大学英语四级考试巅峰 Track 23

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[00:01.83]Model Test Two

[00:03.26]Section A

[00:05.01]Directions: In this section,

[00:08.95]you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations.

[00:14.52]At the end of each conversation,

[00:17.59]one or more questions will be asked about what was said.

[00:22.29]Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once.

[00:27.54]After each question there will be a pause.

[00:31.37]During the pause, you must read the four choices

[00:36.40]marked A) , B) , C) and D) , and decide which is the best answer.

[00:43.18]Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2

[00:48.43]with a single line through the centre.

[00:51.16]Now let's begin with the 8 short conversations.

[00:57.18]11. M: I wonder if you know a new client whose name is John Smith.

[01:05.38]W: That name rings a bell.

[01:08.11]Q: What does the woman mean?

[01:28.97]12. M: Let's try the soundproof room.

[01:32.13]It's sure to be a lot easier to work there.

[01:35.63]W: You've said it!

[01:37.61]Q: What does the woman mean?

[01:57.31]13. W: Won't you join us for a game of bridge?

[02:03.76]M: No, thanks. I am really not in the mood for bridge this evening.

[02:09.12]Q: Why doesn't the man want to join them for bridge?

[02:29.76]14. M: They said the train wouldn't arrive until nine.

[02:34.68]W: Well, is that boiled down to with yet another delay in our schedule?

[02:39.94]Q: What does the woman mean?

[03:00.16]15. M: You look depressed 1. What's eating you?

[03:05.51]W: My dog. He's missing these three weeks.

[03:09.34]Q: What do we learn from this conversation?

[03:30.36]16. M: Professor Smith was acting 2 so strangely today.

[03:35.83]W: I noticed that too. She was talking so quietly

[03:41.19]and then not giving us any homework. Can you believe that?

[03:45.23]Q: What can we infer about Professor Smith?

[04:06.58]17. W: I suppose we'd better start packing.

[04:10.95]It's four o'clock already.

[04:12.81]M: Yes, you're right. If we want to leave at seven tomorrow,

[04:17.84]we must get our packing done early,

[04:19.81]so that we can get a good night sleep.

[04:22.87]Q: What are they going to do first?

[04:40.93]18. M: I don't think I want to live in the dormitory next year.

[04:47.83]I need more privacy 3.

[04:50.13]W: I know what you mean. But check out the cost of renting an apartment first.

[04:56.25]I wouldn't be surprised if you changed your mind.

[05:00.40]Q: What does the woman think the man will do?

[05:23.35]Now you will hear the 2 long conversations.

[05:25.10]Conversation One

[05:26.75]M:  You are making me very disappointed.

[05:29.59]W:  What makes you say that?

[05:31.23]M:  You are supposed to do your work well.

[05:33.74]But you keep forgetting things that you are expected to do.

[05:37.25]Look at the letters you've typed

[05:39.43]Do you know how many mistakes you've made?

[05:41.62]W:  I'm really sorry about it. I'd like to apologize for that, John.

[05:44.46]I hope you'll forgive me.

[05:48.93]M:  I can forgive

[05:51.11]if you promise me you can improve your work

[05:52.75]and do a good job in the future

[05:54.40]If not, you'll get the pink note.

[05:58.03]W:  OK. I'll do a good job in everything I do in the future.

[06:02.84]M:  And don't litter all over the room.

[06:05.13]I can't stand people doing that.

[06:07.10]W:  I'm sorry, John. It's my fault.

[06:10.05]I was so careless that I neglected that.

[06:13.34]Again, I apologize.

[06:15.96]M:  I'm afraid I also have to apologize to you

[06:19.46]for behaving so rudely to you.

[06:21.43]W:  You're right to be strict with me.

[06:24.27]I don't mind your criticisms since they are reasonable.

[06:28.43]Questions 19 to 21 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

[06:35.32]19. What's the relationship between the two speakers?

[06:59.41]20. Why does the first speaker criticize the second?

[07:17.41]21. What's the second speaker's attitude?

[07:40.44]Conversation Two

[07:41.32]M: Are there any actors or actresses that you like?

[07:44.93]Who are your favorite movie stars?

[07:47.00]W: Yes, I've got a few favorites:

[07:49.96]Tom Hanks, Tom Cruise 4, and Ben Affleck. I like them very much.

[07:54.33]They are all quite handsome and attractive.

