1. Distinguishing cardinal and ordinal numbers accurately;

2. Understanding two news items and doing all the exercises;

3. Understanding two conversations and doing all the exercises;

4. Understanding two passages and doing all the exercises.

A. Listen to the following short passage and then complete the table below with the cardinal numbers you hear.

      * Script:

      The population density of the UK is about 234 inhabitants per square kilometer. It is well above the European Union average of 143 per square kilometer. England is the most densely populated member of the EU with 364 people per square kilometer. Greater London has a density of 4,263 people per square kilometer, according to the latest figures. Scotland is the least densely populated, with 56 people per square kilometer, while Wales and Northern Ireland have 138 and 112 people per square kilometer respectively.

B. Listen and complete the table below with the cardinal numbers you hear. About half of them have already been done. (With large numbers, starting from the left, you pronounce the numerals just before the first comma as “billions,” the second one “millions,” and the third one “thousands.”)

* Script:

 1) In 1996 the population of that country was 248,709,873, and statistics showed an increase of most crimes, including 23,440 murders, 102,560 rapes and 3,073,900 burglaries.

 2) In 1997 it had a population of 252,177,000, and there were 24,700 murders, 106,590 rapes and 3,157,200 burglaries.

 3) From 1997 to 1998 its population increased to 255,082,000; murder and burglary cases, however, dropped respectively to 23,760 and 2,979,900, though rape cases rose to 109,060.

 4) In the year 1999, 24,530 murders, 106,010 rapes and 2,834,800 burglaries were reported in the country with a population of 257,908,000.

 5) The year 2000 saw 23,330 murders, 102,220 rapes and 2,712,800 burglaries in a population of 260,341,000.

 6) During 2001 its population slightly increased to 262,755,000, while crimes of murder, rape and burglary all decreased respectively to 21,610, 97,470 and 2,593,800.

 7) In 2002, there was a continuing drop in crimes of murder, rape and burglary in a population of 265,228,572. The crime figures went down respectively to 19,650, 96,250 and 2,506,400.

 8) The 2003 statistics showed 18,208 murders, 96,153 rapes and 2,460,526 burglaries in a population of 267,637,000.

 9) Compared with 2003, there was a sharp decrease in the three crimes in 2004, with 16,914 murders, 93,103 rapes and 2,329,950 burglaries in the country whose population slightly went up to 270,296,000.

10) The year 2005 witnessed the lowest rates in the crimes of murder, rape and burglary over the past ten years. Murders dropped to 15,522, rapes to 89,411 and burglaries to 2,100,739. The population was 272,690,813.

A. You will hear some sentences with ordinal numbers in them. As you listen, choose the correct ordinal number.

 1) Please press the (3rd, 1st) button from the bottom.  

 2) Mr. Smith was elected the (12th, 20th) mayor of the city.  

 3) Luckily, Tom turned out to be the (15th, 14th) chosen. 

 4) On the (21st, 23rd) of that month, they left New York. 

 5) It is said that the (36th, 76th) reader will get a special prize. 

 6) The city’s (16th, 17th) Sports Meet will be held next week. 

 7) They believe three (fourths, fifths) of the party members will agree to the plan. 

 8) She opened a new supermarket on (35th, 65th) Street. 

 9) He successfully set up his (173rd, 163rd) store last year. 

10) The (258th, 255th) entrant was regarded as the luckiest one. 

B. Listen to the following sentences with ordinal numbers in them. Write down the correct numbers in the blanks.

 1) The city you are visiting is the 6th largest city in the United States.

 2) About two thirds of the students in our college are young women.

 3) She was unhappy, because she came in 5th in the English Speech Competition.

 4) Huanghe River is the 2nd longest river in China.

 5) The Wal-Mart Supermarket is on 88th Street. 

 6) The 29th Olympic Games was held in Beijing in 2008.

 7) Please take your seat in the 34th row.

 8) The Japanese lady is having her 128th birthday today.

 9) George W. Bush is the 43rd President of the United States.

10) The attacks of September 11th changed America.

A. News Item One

●  Listen to the following news item and then, for each question, select the best answer from among the four choices given. 

1) What can we learn from the news report?

a. World Trade Center is going to be rebuilt.

b. New York City has been under attack recently. 

c. Last search dog from Twin Towers attack died.

d. Survivors of airplane crash are seeking for help.

2) How old did Bretagne retire from her active duty?

a. At age 2.  

b. At age 9.

c. At age 10. 

d. At age 16.

      * Script:

      The last search dog from Twin Towers attack, named Bretagne, died on Monday. She was 16 years old. Bretagne worked in rescue efforts in New York City after the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.

      She helped to search for survivors from the wreckage of the World Trade Center. Over 2,500 people were killed when terrorists flew airplanes into the twin towers. At that time, she was only two years old.

      Denise Corliss was the dog’s handler. She cared for Bretagne. Bretagne retired from active duty at age nine.

B. News Item Two

●  Listen to the following news item and then, for each question, select the best answer from among the four choices given. 

3) What is the news report chiefly about?

a. US Navy bans sailors from alcohol use in Japan.

b. US Navy banned all activities of its workforce in Japan.

c. A US sailor on the Japanese island was killed. 

d. People in Japan are banned from drinking alcohol. 

4) Why was the US sailor arrested according to the news?

a. Because of the crime he confessed. 

b. Because of the complaint of local residents.

c. Because of the overreaction he made.

d. Because of the suspicion of drunk driving.

