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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 decimals presented as a listening focus;
2. To improve listening comprehension through specific exercises.
Decimals(小数) are frequently seen in numerical information. Actually, a decimal can mean a lot in calculations. You cannot afford to neglect it in the real world. This section focuses your attention on an aspect of authentic day-to-day English: decimals.
● 1. Listen to each of the following statements, paying particular attention to the fractions and decimals. Then complete each sentence with the correct decimal from among the four choices given.
1) The city now has 19 uninhabited islands covering _____ , with a total coastline of 309 kilometers.
a. 26.72 square kilometers
b. 226.27 square kilometers
c. 226.7 square kilometers
d. 226.2 square kilometers
2) The painting is _____ , the largest piece the artist created in 1993.
a. 169.5 centimeters by 242.5 centimeters
b. 16.95 centimeters by 24.25 centimeters
c. 196.5 centimeters by 224.5 centimeters
d. 169.05 centimeters by 242.05 centimeters
3) The new model can reach a speed of 100 kilometers per hour in ______.
a. 8.6 seconds
b. 6.6 seconds
c. 8.8 seconds
d. 6.8 seconds
4) Chinese entrepreneurs’ confidence index dropped _____ from the first to the second quarter.
a. 0.5 points to 132.6
b. 0.1 points to 632.5
c. 0.6 points to 132.6
d. 0.6 points to 132.5
5) World oil consumption will rise _____ barrels a day, according to the International Energy Agency.
a. 5.1 percent to 98.4 million
b. 1.9 percent to 94.9 million
c. 1.5 percent to 84.9 million
d. 1.8 percent to 89.9 million
● 2. Listen to the following statements, each of which will be spoken only once. During the pause after each statement, fill in the blank(s) with the correct measurement.
1) Some public facilities(设施), such as telephone booths, mail boxes and trash cans, cannot be installed(设置) on roads narrower than 1.5 meters.
2) The A-share index(A股指数) fell 0.01 percent to 1,723.26 and the B-share index lost 0.28 percent, closing at 91.42.
3) In the men’s 400 meters, American Jeremy Wariner produced an excellent run to win in 44.02 seconds.
4) The quake, measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale, hit Dingyuan in Anhui Province.
5) The model features(以……为特色) a 12.1-inch widescreen monitor, dual batteries for up to 8.5 hours of usage, an Intel Pentium M778 processor, 512 megabytes of memory, and an 80 gigabyte hard-drive.
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.
the Assembly | 诺贝尔大会 (= the Nobel Assembly) |
parasitic disease | 寄生虫病 |
crucial a. | 重要的 |
barrier n. | 障碍 |
the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine | 诺贝尔生理学或医学委员会 |
identify vt. | 发现 |
active agent | 活性剂 |
plant extract | 植物提炼物 |
attach to | 使结合一起 |
bring forward | 研发出 |
1)
a. Just as expected.
b. The delayed arrival.
c. The delayed TV news.
d. Decades of team work.
2)
a. The new drug helps fight parasite diseases.
b. The new drug has saved millions of poorest populations.
c. The new drug is more than the discovery of the active agent.
d. The new drug has removed a huge barrier to improving human health.
* Script:
China has its first Nobel Prize in Medicine. And 84-year-old Tu Youyou said she was not surprised to get it.
“I learned about it from the TV news,” she told Qianjiang Evening News on Monday evening. “A little unexpected, but also not quite surprised. This is not my personal achievement, but an award to all Chinese scientists. We worked on this together for decades, so the prize shouldn’t be a surprise.”
The Assembly said that discoveries that help fight parasitic diseases are crucial because those diseases “affect the world’s poorest populations and represent a huge barrier to improving human health.”
Juleen R. Zierath, chairman of the Nobel Committee for Physiology or Medicine, told Xinhua that “what was really critical was that Tu Youyou identified the active agent in that plant extract,” adding “there was a lot of modern chemistry, bio-chemistry attached to this to bring forward this new drug.”
