2008年12月英语四级听力模拟题(十)

　　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
　　Throughout the rest of June and July temperatures rose steadily all over the Earth. In the British Isles the temperature climbed through the eighties, into the nineties, and moved towards the hundreds, while temperatures in the U. S. remained quite low, largely due to the air-conditioning units that had been fitted during previous years and months. Temperatures rose to the limit of human endurance throughout the whole country and people were obliged to remain indoors for weeks on end. Occasionally air-conditioning units failed and it was then that fatalities occurred. Conditions were utterly desperate throughout the tropics as may be judged from the fact that 7,943 species of plants and animals became totally extinct. The survival of Man himself was only possible because of the caves and cellars he was able to dig. Nothing could be done to lower the hot air temperature. More than seven hundred million persons are known to have lost their lives. Eventually the temperature of the surface waters of the sea rose, not as fast as the air temperature, but fast enough to produce a dangerous increase of humidity. It was indeed this increase that produced the disastrous conditions just remarked. Millions of people between the latitudes of Cairo and the Cape of Good Hope were subjected to a choking atmosphere that grew damper and hotter from day to day. All human movement ceased. There was nothing to be done but to lie breathing quickly as a dog does in hot weather.
　　Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.
　　26. What is the temperature like in the British Isles?
　　27.Why did few people in the United States lose their lives?
　　28. Why were millions of people in Cairo and the Cape of Good Hope subjected to a choking atmosphere?
　　Passage Two
　　A long nap after dinner will bring trouble to your blood. If you didn’t sleep for long hours during the early part of the evening, you would be more ready to sleep at bedtime. If you didn’t nap after dinner, you would not want to stay up so late, and you would not feel the need to take a sleeping pill. The pill is still working in your system when you get up in the morning. This helps account for the fact that you feel tired all day. You should get out of the habit of sleeping during the evening. Right after your evening meal, engage in some sort of physical activity --- a sport such as bowling, perhaps. Or get together with friends for an evening of cards and conversation. Then go to bed at your usual time or a little earlier, and you should be able to get a good night’s rest without taking a pill. If you can get into the habit of spending your evenings this way, I’m sure you will feel less tired during the day. At first it may be hard for you to go to sleep without taking a pill. If so, get up and watch television or do some work around your house until you feel sleepy. If you fall asleep and then wake up a few hours later, get up but do not take a sleeping pill. Read a while or listen to the radio, and make yourself a few hours’ sleep that night. You will feel better in the morning than you usually feel after taking a pill. The next night you will be ready to sleep at an earlier hour. The most important thing is to avoid taking that nap right after dinner and to avoid taking pills.
　　Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.
　　29. Why is it difficult for you to go to sleep according to the writer?
　　30. Why would you feel tired all day?
　　31. Who is the speaker?