TEST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS (2006)-GRADE FOUR-
PART I DICTATION
Listen to the following passage, Altogether the passage will be read to you four times. During the first reading, which will be done at normal speed, listen and try to understand the meaning. For the second and third readings, the passage will be read sentence by sentence，or phrase by phrase，with intervals of 15 seconds．The last reading will be done at normal speed again and during this time you should check your work. You will then be given 2 minutes to check through your work once more. Please write the whole passage on ANSWER SHEET ONE. Now listen to the passage.
The Internet
The Internet is the most significant progress in the field of communications. Imagine a book that never ends, a library with a million floors, or imagine a research project with thousands of scientists working around the clock forever. This is the magic of the Internet. Yet the Internet has the potential for good and bad. One can find well-organized, information-rich websites. At the same time, one can also find wasteful websites. Most websites are known as different Internet applications. These include online games, chat rooms and so on. These applications have great power too. Sometimes the power can be so great that young people may easily become victims to their attraction. So we need to recognize the seriousness of the problem. We must work together to use its power for better ends. The second and third readings, you should begin writing now.
The Internet is the most significant progress in the field of communications.
The Internet is the most significant progress in the field of communications.
Imagine a book that never ends,a library with a million floors,
Imagine a book that never ends,a library with a million floors,
or imagine a research project with thousands of scientists
or imagine a research project with thousands of scientists
working around the clock forever.
working around the clock forever.
This is the magic of the Internet.
This is the magic of the Internet.
Yet the Internet has the potential for good and bad.
Yet the Internet has the potential for good and bad.
One can find well-organized, information-rich websites.
One can find well-organized, information-rich websites.
At the same time, one can also find wasteful websites.
At the same time, one can also find wasteful websites.
Most websites are known as different Internet applications.
Most websites are known as different Internet applications.
These include online games, chat rooms and so on.
These include online games, chat rooms and so on.
These applications have great power too.
These applications have great power too.
Sometimes the power can be so great
Sometimes the power can be so great
that young people may easily become victims to their attraction.
that young people may easily become victims to their attraction.
So we need to recognize the seriousness of the problem.
So we need to recognize the seriousness of the problem.
We must work together to use its power for better ends.
We must work together to use its power for better ends.
The last reading
The Internet is the most significant progress
in the field of communications.
Imagine a book that never ends,
a library with a million floors,
or imagine a research project with thousands of scientists
working around the clock forever.
This is the magic of the Internet.
Yet the Internet has the potential for good and bad.
One can find well-organized, information-rich websites.
At the same time, one can also find wasteful websites.
Most websites are known as different Internet applications.
These include online games, chat rooms and so on.
These applications have great power too.
Sometimes the power can be so great
that young people may easily become victims to their attraction.
So we need to recognize the seriousness of the problem.
We must work together to use its power for better ends.
Now you have 2 minutes to check through your work.
That is the end of the Part I Dictation.
PART II LISTENING COMPREHENSION
In Sections A，B and C you will hear everything ONCE ONLY.
Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow．
Mark the correct answer to each question on your answer sheet．
SECTION A CONVERSATIONS
In this section you will hear several conversations．
Listen to the conversations carefully
and then answer the questions that follow．
Questions 1 to 3 are based on the following conversation.
At the end of the conversation，
you will be given 15 seconds to answer the questions．
Now, listen to the conversation.
M: Hello.
W: Oh, hello, you must be a new student.
Did you find us, ok?
M: Well, I got a bit lost and I had to ask a stranger,
but I got here eventually.
W: Oh, dear. Have you come far today?
M: Only from Britain. I was staying with my brother.
W: Oh, good. How did you get here?
M: My brother took me to the railway station
and I got a bus at this end.
W: Aha, well, you'd better tell me your name,
so I can find your form.
M: It's Mark Bern.
W: Bern, Bern.
Ah, yes. Oh,you've changed since this photo.
What happened to your beard and moustache,
and you are not wearing glasses, either?
M: No, I thought I'd better look smarter.
W: Here is the key to your room. It is 501.
M: Thanks. How do I get there?
W: Go to the end of this corridor, turn left
and it's the third door on the right.
M: Thank you. Oh, there is a meeting for new students.
What time is that?
W: Half past five in the Common Room on the ground floor
at the other end of the corridor.
M: Thanks a lot. Bye.
Questions 4 to 6 are based on the following conversation．
At the end of the conversation,
you will be given 15 seconds to answer the questions．
Now, listen to the conversation.
W: Hi, Steve, how are things?
