College English Test—Band Six
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 eight short conversations.
11. M: I need to find a dentist,
you said you know Dr. Smith well, do you recommend her?
W: Well, I had to see her a few times,
but what impressed me most were the magazines
in her waiting room.
Q: What does the woman imply?
12. W: I'm afraid I can't show you the apartment
at the moment, because the tenant is still living in it.
It's really a lovely place with
a big kitchen and a sunny window, for only ＄200 a month.
M: Sounds good, but we really can't rent an apartment
without seeing it first.
Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
13. M: So, that's what's been keeping you so busy recently!
W: Yes, I've been tied up with my studies.
You know I'm planning to go to the United States
this coming summer, but I'm a bit nervous about my English.
Q: What is the woman busy doing?
14. W: How did you feel when you found out
you had high blood pressure?
M: Shocked! The problem for me was that
there were no symptoms; it seemed to have sneaked up on me.
Q: What does the man mean?
15. W: So, you're just back from a trip to India.
What were you doing there?
M: The trip was intended to bring to
the world's attention the fact that AIDS is not
just an African disease; it's also endangering other countries,
notably, India and Thailand.
Q: What was the purpose of the man's trip to India?
16. M: It's quite clear for my visit,
this is a full size, comprehensive university.
So why is it still called a college?
W: The College of William and Mary is
the second oldest institution of higher learning
in this country. We have nurtured great minds like
Thomas Jefferson and we are proud of our name.
Q: What do we learn from this conversation about
the College of William and Mary?
17. M: Have the parts we need for
the photo copying machine arrived yet?
W: I ordered them last week,
but something is holding them up.
Q: What does the woman say about the parts
needed for the photo copying machine?
18. W: The cafeteria provided many kinds of dishes for us today.
Did you notice that?
M: Yes, kind of rare, isn't it?
Q: What does the man imply?
Now you'll hear the two long conversations.
Conversation One
W: Hello, Patrick, is that you?
M: Yeah Jane, what can I do for you?
W: I was calling about the apple tree that
you were trimming yesterday.
M: That was hard work!
W: I'm sure it was. It true looked difficult.
M: Yeah, I'm glad it's finished.
Hauling the branches to the front for
garbage pick-up was no fun either.
W: Well, I don't think you're quite finished yet,
some of the larger branches fell over into my yard,
and I think you should come and get them.
M: Listen Jane, I don't see why I should do that.
You've eaten all the apples that fall in your yard
and you've never complained about that before.
W: Well, it's easier to pick up apples than
to drag tree branches all the way to the curb.
My kids pick up the apples, and the branches are
just too big for them to drag.
M: Well, I guess you'll just have to do it yourself Jane.
W: Patrick, I wish you would reconsider.
We've always gotten along fairly well,
but I think you're out of line here.
The branches are your responsibility.
M: Sorry Jane, I disagree!
You take the benefits of the apple tree,
but refuse to deal with the bad side of it!
Besides, it won't take you any time to
get the branches out front!
W: Get the branches off my property
or I'll have to sue you.
M: Yeah? For what?!
You're taking those law classes too seriously!
I've gotta go, I have to pick up my son.
W: You'll be hearing from me.
M: Yeah, yeah. See you in court Jane.
Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation
you have just heard.
19. What did the man do yesterday?
20. What did the woman ask the man to do?
21. What did the woman threaten to do?
22. What was the man's reaction to the woman's threat?
Conversation Two
M: Did you hear about the air crash that
occurred in South America recently?
It was quite a tragic accident!
W: No, I didn't see anything in the news about it.
What happened?
M: A foreign airliner was attempting to land at night
in a mountainous area of Argentina and flew into a hill!
W: That sounds really terrible! Did anyone survive?
M: No, everyone aboard, including the crew, was killed instantly.
W: What were the circumstances?
Was there bad weather, a fire, or engine failure?
M: Apparently, there were some low clouds in the area,
but mostly it was just miscommunication
between the pilots and the air traffic controllers.
W: Weren't they both speaking in English,
the official international aviation language?
M: Yes, they were. But the transmission
from poor quality radios was slightly distorted
and the accents of the Spanish speaking controllers
were so strong that the pilots misunderstood a vital instruction.
W: How could a misunderstanding like that
caused such a serious accident?
M: The pilots were told to descend to two-two thousand feet.
The instruction actually meant 22 000 feet,
but they thought they heard descend to 2 000 feet.
That's a huge difference, and it should have been confirmed,
but it was not. Unfortunately, the terrain of the mountains
in Norweija extends up 20 000 feet.
