新编四级听力练习 第216期

Conversation One
W: What are you doing?
M: [19]I'm ordering some filing cabinets out of a catalog.
W: What do you need them for?
M: There's so much stuff piling up in my dormitory room. If I don't do something soon, I won't be able to move in there.
W: Do you usually order from a catalog?
M: Sometimes. Why?
W: Oh, it's just in the history class today we were talking about how the catalog sales business first got started in the US. A Chicago retailer, Montgomery Ward started it in the late 1800s. [21]It was really popular among farmers. It was difficult for them to make it to the big city stores so they ordered from catalogs.
M: Was Ward the only one in the business?
W: At first, [20]but another person named Richard Sears started his own catalog after he heard how much money Ward was making.
M: What made them so popular?
W: [21]Farmers trusted Ward and Sears for one thing. They delivered the products the farmers paid for and even refunded the price of things the farmers weren't satisfied with. The catalogs became so popular that in some countries school teachers even used them as textbooks.
M: [22]Textbooks?
W: Yeah, [22]students practice spelling the names and adding up the prices of things in the catalogs.
M: Was everybody that thrilled about it?
W: That's doubtful. Say they drove some small store owners out of business. Sears and Ward sold stuff in such large quantities. They were able to undercut the prices at some small family owned stores.

答案解析：
Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
19. What is the conversation mainly about?
[B]解析：尽管四个选项在对话中都有提及，但A、C、D只是对话的一部分，只有B可以涵盖对话中的所有内容。长对话的主旨大意题，关键是听对话的第一个话轮（对话双方各发言一次叫一个话轮）。由order，catalog两个关键词即可推出答案是B。尽管C中也有catalog，但它提到textbook，没有涵盖原文主要内容，而只是其中一个细节。
20. Why did Richard Sears start his own business in catalog?
[C]解析：对话中女士说到：“在得知Ward赚了多少钱以后，另一个名叫Richard Sears的人也开展自己的邮购业务。”可见，Sears是为了赚大钱，所以选C。“转折but处出题”。没有理由听不懂“how much money Ward was making”！profitable是make money的同义替换。
21. Who were the main customers of Sears and Ward's business?
[A]解析：女士说：“邮购业务很受农场主欢迎”，并说“农场主们依赖Ward和Sears”。可知该业务的主要客户是农场主。本题较简单，对话中多次提到farmers。
22. Why was the catalog used as textbooks?
[A]解析：男士很惊奇地问：“Textbooks?”，下文女士给出了解释：“是啊，学生们用邮购表中事物的名称练习拼写，用其中的价格练习加法运算。”所以选 A。适用“听到什么选什么”的原则。spelling与adding两个词一定会很“夺耳”！