[00:01.09]Test 6
[00:04.59]Section A
[00:05.69]Directions: In this section,
[00:08.31]you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations.
[00:13.25]At the end of each conversation,
[00:15.22]one or more questions will be asked about what was said.
[00:19.71]Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once.
[00:24.30]After each question there will be a pause.
[00:27.69]During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D),
[00:35.02]and decide which is the best answer.
[00:37.76]Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2
[00:41.81]with a single line through the centre.
[00:44.01]Now let's begin with the 8 short conversations.
[00:49.15]1. W: I guess I'll send Mary a postcard from Hawaii when I go there on my vacation.
[00:56.15]M: I'm sure that she'd be glad to get one.
[00:58.99]She has a collection of cards from all over the world.
[01:02.60]Q: What do we learn about Mary?
[01:20.18]2. W: You really gave me a great piece of information yesterday.
[01:24.88]M: You know if I haven't had 2 TVs, I would buy one set too.
[01:30.03]Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
[01:48.46]3. W: You look very sleepy and tired. What's wrong, John?
[01:52.62]M: I am suffering from the jet lag(时差不适).
[01:55.57]In my home country, it is deep into the night.
[01:58.63]Q: Why was the man tired?
[02:14.64]4. W: It is time for the news. Turn on the TV for me, will you?
[02:21.86]M: Few women are so concerned about current affairs as you are.
[02:27.11]Q: What does the man comment on?
[02:44.23]5. M: If you had signaled your intention to turn a little sooner, this wouldn't have happened!
[02:51.66]W: But I signaled in time! Just look at the mess you've made of my car!
[02:56.04]You were driving carelessly and your speed was above the limit! You're the one who's to blame!
[03:02.39]Q: What are they talking about?
[03:18.49]6. W: I'll wear this blue jacket. I like the color on me, don't you think so?
[03:24.73]M: I think it looks terrific on you, really.
[03:28.12]Q: What does the man think of the woman's choice of clothing?
[03:47.47]7. M: Do you have a seat for the concert tomorrow?
[03:51.47]W: No seats at all, but we sell standing-room-tickets two hours before the performance.
[03:57.27]Q: What does the woman mean?
[04:14.30]8. W: What would it be like if I had a pen pal(笔友)?
[04:18.13]M: It depends on your luck.
[04:19.99]Sometimes you may find the right intimate friend by this means.
[04:24.36]Q: What can we infer from the conversation?
[04:42.29]Now you'll hear two long conversations.
[04:47.22]Conversation One
[04:48.75]W: Good evening, our dear audience.
[04:51.81]The guest with us today is Mr. Bush, an expert on education.
[04:57.07]Mr. Bush, would you like to say something about your experience？
[05:01.44]M: Sure. Years ago when I was studying education in college, reading,
[05:06.47]writing and math were the basics of elementary school education.
[05:09.97]It went without saying that writing meant first handwriting.
[05:13.91]Back then, handwriting was often taught as a separate subject
[05:17.74]from the fist grade right up through the sixth grade.
[05:21.24]W: It was considered important at that time.
[05:24.20]M: Yes, sometimes prizes were even awarded for the best handwriting.
[05:28.68]But when we move ahead a few decades into the 1980s,
[05:33.16]we see teachers and administrators and even parents
[05:36.45]telling us that teaching handwriting is a waste of time.
[05:40.05]W: Even kids don't like practicing their handwriting.
[05:43.23]M: With computers, they said, children can successfully manipulate the keyboard
[05:47.93]or mouse of their home computers before they can even hold a pencil.
[05:52.41]W: But learning to write is very basic and essential.
[05:56.25]People always have to write on many occasions.
[05:59.42]M: We can see what the US education say about handwriting.
[06:03.69]You'll see that in many states, handwriting has been neglected in a required curriculum,
[06:09.59]especially in the later years of elementary school.
[06:12.76]W: Really? To write neatly in elementary schools will bring students lots of benefits later.
[06:19.33]M: In California, for example,
[06:21.29]the curriculum almost makes no mention of handwriting.
[06:24.36]Any high level of quality or neatness is simply not among the curricular objectives.
[06:30.16]W: Well, that curricular is not complete.
[06:32.78]For elementary students, good handwriting should be a requirement for them.
[06:37.92]M: So at the end of the program,
[06:40.33]I would like to call for that all students think more of their handwriting.
[06:44.48]W: Thanks for being with us this evening.
[06:47.00]Questions 9 to 12 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
[06:52.26]9. What is the professor's main point about handwriting in early childhood education?
[07:15.37]10. Why does the professor mention prizes?