5) What is the response from Okinawa residents?

a. They think highly of the United States Navy.

b. They order all sailors’ returning by midnight.

c. They demand the removal of US bases.

d. They urge local police to investigate the incident.

      * Script:

      The US Navy says it has banned its workforce in Japan from drinking alcohol and limited most of their activities to Navy bases. The announcement came after a US sailor on the Japanese island of Okinawa was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving.

      Okinawa residents have demanded the removal of US bases after several incidents in recent months.

      Following the incident, US sailors throughout Japan have been banned from drinking alcohol indefinitely, the Navy said in a statement.

      The US Navy had already ordered all sailors to return to their bases by midnight, local time. The Navy also banned all off-base drinking.

A. Conversation One

●  Listen to the following long conversation and then, for each question, select the best answer from among the four choices given.

1) What’s the woman doing?

a. She is  buying tickets for the evening’s performance. 

b. She is talking with the man about the drama play.

c. She is inviting the man to enjoy the drama play with her. 

d. She is expressing her opinion on the traditional opera. 

2) What is the man?

a. A post officer.

b. A bus conductor.

c. A policeman.

d. A booking-office clerk.

* Script:

W: Hello.

M: Hello. What can I do for you?

W: Mm… Do you have any tickets available for tonight’s performance?

M: Yes, we have a drama play and a traditional opera, 50 pounds each. 

W: Well, I’d like two tickets for the drama play.

M: Two tickets…

W: Excuse me. I would like front seats.

M: Okay, no problem.

W: Fine, thank you.

M: Two 50 pounds tickets… that’s a hundred pounds.

W: Here you are.

M: Thank you. Please remember it starts at 7:15 this evening.

W: Okay. Thank you very much. Goodbye.

M: Goodbye.

B. Conversation Two

●  Listen to the following long conversation and then, for each question, select the best answer from among the four choices given.

1) Which sport does the man play the most?

a. Football.  

b. Baseball.  

c. Volleyball.  

d. Basketball.

2) What would the woman probably NOT do in her spare time?

a. Play sports.  

b. Read books. 

c. Take pictures.  

d. Use a computer.

3) What does the woman think the man needs for his birthday?

a. Books.  

b. A camera.  

c. A computer.  

d. Sports equipment.

* Script:

W: Dan, what do you like to do in your spare time?

M: I like to play sports.

W: Which sport do you play the most — volleyball, basketball, football, or baseball?

M: The last one. When I was in high school, I was a pitcher.

W: You’re more active than I am. I like reading, photography, and computers. 

M: I don’t know much about computers. All I have is a typewriter.

W: Really? But you can’t get on the Internet with that!

M: That’s right. I use the library’s computers when I read my email.

W: Well, I know what you need for your birthday!

A. Passage One

●  Listen to the following passage and then, for each question, select the best answer from among the four choices given. 

1) What goods do people usually buy?

a. Only the goods they want. 

b. Only cheap goods.

c. Goods that are familiar to them. 

d. Goods that seldom appear in ads.

2) What kind of goods sell best?

a. Cosmetics.       

b. Those which can make us more attractive.

c. Those which claim to change our physical appearance.

d. Anything that solves your problems.

3) Why do we buy the best-selling goods? 

a. Because we can become more confident.

b. Because we can become the people in the advertisements.

c. Because the products will make our future better.

d. Because we hope that we can be like those in the ads after using the products.

      * Script:

      There are people who think they are not influenced by advertisements. They buy only what they want to buy and they know what they want. Usually, however, they buy goods that are familiar to them because the brand names have appeared so often in newspaper advertisements and television commercials that they recognize them immediately when they see them on the shelves of the supermarket. Shoppers are slow to change their habits and it takes a long and persistent campaign in the part of the advertiser to convince them that a new product is worth trying. Possibly the most convenient products to sell are those which claim to change our physical appearance. Most of us dream of becoming more attractive, stronger and healthier than we are. If only we had the self-confidence of the people we see smiling at us from advertisements, all our problems would be solved. We only half believe it, but we go out and buy the product all the same.

B. Passage Two

●  Listen to the following passage and then, for each question, select the best answer from among the four choices given. 

1) According to the doctor, why did few people live to be sixty in the 19th century? 

a. Because many people lived in poverty.

b. Because there were many road accidents.

c. Because there was no advanced medicine.

d. Because a woman had many children.

2) What causes the high death rate today?

a. Dangerous diseases.     

b. Traffic accidents.

c. Too many children.              

d. Few doctors and little medicine.

      * Script:     

      I am glad to be alive now. I’m a doctor. As 1 look round this hall, I see dozens of men and women who are over sixty years of age. If you had been born in the nineteenth century, very few of you would have reached the age of sixty. Today thanks to medical science we can expect to live to a good old age. Over one hundred years ago, few people lived to be sixty. The death rate among children was high, very high. It was common for a woman to have ten, twelve or ifteen children. Of course, perhaps ive or six died very young.     

      There are few illnesses that we cannot cure today. One hundred years ago many of those illnesses ended in death. They could not be cured. Today, of course, life is in someway more dangerous than it was in the past. Thousands of people are killed or injured on the roads every year. But if you’re in a trafic accident today, if your leg is badly crushed, what happens? You’re taken to hospital. I put you to sleep. And when you wake up, your leg has been cut off, quite painlessly! This was not the case one hundred years ago. You’re much more fortunate today.