[07:56.08]M: Many American movies center around these movie stars.

[08:03.08]What do you think about these kinds of American movies?

[08:06.47]W: I think these American movies do not reflect real life.

[08:10.74]They may be inventive or well-produced,

[08:14.12]and they may have famous stars and handsome actors,

[08:17.74]but the stories are so far from reality that they are not instructive or meaningful.

[08:23.42]M: So maybe these movies are more about the action;

[08:27.14]but there's no moral to the story.

[08:29.87]W: Exactly! I couldn't have put it better myself!

[08:33.16]M: What do you think about violence in movies?

[08:36.33]W: I don't like violent movies. They are not good for children.

[08:40.48]M: Why?

[08:41.36]W: Some movies harm children's concepts of love and innocence 5.

[08:46.07]Since they are young and naive 6,

[08:48.58]they may be moved to imitate the violence they see,

[08:52.19]which is surely harmful to their development.

[08:55.14]M: I agree. In the United States,

[08:57.77]most movies are rated in order to tell people

[09:00.28]what is appropriate for children.

[09:01.92]The ratings 8 include “G”

[09:03.78]which means for the general audience including children,

[09:06.74]“PG” which recommends parental 9 guidance for children,

[09:10.90]“PG 13” which strongly recommends parental guidance for children under 13,

[09:16.25]and “R” which is for adults.

[09:18.63]W: I see. So there are different ratings for different kinds of movies.

[09:24.31]There are different kinds of American movies,

[09:27.16]such as action movies and violent movies you mentioned earlier.

[09:30.77]I don't like these and I seldom watch them.

[09:34.27]Questions 22 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

[09:42.58]22. What can be inferred about American movies according to the conversation?

[10:04.41]23. Why are some movies detrimental 10 to children?

[10:29.46]24. Do you think rating 7 of films can solve all the problems that films have?

[10:53.61]25. What's the second speaker's attitude to these films?

[11:08.82]Section B

[11:14.18]Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages.

[11:20.30]At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions.

[11:24.57]Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once.

[11:29.05]After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer

[11:33.76]from the four choices marked A) , B) , C) and D).

[11:39.01]Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2

[11:43.91]with a single line through the centre.

[11:46.31]Passage One

[11:48.83]Crime has its own cycles, a magazine reported some years ago.

[11:54.44]Police records show a surprising relation

[11:58.05]between changes in the season and crime patterns.

[12:01.22]The pattern of crime has changed very little

[12:05.71]over a long period of the years.

[12:07.67]Murder reaches its high during July and August,

[12:12.05]as do other violent attacks.

[12:14.59]Murder, in addition, is more than seasonal 11; it is a weekend crime

[12:19.74]It is also a nighttime crime:

[12:22.36]62 percent of murders are committed between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m.

[12:29.04]on a Saturday night in December, January, or February.

[12:32.86]Except for on strange statistic 12,

[12:36.14]May is the least criminal month of all.

[12:39.09]Apparently our intellectual season cycles

[12:42.93]are completely different from our criminal patterns.

[12:47.21]Professor Huntington made a lot of studies

[12:50.06]to discover the seasons when people read serious books,

[12:53.78]attend scientific meetings,

[12:55.96]and make the highest scores on examinations.

[12:58.81]In all examples, he found a spring peak and an autumn peak

[13:04.49]separated by a summer low.

[13:06.46]On the other hand, Professor Huntington's studies showed

[13:12.37]that June is the peak month for suicides 13

[13:14.34]and for admitting patients to mental hospital.

[13:17.40]June is also a peak month for marriages!

[13:20.90]Possibly, high temperature and humidity 14 bring on

[13:25.17]our strange and surprising summer actions,

[13:27.46]but police officers are not sure.

[13:29.98]“There are, of course,

[13:32.28]no proof of a relation between humidity and murder”, they say.

[13:36.77]“Why murders high time should come in the summer time

[13:40.16]we really don't know”.

[13:42.14]Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.

[13:48.98]26. What is this passage mainly about?

[14:11.55]27. According to the speaker, which is the safest month?

[14:32.64]28. What did Professor Huntington's research show?

[14:54.12]Passage Two

[14:55.87]“Go to the playground and have fun,”

[14:59.04]parents will often say to their kids.

[15:01.89]But they should remember playgrounds can be dangerous.

[15:05.71]Each year, about 200,000 children end up in hospital emergency rooms

[15:12.06]with playground injuries.

