(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
A new report says less than ten per cent of Britain's engineers are women. This is the lowest figure of all European countries. Vince Cable, the UK Business Secretary, told reporters that this would be an "enormous problem for years to come". He said one of the biggest areas that needed more women was in computer science. Many women graduate from university with degrees in computer science, so Mr Cable did not understand why there were so few female computer engineers. He suggested that many companies had a "psychological barrier" against women becoming engineers. He said: "Half of all state schools don't have a single girl doing physics. We are only tapping half the population."
The British government has started a new campaign to get more women into engineering. It is called "Tomorrow's Engineers Week" and started on November the 4th. Mr Cable said at the launch: "Engineering has a vital role to play in the future of UK industry. It is important that we act now to ensure businesses have access to the skills they require to enable them to grow." A spokesman for Siemens UK said Britain needed to "help young people understand how an engineering [training programme] can lead to a rewarding career". The campaign website said it would "showcase all the exciting businesses and industries…that rely on the work of creative engineers."
中文翻译
一项新的研究表明英国女性工程师的数量少于10%。这是所有欧洲国家中数量最低的。英国商务大臣温斯·凯博对记者说未来几年，这将是一个不小的问题。他说在几个重大领域中，最需要女性的是计算机科学领域。许多女性都有计算机科学文凭，这让凯博先生很是不解，为什么电脑工程师的女性数量少之又少。他认为许多公司对女工程师存在心理障碍。他说：“在所有公立学校中，有一半学校的女学生不学习物理。我们只计算了人口总数的一半。”
英国政府已经开始了鼓励更多女性投身工程的活动。该活动的名称叫做“未来工程师周”，开始于11月4日。凯博先生在开幕仪式上说：“工程学是未来英国工业的主要组成部分。更重要的是我们必须现在采取行动来确保商业能够渗透到他们所要求的技能之中，并能够让他们继续成长。”英国西门子发言人称英国需要帮助年轻人，让他们了解工程学（培训项目）将会是一个回报率颇高的事业。”活动官网称他们将展现出所有需要依靠创新型工程师所要完成的商业和工业项目。”
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重点讲解
1.graduate from 从…毕业
例句：I will graduate from Peking University this July. I have majored in accounting.
今年七月将从北京大学毕业，我主修的专业是会计学。
2.enable to 能够
例句：The small pores on his snout enable to sense electromagnetic fields produced by other animals.
嘴巴旁的小孔可以感应到其他动物产生的磁场。
3.rely on 依靠
例句：And all of these freedoms rely on one thing: tolerance.
所有这些自由都依赖于一样东西：宽容。
4.computer science 计算机科学
例句：Dynamic programming is maybe the most important use of computer science in biology, but certainly not the only one.
动态编程可能是计算机科学在生物学上最重要的应用，但肯定不是唯一的应用。
听力题目
1.What percentage of UK engineers are women?
a) 10%
b) less than 10%
c) 10.01%
d) just over 10%
2.How many European countries have a lower percentage?
a) 3
b) 2
c) 1
d) none
3.What area did the Business Secretary say needed more women?
a) computer science
b) London
c) 10 square metres
d) figures
4.What kind of barrier might companies have against women engineers?
a) a pathological one
b) a phonological one
c) a psychological one
d) a physiological one
5.How many girls study physics in half of Britain's state schools?
a) 35%
b) none
c) 2,387
d) around a million
6.What is the name of the UK's new campaign?
a) Tomorrow's Engineers Week
b) Tomorrow's Weekly Engineers
c) Engineers Tomorrow Week
d) Engineers A Week Tomorrow
7.What has a vital role to play in the future of UK industry?
a) food
b) acting
c) engineering
d) access
8.What do businesses need to grow?
a) access to skills
b) seeds
c) sunlight and water
d) luck
9.What kind of career did Siemens say engineering is?
a) rewarding
b) comforting
c) tortuous
d) programming
10.What do businesses and industries rely on?
a) innovation
b) each other
c) showcases
d) the work of creative engineers
听力答案
1.b
2.d
3.a
4.c
5.b
6.a
7.c
8.a
9.a
10.d
