Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)

Section A

Directions: In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each conversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation 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 1 with a single line through the centre.

Conversation One

【主题分类】长对话：气候变化

【高级表达】

Overview n.  综述；概览

Low-carbon adj. 低碳（的）

Priority n. 优先,优先权,优先考虑的事

Consensus n. 一致，共识

Inevitable adj. 必然的，不可避免的

【关键句型】

1. And this will involve a huge transition to low-carbon energy systems. 这将涉及向低碳能源体系的巨大转变。

2. From a political perspective, we need to understand the terms on which major countries like China and the USA might sign up to a global agreement. 从政治角度看，我们需要了解中美等大国签署全球协议的条件。

3. We also need to plan ahead so that we we’re in a position to deal with the likely levels of climate change. 我们还需要提前计划，以便我们能够应对可能的气候变化水平。

【听力原文】

W: Professor Henderson, could you give us a brief overview of what you do, where you work and your main area of research?

M: (1) Well, the Center for Climate Research where I work links the science of climate change to issues around economics and policy. Some of our research is to do with the likely impacts of climate change and all of the associated risks.

W: And how strong is the evidence that climate change is happening that its really something we need to be worried about.

M: Well, most of the science of climate change, particularly that to do with global warming is simply fact. But other aspects of the science are less certain or at least more disputed. And so we’re really talking about risk. (2) What the economics tells us is that it’s probably cheaper to avoid climate change—to avoid the risk—than it is to deal with the likely consequences.

W: So what are we doing?  What can we do about it?

M: Well, I would argue that we need to develop the science specifically to understand the likely impacts of climate change in different contexts. As I said, we need to understand the best ways of avoiding climate change. (3) And this will involve a huge transition to low-carbon energy systems. And the transition is a tremendous priority. And forth is to happen, we may need action on a global scale. From a political perspective, we need to understand the terms on which major countries like China and the USA might sign up to a global agreement, because at the moment we don’t have that consensus.

W: Right.

M: (4) And we also need to plan ahead so that we’re in a position to deal with the likely levels of climate change which are already inevitable, and even more so, too, for the levels that are likely if we don’t get those global agreements.

【答案解析】

1. 答 案 B

What does Professor Henderson say about his main area of research?

对话开头,女士请男士介绍自己的工作内容、工作地点和主要研究领域,男士说自己在气候研究中心工作,主要工作是将气候变化学与经济和政策联系起来,他们的一些研究也涉及气候变化可能带来的影响和所有的相关危害,选项B为正确答案。

2. 答 案 A

What does Professor Henderson say about climate change?

对话中男士提到,经济情况表明,防止气候变化比处理气候变化可能带来的影响花费更少,选项A为正确答案。

3.答 案 D

What does Professor Henderson say is a top priority in combating climate change?

在回答女士提出的如何应对气候变化的问题时,男士表示我们应发展专门的技术弄清楚气候变化可能带来的各种影响以及防止气候变化最有效的方法。男士认为防止气候变化涉及向低碳能源系统转型,这也是应对气候变化的当务之急,选项D为正确答案。

4.答案 A

What does Professor Henderson advise us to do to better deal with climate change?

对话结尾处男士提出了应对气候变化的几条建议,比如使用低碳能源、世界大国打成有关气候变化的全球协议、提前制定应对气候变化可能带来的问题的计划等等,选项A为正确答案。

Conversation Two

【主题分类】长对话：成功的秘诀

【高级表达】

Fantastic adj. 奇异的；空想的；极好的；不可思议的

Attribute vt. 归属；把…归于

Opportunity n. 时机，机会

Passion n. 激情，热情，酷爱

Automatically adv. 自动地，机械地，无意识地

【关键句型】

1. When I teach in the classroom, we often end up talking about things like success and what leads to success. 我上课结束前经常和学生们讨论成功之类的事情以及导致成功的因素。

2. I think a lot of what people consider luck is attributed to how you respond to the opportunities that come your way.我认为人们认为的运气很大程度上取决于你如何应对出现在你面前的机遇。

3. And in the video we saw, the point about getting good at something is not about having some natural talent. 在视频中我们看到，擅长某件事的关键并不在于有天赋。

【听力原文】

W: I have many business English students. When I teach in the classroom, (5) we often end up talking about things like success and what leads to success. And its interesting that many of them mention the element of luck.

