英语高级口译资格证书第一阶段考试
section 1: listening test (30 minutes)
part a: spot dictation
【点击下载音频mp3】
directions: in this part of the test, you will hear a passage and read the same passage with blanks in it. fill in each of the blanks with the words you have heard on the tape. write your answer in the corresponding space in your answer booklet. remember you will hear. the passage only once.
the single markethas already had an enormous impact. here inspain there have been a greatnumberof _______________(1)andacquisitions where frenchand germancompanies have seen opportunities to enter a growing market. and as the barriers _______________(2) this has become more and more possible.
as far as specific industries have been concerned, well, _______________(3), for example, is an industry which you would think was very _______________(4), but we have
seen over the last ten years how much different _______________(5) have changed, and this is very much a function of a single market. french companies have been _______________(6) in this area. they've moved heavily into spain and italy and they have been largely responsible for marketing many _______________(7). we're seeing, in fact, southern eating habits moving north in europe. _______________(8); we have yet to convince the italians that eating british is preferable to eating italian, but the move has been north to south _______________(9). britain actually is one of the largest drinks producers in the world and guinness has, for example, been very active in spain _______________(10). so the food and drink industry has really opened out. with regard to _______________(11), we see a great deal more regulation of these companies because they're obviously _______________(12). with electricity, you've got power plants giving off sulphur and all sorts of unpleasant things. _______________(13) everybody's ditching everything they don t want into the rivers, so there's more regulation now from brussels. and there were also _______________(14) when the european markets opened up.
banking is an area where there has been a tremendous amount of activity with mergers between french and spanish banks, _______________(15). or if not full mergers, at least joint ventures. and there will be more of this to come. this was something _______________(16) some years ago: governments felt that the banking system was strategic to own economic development and there had always been a very _______________(17). this has now changed. added to this there are controls on banks that have _______________(18), and indeed beyond europe, in terms of their control of risk and exposure to poor credit quality. this is being applied worldwide and it is just a measure of how _______________(19) of industry is taking place. and there will certainly be _______________(20).
part b: listening comprehension
directions: in this part of the test there will be some short talks and conversations. after each one, you will be asked some questions. the talks, conversations and questions will be spoken only once. now listen carefully and choose the right answer to each question you have heard and write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in your answer booklet.
questions 1 to 5 are based on the following conversation.
1. (a) for two years. (b) for one year.
(c) for three or four months. (d) for five or six weeks.
2. (a) to cook breakfasts. (b) to comb her daughter's hair.
(c) to water the garden. (d) to do sewing.
3. (a) there's too much work to do. (b) she doesn't get paid enough.
(c) she hasn't got a desk or a telephone. (d) her office is too small.
4. (a) in three months time. (b) in november.
(c) next month. (d) two weeks from now.
5. (a) she is a female welsh mp.
(b) she's the first black woman to get into parliament.
(c) she's not been nominated by any political party.
(d) she's not a member of either the labour party or the conservative party.
questions 6 to 10 are based on the following news.
6. (a) 1.3 billon dollars. (b) 500 million dollars.
(c) 20 million dollars. (d) 10 million dollars.
7. (a) that the boy not be granted an asylum hearing.
(b) that the boy's miami relatives have the right to keep the boy.
(c) that the boy be prevented from leaving the country.
(d) that only a parent can act for the boy.
8. (a) because the government has introduced new invement policies.
(b) because the inflation rate hit an all-time low in jana.
(c) because high-tech industries have drawn a lot of investment from other countries.
(d) because foreign companies bought shares of japanese firms.
9. (a) to discuss israel's new peace proposals.
(b) to decide on a secret location for a new round of peace talks.
(c) to work out a framework peace deal.
(d) to negotiate the date for israel's withdrawal from lebanon.
10.(a) a major breakthrough has been made in the talks between the opposing sides.
(b) more than 30 foreign hostages are still held by the rebels.
(c) a new government will be formed within the next 24 to 36 hours.
(d) foreign intervention is very much needed to stable the domestic situation.
questions 11 to 15 are based on the following interview.
11. (a) the experience of working in different countries.
(b) differences between britain and germany.
(c) the employment situation in europe.
(d) different social customs in continental europe.
12. (a) most german company executives speak better english than their british counterparts.
(b) company executives are more formal at work in britain than in germany.
(c) british company employees have very poor language skills.
(d) company executives behave more or less the same in different countries.
13. (a) holding a lot of meetings before making decisions.
(b) little use of first names with colleagues.
(c) greeting each other whenever they meet.
(d) the withering away of the custom of handshaking.
14. (a) it is more usual to socialize with colleagues out of work in germany.
(b) business operations are market-led in britain.
(c) long-term plans are more important.
(d) people are more formal in doing business than they used to.
15. (a) life long service for one comapny is rarely seen nowadays.
(b) young people move from company to company more often than older people.
(c) people stay longer with the same company in germany than in britain.
(d) the length of service with a comapny is more determined by the salary than before.
questions 16 to 20 are based on the following talk.
16. (a) he studied as an undergraduate at oxford.
(b) he had done a few different jobs before the present one.
(c) he hadjust given up a job of a similar kind.
(d) he studied history and got a degree.
17. (a) english speaking people who have interesting things to say.
(b) people from different backgrounds, irrespective of the language they speak.
(c) people doing important jobs.
(d) very famous people working in entertainment.
18. (a) christianity. (b) religion in general.
(c) an introduction to the middle ages. (d) a look back on the past century.
19. (a) less than thirty. (b) around forty.
(c) in his early fifties. (d) nearly sixty.
20. (a) he doesn t find it so exciting as the previous one.
(b) it is interesting but the pay is not so good.
(c) he loves it very much.
(d) he feels that he might not be fit for it.
directions: in this section you will read several passage. each one is followed by several questions about it. you are to choose one best answer,(a),(b),(c) or (d), to each question. answer all the questions following each passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in that passage and write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in your answer booklet.
question 1～5
the day automakers put earth at the top of their agenda will go down in history. reading this book, one gets the sense that day is coming. big automakers still no paragons of environmentalism have gotten the message that replacing the dirty internal-combustion engine is an urgent priority. with less than 5 percent of the world's population, americans produce 14 percent of all global warming carbon dioxide gas. and car tailpipes pump out more than 30 percent of us air pollution. in his new book, “forward drive: the race to build ‘clean’ cars for the future,”environmentalist jim motavalli concludes that capitalist competition is taking over from government mandates to clean up that exhaust. motavalli chronicles the movement for cleaner cars: the few visionaries and zealots building and driving home built battery-powered cars; the divided giant automakers working tirelessly to develop clean cars while fighting regulatory efforts to require them; university researchers conducting studies; and the regulators trying to speed their adoption.
“forward drive”covers the technological advances of the hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles poised to take over from the internal-combustion engine. in some ways, motavalli is an unlikely narrator. a self-vowed car nut who stumbled into a job editing e, the environmental magazine, he seems biased on both sides of the issue. but ultimately, that's what makes him best suited to tell this story.
motavalli's concern for the environment is sincere, and his knowledge of cars is refreshingly accurate. the most interesting passages follow his transformation from
internal-combustion devotee to environmental autocynic and battery-car zealot to hopeful future-car realist. “it was disconcerting, to say the least, to learn that my hobby of collecting classic cars and my growing concern for the environment didn't necessarily mesh, ”motavalli writes. “the car has certainly been good to me, but i'm becoming disenchanted.”
in the preface, he notes that he set out to write a book critical of the auto industy for teaming up with big oil to block development of clean cars. but when he dug in to do more research, he found a different story. namely that automakers in detroit, japan, and europe are in a heated race to start selling cars that are more environmentally correct.
unfortunately, motavalli glosses over issues of consumer demand. he never mention ns that today's electric cars and gasoline-electric hybrids cost far more than internal combustion cars of equal or greater capability. he spends a whole chapter interviewing early adopters of electric cars in california. he notes their utter dedication to their electric cars and implies that the rest of the buying public should simply be as enthusiastic, without addressing issues of price or the various ways families use their cars.
he strongly favors california's mandate that 10 percent of all vehicles sold in the state be zero-emission-vehicles—battery or fuel-cell electrics, not hybrids—even though he writes, “ultimately, vehicles halfheartedly designed to meet a mandate would fail in the marketplace.” and he gives short shrift to the point that clean cars do nothing to ease congestion and sprawl.
in a telephone interview, motavalli concedes that technology is progressing faster than book deadlines allowed him to keep up with. if anything, automakers are working harder to develop hybrid-electrics. and mass-market hybrid-drive systems will likely first show up in the big sport utility vehicles that motavalli rails against.
nevertheless, he now believes that the automakers with the deepest pockets have best chance of building better cars for tomorrow. “the new, clean cars will emerge not from a tinkerer's garage, but from the well-funded research labs of the same big auto companies that initially fought their introduction,”he says.
