大学英语四级考试巅峰听力MP3与字幕文本下载 Track 15

[ti:]
[ar:]
[al:]
[by:]
[00:00.97]Passage One
[00:03.20]It is an old joke that Americans are soon
[00:07.13]going to lose the use of their legs.
[00:10.09]But it is true that
[00:11.62]few Americans will walk anywhere if they can help it,
[00:16.32]either for practical purposes or for pleasure.
[00:19.71]You can do your banking from your car,
[00:23.10]without leaving the driving seat.
[00:25.52]You can mail your letters in postboxes
[00:28.79]that reach the level of your car window.
[00:31.64]You can watch a film from your car in a drive-in theater.
[00:36.57]At many stores you can be served in your car.
[00:41.27]At countless restaurants waitresses
[00:44.33]will hitch trays to the car door,
[00:46.63]so that you can eat without moving.
[00:49.69]In Florida there is even a drive-in church.
[00:53.85]And in California a funeral home
[00:57.46]has drive-in service for people
[01:00.41]who wish to purchase gravestones and caskets ahead of time.
[01:06.11]Questions 1 to 3 are based on the passage you have just heard.
[01:12.89]1. What is the passage mainly about?
[01:33.68]2. How do Americans do their banking?
[01:54.25]3. What is the tone of the passage?
[02:15.49]Passage Two
[02:19.38]Social life in America
[02:21.57]varies tremendously from office to office.
[02:25.40]Big corporations may have clubs,
[02:28.35]sports teams, trips, dance classes,
[02:32.07]or other employee activities
[02:34.36]which you can join or not as you like,
[02:37.21]while small companies usually can't afford these activities.
[02:41.59]In general, people go to lunch with each other by invitation
[02:46.52]when they feel like it.
[02:48.16]Usually people of higher rank would invite those of lower rank
[02:52.97]rather than the other way around,
[02:55.16]but lines are not closely drawn.
[02:58.17]Except for special occassions,
[03:00.28]everyone pays for himself or herself
[03:03.56]regardless of whether or not an invitation is offered.
[03:07.50]It is quite acceptable for men or women colleagues,
[03:11.76]single or married, to go out together for lunch.
[03:15.05]This may be the extent to which
[03:17.47]your office friends will invite you.
[03:19.44]Although in general Americans readily take people home with them,
[03:23.70]they often do not want to mix business and social life.
[03:27.53]If this is the case in your place of work,
[03:30.27]you will have to seek your friendships through other channels.
[03:34.78]Questions 4 to 6 are based on the passage you have just heard.
[03:41.23]4.How does social life differ from office to office in America?
[04:03.34]5.Who usually pays for the food
[04:08.04]when your office friends invite you to lunch together?
[04:26.20]6.If your colleagues do not want to mix business and social life,
[04:32.76]what should you do in order to get friendships?
[04:52.29]Passage Three
[04:55.05]Every one, young or old,
[04:57.58]feels a special interest in his own name,
[05:00.75]when and how it was created
[05:04.03]and the changes it has undergone through the centuries.
[05:08.29]For a long time,
[05:10.16]people were known only by their personal or given names.
[05:14.97]The family name came into use gradually as the need arose.
[05:21.21]The most common way
[05:23.29]by which given names developed into family names
[05:26.80]was by combining the word “son”
[05:29.75]with the name of the parents,
[05:32.26]to form a compound name:
[05:34.89]such as Williamson, Robertson, Richardson.
[05:40.80]Often “son” was shortened to “s”
[05:45.51]as in Williams, Roberts, Richards.
[05:50.87]Occupational names are especially interesting
[05:55.36]for at first they were not inherited
[05:58.52]but were given to persons mentioned
[06:01.59]by reasons of their respective jobs.
[06:05.09]Most names in this class explain themselves:
[06:09.91]such as Smith, Miller, Shepherd and Bishop.
[06:17.78]Questions 7 to 9 are based on the passage you have just heard.
[06:24.57]7. What is the passage about?
[06:45.36]8. How were people first known?
[07:05.59]9. How did the name “Williamson” develop into “Williams”?