2014年英语专业八级考试真题听力MP3下载附试题和答案文本

SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST
News 1:
An Italian cash-strapped budget airline, Wind Jet, has suspended all its flights, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded. At Rome airport, some 200 Israeli nationals ─ who had been due to fly to Tel Aviv ─ spent the night at the terminal. Another five flights to destinations across Italy were cancelled as well. Further chaos is expected as some 300,000 passengers across Italy have booked tickets with Wind Jet in coming weeks. Alitalia, Italy's national airline,says it will help Wind Jet passengers to find alternative flights, but only on payment of supplements.
 

News 2:
Researchers studying fossils from northern Kenya have identified a new species of human that lived two million years ago. The discoveries suggest that at least three distinct species of humans co-existed in Africa. The research has been published in the journal Nature. Anthropologists have discovered three human fossils that are between 1.78 and 1.95 million years old. The specimens are of a face and two jawbones with teeth. The discoveries back the view that a skull found in 1972 is of a separate species of human, known as Homo rudolfensis. The skull was markedly differentto any others from that time. It had a relatively large brain and long flat face. But for 40 years the skull was the only example of the creature and so it was impossible to say for sure whether the individual was an unusual specimen or a member of a new species. With the discovery of the three new fossils researchers can say with more certainty that Homo rudolfensis really was a separate type of human that existed around two million years ago alongside other species of humans.
 

News 3:
Picasso's Nude Woman in a Red Armchair was covered up at the Edinburgh Airport. The Airport has reversed its decision to cover up a poster featuring a Picasso nude following complaints. The poster was advertising the Picasso and Modern British Art Exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. However, the airport decided to cover the image after several complaints from passengers in international arrivals. After gallery chiefs branded the move "bizarre", the airport has backed down and removed the cover. John Leighton, director-general of the National Galleries of Scotland, said, "It is obviously bizarre that all kinds of images of women in various states of dress and undress can be used in contemporary advertising without comment, but somehow a painted nude by one of the world's most famous artists is found to be disturbing and has to be removed. "I hope that the public will come and see the real thing, which is a joyous and affectionate portrait of one of Picasso's favorite models, an image that has been shown around the world." An Edinburgh Airport spokesperson said, "We have now reviewed our original decision and reinstated the image. And we are more than happy to display the image in the terminal and we'd like to apologize, particularly to the exhibition organizers, for the confusion."