[15:13.59]Many injuries involve falls from too high equipment onto too hard surfaces.

[15:20.37]Nearly 70% of the injuries happen on public playgrounds.

[15:25.51]Recent studies show they may be badly designed,

[15:29.77]their protective services are inadequate 15

[15:32.62]and  their equipment is poorly maintained.

[15:35.25]Parents should make sure that the equipment in the playground is safe

[15:39.51]and their children are playing safely.

[15:41.80]Last year, the national program for playground safety

[15:46.83]gave the nation's playgrounds a grade of C for safety

[15:50.89]after visiting more than 3,000 playgrounds nationwide.

[15:54.38]Parents should watch closely.

[15:56.90]They should always be within shouting and running distance of their children.

[16:01.60]Young children don't understand cause and effect,

[16:04.99]so they may run in front of moving swings.

[16:08.28]They are also better at climbing up than getting down,

[16:10.90]so they may panic at the top of a ladder.

[16:14.51]It's important for the children to know you are watching them.

[16:18.01]Once they feel that sense of security, that's when they can be creative.

[16:22.93]Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.

[16:30.81]29. What is the cause of playground injuries?

[16:51.79]30. What should parents do to prevent playground injuries?

[17:17.39]31.  What does the speaker say about young children?

[17:32.56]Passage Three

[17:35.51]When my interest shifted from space to the sea,

[17:41.43]I never expected it would cause such confusion 16 among my friends,

[17:47.00]yet I can understand their feelings.

[17:50.72]As I have been writing and talking about space flight

[17:54.99]for the best part of 20 years,

[17:57.61]a sudden switch of interest to the depth of the sea does seem peculiar 17.

[18:03.08]To explain, I'd like to share my reasons behind this  unusual change of mind.

[18:09.09]The first excuse I give is an economic one.

[18:13.25]Underwater exploration is so much cheaper than space flight.

[18:18.94]The first roundtrip ticket to the moon

[18:22.55]is going to cost at least 10 billion dollars

[18:25.93]if you include research and development.

[18:29.11]By the end of this century, the cost will be down to a few million.

[18:34.57]On the other hand,

[18:36.43]the diving suit and a set of basic tools needed for skin-diving

[18:41.13]can be bought for 20 dollars.

[18:43.32]My second argument is more philosophical 18.

[18:46.82]The ocean, surprisingly enough, has many things in common with space.

[18:52.40]In their different ways, both sea  and space are equally hostile.

[18:59.07]If we wish to survive in either for any length of time,

[19:04.21]we need to have mechanical aids.

[19:07.06]The diving suit helped the design of the space suit.

[19:11.87]The feelings and the emotions of a man beneath the sea

[19:16.02]will be much like those of a man beyond the atmosphere.

[19:20.62]Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.

[19:27.84]32. How did the speaker's friends respond to his change of interest?

[19:51.91]33. What is one of the reasons for the speaker

[19:58.17]to switch his interest to underwater exploration?

[20:14.43]34. In what way does the speaker think diving is similar to space travel?

[20:41.73]35. What is the speaker's purpose in giving this talk?

[21:02.16]Section C

[21:06.75]Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times.

[21:14.19]When the passage is read for the first time,

[21:17.47]you should listen carefully for its general idea.

[21:20.75]When the passage is read for the second time,

[21:24.80]you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43

[21:31.58]with the exact words you have just heard.

[21:34.21]For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required

[21:40.34]to fill in the missing information.

[21:42.74]For these blanks, you can either use the exact words

[21:47.88]you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words.

[21:52.80]Finally, when the passage is read for the third time,

[21:57.18]you should check what you have written.

[22:00.32]Now listen to the passage.

[22:03.38]The history of man's exploration of the earth extends over 5,000 years.

[22:11.04]The earliest cavemen explored in a very limited way:

[22:15.53]they had to go out to gather plants

[22:18.26]and hunt animals to feed themselves.

[22:20.34]Also, in order to feel more secure in their homes,

[22:24.06]they had to investigate their surroundings quite thoroughly 19.

[22:27.66]But the wider world remained a mystery to them.

[22:31.49]It was only later,

[22:33.46]once the necessities of life had been obtained,

[22:35.98]that people began to wonder what lay on the other side of the hill,

[22:40.25]whether the forest around them ever came to an end,

[22:43.42]or where the sun went after it had fallen into the sea.