[07:34.31]11. What does the professor mention California's curriculum requirements?
[07:54.35]12. What did Mr. Bush say at the end of the program?
[08:14.39]Conversation Two
[08:16.58]M: I have been studying too much and need a change.
[08:20.08]So I've just made plans to go away during January holiday.
[08:24.02]W: Really? Where are you going?
[08:26.37]M: I'm planning to visit Switzerland.
[08:28.67]W: My sister and I vacationed there last year and we had a great time.
[08:33.05]M: Did you get into Zermatt?
[08:34.91]W: Sure. Whenever we were skiing, we would be there.
[08:38.74]It's such a great place for skiing.
[08:41.14]M: Is it far from the mountains?
[08:43.22]W: Not at all. See even though Zermatt is on a high flat plateau.
[08:48.58]There are even higher mountains near it.
[08:51.32]Just half an hour away from the city there are snow-covered slopes.
[08:56.68]You'll have great fun just appreciating and hiking up the mountains.
[09:00.51]M: Well. As the mountains are just thirty minutes away,
[09:04.11]I guess I should take my ice skate and my sled.
[09:07.17]W: Definitely. You should really enjoy skating and skiing there.
[09:11.77]I heard you are really good at skiing.
[09:14.07]M: I love it. If I do things out of passion, I'll have it done very well.
[09:19.10]M: I heard that the weather there is great, isn't it?
[09:22.27]W: It is. No humidity, moderate temperatures,
[09:26.32]but you do need to be careful about high altitude if you go up the mountains.
[09:31.46]Some people may feel very uncomfortable if they are not used to it.
[09:36.17]M: What should I do about that?
[09:38.35]W: Oh, just take it easy for a few days.
[09:40.87]Don't go hiking up the mountains or exercise too much.
[09:44.81]Just do everything gradually until you feel comfortable for everything.
[09:48.53]M: I'm sure I will be fine.
[09:50.50]And I will let you know all about my trip when I come back.
[09:53.89]Questions 13 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
[09:59.08]13. What's the main purpose of the man's trip?
[10:19.89]14. How did the woman know Zermatt?
[10:40.12]15. According to the woman, what may cause the man the most problems in Zermatt?

[11:01.23]Section B
[11:04.07]Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages.
[11:09.21]At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions.
[11:12.72]Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once.
[11:16.87]After you hear a question,
[11:18.84]you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D).
[11:26.06]Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
[11:32.29]Passage One
[11:33.83]Imagine a night sky so full of brilliant stars
[11:38.53]that you can actually point out them to your kids.
[11:41.92]Meat stuck on sticks, bubbling over a campfire.
[11:46.08]It's easy to envision the ideal camping experience—
[11:49.80]but not everyone has actually experienced it.
[11:53.41]If your best recollection of camping is frozen toes,
[11:57.12]a mattress and a large rock in the middle of your back, take heart!
[12:01.29]Camping has changed, and there's something for everyone.
[12:05.22]Camping can teach you many things, such as how to recognize plants and animals,
[12:10.58]to set up a tent and to read a map.
[12:13.65]Most of all, you can anticipate understanding more about yourself and your place in nature.
[12:19.55]Whether you decided to travel on foot into the wilderness,
[12:23.60]to travel by canoe, or simply to drive to a nearby camp ground,
[12:28.31]you are probably looking for some of the same experiences.
[12:32.03]Most campers hope to find a simpler lifestyle.
[12:35.63]They tend to forget about work and worries while they enjoy being outdoors.
[12:40.89]Because the number of the US campers is increasing daily,
[12:45.15]the National Park Service advises outdoor lovers to remember several things.
[12:50.95]First, although it encourages campers to enjoy the outdoors,
[12:55.10]it urges everyone to treat nature with respect.
[12:58.71]That involves leaving your campsite cleaner than you found it.
[13:02.76]It involves learning to enjoy the natural world of plants and animals without disturbing it.
[13:08.56]Remember that wild animals are wild, and they can hurt you, just as you can hurt them.
[13:15.89]The park service invites you to enjoy and explore the world of nature,
[13:20.59]but at the same time, it expects you to protect each area you visit
[13:25.84]so that future generations may look forward to having similar enjoyable experiences.
[13:31.86]Questions 16 to 19 are based on the passage you have just heard.
[13:37.22]16. What is the main purpose for camping?
[13:55.21]17. What do most campers look for?
[14:17.04]18. What does the National Park Service urge the campers to do?
[14:37.23]19. What is the main purpose of the speaker?