M: Right.

W: Luck is important to success, but since you’ve seen that fantastic video on the TED Talks website by Richard St.John, he doesn’t mention luck at all.

M: Well, I’m a firm believer that people can make their own luck. I mean, what people regard as luck you can actually create to a degree.

W: Sure. (6) I think a lot of what people consider luck is attributed to how you respond to the opportunities that come your way.

M: Yes. Very good point.

W: (6) Seizing the opportunities. But was there any point in the video that you thought was particularly interesting?

M: Yes, actually there was. Something very impressive to me is many people think that luck is important and that natural talent is something you must have in order to be successful. (7) And in the video we saw, the point about getting good at something is not about having some natural talent. It’s all about practice, practice, practice.

W: Definitely yeah. Natural talent helps in someway. But at the end of the day, you really do need to work hard and get really, really good at what you do.

M: Sure.

W: I thought one interesting thing in the video was the idea of passion being so important. And there’re people who really love what they do — of course you’re going to want to work harder and put the time and effort into it. (8) And the funny thing is that if you love what you do and are really passionate about it and work really hard, the money kind of comes automatically.

【答案解析】

5. 答案 C

What are the speakers mainly talking about?

对话开篇女士说自己上课结束前经常和学生们讨论成功这类的事情以及促成成功的因素, 很有意思的是很多学生提到了运气这个因素。随后男士和女士讨论了运气与成功、天赋与成功、坚持训练与成功的关系。说明, 对话的主语内容是成功的秘诀, 选项C为正确答案。

6. 答案 B

What is the woman’s view of luck?

对话中两人首先讨论了运气与成功的关系。女士认为, 运气对于成功来说是很重要的, 运气归结于人们在机会来临时的反应, 所谓的幸运就是抓住了机会, 选项B为正确答案。

7. 答案A

What is the chief point the TED Talks video makes ?

对话中提到TED Talks网站中的视频节目,该视频阐释了一个主要观点:是否擅长做某事不是取决于天赋, 而是取决于是否坚持训练, 选项A为正确答案。

8. 答案 B

What does the woman think is the funny thing in the TED Talks video?

对话结尾处女士说自己发现 TED Talks 网站视频节目中一件有趣的事情:如果你喜欢自己的工作,对工作充满热情并且非常努力, 那么钱就会自动找上门来, 选项B为正确答案。

Section B

Directions: In this section, you will hear two passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear three or four 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 1 with a single line through the centre.

 Passage One

【主题分类】短文听力：魔鬼塔

【高级表达】

Stump n. 树桩，残余部分

Relic n. 遗迹，遗物，废墟

Molten adj. 熔化的, 炽热的

Supernatural adj. 超自然的, 神奇的, 不可思议的

Take refuge 避难, 躲避

【关键句型】

1. The massive column of rock looks as though it was dropped down into this location from a different time and place. 巨大的石柱看起来好像是从一个不同的时间和地点掉落到这个地方。

2. Small wonder that an Indian legend described Devils Tower as being formed by supernatural powers. 难怪印度传说中魔鬼塔是由超自然力量形成的。

3. The outer layers of the volcano were worn away, until the hard core stood completely exposed. 火山的外层被磨损，直到地核完全暴露出来。

【听力原文】

(9) Devils Tower, the first national monument in America, could almost be mistaken for the stump of an enormous tree. Its sheer rock sides sweep up from abroad base until they cut off abruptly at the flat summit. Rising more than 1,000 feet in the middle of the gently rolling plains at Wyoming, the massive column of rock looks as though it was dropped down into this location from a different time and place.In a sense it was. Devils Tower is a relic of the past when the molten rock of the earth’s core forced its way to the surface to form the throat of a volcano. As the centuries passed, the rock cooled and hardened, shrinking and cracking into long columns. (10) Born in fire and fury, Devils Tower was then shaped by the slow, gentle work of wind and water. The outer layers of the volcano were worn away, until the hard core stood completely exposed.

