[02:16.37]College English Test-Band six
[02:19.65]Part III Listening Comprehension
[02:23.26]Section A
[02:25.12]Directions: In this section,
[02:28.29]you will hear 8 short conversations
[02:30.80]and 2 long conversations.
[02:33.10]At the end of each conversation,
[02:35.29]one or more questions will be asked about
[02:37.69]what was said. Both the conversation and the questions
[02:41.52]will be spoken only once.
[02:43.71]After each question there will be a pause.
[02:46.99]During the pause, you must read the four choices
[02:50.60]marked A), B), C) and D), and decide
[02:55.08]which is the best answer.
[02:57.16]Then mark the corresponding letter on
[02:59.89]Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
[03:04.98]Now let's begin with the 8 short conversations.
[03:11.02]11. W: Jim, you are on the net again!
[03:16.27]When are you going to get off? It’s time for the talk show.
[03:20.53]M: Just a minute dear! I’m looking at a new jewelry site.
[03:24.47]I want to make sure I get the right gift for mom’s birthday.
[03:28.60]Q: What is the man doing right now?
[03:45.70]12. W: I have never seen you
[03:49.41]have such confidence before in the exam!
[03:52.04]M: It’s more than confidence!
[03:53.90]Right now I feel that if I get less than an A,
[03:57.18]it will be the fault of the exam itself.
[04:00.27]Q: What does the man mean?
[04:16.94]13. W: Just look at this newspaper!
[04:21.32]Nothing but murder, death and war!
[04:24.71]Do you still believe people are basically good?
[04:28.10]M: Of course, I do! But newspapers
[04:31.05]hardly ever report stories about peace and generosity.
[04:35.10]They are not news!
[04:37.17]Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
[04:53.92]14. M: Tom must be joking when he said
[04:58.96]he plans to sell his shop and go to medical school.
[05:02.46]W: You are quite right! He’s just kidding!
[05:05.30]He’s also told me time and time again
[05:08.58]he wished to study for some profession
[05:11.20]instead of going into business.
[05:13.50]Q: What will Tom probably do according to the conversation?
[05:30.88]15. W: I hear your boss has a real good impression of you,
[05:37.66]and he is thinking about giving you two more days off each month.
[05:41.93]M: I hope not. I’d rather get more work hours ,
[05:45.20]so I can get enough bucks to help out my two kids at college.
[05:49.69]Q: What does the man truly want?
[06:06.70]16. M: I heard you took a trip to Mexico last month.
[06:12.38]How did you like it?
[06:13.92]W: Oh, I got sick and tired of the hotels
[06:17.20]and hotel food! So now I understand the thing:
[06:21.68]East, west, home’s best!
[06:25.84]Q: What does the woman mean?
[06:41.03]17. W: I’m worried about Anna.
[06:46.17]She’s really been depressed lately.
[06:48.90]All she does is staying in her room all day.
[06:52.07]M: That sounds serious!
[06:54.15]She’d better see a psychiatrist at the counseling center.
[06:58.52]Q: What does the man suggest Anna do?
[07:14.89]18. M: I could hardly recognize
[07:20.03]Sam after he got that new job!
[07:22.33]He’s always in a suit and tie now.
[07:24.85]W: Yeah. He was never liked that in college.
[07:28.34]Back then, he went around in old T-shirts and jeans.
[07:32.83]Q: What do the speakers say about Sam?
[07:51.00]Now you will hear the two long conversations.
[07:54.82]Conversation One
[07:56.90]M: Hi, Ann! Welcome back! How was your trip to the States?
[08:02.48]W: Very busy. I had a lot of meetings,
[08:06.42]so, of course, I didn’t have much time to see New York.
[08:10.78]M: What a pity! Actually, I have a trip there myself next week.
[08:15.06]W: Do you? Then take my advice, do the well-being
[08:19.76]in the air program. It really works.
[08:22.82]M: Oh, I read about that in a magazine.
[08:25.23]You say it works?
[08:26.42]W: Yes, I did the program on the flight to the States,
[08:29.82]and when I arrived in New York,
[08:32.44]I didn’t have any problem, no jet lag at all.
[08:36.49]On the way back, I didn’t do it, and I felt terrible.
[08:41.41]M: You’re joking!
[08:42.50]W: Not at all, it really made a lot of difference.
[08:46.22]M: En. So what did you do?
