Part III Listening Comprehension

Section A

Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and2 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.

W: This crazy bus schedule has got me completely confused. I can’t figure out when my bus to Cleveland leaves?

M: Why don’t you just go to the ticket window and ask?

Q: What does the man suggest the woman do?

12.

W: I really enjoyed the TV special about drafts last night. Did you get home in time to see it?

W: Oh, yes, but I wish I could have stayed awake long enough to see the whole thing.

Q: What does the man mean?

13.

W: Airport, please. I’m running a little late. So just take the fastest way even if it’s not the most direct.

M: Sure, but there is a lot of traffic everywhere today because of the football game.

Q: What do we learn about the woman from the conversation?

14.

W: May I make a recommendation, sir? Our seafood with this special sauce is very good.

M: Thank you, but I don’t eat shellfish. I’m allergic to it.

Q: Where does this conversation most probably take place?

15. W: now one more question if you don’t mind, what position in the company appeals to you most?

M: Well, I’d like the position of sales manager if that position is still vacant.

Q: What do we learn about the man?

16. M: I don’t think I want to live in the dormitory next year. I need more privacy.

W: I know what you mean. But check out the cost if renting an apartment first. I won’t be surprised if you change your mind.

Q: What does the woman imply?

17. M: You’re on the right track. I just think you need to narrow the topic down.

W: Yeah, you’re right. I always start by choosing two boarder topics when I’m doing a research paper.

Q: What do we learn from the conversation?

18. W: This picnic should beat the last one we went to, doesn’t it?

M: Oh, yeah, we had to spend the whole time inside. Good thing, the weather was cooperative this time.

What do we learn about the speakers from the conversation?
Long Conversation

Conversation One

M: When I say I live in Sweden, people always want to know about the seasons.

W: The seasons?

M: Yeah, you know how cold it is in winter? What is it like when the days are so short?

W: So what is it like?

M: Well, it is cold ,very cold in winter. Sometimes it is cold as 26 degrees below centigrade. And of course when you go out, you’ll wrap up warm. But inside in the houses it’s always very warm, much warmer than at home. Swedish people always complain that when they visit England, the houses are cold even in the good winter.

W: And what about the darkness?

M: Well, yeah, around Christmas time there’s only one hour of daylight, so you really looks forward to the spring. It is sometimes a bit depressing. But you see the summers are amazing, from May to July in the North of Sweden the sun never sets. It’s still light in the midnight. You can walk in the mountains and read a newspaper.

W: Oh, yeah, the land of the midnight sun.

M: Yeah, that’s right, but it’s wonderful. You won’t stay up all night. And the Swedes makes most of it often they started work earlier in summer and then leave at about 2 or 3 in the afternoon, so that they can really enjoy the long summer evenings. They’d like to work hard, but play hard, too. I think Londoners work longer hours, but I’m not sure this is a good thing.

Q19: What do we learn about the man from the conversation?

Q20: What do Swedish people complain about when they visit England in winter?

Q21: How does the man describe the short hour of daylight around Christmas in Sweden?

Q21: What does the man say about the Swedish people?

Conversation Two

W: What kind of training does one need to go into this type of job?

M: That’s a very good question. I don’t think there is any, specifically.

W: For example, in your case, what was your educational background?

M: Well, I did a degree in French at Nottingham. After that, I did careers work in secondary schools like the careers guidance people. Here is in the university. Then I went into local government because I found I was more interested in the administrative side. Then progressed on to universities. So there wasn’t any plan and there was no specific training. There are plenty of training courses in management techniques and committee work which you can attend now.

W: But in the first place, you did a French degree.

M: In my time, there wasn’t a degree you could do for administration. I think most of the administrators I’ve come across have degrees and all sorts of things.

W: Well, I know in my case, I did an English literature degree and I didn’t really expect to end up doing what I am doing now.

M: Quite.

W: But you are local to Nottingham, actually? Is there any reason why you went to Nottingham University?

M: No, no, I come from the north of England, from west Yorkshire. Nottingham was one of the universities I put on my list. And I like the look of it. The campus is just beautiful.

W: Yes, indeed. Let’s see. Were you from the industrial part of Yorkshire?

M: Yes, from the Woolen District.

Q23. What was the man’s major at university?

Q24: What was the man’s job in secondary schools?

