文档内容
Section A
Conversation One
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M: You are a professor of physics at the University of Oxford. You’re a senior advisor at the European organization for nuclear research. You
also seem to tour the globe tirelessly giving talks. And in addition, you have your own weekly TV show on science. Where do you get the energy?
W: [1] Oh, well, I just love what I do. I’m extremely fortunate to have this life doing what I love doing.
M: Professor, what exactly is your goal? Why do you do all of this?
W: Well, as you said, [2] I do have different things going on. But these, I think, can be divided into two groups: the education of science and the
further understanding of science.
M: Don’t these two things get in the way of each other? What I mean is, doesn’t giving lectures take time away from the lab?
W: Not really, no. I love teaching. And I don’t mind spending more time doing that now than in the past. [3] Also, what I will say is that teaching a
subject helps me comprehend it better myself. I find that it furthers my own knowledge when I have to explain something clearly, when I have to
aid others in understanding it, and when I have to answer questions about it. Teaching at a high level can be very stimulating for anyone, no matter
how much expertise they may already have in the field they are instructing.
M: Are there any scientific breakthroughs that you see on the near horizon? A significant discovery or invention we can expect soon.
W: The world is always conducting science and there are constantly new things being discovered. [4] In fact, right now we have too much data
sitting in computers. For example, we have thousands of photos of planet Mars taken by telescopes that nobody has ever seen. We have them, yet
nobody has had time to look at them with their own eyes, let alone analyze them.
Q1.Why does the woman say she can be so energetic?
Q2.What has the woman been engaged in?
Q3.What does the woman say about the benefit teaching brings to her?
Q4.How does the woman say new scientifi c breakthroughs can be made possible?
Conversation Two
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M: Do you think dreams have special meanings?
W: [5] No. I don’t think they do.
M: [5] I don’t either. But some people do. I would say people who believe that dreams have special meanings are superstitious, especially
nowadays. In the past, during the times of ancient Egypt, Greece or China, people used to believe that dreams could foresee the future. But today,
with all the scientific knowledge that we have, I think it’s much harder to believe in these sorts of things.
W: My grandmother is superstitious, and she thinks dreams can predict the future. [6] Once she dreamed that the flight she was due to take the
following day crashed. Can you guess what she did? She didn’t take that flight. She didn’t even bother to go to the airport the following day.
Instead, she took the same flight but a week later, and everything was fine, of course. No plane ever crashed.
M: How funny! Did you know that flying is actually safer than any other mode of transport? It’s been statistically proven. People can be so
irrational sometimes.
W: Yes, absolutely. [7] But even if we think they are ridiculous, emotions can be just as powerful as rational thinking.
M: Exactly. People do all sorts of crazy things because of their irrational feelings. But in fact, some psychologists believe that our dreams are the
result of our emotions and memories from that day. [8] I think it was Sigmund Freud who said that children’s dreams were usually simple
representations of their wishes, things they wished would happen. But in adults, dreams are much more complicated reflections of their more
sophisticated sentiments.
W: Isn’t it interesting how psychologists try to understand, using the scientific method, something as bizarre as dreams? Psychology is like the
rational study of irrational feelings.
Q5.What do both speakers think of dreams?
Q6.Why didn’t the woman’s grandmother take her scheduled flight?
1Q7.What does the woman say about people’s emotions?
Q8.What did psychologist Sigmund Freud say about adults’ dreams?
Section B
Passage One
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While some scientists explore the surface of Antarctica, others are learning more about a giant body of water four kilometers beneath the ice
pack. [9] Scientists first discovered Lake Vostok in the 1970s by using radio waves that penetrate the ice. Since then, they have used sound
waves and even satellites to map this massive body of water. How does the water in Lake Vostok remain liquid beneath an ice sheet? “The thick
glacier above acts like an insulating blanket and keeps the water from freezing,” says Martin Siegert, a glaciologist from the University of Wales. In
addition, geothermal heat from deep within the Earth may warm the hidden lake. [10] The scientists suspect that micro-organisms may be living in
Lake Vostok, closed off from the outside world for more than two million years. “Anything found there will be totally alien to what’s on the surface
of the Earth,” says Siegert. Scientists are trying to find a way to drill into the ice and draw water samples without causing contamination. Again,
robots might be the solution. If all goes as planned, a drill-shaped robot will melt through the surface ice. When it reaches the lake, it will release
another robot that can swim in the lake, take pictures and look for signs of life. [11] The scientists hope their discoveries will shed light on life in
outer space, which might exist in similar dark and airless conditions. Recently, close-up pictures of Jupiter’s moon, Europa, show signs of water
beneath its icy surface. Once tested in Antarctica, robots could be sent to Europa to search for life there, too.
