[00:00.00]Questions 15-18 are based on the following News Report.
[00:31.40]You now have 20 seconds to read Questions 15-18.
[00:38.16]W:In the twentieth century numerous new nations have been formed.
[00:46.21]Though their peoples often enjoy
[00:50.26]full political liberty,there exist at
[00:54.33]the same time a great many strange practices.
[00:58.91]Native populations may be free to vote
[01:03.56]to elect whom they please to govern them,but popular prejudices,
[01:09.51]unusual and harmful customs take a long time to die out.
[01:15.99]However,now that people are better educated,they need not
[01:21.03]suffer in silence,for they are able to express their views.
[01:26.39]With the spread of civilization,improved living conditions,
[01:31.95]cheapness of radio sets,books and newspapers,
[01:37.10]most people are fairly well informed.
[01:41.36]In this way many unpleasant customs disappear rapidly.
[01:47.23]There was a good example of this recently in a newly formed republic
[01:53.48]when a girl of fourteen refused to marry a sixty-year-old man
[01:59.64]who had 'bought' her for `40.
[02:04.29]Her father had agreed to the marriage when the girl was only 4 years old
[02:10.17]and had 'sold' her to a man who already had at least six wives.
[02:16.72]Just before the marriage ceremony,
[02:20.98]the girl ran away and wrote to the president of the republic.
[02:26.86]In her letter she pointed out
[02:30.70]that although her country was independent,
[02:34.85]its people were still not truly free.
[02:39.82]Some human beings were like slaves,she said,
[02:45.09]and woman could be bought and sold like cattle.
[02:50.34]She asked the president if he felt that this was right.
[02:55.99]This letter caused the President a great deal of
[03:01.13]concern and he immediately changed the cruel law
[03:06.38]which permitted women to be bought and sold.
[03:10.75]The girl had won a considerable victory
[03:15.47]but she still had a big problem.
[03:19.44]She had to find `40 to repay the man who might
[03:25.19]have become her husband.
[03:28.54]There seemed to be no way of raising so much money.
[03:34.10]Fortunately,however,
[03:37.97]the girl's story was broadcast on a radio programme in Europe
[03:43.43]and nearly `2,000 poured in from listeners.
[03:49.59]The buyer got his money back
[03:53.35]and girl was free to marry anyone she chose.
[03:58.39]She had won true freedom for herself and for others like her.
[04:05.05]Questions 19-20 are based on the following discussion on
[04:10.80]Doing Business in China.
[04:14.28]You now have 15 seconds to read Questions 19-20.
[04:20.44]W:Mr.Lodge...
[04:24.80]what is the most important thing that anybody coming to
[04:29.56]do business in China for the first time should remember
[04:34.42]M:Well...I think most important for the western
[04:39.28]businessman is the need to realize that doing business in China or...
[04:45.54]especially at first,takes time and requires patience.
[04:51.50]W:Erh...could you expand on that a little...what takes time?
[04:57.14]M:Well,in China doing business depends on
[05:01.58]building up and maintaining relationships...
[05:06.02]erm...It is therefore necessary to be
[05:10.67]willing to spend time establishing these relationships.
[05:16.13]Once you are regarded as a friend,doing business becomes much much easier
[05:22.59]...but the newcomer to China must be patient
[05:26.84]and tolerant of the slow way in which business negotiations often begin.
[05:33.04]Hurrying matters along is not productive in the long term
[05:37.76]and threatening is even less helpful.
[05:42.00]W:Ah...so you're saying that initial patience and friendliness
[05:47.56]pays off in the long run...is that right?
[05:52.10]M:Absolutely right...
[05:55.27]er...once a relationship has been established...er
[06:00.91]...then business negotiations become much easier.
[06:06.05]W:Er...right...well...perhaps you could next
[06:11.10]say something about business negotiations.
[06:15.46]Do you have any 'Dos' or 'Don'ts' to offer the listeners?
[06:21.34]M:Mmmm...yes...first of all,'this seems obvious but is important,
[06:28.70]you need to get the full name of whoever you're negotiating with.
[06:34.16]There are a relatively small number of very common surnames in China
[06:39.93]and so merely finding out that you're talking to Mr.Wang,Mr.Zhang,or Mr.Chen
[06:46.88]will not help you to pinpoint the same person later,
[06:51.95]since in any reasonable sized
[06:55.61]company there're likely to be several people with the same family name.
[07:01.17]W:That is the end of Part C.
[07:05.01]W:Model Test (5) Section I Listening Comprehension
[07:10.68]Part A Directions:
[07:14.23]For Questions 1-5,you'll hear an introduction about the life of Spike Lee.
[07:20.76]While you listen,fill out the table with the information you've heard.
[07:25.81]Some of the information has been given to you in the table.
[07:30.85]Write only 1 word or number in each numbered box.
[07:36.12]You now have 25 seconds to read the table below.
[07:40.98]M:Spike Lee,a bright,clever young film director,was in deep trouble in 1992
[07:49.81]He had persuaded Warner Brothers,the big Hollywood studio,
[07:55.38]to put up $20 million for a film biography of
[08:00.65]controversial blackleader Malcolm X,one of his heroes.
[08:06.30]Lee insisted on expensive foreign shooting in Cairo,and now,
[08:11.96]not only was the $20 million from Warner gone
[08:16.82]but also was $8 million from other investors.
[08:22.07]To finish the movie,Lee put up his own $3 million up-front salary to pay
[08:29.13]he hoped,all the production bills.
[08:33.57]The crisis was not the first for Lee,
[08:37.51]whose experience as a moviemaker
[08:41.48]illustrates several realities about the American movie industry,
[08:47.12]not all of them flattering:
[08:50.49]Hollywood is the heart of the American movie industry,
[08:55.82]and it is difficult if not impossible for feature filmmakers
[09:01.86]to succeed outside of the Hollywood establishment.
[09:07.00]Hollywood,with rare exception,favors movies that
[09:12.78]follow themes that already have proven successful
[09:17.53]rather than taking risks on innovative,
[09:21.89]controversial themes.
[09:25.34]Fortunes come and go in Hollywood,even studio fortunes.
[09:31.79]Although Warner is a major studio and often flush with money,
[09:37.57]it was on an austerity binge when Spike Lee came back for more money in 1992.
[09:45.22]The American movie industry has been taken over by merges,
[09:51.07]which,as in the case of Warner Brothers,
[09:55.83]a subsidiary of Time Warner,
[09:59.98]was being pressured in 1992 to maximize profits
[10:06.04]to see the parent company through a difficult economic period.
|