听力长对话高分策略

　　新听力考试Section A中增设了2个长对话(Longe Conversations)，这也体现出整个听力考试题型的主要变化，短对话由原来的10个减少到8个，增加了2个长对话。长对话共计7道题，Conversation One为4道题，Conversation Two为3道题。如样题中给出的两篇长对话：
Conversation One
19．[A]The benefits of strong business competition．
　　 [B]A proposal to lower the cost 0f production．
　　 [c]Complaints about the expense of modernization．
　　 [D]_Suggestions concerning new business strategies．

20．[A]It cost much more than its worth．
　　 [B]It should be brought up-to-date．
　　 [c]It calls for immediate repairs．
　　 [D]It can still be used for a long time．

21．[A]The personnel manager should be fired for inefficiency．
　　 [B]A few engineers should be employed to modernize the factory．
　　 [c]The entire staff should be retrained．
　　 [D]Better-educated employees should be promoted.

22．[A]Their competitors have long been advertising on TV．
　　 [B]TV commercials are less expensive．
　　 [c]Advertising in newspapers alone is not sufficient．
　　 [D]TV commercials attract more investments．

W：Hello，Gary．How're You?
M：Fine!And yourself?
W：Can't complain．Did you have time tO look at my proposal?
M：No，not really．Can we gO over it now?
W：Sure．I've been trying to come up with some new production and advertging strategies．First of all，if we want to stay competitive，we need tO modernize our factory．New equipment should've been installed long ago．
M：How much will that cost?
W：We have several options ranging from one hundred thousand dollars all the way up to half a million．
M：OK．We'll have to discuss these costs with finance．
W：We should also consider human resources．I've been talking to personnel as well as our staff at the factory．
M：And what's the picture?
W：We'll probably have to hire a couple Of engineers tO help us modernize the factory．
M：What about advertising?
W：Marketing has some interesting ideas for television commercials．
M：TV?Isn't that a bit too expensive for us?What's wrong with advertising in the papers，as usual?
W：Quite frankly，it's just not enough anymore．We need to be more aggressive in order to keep ahead of our competitors．
M：Will we be able tO afford aU this?
W：I'll look into it，but I think higher costs will be justified．These investments will result in higher profits　for our company．
M：We'll have tO look at the figures more closely．Have finance draw up a budget for these investments．
W：All right．I'll see tO it．

Questions 19 t0 22 are based on the conversation you have just heard．
19．What are the two speakers talking about?
20．What does the woman say about the equipment of their factory? ‘
21．What does the woman suggest about human resources?
22．Why does the woman suggest advertising on TV?

　　Conversation One篇幅较长，这给考生在短时间内从大量信息中寻找答案制造了困难。不过，如果考生再回过头仔细去看看对话中加底纹的部分，就可以发现这些部分就是4道题目的答案出处，而且每次答案的出现几乎都伴随着一个问题。这首先就说明了一点，几乎每每遇到问答的形式都是考官青睐的考点，而且考试的重点往往落在答语上。这一点和短对话中体现的原则不谋而合，而且短对话中的建议请求原则也和此处的情况极相似。另外，还有一个特点考生观察后不难发现，并不是每一组问答都被作为考点，而作为考试重点的几组问题之间关联性是不大的。换句话来说，一个问题考查了对话的主题，从第二个问题开始分别考查了new business strategy所呈现的3方面问题。其中每一个方面选择了一个最重要的问题来考查，这一点又和以往的短文理解考查方法很相似，特别是人物生平发展或者故事类的题目很相似，每一方面的内容只考查一道题目，而且出题的顺序和对话或短文的顺序基本上是一致的。

Conversation Two
23．[A]Searching for reference material．
　　[B]Watching a film of the 1 930s'．
　　[c]Writing a course book．
　　[D]Looking for a job in a movie studio．

24．[A]It's too broad to cope with．
　　[B]It's a bit outdated．
　　[C]It's controversial．
　　[D]It's of little practical value．

25．[A]At the end of the online catalogue．
　　[B]At the Reference Desk．
　　[c]In The New York Times．
　　[D]In the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature．

W：Sir．you've been using the online catalogue for quite a while．Is there anything I can do to help you?
M：Well。I've got to write a paper about Hollywood in the 30s and 40s，and I'm really snuggling．There are hundreds of books，and I just don't know where to begin．
W：Your topic sounds pretty big．Why don't you narrow it down tO something like，uh，the history 0f the studios during that time?
M：You know，1 was thinking about doing that，but more than 30 books came up when I typed in“movie stu— dios．
W：You could cut that down even further by listing the specific years you want．Try adding“1930s'’or“1940s'’or maybe“Golden Age．
M：“Golden Age'’is a good idea．Let me type that in…．Hey，look，just 6 books this time．That's a lot better．
W：Oh…another thing you might consider．．，have you tried looking for any magazine or newspaper articles7
M：No，I've only been searching for books．
W：Well，you can look up magazine articles in the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature．And we dO have the Los Angeles Times available over there．You might go through their indexes to see if there's any thing you want．
M：Okay．1 think I'll get started with these books and then I'll gO over the magazines．
W：Ifyou need any help．I'll be over at the Reference Desk．
M：’Great，thanks a lot．

Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard．
23．What is the man doing?
24．What does the librarian think Of the topic the man is working on?
25．Where can the man find the relevant magazine articles?

　　从对话中加底纹的答案出处我们再次发现，Conversation Two与Conversation One非常相似。主要是问答式的考点，分层次的考查，建议请求的运用。这两则对话还采用了短文理解的一个重要的考场方式，就是在对话的开头部分一定会出题目。这一点的考查利用的是考生往往很难在一个段落刚开始的时候集中注意力，所以这时候考查的题目难度就显得很高。综上所述，长对话并不可怕，它结合了短对话对问答句式，建议请求，做这样的题目往往需要具备综合的素质，既要注意其中的细节，又要注意整体的把握，还要能够应付7道题目的题量，这比以往的四级题目对综合能力的要求显著提高了。所以，建议考生在练习长对话的时候可多以托福考试听力真题Part B的中大量的长对话题目作为练习材料。