Q1: What made Tu Youyou say that the prize shouldn’t be a surprise?
Q2: What does Juleen R. Zierath mean when he says that there was a lot of modern chemistry, bio-chemistry attached to this to bring forward this new drug?
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.
aviation | n. 航空 |
upgrade | n. 升级 |
core | n. 核心，关键 |
transform | v. 转换 |
manufacturer | n. 制造商 |
value-added products | 高附加值产品 |
stable | n. 稳定的 |
power-equipment | n. 动力设备 |
telecom network | 电信网 |
resource efficiency | 资源效率 |
3)
a. Two aspects.
b. Four aspects.
c. Fifteen aspects.
d. Thirty aspects.
4)
a. Increasing the export of aviation and transportation.
b. Making an industrial upgrade at home.
c. Exporting low-grade consumer-goods.
d. Driving domestic economic growth.
5)
a. A global demand for highly developed markets.
b. A stable domestic economic growth.
c. A growing expansion in the world.
d. An increase in resource efficiency.
* Script:
China expects to export more aviation, transportation and telecommunications technology and products this year, and continue with an industrial upgrade at home, the Ministry of Commerce said on Monday. Zhi Luxun, deputy director-general of the ministry’s department of foreign trade, said core to the export policy remains transforming from being a low-grade consumer-goods manufacturer to one producing higher value-added products, while maintaining stable domestic economic growth.
Exports of China’s rail transportation and aviation technology sectors, as well as its machine tools and rail industries, grew between 15 percent and 30 percent in 2015.
At the same time, the country’s telecommunications and power-equipment industries expanded their presence in 140 countries and regions, including highly developed markets such as the European Union and the United States.
“The country’s fast-growing 4G telecom networks and the Made in China 2025 strategy will further lead to improvements in productivity and resource efficiency this year,” said Zhi.
Q3: How many aspects does the action plan consist of according to the deputy director-general of the ministry’s department of foreign trade?
Q4: What is the core to the export policy of this year?
Q5: What can we learn when the deputy director-general mentions the country’s telecommunications and power-equipment industries?
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. In a rowing boat.
b. At a lunch table.
c. In the park.
d. In a car.
2)
a. Enjoying the beautiful weather with the man.
b. Watching birds with her boyfriend.
c. Having a picnic with the man.
d. Meeting the man for a date.
3)
a. Birds to arrive.
b. The rain to stop.
c. A delivery of food.
d. Her boyfriend with food.
* Script:
M: It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?
W: Yes, but it looks like rain. Do you think it will rain?
M: I don’t think it will rain today. Do you come to the park often?
W: Yes, we like birds.
M: What do you mean we like birds?
W: My boyfriend and I like birds. We come here to see the birds.
M: Where is your boyfriend now?
W: He went to the car to get our food. We’re going to eat in the park. We like to bring our food to the park.
M: Where do you eat?
W: There are nice places. There are tables near the lake. And some by the river.
M: Enjoy your lunch.
W: Sure. Thanks.
Q1: Where did the conversation most probably take place?
Q2: What is the woman doing in the park?
Q3: What is the woman expecting?
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. At dinner.
b. Over lunch.
c. Before work.
d. Close to supper.
5)
a. He’s sick.
b. He’s angry.
c. He’s hungry.
d. He’s painful.
6)
a. It’s overly demanding.
b. It’s a real pain.
c. It’s well-paid.
d. It’s boring.
7)
a. He enjoys what he does at the airport.
b. He’s lucky enough to be employed.
c. He’s going to quit his job.
d. He’s got a well-paid job.
8)
a. They meet with each other at the airport.
b. They get together sometime.
c. They have supper together.
d. They do shopping together.
* Script:
M: Say, Helen, how you doing?
W: Mike! Hey, how are you?
M: Not bad. Where are you going?
W: To the supermarket. How about you?
M: Oh, I just got off work. Boy, I’m so hungry I could eat a horse.
