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
North Korea's famine, poverty and other problems have brought the nation's health care system near collapse and sharply boosted the mortality rates. The U. N.’s top health official talked with reporters in Beijing about her trip to North Korea in the last week.
The head of the World Health Organization, Gro Harlem Brundtland, says malaria has infected up to 300, 000 North Koreans, with tuberculosis striking tens of thousands more. And North Korean medical facilities do not have the means to treat many of the infected.
Dr. Brundtland brought a delivery of medication to North Korea that will make it possible to treat thousands of victims.
Malaria was once nearly eliminated in North Korea, but years of famine, natural disasters, and economic mismanagement have allowed the scourge to reappear along border areas with China and South Korea.
Dr. Brundtland says the diseases are one reason the death rate for North Koreans has risen about 35 percent in recent years.
The U. N. health chief urged North Korea's foreign and health ministers to spend more money on health care, but acknowledged the international community will have to step in with millions of dollars to make a difference. "These are not overdone appeals and it is in no way more than needed, so that is a challenge," she said.
During her trip to North Korea, Dr. Brundtland opened the U. N. World Health Organization's first permanent office in Pyongyang.
Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.
26. What kind of disease has reappeared in North Korea?
27. Which has not been mentioned in this passage as having a bad effect on North Korea's health care system?
28. Which of the following statements is not true according to the passage?
Passage Two
A new study conducted among 110,000 American adults has once again shown several factors that are associated with a greatly increased risk of death and disability from heart disease. The study reported that men and women who smoke cigarettes face twice the risk of suffering a first heart attack as do non-smokers.
Men who are classified as "most active" showed no advantage in terms of heart attack rate over men considered "moderately active". Men who are "least active", both on and off the job, are twice as likely as "moderately active" men to suffer a first heart attack.
The study didn't show that other differences between active and inactive men, such as the amount they smoke, could account for their different heart attack rates.
The heavier men in the study had a fifty percent greater risk of suffering a first heart attack than the lighter-weight men. An increased risk was also found among women who had gained a lot of weight since age 25. None of the differences in risk could be explained on the basis of variations in exercise habits.
The incidence of heart attacks was also found to be higher among white men than among non-whites and among Jewish men than among Christians. But the heart attack rate among Jewish women was not markedly different from that among non-Jewish women.
Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.
29. Who is most likely to have a heart attack?
30. Which of the following statements is not true?
31. Which of the following does not affect the incidence of a heart attack?
Passage Three
An opinion poll was conducted last month about the cultural attitudes of people of 5 countries in western Europe: Britain, France, Italy, Spain and Germany.
The results of the poll show interesting differences between the participating nations in terms of which components of culture they regard as the most important. For the French and Italians, literature comes well at the top of the list. Economics is given priority by the Germans. History, which occupies the first place for the Spanish and the second place for the Italians and French, is given low priority by the British, who place high value on mathematics.
France has the distinction, according to the results of the poll, of being the country which provokes most interest from its British, Italian and German neighbors. Spanish interviewees indicate more interest in Italy than in France. It would seem that the literary nations of France and Italy are more culturally exciting than the scientific British and the practical Germans.
The people of the 5 countries of the survey share the view that books are the best way of broadening knowledge. The French, Germans and Italians identify radio and television as the second best means of improving knowledge but for the British and Spanish, travel is in second place.
Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
32. People of which country regard history as the most important component of culture?
33 Which of the following best describes the British according to the speaker?
34. Which of the following views do the 5 countries share?
35. Which of the following is not mentioned as a means of expanding knowledge?
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.
Like all electronic equipment, computers have become smaller and more (36)sophisticated with time. They have (37) evolved from the enormous mainframes of the 1970s to thin little laptops, financially (38) accessible to a growing number of people and capable of performing innumerable tasks.
Personal computers have (39) revolutionized countless aspects of modern life. With scanners and digital cameras, for example, the world of publishing and (40) photography has entered the home. Long-distance learning has been made possible for students in isolated or distant areas thanks to (41) computer-assisted teaching. Computer games have added a whole new (42) dimension to home entertainment. They are so much fun that they can become (43) addictive.
Perhaps no other machine has had a greater impact on our lives than computers. With modems and servers, (44) personal computers can now be connected through telephone lines to create networks of people and businesses who are able to communicate with each other almost instantly by e-mail. Like most aspects of computer culture, the Internet has its positive and its negative side. For example, electronic mail has become so popular and so easy that it has become a problem. (45) In some offices it has reduced real interpersonal relationships and forced employees to read hundreds of useless messages every day.
Computer technology has affected virtually every aspect of our lives from satellites in outer space that relay television programs to the microchip in our hand calculator. (46) Computer technology has added considerably to the efficiency and quality of life, but it has also contributed to the stress of modern life, especially in the workplace.
英语周报07年12月四级考试听力模拟(八)
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