CET4, June-2006
Part 3, Listening Comprehension
Section A
Directions:
In this section,
you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations.
At the end of each conversation,
one or more questions will be asked about what was said.
Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once.
After each question there will be a pause.
During the pause,
you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D),
and decide which is the best answer.
Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2
with a single line through the centre.
11. M: What was it like working with those young stars?
W: It was a great group.
I always got mad when people said
that we didn't get along just because we were girls.
There was never a fight. We had a great time.
Q: What does the woman mean?
12. M: Are you telling me you don't have a housekeeper?
W: No, we don't. If you make a mess, you clean it up yourself.
Q: What do we learn from this conversation?
13. W: I hear that the Edwards
are thinking of buying another house.
M: Should they be doing that
with all the other expenses they have to pay?
Anyhow, they are over 70 now
and their present house and is not that bad.
Q: What does the man imply?
14. M: You look like you're freezing to death,
why don't you put this on?
W: Thank you. It was so warm at noon,
I didn't expect the weather to change so quickly.
Q: What do we learn from this conversation?
15. M: I'll have the steak, French fries, and let's see …
chocolate ice cream for dessert.
W: Uh oh. You know these things will ruin your health.
Too much fat and sugar.
How about ordering some fruits and vegetables instead?
Q: Where did the conversation most probably take place?
16. M: What was it like
growing up in New York's Bronx district? Was it safe?
W: To me it was safe. It was all I knew.
My mom would send me to the shop
and I would go and buy things
when I was about eight years old.
Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
17. M: Nice weather, isn't it?
Um, I've seen you around the office
but I don't think we've met.
I am Henry Smith. I work in the market research section.
W: Nice to meet you, Henry. I'm Helen Grant.
I am in the advertising section on the ninth floor.
Q: What can we infer from the conversation?
18. M: Ma'am I hear you have an apartment for rent.
Can I take a look at it?
W: Sure, you're welcome anytime for appointment.
But I have to tell you the building is close to a railway
with the noise you might as well save yourself a trip.
Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
Now you'll hear two long conversations.
Conversation One
W: Please have a seat, Mr. Saunders.
I received your resume last week and was very impressed.
M: Thank you.
W: We're a small financial company
treating mostly stocks and bonds.
May I ask why you are interested in working for us?
M: Your company has an impressive reputation.
And I've always wanted to work for a smaller company.
W: That's good to hear.
Would you mind telling me a little bit about your present job?
M: I'm currently working in a large, international company,
in charge of team of eight brokers.
We buy and sell stocks for major clients worldwide.
W: Why do you think
you're the right candidate for this position?
M: As a head broker,
I have a lot of experience in the stock market.
I deal with clients on a daily basis
and I enjoy working with people.
W: Well, you might just be the person we are looking for.
Do you have any questions?
M: Uh, uh. If I were hired,
how many accounts would I be handling?
W: You would be working with two other head brokers.
In other words,
you'd be handling about a third of our clients.
M: And who would I report to?
W: Directly to me.
M: I see. What kind of benefits package do you offer?
W: Two weeks of paid vacation in your first year of employment.
You'll also be entitled to medical and dental insurance.
But this is something you should discuss
with our personel department.
Do you have any other questions?
M: No, not at the moment.
W: Well, I'll have to discuss your application with my colleagues
and we'll get back to you early next week.
M: Okay, thanks. It's been nice meeting you.
W: Nice meeting you, too.
And thanks for coming in today.
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
19. What's the purpose of Mr. Saunders visit?
20. What is Mr. Saunders current job?
21. What can we conclude from the conversation?
Conversation Two
M: Hey Karen, you're not really reading it, are you?
W: Pardon?
M: The book, you haven't turned a page in the last 10 minutes.
W: No, Jim. I suppose I haven't.
I need to get through it, but I keep drifting away.
M: So, it doesn't really hold your interest?
W: No, not really. I wouldn't bother with it to be honest,
but I have to read it for a seminar.
I am at the university.
M: It's a labor of labor than, rather than a labor of love.
W: I should say. I don't like the author Dickens at all really.
I am starting to like the whole course less and less.
M: It's not just the book, it's the course as well?
W: Yeah, in a way.