M: Hi, Maggie. Good, thanks. What's new with you?
W: Oh, I was just wondering
if you wanted to go out tonight.
M: Well, I was thinking of going to the university library
to do a bit of study. What have you got in mind?
W: I thought we could just go for a walk,
maybe down to that park near the beach.
M: Tonight? You must be joking. It's too cold.
W: Oh, yes. It's too cold,
but I still want to go out somewhere.
That new Tom Cruise's film is on in town.
How about that?
M: Ok, what time does it start?
W: Oh, I think it's half past eight or something.
I will just get the paper and have a look.
Just turn on for a minute.
Look, the film got fantastic review in the paper last week.
M: Ok, ok. Where are we going to meet?
W: It'd be easier if we met at the cinema.
M: Ok. Where is it?
W: Oh, you know, the Olyang.
M: Where is that?
W: Near the Town Hall and opposite the bank.
M: Oh, yeah. I know where it is.
Ok, look, I will meet you there at fifteen past eight.
Questions 7 to 10 are based on the following conversation．
At the end of the conversation,
you will be given 20 seconds to answer the questions．
Now, listen to the conversation.
W: What are you reading, Bill?
M: It's this week's New Scientist, why?
W: I was just wondering. It looks interesting.
But I've never actually read it myself.
It's for real scientists-
or can ordinary people like me understand it?
M: Oh, it's for anyone really.
It usually has articles and stories
about character affairs and about science
as well as papers about new development and research.
I am reading about new telephone
that allows you to see the person you are speaking to
as well as hear him.
W: Oh, I've heard about it. Is it on the market yet?
Can I buy one?
M: No, not this one. But the company
has made other models to try out on business.
This one is special because its color
and the image is moving.
W: Oh, that's interesting.
M: You see the first video phones
that what they called were made in Japan.
But they can only show a still, black and white image.
So this video phone is much better than that.
Mind you and I'm not sure I want one, would you?
W: Well, no. I don't think I would.
I bet it costs a lot of money.
Does it say how much it costs?
M: Yes, the early black and white ones
cost several hundred pounds,
but the one the story is about
costs several thousand pounds.
W: En. Why does anybody want one, do you think?
M: Business organizations
that need to frequently contact overseas organizations
would want it. It's like a face-to-face conversation.
So maybe a lot of overseas travel can be avoided.
W: Yes, I suppose so.
SECTION B PASSAGES
In this section，you will hear several passages．
Listen to the passages carefully
and then answer the questions that follow．
Questions 11 to 13 are based on the following passage．
At the end of the passage, you will be given
15 seconds to answer the questions．
Now, listen to the passage.
If you're in a western country,
you often see people walking their dogs.
It is still true that a dog
is the most useful animal in the world.
However the reason why one keeps the dog has changed.
Once upon a time, a man met a dog
and wanted it to help him in the fight
against other animals.
And the dog listened to him
and did what he told him to do.
Later people used dogs for hunting other animals.
And dogs did not eat what they got
until their masters agreed.
Dogs were also used for driving sheep
and guarding chickens.
But now people in towns and cities do not need dogs
to fight other animals any more.
Of course, they keep them to frighten thieves.
But the most important reason for keeping dogs
is that they feel lonely in the city.
For a child, a dog is his best friend
when he has no friends to play with;
for a young wife, a dog is her child
when she does not have her own;
for old people, a dog is also a child
when their real children have grown up and left.
Now people do not have to use a dog,
but they keep it as a friend,
just like a member of the family.
Questions 14 to 17 are based on the following passage．
At the end of the passage, you will be given
20 seconds to answer the questions．
Now, listen to the passage.
I am going to work in a totally new environment.
I'll have to get used to different working conditions.
I am used to working in quite high-tech sort of industry
that has got lots of machinery and everything.
But now I am going to a place
that has no machinery as such,
apart from a typewriter.
The place has no electricity at all, no photocopiers,
all the things that you just take for granted here.
They just won't be there any more.
I'll be staying near the school
in quite a small village.
And I will be staying in a teacher's house,
living with two or three other volunteer teachers.
I'll have to get used to not having
the variety of different foods that you have here
like twenty different varieties of breakfast serial.
And the range of food there
is much smaller, not many choices.
I'll also have to get used to getting water from a well,
not having electricity
which means gas lamps in the evening;
which means the difficulty of preparing
for the next day's lessons in poor light;
which means different ways of getting your clothes washed.
There will be all sorts of big differences like that,
but I'll have to get used to when I arrive there.
Questions 18 to 20 are based on the following passage．
At the end of the passage, you will be given
15 seconds to answer the questions．
Now, listen to the passage.