[08:49.07]W: Well, I didn’t drink any alcohol or coffee,
[08:53.00]and I didn’t eat any meat or rich food.
[08:56.28]I drink a lot of water, and free juice,
[08:59.56]and I ate the meals on the well-being menu.
[09:02.95]They’re lighter. They have fish, vegetables, and noodles,
[09:07.76]for example, and I did some of the exercises in the program.
[09:12.14]M: Exercises? On a plane?
[09:14.76]W: Yes. I didn’t do many, of course,
[09:18.04]there isn’t much space on a plane.
[09:20.56]M: How many passengers do the exercises?
[09:23.30]W: Not many.
[09:24.94]M: Then how much champagne did they drink?
[09:27.45]W: A lot! It was more popular than mineral water.
[09:31.06]M: So, basically, it's a choice.
[09:33.14]Mineral water and exercises, or champagne and jet lag.
[09:37.29]W: That’s right! It’s a difficult choice.
[09:42.10]Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation
[09:46.92]you have just heard.
[09:48.78]19. Why did the woman go to New York?
[10:07.53]20. What does the woman say about the well-being
[10:12.12]in the air program?
[10:27.95]21. What did the woman do to follow the well-being menu?
[10:48.03]22. What did the woman say about other passengers?
[11:07.97]Conversation Two
[11:10.67]W: Morning. Can I help you?
[11:13.85]M: Well, I’ m not really sure.
[11:16.14]I' m just looking.
[11:17.35]W: I see. Well, there’s plenty to look at it again this year.
[11:21.61]I’m sure you have to walk miles to see each stand.
[11:25.22]M: That’s true.
[11:26.09]W: Er..., would you like a coffee?
[11:28.28]Come and sit down for a minute, no obligation.
[11:31.12]M: Well, that’s very kind of you, but…
[11:33.64]W: Now, please. Is this the first year
[11:36.59]you’ve been to the fair, Mr...
[11:38.45]M: Yes, Johnson, James Johnson.
[11:41.08]W: My name's Susan Carter.
[11:43.04]Are you looking for anything in particular,
[11:45.56]or are you just interested in computers in general?
[11:48.62]M: Well, actually, I have some specific jobs in mind.
[11:52.34]I own a small company, we’ve grown quite dramatically
[11:56.17]over the past 12 months,
[11:57.37]and we really need some technological help to
[12:00.10]enable us to keep on top of everything.
[12:02.62]W: What’s your line of business, Mr. Johnson?
[12:05.57]M: We’re a training consultancy.
[12:07.76]W: I see. And what do you need “to keep on top”?
[12:12.24]M: The first thing is correspondence.
[12:14.65]We have a lot of standard letters and forms.
[12:17.27]So I suppose we need some kind of word processor.
[12:20.44]W: Right. Well, that’s no problem.
[12:23.73]But it may be possible for you to get a system
[12:26.90]that does a lot of other things
[12:28.65]in addition to word processing.
[12:30.51]What might suit you is the MR5000.
[12:35.10]That’s it over there! It’s IBM compatible.
[12:38.49]M: What about the price?
[12:40.99]W: Well, the MR5000 costs 1,050 pounds.
[12:47.01]Software comes free with the hardware.
[12:49.85]M: Well, I’ll think about it. Thank you.
[12:53.57]W: Here’s my card. Please feel free to contact me.
[12:58.16]Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation
[13:02.97]you have just heard.
[13:05.49]23. Where did the conversation take place?
[13:25.01]24. What are the speakers talking about?
[13:44.09]25. What is the man’s line of business?

[14:02.86]Section B
[14:05.04]Directions: In this section,
[14:09.42]you will hear 3 short passages.
[14:12.59]At the end of each passage,
[14:14.34]you will hear some questions.
[14:16.31]Both the passage and the questions
[14:18.50]will be spoken only once.
[14:21.01]After you hear a question,
[14:22.76]you must choose the best answer from the four choices
[14:26.37]marked A), B), C) and D).
[14:30.74]Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2
[14:35.12]with a single line through the centre.
[14:38.18]Passage One
[14:40.59]The new year always brings with the cultural tradition
[14:45.29]of new possibilities.
[14:47.26]We see it as a chance for renewal.
[14:50.10]We begin to dream of new possible selves.
[14:53.60]We design our ideal self or an image
[14:57.43]that is quite different from what we are now.
