研究生英语视听说英语听力(课后第四题)

研究生英语视听说听力原文

英语听力（课后第四题）

Unit 6 — Business and Economy

4. Shopping Centers in the UK

Tapescript

Dan: Now there are a lot of shopping centres in the UK, and we went to the Canary

Wharf Shopping Complex in East London to talk to some of the shoppers about

what they like or dislike about shopping centres. One man compares the

experiences of shopping centres with shopping at boutiques on a local high

street.

Rob: The high street is the main shopping street in a town or area; in America they

call it ‘main street’. And a boutique is a small shop, which usually

specialises in fashionable items.

Dan: So let‘s listen to the speaker as he compares shopping in a local high street and a

shopping centre; what does he say is the advantage of going to a big shopping

centre?

I love the choice in a big shopping centre; I don‘t think it replaces localised

shopping so a nice boutique in a local high street I think always has a place. But

that said if you want a good deal, a good discount, a good sale I think you

need to go to a big shopping centre really.

Dan: So the shopper there said he liked the choice of a big shopping centre. It‘s the

place to go if you want a good deal, a good discount or a good sale.

Rob: A discount is a reduced price – it’s when something costs less than normal.

A good deal means the same – it‘s when you buy something for a good price.

Dan: We have a clip here from another shopper describing shopping centres in the UK.

She says they’re quite vast and open and have a massive variety of shops.

Rob: Both vast and massive mean very large. So there‘s a massive variety of shops in

the shopping centres.

Dan: So let‘s listen to the clip. What types of restaurant can you find in British

shopping centres? Shopping centres are usually quite vast and open and full of a

massive variety of shops but they’re quite standard. So each shopping centre

tends to have exactly the same basic shops that you come to expect. You sort of

tend to get the same standard restaurants and food outlets as well in shopping

centres, so either fast food or slightly more upmarket restaurants.

Dan: She says you get the same standard restaurants in a British shopping centre:

either fast food or more upmarket restaurants.

Rob: Fast food is what we call anything that can be served and eaten quickly, often

from restaurant chains, such as McDonalds, Burger King or Subway.

Dan: And what about the upmarket restaurants?

Rob: Upmarket means something of high quality that generally appeals to people

研究生英语视听说听力原文

from higher social classes. The opposite is downmarket.

Dan: Of course, not everyone likes shopping centres. Some people say they find

them too crowded.

Rob: Mm, crowded, when there are too many people. I agree, particularly at

weekends or during the holidays when there are lots of people, a lot of these

shopping centres are far too crowded to shop, or walk, or even move!

BDirections: Listen to the dialogue again and decide whether the following

statements are true or false.

1) A boutique is a small shop, which usually specialises in fashionable items. ( T )

2) A big shopping centre is the place to go if you want a good deal, a good discount or

a good sale.( T )

3) A discount is a reduced price – it‘s when something costs less than normal. A good

deal means differently. ( F )

4) Shopping centres are usually quite vast and open and have a fewvariety of shops

but they‘re quite standard.( F )

5) Not everyone likes shopping centres. They are far too crowded to shop, or walk, or

even move, particularly at weekends or during the holidays. ( T )

Unit 7 — Cultures

4. Table Manners and Diet Customs

Tapescript

M: Last weekend, I went as a guest to a Chinese friend‘s house. It was really an

interesting experience! I felt a little bit of cultural shock.

F: Really? So you discovered a few China and America‘s different customs.

M: Definitely. First, Chinese and Americans have very different ways of accepting

gifts. When I went to their house, I brought a bottle of wine as a small gift. I

originally thought we would drink together as we ate. So I surprised when the host put

it aside and didn‘t open it. I really didn‘t understand but I didn‘t say anything.

F: You shouldn‘t have worried. That‘s just a way Chinese people accept gifts. It‘s

considered impolite to open something right when you receive it. The way Chinese

people see it, opening the gift on the same occasion that you receive it seems to imply

that you only want to see whether the gift is good or bad and you don‘t care about the

thought that your friend put into it.

M: Oh really? Well I guess it was just a misunderstanding then. Americans almost

always open the gift right away. Then they can say something nice to show that they

like what the person gave them.

研究生英语视听说听力原文

F: When you were having dinner, did they keep encouraging you to eat and drink?

M: Yes! They were always saying ―Eat some more! Take a bit more!‖ And the

moment there is a bit space in my bowl, they immediately gave me another helping.

That day I had 4 bowls of rice, ate I don‘t know how much food. I ate so much I

couldn‘t walk in a straight line. In America, the host won‘t urge the guest to eat and

drink more. The guest just eats however much they want to eat.