(10) Small wonder that an Indian legend described Devils Tower as being formed by supernatural powers. The legend says that when seven girls were attacked by bears, they took refuge on top of a small rock, and they appealed to the Rock God for help. (12) The god caused the rock to grow and to lift the girls far above the ground, while its sides were scored by the claws of the angry bears. Even today, says the legend, the girls can be seen above the towering rock as seven shining stars in the night sky.

【答案解析】

8. 答案 D

What does Devils Tower look like？

短文开篇介绍了魔鬼塔的基本情况:魔鬼塔是美国第一处受政府保护的名胜古迹,经常被误认为是一个巨大的树桩,选项D为正确答案。

9. 答案 C

What caused the volcano’s outer layer to wear away?

短文中描述魔鬼塔的形成过程时提到,地心熔岩冲出地面形成了火山颈,火山岩冷却硬化后, 收缩碎裂变成了长形的柱子, 即魔鬼塔。后来,火山的外层不断被风和水侵蚀,露出了坚硬的核心部分, 选项C为正确答案。

10. 答案 C

What does Indian legend say about Devils Tower？

短文中提到,关于魔鬼塔的形成,印第安人流传着一个传说,即魔鬼塔是由超自然的力量形成的, 选项C为正确答案。

11. 答案 C

How did the rock god help the seven girls in the Indian legend?

短文结尾处提到了关于魔鬼塔的传说:相传有七个女孩受到熊的攻击,她们逃到一块小岩石顶上避难并祈求岩石之神的庇护,岩石之神让小岩石长大,托着她们远离了地面,愤怒的熊在岩石侧面留下了抓痕,选项C为正确答案。

Passage Two

【主题分类】短文听力：奢侈品

【高级表达】

convenience store 便利商店

Lavish adj. 浪费的，丰富的，大方的

Indulgence n. 嗜好，放纵，沉溺

Extravagance n. 奢侈，浪费，放肆的言行

Occasion n. 时机，场合，理由

【关键句型】

1. It’s no accident that most gas stations have convenience stores attached. 大多数加油站都有便利店，这并非偶然。

2. They do deserve such indulgences. 他们确实应该得到这样的纵容。

3. She’s figured out that it will take her another three years to pay it off . 她算出还这笔钱还得再花三年。

【听力原文】

(13) It’s no accident that most gas stations have convenience stores attached. Few of us can fill up the tank without buying a few snacks, cigarettes, soft drinks or other items we can live without.“I deserve it.”That’s what hard-working men and women say to justify their lavish vacations, big stereo systems or regular restaurant meals. They do deserve such indulgences. However, they also deserve a home of their own, a secure retirement and freedom from worrying about unpaid bills.

No one should have to live with what a Taxes mother described as constant stress tension, even fear about the money. (14) Sadly, the pleasure that comes from extravagances often disappears long before the bills do. The video camera that one single mother bought for a special occasion, for example, is not much fun now. She’s figured out that it will take her another three years to pay it off at $30 a month. And the New Yorkers who spent a bundle on an outdoor hot tub now admit that they rarely use it,“because we can’t afford to heat it in winter.”The solution—set priorities, add up the annual cost of each item, then consider what else she could buy with the same money. That will help you decide which items are really worth it. (15) One Chicago woman, for example, discovered that daily lunches with co-workers cost her $2,000 a year; she decided to take lunch to work instead.“I now put $20 a week into my vacation fund, and another 20 into retirement savings,”she says,“those mean more to me than lunch.”

【答案解析】

12. 答案 D

What does the speaker say about drivers who stop at gas stations?