[15:00.16]For some of us, we roll at dreamy film in our heads
[15:04.54]just because it’s the beginning of a new year.
[15:07.16]But we aren’t serious about making changes.
[15:10.88]We just make some half-hearted resolution
[15:13.72]and it evaporates after a week or two.
[15:16.90]The experience makes us feel less successful
[15:20.61]and leads us to discount our ability
[15:23.45]to change in the future. It’s not the changes impossible
[15:28.27]but that it won’t last unless our resolutions
[15:31.66]are supported with plans for implementation.
[15:34.94]We have to make our intentions manageable
[15:37.89]by detailing the specific steps
[15:40.41]that will carry us to our goal.
[15:42.70]Say your goal is to lose weight by dieting
[15:46.75]and cutting off sweets.
[15:48.93]But one night you just have to have a cookie.
[15:52.43]And you know there’s a bag of your favorites
[15:55.28]in the cupboard. You want one, you eat two,
[15:59.76]you check the bag and find out
[16:02.28]you’ve just shot 132 calories. You say to yourself,
[16:07.53]“What the hell!” and polish off the whole bag.
[16:10.48]Then you begin to draw all kinds of
[16:13.98]unpleasant conclusions about yourself.
[16:17.37]To protect your sense of self,
[16:19.44]you begin to discount the goal. You may think –
[16:23.61]"Well, dieting wasn’t that important to me
[16:26.77]and I won’t make it anyhow.”
[16:29.29]So you abandon the goal and return to your bad habits.
[16:35.09]Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage
[16:39.79]you have just heard.
[16:42.30]26. What do people usually wish to do
[16:47.66]at the beginning of a new year?
[17:03.25]27. How can people turn their new year’s resolutions
[17:08.93]into reality?
[17:23.80]28. Why does the speaker mention
[17:28.40]the example of sweets and cookies?
[17:46.03]Passage Two
[17:48.22]25 years ago, Ray Anderson,
[17:52.27]a single parent with a one-year-old son
[17:54.56]witnessed a terrible accident
[17:56.97]which took place when the driver of a truck
[17:59.59]ran a red light and collided with the car of Sandra D.
[18:04.51]The impact of the collision killed Sandra instantly.
[18:07.91]But her three-month-old daughter
[18:10.20]was left trapped in the burning car.
[18:12.28]While others looked on in horror,
[18:14.79]Andersen jumped out of his vehicle
[18:17.20]and crawled into the car through the shadowed rear window
[18:20.59]to try to free the infant. Seconds later,
[18:24.86]the car was enclosed in flames.
[18:28.03]But to everyone’s amazement,
[18:30.44]Andersen was able to pull the baby to safety.
[18:34.04]While the baby was all right, Andersen
[18:36.78]was seriously injured. Two days later he died.
[18:41.92]But his heroic act was published widely in the media.
[18:45.96]His son was soon adopted by relatives.
[18:49.25]The most remarkable part of the story unfolded only last week.
[18:54.39]Karen and her boyfriend Michael were looking
[18:57.77]through some old boxes
[18:59.30]When they came across some old newspaper clippings.
[19:02.91]“This is me when I was a new born baby.
[19:05.98]I was rescued from a burning car.
[19:08.16]But my mother died in the accident,” explained Karen.
[19:11.99]Although Michael knew Karen’s mother
[19:14.18]had died years earlier,
[19:16.04]he never fully understood the circumstances
[19:18.66]until he skimmed over the newspaper article.
[19:22.05]To Karen’s surprise,
[19:24.24]Michael was absorbed in the details of the accident.
[19:27.19]And he began to cry uncontrollably.
[19:30.58]Then he revealed that the man that pulled Karen
[19:34.19]from the flames was the father he never knew.
[19:37.91]The two embraced and shed many tears,
[19:40.86]recounting stories told to them about their parents.
[19:45.78]Questions29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.
[19:52.02]29. What happened twenty-five years ago?
[20:10.16]30. What does the speaker say about Michael’s father?
[20:29.19]31. Why did Michael cry uncontrollably
[20:34.21]when he skimmed over the newspaper article?
[20:51.03]Passage Three
[20:54.08]Americans suffer from an overdose of work.
[20:58.24]Regardless of who they are or what they do.
[21:01.52]Americans spend more time at work
[21:03.71]than that any time since World War II.
[21:06.78]In 1950,the US had fewer working hours
[21:11.53]than any other industrialized country.