F: That‘s just the Chinese way of being friendly and welcoming to one‘s guests. For

Chinese people, making sure their guest eat their fill and eat well is the most

important thing.

M: Also they set up this incredibly abundant table of food but then they said there is

nothing here to eat, it wasn‘t prepared very well and other things like that. And it

seems even stranger to me. If they have prepared well, then how many dishes will

they have to have?

F: They were just being modest. Even if they had prepared more, they still would

have said that. And Chinese hosts would always prepare a whole lot of dishes.

Because if they are among meager selection, the host will feel that he had lost face.

Preparing a huge feast is a way of showing your respect for the guest.

M: Oh the Chinese customs are so complicated. I will never have understood if you

haven‘t told me.

F: Every culture has its own particular ways of doing things though. There are some

western customs that Chinese people think are hard to understand.

M: I guess what I have learned is that when you study a language, you also have to

understand the culture that behind it because otherwise it‘s easy to create

misunderstandings and miscommunications.

F: I agree.

B Directions: Listen to the dialogue again and decide whether these statements

are true or false.

1) When the man went to the host‘s house, he brought a bottle of wine as a gift and

they drank together in the dinner. ( F )

2) When Americans accept a gift, they almost always open the gift right away. ( T )

3) American hosts are always saying ―Eat some more! Take a bit more!‖ ( F )

4) Chinese hosts like to say that there is nothing here to eat, it wasn‘t prepared very

well and they mean it. ( F )

研究生英语视听说听力原文

5) Since the man has been studying Chinese for a long time, he knows all the customs

quite well.

Unit 8 — Transportation and City Life

4. Foggy California City is Tops With Tourists

B Directions: Listen to the passage again and decide whether the following

statements are true or false.

1) Each year Los Angeles ranks first or second in the nation in tourist

visits. ( F )

2) Considering so many attractions, it‘s no wonder San Francisco is a desirable and

expensive place to visit. ( T )

3) San Francisco gets a lot of rain, but its winters are cold and its summers warm.

( F )

4) San Francisco has a fleet of 37 cable cars which are the only ones of their kind

remaining in the world. ( T )

5) The ―hippie‖ experience of San Francisco‘s 1967 ―Summer of Love‖ has quite

far-reaching influence on some American people. ( T )

Tapescript

Foggy California City is Tops With Tourists

Hilly San Francisco is America‘s 13th-largest city. Three other California cities

— Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose — are larger. Yet each year, San Francisco

ranks first or second in the nation in tourist visits.

What‘s the attraction? Why did singer Tony Bennett, in his signature song, leave

his heart in San Francisco, rather than, say, Boston or Cincinnati?

Perhaps it‘s the setting: shrouded in fog along 40 steep hills, overlooking

glistening San Francisco Bay. Many of the densely-packed neighborhoods clinging to

these hills are filled with ornate Victorian houses called ―painted ladies.‖

Considering its ocean beaches, bustling commercial waterfront, two of the

world‘s most striking bridges, and the largest urban park west of Philadelphia, it‘s no

wonder San Francisco is a desirable and expensive place to live and a treat to visit.

Add in its lively theater scene, the oldest ballet company in the United States,

dozens of art galleries, and thousands of fine restaurants, and San Francisco exudes

sophistication.

The city does get a lot of rain, but its winters are mild and its summers cool.

Really cool. In fact, there‘s a delightful saying — incorrectly credited to humorist

Mark Twain — that the natives enjoy: ―The coldest winter I ever spent was a

summer in San Francisco.‖

Among the city‘s top visitor attractions is Chinatown — the largest Asian

community outside Asia. And one of the enduring symbols of San Francisco is its

fleet of 37 cable cars — the only ones of their kind remaining in the world.

San Francisco‘s hills themselves are tourist attractions — especially a

研究生英语视听说听力原文

serpentine stretch of Lombard Street that everyone calls the ―Crookedest Street in

America.‖

In the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood, you can still run into people who are

trying to recapture the ―hippie‖ experience of San Francisco‘s 1967 ―Summer of

Love.‖ And in San Francisco Bay, Alcatraz Prison, which once housed the worst of

the worst federal prisoners, is open for tours.

These unique allurements explain why the American short-story writer O. Henry

wrote, ―East is East, and West is San Francisco.‖

Unit 9 — Health

4. Link between Heart Health and Education

B Directions: Listen the passage again and decide whether the following statements

are true or false.