But though the course itself really isn't that bad.
A lot of it is pretty good, in fact.
And the lecturers are fine.
It's me I suppose.
You see, I wanted to do Philosophy rather than English.
But my parents talked me out of it.
M: So the course is okay, as such.
It's just that had it been up to you,
you would have chosen a different one.
W: Oh, they have my best interest at heart,
of course, my parents.
They always do, don't they?
They believe my job prospects
would have been pretty limited with my degree in philosophy.
Plus, they give me a really generous allowance,
but I'm beginning to feel I am wasting my time and their money.
They would be so disappointed, though if I told them I was quiting.
Questions 22 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
22. Why can't Karen concentrate on the book?
23. Why is Karen starting to like the course less and less?
24. Who thinks philosophy graduates have limited job opportunities?
25. What is Karen thinking of doing?
Section B
Directions:
In this section, you will hear 3 short passages.
At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions.
Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once.
After you hear a question,
you must choose the best answer
from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D).
Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2
with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
In Greece only rich people
will rest in peace forever when they die.
Most of the population, however,
will be undisturbed for only three years.
Then they will be dug up, washed,
compressed into a small tin box and placed in a bone room.
If a body has only partially decayed
it is buried in a smaller, cheaper grave.
But not for long,
the body will be dug up again some time later
when it has fully decayed.
Buying apiece of land for a grave
is the only way to avoid this process.
The cost of a grave is so great
that most people choose to rent a grave for three years.
And even after being dug up,
lasting peace is still not guaranteed.
If no one pays for renting space in the bone room,
the skeleton is removed and stored in a building
in a poor part of the town.
Lack of space in Athens,
is the main reason why the dead are dug up after three years.
The city is so overcrowded
that sometimes dead bodies are kept in hospitals
for over a week until grave space is found.
Athens city council wants to introduce cremation that is,
burying dead bodies as a means of dealing with the problems.
But the Greek Church resists this practice,
they believe the only place where people burn, is hell.
So burning bodies is against the Greek concept of life after death.
To save space,
the church suggested burying bodies standing up
rather than lying down.
Some people proposed building multi storey underground graveyards.
Questions 26 to 29 are based on the passage you have just heard.
26. What must the Greek's do
to keep the dead resting in everlasting peace?
27. Why are most dead bodies in Athens
dug up after only three years?
28. What suggestion does the church give
about the burying of dead bodies?
29. What practice does the Greek Church object to?
Passage Two
If you visit a big city anywhere in the world
you will probably find a restaurant
which serves the food of your native country.
Most large cities in the United States
offer an international sample of foods.
Many people enjoy eating the food of other nations.
This is probably one reason
why there are so many restaurants in the United States.
A second reason is that many Americans
come from different parts of the world.
They enjoy tasting the foods of their native lands.
In the city of Detroit, for example,
there are many people from Western Europe, Greece.
Latin America and the Far East.
There are many restaurants in Detroit
which serve the foods of these areas.
There are many other international restaurants, too.
Americans enjoy the foods in these restaurants
as well as the opportunity to understand the people
and their way of life.
One of the most common international restaurants
to be found in the United States is the Italian restaurant.
The restaurant may be a small business run by a single family.
The mother of the family cooks all the dishes
and the father and children
serve the people who come to eat there.
Or it may be a large restaurant
owned by several different people
who work together in the business.
Many Italian dishes that Americans enjoy
are made with meats, tomatoes, and cheese.
They are very delicious and tasty.
Questions 30 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard.
30. Why are there so many international restaurants
in the United States?
31. Why do Americans like to go to international restaurants
apart from enjoying the food there?
32. How is a typical Italian restaurant run in the United States?
Passage Three
One winter day in 1891
a class at a training school in Massachusetts USA
went into the gym for their daily exercises.
Since the football season had ended
most of the men thought they were in for a boring time.
But their teacher, James Naysmith had other ideas.
He had been working for a long time on a new game
that would have the excitement of American football.
Naysmith showed the men the basket
he had hung at each end of the gym
and explained that they were going to use
a round European football.
At first, everybody tried to throw the ball into the basket
no matter where he was standing.
Pass, pass, Naysmith kept shouting;
blowing his whistle to stop the excited players.
