最新版雅思听力指南 Listening Test4-section2

[00:03.34]In a moment,you are going to hear the rest of Yuki and Michael's conversation.

[00:10.63]They are discussing a book on the subject of famous first events in modern history.

[00:19.04]Before you listen,look at Questions 22 to 33.

[00:26.54]Note the examples that have been done for you.

[00:33.54]As you listen to the conversation,answer Questions 22 to 33.

[00:41.33]Yuki:So,Michael,what is that book you're reading?

[00:45.90]Michael:It's titled "Did You Know...

[00:49.89]Famous Firsts throughout the Modern Age."by Herbert Brown.

[00:55.69]It's a compilation 1 of facts and dates about the first time certain events happened

[01:02.17]or when important items were invented.

[01:06.95]Yuki:I am not sure I understand what you mean.

[01:11.37]Well,the chapter I am reading right now is named 'Transportation Firsts'.

[01:18.37]So,for instance,it contains facts such as train services that carried passengers

[01:25.45]were first used 1830 in Britain.

[01:30.93]Yuki:That book sounds rather interesting.What else does it say?

[01:36.73]Michael:Well,the first Underground was used in London in 1863.

[01:43.24]Yuki:What is an 'Underground'?  Michael:Oh,right, sorry.

[01:47.94]'Underground'is the name we in the UK use to refer tothe subway.

[01:54.34]Yuki:How adorable! Underground!Yes I understand now.

[02:00.53]You British are so clever with your terminology 2.

[02:06.04]You know,I bet they invented the subway

[02:10.93]just so the people of London do not have to stand in the rain

[02:16.20]while waiting for their trains to arrive

[02:20.09]I hear London weather is terrible.

[02:23.88]Michael:You really shouldn't believe everything you hear,Yuki.

[02:28.98]Actually,it doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

[02:34.49]I mean,the weather is not anywhere

[02:38.98]near as nice as it is here in New Zealand,but it's not bad either.

[02:44.99]Did you know that Milan and Paris both get much more rain than London?

[02:51.39]Ok,ok,so next time I'm in the London area I'll be sure to check the weather.

[02:59.28]So what else does your book have to say?

[03:03.38]You just can't admit when you're wrong,can you Yuki?Let's see...

[03:09.39]The first bullet train was used in Japan in 1964.

[03:16.39]It went 130 miles per hour.

[03:21.09]Yuki:130 miles per hour in 1964?

[03:27.28]Wow,that seems to me to be quite technologically 3 advanced for the time

[03:34.49]Leave it to the Japanese to figure out a way to take something

[03:39.48]that was invented in England 100 years earlier

[03:44.50]and modify it to be even faster and more modern. Michael:Very funny.

[03:51.58]The first cable cars were used in San Francisco,USA,in 1873.

[03:59.36]Yuki:Well,of course they were!I was there last summer.

[04:04.66]San Francisco is famous for its cable cars.

[04:09.65]The city is built on very hilly terrain 4,

[04:14.56]so the city had to design a mass transit 5 system

[04:19.87]that could make it up sharp inclines.

[04:24.36]Engineers came up with a system of cables,pulleys and levers.

[04:30.47]The cars were literally 6 pulled up the hills.

[04:35.36]Actually,the city still operates some of the cable cars,

[04:40.95]and it's really quite a lot of fun to ride up the steep hills of the city

[04:47.03]on one of those old things.

[04:50.53]It makes you feel as though you are a part of history.

[04:56.54]Michael:I didn't know that you'd been to the States.

[05:00.33]Where else did you go?

[05:03.54]Yuki:I only visited California.I have relatives in Los Angeles.

[05:10.13]Michael:In that case,

[05:13.00]did you know that the first trolley 7 was used in Los Angeles in 1910?

[05:19.90]Yuki:Now,how would I know that?

[05:23.68]I don't even think I have ever seen a trolley. Michael:You're kidding!

[05:28.49]Well,these days we don't have many historic things

[05:33.09]of that nature just lying about Japan.

[05:37.48]Oh,I forgot the Japanese went immediately from Shinto shrines 8 to bullet trains.

[05:44.89](Michael laughs) Hey,here is something interesting!

[05:49.60]Taxicabs were first used in 1896 in Stuttgart,Germany.

[05:56.28]That doesn't surprise me at all.

[05:59.99]Also,the name of the first commercial jetliner was theComet.

[06:06.58]Yuki:Comet,I lik that.I've been looking for a name for my cat.

[06:13.37]I think I am going to name him'Comet'.

[06:18.57]Michael:Really,I don't know why I bother with you sometimes.

[06:23.87]Yuki:Because no one else wants to talk to you!

[06:28.05]Michael:I'll ignore that.The first jumbo jet was used in 1970;

[06:34.95]it was the Boeing 747.

