2011年3月高口听力上半场第二部分原文

2011年3月上海高级口译考试听力原文（Section 1 - Listening Comprehension）

Part B: Listening Comprehension
Directions: In this part of the test there will be some short talks and conversations. After each one, you will be asked some questions. The talks, conversations and questions will be spoken ONLY ONCE. Now listen carefully and choose the right answer to each question you have heard and write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.

Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following conversation.

W: Hi, Robert, you are 20 now, right?
Robert: Right.
W: What do you think about what Nina said?
Robert: I definitely agree that younger people are less intimidated by technology. But when I compare myself with other people my age, I don’t see myself as particularly good with computers. Most of my friends are much better with computers than I am. But this summer, I worked in an office with lots of adults, and I realized that I am a lot more comfortable with technology than they are.
W: Do you use e-mail a lot?
Robert: Well, I do agree that letters make better keep-seeks, but e-mails are just so much more convenient. For example, I’m away at college now, and I don’t know how I could keep in touch with my high school friends without e-mail. I like e-mail, because it’s such a casual form of communication. It’s great for just saying “hello” and checking upon people. For more standard interaction, I still use the phone a lot, but for just telling people that you thought of them that day or that you missed them, e-mail is great.
W: How often would you say that you e-mail people?
Robert : Well, I check my e-mail at least 5 times a day. I would estimate, actually probably a bit more. I also have “IM”, that is, instant messaging, configure to that it loads the program automatically whenever it turn on my computer, so I am on that a lot as well. It definitely makes you spend more time on the computer than you meant to. Sometimes I just turn on my computer to check on one little thing. And all of a sudden, three people send the instant messages, and I talk to them for half an hour. But it’s not a waste of time, because I love to hear from my friends.
W: So young people are better with computers than the adults?
Robert: I don’t know if kids are really better with computers or just more used to them. Computers can definitely be intimidating, especially when they go wrong. For people who are familiar with them, I think a typical response is to use them as little as possible. My dad is like that. But once you get over you initial fear or just fiddling around with them and testing things out, it becomes a lot more fun, and it’s really not difficult.
W: What about your friends?
Robert: Well, I guess my generation is hooked on the internet but people don’t make it their whole life. It’s just one other thing they like to do. It really opens up a lot of doors, the internet, it makes lots of things accessible. My college now is a pretty web-based school. At first, I was a little bit surprised at how much the internet was used. Like for example, all of my syllabi for my classes are on line.
W: Do you think the internet has any disadvantages?
Robert: Well, something that is bad about the internet is that not everyone has access to it. I feel like when my generation is grown up and part of the workforce, computer skills are just going to be assumed. They won’t be an added asset that I think that they are today. So what will happen to the people of my generation who don’t have these computer skills, you know? They are really going to be added disadvantage. So I think the internet could increase these disparities between different classes, which is horrible or maybe technology just illuminates existing disparities in a different way. I’m not sure. In my own life, though I love having the internet. I don’t know what I do without it.

Question1. Which of the following statements does Robert definitely agree with?
Question2. Robert explains why he uses e-mail a lot, which of the following is not one of his reasons?
Question3. What makes Robert spend a lot of time on the computer?
Question4. What does Robert think is bad about the internet?
Question5. According to Robert, what will happen to people in his generation who don’t have these computer skills?

Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following news.

Islamabad Pakistan
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry defended its refusal to allow U.S. officials to visit a nuclear reactor that the United States helped to build in the 1960s or remove highly enriched uranium from it. The uranium had been provided by the United States.
"We said no, because it's now our property, and we will not return it," Foreign Ministry spokesman Abdul Basit said in a statement. "This only shows that Pakistan is very sensitive about its nuclear program. ... No one can touch Pakistan's nuclear facilities and assets."

Washington, the united states
Foreign governments reacted with a mixture of denials and dismissiveness yesterday to the massive leaking of US diplomatic cables, questioning the decision to make the material public but also insisting, for the most part, that the revelations were either untrue or unlikely to affect world events.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused the US a purposely leaking the confidential cables, some of which discussed the Iran nations concerns about Iran’s nuclear program and whether it should be contained by diplomatic efforts or destroyed. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the cables provide proof that the Arab world agrees with his country assessment that Iran is the chief danger to the middle east.

