College English test Band 4
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. W: Did you watch the 7 o’clock program
on channel 2 yesterday evening? I was about to watch it
when someone came to see me.
M: Yeah! It reported some major breakthrough in cancer research.
People over 40 would find a program worth watching.
Q: What do we learn from the conversation about the TV program?
12. W: I won a first prize in the National Writing Contest
and I got this camera as an award.
M: It’s a good camera! You can take it when you travel.
I had no idea you were a marvelous writer.
Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
13. M: I wish I hadn’t thrown away that reading list!
W: I thought you might regret it.
That’s why I picked it up from the waste paper basket
and left it on the desk.
Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
14. W: Are you still teaching at the junior high school?
M: Not since June. My brother and I opened a restaurant
as soon as he got out of the army.
Q: What do we learn about the man from the conversation?
15. M: Hi, Susan! Have you finished reading the book
Professor Johnson recommended?
W: Oh, I haven’t read it through the way I read a novel.
I just read a few chapters which interested me.
Q: What does the woman mean?
16. M: Jane missed class again, didn’t she?
I wonder why?
W: Well, I knew she had been absent all week.
So I called her this morning to see if she was sick.
It turned out that her husband was badly injured in a car accident.
Q: What does the woman say about Jane?
17. W: I’m sure the Smiths’ new house is somewhere on this street,
but I don’t know exactly where it is.
M: But I’m told it’s two blocks from their old home.
Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
18. W: I’ve been waiting here almost half an hour!
How come it took you so long?
M: Sorry, honey! I had to drive two blocks
before I spotted a place to park the car.
Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
Now you’ll hear two long conversations.
Conversation One
M: Hello, I have a reservation for tonight.
W: Your name, please.
M: Nelson, Charles Nelson.
W: Ok, Mr. Nelson. That’s a room for five...
M: And excuse me, you mean a room for five pounds?
I didn’t know the special was so good.
W: No, no, no... according to our records,
a room for 5 guests was booked under your name.
M: No, no... hold on. You must have two guests under the name.
W: Ok, let me check this again. Oh, here we are.
M: Yeah?
W: Charles Nelson, a room for one for the 19...
M: Wait, wait. It’s for tonight, not tomorrow night.
W: Em... Em... I don’t think we have any rooms for tonight.
There’s a conference going on in town and...er,
let’s see... yeah, no rooms.
M: Oh, come on! You must have something, anything!
W: Well, let... let me check my computer here... Ah!
M: What?
W: There has been a cancellation for this evening.
A honeymoon suite is now available.
M: Great, I’ll take it.
W: But, I’ll have to charge you 150 pounds for the night.
M: What? I should get a discount for the inconvenience!
W: Well, the best I can give you is a 10% discount plus a ticket
for a free continent breakfast.
M: Hey, isn’t the breakfast free anyway?
W: Well, only on weekends.
M: I want to talk to the manager.
W: Wait, wait, wait... Mr. Nelson,
I think I can give you an additional 15% discount...
Questions 19 to 22 are based on the conversation
you have just heard.
19. What’s the man’s problem?
20. Why did the hotel clerk say they didn’t
have any rooms for that night?
21. What did the clerk say about the breakfast in the hotel?
22. What did the man imply he would do
at the end of the conversation?
Conversation Two
M: Sarah, you work in the Admissions Office, don’t you?
W: Yes, I am... I’ve been here ten years as an Assistant Director.
M: Really? What does that involve?
W: Well, I’m in charge of all the admissions of
postgraduate students in the university.
M: Only postgraduates?
W: Yes, postgraduates only. I have nothing at all
to do with undergraduates.
M: Do you find that you get particular... sort of...
different national groups? I mean,
do you get large numbers from Latin America or...
W: Yes. Well, of all the students enrolled last year,
nearly half were from overseas.
They were from African countries, the Far East,
the Middle East, and Latin America.
M: Em. But have you been doing just that for the last 10 years,
or, have you done other things?
W: Well, I’ve been doing the same job. Er, before that,
I was secretary of the medical school at Birmingham,
and further back, I worked in the local government.