W: So the pilots did descend to the wrong altitude then,
thinking they were following the air controllers'instructions.
M: Sadly enough, yes they did. It was a really bad mistake.
Many people died as a result of the simple misunderstanding.
W: Wow, that's a powerful lesson on
how important it can be to accurately communicate to each other.
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation
you have just heard.
23. What was the cause of the tragedy?
24. How high are the mountains in Norweija?
25. What lesson could be drawn from the accident?
Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages.
At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions.
Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once.
After you hear a question,
you must choose the best answer from the four choices
marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter
on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Edgar Allen Poe, an American writer, was born in 1809.
His parents were actors. Edgar was a baby
when his father left the family. He was two years old
when his mother died. He was taken into the home of
a wealthy businessman named John Allen.
He then received his new name, Edgar Allen Poe.
As a young man, Poe attended the University of Virginia.
He was a good student, but he liked to drink alcohol
and play card games for money. As an unskilled game player,
he often lost money.
Since he couldn't pay off his gambling debt,
he left university and began working for magazines.
He worked hard, yet he was not well paid, or well known.
At the age of 27, he got married.
For a time it seemed that Poe would find some happiness,
but his wife was sick for most of their marriage,
and died in 1847. Through all his crises,
Poe produced many stories and poems
which appeared in different publications,
yet he didn't become famous until 1845,
when his poem, The Raven, was published.
There is a question, however,
about Poe's importance in American Literature.
Some critics say Poe was one of America's best writers,
and even had a great influence on many French writers,
but others disagree. They say Poe's work
is difficult to understand and most of his writing
describes many unpleasant situations and events.
Edgar Allen Poe died in 1849 when he was 40 years old.
It is said that he was found dead after days of heavy drinking.
Questions 26 to 29 are based on the passage you have just heard.
26. What happened to Edgar Allen Poe's family, when he was only two years old?
27. Why did Edgar Allen Poe leave the University of Virginia?
28. What do some critics say about Edgar Allen Poe?
29. How did Edgar Allen Poe's life come to an end?
Passage Two
More than fifty years ago,
the United Nations declared that literacy is a basic human right.
It's very important for improving the lives of individuals,
however, it is estimated that 880 million adults
around the world are illiterate, that is,
they are unable to read or write. A majority of them are women.
More than 110 million school age children in the world
do not attend school. Many others complete school or fail to
finish their studies without learning to read or write.
Many countries depend on the efforts of people
who offer their time to help illiterate individuals.
For example, John Mogger became concerned about
the problem of illiteracy three years ago,
so he started teaching five prisoners in Brazil.
In his teaching, he developed a system with this group of prisoners.
He says his way of teaching can help anyone learn
how to read and write with about thirty hours of study.
To learn his system, people must first know
how to write letters of the alphabet
and learn which sounds they represent.
The system divides letters into three groups.
The first group of letters can be written between two lines.
The second can be written between two lines
but part of the letters is above the top line.
The third group has letters that are partly written
below the lower line. John Mogger taught his students to
write simple words from the letters, in this way,
his students learned more than 700 words.
Many of them can now write to family members.
They also can read newspapers and magazines.
Questions 30 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard.
30. According to the speaker, which group of people
makes up of the majority of the illiterate population?
31. What is the most important feature of John Mogger's method
of teaching the alphabet?
32. What does John Mogger say about his teaching method?
Passage Three
Farmers usually use ploughs to prepare their fields for
planting crops. Ploughs cut into the ground,
and lift up weeds and other unwanted plants.
However, ploughing is blamed for causing severe damage to
topsoil by removing the plants that protect soil
from being blown or washed away.
Many farmers in South Asia are now trying a process
called Low Till Farming. Low Till Farming limits the use of ploughs.
In this method of farming seeds and fertilizer are
put into the soil through a small cut made
in the surface of the ground. Low Till Agriculture
leaves much or all of the soil and remains of plants on the ground.
They serve as a natural fertilizer
and help support the roots of future crops.
They take in rain and allow it to flow into
the soil instead of running off. It has been proved that
Low Till Farming increases harvests and reduces water use,
and this method reduces the need for chemical products
because there are fewer unwanted plants.
Scientists say Low Till Farming is becoming popular in South Asia,
which is facing a severe water shortage.
They say the area will become dependent on
imported food unless water is saved through methods
like Low Till Farming. Currently,
more than 150 million people in South Asia depend on
local rice and wheat crops. Farmers grow rice during wet weather.
During the dry season they grow wheat in the same fields.