1) Less educated people tend to have more heart attacks and other so-called

cardiovascular events. ( T )

2) The correlation between more education and fewer heart attacks, strokes, and other

cardiovascular events was strongest among women in richer countries.

( F )

3) Educated people in lower- and middle-income countries tend to avoid risky

behaviors like smoking, or they eat better, or get better medical care. ( F )

4) Women in Latin America are increasingly targeted by tobacco companies. (T )

5) More educated women in lower- and middle-class countries are more likely to get

better positions with health care insurances. (F )

Tapescript

Numerous studies have found a connection between education and the risk of

heart disease and stroke. More educated people tend to have fewer heart attacks and

other so-called cardiovascular events. But new research finds that the correlation

doesn't apply everywhere.

Previous studies have been done almost entirely in richer, industrialized

countries. Abhinav Goyal of Emory University in Atlanta wanted to see if that link

between heart disease and education applied in low- and middle-income countries.

"So what we found is that there is a relationship between education level and

cardiovascular events that differs both in terms of gender and in terms of world

region," says Goyal.

The correlation between more education and fewer heart attacks, strokes, and

other cardiovascular events was strongest among men in richer countries. The link

研究生英语视听说听力原文

was weaker among women in rich countries and men in lower- and middle-income countries.

"And then finally, when you looked at women in low- and middle-income countries, there was almost no difference - meaning that, unlike men in high-income countries, it does not appear that education is protective against cardiovascular events in women in low- and middle-income countries," says Goyal.

Educated people in richer countries may be less likely to have cardiovascular disease because they tend to avoid risky behaviors like smoking, or they eat better, or get better medical care.

But in lower-income countries in Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East - where the people in this study live - many of those women are moving into urban areas, taking sedentary office jobs. They are increasingly being targeted by tobacco companies. And there may be social limits to what women can do. "Because of some of the social constructs of some of the low- and middle-income countries, women are not as free to have access to the family income," says Goyal, "and their education may not necessarily translate to better employment, and then they may not be in a position always to seek health care and follow-through with those plans." Goyal's study suggests that it's wrong for physicians and policymakers to assume that just because people get more schooling they will automatically adopt a healthier lifestyle. Dr. Abhinav Goyal's research appears in the journal Circulation, published by the American Heart Association.

Unit 10 — Computer and the Internet

4 Virtual Worlds

B Directions: Listen to the passage again and decide whether the following

statements are true or false.

(F) 1) One can buy real land in a virtual game since the line between the real world

and online virtual worlds‘ is becoming increasingly vague.

(T) 2) By playing MMOGs thousands of people can play simultaneously on the

internet, interacting or competing with each other.

(T) 3) Some gamers have spent real money inside the game while other online gamers

have used their virtual investments to make a profit.

(F) 4) A gamer, known as Deathifier, paid £40,000 for an island in the game Project

Entropia in 2004.

(F) 5) The BBC has bought a virtual island in the game Second Life to stage online

music festivals and showcase new musical talent.

Tapescript

The line between the real world and online virtual worlds‘ is becoming increasingly blurred with gamers spending real money to buy virtual commodities and even real estate in digital worlds.

研究生英语视听说听力原文

Welcome to the world of MMOGs, Massive Multiplayer Online Games. For those who don‘t know, an MMOG is a computer game which thousands of people can play simultaneously on the internet, interacting or competing with each other. Some of the most well-known MMOGs include Second Life, World of Warcraft and Legend of Mir II.

Whilst many of these kinds of games involve role-playing and fulfilling tasks, others simply offer an alternative universe where players can socialise, earn money and trade with each other.

In recent years ‘social’ MMOGs like Second Life and Project Entropia have invited gamers to spend real money inside the game. And whilst many people might find this strange, some online gamers have used their virtual investments to make a profit.

A 23-year-old Australian gamer, known as Deathifier paid around £14,000 for an island in the game Project Entropia in 2004 and within a year had recouped his investment by selling land to other gamers to build virtual homes on. The young entrepreneur is highly confident that his digital assets will continue to be profitable.

―The money made to date is only a taste of what can be achieved with my virtual island purchase,‖ said Deathifier, ―There is still more room for growth and revenue with the untapped resources surrounding the land.‖

Here at the BBC we are never slow to embrace new technology, and have rented a virtual tropical island within the game Second Life. The BBC’s island has been used to stage online music festivals and showcase new musical talent. It is hoped that it will also bring gamers closer to their favourite artists.

BBC interactive editor, Daniel Heaf, said, ―There may be opportunities to have people like Justin Timberlake on spaces like this—that will allow a level of interaction with the audience that we have never tried before.‖

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