Tape Scripts of Listening Comprehension
College English Test, Band 6, Part III, Listening Comprehension。
Section A
Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end
of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both
the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there
will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer
Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre。
Now let’s begin with the 8 short conversations。
Question 。
W: I studied French in high school, but I never really learned it until I spent a few months living in
Paris after graduating from college。
M: Really? Using the language makes all the difference, doesn’t it?
Q: What does the woman mean?
Question 12.
M: My parents want to come for a visit next weekend, but I checked every hotel in the area, and all
seemed to be full。
W: Why not call the Triumph, it’s not so close to campus but it’s always got a few vacancies。
Q: What does the woman suggest the man should do?
Question 13.
W: Hey Mark, have you been able to sell your old piano yet?
M: Ah, you were right, just posting notices on bulletin boards at a couple of supermarkets wasn’t
enough. I think I’ll have to place an advertisement in the local newspaper。
Q: What does the man imply?
Question 14.
W: We had a delicious Sunday brunch at that new hotel downtown. You should try it sometime。
M: I didn’t even know the building was finished. You can tell how much I’ve been working for the
last two months。
Q: What does the man imply?
Question 15.
M: Thank goodness spring break starts next week. Are you doing anything special?
W: I have been planning to go to Florida with a friend of mine. But since she’s backed out, everything’s sort of in the air。
Q: What does the woman mean?
Question 16.
W: I need you to send this package to the main office so it’ll arrive before Wednesday’s meeting。
M: Is there anyone else who can do this because I’ll have my hands full with the report. It will probably take me a whole afternoon to prepare it。
Q: What does the man suggest the woman do?
Question 17.
M: The conference on language and literacy education is only a month away, but there are still a few
things that our organizing committee needs to work out。
W: Then it’s clear that we’d better meet again and soon. Would you mind setting it up?
Q: What does the woman want the man to do?
Question 8.
W: I hear your company isn’t moving to the West Coast after all。
M: Well, not for the time being. But I’ve been looking into other employment opportunities here
anyway, just in case。
Q: What does the man mean?
Now you’ll hear the two long conversations。
Conversation One
M: Background music is supposed to influence your attitudes and put you in the right mood. You’re
not supposed to notice it, but it’s just there, in the background。
W: I’m not sure I like that idea。
M: Well, it seems to work. Companies pay millions of dollars every year for background music. It’
s supposed to give you a better feeling about yourself and the people around you. Factories use it
a lot. It makes the workers happy, and they work better that way. In one factory, music increased
production by 4.5 percent。
W: I should think they’d get tired of hearing music all day。
M: They don’t though. One fellow in San Francisco told me, ‘If the music stops, somebody always
runs to the telephone to complain.’
W: Now that I think about it, I can’t remember when there wasn’t background music in restaurants
and stores。
M: Actually, background music started during World War II when some factories had their own orchestras to keep workers happy and calm. Now, of course, the music is piped in by a machine,
and different kinds of music are played at different times during the day. They play faster music
at ten in the morning than at eight, for instance, because workers tend to be slower then。
W: What about restaurants? Do they play the same music for dinner and lunch?
M: I don’t know about that, but I do know that hamburger places play fast music. When they started
playing faster music, they found that a customer spent only seventeen minutes eating. The time
was twenty-two minutes before that。
W: So they have more people coming in and out to buy hamburgers。
M: Exactly. And that’s good for business. You can see why music has become so popular. In Los Angeles, for instance, thirty different companies are selling background music services。
W: I still think there’s something about it that I don’t quite like。
M: I know what you mean, but lots of people wouldn’t agree with you. The Xerox Corporation in
Rochester, N.Y. spends more than $80,000 a year for background music. Prisons use it, and farmers use it to keep their cattle calm. It’s even supposed to have an effect on plants。
W: Well, it may calm cattle, but it’s not making me forget I’m hungry. Let’s try to get that waitress
to bring us a menu。
Questions 19 to 21 are based on the conversation you have just heard。
Question 19. Where does this conversation take place?
Question 20. What is the purpose of playing background music in a factory?
Question 21. Which of the following is true about background music according to this dialogue?