1. the expression “put the earth at the top of their agenda”in the beginning sentence of the passage can best be paraphrased as_______.
(a) discuss the issue of global warming with top government leaders
(b) lay stress on the research of the climate of the earth
(c) treat the protection of the earth s environment as of paramount importance
(d) consider seriously the relation between automaking and environment pollution
2. in his new book “forward drive”, motavalli concludes that _______.
(a) capitalist competition leads to pollution
(b) automakers are working hard to develop cleaner cars
(c) the movement for cleaner cars develops slowly
(d) the auto industry always blocks the development of clean cars
3. it can be concluded from the passage that motavalli _______.
(a) is not a proper figure to write about clean cars
(b) treats automaking and environment with biased views
(c) takes consumer demand into serious consideration
(d) shows his change of attitude towards automobiles
4. the expression “he gives short shrift to the point”(para. 7) can be replaced by _______.
(a) he gives detailed illustration of the point
(b) he pays little attention to the point
(c) he writes a short paragraph about the point
(d) he ends with a brief but warm discussion about the point
5. which of the following can serve as the best title of the passage?
(a) big automakers: pioneers of environmentalism
(b) consumer demand and development of green cars
(c) green cars and environmental protection
(d) transformation from car devotee to environmentalist
questions 6～10
hundreds of thousands of american mothers descended on washington and about 60 other us cities yesterday to voice their support for stricter gun laws, making one of the country's biggest demonstrations for many years.
the million mom march was focused on the capital, where a huge crowd of women, along with large numbers of men and children, gathered to mark mothers' day on the mall, the green strip which leads to the capitol building housing congress. at the other end, below the washington monument, about 2,000 people calling themselves the armed informed mothers staged a counter-protest against gun control.
president clinton threw his weight behind the million mom march, holding a morning reception on the lawn of the white house for the rally's leaders and the mothers of children killed by guns. “one of the things your mother teaches you when you grow up is that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,”he told the crowd. but he pointed out that a string of gun-control measures had been stalled in congress for more than a year by the opposition of the gun lobby.
violent crime has been falling in the us for eight years, but the impact of firearms remains far high than in other modern industrialized countries. every year 32,000 americans—including 12 children and teenagers each day—die from gunfire through murders, accidents and suicides. among the speakers at the gun-control rally in washington were three women whose daughters died in the dunblane massacre. those murders triggered the snowdrop campaign, which eventually led to a ban on handguns in britain.
before the rally one of the dunblane mothers, allison crozier, said she believed that the million mom campaign campaign could ultimately outweigh the entrenched power of the gun lobby. “there are more mums who want something done. we did it in scotland, they can do it here if they just stand up and do something about it, ”she told the bbc.
the counter-rally may have been tiny by comparison, but the progun demonstrat ors represent a powerful constituency. according to a survey published yesterday, 45% of us households own a gun, and one in four americans has been threatened with a gun. the gun-control lobbyists want child-proof trigger locks to be made compulsory, and a 72 hour “cooling off periods”for would be buyers at weekend gun shows. their opponents say those restrictions are only the first step to wards a total ban.
one of the armed informed mothers coordinators, debra collins, said her life was saved 16 years ago when she used a gun to defend herself against her violent ex-husband. “thank god, my firearm was unencumbered by a trigger lock,”she said. organisers of the million mom march hoped that the turnout nationally would top a million. the final figure was unclear yesterday afternoon, but may leigh bleak, one of the movement s founders, said enough people had shown up to put gun control on the legislative agenda in congress. she said: “i hope when legislators see so many mothers, it will give them the courage to do the right thing. ”
6. in the sentence “president clinton threw his weight behind the million mom march”(para.3), the expression “threw his weight behind...”can be replaced by ________.
(a) paid attention to (b) took part in
(c) laid emphasis on (d) gave support to
7. it can be learned from the passage that the armed informed mothers ________.
(a) are part of the million mom march
(b) are demonstrating against gun control
(c) are another great national movement
(d) are supported by women soldiers
8. according to the passage, the million mom march _______.
(a) was a nationwide demonstration held in many cities in america
(b) was held only in the capital washington
(c) was only joined by young and middle-aged mothers
(d) was first started in britain and spread to america
9. the argument over child proof trigger locks introduced in the passage ________.
(a) is overlooked by the armed informed mothers
(b) becomes the focus of the million mom march
(c) shows the major concern of gun-control supporters
(d) serves as the first step towards a total ban
10.according to the passage, all of the following are true except that _____.
(a) the million mom march is one of the few biggest demonstrations over the past decades
(b) the opposition of the gun lobby is quite strong in the congress
(c) the pro-gun demonstration represents a large proportion of the american population
(d) the increase of violent crime in the us is related to firearms
questions 11～15
when the folks at the mars society asked jammed cameron to speak at their annual convention this year, they probably expected him to be polite. instead, the “titanic”director stood before them and asked, “why the hell do you whacks want to go to mars?” he wasjust kidding: in truth, cameron is as evangelical as any one about mars, and he figures politicians won't lead the call for funding. “we don't have the same conditions as when john kennedy declared a race to the moon, ”he told newsweek. “then we were racing the soviet union. today, it's going to have to come from grass roots——from the public clamoring to get it done.” cameron has vowed to stir up “mars fever. ”
it seems the wackos at the mars society have found some powerful allies: the wackos in hollywood. so many projects are in the works that soon we ll all have either mars fever or mars flu. the studios are clearly responding to the public's fascination with 1997's sojourner mission——and the success of movies like “apollo 13”and “armageddon. ”so brian de palma's “mission to mars,”with gary sinise, will land in theaters in march, and an other would be blockbuster, “red, planet,”starring val kilmer, is set for summer 2 000. as for cameron, he ll produce two missions in 2001, one a tv miniseries, the other a short 3-dimax movie, which he'll direct. most filmmakers insist their movies will be realistic. cameron believes that extravaganzas like “star wars ”and “star trek”have actually hurt nasa's real-life adventures. “hollywood has done a disservice to the true adventure of space travel by making it look too easy, ”he says.
both of cameron's projects are set in 2016, and center on the first manned mission to mars and a subsequent rescue mission. nasa has helped the director draw up rigorously realistic vehicles. “what we want to show, ”says cameron, “is something that is plausible and defendable.”
de palma's movie amps up the drama slightly. the year is 2020. a mysterious explosion kills three american astronauts living on the red planet, and nasa launches a rescue mission to pick up a batty survivor. the spacecraft and the spacesuits will look like pure nasa. and the scenery, shot in vancouver, will look surprisingly martian. art director ed verreaux spent hours staring at the sojourner pictures, and crews shot red concrete out of fire hoses, covering 2 million square feet.
of all the mars movies, “red planet”will likely be the most fanciful. producer mark canton pitches it as “‘into thin air’on mars.”it s 2050, or there bouts, and greenhouse gases are choking earth. but on the first manned mission to mars the lander crash-lands on the planet. soon, the astronauts are fighting each other——and killer space worms.