[06:39.02]Yuki:Don't they still use those?

[06:42.42]Michael:I think so,but now they have ven larger jumbo jets.

[06:48.01]The largest are used by the military.

[06:51.82]In 1976 the Concord 9 flew its first passenger flight.

[06:58.22]Ynki:What's the Concord?

[07:01.51]Michael:The Concord was the world's first supersonic plane.

[07:06.81]It broke the sound barrier.Imagine flying faster than sound.

[07:13.01]That's even stranger than crossing the international date-line.

[07:17.81]Yuki:Michael,may I see your book?

[07:21.81]Michael:Feel free.Here you are.

[07:25.41]Yuki:Let's find a more interesting chapter,shall we?Hmmm...

[07:31.40]Here we are.

[07:34.30]This chapter is about firsts in the fashion world.

[07:39.08]Michael:Right.How about we look at another chapter?

[07:44.09]Yuki:Hey!I had to sit through you telling me about trolleys 10 and taxis.

[07:49.89]Now you're going to learn about fashion.

[07:54.28]Besides,here is something that relates to your life.

[07:59.37]The first pair of blue jeans was manufactured in America over a hundred years ago;

[08:07.16]Levi Strauss made them in 1850.

[08:11.76]Michael:So are the Levis jeans of today related to Levi Strauss?

[08:17.87]Yuki:They are one and the same company.

[08:21.55]Haven't you ever read the big brown tag on the back of every pair of Levis jeans?

[08:28.76]Hey,listen to this:European shoemakers first made shoes

[08:34.95]with different shapes for the left and right feet in 1818.

[08:41.06]Don't you think that sounds a bit late?

[08:44.75]You'd think they would have figured that one out quicker.

[08:49.74]Shoes must have been uncomfortable before 1818.

[08:55.04]On the other hand,contact lenses have been in existence since 1887.

[09:02.82]They were invented in Switzerland.

[09:06.30]I would have thought they were a relatively 11 more modern invention.

[09:12.49]Michael:Yeah,but who would have thought that nowadays people,

[09:17.27]who do not even need to wear contact lenses

[09:21.87]choose to wear them only to change their eye color.Crazy world!

[09:28.16]Well it makes sense,then,that only 29 years after contact lenses were invented

[09:35.66]wearing false eyelashes became popular in Europe and America.

[09:41.46]At the same time,using nail polish became fashionable as well.

[09:47.65]Michael:So,once women were able to take off their glasses

[09:52.74]they wanted to dress up their now exposed eyes somehow.

[09:58.44]So they started to wear false eyelashes.

[10:02.83]I can see that.Forgive the pun.

[10:06.82]Yuki:Your sense of humor really leaves something to be desired.

[10:12.44]You know that,don't you?

[10:16.44]Here's something else that should interest you.

[10:20.64]A French designer first produced the bikini in 1946.

[10:26.94]Muchael:So when did the first swim suit magazine come out?1947?

[10:33.44]Yuki:(mockingly) Ha,Ha,Michael.

[10:36.63]No wonder you don't have a girlfriend.

[10:40.84]Michael:But I thought you were my girlfriend,Yuki.

[10:45.43]Yuki:Sure,I am.Just keep telling yourself that.

[10:50.14]Sometimes I don't even want to admit that I know you.

[10:54.94]Michael:(laughing)Stop it!You're hurting my feelings! Yuki:Anyway...

[11:01.52]miniskirts were first made popular in

[11:05.50]1965 by a British designer named Mary Quant.

[11:11.27]You know how I told you that my mother keeps everything she's ever owned?

[11:16.86]Well,in her closet at home she has a bunch of miniskirts

[11:22.45]that she bought when she was a teenager in the sixties.

[11:27.54]She and my grandparents were visiting London in the late sixties,

[11:33.13]and they were all the rage,very fashionable;so she bought a couple.

[11:39.32]However,she couldn't wear them in Tokyo,

[11:43.53]because,at that time,Japan was a very conservative place.

[11:49.12]If she had worn one of those miniskirts in public,

[11:53.69]she would probably have caused a riot!

[11:57.87]Now every girl in Tokyo wears them.How things have changed!

[12:03.38]Michael:Well,you know,in the sixties everyone said 'London swings'.

[12:09.08]Now I guess it would be appropriate to say'Tokyo swings'.

[12:15.19]Question 22-32 according to section 3. Question 22-23.

[12:17.18]Write no more than three words for each answer.

[12:19.19]Example: Book:Did you know (Famous Firsts)

[12:21.17]throughout the Mordern Age,by Herbert Brown.

[12:23.18]22.The'Underground' is the British term for (  ).

[12:25.14]With the bullet train,Japan improved on the subway system,

[12:27.13]which had been invented by the British over 100 years earlier.