Q9.What did the scientists first use to discover Lake Vostok in the 1970s?
Q10.What do scientists think about Lake Vostok?
Q11.What do the scientists hope their discoveries will do?
Passage Two
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[12] The idea to study the American Indian tribe, Tarahumaras, came to James Copeland in 1984 when he discovered that very little research
had been done on their language. He contacted a tribe member through a social worker, who worked with the tribesmen in Mexico.
At first, the tribe member, named Gonzalez, was very reluctant to cooperate. He told Copeland that no amount of money could buy his
language. But after Copeland explained to him what he intended to do with his research and how it would benefit the Tarahumaras, Gonzalez
agreed to help. [13] He took Copeland to his village and served as an intermediary. Copeland says, “Thanks to him, the Tarahumaras understood
what our mission was and started trusting us.”
[14] Entering the world of Tarahumaras has been a laborious project for Copeland. To reach their homeland, he must drive two and a half days
from Houston, Texas. He loads up his vehicle with goods that the tribesmen can’t easily get and gives the goods to them as a gesture of friendship.
The Tarahumaras, who don’t believe in accumulating wealth, take the food and share it among themselves.
For Copeland, the experience has not only been academically satisfying, but also has enriched his life in several ways. “I see people rejecting
technology and living a very hard, traditional life, which offers me another notion about the meaning of progress in the western tradition,” he says. “I
experienced the simplicity of living in nature that I would otherwise only be able to read about. [15] I see a lot of beauty and their sense of sharing
and concern for each other.”
Q12.Why did James Copeland want to study the American Indian tribe, Tarahumaras?
Q13.How did Gonzalez help James Copeland?
Q14.What does the speaker say about James Copeland’s trip to the Tarahumaras village?
Q15.What impresses James Copeland about the Tarahumaras tribe?
Section C
Recording One
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What is a radical? It seems today that people are terrified of the term, particularly of having the label attached to them. [16] Accusing individuals
or groups of being radical often serves to silence them into submission, thereby maintaining the existing state of affairs, and, more important,
2preserving the power of a select minority, who are mostly wealthy white males in western society.
Feminism is a perfect example of this phenomenon. The women’s movement has been plagued by stereotypes, misrepresentations by the media,
and accusations of man hating and radicalism, when the basic foundation of feminism is simply that women deserve equal rights in all facets of life.
When faced with the threat of being labelled radical, women back down from their worthy cause and consequently, participate in their own
oppression.
It has gotten to the point that many women are afraid to call themselves feminists because of a stigma attached to the word. If people refuse to
be controlled and intimidated by stigmas, the stigmas lose all their power. Without fear on which they feed, such stigmas can only die.
[17] To me, a radical is simply someone who rebels against the norm while advocates a change in the existing state of affairs. On close
inspection, it becomes clear that the norm is constantly involving, and therefore, is not a constant entity.
So why is then deviation from the present situation such a threat, when the state of affairs itself is unstable and subject to relentless
transformation?
It all goes back to maintaining the power of those who have it and preventing the right of those who don’t. In fact, when we look at the word
“radical” in a historical context, nearly every figure we now hold up as a hero was considered a radical in his or her time. [18] Radicals are people
who affect change. They are the people about whom history is written. Abolitionists were radicals; civil rights activists were radicals; even the
founders of our country in their fight to win independence from England were radicals. Their presence in history has changed the way our society
functions, mainly by shifting the balance of power that previously existed. Of course, there are some radicals who’ve made a negative impact on
humanity, but undeniably, there would simply be no progress without radicals. That being said, next time someone calls me a radical, I would
accept that label with pride.
Q16.What usually happens when people are accused of being radical?
