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[02:33.58]College English Test-Band six
[02:36.86]Part III  Listening Comprehension
[02:40.47]Section A
[02:42.33]Directions: In this section,
[02:45.50]you will hear 8 short conversations
[02:48.01]and 2 long conversations.
[02:50.31]At the end of each conversation,
[02:52.50]one or more questions will be asked about
[02:54.90]what was said. Both the conversation and the questions
[02:58.73]will be spoken only once.
[03:00.92]After each question there will be a pause.
[03:04.20]During the pause, you must read the four choices
[03:07.81]marked A), B), C) and D), and decide
[03:12.29]which is the best answer.
[03:14.37]Then mark the corresponding letter on
[03:17.10]Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
[03:22.19]Now let's begin with the 8 short conversations.
[03:28.23]11. W: Jim, you are on the net again!
[03:33.48]When are you going to get off? It’s time for the talk show.
[03:37.74]M: Just a minute dear! I’m looking at a new jewelry site.
[03:41.68]I want to make sure I get the right gift for mom’s birthday.
[03:45.81]Q: What is the man doing right now?
[04:02.91]12. W: I have never seen you
[04:06.62]have such confidence before in the exam!
[04:09.25]M: It’s more than confidence!
[04:11.11]Right now I feel that if I get less than an A,
[04:14.39]it will be the fault of the exam itself.
[04:17.48]Q: What does the man mean?
[04:34.15]13. W: Just look at this newspaper!
[04:38.53]Nothing but murder, death and war!
[04:41.92]Do you still believe people are basically good?
[04:45.31]M: Of course, I do! But newspapers
[04:48.26]hardly ever report stories about peace and generosity.
[04:52.31]They are not news!
[04:54.38]Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
[05:11.13]14. M: Tom must be joking when he said
[05:16.17]he plans to sell his shop and go to medical school.
[05:19.67]W: You are quite right! He’s just kidding!
[05:22.51]He’s also told me time and time again
[05:25.79]he wished to study for some profession
[05:28.41]instead of going into business.
[05:30.71]Q: What will Tom probably do according to the conversation?
[05:48.09]15. W: I hear your boss has a real good impression of you,
[05:54.87]and he is thinking about giving you two more days off each month.
[05:59.14]M: I hope not. I’d rather get more work hours ,
[06:02.41]so I can get enough bucks to help out my two kids at college.
[06:06.90]Q: What does the man truly want?
[06:23.91]16. M: I heard you took a trip to Mexico last month.
[06:29.59]How did you like it?
[06:31.13]W: Oh, I got sick and tired of the hotels
[06:34.41]and hotel food! So now I understand the thing:
[06:38.89]East, west, home’s best!
[06:43.05]Q: What does the woman mean?
[06:58.24]17. W: I’m worried about Anna.
[07:03.38]She’s really been depressed lately.
[07:06.11]All she does is staying in her room all day.
[07:09.28]M: That sounds serious!
[07:11.36]She’d better see a psychiatrist at the counseling center.
[07:15.73]Q: What does the man suggest Anna do?
[07:32.10]18. M: I could hardly recognize
[07:37.24]Sam after he got that new job!
[07:39.54]He’s always in a suit and tie now.
[07:42.06]W: Yeah. He was never liked that in college.
[07:45.55]Back then, he went around in old T-shirts and jeans.
[07:50.04]Q: What do the speakers say about Sam?
[08:08.21]Now you will hear the two long conversations.
[08:12.03]Conversation One
[08:14.11]M: Hi, Ann! Welcome back! How was your trip to the States?
[08:19.69]W: Very busy. I had a lot of meetings,
[08:23.63]so, of course, I didn’t have much time to see New York.
[08:27.99]M: What a pity! Actually, I have a trip there myself next week.
[08:32.27]W: Do you? Then take my advice, do the well-being
[08:36.97]in the air program. It really works.
[08:40.03]M: Oh, I read about that in a magazine.
[08:42.44]You say it works?
[08:43.63]W: Yes, I did the program on the flight to the States,
[08:47.03]and when I arrived in New York,
[08:49.65]I didn’t have any problem, no jet lag at all.
[08:53.70]On the way back, I didn’t do it, and I felt terrible.
[08:58.62]M: You’re joking!
[08:59.71]W: Not at all, it really made a lot of difference.
[09:03.43]M: En. So what did you do?
