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 2 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Cowboy the baboon has learned to count — at least when he is hungry. Dr. Jack Findley of the University of Maryland has taught him to recognize five col¬ors of lights; each light stands for a certain number of beeps from a sound box.
When Cowboy turns on a light by pushing a button, the box begins making beep tones — the number of beeps Cowboy must count is determined by the color of the light. When the correct number has sounded, Cowboy pushes a second button. This stops the sound and releases a food pellet. If he pushes the button too soon or too late, Cowboy doesn’t get any food.
Cowboy is required to keep track of only five signals, now, but he may have to think harder soon. Dr. Findley plans to shine two lights at once, and to require the baboon to push the button when the correct combined number has sounded.
If Cowboy is able to do this, he will have learned how to add.
Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.
26. What does the color of the light stand for?
27. What does Dr. Findley plan to teach Cowboy?
28. What is the best title for this selection?
Passage Two
Most libraries are alike in certain basic ways. The major section of a library usually contains hundreds and hundreds of books called “Circulation Books.” These are books you can borrow for several weeks at a time. Brand-new books are often placed in a special section of a library and can be borrowed for only a few days. In yet another section, the Reference Section, books may not be borrowed at all, but must be used only in the library. Reference books are in great demand and this is why they can not be taken home. Libraries also have magazines and newspapers. These are called periodicals. Libraries also have newspaper clippings which are arranged alphabetically by subject in a vertical file. A librarian may have to help you to use the vertical file. Many libraries today have areas called “Media Resource Center.” In such centers you can find information in a wide variety of resource media. Besides books and periodicals, a Media Resource Center may have collections of records, films, micro film of old newspapers, slides, reproductions of art work, and sound and video tape recordings. The machines and equipment necessary for using these materials are usually right in the library, or may be in a nearby area.
Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.
29. Which kind of books can not be taken out of the library?
30. What can you find in the vertical file?
31. What is available at the Media Resource Center?
Passage Three
A silver dollar is not worth a dollar — nor is any other silver coin really worth its face value. Silver coins are made of an alloy — a mixture of 10 per cent copper and 90 per cent silver — which lasts much longer in circulation than pure silver would. A silver dollar contains 90 cents worth of silver and a dime has 9 cents worth. It takes only a pennyworth of silver to make a nickel.
This was not the case in 1792, when the United States began minting coins of pure gold and silver. Citizens were welcome to stop in anytime with gold or silver in any form — cups, vases, or even gold fillings from their teeth — and have it melted down for spending money.
Today the mints in Philadelphia and Denver earn a yearly profit of about $ 40 million. Most of this comes from using alloys rather than pure silver in the production of the $ 22 billion worth of coins circulating in the United States. The Philadelphia plant also manufactures coins for foreign countries. In a recent year almost 180 million coins were made for the use of foreign governments.
Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
32. Why are silver coins today not worth face value?
33. What are U. S. silver coins made of?
34. What were the first U. S. coins made of?
35. What is an alloy used to do?
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.
Nine planets move around the sun, but the earth has the best (36) position among the planets. Because it doesn’t (37) travel too near or too far from the sun, and it receives the necessary (38) amount of heat and light. The air around the earth keeps out the sun’s dangerous (39) rays. The sun dries up some of the (40) ocean water. But the air above turns it into rain. Sun, air, and water give us the change of seasons from (41) autumn and winter to spring and summer, when the earth becomes green with (42) vegetation. Without the earth’s special (43) environment, there would be no life on earth. (44) If we change this environment, we may destroy some of the life on earth.
The earth is 4.5 billion years old. At first it was a dead object of rock, without air or water, now the earth is home to a variety of living things. (45)All the varieties of plants and animals are dependent on the sun, on air and water, and on each other. The sun will shine for millions of years into the future. But will we be able to keep the earth a special place among the planets? The future of the earth doesn’t look bright. By the year 2000 there will be over six billion people on our planet. In twenty years bad air will produce more serious health problems. (46) If we cut down too many trees, many birds and wild animals won’t have a home. We will destroy our environment if we don’t plan for the future.
英语周报07年12月四级考试听力模拟(五)
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