英语四级听力考试预测15(mp3+字幕)

Passage One
 People are not so honest as they once were.
 The temptation to steal is greater than ever before-especially in large shop.
 A detective recently watched a well-dressed woman who always went into a large store on Monday morning.
 One Monday,there were fewer people in the shop than usual when the woman came in.
 so it was easier for the detective to watch her.
 The woman first bought a few small article.
 After a little time.
 she chose one of the most expensive dresses in the shop
 and handed it to an assistant who wrapped it up for her as quickly as possible.
 Then the woman simply took the parcel and walked out of the shop without paying.
 When she was arrested
 the detective found out that the shop-assistant was her daughter.
 The girl "gave" her mother a free dress once a week!
 1. Why was it easier for the detective to watch to woman one Monday?
 2. Who was the shop-assistant?
 3. What's the author's opinion about "honesty"?
 Passage Two
 When you visit London,one of the first things you will see is Big Ben
 the famous clock which can be heard all over the world on the B.B.C..
 If the Houses of Parliament had not been burned down in 1834
 the great clock would never have been erected.
 Big Ben takes its name from Sir Benjamin Hall who was responsible for the making of the clock
 when the new Houses of Parliament were being build.
 It is not only of immense size
 but of extremely accurate as well
 Officials from Greenwich Observatory have the clock checked twice a day
 On the B.B.C.
 you can hear the clock when it is actually striking
 because microphones are connected to the clock tower.
 Big Ben has really gone wrong
 Once,however,it failed to give the correct time.
 A painter who had been working on the tower hung a pot of paint on one of the hands and slowed it down!
 4. What does the author think of Big Ben?
 5. Why can you hear the clock on the B.B.C.?
 6. What is Big Ben?
 Passage Three
 On the occasion of the old lady's eightieth birthday
 she waited eagerly to see what kind of present her daughter
 Myra,would send to he
 Since her first daughter,Enid,had died two years before
the old lady had endured the loneliness of living by herself.
It was rare for Myra to visit her mother
but still the old lady was proud of her .
She felt sure that her daughter would celebrate her birthday with something special.
As she waited for the postman
the old lady trembled with excitement because she was quite sure she would receive a lovely present.
After all,she thought
even if Myra paid little attention to her mother at other times.
today was a very special day.
However,when the postman came
the old lady found to her disappointment that
rather than choosing a special gift.
Myra had simply sent her a cheque folded in a card.
7. What's the relationship between Myra and the old lady?
8. Why was the old lady sure she would receive a lovely present?
9. What was the old lady's present?
10. How did the old lady feel when she found her present?
Passage Four
In March of 1981, John Hinckle
Jr.attempted to assassinate United States President Ronald Reagan.
President Reagan was coming out of a hotel after making a speech
when suddenly six loud shots ran out.
One of the bullets entered the president's left lune.
His security men rushed him to the hospital where doctors operated on him for two hours.
Reagan recovered rapidly and was back in the White House after a few weeks.
The gunman was a young man from a well-to-do family.
After the shooting
the police searched his motel room and found a letter
The letter was addressed to Jody Foster
a young movie actress.
In the letter he explained that he wanted to shoot the President in order to impress Miss Foster and make her pay attention to him.
The police later discovered that Hinckley had a history of emotional problems.
11. What had happened to Ronald Reagan in March of 1981?
12. What was Reagan doing when the thing happened?
13. Who was Jody Foster?
Passage Five
If you had been alive 200 years ago
and perhaps had stolen only a few loaves of bread
you would have been sent to prison.
If you had killed someone
something far worse would have happened to you.
You would have been hanged in public.
Life was hard and often brutal
So was the law.
Perhaps it had to be.
If you had lived in a large city like London
and if you had walked through the streets at night
someone might have killed you only in order to get your money.
Prisons have of course gotten much better in the last 200 years.
But conditions are still far from perfect.
If you were in a prison in many countries
you would probably be living in a small cell.