The most common type of child abuse you know
is beating with the hands or with an instrument
usually a cane in some places.
Nearly a third of the abused children we see
are in the age group between six and ten,
and about sixty-five percent of them are boys.
This is the age group when children
are first to expect to study hard
and parents have great expectations of their progresses in school.
Boys of course attract more abuse
such as beating because once again
parental expectations are high,
and boys tend to be more energetic
and difficult to control than girls.
Most experts seem to agree
that the child abuse is caused
by a combination of social
and psychological factors.
Families who beat their children
are not particularly different from other people.
The only difference that exists between them
is that they lack skills in the establishing good relationships
with their children. These families too,
generally speaking, have other problems
such as marriage problems or financial problems.
Some parents are hurting their children
because they strongly believe in the use of
traditional discipline methods.
But many of them have emotional problems.
They are often the victims of violence themselves.
Sometimes they even bear an unreasonable hatred for a child
because they believe that the child
has brought the family bad luck.
SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST
In this section, you will hear several news items.
Listen to them carefully
and then answer the questions that follow.
Questions 21 and 22 are based on the following news．
At the end of the news item，you will be given
10 seconds to answer the questions．
Now listen to the news.
American coast guard officials in Florida
say they have returned to Cuba
a group of would?be migrants
who try to make their way to the United States
in an unusual vessel, a floating truck.
They said one of their planes spotted the Cubans
more than half way through their journey,
and the coast guard
could not believe their eyes when they saw the vessel.
The Cubans had attached floats and propellers
to a 1951 shabby truck.
Questions 23 is based on the following news．
At the end of the news item，you will be given
5 seconds to answer the question．
Now listen to the news.
"All large and medium-sized Chinese cities
will have greater air quality monitoring by 2010."
says a government official.
The government has spent 150 million yuan
on air quality monitoring systems
across China since 2000
when officials began paying greater attention
to air quality monitoring. More than 220 cities
now have air quality monitoring systems and 42 others
will have systems in place by the end of this year.
Questions 24 and 25 are based on the following news．
At the end of the news item，you will be given
10 seconds to answer the questions．
Now listen to the news.
Storms sank two river ferries in southern Bangladesh on Sunday
and some 90 passengers were reported missing
while at least another 68 died.
One of the packed ferries carrying around 150 people
capsized early on Sunday on the Meghna river
and 50 were rescued.
A second ferry sank on the same river
just one kilometer away leaving 40 passengers missing
after 6 were rescued.
Questions 26 is based on the following news．
At the end of the news item，
you will be given 5 seconds to answer the question．
Now listen to the news.
The Indonesian government
has given official approval for an Australian consulate in Dili.
The first Australian consulate officials
will travel to the East Timor capital next week
as well as serving the consular needs of Australian
in the region.The consulate will facilitate Australian support
to the United Nation's assistance mission in East Timor.
The announcement follows in principle their agreement
reached on the opening
of the consulate between Australian prime minister
and Indonesian president in Barley last month.
Questions 27 and 28 are based on the following news．
At the end of the news item，you will be given
10 seconds to answer the questions．
Now listen to the news.
PepsiCo of the US and Unilever of the UK
have become the latest foreign entrance
in China's competitive bottle tea market.
The two companies launched Lipton's iced tea
in Guangzhou last week in a 50-50 venture."
PepsiCo is contributing its bottling facilities
and distribution networks to the alliance
while Unilever provides the famous tea brand and recipe."
company executive said.
China has a growing bottle tea market
estimated to be worth 10 billion Yuan.
It has been dominated in recent years
by two Taiwanese brands, Master Kang and Uni-President.
Three other big brands,
Nestle, Guangdong based Jianlibao and Lipton,
have just entered the market this year.
Swiss company Nestle
is working in conjunction with Coca Cola.
Questions 29 and 30 are based on the following news．
At the end of the news item，you will be given
10 seconds to answer the questions．
Now listen to the news.
The Isreali peace camp
has launched the biggest protest in years
with more than 100,000 people protesting on Saturday
and demanding the country leave Gaza,
after Palestinian militants
dealt Israel's army its deadliest blow since 2002.
Crowds at Tel Aviv's main square
added to the growing call for withdrawal
from the war-torn territory.
The killing of 13 soldiers by militants
in the Gaza strict last week
has deepened already strong support in Israel
for Prime Minister Sharon's Gaza pullout plan
which is being delayed by hardliners
in his right wing Likud party.
This is the end of Listening Comprehension.