短对话

　　11. W: This crazy bus schedule has got me completely confused. I can’t figure out when my bus to Cleveland leaves?

　　M: Why don’t you just go to the ticket window and ask?

　　Q: What does the man suggest the woman do?

　　12.

　　W: I really enjoyed the TV Special about giraffes last night. Did you get home in time to see it?

　　M: Oh, yes. But I wish I could have stayed awake long enough to see the whole thing。

　　Q: What does the man mean?

　　13.

　　W: Airport, please. I’m running a little late, so just take the fastest way even if it’s not the most direct。

　　M: Sure, but there’s a lot of traffic everywhere today because of the football game。

　　Q: What do we learn about the woman from the conversation?

　　14.

　　W: May I make a recommendation, sir? Our sea food with this special sauce is very good。

　　M: Thank you. But I don’t eat shellfish, I’m allergic to it。

　　W: Where does this conversation most probably take place?

　　15.

　　W: Now one more question if you don’t mind, what position in a company appeals to you most?

　　M: Well, I’d like the position of sales manager if that position is still vacant。

　　Q: What do we learn about the man?

　　16.

　　M: I don’t think I want to live in the dormitory next year. I need more privacy。

　　W: I know what you mean but check out the cost of renting an apartment first, I won’t be surprised if you change your mind。

　　Q: What does the woman imply?

　　17.

　　M: You’re on the right track. I just think you need to narrow the topic down。

　　W: Yeah, you’re right. I always start by choosing too broad a topic when I’m doing your research paper。

　　Q: What do we learn from the conversation?

　　18.

　　W: This picnic sure beats the last one we went to, doesn’t it?

　　M: Oh, yeah. We had to spend the whole time inside. Good thing the weather was cooperative this time。

　　Q: What do we learn about the speakers from the conversation?

2011年12月17日大学英语四级考试听力之长对话第一篇原文：

　　M: When I say Ilive in Sweden, people always want to know about the seasons。

　　W: The seasons?

　　M: Yeah, you know,how cold it is in winter, why its light in the day is so short?

　　W: So what is it like?

　　M: Well, it’scold, very cold in winter, sometimes as cold as 26 degrees below centigrade.And of course, when you go out, you wrap up warm, but inside, in the houses, it’salways very warm, much warmer than at home. Swedish people always complain thatwhen they visit England, the houses are cold even when they’re in winter.  

　　W: And what aboutthe darkness?

　　M: Oh, yeah,around Christmas time, there’s only one hour of daylight, so you really lookforward to the spring. It’s sometimes a bit depressing, but you’ll see the summersare amazing. From May to July in the north of Sweden, the sun never sets. It’sstill light at mid-night. You can walk in the mountains and read a newspaper。

　　W: Oh, yeah, theLand of the Mid-night Sun。

　　M: That’s right,but it’s wonderful. You want to stay up all night and the Sweden’s made themost of it. Often they start work early in summer and then leave at about 2 or3 in the afternoon so that they can really enjoy the long summer evenings. Theylike to work hard, but play hard too. I think Londoners work longer hours, but I’mnot sure this is a good thing。

　　Question 19: Whatdo we learn about the man from the conversation?

　　Question 20: Whatdo Swedish people complain about when they visit England in winter?

　　Question 21: How doesthe man describe the short hour of daylight around Christmas in Sweden？

　　Question 22: Whatdoes the man say about the Swedish people?

　　2011年12月17日大学英语四级考试听力之长对话第二篇原文：

　　W: What kind oftraining does one need to go into this type of job?

　　M: That’s a verygood question. I don’t think there is any, specifically。

　　W: For example, inyour case, what’s your educational background?

　　M: Well, I get adegree in French in Nottingham, after that, Idid career’s work in secondary schools, like the career’s guidance people herein the university. Then I went into local government, because I found I wasmore interested in the administrative side. Then progressed on to universities.So there isn’t any plan and specific training. There are plenty of trainingcourses in management techniques and committee work which you can attend now。

　　W: But in thefirst place, you did a French degree。

　　M: In my time,there wasn’t a degree you could do for administration. I think most of theadministrators I’ve come across have degrees in all sorts of things。

　　W: Well, I know inmy case I did an English Literature degree and I didn’t really expect to end updoing what I’m doing now。

　　M: Quite。

　　W: Were you localto Nottingham actually? Is there any reasonwhy you went to Nottingham University?

　　M: No, no. I comefrom the north of Englandfrom west Yorkshire, Nottingham is one theuniversities I put on my list and I like the look of it. The campus is justbeautiful。

　　W: Yes, indeed.Let’s see, were you from the industrial part of Yorkshire?

　　M: Yes, from the Woolendistrict。

　　Questions 23 to 25are based on the conversation you have just heard。

　　Question 23：What was the man’s major at university?