“we are breaking some of the rules,”canton says of “red planet s”realism, “but it doesn't mean we are not going to get closer to the truth. ”whatever it takes to capture the public imagination, and get astronauts——not just actors——closer to mars.
11. the passage is mainly about ________.
(a) the annual convention of the mars society
(b) the introduction of space travel films
(c) the evolution of the red planet
(d) the production of the mars movies
12. according to cameron, films like “star wars” and “star trek” ______.
(a) are the best of the mars movies
(b) the introduction of space travel films
(c) the evolution of the red planet
(d) the production of the mars movies
13. according to the passage, “red planet”will be the most fanciful of the mars movies because _________.
(a) it will be produced in 2050
(b) it is based on 1997's sojourner mission
(c) it describes the first manned mission to mars
(d) it will get astronauts and audience closer to mars
14. which of the following is not true according to the passage?
(a) “mission to mars” and “red planet”are directed by de palma.
(b) cameron's two films will be produced in 2001.
(c) the mars society is a club of film directors.
(d) nasa helps in the production of some mars movies.
15. in the sentence “de palma's movie amps up the drama slightly. ”(para. 4), the phrase “amps up”can be replaced by which of the following?
(a) exaggerates
(b) displays
(c) changes
(d) reduces
questions 16～20
james bradley's skills as a pots and pans salesman did him no good when it came to hawking his book idea around publishing houses. flags of our fathers, a new volume about iwo jima, the battle fought by the us against japan 55 years ago for a tiny volcanic island in the pacific, was just what the world did not need. one of the 27 rejection slips went as far as to say: “no one wants to read a book about old men weeping into the telephone.”
but finally bradley did find a taker and now the book is number three on the new york times non fiction list, with 270,000 copies in print. his story of the six young americans who raised the flag during the 36-day second world war battle in which 22,000 japanese and 7,000 from the us died has struck something in the public that the publishers did not see.
working with the pulitzer prize-winning journalist ron powers, bradley tells the tale of the six flag-raisers, one of whom was his father, john. stephen ambrose, a military historian, says the writers have come up with “the best battle book i have ever read.”the new york times said it was “one of the most instructive and moving books on war and its aftermath that we are likely to see.”
the photograph of the flag being raised became a symbol for the triumph of the righteous 6,000 miles from the us, a classic moment of grace and danger. joe rosenthal's picture pressed all the patriotic buttons but in fact the associated press photographer almost failed to press the shutter on his camera because he was talking to a colleague at the time, and did not know what he had on film until later.
it was reported that the flag was raised on mount suribachi under gunfire. this was untrue. moreover, rosenthal's picture shows a replacement flag going up: the original was removed because an officer wanted it kept as a souvenir. and the image of triumph wrought from endurance was taken on the fifth day, not at the end, of the 36-day battle.
but the main purpose of the book is to humanise the six, whose names are long forgotten, although the three survivors were, the 46-year-old bradley says, treated like the beatles when they came home. the three who didn t make it were mike strank, 25, who was probably killed by friendly fire; harlon block, 20, a star high school footballer; and franklin sousley, 19. the others were marked by what bradley calls the photograph and the myths of its making for the rest of their lives. in common with many veterans,john bradley never talked about iwo jima and it was not until his death in 1994 that his family even knew he had won the navy cross for bravery. it was in one of three boxes he left behind and the contents of these and interviews with survivors helped bradley piece together the men's stories and to reveal the nature of his father's courage. “my breast didn't swell with pride because i understand they were all doing things like that,”said the author. “no one would have cooperated with me if i was out to show these guys were unusual heroes.”
“what they represent is the best of america, but they were boys of common virtue. my dad just did what he was trained to do but, under fire, when it's observed, it's called heroism.” another of the three, rene gagnon, died of a heart attack at 54, frustrated that his faded celebrity translated ultimately into no more than work as a janitor.
bradley believes that the final flag-raiser, ira hayes, who lived on an indian reservation in arizona, never received the help he needed for post traumatic stress syndrome. he died, 10 years after one of the most famous photographs of the century was taken, from alcohol poisoning.
16. james bradley's book flags of our fathers is mainly about _______.
(a) iwo jima, a pacific island in world war
(b) the 36-day battle between japanese and the us armies
(c) the six young american flag-raisers at iwo jima
(d) the three survivors of the six flag raisers
17. which of the following is true about the photograph of the flag being raised by the six american soldiers?
(a) the picture was most casually taken by the photographer.
(b) the picture was taken at the end of the 36-day battle.
(c) the flag was raised on mount suribachi under gunfire.
(d) the original flag was shown going up.
18. according to the passage, james bradley's book was written ______.
(a) on the basis of his father s reminiscence
(b) with the help of a few journalists and military historians
(c) on the basis of the accounts of the three survivors
(d) with the help of the materials his father left behind and his interviews with survivors
19. which of the following is implied, but not directly stated, in the passage?
(a) some survivors of the war did not receive the treatment they deserve.
(b) flags of our fathers has become a best seller immediately after its publication.
(c) the author did not regard the flag-raisers as unusual war heroes.
(d) the photograph is one of the best-known pictures of world war.
20. the three survivors of the six flag raisers were ________.
(a) mike strank, rene gagnon and franklin sousley
(b) ira hayes,john bradley and rene gagnon
(c) james bradley, stephen ambrose and harlon block
(d) ira hayes, joe rosenthal and john bradley
英语高级口译资格证书第一阶段考试
section 1: listening test (30 minutes)
part a: spot dictation
【点击下载音频mp3】
directions: in this part of the test, you will hear a passage and read the same passage with blanks in it. fill in each of the blanks with the words you have heard on the tape. write your answer in the corresponding space in your answer booklet. remember you will hear. the passage only once.
the single markethas already had an enormous impact. here inspain there have been a greatnumberof _______________(1)andacquisitions where frenchand germancompanies have seen opportunities to enter a growing market. and as the barriers _______________(2) this has become more and more possible.
as far as specific industries have been concerned, well, _______________(3), for example, is an industry which you would think was very _______________(4), but we have
seen over the last ten years how much different _______________(5) have changed, and this is very much a function of a single market. french companies have been _______________(6) in this area. they've moved heavily into spain and italy and they have been largely responsible for marketing many _______________(7). we're seeing, in fact, southern eating habits moving north in europe. _______________(8); we have yet to convince the italians that eating british is preferable to eating italian, but the move has been north to south _______________(9). britain actually is one of the largest drinks producers in the world and guinness has, for example, been very active in spain _______________(10). so the food and drink industry has really opened out. with regard to _______________(11), we see a great deal more regulation of these companies because they're obviously _______________(12). with electricity, you've got power plants giving off sulphur and all sorts of unpleasant things. _______________(13) everybody's ditching everything they don t want into the rivers, so there's more regulation now from brussels. and there were also _______________(14) when the european markets opened up.
banking is an area where there has been a tremendous amount of activity with mergers between french and spanish banks, _______________(15). or if not full mergers, at least joint ventures. and there will be more of this to come. this was something _______________(16) some years ago: governments felt that the banking system was strategic to own economic development and there had always been a very _______________(17). this has now changed. added to this there are controls on banks that have _______________(18), and indeed beyond europe, in terms of their control of risk and exposure to poor credit quality. this is being applied worldwide and it is just a measure of how _______________(19) of industry is taking place. and there will certainly be _______________(20).
part b: listening comprehension
directions: in this part of the test there will be some short talks and conversations. after each one, you will be asked some questions. the talks, conversations and questions will be spoken only once. now listen carefully and choose the right answer to each question you have heard and write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in your answer booklet.
questions 1 to 5 are based on the following conversation.
1. (a) for two years. (b) for one year.
(c) for three or four months. (d) for five or six weeks.
2. (a) to cook breakfasts. (b) to comb her daughter's hair.
(c) to water the garden. (d) to do sewing.
