北京市研究生英语学位课统考(GET)答案 听力原文 listening script 2012.12.doc

General English Qualifying Test for Non-English Major Graduate Students, December 30, 2012

PART I LISTENING COMPREHENSION (25 minutes, 20 points)

Section A (1 point each)

Directions: In this section, you will hear nine short conversations between two speakers. At the end of each conversation a question will be asked about what was said. The conversations and the questions will be read only once. Choose the best answer from the four choices given by marking the corresponding letter with a single bar across the square brackets on your machine-scoring Answer Sheet.

1. Woman: It’s been a month since your accident. So tell me, how is the pain in your arms?

Man: My arms were hurting me until last week, but that’s worn off now. So has the pain in my legs. My shoulder is still fairy sore, though not as bad as it was.

Question: Which part of the man’s body still hurts him at the moment?

2. Woman: I heard Bennie will head our new San Francisco office.

Man: Yeah, He is still walking on air about getting that promotion. He loves San Francisco and he’ll make twice the money he gets paid here.

Question: What does the man mean?

3. Man: I am running the race on Saturday, but I don’t know when it starts.

Woman: Well, all the runners have to register in the city center square by a quarter to two, though the race won’t actually start until half past.

Question: What time does the race begin?

4. Woman: What do you think of Jeffrey, the young guy fresh from school?

Man: He is a good fit for the company, even though he has been with us for only a couple of months. Besides, we often see eye to eye with each other on many things.

Question: What does the man mean?

5 .Man: I saw Frank’s wife driving his sports car the other day.

Woman: Did you? He told me he was going to sell it because with three kids he needs to get something more practical-you know, a SUV with lots of space for luggage.

Man: He’s got a minivan which he uses for carrying cargo.

Woman: But I suppose he can’t really put the children in the back of that.

Question: What vehicle does Frank intend to buy?

6. Woman: Today’s experiment was a complete mess. We had a backseat driver in our group. She tried to run things all the time.

Man: You should let her know that you don’t like it when she orders you around.

Question: Why didn’t the experiment go smoothly?

7. Man: Did you know that Jessica failed in the job interview?

Woman: Yes, and she blamed it on bad luck. But I really think she is barking up the wrong tree.

Question: What does the woman imply?

8. Woman: I am starving. Can we stop for something to eat before we get to the airport?

Man: There isn’t enough time to stop at a restaurant. Your sister’s flight arrives at 12 o’clock. We’ll need petrol on the way home, so we can stop for a snack at a service station.

Question: Where will they have something to eat?

9. Man: Have you found a partner to work on Biochemistry? Our Lab class is tomorrow.

Woman: To tell you the truth, I’ve been tied up with my Microbiology course this week.

Question: What can be inferred about the woman?

Section B (1 point each)

Directions: In this section you will hear two mini-talks. At the end of each talk, there will be some questions. Both the talks and the questions will be read to you only once. After each question, there will be a pause. During the pause, you must choose the best answer from the four choices given by marking the corresponding letter with a single bar across the square brackets on your machine-scoring Answer Sheet. Mini-talk One

Students who want an easy way to get information about a large number of colleges in the United States can visit a website like CampusTours.com. It brings together virtual campus tours and interactive maps of more than twelve hundred colleges and universities. The site plans to add an international database for schools in other countries.

CampusTours recently celebrated its fifteenth anniversary. The president of the company, Chris Carson, was one of the people who started the site. He says more than one hundred twenty thousand foreign students use the site each year. They make up more than fifteen percent of the traffic on the site.

The virtual tours allow students to get a sense of how a college looks. There are also links to official websites and online applications. And there are details like price, number of students, admission requirements and sports programs.

But Chris Carson says students should never depend on a third-party website like CampusTours to choose a college. He advises parents and students to contact a school directly. If they plan to visit, they should call the school and talk about the visit and where to stay locally. In fact, he says contacting a school might even lead to a free visit. He says showing real interest in a school can increase the chances of being admitted.

