2011年9月中级口译听力真题（Talks and Conversations）+评析

Talks and Conversations 1：

WOMAN: Good morning. Mr. Papworth Smith’s surgery.

MAN: Hello, this is William Brown speaking.

WOMAN: Yes, what can I do for you?

MAN: I had an appointment with Mr. Papworth Smith at 10 o’clock this morning, the name is William Brown, and the registration number is 12.

WOMAN: Well, I have found your case history and the registration. You have a broken tooth that needs to be taken care of, right?

MAN: Yes, but I’m sorry, my car broke down on the way, and the guy in the garage said it wouldn’t be ready until about two in the afternoon, and there is no way I can find a taxi or a lift. I am calling from the garage.

WOMAN: You mean you couldn’t keep the appointment?

MAN: I’m afraid not. Can I still see Mr. Smith some other time?

WOMAN: Of course, but you need to make another appointment.

MAN: When? I hope it is today or tomorrow. That broken tooth of mine is really killing me; I can’t eat or sleep properly.

WOMAN: I see, well, what about tomorrow at nine.

MAN: Oh, that’s fine, thank you very much.

11. Why was the man telephoning?

12. What is Mr. Papworth Smith?

13. At what time was the man’s appointment that day?

14. Which of the following is true about the man?

评析：这是个关于和医生与时间会诊的通话。病人打电话说因为车坏了不能按原定好的时间（10 o’clock this morning）履约，但是病人牙痛确实厉害，想和医生另约时间。最后双方约定时间（tomorrow at nine）。整片材料内容较简单，考生需要熟悉电话交际语的特点，并做好相关信息的笔录。

Talks and Conversations 2

According to the United Nations, a tourist is someone who travels at least 50 miles or 80 kilometers for recreation. In the United States, people love to take trips. They spend more on vacation than anyone else in the world. Many of them take package tours; however, the first vacation package was attributed to an Englishman, names Thomas Cook. In 1841, he took 500 travelers to a nearby town. The price of the tour included a train ticket and a meal along the way. In 1845, Thomas Cook sold the first vacation package tour to Europe. And 1866, his company was organizing trips to the U.S. Today, tourism is a big business. And the tourist industry is crucial to many countries’ economy. It is estimated that 80% of jobs in the world, that’s more than 200 million people depend on tourism. Some local governments, like the British Virgin Islands in the Caribbean, are almost totally depended on visitors. About 95% of the islands income comes from tourism. For other places in the world, tourism is ever growing. It is estimated that by the year 2015, people worldwide will spend some five thousand billion U.S. dollars for vacation abroad. Regions in Asia, the Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa will see the greatest growth.

Q15 What is a package tour?

Q16 According to the talk, who first introduced the package tour?

Q17 Which of the following is true about the British Virgin Islands?

Q18 How much will be spent by people worldwide on vacation in abroad by the year 2015?

本文是说明文，介绍了跟“旅游”相关的诸多内容。涉及到旅游的定义，旅游的发展历史；旅游产业现在的情况以及对2015年旅游业发展的推测。文章本身没有特别生僻的词，但其中涉及到的人名（Thomas Cook）、年份、金额、比例等等是笔记的难点也是考点。

Talks and Conversations 3

W：When are you going to finish that book on American history？

M： Oh, I should get through it sometime this weekend, I guess. Anyway, it was only a week since I borrowed that book from you.

W：Well, if you finish it tonight, I can take it back to the library tomorrow on my way home from work.

M： What’s the hurry? Don’t you have anything else to read?

W：I won’t have anything if I don’t get to the library tomorrow.

M： You read too much.

W：I’d rather read than watch television. The TV programs seem to be getting worse all the time.

M： Well, I don’t think I can read that fast, but I do enjoy reading, especially novels and biographies or the like.

W：What do you think about joining a book club? If we join one, we can keep up with all the latest best-sellers.

M： That’s sort of expensive, isn’t it？

W： It isn’t any more expensive than going to a movie, the way admission prices have gone up, and the new movies don’t seem to be much better than TV.

M： How does the book club work?

W：With the Internet, it’s much easier and faster than it used to be. Once you have gone through the registration online, a catalogue of books will be sent to you every month. And you can choose as many books from it as you want.

M： What do you do if you don’t like any of the books?

W：You have to take four each year. That’s all.

M： What happens if you decide you don’t want a book that they do send you?

W：You can return it.

M： And what about the prices?

W：The books are cheaper than they are in bookstores even with the mailing costs added in.