3. (a) there's too much work to do. (b) she doesn't get paid enough.
(c) she hasn't got a desk or a telephone. (d) her office is too small.
4. (a) in three months time. (b) in november.
(c) next month. (d) two weeks from now.
5. (a) she is a female welsh mp.
(b) she's the first black woman to get into parliament.
(c) she's not been nominated by any political party.
(d) she's not a member of either the labour party or the conservative party.
questions 6 to 10 are based on the following news.
6. (a) 1.3 billon dollars. (b) 500 million dollars.
(c) 20 million dollars. (d) 10 million dollars.
7. (a) that the boy not be granted an asylum hearing.
(b) that the boy's miami relatives have the right to keep the boy.
(c) that the boy be prevented from leaving the country.
(d) that only a parent can act for the boy.
8. (a) because the government has introduced new invement policies.
(b) because the inflation rate hit an all-time low in jana.
(c) because high-tech industries have drawn a lot of investment from other countries.
(d) because foreign companies bought shares of japanese firms.
9. (a) to discuss israel's new peace proposals.
(b) to decide on a secret location for a new round of peace talks.
(c) to work out a framework peace deal.
(d) to negotiate the date for israel's withdrawal from lebanon.
10.(a) a major breakthrough has been made in the talks between the opposing sides.
(b) more than 30 foreign hostages are still held by the rebels.
(c) a new government will be formed within the next 24 to 36 hours.
(d) foreign intervention is very much needed to stable the domestic situation.
questions 11 to 15 are based on the following interview.
11. (a) the experience of working in different countries.
(b) differences between britain and germany.
(c) the employment situation in europe.
(d) different social customs in continental europe.
12. (a) most german company executives speak better english than their british counterparts.
(b) company executives are more formal at work in britain than in germany.
(c) british company employees have very poor language skills.
(d) company executives behave more or less the same in different countries.
13. (a) holding a lot of meetings before making decisions.
(b) little use of first names with colleagues.
(c) greeting each other whenever they meet.
(d) the withering away of the custom of handshaking.
14. (a) it is more usual to socialize with colleagues out of work in germany.
(b) business operations are market-led in britain.
(c) long-term plans are more important.
(d) people are more formal in doing business than they used to.
15. (a) life long service for one comapny is rarely seen nowadays.
(b) young people move from company to company more often than older people.
(c) people stay longer with the same company in germany than in britain.
(d) the length of service with a comapny is more determined by the salary than before.
questions 16 to 20 are based on the following talk.
16. (a) he studied as an undergraduate at oxford.
(b) he had done a few different jobs before the present one.
(c) he hadjust given up a job of a similar kind.
(d) he studied history and got a degree.
17. (a) english speaking people who have interesting things to say.
(b) people from different backgrounds, irrespective of the language they speak.
(c) people doing important jobs.
(d) very famous people working in entertainment.
18. (a) christianity. (b) religion in general.
(c) an introduction to the middle ages. (d) a look back on the past century.
19. (a) less than thirty. (b) around forty.
(c) in his early fifties. (d) nearly sixty.
20. (a) he doesn t find it so exciting as the previous one.
(b) it is interesting but the pay is not so good.
(c) he loves it very much.
(d) he feels that he might not be fit for it.
directions: translate the following passage into chinese and write your version in the corresponding space in your answer booklet.
the biggest problem of the third industrial revolution is as easy to explain as is difficult to solve. technology is creating a global economy that is rapidly supplanting our old national economies. national governments cannot control this new economy, yet no one, least of all americans, wants to create the form of global government that might be able to control it. as a result we were going to be living in a fundamentally unmanaged economic system. the difficulties of containing the 1997 asian economic meltdown are just the first of many such difficulties we can expect. national governments, which used to worry about managing and maintaining their economic systems, are slowly being pushed out of business. changes in global finance overwhelm all but the largest governments. governments have lost much of their influence over the movement of information and capital. they cannot control who crosses their borders either physically or culturally.
conversely, the power of global businesses is growing with companies-ability to move to the most advantageous locations and play countries off against one another in bidding for attractive investment projects.
section 4: listening test (30 minutes)
part a: note-taking and gap filling
directions: in this part of the test you will hear a short talk. you will hear the talk only once. while listening to the talk, you may take notes on the important points so that you can have enough information to complete a gap-filling task on a separate answer booklet. you are required to write one word or figure only in each blank. you will not get your answer booklet until after you have listened to the talk.
alaska became the _____________(1) state of the usa in the year of ____________ (2). it has an area of around 1.5 million square _____________(3). alaska is the largest state of the country, but has only about _____________(4) people living there. it lies between _____________(5) degrees and 56 degrees _____________(6) latitude and is sharply divided into _____________(7) distinct regions. arctic alaska has been the home of _____________(8) for many centuries. these people are the _____________(9) known inhabitants in this state and they moved from _____________(10) or _____________(11). this land was first discovered by a danish sea _____________(12) on his voyage for _____________(13) in 1741, and it was later _____________(14) to the united states. transportation is a major problem. there are only two motor routes from the us _____________(15) to this new state. within the state, nearly every town has its own _____________(16), but the roads and _____________(17) are relatively limited. _____________(18) is the greatest contributor to economic progress. other industries include _____________(19) and the production of wood pulp. there are also large deposits of _____________(20), coal, copper, gold and other important minerals.
part b: listening and translation
Ⅰ. sentence translation
directions: in this part of the test, you will hear 5 english sentences. you will hear the sentences only once. after you have heard each sentence, translate it into chinese and write your version in the corresponding space in your answer booklet.
(1)_____________________________________________________
(2)_____________________________________________________
(3)_____________________________________________________
(4)_____________________________________________________
(5)_____________________________________________________
Ⅱ. passage translation
directions: in this part of the test, you will hear 2 english passages. you will hear the passages only once. after you have heard each passage, translate it into chinese and write your version in the corresponding space in your answer booklet. you may take notes while you are listening.
(1)_____________________________________________________
(2)_____________________________________________________
section 5: listening test (30 minutes)directions: read the following passages and then answer in complete sentences the questions which follow each passage. use only information from the passage you have just read and write your answer in the corresponding space in your answer booklet.
questions 1～3
hooligans are to be sent to jail from nine to five each day and allowed home each evening under plans being drawn up by jack straw, the home secretary. offenders described by one of straw's aides as “hooligans, vandals and thugs”will find themselves having to report for detention early each morning and stay in prison until the evening. punishments, including a fulltime jail term in an ordinary prison wing, will be threatened for late attendance or failure to show up.
advocates of the idea, which is likely to be in labour's next election manifesto, say it is important that thugs should not be separated from their families for long periods. this often causes break-downs of relationships and higher likelihood of reoffending. jailing criminals only in the daytime will save costs on staffing, meals and overhead. straw is to ask his officials for a detailed study of how day custody works in scandinavian countries.
critics say day custody is bound to result in some detainees reoffending during the night-time. “are we expected to pay for a load of yobbos to sit around all day eating and watching tv at our expense before going out for a night on the tiles?” one tory said last night. straw, however, is anxious to regain the initiative on law and order. he has told his staff that day custody should be part of a new battery of punishments available for those who habitually commit “anti social crimes”such as assault, car theft, vandalism and public order offences. theft, car theft and criminal damage accounted for 60% of the 5.1m offences that were recorded in england and wales last year.
straw wants longer sentences and tailor-made punishments combined with a new sentencing regime under which repeat offenders are guaranteed a harsher penalty each time they reoffend. at present, only repeat burglars, rapists and drug dealers are covered by automatic minimum sentences. as a result, few of those who repeatedly commit lesser offences get locked up. men over 21 and with between three and nine previous convictions stand only a one in five chance of jail when they reoffend. for many, that rate will go up to almost 100% if straw gets his way.
