2012年12月英语四级考试听力训练原文（含MP3）

　　Part III Listing Comprehension (35 minutes)
　　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 though the centre.
　　11.M: I’m going to straighten up my desk now.
　　W: It’s about time.
　　Q: What does the woman mean?
　　12.W: I just love walking through this park, the trees are gorgeous.
　　M: The trees? What about these wild flowers?
　　Q: What does the man mean?
　　13.M: My parents need to stay in town next week, do you have any suggestions?
　　W: I like to recommend the Clover Inn to visitors, but unlike the other places in town, they’re usually filled months in advance.
　　Q: What does the woman imply?
　　14.M: I’m going to the cafeteria on the Grabeby to eat, want to come along?
　　W: You go ahead, I’m not really all that hungry.
　　Q: What does the woman suggest the man do?
　　15.W: Thank heavens it’s Friday, are you doing anything special this weekend?
　　M: Good question, to tell you the truth, my brother might be coming over and so everything is up in the air right now.
　　Q: What does the man mean?
　　16.W: By the way, thanks so much for offering to mail my bills this morning. I just didn’t have the time to get over to the post office.
　　M: Oh, my gosh, I’m really sorry, I’ll go and drop them in the box right now.
　　Q: What will the man probably do next?
　　17.W: I’ve got to leave for the airport right away, Bill’s plane is due in an hour.
　　M: Judging by the weather outside I doubt the plane will land on schedule.
　　Q: What does the man imply?
　　18.M: How did you do on the math quiz?
　　W: Well, unluckily that I only account for small portion of our final grade for the course.
　　Q: What can be inferred about the woman?
　　Now you are going to hear two long conversations
　　Conversation One
　　M:I really don’t know what to do this summer.  I can’t afford to just sit around, and there don’t seem to be any jobs available.
　　W:Why don’t you try house-sitting?  Last summer my friend Margaret house-sat for the Greens when they went away on vacation.  Mr. Green hired Margaret to stay in their house because he didn’t want it left empty.
　　M:You mean the Greens paid Margaret just to live in their house?
　　W:It wasn’t that easy. She had to mow the lawn and water the house-plants. And when Eric house-sat for Dr. Cohen, he had to take care of her pets.
　　M:House-sitting sounds like a good job. I guess it is a little like baby-sitting except you’re taking care of a house instead of children.
　　W:The student employment office still has a few jobs posted.
　　M:Do I just have to fill out an application?
　　W:Margaret and Eric had to interview with the homeowners and provide three references each.
　　M:That seems like a lot of trouble for a summer job.
　　W:Well, the homeowners want to guarantee that they can trust the house sitter. You know they want to make sure you’re not the type who’ll throw wild parties in their house, or move a group of friends in with you.
　　M:House-sitters who do that sort of thing probably aren’t paid then.
　　W:Usually they’re paid anyway just because the homeowners don’t want to make a fuss. But if the homeowner reported it, then the house-sitter wouldn’t be able to get another job. So why don’t you apply?
　　M:Yeah, I think I will
　　Question No.19: What does the man want to do this summer?
　　Question No.20: What did the Greens do when they went away last summer?
　　Question No.21: What is one responsibility the house-sitter probably wouldn’t have?
　　Question No.22: How do homeowners determine the reliability of a house-sitter?
　　Conversation Two
　　W:Hi, Zach.
　　M:Hey, Lisa. What are you doing here?
　　W:I work here on weekends. How come you decided to come to the travel agency? Are you here to plan for your trip?
　　M:Yeah, well, you know our breaks are coming, and I need a quick getaway trip somewhere.
　　W:Well, someone’s got the money to burn. But I still think we hardworking students need a break.
　　M:I’m going to tell you up-front Lisa. It’s not what you think. I’m on a tight budget like everyone else here but I’ve got to get out of this town for a while.
　　W:Where to go?
　　M:Florida, maybe. I’ll go to see a Miami Dolphin and the football game.
　　W:And you need a flight for next week? Well, you are always the one who leaves things to the last minute but hmmm…let me take a look in the screen…United got one to Miami but it’s a bit expensive so let me see if there’s anything else available.
　　M:Preferably below 400 dollars for return, can you swing it?
　　W:One by Phoenix Air for 350 dollars. It’s small plane though. Are you sure you don’t want me to check again for other flights? It would only take a second.
　　M:No, that sounds within my range.
　　W:All right. Just let me phone in and confirm the time.
　　Question No.23: Why is the man in the travel agency?
　　Question No.24: What does the woman imply about the man at the start?
　　Question No.25: What is the woman’s concern about the Phoenix Air flight?
　　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 the Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
　　Passage One
　　The Golden Gate Bridge joins the beautiful city of San Francisco with the suburbs to the north. Each day, about 100,000 automobiles cross the bridge taking people to and from the city. More than half of them cross the bridge during the morning and evening rush hours. With traffic so heavy, the trip is not pleasant. Now however, there is at least one group of happy commuters. These are the people who travel under the bridge instead of on it. They go to work by boat and enjoy it so much that most of them say they will never go by car again. The ferry they take is spacious, quiet and comfortable. Commuters can enjoy the sun on deck. In the morning, they can have breakfast in the coffee shop and in the evening they can order a drink in the bar while looking at the beautiful scenery. The trip takes only thirty minutes and is not very costly. But best of all, being on the boat seems to make people feel more friendly toward each other. There has already been a marriage of two commuters who met on the ferry. Because the ferry has been so successful, there are plans to use other still larger boats. There is also a proposal for a high-speed boat that’ll make the trip in only 15 minutes. But not everyone is happy about that. A lot of people feel that half an hour is just enough time to relax.