[09:06.28]W: Well, I didn’t drink any alcohol or coffee,
[09:10.21]and I didn’t eat any meat or rich food.
[09:13.49]I drink a lot of water, and free juice,
[09:16.77]and I ate the meals on the well-being menu.
[09:20.16]They’re lighter. They have fish, vegetables, and noodles,
[09:24.97]for example, and I did some of the exercises in the program.
[09:29.35]M: Exercises? On a plane?
[09:31.97]W: Yes. I didn’t do many, of course,
[09:35.25]there isn’t much space on a plane.
[09:37.77]M: How many passengers do the exercises?
[09:40.51]W: Not many.
[09:42.15]M: Then how much champagne did they drink?
[09:44.66]W: A lot! It was more popular than mineral water.
[09:48.27]M: So, basically, it's a choice.
[09:50.35]Mineral water and exercises, or champagne and jet lag.
[09:54.50]W: That’s right! It’s a difficult choice.
[09:59.31]Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation
[10:04.13]you have just heard.
[10:05.99]19. Why did the woman go to New York?
[10:24.74]20. What does the woman say about the well-being
[10:29.33]in the air program?
[10:45.16]21. What did the woman do to follow the well-being menu?
[11:05.24]22. What did the woman say about other passengers?
[11:25.18]Conversation Two
[11:27.88]W: Morning. Can I help you?
[11:31.06]M: Well, I’ m not really sure.
[11:33.35]I' m just looking.
[11:34.56]W: I see. Well, there’s plenty to look at it again this year.
[11:38.82]I’m sure you have to walk miles to see each stand.
[11:42.43]M: That’s true.
[11:43.30]W: Er..., would you like a coffee?
[11:45.49]Come and sit down for a minute, no obligation.
[11:48.33]M: Well, that’s very kind of you, but…
[11:50.85]W: Now, please. Is this the first year
[11:53.80]you’ve been to the fair,  Mr...
[11:55.66]M: Yes, Johnson, James Johnson.
[11:58.29]W: My name's Susan Carter.
[12:00.25]Are you looking for anything in particular,
[12:02.77]or are you just interested in computers in general?
[12:05.83]M: Well, actually, I have some specific jobs in mind.
[12:09.55]I own a small company, we’ve grown quite dramatically
[12:13.38]over the past 12 months,
[12:14.58]and we really need some technological help to
[12:17.31]enable us to keep on top of everything.
[12:19.83]W: What’s your line of business, Mr. Johnson?
[12:22.78]M: We’re a training consultancy.
[12:24.97]W: I see. And what do you need “to keep on top”?
[12:29.45]M: The first thing is correspondence.
[12:31.86]We have a lot of standard letters and forms.
[12:34.48]So I suppose we need some kind of word processor.
[12:37.65]W: Right. Well, that’s no problem.
[12:40.94]But it may be possible for you to get a system
[12:44.11]that does a lot of other things
[12:45.86]in addition to word processing.
[12:47.72]What might suit you is the MR5000.
[12:52.31]That’s it over there! It’s IBM compatible.
[12:55.70]M: What about the price?
[12:58.20]W: Well, the MR5000 costs 1,050 pounds.
[13:04.22]Software comes free with the hardware.
[13:07.06]M: Well, I’ll think about it. Thank you.
[13:10.78]W: Here’s my card. Please feel free to contact me.
[13:15.37]Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation
[13:20.18]you have just heard.
[13:22.70]23. Where did the conversation take place?
[13:42.22]24. What are the speakers talking about?
[14:01.30]25. What is the man’s line of business?
[14:20.07]Section B
[14:22.25]Directions: In this section,
[14:26.63]you will hear 3 short passages.
[14:29.80]At the end of each passage,
[14:31.55]you will hear some questions.
[14:33.52]Both the passage and the questions
[14:35.71]will be spoken only once.
[14:38.22]After you hear a question,
[14:39.97]you must choose the best answer from the four choices
[14:43.58]marked A), B), C) and D).
[14:47.95]Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2
[14:52.33]with a single line through the centre.
[14:55.39]Passage One
[14:57.80]The new year always brings with the cultural tradition
[15:02.50]of new possibilities.
[15:04.47]We see it as a chance for renewal.
[15:07.31]We begin to dream of new possible selves.
[15:10.81]We design our ideal self or an image
[15:14.64]that is quite different from what we are now.
[15:17.37]For some of us, we roll at dreamy film in our heads
[15:21.75]just because it’s the beginning of a new year.