短文开篇提到,大多数加油站都配有便利店,这并不是偶然。加满油后,很少有人不去买一些零食、香烟、饮料或其他一些生活中可有可无的东西。说明,四级在加油站停车除了加油外,还会从便利店买东西,选项 D 为正确答案。

13. 答案 D

What does the speaker say about extravagances ?

短文中讲话者表示,没有人必须生活在德克萨斯一位母亲所描述的那种持续不断的压力、紧张,甚至对钱的恐惧中,但不幸的是,购买奢侈品带来的愉悦感经常在账单尚未还清之前就早早消失了。说明,奢侈品只能带来短暂的愉悦感,选项 D 为正确答案。

14. 答案 A

What does the speaker want to show by the example of the Chicago woman?

短文结尾处提到一位芝加哥妇女发现每天与同事外出吃午饭,一年就花费了2000美元,她决定自己带饭,每周省下20美元存起来用于度假,另外20美元用于退休养老,她说这样比吃放更有意义。说明,小笔的日常积蓄可以改变一个人的生活,选项 A 为正确答案。

15. 答案 A

What does the speaker want to show by the example of the Chicago woman?

短文结尾处提到一位芝加哥妇女发现每天与同事外出吃午饭,一年就花费了2000美元,她决定自己带饭,每周省下20美元存起来用于度假,另外20美元用于退休养老,她说这样比吃放更有意义。说明,小笔的日常积蓄可以改变一个人的生活,选项 A 为正确答案。

Section C

Directions: In this section, you will hear three recordings of lectures or talks followed by three or four questions. The recordings will be played 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 1 with a single line through the centre.

Recording One

【主题分类】讲座演讲：情绪

【高级表达】

Brainstorm v. 集体讨论，动脑筋，出主意

Alert v. 使警觉,警告,使意识到

Violate vt. 违反,侵犯,妨碍

Dwell on 详述；细想

Positive adj. 积极的

【关键句型】

1.  It’s likely you’d prefer to feel happy instead of sad, or confident instead of insecure. 你可能更喜欢快乐而不是悲伤，或者自信而不是缺乏安全感。

2. What matters is how our emotions are balanced. 重要的是我们的情绪是如何平衡的。

3. The more we dwell on our negative emotions, the more negative we begin to feel. 我们越是沉浸在消极情绪中，我们就会越感到消极。

【听力原文】

Let’s say you start to brainstorm a list of all the emotions you’ve ever experienced. Just for fun, try it now.

What’s on your list? Chances are, you included things like happy, sad, excited, angry, afraid, grateful, proud, scared, confused, stressed, relaxed and amazed. Now sort your list into two categories—positive emotions and negative emotions.    

(16) Feeling both positive and negative emotions is a natural part of being human. We might use the word “negative”to describe more difficult emotions, but it doesn’t mean those emotions are bad or we shouldn’t have them. Still, most people would probably rather feel a positive emotion than a negative one. It’s likely you’d prefer to feel happy instead of sad, or confident instead of insecure.

What matters is how our emotions are balanced—how much of each type of the emotion, positive or negative, we experience.

Negative emotions warn us of threats or challenges that we may need to deal with. For example, fear can alert us to possible danger. It’s a signal that we might need to protect ourselves. Angry feelings warn us that someone is stepping on our toes, crossing a boundary, or violating our trust. Anger can be a signal that we might need to act on our own behalf.

Negative emotions focus our awareness. They help us to zero in on a problem so we can deal with it. (17) But too many negative emotions can make us feel overwhelmed, anxious, exhausted or stressed out. When negative emotions are out of balance, problems might seem too big to handle.

The more we dwell on our negative emotions, the more negative we begin to feel. Focusing on negativity just keeps it going. Positive emotions balance out negative ones, but they have other powerful benefits, too.

Instead of narrowing our focus like negative emotions do , (18) positive emotions affect our brains in ways that increase our awareness, attention and memory. They help us take in more information, hold several ideas in mind at once and understand how different ideas relate to each other. When positive emotions open us up to new possibilities, we are more able to learn and build on our skills. That leads to doing better on tasks and tests.

