14.
W: Are you still teaching at the junior high school?
M: Not since June. My brother and I opened a restaurant as soon as he got out of the army.
Q: What do we learn about the man from the conversation?
本题也是个很好的例子,混淆选项中说男人开了一个RESTAURANT,实际为与其兄合开,较之正确选项A) He quit teaching in June.,此混淆选项略显瑕疵,因此舍弃该混淆选项。
长对话中虽然第一篇篇幅长达12个回合,史无前例,但考官却刻意在其中安排了诸多停顿和迟疑来给考生留出足够的时间思考,也不可不谓用心良苦。对话内容本身相对比较简单,属于租房场景的典型例子。其中甚至引用到了以往真题中出现的一些内容,如:
W: Em…, I don’t think we have any rooms for tonight. There’s a conference going on in town and…er, let’s see…yeah, no rooms.
参考1991年6月四级考题中第10题:
M: I sent a letter to make a reservation for a single room a few days ago.
: I’m sorry, your request arrived too late. There are some conferences in town this week and we are full up.
Q: Are there any spare rooms at the hotel?
甚至连没有房间的理由也是一模一样,这不得不让人再次深思往年考题的重要性。无独有偶,本次考试中甚至有些短对话考题就将过去的真题进行小幅的修改后就直接使用,如短对话第15题:
M: Hi, Susan! Have you finished reading the book Professor Johnson recommended?
W: Oh, I haven’t read it through the way I read a novel. I just read a few chapters which interested me.
Q: What does the woman mean?
与03年6月考试中短对话第8题如出一辙:
M: Have you finished reading the book you bought last month?
W: Oh, I didn’t read it straight through the way you read a novel, I just covered a few chapters which interested me most.
Q: How did the woman read the book?
甚至从用词角度而言,今年的15题还不如03年6月的第8题来得难,去掉了straight,把cover直接用read代替,均降低了句子本身的难度。所以可以说今天考试短对话部分总体而言难度是略有所下降的。但本题的出现再次强调了往年真题的重要性,告戒考生须戒骄戒躁,将往年真体摸熟吃透,方能兵来将挡,水来土淹。
长对话就出题而言,位置倒颇是符合规律,以第二篇为例:
M: Sarah, you work in the admissions office, don’t you?
W: Yes, I’m…I’ve been here ten years as assistant director.
M: Really? What does that involve?
W: Well, I’m in charge of all the admissions of postgraduate students in the university.
M: Only postgraduates?
W: Yes, postgraduates only. I have nothing at all to do with undergraduates.
M: Do you find that you get particular…sort of…different national groups? I mean, do you get large numbers from Latin America or…
W: Yes. Well, of all the students enrolled last year, nearly half were from overseas. They were from African countries, the Far East, the Middle East, and Latin America.
M: Em. But have you been doing just that for the last 10 years, or, have you done other things?
W: Well, I’ve been doing the same job. Er, before that, I was secretary of the medical school at Birmingham, and further back, I worked in the local government.
M: Oh, I see.
W: So I’ve done different types of things.
M: Yes, indeed. How do you imagine your job might develop in the future? Can you imagine shifting into a different kind of responsibility or doing something…
W: Oh, yeah, from October 1, I’ll be doing an entirely different job. There’s going to be more committee work. I mean, more policy work, and less dealing with students, unfortunately…I’ll miss my contact with students.
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you’ve just heard: