王长喜英语四级听力指导(题型篇)b_new

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[00:00.00]喜欢hxen.net，请把hxen.net放在QQ资料上，多谢支持！Answer questions 1-5 while you listen.
[00:04.73]Use not more than five words for each answer.
[00:09.53]You will hear the recording twice.
[00:13.14]You now have 25 seconds to read the questions.
[00:18.34]Passage 1
[00:20.85]Good morning, students.
[00:23.04]I hope you have been able to visit
[00:25.52]the museum of social history to see the exhibition,
[00:29.31]presented by the food industry,
[00:32.00]that is currently showing.
[00:34.19]Today's lecture deals with the history of chocolate.
[00:37.49]Our knowledge of the history of chocolate is rather vague
[00:41.09]but we are aware that the Mayans and Aztecs of South America
[00:45.30]made a drink from the beans of the cocoa tree
[00:48.48]and called it "Scotia".
[00:51.59]Then in 1582,
[00:54.07]this was taken home by the Spanish who named it chocolate.
[00:58.75]This was the first experience the Europeans had of chocolate,
[01:02.72]but by the late 1600's,
[01:05.59]it had spread to most countries of the world.
[01:08.68]In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries,
[01:11.68]drinking chocolate became a well-established activity
[01:15.68]but it was not until 1847
[01:18.97]that Fry and Sons in England introduced eating chocolate.
[01:24.06]This remained much of a novelty until Daniel Peter,
[01:28.35]the famed Swiss chocolate maker,
[01:31.43]was inspired to improve the smoothness and taste of the new confection.
[01:36.34]Peter's idea is to combine some other ingredients with chocolate
[01:40.94]to balance its rough flavor.
[01:43.73]His early experiments with cheese
[01:46.92]were notoriously unsuccessful
[01:49.90]and a number of other ill-fated mixtures followed.
[01:53.50]Finally in 1874
[01:56.30]stumbled on the perfect answer: milk.
[01:59.90]Nowadays milk chocolate is made of at least ten percent chocolate mass
[02:05.81]("raw" chocolate pressed from cocoa nibs)
[02:09.52]and twelve percent milk solids combined with sugar,
[02:13.62]cocoa butter (the fat from the nibs) and vanilla .
[02:18.00]It is also the type of chocolate often chosen by children
[02:22.60]because it is less bitter than the dark varieties.
[02:26.21]Passage 2
[02:28.30]Weather in Britain seems to be a favorite conversation topic.
[02:34.10]The reason why people talk about the weather
[02:37.68]is that it is very uNPRedictable.
[02:40.47]In Britain,
[02:42.66]you can never tell what the weather will be the next day.
[02:46.95]In spring,
[02:48.86]it may shower one day,
[02:51.26]but wind the next,
[02:53.84]and then be cloudy the next.
[02:56.43]In summer, temperature rises.
[03:00.04]They usually go up to 20 degrees or 25 degrees,
[03:03.12]but people start complaining if it gets over 30 degrees.
[03:10.30]The weather is changeable:
[03:13.41]hot and sunny one day,cool and misty the next.
[03:17.80]In fact,for many years,it seems to rain all summer,
[03:22.29]especially in August,
[03:25.09]but for some other years,like 1976,
[03:29.19]there was a very hot summer and a drought.
[03:33.86]There was no rain for three months,
[03:36.84]which was very unusual.
[03:39.53]The autumn may be golden or damp and misty.
[03:44.91]London used to be famous for foggy Novembers,
[03:48.99]but seldom can you get thicker fogs these years.
[03:53.06]In winter,it is usually pretty chilly,
[03:56.64]with temperature between 0 degree to 10 degrees.
[04:01.06]It snows some years and not others.
[04:04.74]For example,the weather of 1981 to 1982 was very cold.
[04:11.56]There was snow all over the country for four months
[04:15.74]and the temperature dropped to 17 in many places.
[04:22.03]But the winter of 1982 to 1983 was a mild one with hardly any snow.
[04:31.02]You maybe listen to the weather forecast on the radio or on TV in the morning.
[04:37.21]But often people find that the weather changes faster
[04:41.50]than the reporter can predict,
[04:44.11]so people do not rely as much as on the forecast as they do on umbrellas.
[05:01.79]Passage 3
[05:03.70]In Kansas City,a computer helps firemen.
[05:07.80]The computer contains information
[05:10.80]about every one of the 350,000 street addresses in the city.
[05:16.11]When fireman answers a call,
[05:18.69]the computer gives them information about the burning building.
[05:22.90]The computer can give the location of the building,
[05:26.19]and its size,type and contents.
[05:29.09]In fact,
[05:30.68]the computer has many different ways of helping firefighters with their problems
[05:35.96]For example,
[05:37.66]it can give medical information about the sick people living in a burning building
[05:42.44]With this information,
[05:44.42]the firemen can take special care to find these sick persons
[05:48.81]and to remove them quickly and safely from the burning building.
[05:52.71]The speed of the computer is amazing.
[05:55.79]Within two or three seconds after a call is received,
[05:59.47]the computer provides necessary information for the firemen.
[06:03.68]The information is then sent to them by radio
[06:07.07]from the computer center from the City Hall.
[06:10.08]The Kansas City computer system
[06:12.87]also contains a medical record of each of the city's 900 firemen.
[06:18.46]This kind of information
[06:21.15]is especially useful when a fire fighter is injured.
[06:25.15]With this medical information,
[06:27.55]doctors at the hospital
[06:30.14]can treat the injured firemen more quickly and easily.
[06:33.85]Kansas city firemen themselves are thankful for the computer's help.
[06:38.24]The computer tells them about possible dangers ahead of them
[06:42.52]and helps them prepare for them.
[06:44.72]Many times the computer helps to save lives and property.
[06:48.82]Sometimes the lives are those of firemen themselves.
[06:53.31]Passage 4
[06:55.58]Alaska which was called Russian America
[06:59.66]before it was sold to the United States of America
[07:03.55]joined the union as the forty-ninth state in 1959.
[07:09.24]Alaska is now the largest of all the fifty states of the United States.
[07:15.54]It was in 1867 that President A.Johnson's Secretary of State,
[07:21.84]Seward bought Alaska from the Russians at a cost of $7.2 million.
[07:28.13]The buying of the huge northern land mass
[07:31.71]seemed at first something foolishly done.
[07:35.11]Not only was Alaska difficult to reach
[07:38.58]but it was also hard to live in,
[07:42.05]and it appeared to have no importance in time of war.
[07:47.04]Besides,there are volcanoes as Alaskalies on the Pacific "ring" of fire.
[07:53.34]In Alaska,large treeless areas are covered with snow all the year.
[07:58.64]For these reasons the buying of Alaska was called "Seward's folly" at that time
[08:03.74]However,in 1896 gold was found in Alaska,
[08:09.64]and people poured into the land quickly.
[08:13.04]Since then other important resources were discovered including oil.
[08:18.55]Soon people changed their thinking about "Seward's folly" .
[08:22.94]but most people visit Alaska
[08:26.44]in order to see the endless beauty of nature
[08:30.15]that the northern land discloses to them,
[08:33.23]for instance,
[08:35.32]there are about 11,000 islands in Alaska.
[08:39.52]And in a certain area of Alaska the sun does not set for 82 days each year.
[08:50.21]Passage 5
[08:52.58]Good morning,and welcome to American Studies 101.
[08:56.79]I would like to begin this semester
[08:59.40]by discussing the region of the United States known as the Northeast.
[09:04.29]This region included twelve states
[09:07.58] and a small area called the District of Columbia.
[09:11.05]That is the home of the national government.
[09:14.14]The Northeast is a very important part of the United States.
[09:18.24]Although it covers only about six percent of the nations geographic area,
[09:23.04]it contains approximately one fourth of the country population.
[09:27.33]New York,the most populous city in the United States,
[09:31.72]and several other large cities are located in this region.
[09:35.61]Why are these twelve states so important?
[09:38.40]In the first place
[09:41.28]the Northeast was one of the first sections of the country to be settled by Europeans
[09:46.97]Six busy cities developed there
[09:49.87]while most of America was a still sparsely settled wilderness.
[09:54.36]Many crucial events in the nation's early history took place there.
[09:58.67]I will be describing some of the events
[10:01.97]Wednesday in my second lecture.
[10:04.87]Today the Northeast is a great manufacturing and trading region.
[10:09.25]Thousands of factories produce a wide variety of goods
[10:13.15]and provide other regions of the country with items they need.
[10:17.04]Many large manufacturing firms have their central headquarters here.
[10:21.53]Some of the country's largest banks,
[10:24.64]investment agencies, and publishing houses can be found in Northeast.
[10:29.24]Several of its cities are noted for fine museums.
[10:33.03]Some of country's best-known colleges and universities're also located in this region
[10:39.40]Finally,the Northeast is the principal location of much of the country's international trade
[10:45.59]In the heart of this region,
[10:48.39]in New York City,is the home of the United Nations.
[11:14.90]Passage 6
[11:16.88]The United States is a country made of many different races.
[11:21.80]Usually they are mixed together
[11:24.38]and can not be told one from another.
[11:27.60]But many of them still talk about where their ancestors came from.
[11:32.58]It is something they are proud of.
[11:35.48]The original Americans,of course,were Indians.
[11:39.30]The so-called white men were mostly from England.
[11:42.88]But many came from other countries like Germany and France.
[11:47.47]One problem the United States always had is racial discrimination.
[11:53.56]As new groups came to the United States,
[11:57.66]they found they were discriminated.
[12:00.67]First,it was the Irish,and Italians,
[12:04.77]later it was the blacks.
[12:07.46]Almost every group has been able to eventually escape the discrimination.
[12:13.15]The only who were not are the blacks.
[12:17.04]Surprisingly enough discrimination is shown towards the Indians.
[12:21.54]One reason the Indians are discriminated against
[12:25.43]is that they have tried so hard to keep their identity.
[12:29.53]Of course,they were the only ones who have done so.
[12:33.74]The Japanese have their little Tokyo in Los Angeles
[12:37.73]and the Chinese a Chinatown in New York.
[12:41.34]The Dutch settlement in Pennsylvania
[12:44.73]also stays separate from other people .
[12:48.34]Their towns are like something from the nineteenth century.
[12:52.44]They have a different reason than the other groups
[12:56.44]for staying apart.
[12:58.53]They live separately for religious reasons
[13:02.32]rather than keeping together in a racial group.
[13:05.92]Many people still come from other countriesto help the United States grow.
[13:11.01]A good example is the American project that let a man walk on the moon.
[13:16.42]It was a scientist from Germany who was most responsible for doing that.
[13:22.01]It's certain that in the future the United States'll still need the help of people
[13:27.71]from all racial groups to remain a great country.
[13:32.12]  Passage 7
[13:34.00]Mark Twain was the penname of Samuel Langhome Clemens,
[13:38.49]a remarkable American born near Hannibal,Missouri, in 1835.
[13:43.98]Apprenticed to a printer,
[13:46.36]he soon left to be an apprentice river pilot,
[13:49.75]then a licensed pilot on Mississippi River steamboats.
[13:53.65]Life on the Mississippi might have remainedClemens'occupation
[13:58.95]but the Civil War disrupted river traffic
[14:02.63]and later the railroads succeeded the boats.
[14:05.53]Clemens became a newspaper correspondent
[14:09.14]and after his writing achieved national attention,a novelist.
[14:13.13]The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and the stories of Huckleberry Finn,
[14:17.73]Becky Thatcher,and others,
[14:20.13]rought him acclaim for his development
[14:23.03]of a uniquelyAmerican literature.
[14:26.04]Mark Twain later achieved distinction
[14:29.15]as a lecturer who employed his way humor to the delight of audiences.
[14:33.85]There were other sides of Clemens'life.
[14:37.04]In business,he was a failure
[14:39.54]and his despairfor human conduct surfaced in his later,little-readworks.
[14:44.64]Fortunately he is remembered for the adventures of some very human children
[14:49.34]and the misadventures of a Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.
[14:55.53]  Passage 8
[14:57.31]Many universities students dislike studying history
[15:02.50]because there is little to get excited about
[15:05.59]when historical events are presented in a boring manner.
[15:09.98]However,I will never forget my American history professor.
[15:14.47]Dr.Williams.
[15:16.35]Each event leaped from the pages of our text
[15:20.35]and became as real as the daily report on the radio.
[15:24.53]My favorite lecture concerned the American Revolution.
[15:28.91]Dr. Williams set the mood for the story by imitating Paul Revere,
[15:34.11]a well-known silversmith,working in his shop.
[15:38.42]The American colonists were angry because of the British control their lives.
[15:43.91]Revere felt the war between the British and the colonists was imminent.
[15:49.42]Then,Dr.Williams told us about Revere rowing across the Charles River
[15:55.40]from Boston on April,18,1775.
[16:00.50]I can see the professor now as he raised his hand to the forehead
[16:05.28]as if he were looking across the Charles River
[16:08.96]to the Old North Church in Boston.
[16:12.07]Suddenly,spotted two lanterns,
[16:15.36]a signal which meant that the British would attack by sea.
[16:19.67]He jumped on his horse to warn the villagers of the attack.
[16:24.06]Professor Williams reminded us
[16:27.17]that the first battles ofAmerican Revolution
[16:31.16]were fought at Concord and at Lexington, Massachusetts,
[16:36.96]the year before the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776.
[16:43.57]Never before had history seemed so alive to me.
[16:48.17]And all because a professor cared enough to put his heart into his teaching.
[17:00.87]Passage 9
[17:02.77]America enjoyed a great economic boom during the 1920s.
[17:07.66]This was fueled by rapid highway construction,
[17:11.55]automobile manufacturing,
[17:14.03]and the new electrical appliances coming on the market
[17:18.03]such as radios, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners and the like.
[17:22.60]Not everyone enjoyed the prosperity.
[17:25.39]There was technical unemployment,
[17:28.08]and the farmers suffered from overproduction and excessive debt.
[17:32.68]Nevertheless,the stock market climbed to a dizzy height
[17:36.78]for investors believed that there would be no tomorrow.
[17:40.18]A great crash of the stock market occurred in 1929.
[17:44.59]This was only one element in a national and international economic depression
[17:49.58]of massive proportions.
[17:52.09]Exports fell,
[17:54.08]manufacturing declined,
[17:56.35]agricultural surpluses mounted,
[17:59.22]and unemployment spiraled upward.
[18:02.20]The depression alarmed the national government
[18:05.41]but President Herbert.Hooveropposed subsidizingthe unemployed.
[18:07.82]opposed subsidizingthe unemployed.
[18:10.79]Change came with the election in 1932 of President D.Roosevelt
[18:16.49]and his program called the New Deal.
[18:19.18]There was immediate government intervention into the economy
[18:23.28]to aid business and put men to work.
[18:26.08]American reactionaries felt that Mr.Roosevelt
[18:30.88]was instituting communism,
[18:33.39]his friends replied that he was rejuvenating capitalism.
[18:37.28]Prosperity didn't return to America
[18:40.29]until the nation began to rearm for the coming war.
[18:43.97]Thus the New Deal didn't end the depression
[18:47.26]but it ameliorated the hardships for many
[18:50.45]and it ended the national government's attitude
[18:53.64]that it could not concern itself with the well-being of thecommon man.
[18:57.84]Passage 10
[18:59.64]Welcome,everyone,
[19:01.73]to this workshop on student housing
[19:05.02]I'II go through the information about types of housing available
[19:09.23]for the fall and the procedure for application.
[19:13.12]Then,if you have any questions,feel free to ask me.
[19:17.09]There are three main types of housing here for you to choose from:
[19:21.59]the student dorms,
[19:24.07]the married student apartments and the international houses.
[19:28.67]As of now,there is some space available in each type,
[19:33.16]but they are filling up fast.
[19:36.06]You should get your application in as soon as possible.
[19:39.56]Let me explain some of the main features of type of housing.
[19:44.16]The student dorms are for any student.
[19:48.26]We have men's dorms, women's dorms,
[19:51.86]and co-dorms there is one large bathroom and shower area
[19:57.56]for both sexes to use.
[20:00.14]Most of the rooms have two beds,two closets,and two desks.
[20:04.82]We also have a few triples,and a few single suites,
[20:09.60]but I think the suites are already taken.
[20:12.60]There are no cooking facilities in the dorms,
[20:16.00]but you can buy a meal ticket for the cafeteria.
[20:19.60]The married student apartments are for married students only.
[20:23.81]Each apartment has a kitchen, a living-dining area
[20:28.02]and either one or two bedrooms.
[20:30.81]Children are allowed in the apartments.
[20:33.89]The international houses are a group of
[20:37.58]apartmentsfor both foreign students and resident students.
[20:42.17]They are organized into language and culture during meal times.
[20:47.27]It's been a good way for studentsto learn about other cultures and languages.
[20:52.86]I think that Spanish House is full,
[20:56.36]but there are rooms available in all the other houses.