People who have plenty of positive emotions in their everyday lives tend to be happier healthier, learn better and get along well with others.

【答案解析】

16. 答案 C

What does the speaker say about negative emotions?

讲座开篇指出,积极或消极的情绪是人类与生俱来的一部分。我们可能会用“消极”这个词来形容那些更加艰难的情绪,但这并不意味着那些情绪是不好的,或者我们不能有那些情绪。随后,讲话者又指出了消极情绪的重要作用。说明,无论是积极的情绪还是消极的情绪都是生活中所必需的,不能简单地用好或者坏进行划分,选项C为正确答案。

17. 答案 B

What happens to people whose negative emotions are out of balance?

讲座中提到,过多的消极情绪会让人不知所措、焦虑、疲惫。当消极情绪失衡时,问题就会看起来严重得无法处理。说明,消极情绪失衡会让人们太过紧张,以至于无法处理生活中的问题, 选项B为正确答案。

18. 答案 D

How do positive emotions affect us?

讲座中提到,积极情绪能通过提高我们的感悟能力、注意力和记忆力来影响我们的大脑。说明,积极情绪可以拓展我们的头脑或思想,选项D为正确答案。

Recording Two

【主题分类】演讲讲座：3D打印

【高级表达】

Internship n. 实习生，实习期

Incredible adj. 难以置信的，极好的

Scratch v. 抓，乱涂，发刮擦声

Breakthrough n. 突破，突破性进展

Embed vt. 栽种；使嵌入，使深留脑中

【关键句型】

1. So it wasn’t the first time that I printed clothes. 所以这不是我第一次印衣服了。

2. They were made from hard plastics and that’s why they were very breakable. 它们是由硬塑料制成的，这就是它们易碎的原因。

3. The breakthrough came when I was introduced to ... 当我被介绍到. .. 时，事情有了突破。

【听力原文】

In the past few months, I’ve been traveling for weeks at a time with only one suitcase of clothes. One day, I was invited to an important event, and I wanted to wear something special for it. I looked through my suitcase but couldn’t find anything to wear. (19) I was lucky to beat the technology conference then, and I had access to 3D printers. So I quickly designed a skirt on my computer, and I loaded the file on the printer. It just printed the pieces overnight. The next morning, I just took all the pieces, assembled them together in my hotel room, and this is actually the skirt that I’m wearing right now.

So it wasn’t the first time that I printed clothes. (20) For my senior collection at fashion design school, I decided to try and 3D print an entire fashion collection from my home. The problem was that I barely knew anything about 3D printing, and I had only nine months to figure out how to print five fashionable looks.

I always felt most creative when I worked from home. I love experimenting with new materials, and I always tried to develop new techniques to make the most unique textiles for my fashion projects.,

One summer break I came here to New York for an internship at a fashion house in Chinatown. We worked on two incredible dresses that were 3D printed. They were amazing— like you can see here. But I had a few problems with them. (21) They were made from hard plastics and that’s why they were very breakable. The models couldn’t sit in them, and they even got scratched from the plastics under their arms.

So now, the main challenge was to find the right material for printing clothes with, I mean the material you feed the printer with. (22) The breakthrough came when I was introduced to Filaflex, which is a new kind of printing material. It’s strong, yet very flexible. And with it, I was able to print the first garment, a red jacket that had the word“freedom”embedded into it. And actually, you can easily download this jacket, and change the word to something else. For example, your name or your sweetheart’s name.

So I think in the future, materials will evolve, and they will look and feel like fabrics we know today, like cotton or silk.

【答案解析】

19. 答案 C

What does the speaker say about the skirt she is wearing now?

讲座开篇提到,讲话者要参加一个重要的活动,却找不到合适的衣服,于是她在电脑上设计了一条裙子,使用3D打印机制造了出来,而这条裙子正是她此刻身上穿的这件,选项C为正确答案。

20. 答案 B

When did the speaker start experimenting with 3D printing?

