Conversation Two

　　W: Sir, you’ve been using the online catalogue for quite a while , Is there anything I can do to help you?

　　M: Well, I’ve got to write a paper about Hollywood in the 30s and 40s, and I’m really struggling. There are hundreds of books, and I just don’t know where to begin.

　　W: Your topic sounds pretty big. Why don’t you narrow it down to something like…uh… the history of the studios during that time?

　　M: You know, I was thinking about doing that, but more that 30 books came up when I typed in “movie studios.”

　　W: You could cut that down even further by listing the specific years you want. Try adding “1930s” or “1940s” or maybe “Golden Age.”

　　M: “Golden Age” is a good idea. Let me type that in … Hey, look, just 6 books this time. That’s a lot better.

　　W: Oh… another thing you might consider… have you tried looking for any magazine or newspaper articles?

　　M: No, I’ve only been searching for books.

　　W: Well, you can look up magazine articles in the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature. And we do have the Los Angeles. Times available over there. You might go through their indexes to see if there’s anything you want.

　　M: Okay, I think I’ll get started with these books and then I’ll go over the magazines.

　　W: If you need any help, I’ll be over at the Reference Desk.

　　M: Great, thanks a lot.

　　Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.

　　23. What is the man doing?

　　24. What does the librarian think of the topic the man is working on ?

　　25. Where can the man find the relevant magazine articles?

本文第一题同样是对对话主题的考察;而第二题则是对女人态度以及反问句式的考察，并且该反问句式还是建议句型的表达模式;最后第三题则是对建议句型的考察，考察女人建议男人怎么做。

　　因此，长对话完全是一种色厉内荏的题目形式，难度明显低于段子题，以短对话和段子题揉杂的形式加之长对话的名字考察考生的综合运用能力，相信充分掌握短对话和段子题的特征后，长对话的挑战可以迎刃而解。

　　最后的听写部分保留了以往考试的大部分特色，仅加了一个单词作为改变，从本质上说没有任何区别——单词以实词为主，句子长度则控制在 10~25 个单词之间。在平时加强听写练习是提高听写能力的唯一方法。所谓听写练习主要目的是一方面加强考生听到单词后的反应与速记能力，另一个方面则是加强对长句的记忆能力。因此对于这个部分基础比较薄弱的同学而言，可以先尝试以整句(一般 20 词左右)为单位听句子后解释其中文大意;熟练后可进行第二步，即以整句为单位听句子后用英语复述其内容;最后一步落实到听写，这样循序渐进的方法可以从根本上改善考生的听写水平。

　　在考试中，听写部分则需要特别注意名词单复数形式;动词时态语态;弱读、失爆等语音、语调、语速所引起的干扰特征;同、近音词汇;难词、易错词拼写以及转换了词性的单词的考察等几个常见的听写中容易出现问题的地方，在平时勤加练习，必能精诚所致，金石为开。

　　综合以上种种，本文以《四级考试新题型试测卷》为蓝本，对改革后新四级听力部分的考点、技巧以及发展趋势分别作了综合的分析，旨在帮助考生更好地了解、应战新四级考试，做到“知己知彼，百战不殆”。