2009年6月英語六級考試聽力成功指南(第四期)

　　聽力原文：

　　Passage 1

　　Your professor has asked me to talk to you today about the topic that should be of real concern to civil engineers: the erosion of US beaches. Let me start with some statistics. Did you know that 90% of the coast in this country is eroding, on the gulf of Mexico for instance, erosion averages 4 to 5 feet per year. Over the past 20 years, there has been an increase in building along the coast, even though geologists and environmentalists have been warning communities about problems like erosion. Someway communities have tried to protect their building and roads and to build seawalls. However geologists have found that such stabilizing structures actually speed up the destruction of the beaches. These beaches with seawalls, called stabilized beaches, are much narrower than beaches without them. You may wonder how seawalls speed up beach loss. The explanation is simple. If the flow of the beaches is gentle, the water energy is lessened as it washes up along the shore. It is reduced even more when it returns to the sea as it doesn't carry back much sand. On the other hand, when the water hits the nearly vertical face of the seawall, it goes straight back to the sea with the full force of its energy and it carries back a great deal of sand. Because of the real risk of losing beaches, many geologists support a ban on all types of stabilizing construction on shore lines.

　　Questions 1 to 4 are based on the lecture you've just heard.

　　1. What is the speaker mainly discussing?

　　2. Why do communities build seawalls?

　　3. How does a gently sloping beach help prevent erosion?

　　4. What would the speaker probably advise engineers to do?

　　Passage 2

　　In Britain the biggest number of working foreigners comes from the odd system know as ‘a(chǎn)u pair'. Every week hundreds of girls arrive from strange capitals to live with English families. They are called au pairs. An au pair girl stays with the family and has free food and lodging. In return she does light work in the house. This system began as a genuine exchange, but now has become a commercial bargain between families who need help and girls who need to learn English. As learning languages has become more important, so the numbers involved have gone up.

　　The system succeeds fairly well so far as teaching the girls English is concerned. But it is debatable how far it increases international friendship. There is a basic conflict of objectives-the hosts want cheap labor, the girls want leisure and language. The girls often find it hard to meet English people of their own school ages, for the language schools and clubs are made up of other foreigners.

　　In spite of its shortcomings, the au pair system has probably played some role in breaking down frontiers. The British Vigilance Society estimates that 15 percent of the girls are very happy, 15 percent very happy, and 70 percent more or less content; but only a small minority keep in touch after they go back home.

　　Questions 5 to 7 are based on the passage you've just heard.

　　5. What does the au pair system mean now?

　　6. What is NOT mentioned as an advantage of the au pair system for the girls?

　　7. How do the girls feel about the system?

　　題解：

　　Passage 1

　　這是一篇講座性的文章。這類文章的特點(diǎn)是開頭第一句話往往告知演講的目的、主要議題等。該文在開頭就指出中心是談?dòng)嘘P(guān)美國海岸被侵蝕的問題。接著用數(shù)字和例子印證該問題的嚴(yán)重性。演講者分析了造成這一現(xiàn)象的原因是人們建樓、修路和建防護(hù)堤。然后著重分析建防護(hù)堤對海岸的影響。最后號召人們停止在海岸連修建任何穩(wěn)固性建筑。

　　1.C 該題是主旨題。從文章第一句可知。

　　2.C 該題是細(xì)節(jié)題。從"... communities have tried to protect their building and roads and to build seawalls."可知。

　　3.B 該題是細(xì)節(jié)題。從"If the flow of the beaches is gentle, the water energy is lessened as it washes up along the shore. It is reduced even more that returns to the sea so it doesn't carry back much sand."

　　4.D 該題是細(xì)節(jié)題。由最后一句可知。

　　Passage 2

　　本文談到了英國的au pair system，即"互裨"或"平等互惠"制度。每星期，數(shù)以百計(jì)的女孩從世界各地來到英國，和英國家庭生活在一起，通過幫助做較輕的家務(wù)來換取免費(fèi)食宿。此制度已成為需要協(xié)助家務(wù)的家庭和需要學(xué)習(xí)英語的女孩們間的一種商業(yè)交易。由于學(xué)英語變得日益重要，"互裨"女孩的數(shù)量不斷增多。

　　接下來，短文談到了這個(gè)制度的社會效應(yīng)。一方面，它有助于女孩們學(xué)習(xí)英語;另一方面，它在是否能增進(jìn)國際間友誼方面頗有爭議。主人們要低價(jià)勞動(dòng)，女孩子們要閑暇和學(xué)語言，這就是雙方在在目標(biāo)上的基本沖突。女孩子們發(fā)現(xiàn)很難遇到和她們同齡的英國人，因?yàn)檎Z言學(xué)校和語言俱樂部里沒有本族的英國人。

　　盡管這個(gè)制度有弊病，但它在打破不同文化的界線上還是起到了一定的作用。英國維持治安協(xié)會估計(jì)說，15%的女孩子們感到非常不快樂，15%的女孩們感到很快樂，70%的女孩或多或少感到滿意，但她們當(dāng)中只有很小部分人在回國之后還能與英國家庭保持聯(lián)系。

　　5.C 本題測試捕捉特定信息的能力。文中提到這個(gè)制度"began as a genuine exchange, but now has become a commercial bargain"。所以最佳選項(xiàng)為C。突出其發(fā)展了的"商業(yè)化"的特點(diǎn)。

　　6.D本題測試捕捉特定信息的能力。

　　7.A 本題對細(xì)節(jié)考查，對數(shù)字的敏感性。文中說"70 percent more or less content"。