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2001年英语专业八级考试听力MP3
听力原文??
PART Ⅰ LISTENING COMPREHENSION?
SECTION A TALK?
The World Bank is one of the major channels through which development aid is passed from industrial west to the poor and developing nations of the world. Its scale of operations is vast, which is why its lending program exceeds 7 billion a year, and its work force numbers about 4500. In the last decade important changes have taken place in the size of the bank’s operations and in the emphasis of its lending policies. What immediately strikes anyone looking at the lending figures over the last 10 years is the tremendous expansion in the bank’s loan program. This has increased from 1 billion to nearly 7 billion. The figure includes hard loans, which are made at the current rate of interest, and soft loans, which are allocated to poor countries at concessionary rates, and usually channel led through the bank’s affiliate—the International Development Association.?
In deciding the emphasis of its lending policy, the bank has had to take into account the population explosion which is occuring in many poor countries of the world. It is a fact that the fertility rate of the poor countries is often very high. This is one of the main reasons for these countries remaining poor. Unfortunately, wide-ranging country section programs do not usually reduce this r ate because this was a strong and deeply rooted tradition among people in these countries to have big families. What the bank discovered was that there was a link between economic and social development on the one hand, and reduction of fertility rate on the other. Thus by improving basic health services, by introducing better nutrition, by increasing literacy, and by promoting more even income distribution in a poor country, a lower and more acceptable fertility rate will be achieved. This advanced thinking persuaded the bank to change its overall lending strategy, where previously it concentrated on the big infrastructure project s, such as dams, roads and bridges. It begun to switch to projects which directly improve the basic services of the country. There was a shift, if you like, from building dams to digging water holes to provide clear water.?
A second reason for the change of approach was that the bank has learned a big lesson from projects financed in the 1960s. Many of its major capital investment had scarcely touched the lives of urban and rural poor, nor have they created much employment. The project did not have the trigger-down effect they have in industrialized countries. Instead the huge dams, steel-mills, and so on were left as monuments to themselves. This redirection of its lending has meant that the bank has tended to support labour intensive activities, rather than capita l intensive ones. Both rural and urban areas, there is a better chance in the first case, that its funds will benefit the bottom 40% of the country’s population. ?
The bank is also looking for ways of stimulating the growth of the small businesses in many developing countries since this would create employment opportunities for people with lower incomes. Being such a big, obvious target, the bank has often come under fire. For example, its officials have been taken to task for u sing Concord supersonic aircraft so frequently, about 500 times in one year. Also, the large growth of the organization’s personnel has not pleased some critic s . A more substantial criticism has concerned the bank’s policy of setting annual target for lending to specified countries. This could lead to the deterioration in quality of loans, some say. One former bank official has said, rather than encourage growth for its own sake, the bank should begin to think of itself less as a foreign aid agency and more of a financial deal-maker, combining official wit h the private resources for specific purposes.?
Finally, some people maintain that the impact of the projects funded by the bank has been modest. When one looks around the world at regions or countries that have successfully transformed to industrial status, it seems that one should be aware of over-estimating the bank’s impact. Take Hong Kong for example. Its changes have come about as a result of trade offensive. The purpose has been to flood western market with low price goods made by capitalist methods of production. The example seems to indicate that some regions can prosper without the bank’s aid as well.??
SECTION B CONVERSATION??
W: Well, it seems quite common actually. A lot of people in Australia no w are travelling and taking time off. And when I was actually travelling, I met so many people doing the same thing.?
M: Yeah, yeah, so where did you start off??
W: Well, I went to New Zealand first. Eh, and got a job in a computer company as a secretary. And I worked there for 4 months.?
M: Really? You can do that, can you? I mean it’s possible for anyone to get a j ob in New Zealand, without being a New Zealander??
W: No, not everybody, only Australians and New Zealanders can exchange either. You know you can work in either country.’?
M: Right, yeah.?
W: So that was easy. So I worked there for 4 months and raised enough money for the rest of travels really. So from there I went to Indonesia, and travelled around the different islands around Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, China , Nepal and India. ?
M: What about Indonesia? What did you do? Did you fly mostly between the Islands??
W: Eh, I did a bit of that, and boats, mainly local boats between the Islands.?
M: What about Singapore? People said it’s very very modern. But because it is s o modern, it’s rather boring. Did you find that??
W: Well, it’s difficult to say really. It has different attractions. You know t h e Chinese, Malay, and Hindu communities are there. Each has his own culture and custom, very different from the others. And it’s a great big shopping center an d I really enjoy it from that point of view. And it was very clean.?
M: And after, you said you went what, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and then China? That’s a great country to travel in, isn’t it??
W: Eh, it was. Yeah, it was fabulous. It really was. You have been there then??
M: No, I haven’t. No, I mean it’s very big. What did you do??