[12:29.14]23.Cable cars were invented in orer to create a mass transit system

[12:31.12]that would word in a city lots of (  )

[12:33.14]The first trolley was used on Los Angeles in 1910.

[12:35.12]Question 24-26. 24.The Comet was (  )

[12:37.13]A.the name of the first taxicab  B.the name of the first commercial jet liner

[12:39.12]C.the name of Yuki's cat

[12:41.10]D.the last name of the inventor of the first aeroplane

[12:43.09]25.The first (  ) was introduced in 1970,by the Boeing company.

[12:45.07]26.The Concord is able to fly (  ).

[12:47.09]Question 27-32

[12:49.07]27.Which country or region was different shapes for shoes intented in 1818?

[12:51.08]28.When was contact Lenses first intented ?

[12:53.07]29.Which country or region did False Eyelashes become popular?

[12:55.08]30.When was Nail Polsih popular?

[12:57.06]31.When was Bikini first intented ?

[12:59.05]32.Which country or region did Miniskirts become popular?

[13:01.06]Section 4 Thursten Tenent:Hello students.

[13:03.96]I am extremely pleased to see so many of you have decided 12 to attend this meeting.

[13:10.44]First off,I would like to thank Headmaster Williams

[13:15.61]for allowing me to take some time away from your regular courses,

[13:21.20]so that I am able to give this lecture.

[13:25.49]Let me just mention now

[13:29.06]that we will be discussing stereotypes 14 about British culture.

[13:35.18]With that said,let's begin,shall we?

[13:39.67]Societies change over time,while their reputations lag behind.

[13:47.17]Many things which are often regarded as typically British

[13:52.68]derive from books,songs or plays which were written a long time ago

[13:59.26]and which are no longer representative of modern life.

[14:05.03]One example of this

[14:09.11]is the popular belief that Britain is a 'land of tradition'.

[14:15.20]This is what most tourist brochures claim.

[14:19.90]The claim is based on what can be seen in public life

[14:25.10]and in the centuries of political continuity.

[14:29.80]At the level of public life,this is undoubtedly 15 true.

[14:35.70]The annual ceremony of the state opening of Parliament,for instance,

[14:41.40]carefully follows customs that are centuries old.

[14:46.70]Likewise,the changing of the guard ritual outside Buckingham Palace

[14:53.28]itself never changes.

[14:56.68]There are many examples of supposedly typical British habits

[15:02.87]which are simply not typical anymore.For example,

[15:07.96]the stereotyped 16 image of the London "city gent"

[15:12.98]includes the wearing of a bowler 17 hat.

[15:17.58]In fact,this type of hat has not been commonly worn for a long time.

[15:24.76]Food and drink provide other examples.

[15:29.15]The traditional "British" (or "English") breakfast is a large "fry-up"

[15:36.15]preceded by cereal with milk and followed by toast,butter and marmalade,

[15:42.94]all washed down with lots of tea.  In fact,

[15:48.24]only 10 percent of the people in Britain actually have this sort of breakfast.

[15:54.96]Two-thirds have cut out the fry-up and just have the cereal,tea and toast.

[16:02.25]The rest have even less.

[16:05.75]What the vast majority of British people have in the mornings

[16:10.55]is much closer to what is called a "continental 18" breakfast,

[16:16.54]which is a European style breakfast,not British style.

[16:22.13]The image of the British as a nation of tea-drinkers

[16:27.01]is another stereotype 13 that is somewhat out of date.

[16:32.18]It is true that tea is still prepared in a distinctive 19 way(strong and with milk)

[16:39.97]but more coffee than tea is now bought in the country's shops.

[16:45.37]As for the tradition of afternoon tea with biscuits,scones,sandwiches or cake,

[16:51.96]this is a minority activity,

[16:55.85]largely confined to retired 20 people and the leisured upper middle class.

[17:02.43]Even when a British habit conforms to the stereotype,

[17:07.42]the wrong conclusions can sometimes be drawn 21 from it.

[17:12.52]The supposed British love of queues is an example.

[17:17.32]Yes,British people do form queues whenever they are waiting for something,

[17:23.62]but this does not mean they enjoy it.

[17:27.61]In 1992,a survey found that the average wait to pay in a British supermarket

[17:35.11]was three minutes and twenty-three seconds,

[17:40.02]and that the average wait to be served in a bank

[17:44.02]was two minutes and thirty-three seconds.

[17:48.93]You might think that these times sound very reasonable.

[17:53.82]But the Sunday Times newspaper did not think so.

[17:59.12]It referred to these figures as a "problem"

[18:03.72]Some banks now promise to serve their customers "within two minutes"

[18:10.01]It would therefore seem wrong to conclude that their habit of queuing

[18:15.50]shows that the British are a patient people.

[18:20.09]Apparently,the British hate having to wait,

[18:25.01]and have less patience than people in many other countries.