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1 Objectives
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2 I. Listening...
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3 II. Listenin...

1. To become familiar with monetary units presented as a listening focus;
2. To improve listening comprehension through specific exercises.

Measurements were invented to help know the physical environment in which we live. We cannot express ourselves accurately without using measurements to describe the things surrounding us. This section focuses your attention on an aspect of authentic, day-to-day English: measurements.
● 1. Listen to each of the following statements, paying particular attention to the measurements. Then complete each sentence with the correct measurement from among the four choices given.
1) The trains are specifically designed to operate on the altiplano (高原) railway, 84 percent of which is above sea level.
a. 400 meters
b. 3,000 meters
c. 4,000 meters
d. 300 meters
2) Astronaut (宇航员) Piers Sellers came out of the hatch (舱口) first, followed by astronaut Mike Fossum, as the space station and shuttle Discovery passed about above Spain.
a. 345 kilometers
b. 435 kilometers
c. 354 kilometers
d. 534 kilometers
3) Now sitting on a plot of ground, the house looks brighter thanks to its high ceilings and large windows.
a. 6,200-square-meter
b. 2,200-square-meter
c. 6,600-square-meter
d. 2,600-square-meter
4) The area will become the city’s third water source, with a daily supply of over fresh water.
a. 7 million cubic meters’
b. 17 million cubic meters’
c. 70 million cubic meters’
d. 77 million cubic meters’
5) The masks (防护面罩) for the lions weigh .
a. 210 to 355 grams
b. 250 to 300 grams
c. 200 to 350 grams
d. 255 to 310 grams
● 2. Listen to the following statements, each of which will be spoken twice. During the pause after each statement, fill in the blank(s) with the correct measurement.
1) In the diving area, a sandy beach extends for 1,300 meters, and is separated from the real sea water by a dike 2 meters high and 1,000 meters long.
2) Top wind speed near the storm’s center was 108 kilometers an hour.
3) The prairie (草原) head dress (装饰) takes 27 kilograms of grass to make.
4) The smallest animal in the movie is the 13-centimeter-high rat at the end of the wand (魔杖) of the Lion King.
5) Of the Golmud-Lhasa section, 960 kilometers of the railway will be above 4,000 meters; the highest point will be 5,072 meters, at least 200 meters higher than the Peruvian (秘鲁的) railway in the Andes (安第斯山脉) , formerly the world’s most elevated track.