“day custody is one of jack's big ideas for taking these people out of circulation, ”an aide to the home secretary said yesterday. “they could be sent to an ordinary jail or a special secure unit. breaches would meet a harsh response, and we don't rule out more prisons.”straw will outline some of his ideas to probation officers and the police federation this week.
other proposals include what the home secretary calls “custody plus ”: a prison sentence combined with community service after release; and “suspended sentence plus ”: community service with an automatic specifiedjail term if there are breaches.
1. what is the main point in jack straw's proposal about punishment of offenders? explain the major reasons for this proposal.
2. what do you know about the opinion from the opponents of the proposal?
3. explain the sentence in paragraph 4 “for many, that rate will go up to almost 100% if straw gets his way. ”
questions 4～6
doctors are shackled by a “culture of blame and guilt”which prevents them from admitting their mistakes to patients and overhauling the way they work to improve the safety of the patients they treat, according to this week's british medical journal. the bmj, one of the world's leading medical journals, devotes an entire issue to medical accidents in the wake of a report from the united states revealing that 100,000 americans a year die from preventable errors in hospital more than deaths and injuries from motor and air crashes, suicides, falls, poisonings and drowning combined.
in a lecture to the royal college of physicians on the high toll of medical errors in hospitals, published recently, sir brian jarman, professor of general practice at imperial college school of medicine in london, said he thought the us death rate would at least be mirrored in britain, suggesting that more than 33,000 die as a result of mistakes and accidents in uk hospitals.
sir brian, who is a member of the bristol royal infirmary public inquiry into nhs failures behind the deaths of babies in open heart surgery, compared the health service unfavourably to the aviation industry. airlines have improved safety by accepting that people make mistakes and encouraging pilots and other staff to recognise their own tiredness and fallibility. doctors and expected never to make an error——and, if they do, the culture works against them admitting it.
a study in the bmj makes the same comparison between airline crew and medical staff working in operating theatres and intensive care units. it finds that while aviation workers are taught to deal with fatigue, doctors and nurses tend not to believe they might make mistakes
tiredness.
“much progress has been made to create a culture in aviation that deals effectively with error, whereas in medicine substantial pressures still exist to cover up mistakes... we found that susceptibility to error is not universally acknowledged by medical staff and many report that error is not handled appropriately in their hospital.”
the researchers, jbryan sexton and colleagues from the university of texas, suggest that poor teamwork can also contribute to mistakes. they point out that “surgeons are most supportive of steep hierarchies in which junior staff do not question senior staff.”
an editorial by lucian leape, a professor of health policy at harvard university, and donald berwick, chief executive of the institute for healthcare improvement in boston, say there are some practical measures that could be put in place immediately——such as the end of the handwritten medical notes in favour of computer records. but they also call for cultural change on both sides of the atlantic.
“achieving the culture we need——one of learning, trust, curiosity, systems thinking and executive responsibility——will be immensely difficulty. harder still, we must now accomplish this cultural change under the spotlight of a newly aroused public that, given our track record, is understandably doubtful that healthcare can, on its own, do what needs to be done.”
4. what can be concluded from the comparison between the aviation industry and the health service?
5. what is meant by the phrase “culture of blame and guilt (para. 1)”? what is the significance of changing such a culture?
6. what can be learnt from lucian leape and donald berwick's comment in the last paragraph?
questions 7～10
roast starbucks! for the trendy coffee retailer, a public-relations nightmare was brewing last week, courtesy of the caffeinated mix of labor activists, consumer groups and environmentalists that brought us seattle s world trade organization protests. campuses were mobilized, press kits mailed, and protests planned in 29 cities. an open letter to starbucks chairman howard schultz was signed by the likes of friends of the earth, the cincinnati zapatista coalition and san francisco s harvey milk democratic club. “the farmers who make you rich earn poverty wages,”the letter said, “sweatshops occur not only in the factory but also in the field.”
but just in time to avoid being tarred as the nike of corner cafes, starbucks, america's largest gourmet-coffee company, caved last friday, agreeing to launch a line of fair trade-certified beans. the politically correct coffee is grown on small farm cooperatives rather than large plantations. it sells for a minimum of 2.77 pre kg——which goes directly to the farmers rather than the middlemen, who often pay growers less than $1.10 per kg. the increase means that the farmers, who hand-pluck their beans and carry them down the mountain in 45-kgsacks, can afford to send their children to school. “fair trade gets the benefit back to the family farmer, ”says starbucks vice president dave olsen, emerging from negotiations with activists. “it is consistent with our values.”
it also reflects the growing muscle of the corporate-accountability movement. from dolphin-free tuna, to old-growth-free lumber, to child-labor-free carpets and sweatshop-free sneakers, environmental and social concerns are invading the marketplace as never before. coffee, the independently certified for the u.s. market based on criteria of economic justice. “our vision is nothing less than restructuring the inequities between north and south, ”says paul rice, head of transfair usa, the certifying group.
funded by the ford foundation, transfair usa is the newest member of a decade-old nonprofit network in 41 countries that monitors coffee-growing practices and controls the fair trade-certified label. the movement, which began in europe, includes 300 democratically run cooperatives in latin america, asia and africa that represent 550,000 of the world's 4 million coffee growers. transfair usa plans to certify other imported foodstuffs, including chocolate, tea and bananas, as is done in europe.
starbucks, the first big u.s. retailer to sign on, will promote its new coffee beans later this year with in store posters and brochures and keep the product on the shelves in 2,000 outlets for at least a year. will the effort percolate through the whole -18 billion u.s. coffee industry? global exchange, the san francisco-based human-rights group that organized the aborted protest, is calling on companies on companies such as folgers and maxwell house to follow suit. warns medea benjamin, a global exchange official, “coffee without the fair trade seal is very likely sweatshop coffee.”
7. explain briefly fair trade discussed in the passage and the practice of the fair trade certified label.
8. what is the “corporate accountability movement”(para. 3) according to the passage?
9. introduce briefly the nature and function of the certifying group transfair usa.
10. what is the attitude of starbucks, the biggest american coffee company, towards the issue of fair trade?
section 6: translation test (30 minutes)
directions: translate the following passage into english and write your version in the corresponding space in your answer booklet.
知识和技术创新是人类经济、社会发展的重要动力源泉。中国将致力于建设国家创新体系，通过营造良好的环境，推进知识创新、技术创新和体制创新，这是中国实现跨世纪发展的必由之路。
中国政府支持科学家为了国家需求和科学发展开展基础研究，尊重科学家独特的敏感和创造精神，鼓励他们进行“好奇心驱动的研究”。在未来50 年甚至更长的时期里，中国 的发展将在很大程度上依赖于今天基础研究和高技术研究的创新成就，依赖于这些研究所必然孕育的优秀人才。
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sectlon1: listenlng test (30 minutes)
part a: spot dictation
1. cross border mergers 11. utility companies2. have been removed12. more environmentally sensitive3. food and drink 13.with water companies4. culturally bound14. a lot of privatizations5. eating and drinking habits15. english and german banks6. particularly aggressive16. that was unheard of7. spanish and italian products17. protective attitude8. the reverse is not true18. been applied across europe9. in the drinks industry19. the internationalization10. in acquiring companies20. more controls in the futurepart b: listening comprehension
section 3: translation test
第三次工业革命最大的问题既容易说明，又难以解决。技术正在创立一种迅速取代我 们陈旧的国民经济体制的全球经济。各国政府无法控制这种新的经济，也没有人想要建立 可以控制这种经济的全球性政府形式，1997年亚洲的经济灾难以得到遏制，只不过是我们 可以预料的许多此类困难中的第一件难事。
各国政府过去操心的是管理和维持各 的经济制度，现在正慢慢地变得无所作为。全球金融的变化，唯一难不倒的是世界上最大的几个政府。各国政府对信息和资本流动的 影响已丧失大半。它们无法控制外人越过其国境，亦无法控制外来文化的侵入。相反，随着公司有能力迁往最有利的地方，挑动国与国之间为赢得有吸引力投资项目相互对阵，全 球性大公司的权力正在增长。
section 4: listening test
part a: note-taking and gap-filling
part b: listening and translation
Ⅰ. sentence translation
1. 请提醒董事会其他成员，对董事会主席和秘书的提名工作应在下星期末前完成。
2. 童工现象仅是世界上可怕的贫困状况的一个 状，这种贫困剥夺了孩子受教育和享受 由的基本权利。
3. 森林大火在法国南部持续了两天，来 六个不同城镇的消防队员整天与火搏斗，防止火 势蔓延。
4. 我们要求的是，国际社会给我们保证，日本不再重犯侵略邻国的疯狂行为。
5. 这个产品是1997 年推出的，在接下来两年里销售量稳定上升，到1999 年总销售达4 万 件。
Ⅱ. passage translation
1. 这里有个工作可能适合毕业离校者，完全不需经验，会提供岗位培训。工资是每周300 元。什么工作?是个生意兴隆的超级市场的营业员，是全职工作，但好处是你不需有经 验。 此，如果你即将毕业离校，而想到超市工作，可试一下。你每周可休息一天，但 是有一天必须做到晚上9：30。明白了?这是个营业员工作。如果你想找个这样的工作， 请给我们东方电台来电话。
2. 战后美国的一个显著变化是人们的流动性越来越大。美国人变得越来越有能力关且愿意 从一地搬迁到另一地。在以前，生活较简单，大多数美国人生在哪儿就在哪儿过活。然而到20 世纪60 年代，每五个美国人就有一个每年要搬迁到新的居住地。由于这些人口流动，西部和南部成为这个国家发展最快的地区。1963 年，加州超过纽约州成为人口最 密集的一个州，同时，与国内其他地区相比，西北部的几个州的人口正在减少。
section 5: reading test (答案要点)
1. day custody / criminals jailed only in the daytime / hooligans stay in jail during the day and allowed home in the evening to avoid breakdowns of family relationships / re offending / to save costs / “taking them out of circulation”
2. use / waste of government / tax payers money, more possible crimes at night / rising of the ratere offending
3. if straw's proposal approved / put into effect, the majority of previous who re offend will be sent tojail again / the rate of such re imprisonment will be nearly 100%
4. in aviation industry: accepting or recognition of errors mistakes / “tired ness and fallibility”—improvement of safety / “taught to deal with fatigue” in medicine / hospitals: a “culture”not admitting doctors (will) make mistakes / errors, and the admitting of errors are fought against / denied—leads to death of 100,000 patients in us and 33,000 in uk
5. a culture not allowing doctors admitting of mistakes to patients / when admitted, considered “guilt”/ to be blamed and prevented / great improvement of the safety of patients / reduction of a large number of unnecessary deaths / correct handling of errors in hospital / improvement of overall environment of hospitals
6. difficulties in changing the old culture and cultivation of the new culture in hospitals / the cultural change will not be accomplished without the change of social or public attitude / a more complicated issue than first expected
7. fair price for coffee beans bought from farmers / no cruel exploitation of farmers / measure to guarantee the fair price / purchase for coffee (and other foodstuffs) imported; first adopted in europe
8. corporate / companies / corporations responsibility for social political, and economic justice in their operation / production “environmental and social concerns”
9. newly founded / non profit organization / supervision of coffee production / control of fair trade certified label / certification of other imported foodstuffs
10. agrees and accepts / plans to start “a line of fair trade certified beans ”/ plans to take other related measures
section 6: listening test (30 minutes)
knowledge and technological innovation constitutes an important source of driving force for the economic and social development of mankind. china will be dedicated to building a national system for innovation to promote the innovation of knowledge, technology and institution through the creation of good environments. this is the only road for china to achieve its development extending to the new century.
the chinese government supports scientists in carrying out their research in basic science to meet the demand of the country and promote the development of science, respects their unique sensitivity and spirit of creation, and encourages them to conduct “research driven by curiosity”. in the nest 50 years or even a longer period of time, china s development will largely rely on achievements in innovation in respect of today s basic research and high-tech research and on outstanding people of talents who are bound to be nurtured in the course of these researches.
听力测试题录音文字稿:
section 1: listening test
directions: in this part of the test, you will hear a passage and read the same passage with blanks in it. fill in each of the blanks with the word or words you have heard on the tape. write your answer in the corresponding space in your answer booklet. remember you will hear the passage only once. now let s begin part a with spot dictation.
the single market has already had an enormous impact. here in spain there have been a great number of cross-border mergers and acquisitions where french and german companies have seen opportunities to enter a growing market. and as the barriers have been removed this has become more and more possible.
as far as specific industries have been concerned, well, food and drink, for example, is an industry which you would think was very culturally bound, but we have seen over the last ten years how much different eating and drinking habits have changed, and this is very much a function of a single market. french companies have been particularly aggressive in this area. they ve moved heavily into spain and italy and they have been largely responsible for marketing many spanish and italian products. we're seeing, in fact, southern eating habits moving north in europe. the r4everse is not true; we have yet to convince the italians that eating british is preferable to eating italian, but the move is north to south in the drinks industry. britain actually is one of the largest drinks producers in the world and guinness has, for example, been very active in spain in acquiring companies. so the food and drink industry has really opened out. with regard to utility companies, we see a great deal more regulation of these companies because they're obviously more environmentally sensitive. with water companies everybody's ditching everything they don't want into the rivers, so there's more regulation now from brussels. and there were also a lot of privatisations when the european markets opened up.
banking is an area where there has been a tremendous amount of activity with mergers between french and spanish banks, english and german banks. or if not full mergers, at least joint ventures. and there will be more of this to come. this was something that was unheard of some years ago: governments felt that the banking system was strategic to their own economic development and there had always been a very protective attitude. this has now changed. added to this there are controls on banks that have been applied across europe, and indeed beyond europe in terms of their control of risk and exposure to poor credit quality. this is being applied worldwide and it is just a measure of how the internationalisation of industry is taking place. and there will certainly be more controls in the future.
part b: listening comprehension
directions: in this part of the test, there will be some short talks and conversations. after each one, you will be asked some questions. the talks, conversations and questions will be spoken only once. now listen care fully and choose the right answer the each question you have heard and write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in your in your answer booklet. now let s begin part b with listening comprehension.
questions 1 to 5 are based on the following conversation.
(man) so, diane, when did you first become interested in politics?
(woman) i've always been interested in politics, as um, far back as i can remembers. um, i used to listen to the radio, my mother used to listen to the eight o clock news on radio four every morning, when she was combing my hair when i was a little girl. i used to listen to that avidly, and form sort of views on the world and what i would do if i was prime minister, and um, i remember one of my earliest ambitions was to be secretary-general of the united nations.
(man) what do you, what would you think is the strongest influence in your life towards what you re doing now?
(woman) the fact that i'm a black person, and the fact that i come from an underclass in british society, and the fact that because i was black i was exposed very early to unfairness and injustice.
(man) you have been an mp for five or six weeks now. is it as you expected it to be?
(woman) i had an idea of what being an mp was like. i had been on a local authority for four years, and as a journalist and as a political activist i'd visited the house of commons, so it is more or less what i expected.
(man) what do you like about thejob?
(woman) i like the opportunity to put my political principles into practice. i like meetiong people, and i'm pleased to be able to fulfill the hopes, aspirations of so many people.
(man) and how about the things that you dislike?
(woman) i like the opportunity to put my political principles into practice. i like meeting people, and i'm pleased to be able to fulfill the hopes, aspirations of so many people.
(man) and how about the things that you dislike? (woman) i dislike the fact the house of commons in many ways is a very amateur place, i still haven t got a desk or a telephone, which makes it very difficult to work. i dislike the kind of “clubby” atmosphere, it's a bit like a gentleman's club, and i really came there to do a job of work, and i dislike—there's an awful lot of backbiting goes on there, and i dislike that.