Slowly, they began to understand what was wanted of them.
The problem of the new game,
which was soon called,
Basketball was getting the ball out of the basket.
They used ordinary fruit baskets with bottoms
and the ball of course, stayed inside.
At first, someone had to climb up
every time a basket was scored.
It was several years later
before someone came up with the idea
of removing the bottom of the basket
and letting the ball fall through.
There have been many changes to the rules since then
and basketball has become one of the world's most popular sports.
Questions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
33. What did Naysmith do to entertain his students one winter day?
34. According to the speaker,
what was the problem with the new game?
35. How was the problem with the new game solved?
Section C
Directions:
In this section, you will hear a passage three times.
When the passage is read for the first time,
you should listen carefully for its general idea.
When the passage is read for the second time,
you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43
with the exact words you have just heard.
For blanks numbered from 44 to 46
you are required to fill in the missing information.
For these blanks,
you can either use the exact words you have just heard
or write down the main points in your own words.
Finally, when the passage is read for the third time,
you should check what you have written.
For Americans, time is money.
They say, "You only get so much time in this life,
you'd better use it wisely."
The future will not be better than the past or present,
as Americans are trained to see things,
unless people use their time for constructive activities.
Thus, Americans admire a "well organized" person;
one who has a written list of things to do
and a schedule for doing them.
The ideal person is punctual
and is considerate of other people's time.
They do not waste people's time with conversation
or other activity that has no visible beneficial outcome.
The American attitude toward time
is not necessarily shared by others, especially, non Europeans.
They are more likely to regard time
as something that is there around them.
Not something they can use.
One of the more difficult things many students
must adjust to in the States
is the notion that time must be saved
whenever possible and used wisely every day.
In this context, the fast food industry
is a clear example of an American cultural product.
McDonald's, KFC,
and other fast food establishments
are successful in a country
where many people want to spend
the least amount of time preparing and eating meals.
As McDonald's restaurants spread around the world,
they have been viewed as symbols of American society and culture,
bringing not just hamburgers
but an emphasis on speed efficiency, and shiny cleanliness.
For Americans, time is money.
They say, "You only get so much time in this life,
you'd better use it wisely."
The future will not be better than the past or present,
as Americans are trained to see things,
unless people use their time for constructive activities.
Thus, Americans admire a "well organized" person;
one who has a written list of things to do
and a schedule for doing them.
The ideal person is punctual
and is considerate of other people's time.
They do not waste people's time with conversation
or other activity that has no visible beneficial outcome.
The American attitude toward time
is not necessarily shared by others, especially, non Europeans.
They are more likely to regard time
as something that is there around them.
Not something they can use.
One of the more difficult things many students
must adjust to in the States
is the notion that time must be saved
whenever possible and used wisely every day.
In this context, the fast food industry
is a clear example of an American cultural product.
McDonald's, KFC,
and other fast food establishments
are successful in a country
where many people want to spend
the least amount of time preparing and eating meals.
As McDonald's restaurants spread around the world,
they have been viewed as symbols of American society and culture,
bringing not just hamburgers
but an emphasis on speed efficiency, and shiny cleanliness.
For Americans, time is money.
They say, "You only get so much time in this life,
you'd better use it wisely."
The future will not be better than the past or present,
as Americans are trained to see things,
unless people use their time for constructive activities.
Thus, Americans admire a "well organized" person;
one who has a written list of things to do
and a schedule for doing them.
The ideal person is punctual
and is considerate of other people's time.
They do not waste people's time with conversation
or other activity that has no visible beneficial outcome.
The American attitude toward time
is not necessarily shared by others, especially, non Europeans.
They are more likely to regard time
as something that is there around them.
Not something they can use.
One of the more difficult things many students
must adjust to in the States
is the notion that time must be saved
whenever possible and used wisely every day.
In this context, the fast food industry
is a clear example of an American cultural product.
McDonald's, KFC,
and other fast food establishments
are successful in a country
where many people want to spend
the least amount of time preparing and eating meals.
As McDonald's restaurants spread around the world,
they have been viewed as symbols of American society and culture,
bringing not just hamburgers
ut an emphasis on speed efficiency, and shiny cleanliness.