英语四级听力考试练习题Model Test Nine

[00:00.00]1.W:Do you have a calculator 1 that you could lend me for a few days?

[00:06.11]I just have no idea where mine is.

[00:10.27]M:Well,yes,I have one.But actually my sister is using it now.

[00:16.33]Q:What do we learn from this conversation?

[00:21.50]2.W:I can't seem to wake up in the morning without coffee at breakfast.

[00:28.76]M:You know,I'm just like you except that I prefer tea.

[00:34.93]Q:What does the man mean?

[00:39.13]3.W:If the weather doesn't get any better,we may have to cancel our plans for this afternoon's picnic.

[00:48.33]M:Don't give up yet.The forecast says the clouds should clear up by mid 2 morning.

[00:54.49]Q:What are they going to do?

[00:58.70]4.W:My hand still hurts from falling on the ice yesterday.I wonder if I broke something.

[01:07.87]M:I'm no doctor,but it's not black and blue or anything.

[01:12.10]Maybe you just need to rest it for a few days.

[01:16.17]Q:What do we know about the woman?

[01:21.35]5.W:How many students took part in the Band Four exam last time?

[01:30.46]M:Well,let me see.400 had registered,but not all students showed up.

[01:36.57]I think there were 180 from Grade One and 178 from Grade Two.

[01:43.73]Q:How many students took part in the Band Four exam last time?

[01:50.39]6.M:Last week I went to New York on business,guess whom I met?

[01:57.19]It was Robert Williams.Do you still remember him?

[02:01.13]W:Yes.It's amazing,we haven't seen each other since our graduation.

[02:07.92]Q:Who is Robert Williams?

[02:12.13]7.M:I'm going to ask my neighbours to turn the music down,I can't concentrate on my paper.

[02:19.23]W:Do you really think it makes any difference to them?

[02:23.91]Q:What does the woman imply 3?

[02:28.06]8.W:Mr.Taylor must have been joking when he said that he was going to quit his job.

[02:35.32]M:Don't be too sure.He told me that he was trying to sell his house.

[02:40.99]Q:What conclusion does the man want us to make?

[02:46.71]9.W:I'm worried about my jewelry 4 business.I really thought I'd do better.

[02:55.33]M:At least you broke even.That's better than most people do in their first year.

[03:01.58]Q:What can be inferred 5 from the conversation?

[03:07.64]10.W:I love sailing on the lake.

[03:12.26]It's so refreshing 6 to feel the wind in my hair and the water on my face.

[03:17.43]M:I guess I would feel the same way,if I could swim.

[03:22.06]Q:What do we know about the man?

[03:26.68]Passage one

[03:29.79]In the United States,it is not customary 7 to telephone some one very early in the morning.

[03:37.00]If you telephone him early in the day,while he is shaving or having breakfast,

[03:43.16]it shows that the matter is very important and requires immediate 8 attention.

[03:49.28]The same meaning is attached to telephone calls made after 11:00P.M.

[03:54.53]If someone receives a call during sleeping hours,he assumes 9 it's a matter of life and death.

[04:01.68]The time chosen for the call indicates its importance.

[04:06.86]In social life,time plays a very important part.

[04:11.53]In the United States guests tend to feel they are not highly 10 regarded if the invitation to a dinner party is extended 11 only three or four days before the party date.

[04:23.78]But it is not true in all countries.

[04:26.89]In other areas of the world,it may be considered foolish to make an appointment too far in advance ,

[04:34.05]because plans which are made for a date more than a week away tend to be forgotten.

[04:40.11]The meaning of time differs in different parts of the world.

[04:44.79]Thus,misunderstandings can arise between people from cultures that treat time differently.

[04:52.49]Promptness is highly valued in American life,for example,if people are not prompt,they may be regarded as impolite or not truly responsible.

[05:05.19]Questions 11 to 13 are based on the passage you have just heard.

[05:11.85]11.What would it mean if you phone somebody deep at night?

[05:18.98]12.In what aspect of life does time play an important role according to the passage?

[05:28.18]13.Why can misunderstandings arise between people from different cultures according to this passage?

[05:39.28]Passage Two

[05:41.39]The oldest stone building in the world are the pyramids.

[05:46.59]They have stood for nearly 5,000 years,and it seems likely that they will continue to stand for thousands of years yet.

[05:55.71]There are over eighty of them scattered 12 along the banks of the Nile,

[05:59.84]some of which are different in shape from the true pyramids.

[06:03.99]The most famous of these are the "Stop "pyramid and the "Both"pyramid.

[06:10.65]Some of the pyramids still look much as they must have done when they were built thousands of years ago.

[06:17.31]Most of the damage suffered by the others has been at the hands of men who were looking for treasure or,

[06:22.93]more often,for stone to use in modern buildings.

[06:27.19]The dry climate of Egypt has helped to preserve the pyramids,and their very shape has made them less likely to fall into ruin.

[06:36.36]These are good reasons why they can still be seen today,

[06:40.46]but perhaps the most important is that they were planned to last for ever.

[06:46.67]It is practically 13 certain that plans were made for the building of the pyramids because the plans of other large works 14 have fortunately been preserved.

[06:55.87]However,there are no writings or pictures to show us how the Egyptians planned or built the pyramids themselves.

[07:04.57]Consequently,we are only able to guess at the methods used.

[07:08.75]Nevertheless,by examining the actual pyramids and various tools which have been found,

[07:14.96]archaeologists have formed a fairly clear picture of them.

[07:19.61]Questions 14 to 16 are based on the passage you have just heard.

[07:25.34]14.Why do some pyramids remain well preserved?

[07:31.50]15.What has caused the most damage to the pyramids?

[07:38.58]16.Why do we have a clear picture of how pyramids were built?

[07:45.66]Passage Three

[07:47.88]Many primitive 15 peoples believed that by eating an animal they could get some of the good qualities of that animal for themselves.

[07:57.05]They thought,for example,that eating deer would make them run as fast as the deer.

[08:04.15]Some primitive tribes 16 believed that eating enemies that had shown bravery in battle would make them brave.

[08:12.33]Man_eating may have started because people were eager to become as strong and brave as their enemies.

[08:20.56]Among civilized 17 people it was once thought that ginger 18 root by some magical power could improve the memory.

[08:29.13]Eggs were thought to make the voice pretty.

[08:32.34]Tomatoes also were believed to have magical powers.

[08:36.91]They were called love apples and were supposed to make people who ate them fall in love.

[08:43.02]Later another wrong idea about tomatoes grew up__the idea that they were poisonous.

[08:50.70]How surprised the people who thought tomatoes poisonous would be if they could know that millions of pounds of tomatoes were supplied to soldiers overseas during World War II.

[09:03.87]Even today there are a great many wrong ideas about food.

[09:08.47]Some of them are very widespread.

[09:13.27]Questions 17 to 20 are based on the passage you have just heard.

[09:19.44]17.What does the passage seem to be talking about?

[09:26.62]18.Why did some primitive tribes eat enemies according to the passage?

[09:35.71]19.What was once thought to have magical power to improve memory?

[09:43.84]20.What will the speaker probably talk about next?