(man) you still haven't got a desk after six weeks. is...any idea when you will get a desk, and a telephone.
(woman) i'm told that i won't get one now until october, if then.
(man) which is, er, another three months-time.
(woman) that's right.
(man) are you, um, getting fed up with questions about being britain's first black woman mp?
(woman) oh, yes, i mean my big ambition now is, is for there to be a time when being a black woman mp is as unremarkable as being a male welsh mp.
(man) what do you think of your fellow mps?
(woman) well, it's, it's the most male dominated place i've ever worked in, and it's an odd place really, because i'm thirty three now, thirty four in september, and almost anywhere else in the real world i'm sort of middle aged, but in the house of commons i'm a sort of bright young thing, because most people are in their fifties and sixties.
question no.1. how long has the woman been an mp when the conversation took place?
question no.2. what did her mother use to do when listening to the news?
question no.3. what is the woman complaining about?
question no.4. when is she going to get her missing office equipment?
question no.5. what is unusual about her being an mp?
questions 6 to 10 are based on the following new.
manila: though the us $1.3 billion swiss bank settlement with nazi germany holocaust survivors has yet to be finalized, $20 million already has been paid to some 2,500 claimants, the world jewish congress said on wednesday.
these initial payments will be increased with interest once the us judge presiding over against swiss banks decides how much interest is due and rules the settlement is fair, said elan steinberg, world jewish congress executive director.
swiss banks agreed two years ago to pay the money to settle 55-year-old charges that they had robbed holocaust families by preventing them from withdrawing prewar deposits.
a federal appeals court yesterday sided with the father of elian gonzalez, rejecting a request by the cuban boy's miami relatives that he be granted an asylum hearing with immigration officials.
a three-judge panel of the 11th us circuit court of appeals said the immigration and naturalization service's decision that only a parent can act for his 6-year-old child in immigration matters “comes within the range of reasonable choices.”it said that held true even if the parent was in another country and the child was in the united states.
it was not immediately clear how the ruling affected the stay the judges issued earlier that prevented elian from leaving the country.
direct foreign investment in japan surged to a record high in the year to march as foreign companies launched major alliances with japanese firms, the gov4ernment said yesterday. foreign investment during the year stood at 22.8 billion us dollars was invested in the form of company share purchases and the rest was loans, including purchases of corporate bonds, the ministry said. “the major reason for the strong increase was purchases of shares in japanese companies as seen is large business deals such as the tie-up by renault and nissan, ”an official of the ministry's international finance division said.
israel and the palestinians were expected to resume negotiations at a secret location yesterday aimed at hammering out a framework deal as controversy swirled about reports of israeli “concessions”to win peace.
the palestinian talks and the prospects of peace with syria following israel's withdrawal from lebanon were on the agenda for the summit between isr4aeli prime minister ehud barak and us president bill clinton in lisbon.
press reports here said barak would complain to clinton about palestinian foot-dragging, accusing palestinian leader yasser arafat of wasting time on such is sues as the release of prisoners rather than working on an outline peace deal. fiji's military said yesterday they had made a major breakthrough in talks with rebel george speight which could lead to the release of about 30 hostages, including the country's prime minister.
“we have had a very major breakthrough, ”said military spokesman captain eron volavfola. “i think we can say that within the next 24 to 36 hours, you ll start seeing a lot of very positive things coming out from parliament.”
asked if the agreements included a timeframe for the release of the hostages, he said: “that could be one of them. ”
he said a full statement on the agreement would be released today.
question no.6. how much money has been paid to the nazi germany holocaust survivors?
question no.7. what's the ruling by the us circuit court of appeals?
question no.8. why did foreign investment in japan rise to a record high?
question no.9. what's the purpose of the resumed negotiations between israel and the palestinians?
question no.10. which of the following statements is true about the situation in fiji?
question 11 to 15 are based on the following interview.
(man) from your experience of working in the uk and in germany, could you give us some comparisons based on the differences you noticed?
(woman) well, firstly, the level of language skills is different. i was very impressed at the way in which most executives in the german company could not just speak english but read it and write it and communicate effectively, compared with the very poor language abilities displayed by my english colleagues.
(man) did you notice any significant differences in the approach to doing business?
(woman) yes, i did and it's probably the little things that are the most telling. germany is much more formal in the way that people conduct business. for example, there is very little use of first names. it's far more common to use herr or fuau—mr.—or mrs.—than it is these days in britain. and handshakes. it's custom that's almost withered away in britain but in germany it's quite correct to greet people in the morning with a handshake. or if you go into a meeting you shake hands with everybody sitting round the table.
(man) did you find that people from the company socialised outside working hours.
(woman) there's quite a large difference in attitudes to mixing work and social life. i found my german colleagues came to work, did a good day's work and then went home at the end of the day and close not to get involved in activities with people from the company. a very good example of this is that once a month we used to have a meeting to let people know what was going on in the company. it started at four o'clock in the afternoon in the company's time, but by about half past five, six o'clock, most of my german colleagues had started looking at their watches and saying “well, i've stayed an hour and a half now so i'm off”, whereas i often thought well if this were taking place in britain people would say “let's go to the pub for a drink”or “let's go for a meal”. there was a definite cut-off point.
(man) would you say from your experience that there's a difference in attitude towards planning?
(woman) yes, the germans take a very longterm view and plan accordingly, whereas the british take a far more short-term view of things. i think it's this which has given germany its great strength. on the other hand, it's also given it a certain conservatism, in contrast with britain.
(man) would you say that there tends to be a difference as to whether the outlook is product-led rather than market-led?
(woman) that's interesting. i would say generally german companies tend to be product-led rather than market-led. looking back at the way that chirasco had been positioned in the market it was very much product-led, it was wonderful steaks and wonderful salads: premium quality. it wasn't really saying, “this steak house is appropriate for an evening out or may appeal to families...”which is the approach, i think, that we would take here in britain. we're becoming more market-led rater than product-led.
(man) did the company transfer uk ideas about company cars and other perks?
(woman) no, it didn't. there is a major difference here between the attitudes of german and uk companies. basically, german companies pay their employees a higher salary but, in contrast, they get fewer perks. german employees pay for their own cars out of their salary whereas in the uk, of course, it's common for people in management positions to be given a company car and to receive various other extras.
(man) and did you experience a difference in attitudes to length of service with the company?
(woman) yes, i did. i've actually worked for four companies myself within a ten-year period and i don't think i m too uncommon, but when i spoke with my german colleagues the were horrified at this. there's an attitude that one joins a company with the intention of staying with it for a very significant period of time. in britain one takes a different view. one says one's been picking up experience in different companies, and it's seen as beneficial, so there's quite a difference there.
(man) we hear a lot about the german attitude to environmentalism. did you notice it was significantly different from that in the uk?
(woman) yes, i did. there was a big difference, both privately and professionally. for example, in restaurants one has an awful lot of waste from the vegetables and the fat that's used in the cooking. in germany, this has to be divided into different kinds of waste which can then be taken away and recycled or disposed of safely, so they are a lot further down the road there.
question no.11. what is the general topic of this interview?
question no.12. what does the interviewee think of the company excutives in different countries?
question no.13. which of the following is mentioned as a sign of formality in doing business?
question no.14. which of the following statements is true, according to the interview?
question no.15. what difference is talked about in attitudes to the length of service with the company?
questions 16 to 20 are based on the following talk.