[14:54.29]Passage Two
[14:57.76]Today's lecture we'll center on the people
[15:01.05]who lived five thousand years ago in the Sahara Desert.
[15:05.22]Now most of these desert people moved across the countryside throughout the year.
[15:09.70]You might think that they're wandering aimlessly.
[15:12.76]Far from it, they actually followed the series of carefully planned moves.
[15:18.89]Where they moved depended on where food was available,
[15:22.83]places where plants were ripening or with lots of fish.
[15:27.43]Now often when these people moved, they carried all their possessions on their backs.
[15:33.65]But if the journey was long, extra food and tools were sometimes stored in caves.
[15:40.11]One of these caves is now an exciting historic site.
[15:44.38]Even though the cave is very large,
[15:47.11]it was certainly too dark and dusty for people to live in,
[15:51.49]but it was a great place to hide things.
[15:54.22]And huge amounts of food supplies and daily tools have been found there.
[15:59.80]The food includes dried fish and nuts.
[16:03.74]The tools include stone spear points and knives.
[16:08.67]The spear points are actually rather small.
[16:12.06]Here is a picture of some that were found.
[16:15.12]You can see their size in relation to the hands holding them.
[16:19.50]There are also some decorations found in the caves.
[16:22.99]There are necklaces, ear rings, etc. Most of them were made of bones,
[16:29.12]instead of some rare metals like what those are today. We may not like the idea of it.
[16:35.90]But it was very popular at that time. From the above talk,
[16:40.06]we can see there're really great differences from our lives today.
[16:45.09]Questions 20 to 22 are based on the passage you have just heard.
[16:50.45]20. What is the main subject of this talk?
[17:10.10]21. What have been found in the cave?
[17:29.90]22. Why does the speaker show a photo to the class?
[17:49.02]Passage Three
[17:50.44]The automobile's impact on American life is everywhere,
[17:54.60]for the car is much more than a means of traveling from one place to another.
[17:59.52]Up to now we've focused on the positive impact of the automobile on society in the United States.
[18:06.31]Today we'll look at some of the negative effects.
[18:09.92]Traffic, road systems, traffic lights, parking lots, gas stations,
[18:15.93]car washes, fast food restaurants, malls, superstores, subdivisions—
[18:22.61]so many of the elements of our lives and worlds are the result of the automobile.
[18:27.86]A number of sociologists blame the automobiles
[18:31.69]for the decline of the downtown areas of the major cities.
[18:35.40]In the 1950's and 1960's the automobile made it possible to work in the city
[18:41.97]and yet live in the suburbs many miles away.
[18:45.03]Shopping patterns changed. Instead of patronizing downtown stores,
[18:50.50]people in the suburbs went to large markets built in open areas outside the city
[18:55.75]where everything was cheaper.
[18:57.61]Merchants in the cities failed. Stores closed. Downtown shopping areas became deserted.
[19:04.51]In recent years, there's been a rebirth of a number of downtown areas as suburbanites,
[19:10.52]especially young married couples,
[19:12.60]have moved into the city to avoid roads clogged with traffic
[19:16.64]between the suburbs and the cities every morning and evening.
[19:20.36]Now, let's look at some slides that illustrate these trends.
[19:24.41]By the way, tomorrow I'll explain the affect of all these automobiles on the environment.
[19:30.21]For example, what happens to the atmosphere as a result of the burning of gasoline
[19:35.79]and the depletion of natural resources like fossil fuels?
[19:40.38]Questions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.
[19:45.96]23. What did the speaker probably talk about previously?
[20:04.52]24. What problem did city merchants face?
[20:26.24]25. According to the speaker, why are some people moving back to the city?

[20:49.71]Section C
[20:51.47]Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times.
[20:57.06]When the passage is read for the first time,
[21:00.12]you should listen carefully for its general idea.
[21:03.18]When the passage is read for the second time,
[21:05.88]you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 26 to 33
[21:11.45]with the exact words you have just heard.
[21:14.19]For blanks numbered from 34 to 36 you are required to fill in the missing information.
[21:21.18]For these blanks, You can either use the exact words you have just heard
[21:26.00]or write down the main points in your own words.
[21:29.61]Finally, when the passage is read for the third time,
[21:33.44]you should check what you have written.
[21:35.63]Now listen to the passage.
[21:37.71]Silver cars are much less likely to be involved in a serious crash than cars of other colours,
[21:46.57]suggests a new study of over 1 000 cars.
[21:50.84]People driving in silver cars were 50 percent less likely to experience serious injury
[21:58.71]in a crash compared with drivers of white cars, the research in New Zealand found.
