Tape Script of 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 1 with a single line through the centre.
1. M: Finally I’ve got the chance to put on my new suit tonight. I hope to make a good impression on your family.
W: Come on, it’s only a family reunion. So jeans and T-shirts are just fine.
Q: What does the woman mean?
2. W: From here, the mountains look as if you could just reach out and touch them.
M: That’s why I chose this lodge. It has one of the best views in Switzerland.
Q: What is the man’s chief consideration in choosing the lodge?
3. M: Miss, can I interest you in the pork special we’re serving tonight? It’s only $7.99, half the usual price, and it’s very tasty.
W: Oh, really? I’ll try it.
Q: What does the man say about the dish?
4. W: This crazy bus schedule has got me completely confused. I can’t figure out when my bus to Cleveland leaves.
M: Why don’t you just go to the ticket window and ask?
Q: What does the man suggest the woman do?
5. M: Shawn’s been trying for months to find a job. But I wonder how he could get a job when he looks like that.
W: Oh, that poor guy! He really should shave himself every other day at least and put on something clean.
Q: What do we learn about Shawn?
6. M: Why didn’t you stop when we first signaled you at the crossroads?
W: Sorry, I was just a bit absent-minded. Anyway, do I have to pay a fine?
Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
7. W: My hand still hurts from the fall on the ice yesterday. I wonder if I broke something.
M: I’m no doctor, but it’s not black and blue or anything. Maybe you just need to rest it for a few days.
Q: What do we learn about the woman from the conversation?
8. M: I really can’t stand the way David controls the conversation all the time. If he’s going to be at your Christmas party, I just won’t come.
W: I’m sorry you feel that way, but my mother insists that he come.
Q: What does the woman imply?
Conversation One
M: Hello, Professor Johnson.
W: Hello, Tony. So what shall we work on today?
M: Well, the problem is that this writing assignment isn’t coming out right. What I thought I was writing on was to talk about what a particular sport means to me—one I participate in.
W: What sport did you choose?
M: I decided to write about cross-country skiing.
W: What are you going to say about skiing?
M: That’s the problem. I thought I would write about how peaceful it is to be out in the country.
W: So why is that a problem?
M: As I start describing how quiet it is to be out in the woods, I keep mentioning how much effort it takes to keep going. Cross-country skiing isn’t as easy as some people think. It takes a lot of energy. But that’s not part of my paper, so I guess I should leave it out. But now I don’t know how to explain that feeling of peacefulness without explaining how hard you have to work for it. It all fits together. It’s not like just sitting down somewhere and watching the clouds roll by. That’s different.
W: Then you’ll have to include that in your point. The peacefulness of cross-country skiing is the kind you earn by effort. Why leave that out? Part of your point you knew beforehand, but part you discovered as you wrote. That’s common, right?
M: Yeah, I guess so …
Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
9. What is the topic of the man’s writing assignment?
10. What problem does the man have while working on his paper?
11. What does the woman say is common in writing papers?
Conversation Two
W: Good evening, and welcome to this week’s “Business World,” the program for and about businesspeople. Tonight we have Mr. Steven Kane who has just taken over an established bicycle shop. Tell us, Mr. Kane, what made you want to run your own store?
M: Well, I’ve always loved racing bikes and fixing them. When I was working full-time as a salesman for a big company, I seldom had time to enjoy my hobby. I knew then that as soon as I had enough money to get my own business going, I’d do it. I had my heart set on it, and I didn’t let anything stand in my way. When I went
down to the bank and got a business loan, I knew I’d love being my own boss. Now my time is my own. I open the store when I want and leave when I want.
W: You mean you don’t keep regular hours?
M: Well, the sign on my store says the hours are 10:00 to 6:00, but if business is slower than usual, I can just lock up and take off early.
W: Have you hired any employees to work with you yet?
M: Yeah, a couple of friends of mine who love biking as much as I do. They help me out a few days a week. It’s great because … we play cards or just sit around and talk when there’re no customers.
W: Thank you, Mr. Kane. We wish you success in your new business.
Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
12. What is the woman doing?
13. What did Mr. Kane do before he took over the bicycle shop?
14. Why did the man take over a bicycle shop?
15. What do we learn about the people working in the shop?
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 1 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
I first met Joe Gans when we were both nine years old, which is probably the only reason he’s one of my best friends. If I had first met Joe as a freshman in high school, we wouldn’t even have had the chance to get to know each other. Joe is a day student, but I am a boarding student. We haven’t been in the same classes, sports, or extracurricular activities.