(man) it's a very lucky programme because you have the opportunity to talk to most of the people-well, english-speaking people in the world-who have interesting things to say; and i've interviewed dozens of prime ministers and foreign secretaries and so on. and if your view of journalism is mine which is that really it's the first attempt at writing history then it's a very excellent programme to work for.
my background is history. i did a history degree. i read history when i was an undergraduate at cambridge, and i'm still very interested. i'm just doing a series of programmes now which we're just preparing called the christian centuries which will be an introduction to the middle ages, and i think i go about journalism, or try to, in the same way. and that's why when people say, you know, “do you get across if it's somebody that you don't agree with?”i say not in the slightest. i mean it seems to me whether you vote for mrs. thatcher or whether you don't, you have to accept that as a historical character she is fascinating. i mean she has really stamped her personality not only upon the country but really upon the world. she must be in the top three politicians in the world simply that people would know. and it s nothing to do with people's ideologies or the policies that they choose to embrace, it is this amazing human thing. and i regard it as a privilege to live and be able to report upon the scene when she is occupying the center of the stage. if you look at the previous prime ministers, we ve had, many of them were very capable, but all of them were really destroyed by the job after four years, gray, tetchy. here is a woman who's coped with this job of now for eight years, and showing no sign of fatigue and that is a fascinating phenomenon. and i believe, although i believe in social forces and all that in the world, i also think that human beings can make all the difference. i remember interviewing mrs. gandhi—now there was a powerful woman. i mean mark tully the bbc's man introduced us and he said “mrs. gandhi you will remember me, i'm mark tully, you expelled me during the emergency”and she looked at him and said, “and i may very well expel you again mr. tully. ”now you know those are great moments to see people of that kind of power and just of character and when you write about them as a historian you write about them as if they don't exist anymore but it's not true, they do.
um, i'm fascinated by trying to deduce whether changes have come. i think that in 1945 in this country when the labour party came was the start of a great change. i believe that now mrs. thatcher has introduced another kind of britain for a while and we will live with it until somebody thinks of something different or we all tire of it, and to sit in the middle of it all and being able not only to observe what is going on but to question those who are making the decisions.
so i'm probably going to do the work i do for some time to come. i've recently signed a two-year contact which will take me up to the age of sixty. and i must then decide afterwards. i think i will probably go on doing today as long as i'm asked but how long i shall be asked, of course, is another matter. but certainly i sit there in the morning and i chuckle to myself and i think, isn't it lovely to be paid to be doing this?
question no.16. what's the speaker s background?
question no.17. what kind of people does the speaker interview?
question no.18. the speaker's making a programme at the moment. what s it going to be about?
question no.19. approximately how old is the speaker?
question no.20. what does he think of his present job?
section 4: listening test
part a: note-taking and gap-filling
directions: in this part of the test, you will hear a short talk. you will hear the talk only once. while listening to the talk, you may take notes on the important points so that you can have enough information to complete a gap-filling task on a separate answer booklet. you are required to write one word or figure only in each blank. you will not get your answer booklet until after you have listened to the talk. now listen to the talk carefully.
in 1959 americans welcomed alaska into the union as the 49th state, symbolizing a change of attitude from that held in 1867, when the peninsula was purchased from russia. then, most americans had little interest in 1,500,000 square kilometers “of icebergs and polar bears”— beyond canada's western borders, far from the settled areas of the united states.
in those sections of the state which lie above the arctic circle, alaska still is a land of icebergs and polar bears. ice masses lie buried in the earth, which is permanently frozen to a depth of 90 or more meters. from early may until early august, the midnight sun never sets on this flat, treeless region, but the sun cannot melt the icy soil more than two thirds of a meter down.
alaska is america's largest state, but only about 325,000 people live there. ac cording to estimates, 800,000 hectares of its land area are fit for plowing but only about 640,000 hectares are being cultivated.
the japan current of the pacific warms alaska, and the arctic chills it. the temperature may drop as low as 43 degrees centigrade in some places, and may rise to 30 degrfees in others. in any given year, more than 11 meters of snow may fall in the north, and more than two meters of rainfall may descend upon the city of juneau in the south.
alaska lies between about 71 degrees and 56 degrees north latitude, stretching southward from the arctic ocean to the pacific. this immense peninsula is sharply divided into three distinct regions. in the north, arctic alaska reaches from the arctic ocean to the steep glacier-cut peaks of the brooks range. central alaska lies between the brooks range and the alaska range, where mount mckinley rises 6,187 meters—the highest peak in north america. from the western face of the alaska range, the mainland slopes down toward the bering sea and russia, and the island chain of the aleutians extends far to the southwest. the 640-kilometer strip of coastal land known as the “panhandle of alaska ”thrusts to the southeast, bordering canada's province of british columbia.
arctic alaska has been the home of eskimos for countless centuries. it is believed that the eskimos moved there from mongolia or siberia, probably crossing bering strait, named for vitus bering, the danish sea captain who discovered alaska on his voyage for russia in 1741. the eskimos—the aleuts of the southwest, and the american indians of the southeast—are the state's earliest known inhabitants. russian fur traders established settlements but, by the time alaska was sold to the united states, most of the traders had departed.
then, in 1896 gold was discovered near the klondike river in canada just across the alaskan border. thousands of americans rushed to the region on their way to the klondike; some never left alaska, and some returned there after the region experienced a “rush” of its own.
alaska was never4 completely cut off again, although even today transportation is a major problem. there are only two motor routes from the u.s. mainland, and within the state, roads and railroads are relatively limited though nearly every town has its own airfield. planes fly passengers, mail and freight to the most distant villages. the gold rush that changed life so suddenly for alaska was soon ended, and although many stories about mining camps have become part of american literature, the gold from alaska earth contributed less to economic progress than the fish from alaska waters. the fish caught in a single year range in value from $80 million to $90 million. fur-bearing animals are plentiful in the forests and streams, and valuable fur seals inhabit the waters. since 1911, canada, japan, russia and the united states have jointly agreed to control the hunting of seals. the herd has been rebuilt to its former size of about 1.5 million.
after fishing, the state's chief industry is lumber and the production of wood pulp. there are also large deposits of oil—due to being brought to the mainland by a 1,280-kilometer pipeline—coal, copper, gold and other important minerals.
part b: listening and translation
Ⅰ. sentence translation
directions: in this part of the test, you will hear 5 english sentences. you will hear the sentences only once. after you have heard each sentence, translate it into chinese and write your version in the corresponding space in you answer booklet. now let's begin part b with sentence translation.
sentence no.1. please remind the other members of the board that nominations for chair and secretary should be made by the end of next year.
sentence no.2. child labour is just one symptom of the appalling poverty in the world, which deprives children of their basic right to education and freedom.
sentence no.3. the forest fire has been continuing for two days in southern france and firemen from six different towns have been fighting all day to prevent the fire from spreading further.
sentence no.4. what we are calling for is that the international community give us guarantees that japan will not repeat its madness of invading neighbours.
sentence no.5. this product was launched in 1997 and sales rose steadily over the following two years, reaching a total of 40,000 8nits in 1999. Ⅱ. passage translation
Ⅱ.passage translation
directions: in this part of the test, you will hear two english passages. you will hear the passage only once. after you have heard each passage, translate it into chinese and write your version in the corresponding space in your answer booklet. you may take notes while you are listening. now let's begin passage translate it into chinese and write your version in the corresponding space in your answer booklet. you may take notes while you are listening. now let's begin passage translation with the firs passage.
passage 1
here's a job possibly for somebody who's a school leaver. it requires no experience at all, but training will be given on the job. and the pay is 300 dollars a week. what's the job? well, it's a shop-assistant in a busy supermarket. it's a full-time job, but the big thing is, you don't need any experience. so, if you're just leaving school and fancy working in a supermarket, try that. you get one day off during the week and you must work one late evening till 9:30 p.m. ok? so that's a shop-assistant. well, if you fancy any of those jobs, give us a call here at the east radio.
passage 2
a significant development in post war america was the growing mobility of people. americans became increasingly able and willing to move from place to place. in ear5lier times, when life was simpler, large numbers of americans had lived their lives in the areas in which they were born. however, by the 1960s one out of every five americans was moving to a new place of residence each year. which these population shifts the west and south became the fastest growing sections of the country. in 1963, california passed new york to become the most populous state. meanwhile, the states of the northwest were losing population in relation to the rest of the nation.
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