Q25: What attracted the man to Nottingham University?
Section B

Passage One

While Gail Obcamp, an American artist was giving a speech on the art of Japanese brush painting to an audience that included visitors from Japan, she was confused to see that many of her Japanese listeners have their eyes closed. Were they tuned off because an American had the nerve to instruct Japanese in their own art form or they deliberately tried to signal their rejection of her? Obcamp later found out that her listeners were not being disrespectful. Japanese listeners sometimes closed their eyes to enhance concentration. Her listeners were showing their respect for her by chewing on her words. Some day you may be either a speaker or a listener in a situation involving people from other countries or members of minority group in North America. Learning how different cultures signal respect can help you avoid misunderstandings. Here are some examples. In the deaf culture of North America, many listeners show applause not by clapping their hands but by waving them in the air. In some cultures, both overseas and in some minority groups in North America, listeners are considered disrespectful if they look directly at the speaker. Respect is shown by looking in the general direction but avoiding direct eye contact. In some countries, whistling by listeners is a sign of approval while in other courtiers it is a form of insult.

Questions:

26, What did Obcamp’s speech focus on?

27, Why do Japanese listeners sometimes close their eyes while listening to a speech?

28, What does the speaker try to explain?

Passage Two

Chris is in charge of purchasing and maintaining equipment in his Division at Taxlong Company. He is soon going to have an evaluation interview with his supervisor and the personnel director to discuss the work he has done in the past year. Salary, promotion and plans for the coming year will also be discussed at the meeting. Chris has made several changes for his Division in the past year. First, he bought new equipment for one of the departments. He has been particularly happy about the new equipment because many of the employees have told him how much it has helped them. Along with improving the equipment, Chris began a program to train employees to use equipment better and do simple maintenance themselves. The training saved time for the employees and money for the company. Unfortunately, one serious problem developed during the year. Two employees the Chris hired were stealing, and he had to fire them. Chris knows that a new job for a purchasing and maintenance manager for the whole company will be open in a few months, and he would like to be promoted to the job. Chris knows, however, that someone else wants that new job, too. Kim is in charge of purchasing and maintenance in another Division of the company. She has also made several changes over the year. Chris knows that his boss likes Kim’s work, and he expects that his work will be compared with hers.

Questions 29 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard.

29. What is Chris’s main responsibility at Taxlong Company?

30. What problem did Chris encounter in his Division?

31. What does Chris hope for in the near future?

32. What do we learn about Kim from the passage?

Passage Three

Proverbs, sometimes called sayings, are examples of folk wisdom. They are little lessons which older people of a culture pass down to the younger people to teach them about life. Many proverbs remind people of the values that are important in the culture. Values teach people how to act, what is right, and what is wrong. Because the values of each culture are different, understanding the values of another culture helps explain how people think and act. Understanding your own culture values is important too. If you can accept that people from other cultures act according to their values, not yours, getting along with them will be much easier. Many proverbs are very old. So some of the values they teach may not be as important in the culture as they once were. For example, Americans today do not pay much attention to the proverb “Haste makes waste”, because patience is not important to them. But if you know about past values, it helps you to understand the present and many of the older values are still strong today. Benjamin Franklin, a famous American diplomat, writer and scientist, died in 1790, but his proverb “Time is money” is taken more seriously by Americans of today than ever before. A study of proverbs from around the world shows that some values are shared by many cultures. In many cases though, the same idea is expressed differently.

Questions 33- 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.

33. Why are proverbs so important?

34. According to the speaker what happens to some proverbs with the passage of time?

35 What do we learn from the study of proverbs from around the world?

Section C

Compound Dictation

Our lives are woven together. As much as I enjoy my own company, I no longer imagine I can get through a single day much less all my life completely on my own. Even if I am on vacation in the mountains, I am eating food someone else has grown, living in a house someone else has built, wearing clothes someone else has sewn from cloth woven by others, using electricity someone else is distributing to my house. Evidence of interdependence is everywhere; we are on this journey together.

As I was growing up, I remember being carefully taught that independence not interdependence was everything. “Make your own way”,” Stand on your own two feet” or my mother’s favorite remark when I was face-to-face with consequences of some action: Now that you’ve made your bed, lie on it.

Total independence is a dominant thing in our culture. I imagine that what my parents were trying to teach me was to take responsibilities for my actions and my choices. But the teaching was shaped by our cultural imagines. And instead, I grew up believing that I was supposed to be totally independent and consequently became very reluctant to ask for help. I would do almost anything not to be a burden, and not require any help from anybody.