　　Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.
　　Question No.26. According to the speaker, how do commuters feel about crossing the Golden Gate Bridge by car?
　　Question No.27. What does the speaker say about ferry commuters?
　　Question No.28. How do commuters respond to plans for the future of the ferry?
　　Passage 2
　　How many teeth have you had failed in the past two years? If you follow the advice of Dr. Forsdic, you may be able to reduce the number of your visits to a dentist. Dr. Forsidc conducted a two-year survey to find out how to prevent or reduce dental decay. 946 students took part in the experiment. 523 students cleaned their teeth within 10 minutes of eating. When possible, they used the toothbrush. When this was impossible, they washed their mouth thoroughly with water. The remaining 423 students merely cleaned their teeth when they went to bed and when they got up in the morning. All the students had their teeth X-rayed at the end of the first and second years. At the end of the first year, the night-and-morning group had 3 times as many decayed teeth as the clean-after-each-meal group. At the end of the second year, the latter group had 53% fewer decayed teeth than the former group. Dr. Forsdic has cleaned his teeth after every meal for 13 years and has not had a single decayed tooth. He pointed out that sugar is a major agent in dental decay, particularly the sugar in sweets, cakes and soft drinks. Ideally, you should keep a toothbrush in your pocket and use it immediately after you have finished eating. When this is impractical, you can at least make sure that you have a drink of water and let the water through your teeth to force out any particles of food. Seven out of ten people lose at least half their teeth by the time they are 50. Many have a complete set of false teeth by that time. In any case, neither toothache nor a visit to a dentist is very pleasant. So it is worthwhile making an effort to keep your own teeth as long as possible. The main preventative agent is simply water.
　　Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.
　　Question No.29. According to the passage, what type of food or drink is most likely to cause dental decay?
　　Question No.30. What does the passage tell us about the condition of Dr. Forsdic’s teeth?
　　Question No.31. What does Dr. Forsdic suggest to prevent dental decay?
　　Passage 3
　　The worldwide organization of the Red Cross stems from the idea of Henry Dunant, a Swiss banker. In 1838, at the age of 10, Dunant was taken by his father to visit a prison. There he saw prisoners chained together exercising in the yard and breaking stones along the road. This experience left a deep impression on him and made him determine to do something for convicts and slaves and for all who were oppressed and deprived of their liberty. On 24, June, 1859, while on his way from Geneva to France, Dunant witnessed the battle between the French and Austrian armies. It was one of the fiercest battles of the 19th century. Shocked by the lack of the medical supplies and attention given to the wounded, Dunant decided a volunteer service had to be organized. He gathered together a number of women who tended the hundreds of wounded soldiers of all nationalities and helped the surgeons as best they could. From that battle, Dunant determined to form a body of people who would rally together in times of war and attend to the needs of the wounded and dying. Dunant held that a suffering human being should be helped for his own sake only without regard to race, religion or political beliefs. Many European states supported him and on 22, August, 1864, the first Geneva Convention was signed. This lays down that once a soldier is wounded, he and everyone who comes to his help ceases to be an enemy. A symbol by which the relief workers could be recognized was devised. As a tribute to Switzerland, the symbol was the Swiss flag reversed, that is, a red cross on a white ground. So the Red Cross was born.
　　Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
　　Question No.32. What first led Henry Dunant to think of helping the oppressed?
　　Question No.33. What did Henry Dunant do during the battle between the French and Australian armies?
　　Question No.34. What was Henry Dunant’s belief when he founded the Red Cross?
　　Question No.35. Why was the symbol of the Red Cross designed with a red cross on a white ground?
　　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.
　　Graffiti is drawing or writing often found in a wall in public places. These drawing and writing are usually rude, humorous, or political. The words “Graffiti” comes from an Italian word meaning address. Graffiti provides a record of the past because people have written on walls for centuries. Cave drawings are the earliest example we have of the art of graffiti.
　　Writing on walls is a way to comment on the world we live in. Women’s liberation groups in Britain, for example, have used graffiti to show their anger at the sex discrimination of many advertisements where women’s bodies are used to sell goods.
　　Yesterday’s graffiti can be today’s foreign attraction. When the Berlin wall came down in 1989, people found that it was covered with graffiti from all over the world. Graves of famous people, like rock-star Jim Morrison, are covered with written messages from fans.
　　Graffiti is also a popular art form. Graffiti pictures have gained respect in artistic circles. Today, graffiti is likely to be found hanging inside modern, New York apartments as well as in downtown streets. In New York, graffiti pictures have been sold for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Graffiti artists have been paid to use their art to brighten up dull environments
　　But graffiti can bring us trouble. Scenes of natural beauty and important landmarks have been spoiled by mindless graffiti. The London underground authority has spent about 2 million pounds a year on removing graffiti from trains and stations. If you are caught doing it, you can be sent to prison. In Britain, the maximum sentence for this type of crime is ten years.
　　Whether you think graffiti is mindless violence against property, or a living art form, its popularity suggests that it is here to stay.