W: Yeah. Well, I had only one month to travel in China, and that was too short f or such a vast country as China. I felt I didn’t have enough time, so I sacrifced a lot of places and did the main tourist throughout really. I went to Beijing, the capital, Kaifeng, Yinchuan, and Tibet.?
M: Well, how exciting! You said after Beijing, you went to??
W: That was Kaifeng in central China’s Henan province. It’s a charming city, and has got a lot to look around, like temples and pagodas, very traditional.?
M: Eh, eh.?
W: What fascinated me when I was there was that some Jews went to live in Kaifeng many years ago. As early as 16th century, there were Jewish families there. They have their synagogue and five books of Masses. Even today several hundred descendants of the original Jews still live in Kaifeng.?
M: Really, I’ve never heard of that. And where did you go after Kaifeng??
W: I went to northwest to Yinchuan, the provincial city of Ningxia Hui autonomous region.
M: Is this the place where there always is a shortage of water??
W: No, no, on the contrary, it has got abundant supply of water, because it is n ear the Yellow River. In this sense, Yinchuan has a favorable geographical posit on in otherwise harsh surroundings.?
M: What did you see there then??
W: Ningxia was once the capital of Western Xia during the 11th century. So outside Yinchuan, you can still see the Western Xia mausoleum, where the Kings and t heir Kingdoms were buried. The tombs were scattered in a pretty big area at the foot of the Henan Mountain, and inside the city there are famous mosques in the architectural style of Middle East. It’s really a place worth visiting. You got to know something about Chinese Moslems.?
M: And that sounds really interesting. Where did you travel after that??
W: I was lucky enough to get into Tibet, and that was brilliant.?
M: Yeah. What was the most interesting place you visited, do you think??
W: Well, I think actually Tibet is the most fascinating and exciting. I’ve never been anywhere so different. The people there are wonderful, the clothes .they w ear, the food they eat.?
M: And you said you went to Nepal as well??
W: Yeah, eh, that’s a sort of easier passion of Tibetans really and there are a lot of Tibetans---there as well as other tribes and Nepalese, so that was good because I went trekking in Nepal, you should do that.?
M: How long did you trek for??
W: Oh, I only did a short one, only for a week. I was lazy.?
M: Was it very tiring??
W: No, it wasn’t actually. I mean you just set your own pace, and don’t pace you rself too hard, that was a stupid thing to do. Eh, you don’t have to walk very far, so that was great.?
M: So how did you feel after all this travelling? How did you feel to stop travelling? I mean you were on the move alone for months and months ,and suddenly you’re here ,and not traveling any more. How does it feel??
W: I was ready to stop anyway. You get pretty sick, wearing the same clothes, and washing them in the different hotels. I never stay in the same place for longer than two days. And since I was ready to stop, I don’t think I could keep doing it. I mean I’ve met people who’ve been travelling for 2 or 3 years. I couldn' t do it.?
M: Yeah, yeah. Maybe it’s something I should try after this.?
W: I think you really should.?
SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST?
News Item 1(For Questions 11-12)?
Mike Tyson could sign a deal by Friday to face either Germany’s Axo Shos or Denmark’s Brian Nielsen here on August 21 in the heavy weight’s first fight since his release from jail. The former World Heavy Weight champion was released on Monday after 4 months behind bars for an assault in the wake of a traffic accident last August. His deal with Showtime makes an August come back likely. “August 21st is certainly a day we’re looking at,” Showtime board director, James Lock en s said , “Hopefully in the next few days we’ll have something concrete”. Nevada boxing officials revoked Tyson’s license for more than a year after he bit Evander Holyfield’s ear off in June 1997. But they plan no action on Tyson because the license they granted him to fight doesn’t expire until the end of the year. That came before the assault charge had been heard, and with the victim’s support.??
News Item 2(For Question 13)?
The United States has begun to review Russians documents about the life and death of former president John F. Kennedy, and is expected to release them once the review is complete, the White House said on Monday. The documents which the Russians gave the United States on Sunday would be of particular interest because Kennedy’s assassin Lee Harvey Oswald lived in the former Soviet Union for several years before he returned to the United States, and was arrested for killing t he former president on November 22, 1963. Russian President Boris Yeltsin surprised US president Bill Clinton on Sunday when he turned over what was described a s the result of exhaustive search of Russian government, military and private archives for papers about Kennedy and his assassination.??
News Item 3(For Questions 14-15)?