Q17.What is the speaker’s definition of a radical?
Q18.What does the speaker think of most radicals in the American history?
Recording Two
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We are very susceptible to the influence of the people around us. For instance, you may have known somebody who has gone overseas for a
year or so and has returned with an accent perhaps. We become part of our immediate environment. [19] None of us are immune to the influences
of our own world and let us not kid ourselves that we are untouched by the things and the people in our life.
Fred goes off to his new job at a factory. Fred takes his ten-minute coffee break, but the other workers take half an hour. Fred says, “What’s
the matter with you guys?” Two weeks later, Fred is taking twenty-minute breaks. A month later, Fred takes his half hour. Fred is saying, “If you
can’t beat them, join them. Why should I work any harder than the next guy?” The fascinating thing about being human is that generally we are
unaware that there are changes taking place in our mentality. It is like returning to the city smog after some weeks in the fresh air. Only then do we
realise that we’ve become accustomed to the nasty smells. Mix with critical people, and we learn to criticise. Mix with happy people, and we learn
about happiness. What this means is that we need to decide what we want from life and then choose our company accordingly. You may well say,
“That is going to take some effort. It may not be comfortable. I may offend some of my present company.” Right, but it is your life. Fred may say,
“I’m always broke, frequently depressed. I’m going nowhere and I never do anything exciting.” Then we discover that Fred’s best friends are
always broke, frequently depressed, going nowhere and wishing that life was more exciting. This is not coincidence, nor is it our business to stand
in judgement of Fred. However, [20] if Fred ever wants to improve his quality of life, the first thing he’ll need to do is recognise what has been
going on all these years.
It’s no surprise that doctors as a profession suffer a lot of ill health, because they spend their life around sick people. [21] Psychiatrists have a
higher incidence of suicide in their profession for related reasons. Traditionally, nine out of ten children whose parents smoke, smoke themselves.
Obesity is in part an environmental problem. Successful people have successful friends, and so the story goes on.
Q19.What does the speaker say about us as human beings?
Q20.What does the speaker say Fred should do first to improve his quality of life?
Q21.What does the speaker say about psychiatrists?
Recording Three
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Virtually every American can recognize a dollar bill at a mere glance. Many can identify it by its sound or texture. [22] But few people indeed
can accurately describe the world’s most powerful, important currency. The American dollar bill is colored with black ink on one side and green
3on the other. [23] The exact composition of the paper and ink is a closely guarded government secret. Despite its weighty importance, the dollar
bill actually weighs little. It requires nearly 500 bills to tip the scales at a pound. Not only is the dollar bill lightweight, but it also has a brief lifespan.
Few dollar bills survive longer than 18 months.
The word “dollar” is taken from the German word “taler”, the name for the world’s most important currency in the 16th century. The taler was a
silver coin first minted in 1518 under the reign of Charles V, emperor of Germany.
The concept of paper money is a relatively recent innovation in the history of American currency. When the Constitution was signed, people had
little regard for paper money because of its steadily decreasing value during the colonial era. [24] Because of this lack of faith, the new American
government minted only coins for common currency. Interest-bearing banknotes were issued at the same time. But their purpose was limited to
providing money for urgent government crises, such as American involvement in the war of 1812. The first noninterest-bearing paper currency was
authorized by Congress in 1862, at the height of the Civil War.
At this point, citizens’ old fears of devalued paper currency had calmed, and the dollar bill was born. The new green-colored paper money
quickly earned the nickname “greenback”. Today, the American dollar bill is a product of the Federal Reserve and is issued from the 12 Federal
Reserve banks around the United States. The government keeps a steady supply of approximately 2 billion bills in circulation at all times.
Controversy continues to surround the true value of the dollar bill. [25] American history has seen generations of politicians argue in favor of a
gold standard for American currency. However, for the present, the American dollar bill holds the value that is printed on it and little more. The
only other guarantee on the bill is a Federal Reserve pledge as confirmation in the form of government securities.
Q22.What does the speaker say about the American dollar bill?
Q23.What does the speaker say about the exact composition of the American dollar bill?
Q24.Why did the new American government mint only coins for common currency?
Q25.What have generations of American politicians argued for?
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