[22:04.51]White, yellow, grey, red and blue cars carried about the same risk of injury.
[22:12.38]But those taking to the roads in black, brown,
[22:16.11]or green cars were twice as likely to suffer a crash with serious injury.
[22:22.67]Sue Furness, at the University of Auckland,
[22:25.95]led the study but says the team does not know why silver cars appear safer.
[22:32.29]“We think it may be due to a combination of light color and high reflectivity,” she speculates.
[22:39.84]She suggests that increasing the proportion of silver cars on the road
[22:44.77]might provide a “passive strategy” to cut car crash injuries.
[22:50.56]“If there's proof that certain colors are safer and easier
[22:55.82]to see in all road conditions,
[22:58.44]that might be useful to people in terms of purchasing a car,” says Roger Vincent.
[23:04.90]But he adds, “A lot of people will buy things purely on fashion.”
[23:09.82]In their study, Furness and her colleagues took into account the engine size,
[23:16.05]make and age of the car, as well as the sex, age,
[23:20.87]economic status of the drivers.
[23:23.71]They also controlled for road conditions and ambient light conditions.
[23:28.42]But Vincent says other factors could be important,
[23:32.47]such as the way people view different colors,
[23:35.97]how many miles the car has on the clock and the background being driven against.
[23:42.43]Now the passage will be read again.
[23:45.17]Silver cars are much less likely to be involved in a serious crash than cars of other colours,
[23:54.25]suggests a new study of over 1 000 cars.
[23:58.52]People driving in silver cars were 50 percent less likely to experience serious injury
[24:06.39]in a crash compared with drivers of white cars, the research in New Zealand found.
[24:12.19]White, yellow, grey, red and blue cars carried about the same risk of injury.
[24:20.06]But those taking to the roads in black, brown,
[24:24.00]or green cars were twice as likely to suffer a crash with serious injury.
[24:30.35]Sue Furness, at the University of Auckland,
[24:33.74]led the study but says the team does not know why silver cars appear safer.
[24:39.97]“We think it may be due to a combination of light color and high reflectivity,” she speculates.
[24:47.52]She suggests that increasing the proportion of silver cars on the road
[24:52.66]might provide a “passive strategy” to cut car crash injuries.
[24:58.35]“If there's proof that certain colors are safer and easier
[25:03.49]to see in all road conditions,
[25:58.27]that might be useful to people in terms of purchasing a car,” says Roger Vincent.
[26:04.18]But he adds, “A lot of people will buy things purely on fashion.”
[26:09.32]In their study, Furness and her colleagues took into account the engine size,
[26:15.23]make and age of the car, as well as the sex, age,
[26:20.26]economic status of the drivers.
[27:15.24]They also controlled for road conditions and ambient light conditions.
[27:19.62]But Vincent says other factors could be important,
[27:23.89]such as the way people view different colors,
[27:27.09]how many miles the car has on the clock and the background being driven against.
[28:24.94]Now the passage will be read for the third time.
[28:28.99]Silver cars are much less likely to be involved in a serious crash than cars of other colours,
[28:37.52]suggests a new study of over 1 000 cars.
[28:42.01]People driving in silver cars were 50 percent less likely to experience serious injury
[28:49.66]in a crash compared with drivers of white cars, the research in New Zealand found.
[28:55.57]White, yellow, grey, red and blue cars carried about the same risk of injury.
[29:03.34]But those taking to the roads in black, brown, or green cars
[29:08.48]were twice as likely to suffer a crash with serious injury.
[29:13.63]Sue Furness, at the University of Auckland, led the study
[29:18.11]but says the team does not know why silver cars appear safer.
[29:23.25]“We think it may be due to a combination of light color and high reflectivity,” she speculates.
[29:30.80]She suggests that increasing the proportion of silver cars on the road
[29:35.83]might provide a “passive strategy” to cut car crash injuries.
[29:41.63]“If there's proof that certain colors are safer and easier
[29:46.77]to see in all road conditions,
[29:49.40]that might be useful to people in terms of purchasing a car,” says Roger Vincent.
[29:55.74]But he adds, “A lot of people will buy things purely on fashion.”
[30:00.78]In their study, Furness and her colleagues took into account the engine size,
[30:06.68]make and age of the car, as well as the sex, age,
[30:11.82]economic status of the drivers.
[30:14.56]They also controlled for road conditions and ambient light conditions.
[30:19.37]But Vincent says other factors could be important,
[30:23.53]such as the way people view different colors,
[30:26.92]how many miles the car has on the clock and the background being driven against.
[30:33.38]This is the end of listening comprehension.