全新版大学英语听说教程第二册_Test2

2-test2-A

Passage 1:

Born in January 1756 in Salzburg, Vienna, Mozart is one of the greatest musicians of all time. He began learning to play the violin when he was 4 years old and by 6 he was already composing music and performing in his first concert throughout Europe. In his lifetime he wrote a tremendous amount of music. The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute 1 are two of his greatest works. Everybody praised Mozart for his wonderful music, but nobody paid him any money. He became so poor that he couldn't pay his bills. In 1791, he suddenly fell ill. He was only 35 years old when he died. His grave is not even marked.

Passage 2:

There are three activities that are especially helpful in improving our ability to understand English. These three activities are listening comprehension, reading comprehension and dictation. Dictation involves the activity of writing down every word we hear. This helps us understand more fully 2 what we listen to. Full understanding does not begin until we hear almost everything and forget what we do not need. But the benefits of doing dictation go beyond just helping 3 us understand better. It also helps us with grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation, spelling, punctuation 4, etc. When there is no teacher around, dictation can effectively help us find out misunderstood points and other mistakes.

2-test2-B

Recent figures show that around 5 billion dollars' worth of energy is wasted in Hong Kong each year. There are, however, a few sensible things that we can do to save energy in our homes. Firstly a 30% energy saving can be made by regularly cleaning the filters on air-conditioners. You can keep costs down by setting air-conditioners to 25 degrees C since every one degree decrease adds 10% to the amount of energy used. Make sure that all leaks are fixed 5 immediately because even a small drip can waste up to 500 litres of water in a month. The temperature of refrigerators should be set to 3 degrees C because each degree lower than this adds 5% to the amount of energy consumed.

2-test2-C

1)

Dear Polly,

I've got a problem, and I can't solve it unless you help me. You remember Mrs. Young, our next-door neighbor. Well, Mrs. Young decided 6 to visit her son in Australia, and she asked me to take care of her pets for her while she was away. I was crazy enough to say yes, and now I've got three dogs on my hands, a white one, a brown one and a white and black one.

When Jack 7 got home from work, he was really mad. Jack doesn't like dogs, and, for some reason, dogs don't like Jack. Perhaps they think he smells funny or something. Anyway, the next morning while we were having our breakfast, the white dog bit Jack on the leg. "Get that animal out of here, or else I'll kill it," he yelled. The next evening, the brown dog bit him when he was coming back from work. Now he says that, unless I get rid of the dogs, he's going to move into a hotel until Mrs. Young gets back. On top of that, I'm really worried about the third dog, the white and black one. When I pick up the baby -- the dog growls 8 as if it were jealous.

Polly, I know that you and Alex love dogs. And besides, you have a lovely big yard. Could you possibly take care of them for me until Mrs. Young gets back in two weeks? Just two weeks, Polly -- please! If you can't take the dogs, maybe you could take Jack and the baby.

Your friend in need,

Alice

2)

Nowadays the computer is no longer an inaccessible 9 piece of high-tech 10 machinery 11. Instead, it is part of the common everyday equipment of the home, school or office. If you do not know how to use a computer, you are certainly behind the times. What can you do with a computer, then? First, you can be linked to the Internet and get access to an unlimited 12 source of information. Second, you can do word processing. Third, you can also do designing and store information. And then, you can use your computer to play games.

Although computers are very useful, we need to exercise some care when using them. For example, computers can damage your eyesight if you do not take frequent rests. Computer users can also get backaches if they do not sit properly. Then, there is the danger that people will become addicted 13 to computers and lose their social skills. These people will become socially awkward because they do not get enough real face-to-face contact. So bear in mind that while computers are useful they are not without disadvantages.

3)

Passage:

Do you have any singers you like? I'm sure you have. When you listen to them sing, you will feel happy or sad, peaceful or excited. Talented singers have the power to affect you in many ways -- emotionally, physically 14 and mentally.

But becoming a great singer isn't as easy as listening to one. It takes practice, devotion and strong lungs. Just ask the well-known American opera star Carol Vaness.

At the Metropolitan 15 Opera House in New York City where she often sings, Carol's voice must be loud enough to be heard by 4,000 people. It must reach every person in the theater, without a microphone, even when she's singing softly. The reason Carol can project her voice that far is the way she breathes.

Carol says, "When you breathe, it's like a swimmer taking a deep breath before going underwater. You have to take a lot of air into your lungs."

According to Carol, the main difference between pop singing and opera is "how you breathe, how much air you take in, and how you control it coming out. Regular singing is more like speaking, and it's a lot softer."