[15:24.37]But we aren’t serious about making changes.
[15:28.09]We just make some half-hearted resolution
[15:30.93]and it evaporates after a week or two.
[15:34.11]The experience makes us feel less successful
[15:37.82]and leads us to discount our ability
[15:40.66]to change in the future. It’s not the changes impossible
[15:45.48]but that it won’t last unless our resolutions
[15:48.87]are supported with plans for implementation.
[15:52.15]We have to make our intentions manageable
[15:55.10]by detailing the specific steps
[15:57.62]that will carry us to our goal.
[15:59.91]Say your goal is to lose weight by dieting
[16:03.96]and cutting off sweets.
[16:06.14]But one night you just have to have a cookie.
[16:09.64]And you know there’s a bag of your favorites
[16:12.49]in the cupboard. You want one, you eat two,
[16:16.97]you check the bag and find out
[16:19.49]you’ve just shot 132 calories. You say to yourself,
[16:24.74]“What the hell!” and polish off the whole bag.
[16:27.69]Then you begin to draw all kinds of
[16:31.19]unpleasant conclusions about yourself.
[16:34.58]To protect your sense of self,
[16:36.65]you begin to discount the goal. You may think –
[16:40.82]"Well, dieting wasn’t that important to me
[16:43.98]and I won’t make it anyhow.”
[16:46.50]So you abandon the goal and return to your bad habits.
[16:52.30]Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage
[16:57.00]you have just heard.
[16:59.51]26. What do people usually wish to do
[17:04.87]at the beginning of a new year?
[17:20.46]27. How can people turn their new year’s resolutions
[17:26.14]into reality?
[17:41.01]28. Why does the speaker mention
[17:45.61]the example of sweets and cookies?
[18:03.24]Passage Two
[18:05.43]25 years ago, Ray Anderson,
[18:09.48]a single parent with a one-year-old son
[18:11.77]witnessed a terrible accident
[18:14.18]which took place when the driver of a truck
[18:16.80]ran a red light and collided with the car of Sandra D.
[18:21.72]The impact of the collision killed Sandra instantly.
[18:25.12]But her three-month-old daughter
[18:27.41]was left trapped in the burning car.
[18:29.49]While others looked on in horror,
[18:32.00]Andersen jumped out of his vehicle
[18:34.41]and crawled into the car through the shadowed rear window
[18:37.80]to try to free the infant. Seconds later,
[18:42.07]the car was enclosed in flames.
[18:45.24]But to everyone’s amazement,
[18:47.65]Andersen was able to pull the baby to safety.
[18:51.25]While the baby was all right, Andersen
[18:53.99]was seriously injured. Two days later he died.
[18:59.13]But his heroic act was published widely in the media.
[19:03.17]His son was soon adopted by relatives.
[19:06.46]The most remarkable part of the story unfolded only last week.
[19:11.60]Karen and her boyfriend Michael were looking
[19:14.98]through some old boxes
[19:16.51]When they came across some old newspaper clippings.
[19:20.12]“This is me when I was a new born baby.
[19:23.19]I was rescued from a burning car.
[19:25.37]But my mother died in the accident,” explained Karen.
[19:29.20]Although Michael knew Karen’s mother
[19:31.39]had died years earlier,
[19:33.25]he never fully understood the circumstances
[19:35.87]until he skimmed over the newspaper article.
[19:39.26]To Karen’s surprise,
[19:41.45]Michael was absorbed in the details of the accident.
[19:44.40]And he began to cry uncontrollably.
[19:47.79]Then he revealed that the man that pulled Karen
[19:51.40]from the flames was the father he never knew.
[19:55.12]The two embraced and shed many tears,
[19:58.07]recounting stories told to them about their parents.
[20:02.99]Questions29 to 31 are based on the passage you have just heard.
[20:09.23]29. What happened twenty-five years ago?
[20:27.37]30. What does the speaker say about Michael’s father?
[20:46.40]31. Why did Michael cry uncontrollably
[20:51.42]when he skimmed over the newspaper article?
[21:08.24]Passage Three
[21:11.29]Americans suffer from an overdose of work.
[21:15.45]Regardless of who they are or what they do.
[21:18.73]Americans spend more time at work
[21:20.92]than that any time since World War II.
[21:23.99]In 1950,the US had fewer working hours
[21:28.74]than any other industrialized country.