Chris Carson and several of his friends started CampusTours in nineteen ninety-seven. They noticed that many websites with campus tours were heavy with text and lacked much visual material.

At first, colleges worried that online tours would compete with the tradition of a personal visit to the campus. But today schools work with sites like CampusTours or its competitors, or build their own virtual tours and maps.

Question 10: What is CampusTours specialized in?

Question 11: What information is not available yet on the CampusTours.com?

Question 12: Why did Chris Carson start the site fifteen years ago?

Mini-talk Two

The Empire State Building was the tallest structure in the world for more than forty years. Work on the building was finished in nineteen thirty-one. While it is no longer the tallest, it is probably the most famous. People from around the world visit its eighty-sixth floor observatory to see New York from high above.

Ten years ago, the Malkin family bought the Empire State Building for more than fifty-seven million dollars. Now, the family is considering selling shares in a publicly traded company that would operate buildings in New York and the state of Connecticut.

Teresa Martin set up the Real Estate Investment Association in New York. She wonders why the Malkin family is considering selling shares in the buildings. It may be that they may be in trouble and need to raise some funds. But it may just mean that they want to expand and need investor dollars to actually do what they foresee in their vision to do.

Some people with offices in the Empire State Building say they are not happy with its restrooms and elevator equipment. The Malkin family has spent at least five hundred fifty million dollars making changes to the building, including

replacing more than six thousand five hundred windows.

The cost of office space has more than doubled. The New York Times newspaper says the number of occupants has been dropped from nine hundred fifty in two thousand two to about two hundred now. But those leasing space in the building now have much larger offices.

The one-hundred-two-story building is often lit up at night in honor of different causes or events. The New York Times spoke with someone who knows about the plan to sell shares in the real estate company. The person said the building would be lit up in green lights – the color of American money – if the plan to sell shares comes to pass.

Question 13: How much did the Malkin family pay to purchase the Empire State Building?

Question 14: What do some people with offices in the Empire State Building complain about?

Question 15: What will happen if the plan to sell shares comes to pass?

Section C (1 point each)

Directions: In this section you will hear a short lecture. Listen to the recording and complete the notes about the lecture. You will hear the recording twice. After

the recording you are asked to write down your answers on the Answer Sheet. You now have 25 seconds to read the notes below. After spending a wonderful holiday over the Christmas and New Year period, some people feel blue and find that it’s difficult to function normally in their daily rhythm. Holiday blues, holiday depression, or post-holiday syndrome are commonly used terms which depict the mental distress occurring after the winter holidays and festival season.

Here are some suggested steps to get rid of your post winter festive season holiday blues:

Expect some letdown. The holiday season is both joyful and stressful at once. Returning to the usual routine and probably quieter workplace than normal can dampen your spirits just by the absence of exciting things to do and look forward to. Expecting to feel a little low is a way of telling yourself that this is a normal feeling and that it will soon pass once the routine re-establishes itself.

Keep being around people. Some of the post-holiday season blues might be related to having been around many people over the New Year break and then suddenly finding yourself surrounded by people you don’t know that well, or even not by many people at all. Lift your spirits by continuing to stay connected with friends and family, and getting out and about to do activities where other people interact with you.

Do things that give you cause to look forward to something. Revive the excitement of anticipation by arranging fun things, such as having dinner with friends, starting a new class for a hobby or interest, attending a sporting event regularly, going to the movies, etc. Choose activities that meet your budget and interests, and that you know will give you a thrill.

Make healthy choices. After the many indulgences over the holiday period, it can leave you feeling a little out of shape. Aim to return to eating healthy food, drinking healthy drinks, and ensuring that you keep getting a good amount of exercise. Eating well and keeping up regular exercise will enhance your mood and help you return to good shape and fitness levels.

Expect to enjoy the year ahead. Trying to keep a positive frame of mind and planning for interesting and fulfilling events throughout the year is a good way to calm your current blues. Think ahead to the changing seasons and the sorts of things you’d like to be doing as the year moves on. Once you’re immersed in planning and doing, you’ll be too busy to worry.

This is the end of Listening Comprehension.