Nonetheless, I spend nearly every weekend at his house and we talk on the phone every night. This is not to say that we would not have been compatible if we had first met in our freshman year. Rather, we would not have been likely to spend enough time getting to know each other due to the lack of immediately visible mutual interests. In fact, to be honest, I struggle even now to think of things we have in common. But maybe that’s what makes us enjoy each other’s company so much.
When I look at my friendship with Joe, I wonder how many people I’ve known whom I never disliked, but simply didn’t take the time to get to know. Thanks to Joe, I have realized how little basis there is for the social divisions that exist in every community. Since this realization, I have begun to make an even more determined effort to find friends in unexpected people and places.
Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.
16. Why does the speaker say Joe Gans became one of his best friends?
17. Where does the speaker spend most of his weekends?
18. What has the speaker learned from his friendship with Joe?
Passage Two
While Gail Opp-Kemp, an American artist, was giving a speech on the art of Japanese brush painting to an audience that included visitors from Japan, she was confused to see that many of her Japanese listeners had their eyes closed. Were they turned off because an American had the nerve to instruct Japanese in their own art form? Were they deliberately trying to signal their rejection of her?
Opp-Kemp later found out that her listeners were not being disrespectful. Japanese listeners sometimes close their eyes to enhance concentration. Her listeners were showing their respect for her by chewing on her words.
Someday you may be either a speaker or a listener in a situation involving people from other countries or members of a minority group in North America. Learning how different cultures signal respect can help you avoid misunderstandings. Here are some examples:
In the deaf culture of North America, many listeners show applause not by clapping their hands but by waving them in the air.
In some cultures, both overseas and in some minority groups in North America, listeners are considered disrespectful if they look directly at the speaker. Respect is shown by looking in the general direction but avoiding direct eye contact.
In some countries, whistling by listeners is a sign of approval, while in other countries, it is a form of insult.
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.
19. What did Opp-Kemp’s speech focus on?
20. Why do Japanese listeners sometimes close their eyes while listening to a speech?
21. What does the speaker try to explain?
Passage Three
One of the greatest heartbreaks for firefighters occurs when they fail to rescue a child from a burning building because the child—frightened by smoke and noise—hides under a bed or in a closet and is later found dead.
Saddest of all is when children catch a glimpse of the masked firefighter but hide because they think they have seen a monster.
To prevent such tragedies, firefighter Eric Velez gives talks to children in his community, explaining that they should never hide during a fire. He displays firefighters’ equipment, including the oxygen mask, which he encourages his listeners to play with and put on. “If you see us,” Velez tells them, “don’t hide. We are not monsters. We have come to rescue you.”
Velez gives his presentations in English and Spanish. Growing up in San
Francisco, he learned Spanish from his immigrant parents.
Velez—and other firefighters throughout North America who give similar presentations—will never know how many lives they save through their talks, but it’s a fact that informative speaking saves lives. For example, several months after listening to an informative speech, Pete Gentry in North Carolina rescued his brother, who was choking on food, by using the method taught by student speaker Julie Parris.
In addition to saving lives, informative speakers help people learn new skills, solve problems, and acquire fascinating facts about the exciting world in which they live.
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.
22. Why do some children trapped in a burning building hide from masked firefighters?
23. What does the passage tell us about firefighter Eric Velez?
24. What do we learn about Pete Gentry?
25. What message is the speaker trying to convey?
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 with the exact words you have just heard. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.
Almost every child, on the first day he sets foot in a school building, is smarter, more (26) curious, less afraid of what he doesn’t know, better at finding and
(27) figuring things out, more confident, resourceful (机敏的), persistent and
(28) independent than he will ever be again in his schooling – or, unless he is very unusual and very lucky, for the rest of his life. Already, by paying close attention to and (29) interacting with the world and people around him, and without any school-type formal instruction, he has done a task far more difficult, complicated and (30) abstract than anything he will be asked to do in school, or than any of his teachers has done for years. He has solved the (31) mystery of language. He has discovered it – babies don’t even know that language exists – and he has found out how it works and learned to use it (32) appropriately. He has done it by exploring, by experimenting, by developing his own model of the grammar of language, by
(33) trying it out and seeing whether it works, by gradually changing it and
(34) refining it until it does work. And while he has been doing this, he has been learning other things as well, including many of the (35) “concepts” that the schools think only they can teach him, and many that are more complicated than the ones they do try to teach him.