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.
Idaho | (美国)爱达荷州 |
food stamp card | (美国发给失业者或贫民的)食品票(或卡) |
biological father | 生父 |
toddler | n. 学步的小孩 |
Fox 28 | 美国新闻台 |
scruffy | a. 肮脏的 |
bearded | a. 胡子拉碴的 |
balance | n. 余额 |
for good | 永久地 |
1)
a. Clerk does what it takes to search for her biological father.
b. Homeless man turns out to be a millionaire.
c. Clerk discovers homeless man is her father.
d. Man has been homeless for over 20 years.
2)
a. When she began to work at the convenience store.
b. After she was recognized by the homeless man in the street.
c. While she was distributing food stamp cards to homeless people.
d. Not until she heard the homeless man’s middle name in the store.
* Script:
A young woman in Idaho said she couldn’t believe what she saw after a homeless man walked into her convenience store and showed her his food stamp card.
Shoshannah Hensley said the man standing across the counter from her Sunday night was her biological father, Brian Hensley. The two had not interacted since she was a toddler.
The 23-year-old clerk told Fox 28 she’d seen the scruffy, bearded man around before. But, she didn’t know who he was until Sunday night, when he asked her to check the balance on his food stamp card.
“I saw the name and my heart dropped,” she told Fox 28. “I said, what’s your middle name, and he said ‘Eugene,’ and I said, you’re my biological father! I’ve been searching for you for over 20 years.”
Now that they’ve reunited, her father says he hopes they can stay together for good. “I’m going to be there in every way. Whatever it takes.”
Q1: Which of the following is the best headline of the news report?
Q2: When did the clerk come to know the man’s identity?
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.
poise | vt. 保持……姿势 |
eclipse | vt. 使黯然失色 |
slump | vi. 暴跌 |
trade in goods | 货物贸易 |
exceed | vt. 超过 |
US Commerce Department | 美国商务部 |
shortfall | n. 差额 |
at an all-time high | 历史最高纪录 |
fuel | vt. 促使 |
crude oil | 原油 |
collapse | vi. 暴跌 |
3)
a. The US importing less barrels of crude oil from Canada.
b. Canada becoming the largest exporter of crude oil.
c. The world’s biggest exporters of crude oil today.
d. China as the biggest trading partner with the US.
4)
a. The increased consumption of oil by China.
b. The collapse in Canadian oil production.
c. The decreased exports of oil by the US.
d. The slump in Canadian oil prices.
5)
a. $441.6 billion vs. $438.1 billion.
b. $414.6 billion vs. $413.1 billion.
c. $144.6 billion vs. $143.1 billion.
d. $41.6 billion vs. $38.1 billion.
* Script:
China is poised to become the biggest US trading partner this year, eclipsing Canada for the first time as the slump in oil prices reduces the value of energy exports for America’s neighbor to the north.
Trade in goods with China reached $441.6 billion this year through September, exceeding the $438.1 billion balance with Canada for the first time in US Commerce Department data going back to 1985. Figures published Wednesday also showed that the US trade shortfall with China is now at an all-time high, fueled by record imports.
Crude oil is among Canada’s biggest exports, and its price has collapsed to about half of its 2014 peak. That’s helped send the value of its trade with the US so far in 2015 down 11.6 percent from the same time last year, even as the world’s biggest economy buys more barrels.
Q3: What is the message from the news report?
Q4: What’s the reason behind such trade figures between China and the US?
Q5: What can we learn about the US trade in goods with China and Canada in 2015?

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)
a. He doesn’t get along well with people.
b. He is not the right person for the job.
c. He acts like a stranger to others.
d. He has no years of experience.
2)
a. He’s sick and tired of it.
b. He steps into a wrong place.
c. He can’t stand the cold weather.
d. He loses his courage or confidence.
3)
a. It fits the man well.
b. It cannot be successful.
c. It is not terrible as the man says.
d. It makes him a good salesperson.
* Script:
M: I’ve got to find a new job.
W: What’s wrong with the job you have now?
M: I’m a terrible salesperson. I don’t have what it takes. I don’t like talking to strangers, and I don’t like the product I have to sell. Every time I have to go to another office to make a sale, I get cold feet.
W: What do you mean?
M: I mean I’m afraid to talk to strangers in strange offices. And they never want to buy from me. I just can’t make good in this job. I’ll never succeed if I don’t find another job.
W: I’m sure you’re exaggerating. You can’t be so terrible.
M: No, it’s true.
W: Well…
Q1: What’s wrong with the man?
Q2: What does the man mean when he says that he gets cold feet?
Q3: What would the woman say about the man’s job?
B. Conversation Two
● Listen to the following long conversation and then, for each question, select the best answer from among the four choices given.
4)
a. Success and failure.
b. Good and bad luck.
c. Traffic rules.
d. Driving test.
5)
a. Once.
b. Twice.
c. Thrice.
d. Four times.
6)
a. He may have passed it.
b. He could have passed it.
c. He should have passed it.
d. He cannot have passed it.
7)
a. Uncertain.
b. Confident.
c. Anxious (焦虑的).
d. Negative (消极的) .
8)
a. He has lost heart.
b. He will do it better.
c. He has no more chance.
d. He’s not certain of his third time.
* Script:
W: Hello.
M: Hi.
W: Well?
M: Well what?
W: You know… how was the driving test? Did you pass?
M: No, I failed again.
W: Oh no. You worked so hard for it as well.
M: I know.
W: I’m sorry. Did they tell you what the problem was?
M: Obviously I failed on the emergency stop.
W: Oh, bad luck! They always fail people on something like that.
M: Yes… anyway, never mind. I’ll just have to try again.
W: Sure.
M: Third time lucky.
W: I’m sure it’ll be better next time.
Q4: What are the man and woman talking about?
Q5: For how many times has the man failed on the driving test?
Q6: What does the woman most probably imply when she says, “You worked so hard for it as well”?
Q7: What’s the woman’s attitude towards the man’s third try?
Q8: What can we learn about the man at the end of the conversation?

