(Script for Listening Comprehension)

Section A

Directions:In this section, you will hear 6 short conversations. At the end of each conversation, a question will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the question will be read 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 the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.

1. M: So, how are you getting on? Feeling any better?

W: I feel a lot better, thanks. But the medicine tastes terribly awful.

Q: What is the probable relationship between the man and the woman?

2. M: Did Tom tell you that Joan is coming to visit us tom orrow afternoon?

W: Yes, he told me yesterday that Joan would be here by the weekend.

Q: When will Joan arrive?

3. W: I thought you were going to the conference inNew Yorklast Monday.

M: I was planning to, but I haven’t been feeling well, so I stayed in my room.

Q: Where did the man go last Monday?

4. M: I’m really sorry you didn’t like the movie. Did your husband feel the same way about it?

W: No—quite the opposite.

Q: How did the woman and her husband feel about the movie?

5. M: How about attending the party with us tonight?

W: I’d like to, but I have to type my essay this evening.

Q: Why can’t the woman accept the invitation?

6. M: I don’t think it is a good idea to spend more time chatting on line. I mean it is really a waste of time.

W: Well, but I think sometimes chatting on line can help you to reduce your stress and make you feel a little bit relaxed.

Q: Who is in favour of chatting on line?

Section B

Directions:In this section, you will hear 1 conversation. At the end of the conversation, 4 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 the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.

M: Many people seem to be on a diet. Have you noticed that, Anna?

W: Yeah, I heard a lot of girls talking about diets.

M: A friend of mine, Linda, was once on an egg diet. She ate an egg for breakfast, an egg for lunch, and two eggs for dinner. She thought eggs were cheap, and eating eggs could make her slim.

W: Oh, my God! That would be bad for her health. Had she lost any weight?

M: Yeah, a little bit. But the problem is that she felt very sick. Then after one week, she had to give up. She said two days after eating eggs for three meals, she felt very dizzy. But she didn’t want to stop because she promised to herself that she would keep on doing that for one month. Her ideal weight is 45 kilos.

W: It is wise for her not to do that any more. It is true that eggs have a lot of protein, however, eating too many eggs is bad for the heart.

M: Yeah, it is true. I agree with you. On Wednesday, I went to see her. She looked very pale. She has been in bed for three days.

W: I am sorry to hear that. Tell her not to do that any more. Actually, the best way to lose weight is to eat less and exercise more.

Questions 7 to 10 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

Questions:

7. What are the man and woman talking about?

8. How many eggs did Linda eat for breakfast, lunch, and the supper respectively?

9. Why did Linda choose eggs to lose weight?

10. How long had Linda been on a diet?

Section C

Directions:In this section, you will hear 10 short pieces of news from BBC or VOA. After each news item and question, there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the three choices marked A, B and C, and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.

11. China Central Radio and TV University and TCL Group Co. signed an agreement to establish the Modern Distance Learning Cooperation Project inBeijing.

Question: What is the project mainly concerned with?

12. Scientists are beginning to nail down the minimum age of the universe, with the latest estimate put at 12.5 billion years. Scientists can determine the age of the universe by fixing the age of the oldest stars in the Galaxy.

Question: How did scientists determine the age of universe? 13. InParis, police have removed more than 200 Africans from a church. They had enteredFranceillegally. The Africans had occupied the church for almost two months. They were demanding the right to remain inFrance. Ten of the protesters had been refusing to eat. Officials took them to a hospital.

Question: Why did the Africans occupy theParischurch?

14. A British passenger train has crashed into an empty passenger train north ofLondon. One person was killed, and about 100 people were injured. Train officials say 400 people were on the train when the accident happened.

Everyone has now been rescued including a number of people who were trapped in the wreckage.

Question: How many passengers were killed in the accident? 15. President Bush has met with Afghan temporary leader

Hamid Karzai at the White House inWashington. Mr. Bush said theUnited Stateswill take steps to help support the Afghan economy by providing 15 million dollars in credit for private investments.

Question: How much will theUSprovide forAfghanistan?

16. A long gunman went mad at a town council meeting in northwestParison Wednesday, March 27, killing eight and wounding 30—less than a month before the presidential election.

Question: When will the French presidential election be held?

17. Tens of thousands of health workers will go house to house over the next three days in an effort to immunise 63 million children under age of five in sub-SaharanAfrica.