Port-au-Prince Haiti
A quiet tension settled over Haiti on Monday as people waited to learn how electoral officials proceed in handling Sunday’s chaos-marred national balloting and in the international community hoped the earthquake-ravaged country did not descend yet again into violence.
A leading presidential candidate, singer Michel Martelly, who joined 11 others the day before in asking for the elections to be canceled, suggested he was now open to letting the results be counted, while still insisting “massive fraud” had been committed.
Word was spreading that Martelly and Mirlande Manigat, a professor and former first lady, were the front-runners, despite allegations that President Rene Preval tried to steal the election for his Unity party and its candidate, Jude Celestin.

Tokyo, Japan
Factories in Japan cut output in October, adding to evidence of an Asia-wide slowdown and boding ill for the rest of the world that has relied on the region to keep the global economy humming. Japanese companies cut production for the fifth month which fell by a biggest margin since February 2010
The fall in Japan was expected -- in fact a drop of 1.8 percent was smaller than forecast 3.3 percent -- after a key stimulus measure, incentives for buyers of fuel-efficient cars, expired in September, and exports continued to cool.
The drop, however, confirmed expectations that the world's third-largest economy would contract in the final quarter of the year after a stimulus-driven spurt in the third quarter.

Cancun, Mexico
Global talks on climate change opened in Cancun, Mexico, on Monday with the toughest issues unresolved and little expectation of a breakthrough on shaping an international treaty to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases linked to global warming.
The United States entered the talks in a weak position because of a lack of action on domestic climate and energy legislation and continuing disputes with China and other major developing nations over verification of emissions reductions. The United Nations negotiating process itself is on the line, with many saying that the 190-nation talks cannot survive another debacle like that at Copenhagen last December.

6. Why did Pakistan ministry refuse to allow US officials to visit a Nuclear reactor?
7. What did the Iranian president accuse the United States of in reacting to the massive leaking of US diplomatic cables?
8. What was the presidential candidate Michel Martell's attitude now toward the national balloting held on Sunday in Haiti?
9. By what percentage did Japanese companies cut production for the fifth month since February 2010?
10. Which of the following statements does not apply to the global talks on climate change held in Cancun, Mexico?

Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following interview

Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following interview.
M: Today we continue our series ——traditional dress throughout the world. Our journey takes us to Sri Lanka. Shirnica De Selva, a native Sri Lankan, now living in Los Angles California shares her thoughts on traditional dress in her home country. Shirnica, thanks for joining us today.
W: My pleasure.
M: First of all, I’d like to ask you what’s the traditional clothing of Sri Lanka？
W: Well, for women, it’s a sari. It’s a long piece of cloths that swept around your waist, and then it goes over your shoulder.
M: And do most women in Sri Lanka wear saris?
W: Most of the older women wear a sari every day. The younger women tend to wear dresses or pants or something.
M: Why don’t the younger women wear saris?
W: Well, I guess some of them feel that the saris are hot and difficult to walk in because they are long.
M: Sounds like saris aren’t very practical.
W: Some people feel that way. Also many younger women think saris are old-fashioned. They are great for formal occasions, but if you’re hanging out with friends, you want something more modern.
M: So younger women want to be more modern?
W: Actually I shouldn’t say all younger women. It depends on your family history. You see there are two main groups of people in Sri Lanka: the Santolis and the Tamaos. Then there are some other ethnic groups, like the Sri Lankans who are part European. The women who are part European tend to wear western clothing because they have relatives who wear western clothing. But the women who are Santolis or Tamao tend to be more traditional
M: Because they didn’t have that western influence?
W: Right.
M: So you are saying that family background can influence the way you dress?
W: Yes, I think it does.
M: We’ve been talking about what women wear. How about the men? Do they have traditional clothing?
W: The men, I guess, used to wear sarong. It’s this long piece of cloth that swept around the waist.
M: You say ‘used to’, don’t they wear them any more?
W: People who live in the countryside still wear sarongs. But in the city, men wear pants and shirts. They only wear sarongs to relax at home.
M: Interesting. Can I switch here and ask you a personal question?
W: Sure.
M: Is traditional clothing important to you?
W: It’s funny, because when I was a kid growing up in Sri Lanka, I didn’t want to wear saris. But now that I’m older, I like to wear them sometimes, like my wedding. I wore a white sari for my wedding.
M: Why has your attitude changed, do you think?
W: I guess when you are older, you can see the value and more; when you are younger, you are more interested in being in style, wearing Levis and stuff like that. Now I think about saris and something unique from my culture. It’s nice to have something different to wear. And in the US, a sari is really exotic.
M: It certainly is. Well, unfortunately our time’s up. Thanks for talking with us, Shirnica.
W: You are welcome.