[21:31.70]Today, it exceeds every country but Japan
[21:34.65]where industrial employees load 2155 hours a year
[21:40.99]compared with 1951 in the US
[21:45.37]and 1603 in the former West Germany.
[21:50.51]Between 1969 and 1989, employed Americans
[21:55.87]add an average of 138 hours to their yearly work schedules.
[22:01.55]The workweek has remained above 40 hours.
[22:04.95]But people are working more weeks each year.
[22:08.67]Specifically pay time off holidays, vacations,
[22:13.91]sick leave shrank by 50% in the 1980s.
[22:19.05]As corporations have experienced stiff competitions
[22:23.17]and slow in growth of productivity,
[22:25.35]they have pressed employees to work longer.
[22:29.18]Cost-cutting lay-offs in the 1980s
[22:32.46]reduce the professional and managerial runs,
[22:35.74]leaving fewer people to get the job done.
[22:38.70]In lower paid occupations
[22:41.65]where wages have been reduced,
[22:43.84]workers have added hours in overtime
[22:46.57]or extra jobs to preserve their living standard.
[22:49.96]The government estimates that more than 7 million people hold a second job.
[22:55.43]For the first time,
[22:57.83]large numbers of people say they want to cut back
[23:00.45]on working hours even it means earning less money.
[23:04.39]But most employers are unwilling to let them do so.
[23:08.54]The government which has stepped back from its traditional role
[23:12.59]as a regulator of work time
[23:15.10]should take steps to make shorter hours possible.
[23:19.54]Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
[23:26.11]32. In which country do industrial employees
[23:31.90]work the longest hours?
[23:47.81]33. How do employed Americans manage to work more hours?
[24:08.54]34. Why do corporations press their employees
[24:14.01]to work longer hours according to the speaker?
[24:31.48]35. What does the speaker
[24:34.65]say many Americans prefer to do?
[24:50.78]Section C
[24:53.30]Directions: In this section,
[24:56.25]you will hear a passage three times.
[24:59.09]When the passage is read for the first time,
[25:01.94]you should listen carefully for its general idea.
[25:05.00]When the passage is read for the second time,
[25:08.06]you are required to fill in the blanks numbered
[25:10.90]from 36 to 43 with the exact words
[25:14.62]you have just heard. For blanks numbered
[25:18.01]from 44 to 46 you are required
[25:20.96]to fill in the missing information.
[25:23.81]For these blanks, you can either use the exact words
[25:27.52]you have just heard or write down the main points
[25:30.59]in your own words. Finally, when the passage
[25:34.41]is read for the third time, you should check
[25:37.14]what you have written.
[25:39.39]Now listen to the passage.
[25:42.45]Nursing, as a typically female profession,
[25:46.72]must deal constantly with the false impression
[25:49.56]that nurses are there to wait on the physician.
[25:53.06]As nurses, we are licensed to provide nursing care only.
[25:58.32]We do not have any legal
[25:59.84]or moral obligation to any physician.
[26:03.34]We provide health teaching, assess physical
[26:06.84]as well as emotional problems,
[26:09.46]coordinate patient-related services,
[26:11.87]and make all of our nursing decisions based upon
[26:14.71]what is best or suitable for the patient.
[26:17.99]If, in any circumstance,
[26:20.51]we feel that a physician’s order
[26:22.48]is inappropriate or unsafe,
[26:25.54]we have a legal responsibility to question
[26:28.17]that order or refuse to carry it out.
[26:31.89]Nursing is not a nine-to-five job with every weekend off.
[26:36.59]All nurses are aware of that before they enter the profession.
[26:40.74]The emotional and physical stress, however,
[26:43.58]that occurs due to odd working hours
[26:45.99]is a prime reason for a lot of the career dissatisfaction.
[26:50.91]It is sometimes required that we work overtime,
[26:54.52]and that we change shifts four or five times a month.
[26:59.00]That disturbs our personal lives,
[27:01.74]disrupts our sleeping and eating habits,
[27:04.59]and isolates us from everything
[27:07.10]except job-related friends and activities.
[27:10.71]The quality of nursing care
[27:12.57]is being affected dramatically by these situations.
[27:16.40]Most hospitals are now staffed by new graduates,
[27:20.11]as experienced nurses
[27:22.30]finally give up trying to change the system.
[27:26.13]Consumers of medically related services
[27:29.08]have evidently not been affected enough yet
[27:32.36]to demand changes in our medical system.