W: Where are you working now?
M: At the airport. It’s a real pain. But I guess I shouldn’t complain. Lots of guys are out of work these days.
W: Yeah. That’s the truth. Well, I better let you go get some supper.
M: Yeah. It was great seeing you again. Maybe we could get together sometime.
W: Sounds good. I’ll give you a call.
M: OK. Great. Well, I’ll be seeing you.
W: OK, Mike. Enjoy your meal.
M: Thanks. Bye.
W: Bye.
Q4: When does the conversation most probably take place?
Q5: How is the man at the moment?
Q6: What can we learn about the man’s job?
Q7: What’s the man trying to tell us when he speaks of his job?
Q8: What does the man suggest that they do?
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. She is deaf.
b. She is out of mind.
c. She is hard to get alone with.
d. She is sick and tired of cooking.
2)
a. Fifteen feet away from her.
b. Ten feet away from her.
c. Five feet away from her.
d. Right behind her.
3)
a. A Wrong Diagnosis(诊断).
b. A Clever Reply.
c. Aging Society.
d. Who Is Deaf?
* Script:
A concerned husband went to a doctor to talk about his wife. He says to the doctor, “Doctor, I think my wife is deaf because she never hears me the first time and always asks me to repeat things.”
“Well,” the doctor replied, “Go home and tonight stand about 15 feet from her and say something to her. If she doesn’t reply move about 5 feet close and say it again. Keep doing this so that we’ll get an idea about the severity of her deafness.”
Sure enough, the husband goes home and does exactly as instructed.
He starts off about 15 feet from his wife in the kitchen as she is chopping(剁碎)some vegetables and says, “Honey, what’s for dinner?” He hears no response.He moves about 5 feet closer and asks again. No reply. He moves 5 feet closer. Still no reply.
He gets fed up(忍无可忍) and moves right behind her, about an inch away, and asks again, “Honey, what’s for dinner?”
She replies, “For the fourth time, vegetable stew(炖汤)!”
Q1: What does the husband think about his wife?
Q2: Where does the husband say to his wife, “Honey, what’s for dinner?” for the third time?
Q3: Which of the following can be the best title for the story?
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. The risk of bus driving.
b. The danger of terrorism.
c. The problem of misunderstanding.
d. The frequency of making a mistake.
5)
a. The words cannot be proper.
b. The message can be totally different.
c. The emphasis cannot be laid on what is important.
d. The differences in culture and gender(性别) can be ignored.
6)
a. The 1st method.
b. The 2nd method.
c. The 3rd method.
d. The 4th method.
7)
a. Paying attention to the differences in culture and gender.
b. Listening carefully to what others say.
c. Laying stress on what is important.
d. Saying what you’re sure is proper.
* Script:
As is known to everyone, misunderstandings are very common in our daily life. Misunderstandings can lead to a lot of problems and unnecessary trouble. For example, someone told the driver there is a bum(乞丐) on the bus. The driver took bum for bomb, which caused a serious panic on the bus. Because so many words sound similar, such kinds of incidents happen frequently. So it is necessary for us to pay attention to the problem of misunderstandings.
To avoid misunderstandings, I recommend some good methods. First listen carefully to what others say. You should make sure you have got everything others say. If you miss something, what he said may become totally different. Second, say what you’re sure is proper. That is to say, you should not use some confusing phrases or words. Instead, you should use some common words and phrases. Third, lay stress on what is important. Thus, others can understand what you want to say even if you haven’t made it very clear. In addition, pay attention to the differences in culture and gender. Men and women seldom mean the same things even when they use the same words. For example, when a woman says, “We never go out.” a man will take it literally(逐字地). He will probably answer, “It is not true. We went out last week.” Actually the women means she wants to go out now.
Q4: What is the speaker trying to tell us from the example of what happened on the bus?
Q5: What happens if you miss something while listening according to the speaker?
Q6: Which of the following deals with the use of common words and phrases?
Q7: What is the fourth method about?