A. Passage One
● Listen to the following passage and then, for each question, select the best answer from among the four choices given.
1)
a. The greatest scientist in the world.
b. The theory of relativity.
c. The childhood.
d. The universe.
2)
a. He asked wrong questions.
b. He left a wrong impression on people.
c. He carried a wrong picture of himself.
d. He bumped up against (撞上了) a wrong question.
3)
a. To do as a scientist does.
b. To explore the theory of everything.
c. To come up with an equation (方程式) .
d. To die like Princess Diana or like Albert Einstein.
* Script:
I’ve often wondered, “Where did it all come from?” At night, when you look at the stars, you say to yourself, “Wow, the universe is incredible. But where did it come from?” I first bumped up against this when I was a child.
A lot of people remember the instant (那一刻) when Princess Diana died. For me, it was the instant when I heard that Albert Einstein had just died. Everyone was talking about it. It was front-page news and they still carried a picture of his desk with a caption (字幕) , “Unsolved manuscript (手稿) of the greatest scientist of our age.” I said to myself, “Why couldn’t he finish it? What was so hard that he couldn’t finish this problem? Why couldn’t he ask his mother? It was just a homework assignment, right?” Wrong!
Years later, I found out it was to be the theory of everything. An equation one inch long that would allow us to “read the mind of God.” I said to myself, “That’s for me.”
Q1: When the speaker asks the question, “Where did it all come from?” what does it refer to?
Q2: What does the speaker mean when he says wrong?
Q3: When he says, “That’s for me,” what does the speaker mean?
B. Passage Two
● Listen to the following passage and then, for each question, select the best answer from among the four choices given.
4)
a. So many Londoners died from an unknown cause.
b. The Industrial revolution took place in London.
c. Smog killed about 4,000 people.
d. London was called a foggy city.
5)
a. They are mainly exhausted from automobiles.
b. They are dangerous in nature.
c. They are present everywhere.
d. They are formed in the air.
6)
a. It is present in the air.
b. It is hard to locate.
c. It is unknown.
d. It is various.
7)
a. 43, 000,000 tons.
b. 31,000,000 tons.
c. 12,000,000 tons.
d. 86,000,000 tons.
* Script:
Between December 4th and 9th, 1952, in the city of London, about 4,000 people died as a result of exposure to smog! What is smog and why is it so dangerous?
In some cities the combination of different industrial gases released into the air makes up a kind of fog we call “smog.” It makes people cough when they breathe it. If certain fumes (烟气) and fine particles are present in the smog, it can become dangerous.
Now, dust is present in the air at all times. Dust is tiny particles of solid matter that can be carried in suspension (悬浮) by air. Dust may come from soil blowing, ocean spray, volcanic activity, forest fires, the exhaust from automobiles, and from industrial combustion processes (燃烧过程) . The matter is what you see pouring out of factory chimneys (烟囱) .
The amount of dust in the air is almost unbelievable. It is estimated that over the United States about 43, 000,000 tons of dust settle every year. Of this amount, about 31,000,000 tons are from natural sources. That leaves about 12,000,000 tons of dust that are the result of human activities.
Q4: What happened between December 4th and 9th, 1952, in the city of London?
Q5: What can we learn about the fumes and fine particles in the smog?
Q6: What is the speaker trying to tell us about the source of dust?
Q7: What is the estimated amount of dust that settles every year according to the speaker?

