英語周報12月英語四級考試聽力模擬試題(十三)

　　Section B

　　Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some 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 2 with a single line through the centre.

　　Passage One

　　Some of the most interesting buildings in the world are the pyramids. The pyramids stand huge and silent and in modern days people look at them and wonder: Who built them? Why? When? What is inside? How did they do it? Thousands of years ago in Egypt, kings built the pyramids. They used to build them as their tombs. The kings thought the pyramids would help them find life after death. They also wanted the world to remember them as important people. Some pyramids were for queens. But they are less interesting because they are not as big. The oldest pyramids that we know today are the pyramids near Sahara in Egypt. They are about 5,000 years old. There are many pyramids along the Nile River. The largest is the pyramid of Khufu. It is made of two million three hundred thousand huge stones, most of them higher than a person. It is about 144 meters high. To build the pyramid of Khufu 100, 000 men worked for 20 years. We know there was wonderful treasure in the pyramids. Robbers went into the pyramids and took many of these treasures. Today some of the treasures are in museums though.

　　The people of Mexico also built pyramids. They did not build the pyramids for tombs. They built pyramids and then built temples on top of them. Each pyramid has a wide stairway that goes from the bottom to the top. There’s nothing inside the pyramids, only dirt or more stones.

　　How did the people of ancient days build the pyramids? How did they carry and lift the huge stones? Each stone fits so well and they didn’t have our modern machines. The ancient artwork of Egypt and Mexico gives us some ideas. Scientists have studied the pyramids but nobody can say just how they did it. Some day if you can, you ought to go to see the pyramids. You will never forget them.

　　Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　26. Which of the following is NOT a reason the Eguption kings built pyramids?

　　27. Where are some of the treasures from the pyramids?

　　28. Which of the following statements is true about the pyramids?

　　Passage Two

　　If you plan to remain in the United States for any length of time, you will soon find it too expensive to stay in a hotel and will want to find another place to live. As is true in cities anywhere in the world, the farther you live outside the city, generally the lower the rent will be. However, traveling to and from the city by bus, car, or train may make it as expensive as living in the city. Naturally, it is easier to join in the life of a city if one is close to the center. For that reason, you may prefer to live as close to the center of the city as possible. Or, you may prefer to rent a place for only a month or two until you become more familiar with the area.

　　Your best source of information about either houses or apartments is likely to be the local newspaper. Usually, the week’s most complete listing of houses or apartments to rent appears in the Sunday newspaper, which, in many cities, can be obtained late Saturday night. Many people looking for houses or apartments believe that they have a better chance of finding a place to live if they have all the information as soon as possible. On Sunday morning, they are ready to call or visit.

　　Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　29. If you would like to pay lower rent, where should you live?

　　30. What is good about living close to the city center?

　　31. When do most people go visiting houses or apartments?

　　Passage Three

　　In recent years, American society has become increasingly dependent on its universities to find solutions to its major problems. It is the universities that have been charged with the principal responsibility for developing the expertise to place men on the moon; to deal with our urban problems and our deteriorating environment; to develop the means to feed the world’s rapidly increasing population. The effort involved in meeting these demands presents its own problems. In addition, this concentration on the creation of new knowledge significantly impinges on the universities’ efforts to perform their other principal functions--the transmission and interpretation of knowledge, that is, the imparting of the heritage of the past and the preparing of the next generation to carry it forward.

　　With regard to this, perhaps their most traditionally sanctioned task, colleges and universities today generally find themselves in a serious bind. On the one hand, there is the American commitment, entered into especially since World War II, to provide higher education for all young people who can profit from it. The result of the commitment has been a dramatic rise in enrollment in our universities, coupled with a radical shift from the private to the public sector of higher education. On the other hand, there are serious and continuing limitations on the resources available for higher education.

　　While higher education has become a great “growth industry,” it is also simultaneously a tremendous drain on the resources of this nation. With the vast increase in enrollment and the shift in priorities away from education in state and federal budgets, there is in most of our public institutions a significant decrease in per capita outlay for their students. One crucial aspect of this drain on resources lies in the persistent shortage of trained faculty, which has led, in turn, to a declining standard of competence in instruction.

　　Intensifying these difficulties is, as indicated above, the concern with research, with its competing claims on resources and faculty. In addition, there is a strong tendency for the institutions’ organization and functionality to conform to the demands of research rather than those of teaching.

　　Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　32. What is the most important function of institutions of higher education?

　　33. What is one of the causes of the difficulties of American higher education?

　　34. What is a serious outcome brought about by the shortage of resources?

　　35. What is the main topic of the passage?

　　Section C

　　Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.

　　There are various ways in which individual economic units can interact with one another. Three basic ways may be (36) described as: the market system, (37) administered system, and the traditional system.

　　In a market system, individual economic units are (38) free to interact among each other in the (39) marketplace. It is possible to buy commodities from other economic units or sell commodities to them. In a market, transactions may take place via barter or money exchange. In a barter economy, (40) real goods such as (41) automobiles, shoes, and pizzas are traded against each other. Obviously, finding somebody who wants to trade my old car in exchange for a sailboat may not always be an easy task. Hence, the (42) introduction of money as a (43) medium of exchange eases transactions considerably. (44) In the modern market economy, goods and services are bought or sold for money.

　　An alternative to the market system is administrative control by some agency over all transactions. This agency will issue edicts or commands as to how much of each good and service should be produced, exchanged, and consumed by each economic unit. Central planning may be one way of administering such an economy. (45) The central plan, drawn up by the government, shows the amounts of each commodity produced by the various firms and allocated to different households for consumption. This is an example of complete planning of production, consumption, and exchange for the whole economy.

　　In a traditional society, production and consumption patterns are governed by tradition; every person’s place within the economic system is fixed by parentage, religion, and custom. Transactions take place on the basis of tradition, too. People belonging to a certain group or caste may have an obligation to care for other persons, provide them with food and shelter, care for their health, and promote education. (46) Clearly, in a system where every decision is made on the basis of tradition alone, progress may be difficult to achieve. A stagnant society may result.

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