　　Question 24：What was the man’s job in secondary schools?

　　Question 25：What attracted the man to Nottingham University?

听力短文

Section B

　　Passage One

　　While Gail Obcamp, an American artist was giving a speech on the art of Japanese brush painting to an audience that included visitors from Japan, she was confused to see that many of her Japanese listeners have their eyes closed. Were they tuned off because an American had the nerve to instruct Japanese in their own art form or they deliberately tried to signal their rejection of her? Obcamp later found out that her listeners were not being disrespectful. Japanese listeners sometimes closed their eyes to enhance concentration. Her listeners were showing their respect for her by chewing on her words. Some day you may be either a speaker or a listener in a situation involving people from other countries or members of minority group in North America. Learning how different cultures signal respect can help you avoid misunderstandings. Here are some examples. In the deaf culture of North America, many listeners show applause not by clapping their hands but by waving them in the air. In some cultures, both overseas and in some minority groups in North America, listeners are considered disrespectful if they look directly at the speaker. Respect is shown by looking in the general direction but avoiding direct eye contact. In some countries, whistling by listeners is a sign of approval while in other courtiers it is a form of insult。

　　Questions:

　　26, What did Obcamp’s speech focus on?

　　27, Why do Japanese listeners sometimes close their eyes while listening to a speech?

　　28, What does the speaker try to explain?

　　Passage Two

　　Chris is in charge of purchasing and maintaining equipment in his Division at Taxlong Company. He is soon going to have an evaluation interview with his supervisor and the personnel director to discuss the work he has done in the past year. Salary, promotion and plans for the coming year will also be discussed at the meeting. Chris has made several changes for his Division in the past year. First, he bought new equipment for one of the departments. He has been particularly happy about the new equipment because many of the employees have told him how much it has helped them. Along with improving the equipment, Chris began a program to train employees to use equipment better and do simple maintenance themselves. The training saved time for the employees and money for the company. Unfortunately, one serious problem developed during the year. Two employees the Chris hired were stealing, and he had to fire them. Chris knows that a new job for a purchasing and maintenance manager for the whole company will be open in a few months, and he would like to be promoted to the job. Chris knows, however, that someone else wants that new job, too. Kim is in charge of purchasing and maintenance in another Division of the company. She has also made several changes over the year. Chris knows that his boss likes Kim’s work, and he expects that his work will be compared with hers。

　　Questions 29 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard。

　　29. What is Chris’s main responsibility at Taxlong Company?

　　30. What problem did Chris encounter in his Division?

　　31. What does Chris hope for in the near future?

　　32. What do we learn about Kim from the passage? 

　　Passage Three

　　Proverbs, sometimes called sayings, are examples of folk wisdom. They are little lessons which older people of a culture pass down to the younger people to teach them about life. Many proverbs remind people of the values that are important in the culture. Values teach people how to act, what is right, and what is wrong. Because the values of each culture are different, understanding the values of another culture helps explain how people think and act. Understanding your own culture values is important too. If you can accept that people from other cultures act according to their values, not yours, getting along with them will be much easier. Many proverbs are very old. So some of the values they teach may not be as important in the culture as they once were. For example, Americans today do not pay much attention to the proverb “Haste makes waste”， because patience is not important to them. But if you know about past values, it helps you to understand the present and many of the older values are still strong today. Benjamin Franklin, a famous American diplomat, writer and scientist, died in 1790, but his proverb “Time is money” is taken more seriously by Americans of today than ever before. A study of proverbs from around the world shows that some values are shared by many cultures. In many cases though, the same idea is expressed differently。

　　Questions 33- 35 are based on the passage you have just heard。

　　33. Why are proverbs so important?

　　34. According to the speaker what happens to some proverbs with the passage of time?

　　35 What do we learn from the study of proverbs from around the world?

复合式听写原文。

　　Our lives are woven together. As much as I enjoy my own company, I no longer imagine I can get through a single day much less or my life completely on my own. Even if I am on vacation in the mountains, I’m eating food someone else has grown, living in a house someone else has built, wearing clothes someone else has sewn from cloth woven by others, using electricity someone else is distributing to my house. Evidence of interdependence is everywhere. We are on this journey together. As I was growing up, I remember being carefully taught that independence not interdependence was everything. Make your own way, stand on your own two feet, or my mother’s favorite remark when I was face to face with consequences of some action, ‘now that you’ve made your bed, lie on it’. Total independence is a dominant theme in our culture. I imagine that what my parents were trying to teach me was to take responsibility for my actions and my choices. But the teaching was shaped by our cultural images. And instead I grew up believing that I was supposed to be totally independent, and consequently became very reluctant to ask for help. I would do almost anything not to be a burden and not require any help from anybody。