新编四级听力练习 第234期

Passage One
The space shuttle Discovery has safely returned to earth after 2 weeks in earth's orbit. Discovery commander Eileen Collins guided the shuttle to an easy landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California early Tuesday. [26]American Space Agency officials described Discovery's trip as wildly successful. But they refused to say when the shuttle may fly again. The Space Agency has suspended all future shuttle flights until it can discover why a piece of hard protective material broke off from Discovery. A similar incident damaged the Columbia space shuttle in 2003. Columbia was destroyed as it reentered earth's atmosphere.
Japan has marked the 60th anniversary of the atomic bomb attack on the city of Nagasaki. The American bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima ended World War II. [27]Nagasaki Mayor Iccho Itoh called for a world ban on nuclear weapons. He urged Americans to ask if the United States needs thousands of nuclear arms to guarantee its security. A short time later, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said he would work to keep Japan free of nuclear weapons.
[28]In Cambodia, an opposition politician has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for plotting to overthrow the government. Cheam Channy was arrested in February after the National Assembly canceled his parliamentary protection from legal charges. He denies any wrongdoing. A court found Cheam Channy and opposition member Khom Peseth guilty. Khom Peseth received a 5-year prison sentence.
Briefly, here again is the major news of the hour.
The American space shuttle Discovery has safely returned to earth.
Japan has marked the 60th anniversary of the atomic bomb attack on Nagasaki. And in Cambodia, an opposition politician has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for plotting to overthrow the government.

答案解析：
Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.
26. How did American Space Agency officials describe Discovery's trip?
[B]解析：原文说，“美国宇航局官员称，‘发现号’的旅程获得巨大成功”。因此选B。本题符合“听到什么选什么”的解题原则。wildly successful原词再现，容易听取。
27. What did Nagasaki Mayor call for?
[A]解析：预读选项，全是名词选项，核心词汇是Japan，world ban，nuclear weapons/research/technology，development，suspending，推测可能问新闻的主题或细节。新闻提到，“长崎市市长伊藤一长呼吁全世界禁止核武器”，听到什么选什么，由此选A。
28. What was the charge against the two opposition politicians?
[D]解析：第三则新闻开头即称，“在柬埔寨，一位反对派因密谋颠覆政府而被判入狱7年”，因此选D。选项都说plotting，只是该“阴谋”的具体内容不同。听到新闻开头的"plotting to..."时，集中注意力，就可以听到D中的"overthrow the government"原词再现了。