M: Oh, I see.
W: So I’ve done different types of things.
M: Yes, indeed. How do you imagine your job
might develop in the future? Can you imagine shifting into
a different kind of responsibility or doing something...
W: Oh, yeah, from October 1,
I’ll be doing an entirely different job.
There’s going to be more committee work.
I mean, more policy work, and less dealing with students,
unfortunately... I’ll miss my contact with students.
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
23. What is the woman’s present position?
24. What do we learn about the postgraduates enrolled
last year in the woman’s university?
25. What will the woman’s new job be like?
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
My mother was born in a small town in northern Italy.
She was three when her parents immigrated to America in 1926.
They lived in Chicago when my grandfather
worked making ice cream. Mama thrived in the urban environment.
At 16, she graduated first in her high school class,
went onto secretarial school, and finally worked
as an executive secretary for a railroad company.
She was beautiful too. When a local photographer
used her pictures in his monthly window display,
she felt pleased. Her favorite portrait showed her sitting
by Lake Michigan, her hair went blown,
her gaze reaching toward the horizon.
My parents were married in 1944.
Dad was a quiet and intelligent man.
He was 17 when he left Italy. Soon after,
a hit-and-run accident left him with a permanent limp.
Dad worked hard selling candy to Chicago office workers
on their break. He had little formal schooling.
His English was self-taught. Yet he eventually built
a small successful wholesale candy business.
Dad was generous and handsome. Mama was devoted to him.
After she married, my mother quit her job
and gave herself to her family. In 1950,
with three small children, dad moved the family to a farm
40 miles from Chicago. He worked land and commuted to
the city to run his business. Mama said goodbye to
her parents and friends, and traded her busy city neighborhood
for a more isolated life. But she never complained.
Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.
26. What does the speaker tell us
about his mother’s early childhood?
27. What do we learn about the speaker’s father?
28. What does the speaker say about his mother?
Passage Two
During a 1995 roof collapse,
a firefighter named Donald Herbert was left brain damaged.
For ten years, he was unable to speak.
Then, one Saturday morning, he did something
that shocked his family and doctors. He started speaking.
“I want to talk to my wife.”
Donald Herbert said out of the blue.
Staff members of the nursing home
where he has lived for more than seven years,
raced to get Linda Herbert on the telephone.
“It was the first of many conversations
the 44-year-old patient had with his family
and friends during the 14-hour stretch” Herbert’s uncle,
Simon Menka, said. “How long have I been away?”
Herbert asked. “We told him almost ten years,”
the uncle said, “he thought it was only three months.”
Herbert was fighting a house fire December 29,
1995 when the roof collapsed, burying him underneath.
After going without air for several minutes,
Herbert was unconscious for two and a half months
and has undergone therapy ever since.
News accounts in the days and years after his injury,
described Herbert as blind and with little if any memory.
A video shows him receiving physical therapy
but apparently unable to communicate and with
little awareness of his surroundings.
Menka declined to discuss his nephew’s current condition
or whether the apparent progress was continuing.
“The family was seeking privacy while doctors evaluated Herbert”,
he said. As word of Herbert’s progress spread,
visitors streamed into the nursing home.
“He’s resting comfortably,” the uncle told them.
Questions 29 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard.
29. What happened to Herbert ten years ago?
30. What surprised Donald Herbert’s family and doctors one Saturday?
31. How long did Herbert remain unconscious?
32. How did Herbert’s family react to the public attention?
Passage Three
Almost all states in America have a state fair.
They last for one, two or three weeks.
The Indiana state fair is one of the largest
and oldest state fairs in the United States.
It is held every summer. It started in 1852.
Its goals were to educate, share ideas,
and present Indiana’s best products.
The cost of a single ticket to enter the fair was 20 cents.
During the early 1930s, officials of the fair ruled that
the people could attend by paying with something
other than money. For example,
farmers brought a bag of grain in exchange for a ticket.
With the passage of time,
the fair has grown and changed a lot,
but it’s still one of Indiana’s most celebrated events.