[22:47.03]This curiosity caused them to discover previously 20  unknown lands and seas.

[22:53.26]The explorers of today are the astronauts

[22:56.76]and their territory is space,

[22:59.06]but this does not mean there is nothing left to explore on Earth.

[23:02.33]It is true that with the invention this century of jet aircraft and spaceships,

[23:08.13]every part of the world has been photographed and maps made of it.

[23:12.29]But there is still much left to find out.

[23:15.02]Enormous parts of other continents remain practically unknown.

[23:19.29]And yet all these places are nowadays comparatively easy to reach.

[23:24.43]There is little difference in attitude

[23:27.05]between the men sent into space in our time

[23:30.67]and the explorers of an earlier age.

[23:33.73]The universe is as mysterious and exciting for them

[23:36.57]as our planet seemed to the people in the past.

[23:39.20]Man's natural curiosity drives him on

[23:42.26]to explore the unknown and to travel

[23:44.89]where no one has traveled before, even at the risk of his life.

[23:52.68]The history of man's exploration of the earth extends over 5,000 years.

[23:58.59]The earliest cavemen explored in a very limited way:

[24:02.75]they had to go out to gather plants

[24:05.48]and hunt animals to feed themselves.

[24:07.67]Also, in order to feel more secure in their homes,

[24:12.04]they had to investigate their surroundings quite thoroughly.

[24:15.98]But the wider world remained a mystery to them.

[24:21.01]It was only later,

[24:22.00]once the necessities of life had been obtained,

[24:24.84]that people began to wonder what lay on the other side of the hill,

[24:29.87]whether the forest around them ever came to an end,

[24:33.05]or where the sun went after it had fallen into the sea.

[24:37.09]This curiosity caused them to discover previously  unknown lands and seas.

[24:43.32]The explorers of today are the astronauts

[24:45.84]and their territory is space,

[24:47.81]but this does not mean there is nothing left to explore on Earth.

[25:42.68]It is true that with the invention this century of jet aircraft and spaceships,

[25:47.93]every part of the world has been photographed and maps made of it.

[25:52.53]But there is still much left to find out.

[25:55.37]Enormous parts of other continents remain practically unknown.

[25:59.86]And yet all these places are nowadays comparatively easy to reach.

[26:53.75]There is little difference in attitude

[26:57.79]between the men sent into space in our time

[26:59.87]and the explorers of an earlier age.

[27:03.15]The universe is as mysterious and exciting for them

[27:05.89]as our planet seemed to the people in the past.

[27:09.60]Man's natural curiosity drives him on

[27:12.34]to explore the unknown and to travel

[27:14.64]where no one has traveled before, even at the risk of his life.

[28:07.79]The history of man's exploration of the earth extends over 5,000 years.

[28:15.67]The earliest cavemen explored in a very limited way:

[28:20.26]they had to go out to gather plants

[28:22.89]and hunt animals to feed themselves.

[28:24.85]Also, in order to feel more secure in their homes,

[28:28.57]they had to investigate their surroundings quite thoroughly.

[28:32.51]But the wider world remained a mystery to them.

[28:36.12]It was only later,

[28:38.36]once the necessities of life had been obtained,

[28:40.88]that people began to wonder what lay on the other side of the hill,

[28:45.03]whether the forest around them ever came to an end,

[28:48.31]or where the sun went after it had fallen into the sea.

[28:52.03]This curiosity caused them to discover previously  unknown lands and seas.

[28:58.27]The explorers of today are the astronauts

[29:01.54]and their territory is space,

[29:03.73]but this does not mean there is nothing left to explore on Earth.

[29:07.34]It is true that with the invention this century of jet aircraft and spaceships,

[29:12.92]every part of the world has been photographed and maps made of it.

[29:16.97]But there is still much left to find out.

[29:19.81]Enormous parts of other continents remain practically unknown.

[29:24.08]And yet all these places are nowadays comparatively easy to reach.

[29:29.43]There is little difference in attitude

[29:32.39]between the men sent into space in our time

[29:35.67]and the explorers of an earlier age.

[29:37.64]The universe is as mysterious and exciting for them

[29:41.36]as our planet seemed to the people in the past.

[29:44.09]Man's natural curiosity drives him on

[29:47.48]to explore the unknown and to travel

[29:50.11]where no one has traveled before, even at the risk of his life.