money toward the musicians?
[05:19.76]PASSAGEⅠ
[05:24.52]There have been many great inventions,things that change the way we live.
[05:32.09]The first great invention was one that is stillvery important today-the wheel.
[05:40.45]This made it easier to carry heavy things and to travel long distances.
[05:47.59]For hundreds of years after that
[05:52.42] there were few inventions that had as much effect as the wheel.
[05:58.87]Then in the early 1800’s the world started to change.
[06:06.03]There was little unknown land left in the world.
[06:11.77]People did not have to explore much any more.
[06:17.03]They began to work instead to make life better.
[06:22.59]In the second half of the 19th century many great inventions were made.
[06:30.16]Among them were the camera,the electric light and the radio.
[06:37.01]These all became a big part of our life today.
[06:42.68]The first part of the 20th century saw more great inventions.
[06:49.13]The helicopter in 1909. Movies with sound in 1926.
[06:57.20]The computer in 1928. And jet planes in 1930.
[07:04.65]This was also a time a new material was first made.Nylon came out in 1935.
[07:14.39]It changed the kind of clothes people wear.
[07:19.95]The middle part of the 20th century brought new ways to help get over diseases.
[07:27.22]They worked very well.
[07:31.16]They made people healthier and let them live longer lives.
[07:37.64]By the 1960's most people could expect to live to be at least 60.
[07:45.79]By this time most people had a very good life.
[07:52.27]Of course new inventions continued to be made.
[07:57.91]But man now had a desire to explore again.
[08:03.55]The world was known to man but the stars were not,
[08:09.40]man began looking for ways to go into space.
[08:15.07]Russia made the first step. Then the United States took a step.
[08:21.92]Since then other countries,
[08:26.67]including China and Japan,have made their steps into space.
[08:32.84]In 1959 man took his biggest step away from earth.
[08:40.10] Americans first walked on the moon.
[08:45.14]This is certainly just a beginning though.
[08:49.89]New inventions will someday allow us to do things we have never yet dreamed of.
[08:57.05]Questions 11 to 13 are based on the passage you have just heard.
[09:04.42]11.When did people stop exploring a lot?
[09:10.19]12.Which was an important invention in the 19th century?
[09:19.26]13.What made people healthier and let them live longer lives in the middle part of the 20th century?
[09:31.01]PASSAGE Ⅱ
[09:36.18]The living conditions for the poor and for immigrants in New York City
[09:42.84] during the late nineteenth century were truly wretched.
[09:48.49]Over one and a half million poor people lived in tenements,
[09:55.04]a form of barracks-like buildings that could house some five hundred people
[10:02.62]in a structure lacking heat and plumbing.
[10:11.27]tenement life degrading and often fatal.
[10:15.94]But almost as shocking as the city-conditioned horror of the tenements
[10:23.31] was the governments’
[10:28.87]Real estate development was uncontrolled,
[10:34.04]resulting in factories,stores,and residences springing up randomly
[10:41.31] without consideration to zoning or building codes.
[10:47.55]Pollution of waterways was unrestricted,streets were poorly paved,
[10:54.99]lighting was inadequate,and sewage disposal was insufficient.
[11:01.66]Some of the poor housing can be blamed on New York's rapid population growth.
[11:09.02]But most of the wretched living conditions in the city
[11:14.59]must be attributed to the corrupt city government
[11:19.84] of the late nineteenth century.
[11:24.59]Questions 14 to 16 are based on the passage you have just heard.
[11:31.15]14.Who suffered most from poor housing conditions in New York City?
[11:39.01]15.Why were factories, stores, and residences
[11:45.67] built with little consideration to zoning or building codes?
[11:51.31]16.Who or what was responsible for most of these poor living conditions?
[12:01.45]PASSAGE Ⅲ
[12:07.33]The first postal service in North America
[12:12.97]began in New England in the 17th century.
[12:18.14]All mail arriving in Massachusetts colony
[12:23.71]was sent to the home of an appointed official in Boston.
[12:29.06]In turn,he would deliver the mail from Boston on horseback
[12:35.72]to its destination,
[12:39.48]receiving one penny for each good article of mail.
[12:45.13]Later in the century,
[12:49.07]postal services were established between Philadelphia and Delaware.
[12:55.24]In 1691,the British Crown appointed the first postmaster general
[13:02.89]to have charge of the mail for all the colonies in North America.
[13:09.13]Later,Benjamin Franklin served as the postmaster general
[13:15.40]for the British government
[13:18.85]and then was made postmaster by the newly formed United States government.
[13:26.79]Franklin was responsible for establishing
[13:31.62]the United States postal system on a permanent basis.
[13:37.27]He increased the number of post offices,
[13:42.13]introduced the use of stagecoaches to carry mail,
[13:47.40]and started a package service system.
[13:52.13]Later,in the nineteenth century,as railroad and steam boats appeared,
[13:58.90]they were used to carry mail into the towns.
[14:04.04]Some communities, especially those out west,
[14:09.82]were far from the services of transportation.
[14:14.54]To serve them,the post office developed a system called "star routes".
[14:21.99]Private contractors paid to the deliver mail to the communities from railways by horse and wagon.
[14:29.93]The postal service,which was started over 3 centuries ago,
[14:36.59]has developed into an extensive government service
[14:42.36]with post offices in every city,town,and village in the United States.
[14:49.91]Questions 17 to 20 are based on the passage you have just heard.
[14:56.47]17.Who appointed the first postmaster general for all of North America?
[15:05.01]18.For what does Benjamin Franklin deserve credit?
[15:12.46]19.Why were "star routes" started by the post office?
[15:20.71]20.What eventually happened to the postal service? |