Hong Kong’s unemployment rate has remained stable at 6.3% in the past 3 months, as business conditions have improved in the last month Figures indicate that from March to May this year, the size of the labor force was provisionally at 3,469,000, while the number of the unemployed people stood at 216,000. The number of cases of insolvency, sensational businesses and retrenchment, and numbers of workers affected these cases as recorded by the Labor Department have shown a declining trend in recent months. From March to May 1999, 78 such cases involving 3,882 workers were recorded as compared 93 cases affecting 5,220 workers for the 3 months from December 1998 to February 1999. Figures for the period from March to May 1999 when compared with those from February to April 1999 show an increase in the unemployment rate, mainly in renovation, maintenance, whole sale, and retail and transport sectors, which offset the decrease in construction, import and export and financing sectors ??
SECTION D NOTE-TAKING AND GAP-FILLING?
The Press Conference?
Press conferences are an all too familiar phenomena around us. However, when people start thinking about its advantages, it sometimes seems difficult to think of any that press conference provides for the competent news reporter. Use of the press conference by public officials and private entrepreneurs help give rise to the phrase “pseudo-event”, and the event contrived to create news cove rage, where none has considered wanted. ?
However, having said that, one value of news conference by a public official is the symbolic nature of the event. And perhaps this is reasoned enough to continue the practice. At a press conference, a public official supposedly submits to examination by responding to unsolicited and perhaps hostile questions. A related advantage to the reporter is that press conference offers an opportunity to get the public official on the record, with regard to the government policies. Stat ements from the press conference can serve as criteria against subsequent statements and policies are measured. In that regard, press conference information may be used as reference point, more so than comments reported by single news medium. Also, when there is a single issue or topic to address, such as a new government program, an earthquake, or the nomination of a new government minister, the press conference offers benefits of efficiency in that officials can speak to a number of reporters at once on the issue of public concern and interest. The press conference may be at its best in this almost one-way format.?
Now let’s move on to the disadvantages. And there are serious ones. Generally speaking, the press conference format, as it stands, makes it difficult for t he reporters to get worthwhile information. At press conference, particularly a large one, the well-prepared reporter may never get asked question and certainly is unlikely to have chance to ask follow-up questions. Another disadvantage in the press conference comes from the news source, that is, the news provider. The news source generally decides who asks the questions, determines the length of the answers, and can avoid any follow-up question and rephrase tough questions t o his or her liking, and sets the time, place and duration of the interview. Press conferences televise live for the news audience, sometimes only highlights the disadvantages for the news reporters since there is little or no time to challenge, clarify or place context materials provided by the news source. Despite these disadvantages and others inherent how reporters get information, t he dews reporter can help assure the worthwhile information from a news source in share with the news audience. One way to reduce the likely heard of errors is to use multiple forms of interviewing by telephone, in person, and press conferences as well as multiple sources, common to the success of these approaches, how ever, are such interrelated ingredient as the preparation of the news reporter, the component of the news source and nature of the questions asked.?
Let’s look at the preparation first. The nature of much news coverage re quires news reporters to be well-read on contemporary events. Like other professionals and craftsmen, the reporter must keep up to date on journalistic subject matter, that is the human condition. Although the subject is broad, it offers the advantages that there is a little a reporter can read or witness. That will not help in covering the news at one time or another. Next, being prepared for an interview includes giving some thought to the competence of the news source. The relationships between news reporters and news sources would benefit the news audience more, if reporters would frequently ask themselves: What is this news resource competent to talk about? What can this person tell the news audience that few others can? Towards the caution regarding the issue of competence, first, the reporter should not take for granted that, because of position or experience, the news source should know, does know, and can provide information. Second, the competence of t he news source needs to be linked with the news-gathering-methods. Let’s just spend a few minutes on the first point. There are generally 4 conditions under which the reporter should not give prints to the news source information. One, the source may not know the information the reporter wants. Two, the source may have the information and want to share it, but may lack the verbal skills or concepts to do so. Three, the source may have the desired information but not to want to share it, or worse, may lie to avoid sharing information. Last, t he source may be willing to share this information but unable to recall it.?
Now in addition to preparation of the reporter and competence of the news source, there is one more important ingredient in successful news coverage, that is ,the nature of questions asked. It is generally agreed that the nature of the question can shape the nature of the answer. General questions like “Are you for market economy” may lead to the respondent saying virtually anything, and s till being rather vague. On the other hand, a too narrow question may limit the respondent to one particular answer only. In order to gather information from news sources as accurately as possible, reporters can improve the question in the following 5 ways. Firstly, avoid words wit h double meanings. Secondly, avoid long questions. Thirdly, specify the time, pl ace and context you want the respondent to assume, and number 4, it is often helpful to ask questions in terms of the respondent’s own immediate and recent experience rather than in generalities. Finally, either make explicit all the alternative the respondent should have in mind when answering the question or make none of them explicit. Do not leave the news resource by suggesting a desired answer and not mentioning other alternatives.?
OK, to sum up, today’s lecture has covered some of the advantages and disadvantages of the press conference, and three important factors and successful news coverage. In our next lecture, we will continue to discuss how to become a competent news reporter.?