讲座中明确提到,讲话者在服装设计学院学习时就尝试过用3D打印技术制作时装,选项B为正确答案。

21. 答案 A

What was the problem with the material the speaker worked on at a New York fashion house?

讲话者自述在纽约唐人街一家时装店做实习生的经历提到,她在设计服装时遇到了问题,她们制作的两条裙子是拥硬塑料做成的,因此很易碎。说明,制作裙子的材料坚硬且易碎,选项A为正确答案。

22. 答案 C

What does the speaker say about Filaflex?

讲座中提到,用3D打印技术制作衣服最主要的挑战是找到合适的打印材料,讲话者认为Filaflex这种新型打印材料是一个重大突破,选项C为正确答案。

Recording Three

【主题分类】讲座演讲：中小企业的未来

【高级表达】

Retain vt. 保持，保留

Recruit v. 征募；聘用

Upgrade v. 升级, 升职,提高地位

Investment n. 投资，投入

Feasible adj. 可行的；可能的

【关键句型】

1. I want to look at these both from a financial and from a personnel point of view. 我想从财务和人事的角度来看待这些问题。

2. Now, all of these problems involve significant costs for all businesses. 现在，所有这些问题都涉及到所有企业的巨大成本。

3. In fact, cost-sharing could be a very practical solution, especially in times of financial difficulty. 事实上，分摊费用可能是一个非常实际的解决办法，特别是在财务困难的时候。

【听力原文】

Welcome to the third lecture in our series on the future of small businesses in Europe. (23) The purpose of today’s lecture, as you have seen from the title and the abstract, is to examine in more detail the problems facing small-and medium-sized enterprises which arise at least in part from having to adapt to rapid advances in technology. And I want to look at these both from a financial and from a personnel point of view and to offer a few hopefully effective solutions.

Here we have three of the most important problems facing small businesses that I want to look at today.

First, keeping up with the pace of technological change, recruiting high quality staff in a time of skills short ages in IT as a whole and in a highly competitive market, and the issue of retaining staff once they’ve been recruited and trained. Now, all of these problems involve significant costs for all businesses. But there are particularly challenging issues for small- and medium-sized enterprises. And those costs would vary depending on the size and scale of the businesses.

So let’s come to the first issue on our list which is keeping pace with developments in technology. (24) Now we all know that the technology industry is intensely competitive with new products being launched all year round as the various companies strive to compete with each other, rather than, say once a year or every couple of years. And this is a real headache for smaller businesses. So, let’s imagine we have a small company which is doing OK. It’s just about making a profit and it spends most of its income on overheads. So for a company in this situation, keeping up to date with the latest technology, even if its only for the benefit of key staff, this can be hugely expensive.

So in my view, some creative thinking needs to come in here to find ways to help companies in this situation to stay ahead in the game, but at the same time, to remain technologically competitive.

(25) Well, there’s a possibility that small groups of companies with similar requirements but not directly competing with each other, they could share the cost of upgrading in much the same way as, let’s say, an intranet operates within larger organizations. In fact, cost-sharing could be a very practical solution, especially in times of financial difficulty. If there’s downward pressure on costs, because of a need for investment in other areas, I would argue that this is a perfectly feasible solution.

【答案解析】

23. 答案  D

What does the speaker say about the problems facing  small- and medium-sized enterprises?

讲座开篇提到,本月讲座的目的是深入探讨中小企业因不得不适应科技进步而面临的问题。说明,中小企业面临的问题是由科技进步引起的,选项D为正确答案。

24.答案 A

What does the speaker say about the technology industry?

讲话者在论述中小企业面临的第一个难题时指出,技术产业竞争非常激烈,企业为了相互竞争,不是一年一次或者几年一次发布新产品,而是一年到头一直都在发布新产品,选项A为正确答案。 

25. 答案 B

What is a practical solution to the problems of small-  and medium-sized businesses?

讲座结尾处提到,如果中小企业有相似的需求,而彼此之间没有直接的竞争关系,那么分担升级成本是解决资金困难的一个非常实用的方法,选项B为正确答案。