[21:14.49]Today, it exceeds every country but Japan
[21:17.44]where industrial employees load 2155 hours a year
[21:23.78]compared with 1951 in the US
[21:28.16]and 1603 in the former West Germany.
[21:33.30]Between 1969 and 1989, employed Americans
[21:38.66]add an average of 138 hours to their yearly work schedules.
[21:44.34]The workweek has remained above 40 hours.
[21:47.74]But people are working more weeks each year.
[21:51.46]Specifically pay time off holidays, vacations,
[21:56.70]sick leave shrank by 50% in the 1980s.
[22:01.84]As corporations have experienced stiff competitions
[22:05.96]and slow in growth of productivity,
[22:08.14]they have pressed employees to work longer.
[22:11.97]Cost-cutting lay-offs in the 1980s
[22:15.25]reduce the professional and managerial runs,
[22:18.53]leaving fewer people to get the job done.
[22:21.49]In lower paid occupations
[22:24.44]where wages have been reduced,
[22:26.63]workers have added hours in overtime
[22:29.36]or extra jobs to preserve their living standard.
[22:32.75]The government estimates that more than 7 million people hold a second job.
[22:38.22]For the first time,
[22:40.62]large numbers of people say they want to cut back
[22:43.24]on working hours even it means earning less money.
[22:47.18]But most employers are unwilling to let them do so.
[22:51.33]The government which has stepped back from its traditional role
[22:55.38]as a regulator of work time
[22:57.89]should take steps to make shorter hours possible.
[23:02.33]Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
[23:08.90]32. In which country do industrial employees
[23:14.69]work the longest hours?
[23:30.60]33. How do employed Americans manage to work more hours?
[23:51.33]34. Why do corporations press their employees
[23:56.80]to work longer hours according to the speaker?
[24:14.27]35. What does the speaker
[24:17.44]say many Americans prefer to do?

[24:33.57]Section C
[24:36.09]Directions: In this section,
[24:39.04]you will hear a passage three times.
[24:41.88]When the passage is read for the first time,
[24:44.73]you should listen carefully for its general idea.
[24:47.79]When the passage is read for the second time,
[24:50.85]you are required to fill in the blanks numbered
[24:53.69]from 36 to 43 with the exact words
[24:57.41]you have just heard. For blanks numbered
[25:00.80]from 44 to 46 you are required
[25:03.75]to fill in the missing information.
[25:06.60]For these blanks, you can either use the exact words
[25:10.31]you have just heard or write down the main points
[25:13.38]in your own words. Finally, when the passage
[25:17.20]is read for the third time, you should check
[25:19.93]what you have written.
[25:22.18]Now listen to the passage.
[25:25.24]Nursing, as a typically female profession,
[25:29.51]must deal constantly with the false impression
[25:32.35]that nurses are there to wait on the physician.
[25:35.85]As nurses, we are licensed to provide nursing care only.
[25:41.11]We do not have any legal
[25:42.63]or moral obligation to any physician.
[25:46.13]We provide health teaching, assess physical
[25:49.63]as well as emotional problems,
[25:52.25]coordinate patient-related services,
[25:54.66]and make all of our nursing decisions based upon
[25:57.50]what is best or suitable for the patient.
[26:00.78]If, in any circumstance,
[26:03.30]we feel that a physician’s order
[26:05.27]is inappropriate or unsafe,
[26:08.33]we have a legal responsibility to question
[26:10.96]that order or refuse to carry it out.
[26:14.68]Nursing is not a nine-to-five job with every weekend off.
[26:19.38]All nurses are aware of that before they enter the profession.
[26:23.53]The emotional and physical stress, however,
[26:26.37]that occurs due to odd working hours
[26:28.78]is a prime reason for a lot of the career dissatisfaction.
[26:33.70]It is sometimes required that we work overtime,
[26:37.31]and that we change shifts four or five times a month.
[26:41.79]That disturbs our personal lives,
[26:44.53]disrupts our sleeping and eating habits,
[26:47.38]and isolates us from everything
[26:49.89]except job-related friends and activities.
[26:53.50]The quality of nursing care
[26:55.36]is being affected dramatically by these situations.
[26:59.19]Most hospitals are now staffed by new graduates,
[27:02.90]as experienced nurses
[27:05.09]finally give up trying to change the system.
[27:08.92]Consumers of medically related services
[27:11.87]have evidently not been affected enough yet
[27:15.15]to demand changes in our medical system.