Farmers are using the Low Till method to plant wheat
after harvesting rice. Scientists say Low Till Agriculture
is one of the best examples in the world of technologies
working for both people, and the environment.
Questions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
33. What is the main problem caused by the usual way of ploughing?
34. What does the speaker say about Low Till Farming?
35. Where is Low Till Farming becoming popular?
Section C
Directions: In this section,
you will hear a passage three times.
When the passage is read for the first time,
you should listen carefully for its general idea.
When the passage is read for the second time,
you are required to fill in the blanks
numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard.
For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to
fill in the missing information. For these blanks,
you can either use the exact words you have just heard or
write down the main points in your own words. Finally,
when the passage is read for the third time,
you should check what you have written.
Now listen to the passage.
Adults are getting smarter about how smart babies are.
Not long ago, researchers learned that 4-day-olds
could understand addition and subtraction.
Now, British research psychologist Graham Schafer
has discovered that infants can learn words for
uncommon things long before they can speak.
He found that 9-month-old infants could be taught,
through repeated show-and-tell,
to recognize the names of objects that were foreign to them,
a result that challenges in some ways the received wisdom that,
apart from learning to identify things
common to their daily lives, children don't begin to
build vocabulary until well into their second year.
“It's no secret that children learn words,
but the words they tend to know are words linked to
specific situations in the home, ”explains Schafer.
“This is the first demonstration that we can choose
what words the children will learn and that
they can respond to them with an unfamiliar voice
giving instructions in an unfamiliar setting.”
Figuring out how humans acquire language
may shed light on why some children learn to read
and write later than others, Schafer says,
and could lead to better treatments for developmental problems.
What's more, the study of language acquisition
offers direct insight into how humans learn.
“Language is a test case for human cognitive development,”
says Schafer. But parents eager to teach their infants
should take note：even without being taught new words
a control group caught up with the other infants
within a few months. “This is not about advancing development,”
he says. “It's just about what children can do
at an earlier age than what educators have often thought.”
Now the passage will be read again.
Adults are getting smarter about how smart babies are.
Not long ago, researchers learned that 4-day-olds
could understand addition and subtraction.
Now, British research psychologist Graham Schafer
has discovered that infants can learn words for uncommon things
long before they can speak. He found that 9-month-old infants
could be taught, through repeated show-and-tell,
to recognize the names of objects that were foreign to them,
a result that challenges in some ways the received wisdom that,
apart from learning to identify things
common to their daily lives, children don't begin to
build vocabulary until well into their second year.
“It's no secret that children learn words,
but the words they tend to know are words linked to
specific situations in the home, ”explains Schafer.
“This is the first demonstration that we can choose
what words the children will learn and that
they can respond to them
with an unfamiliar voice
giving instructions in an unfamiliar setting.”
Figuring out how humans acquire language
may shed light on why some children learn to read
and write later than others, Schafer says,
and could lead to better treatments for developmental problems.
What's more, the study of language acquisition
offers direct insight into how humans learn.
“Language is a test case for human cognitive development,”
says Schafer. But parents eager to teach their infants
should take note：even without being taught new words
a control group caught up with the other infants
within a few months.
“This is not about advancing development,” he says.
“It's just about what children can do
at an earlier age than what educators have often thought.”
Now the passage will be read for the third time.
Adults are getting smarter about how smart babies are.
Not long ago, researchers learned that 4-day-olds
could understand addition and subtraction.
Now, British research psychologist Graham Schafer
has discovered that infants can learn words
for uncommon things long before they can speak.
He found that 9-month-old infants could be taught,
through repeated show-and-tell, to recognize the names
of objects that were foreign to them,
a result that challenges in some ways the received wisdom that,
apart from learning to identify things
common to their daily lives,
children don't begin to build vocabulary
until well into their second year.
“It's no secret that children learn words,
but the words they tend to know are words linked to
specific situations in the home, ”explains Schafer.
“This is the first demonstration that we can choose
what words the children will learn and that
they can respond to them with an unfamiliar voice
giving instructions in an unfamiliar setting.”
Figuring out how humans acquire language
may shed light on why some children learn to read
and write later than others, Schafer says,
and could lead to better treatments for
developmental problems. What's more,
the study of language acquisition offers direct insight into
how humans learn. “Language is a test case for
human cognitive development,” says Schafer.
But parents eager to teach their infants should take note：
even without being taught new words a control group
caught up with the other infants within a few months.
“This is not about advancing development,” he says.
“It's just about what children can do
at an earlier age than what educators have often thought.”
This is the end of listening comprehension.