Talks and Conversations 3

John: Good morning, Betty. Do you know what the assignment is for our term paper in history?
Betty: Sure John. But weren’t you in class on Monday? That’s when it was given out.
John: No, I missed that class. Was there a handout?
Betty: No, the instructor just wrote the assignment on the board.
John: Could I copy the assignment from your notes?
Betty: You could if I had copied it all down, but I just wrote down the part that I wanted.
John: Oh no...
Betty: You see, there were four choices of topics for the term paper, but when I saw them, I knew which one I wanted, so I didn’ t copy the others down.
John: Can you remember any of the others?
Betty: Let’s see... There was one about World War I, something about it, but I don’t remember what. And there was one called the idea of progress in the 19th century.
John: And what was the last one?
Betty: I can’t remember. My mind is a complete blank. Maybe you could ask someone else.
John: Yes, I will. Anyway, those are certainly broad topics.
Betty: Yes, but you can focus on a special area within them. Which one would you take?
John: Of course, I don't know what the last one is, but of these three, I think I'd take the idea of progress.
Betty: That's very abstract.
John: Yes, but it is one of my interests and I've read a lot on the subject. I've never written a term paper on it though.
Betty: Me neither. I haven't even read about it. Are you going to class on Wednesday?
John: Yes.
Betty: Maybe he'll write it on the board again.
John: I hope so. Good luck with your paper.
Betty: Same to you.

Questions:

19. How many topics did the teacher give for the term paper?
20. How was the assignment given out by the instructor?
21. Why can't John copy the assignment from Betty's notes?
22. Why does John choose to write on the idea of progress in the 19th century?

【评析】
本段听力讲述的是男同学周一没有去上课，来询问女同学老师给出的期末论文题目是什么。恰巧老师给出的是4个话题以供挑选，女同学没有记下所有的话题，只是凭记忆讲述了两个话题给男同学听。男同学在已知的话题中倾向于写“the idea of progress in the 19th century”，因为他喜欢这方面知识，而且之前也有阅读。问题都是常见细节题，涉及所给话题数目、话题告知方式等，难度不大，只要认真听不难得出答案。