Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. 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 Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the center.

Passage One

The world is not only hungry; it is also thirsty for water. This may seem strange to you, since nearly 75% of the earth’s surface is covered with water. But about 97% of this huge amount is sea-water, or salt water. Man can only drink and use the other 3% — the fresh water that comes from rivers, lakes, underground, and other sources. And we cannot even use all of that, because some of it is in the form of icebergs and glaciers. Even worse, some of it has been polluted.

Our need for water is increasing rapidly. Only if we take steps to deal with this problem now can we avoid a severe worldwide water shortage later on. One useful step we should take is to develop ways of reusing it.

Today, in most large cities water is used only once. But it is possible to pipe water that has been used to a purifying plant. There it can be filtered and treated with chemicals so that it can be used again just as if it were fresh from a spring.

But even if every large city purified and reused its water, we still would not have enough. Where could we turn next? To the oceans! All we’d have to do to make use of the vast amount of sea-water is —— remove the salt. This salt-removing process is already in use in many parts of the world. So if we take all these steps, we’ll be in no danger of drying up!

Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.

26. What percentage of the earth’s water can man actually use?

27. How can we avoid a worldwide water shortage in the future?

28. How can sea-water be turned into fresh water?

Passage Two

Mrs. Jones was very fond of singing. She had a good voice, except that some of her high notes tended to sound like a gate, which someone had forgotten to oil. Mrs. Jones was very conscious of this weakness, and took every opportunity she could find to practice these high notes. As she lived in a small house where she could not practice without disturbing the rest of the family, she usually went for long walks along the country roads whenever she had time, and practiced her high notes there. Whenever she heard a car or a person coming along the road, she stopped and waited until she could no longer be heard before she started practicing again, because she was a shy person, and because she was sensitive about those high notes.

One afternoon, however, a fast, open car came up behind her so silently and so fast that she did not hear it until it was only a few yards from her. She was singing some of her highest and most difficult notes at the time, and as the car passed her, she saw an anxious expression suddenly come over its driver’s face. He put his brakes on violently, and as soon as the car stopped, jumped out and began to examine all his tires carefully.

Mrs. Jones did not dare to tell him what the noise he had heard had really been, so he got back into his car and drove off as puzzled as he had been when he stopped.

Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.

29. What was Mrs. Jones very fond of?

30. What did she do about her weakness?

31. Where did she practice?

Passage Three

China’s first astronaut returned safely to earth on Thursday when his craft touched down on time and as planned after 21 hours in orbit. China’s mission control declared the country’s landmark flight “a success.”

The craft carrying Yang Liwei touched down on the grasslands of Inner Mongolia in northern China as planned at dawn on Thursday. He emerged from the capsule and waved at rescuers. The landing came after a 21-hour mission in which Shenzhou V orbited the Earth 14 times.

It was reported that the astronaut’s condition was good, and he would undergo an immediate exam. The completion of the mission was the crowning achievement of an 11-year, manned space program.

While in orbit Yang spoke to his family, telling them it looked “splendid” in space. He also had a conversation with the country’s defense minister, unfurled the flags of China and the United Nations and took a nap.

Yang, an astronaut since 1998, was picked for the flight from three finalists. They have trained for years. His trip came after four test flights, beginning in 1999, of unmanned Shenzhou capsules.

China has had a rocketry program since the 1950s. It launched a manned space program in the 1970s during the Cultural Revolution but later abandoned it. The program was relaunched in 1992 under the code name Project 921.

Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.

32. When did the craft carrying Yang Liwei return safely to Earth?

33. How many times did the China’s first manned spaceship Shenzhou V orbit the Earth?

34. While in orbit, Yang performed some tasks. Which is not mentioned in the passage?

35. When did China launch a manned space program?

Section C

Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered form 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.

There have been a lot of (36) changes in American eating (37 habits in the last ten years. One is the growing (38) awareness of the nutritional value of food. Another is an (39) increasing interest in a (40) variety of international foods. Since about 1970, Americans have been more and more (41) concerned about health. They have begun to notice the (42) ingredients in what they eat.

When they select food in the (43) supermarket, they turn the packages over to read the labels carefully. (44) They prefer to eat food that is produced without unnecessary chemicals and often choose fruits and vegetables grown without poisons used to kill insects. A small group of Americans, called vegetarians, have decided not to eat meat. (45) So they choose a complete diet from other kinds of food, because they think that meat products are not good for your health.

Also more and more Americans have become interested in food from other countries. (46) They have been going out to international restaurants and eagerly trying unfamiliar dishes. Chinese, Japanese, French, Italian, and Greek, as well as many other recipes, are all popular these days in the United States. People used to say that Americans ate uninteresting, unhealthy food, but this has changed in the last ten years.

英語周報07年12月四級考試聽力模擬(六)

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