[27:35.86]But if trends continue as predicted,
[27:39.25]they will find that most critical hospital care
[27:42.43]will be provided by new, inexperienced,
[27:46.58]and sometimes inadequately trained nurses.
[27:51.88]Now the passage will be read again.
[27:54.61]Nursing, as a typically female profession,
[27:58.98]must deal constantly with the false impression
[28:01.94]that nurses are there to wait on the physician.
[28:05.66]As nurses, we are licensed to provide nursing care only.
[28:10.90]We do not have any legal
[28:12.55]or moral obligation to any physician.
[28:15.83]We provide health teaching, assess physical
[28:19.65]as well as emotional problems,
[28:21.96]coordinate patient-related services,
[28:24.80]and make all of our nursing decisions based upon
[28:27.97]what is best or suitable for the patient.
[28:31.14]If, in any circumstance,
[28:33.98]we feel that a physician’s order
[28:35.62]is inappropriate or unsafe,
[28:38.47]we have a legal responsibility to question
[28:41.31]that order or refuse to carry it out.
[28:44.81]Nursing is not a nine-to-five job with every weekend off.
[28:50.50]All nurses are aware of that before they enter the profession.
[28:55.31]The emotional and physical stress, however,
[28:58.26]that occurs due to odd working hours
[29:00.67]is a prime reason for a lot of the career dissatisfaction.
[29:05.69]It is sometimes required that we work overtime,
[29:09.85]and that we change shifts four or five times a month.
[30:18.17]That disturbs our personal lives,
[30:21.01]disrupts our sleeping and eating habits,
[30:23.52]and isolates us from everything
[30:25.71]except job-related friends and activities.
[30:29.60]The quality of nursing care
[30:32.11]is being affected dramatically by these situations.
[30:36.23]Most hospitals are now staffed by new graduates,
[30:40.16]as experienced nurses
[30:42.35]finally give up trying to change the system.
[32:01.42]Consumers of medically related services
[32:03.94]have evidently not been affected enough yet
[32:06.61]to demand changes in our medical system.
[32:09.67]But if trends continue as predicted,
[32:12.62]they will find that most critical hospital care
[32:15.68]will be provided by new, inexperienced,
[32:19.07]and sometimes inadequately trained nurses.
[33:52.19]Now the passage will be read for the third time.
[33:57.33]Nursing, as a typically female profession,
[34:01.38]must deal constantly with the false impression
[34:04.00]that nurses are there to wait on the physician.
[34:07.61]As nurses, we are licensed to provide nursing care only.
[34:13.19]We do not have any legal
[34:14.51]or moral obligation to any physician.
[34:18.11]We provide health teaching, assess physical
[34:21.72]as well as emotional problems,
[34:24.35]coordinate patient-related services,
[34:26.64]and make all of our nursing decisions based upon
[34:29.38]what is best or suitable for the patient.
[34:32.66]If, in any circumstance,
[34:35.17]we feel that a physician’s order
[34:37.14]is inappropriate or unsafe,
[34:40.42]we have a legal responsibility to question
[34:42.94]that order or refuse to carry it out.
[34:46.66]Nursing is not a nine-to-five job with every weekend off.
[34:51.47]All nurses are aware of that before they enter the profession.
[34:55.51]The emotional and physical stress, however,
[34:58.25]that occurs due to odd working hours
[35:00.98]is a prime reason for a lot of the career dissatisfaction.
[35:05.79]It is sometimes required that we work overtime,
[35:09.41]and that we change shifts four or five times a month.
[35:13.89]That disturbs our personal lives,
[35:16.73]disrupts our sleeping and eating habits,
[35:19.68]and isolates us from everything
[35:21.76]except job-related friends and activities.
[35:25.70]The quality of nursing care
[35:27.67]is being affected dramatically by these situations.
[35:31.60]Most hospitals are now staffed by new graduates,
[35:35.43]as experienced nurses
[35:37.62]finally give up trying to change the system.
[35:41.22]Consumers of medically related services
[35:44.29]have evidently not been affected enough yet
[35:47.68]to demand changes in our medical system.
[35:50.85]But if trends continue as predicted,
[35:54.57]they will find that most critical hospital care
[35:57.63]will be provided by new, inexperienced,
[36:01.86]and sometimes inadequately trained nurses.
[36:07.72]This is the end of listening comprehension.