People from all over Indiana and from many other states
attend the fair. They can do many things at the fair.
They can watch the judging of the price cows, pigs,
and other animals; they can see sheep getting their wool cut,
and they can learn how that wool is made into clothing;
they can watch cows giving birth. In fact,
people can learn about the animals
they would never see except at the fair.
The fair provides a chance for the farming community to show
its skills and farm products. For example,
visitors might see the world’s largest apple,
or the tallest sunflower plant. Today,
children and adults at the fair
can play new computer games,
or attend more traditional games of skill.
They can watch performances put on by famous entertainers.
Experts say such fairs are important,
because people need to remember that
they’re connected to the earth and its products,
and they depend on animals for many things.
Questions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
33. What were the main goals of
the Indiana’s state fair when it started?
34. How did some farmers gain entrance to
the fair in the early 1930s?
35. Why are state fairs important events in America?
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.
Students’ pressure sometimes comes from their parents.
Most parents are well meaning,
but some of them aren’t very helpful
with the problems their sons and daughters
have in adjusting to college,
and a few of them seem to go out of their way to
add to their children’s difficulties.
For one thing, parents are often not aware of
the kinds of problems their children face.
They don’t realize that the competition is keener,
that the required standards of work are higher,
and that their children may not be prepared for the change.
Accustomed to seeing A’s and B’s on high school report cards,
they may be upset when their children’s
first semester college grades are below that level.
At their kindest, they may gently inquire
why John or Mary isn’t doing better,
whether he or she is trying as hard as he or she should,
and so on. At their worst, they may threaten to
take their children out of college, or cut off funds.
Sometimes parents regard their children
as extensions of themselves and think it only right
and natural that they determine
what their children do with their lives.
In their involvement and identification with their children,
they forget that everyone is different
and that each person must develop in his or her own way.
They forget that their children, who are now young adults,
must be the ones responsible for what they do and what they are.
Now the passage will be read again.
Students’ pressure sometimes comes from their parents.
Most parents are well meaning,
but some of them aren’t very helpful with
the problems their sons and daughters
have in adjusting to college, and a few of them seem to
go out of their way to add to their children’s difficulties.
For one thing, parents are often not aware of
the kinds of problems their children face.
They don’t realize that the competition is keener,
that the required standards of work are higher,
and that their children may not be prepared for the change.
Accustomed to seeing A’s and B’s on high school report cards,
they may be upset when their children’s
first semester college grades are below that level.
At their kindest, they may gently inquire
why John or Mary isn’t doing better,
whether he or she is trying as hard as he or she should, and so on.
At their worst, they may threaten to
take their children out of college, or cut off funds.
Sometimes parents regard their children as extensions
of themselves and think it only right and natural that
they determine what their children do with their lives.
In their involvement and identification with their children,
they forget that everyone is different
and that each person must develop in his or her own way.
They forget that their children, who are now young adults,
must be the ones responsible for what they do and what they are.
Now the passage will be read for the third time.
Students’ pressure sometimes comes from their parents.
Most parents are well meaning,
but some of them aren’t very helpful with the problems
their sons and daughters have in adjusting to college,
and a few of them seem to go out of their way to
add to their children’s difficulties.
For one thing, parents are often not aware of
the kinds of problems their children face.
They don’t realize that the competition is keener,
that the required standards of work are higher,
and that their children may not be prepared for the change.
Accustomed to seeing A’s and B’s on high school report cards,
they may be upset when their children’s
first semester college grades are below that level.
At their kindest, they may gently inquire
why John or Mary isn’t doing better,
whether he or she is trying as hard as he or she should, and so on.
At their worst, they may threaten to
take their children out of college, or cut off funds.
Sometimes parents regard their children as extensions
of themselves and think it only right and natural that
they determine what their children do with their lives.
In their involvement and identification with their children,
they forget that everyone is different
and that each person must develop in his or her own way.
They forget that their children, who are now young adults,
must be the ones responsible for what they do and what they are.
This is the end of listening comprehension.