The campaign is the start of monthly national immunization days during the low season for polio.

Question: How old are the children to be immunised?

18. Over timescales of thousands of years, the Earth goes through a natural cycle of warmer and colder periods, driven by changes in heat coming from the Sun. Professor William Ruddiman from the University of Virginia has now calculated that if the Earth had followed its natural cycle over the last ten thousand years, it ought to have got steadily colder.

Question: Has the Earth got steadily colder over the last ten thousand years?

19. Writing in the respected American journal Nature, the scientists report on a 20-year environmental study in the Amazon basin. They say it shows changes which make the forests progressively less able to absorb the increasing amount of carbon dioxide discharged into the atmosphere by motor vehicles, factory emissions and other industrial processes around the world.

Question: Where was the environmental study held?

20.Norway’s oil production is vast, making the country the third largest oil exporter afterSaudi ArabiaandRussia. New areas for oil exploration are under constant consideration to keep production on a high level.

Question: Which country is the second largest oil exporter?

Section D

Directions:In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D. Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.

Passage One

Ladies and gentlemen, may I have your attention, please? Our bus will arrive at Victoria Park in a few minutes. You can feel the comfortable cool air coming from the lake on our left. This is a popular place for tourists in summer, especially on a hot summer afternoon like today. This lake is one of the greatest wonders of nature. No one knows when and how it was formed, but people began to build houses around the lake a hundred years ago, so in this park you can have a special view of houses of all shapes, styles and colors. In late autumn and winter, this park is the best place for bird watching. School teachers like to bring children here and they just love it.

Now our bus is driving around the lake. You can sit back and enjoy the beauty of everything here. The bus will take us to a good spot, where you can take the most wonderful photos you have ever taken.

Here we are! Please get off and enjoy yourselves. Return to the bus in thirty minutes and then we will climb the mountain five miles away and have our dinner after that. See you!

Questions 21 to 24 are based on the passage you have just heard.

21. Who do you think is speaking?

22. What are the passengers traveling for?

23. Where does the speech occur?

24. When should the tourists come back to the bus?

Passage Two

I went into a room where four men were seated at a large table. One of them rose and walked round to shake hands with me. He introduced himself and then pointed at a chair, in which I seated myself. After asking me briefly about my place of birth and my working experience, they began to question me carefully on marketing. Now I was pleased, for it was a familiar subject for me. They asked me many questions, the years of study and work helped me greatly, and I knew I was doing well. When it was over, Mr. Symonds, who had welcomed me, said: “Well, now, we are completely satisfied with your replies and we feel sure that, in term of qualifica-

tions, ability and experience, you are well suited to the post we have in mind. But if we employ you, it means we must place you in a position over a number of our English employees, many of them have been with us for a long time. So I’m afraid, we will not be able to offer you the job.”

I felt suddenly weak, and I was quite unable to think. Yet somehow I managed to leave the office, realizing that it was totally because of my black skin.

Questions 25 to 27 are based on the passage you have just heard.

25. What kind of meeting did the speaker have with the four men?

26. Did the speaker get the job in the end?

27. According to the passage, why was the man rejected?

Passage Three

There are three groups of English learners: beginners, intermediate learners and learners of special English. Beginners need to learn the basics of English. Students who have reached the intermediate level benefit from learning general English skills. But what about students who want to learn special English for their work or professional life? Most students who fit into this third group have a clear idea about what they want to learn. A bank clerk, for example, wants to use special vocabulary and technical terms of finance. But for teachers, deciding to teach special English is not always so easy. For a start, the variety is enormous. Every field from airline pilots to secretaries has its own vocabulary and technical terms. Teachers also need to have an up-to-date knowledge of that specialized language. And not many teachers are exposed to working environments outside the classroom. These issues influence the way special English is taught in schools. This type of course is usually known as English for specific purposes, ESP. And there is an ESP course in every area of professional and working life. InBritain, for example, there are courses which teach English for doctors, lawyers, reporters, travel agents and people working in the hotel industry. By far the most popular ESP courses are for business English.

Questions 28 to 30 are based on the passage you have just heard.

28. What does the speaker mainly talk about?

29. What kind of English learners is not mentioned in this passage?

30. Who needs ESP courses most?