[27:18.65]But if trends continue as predicted,
[27:22.04]they will find that most critical hospital care
[27:25.22]will be provided by new, inexperienced,
[27:29.37]and sometimes inadequately trained nurses.
[27:34.67]Now the passage will be read again.
[27:37.40]Nursing, as a typically female profession,
[27:41.77]must deal constantly with the false impression
[27:44.73]that nurses are there to wait on the physician.
[27:48.45]As nurses, we are licensed to provide nursing care only.
[27:53.69]We do not have any legal
[27:55.34]or moral obligation to any physician.
[27:58.62]We provide health teaching, assess physical
[28:02.44]as well as emotional problems,
[28:04.75]coordinate patient-related services,
[28:07.59]and make all of our nursing decisions based upon
[28:10.76]what is best or suitable for the patient.
[28:13.93]If, in any circumstance,
[28:16.77]we feel that a physician’s order
[28:18.41]is inappropriate or unsafe,
[28:21.26]we have a legal responsibility to question
[28:24.10]that order or refuse to carry it out.
[28:27.60]Nursing is not a nine-to-five job with every weekend off.
[28:33.29]All nurses are aware of that before they enter the profession.
[28:38.10]The emotional and physical stress, however,
[28:41.05]that occurs due to odd working hours
[28:43.46]is a prime reason for a lot of the career dissatisfaction.
[28:48.48]It is sometimes required that we work overtime,
[28:52.64]and that we change shifts four or five times a month.
[30:00.96]That disturbs our personal lives,
[30:03.80]disrupts our sleeping and eating habits,
[30:06.31]and isolates us from everything
[30:08.50]except job-related friends and activities.
[30:12.39]The quality of nursing care
[30:14.90]is being affected dramatically by these situations.
[30:19.02]Most hospitals are now staffed by new graduates,
[30:22.95]as experienced nurses
[30:25.14]finally give up trying to change the system.
[31:44.21]Consumers of medically related services
[31:46.73]have evidently not been affected enough yet
[31:49.40]to demand changes in our medical system.
[31:52.46]But if trends continue as predicted,
[31:55.41]they will find that most critical hospital care
[31:58.47]will be provided by new, inexperienced,
[32:01.86]and sometimes inadequately trained nurses.
[33:34.98]Now the passage will be read for the third time.
[33:40.12]Nursing, as a typically female profession,
[33:44.17]must deal constantly with the false impression
[33:46.79]that nurses are there to wait on the physician.
[33:50.40]As nurses, we are licensed to provide nursing care only.
[33:55.98]We do not have any legal
[33:57.30]or moral obligation to any physician.
[34:00.90]We provide health teaching, assess physical
[34:04.51]as well as emotional problems,
[34:07.14]coordinate patient-related services,
[34:09.43]and make all of our nursing decisions based upon
[34:12.17]what is best or suitable for the patient.
[34:15.45]If, in any circumstance,
[34:17.96]we feel that a physician’s order
[34:19.93]is inappropriate or unsafe,
[34:23.21]we have a legal responsibility to question
[34:25.73]that order or refuse to carry it out.
[34:29.45]Nursing is not a nine-to-five job with every weekend off.
[34:34.26]All nurses are aware of that before they enter the profession.
[34:38.30]The emotional and physical stress, however,
[34:41.04]that occurs due to odd working hours
[34:43.77]is a prime reason for a lot of the career dissatisfaction.
[34:48.58]It is sometimes required that we work overtime,
[34:52.20]and that we change shifts four or five times a month.
[34:56.68]That disturbs our personal lives,
[34:59.52]disrupts our sleeping and eating habits,
[35:02.47]and isolates us from everything
[35:04.55]except job-related friends and activities.
[35:08.49]The quality of nursing care
[35:10.46]is being affected dramatically by these situations.
[35:14.39]Most hospitals are now staffed by new graduates,
[35:18.22]as experienced nurses
[35:20.41]finally give up trying to change the system.
[35:24.01]Consumers of medically related services
[35:27.08]have evidently not been affected enough yet
[35:30.47]to demand changes in our medical system.
[35:33.64]But if trends continue as predicted,
[35:37.36]they will find that most critical hospital care
[35:40.42]will be provided by new, inexperienced,
[35:44.65]and sometimes inadequately trained nurses.
[35:50.51]This is the end of listening comprehension.