英语周报：2008年12月四级听力模拟试题(九)

　　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

　　The Nobel Committees send invitations to hundreds of scientists and scholars around the world, asking them to suggest names for the Nobel Prizes in the coming year. The names are sent in by February 1.

　　Each committee, with the help of specially appointed experts, discusses the names suggested, and makes out a short list to present to the prize-awarding institution. A vote is taken for the final choice. The names of the prizewinners are announced in October or November. The prizes are awarded on December 10. The Peace Prize is presented at Oslo University, the others at a ceremony in Stockholm. The King of Sweden presents a diploma, a medal and a check to each prizewinner and there is a ceremonial dinner afterwards in the City Hall. Each Nobel prizewinner is expected to give a "Nobel lecture."

　　Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　26. The passage is mainly about_______.

　　27. When are the names of the prizewinners announced?

　　28. What do prizewinners not receive?

　　Passage Two

　　Some people have very good memories, and can easily learn quite long poems by heart. There are other people who can only remember things when they have said them over and over.

　　The famous English writer, Charles Dickens said that he could walk down any long street in London and then tell you the name of every shop he had passed. Many of the great men of the world have had wonderful memories.

　　A good memory is a great help in learning a language. Everybody learns his own language by remembering what he hears when he is a small child and some children seem to learn two languages almost as easily as one. In school it is not so easy to learn a second language because the pupils have so little time for it, and they are busy with other subjects as well.

　　A man's mind is rather like a camera, but it takes photos not only of what we see, but also of what we hear, smell and taste. When we take a real photo with a camera, there is much to do before the photo is finished and ready to show our friends. In the same way there is much work to be done before we can keep a picture forever in our minds.

　　Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　29. For what purpose does the speaker mention Charles Dickens?

　　30. Why is it difficult for people to learn a second language in school?

　　31. What can be concluded from the passage?

　　Passage Three

　　There are many reasons why family life in Britain has changed so much in the last fifty years. The liberation of women in the early part of the twentieth century and the social and economic effects of World War II had a great impact on traditional family life. Women became essential to industry and the professions. During the war they had worked in factories and proved their worth; now, with the loss of millions of men, their services were indispensable to the nation.

　　More recently, great advances in scientific knowledge, and particularly in medicine, have had enormous social consequences. Children are better cared for and are far healthier. The infant death rate is low. Above all, parents can now plan the size of their family if they wish through more effective means of birth control.

　　Different attitudes to religion, authority and tradition generally have also greatly contributed to changes in family life. But these developments have affected all aspects of society. It is particularly interesting to note the concept of "the family" as a social unit has survived all these challenges.

　　Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　32. What is this passage mainly about?

　　33. Why did British women become indispensable to industry after World War II?

　　34. What remained unchanged in spite of all the challenges to family life?

　　35. What are the reasons listed for the change of family life in Britain?