M： Well, go ahead. Join the book club if you want to.

Q19. What has the man been reading recently?

Q20. Which of the following is true about the woman?

Q21. What does the woman recommend the man to do?

Q22. What does the man suppose to do if he has registered online?

评析：这是篇关于读书和加入读书俱乐部的材料。材料中女生喜欢看书胜过看电视，并提议男生和她一起加入读书俱乐部，这样可以读到最新的书，同时也可以省一笔开支。整体来看难度不大。

Talks and conversations 4

Do you want to improve the first impression you make? Do you want people to consider you as capable as a man working in the same field? As a woman, you have to pay more attention to the impression you’re making, because you have to overcome the initial stereotype that pops up in the other person’s mind “oh, it’s a woman.”

Here are a few tips: If you are entering a room with others, try to walk in first. This makes a powerful impression on the people already in the room. If you are on your own, walking into a room full of people, stand to the side and quickly survey the room to plan where you’ll go. Suppose then, you see a group of higher-ups, you’d better take this opportunity to walk over and ask them a question related to business. If that is something out of your comfort zone, you can approach the group and stand a little outside of their circle and smile. Wait for a low in the conversation, and I bet someone will say hello. Then, you need to know about the handshake, as a woman, you can’t get away with the advice given to man for a powerful handshake. That’s the one where he puts his hand out, palm down and dominates the shake. My advice is for you to be the first one to put your hand out, thumb facing up. It’s important to be the first, because that’s powerful, but more importantly, because men often don’t know if you will be OK with a handshake. Let him know you are, also, face him directly, not at an angle, which looks tentative and unsure. Grip his hand firmly and fully, not any of these fingertips stuff, smile, look in his eyes, and say something.

23. What is the initial stereotype mentioned in the talk?

24. According to the speaker’s advice, what should a woman do if she is entering a meeting room with other people?

25. What’s a woman advised to do if she meets with a group of high-ranking individuals in a room?

26. What should be avoided in a handshake according to the speaker?

这篇文章主要是关于女性在职场上如何能够给人留下较好的初印象，从而改变传统意义上女不如男的偏见。文章条理清晰，分不同情景，给出建议。分别是，1. 与其他人一起进入房间；2. 一个人进入房间；3. 有权贵人士在场；4. 握手时注意事项

Talks and Conversations 5

W: Recently I read a report about the higher education in Britain. It says that only about 10% of our students leave university without getting a degree.

M: That may be true. For me, I am not worried about failing but I am very anxious to get a good degree. My aim is to get a first-class honors degree in chemistry at Cambridge since I have a plan to take up a scientific post in industry. My criterion for choosing a good university is whether it has progressive ideas on education as well as its broader and more varied courses.

M: It wouldn’t work. There will be too many different opinions. Some professors and lecturers are more interested in their own research than in helping students in their studies.

W: Well, there must be some brilliant scholars in the university such as yours.
M: Yes, I still go to classes as well as to lectures, but the most important person in my academic life is my tutor who in Cambridge is called a supervisor. I enjoy my weekly tutorials. My supervisor is an approachable man and he is always ready to talk to me about anything connected with my studies.

W: Haven’t other universities now introduced some form of tutorial supervision like that at Oxford and Cambridge?

M: Yes, in fact, to be honest, there are universities which offer better courses and give better teaching in some subjects than either Oxford or Cambridge. I think that an Oxbridge degree still counts more with some employers than a degree from other universities. But most of them are now more concerned with the kind of degree than where it comes from.

W: Anyway, at our universities, the personal supervision and friendly relations with the teaching staff are especially good. The lecturer-student ratio is quite reasonable.
M: I am not so sure. But at least we are not over-crowded. I’ve heard that in some foreign universities lecture halls are packed so full that students have no where to sit.

Q 27 What are the man and the woman in the conversation?

Q 28 What’s the woman’s criterion for choosing a good university?

Q 29 Who is the most important person in the man’s academic life?

Q 30 Why is the man complaining about some foreign universities?

评析：这篇对话是关于英国高等教育。通过对话，女主人公阐述了自己择校的标准（whether it has progressive ideas on education as well as its broader and more varied courses），男主人公则提到了在自己学术生涯中最为重要的一个人（the most important person in my academic life is my tutor who in Cambridge is called a supervisor），男女主人公海还交流了自己对牛津，剑桥大学的看法。
整体来看，对话取材贴近生活，难度不大。