11. What’s the main topic of this interview?
12. There are several reasons why the younger women don’t wear saris in Sri Lanka. Which of the following is not one of the reasons?
13. According to the interviewee, which of the following factors also affects the way people dress in Sri Lanka?
14. What can we know from the interview about the men’s clothing in Sri Lanka?
15. Why has the interviewee’ attitude towards clothing changed?

Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following talk.

So, is everyone awake? I guess that’s a good question at the start of an early morning lecture about sleep. Seriously, how many of you feel you didn’t get enough sleep last night? Raise your hands! en… about a third of you. That’s interesting, because it shows that you are not so different from the population in general. About 30% percent of adults say they frequently don’t feel rested when they wake up in the morning. And why is that? Well, in most cases, it’s because they stayed up too late partying or watching TV. But in a small percentage of cases, they could be suffering from a sleep disorder, a condition that interferes with a person’s capability to sleep normally. There are many kinds of sleep disorders, but the three that I want to describe today are called sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and insomnia. Ok, the first sleep disorder that I listed is sleep apnea, that’s a-p-n-e-a. People with sleep apnea stop breathing, sometimes for 10 seconds or longer, and not just once, it can happen several hundred times a night. Each time this happens, they wake up and go right back to sleep, so their sleep is constantly interrupted. But in the morning they don’t remember waking up. They just feel tired and sleepy. Then how do you know if you have this problem? The usual symptoms are heavy breathing and snoring, combined with feeling tired all the time. The cause of this problem is that air can’t go into and out of the nose or mouth, usually because the throat is too relaxed. Consequently, the treatment is very simple. The person wears a soft mask attached to a machine that helps to regulating his or her breathing throughout the night. In an extreme case of apnea, surgery may be necessary. The second sleep disorder that I want to describe today is called narcolepsy. That spells n-a-r-c-o-l-e-p-s-y. Perhaps you’ve seen a movie in which people are sitting at a table, eating and talking, and suddenly one person just falls over. Perhaps his face falls into his soup. It’s funny in a movie, but in reality this could be a symptom of narcolepsy. Narcoleptic persons get sudden attacks of sleep, in the middle of the day, any time, any place. They can’t control it. They simply fall asleep for brief periods of time. By the way, this disorder appears to be particularly frequent among students enrolled in 8 AM classes. But seriously, narcolepsy can be quite scary. The cause is high levels of certain chemicals in the part of brain that regulates sleep. Once narcolepsy is diagnosed, it’s usually treated successfully with medication. Sleep apnea and narcolepsy are serious problems but they are real conditions. In contrast, the third sleep disorder I want to discus, insomnia, is quite common. Insomnia means difficulties either falling asleep or staying asleep. Almost everybody has insomnia once and a while. But I want to talk about chronic insomnia which when sleeping becomes difficult for weeks, months or years at a time. The cause could be either psychological or physical. Most often is psychological, that is, it is caused by stress, you know, worrying about problems at work or home and so on. Or the cause can be physical, such as too much caffeine or nicotine in the body. Both of these chemicals are stimulants that can keep you from sleeping. Stimulants are substances that make you feel awake and energetic. As I said, coffee and cigarettes are both stimulants. Now that brings us to treatments for insomnia. Obviously, if you have trouble sleeping, the first thing you should do is avoid coffee, tea and cigarettes in the evening. You should also avoid alcohol. Many people say that a glass of beer or wine helps them sleep. That may be true once in a while, but drinking alcohol every night is dangerous because after a while it stops working. And as everyone knows, alcohol is addictive. You should also avoiding sleeping pills for the same reason because they are addictive. These are the things you shouldn’t do if you have insomnia. Now what should you do?

16. According to the lecturer, about what percentage of adults, say they often don’t feel rested when they wake up in the morning?

17. The lecturer discus several types of sleep disorders, which of the following is not one of the disorders?

18．Which of the following is not a symptom of sleep apnea?

19．Which of the following is true with people who suffer from narcolepsy?

20．What can we learn from chronic insomnia?