2001年英语专业八级考试真题（附听力mp3及答案）

2001年英语专业八级考试真题（附听力mp3及答案）

　　听力原文

　　PART Ⅰ LISTENING COMPREHENSION?

　　SECTION A TALK?

　　The World Bank is one of the major channelsthrough which development aid is passed fromindustrial west to the poor and developing nations ofthe world. Its scale of operations is vast, which iswhy its lending program exceeds 7 billion a year, and its work force numbers about 4500. In thelast decade important changes have taken place in the size of the bank’s operations and in theemphasis of its lending policies. What immediately strikes anyone looking at the lending figuresover the last 10 years is the tremendous expansion in the bank’s loan program. This hasincreased from 1 billion to nearly 7 billion. The figure includes hard loans, which are made at thecurrent rate of interest, and soft loans, which are allocated to poor countries at concessionaryrates, and usually channel led through the bank’s affiliate—the International DevelopmentAssociation.?

　　In deciding the emphasis of its lending policy, the bank has had to take into account thepopulation explosion which is occuring in many poor countries of the world. It is a fact thatthe fertility rate of the poor countries is often very high. This is one of the main reasons forthese countries remaining poor. Unfortunately, wide-ranging country section programs do notusually reduce this r ate because this was a strong and deeply rooted tradition among people inthese countries to have big families. What the bank discovered was that there was a linkbetween economic and social development on the one hand, and reduction of fertility rate onthe other. Thus by improving basic health services, by introducing better nutrition, byincreasing literacy, and by promoting more even income distribution in a poor country, a lowerand more acceptable fertility rate will be achieved. This advanced thinking persuaded thebank to change its overall lending strategy, where previously it concentrated on the biginfrastructure project s, such as dams, roads and bridges. It begun to switch to projects whichdirectly improve the basic services of the country. There was a shift, if you like, from buildingdams 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 fromprojects financed in the 1960s. Many of its major capital investment had scarcely touched thelives of urban and rural poor, nor have they created much employment. The project did nothave 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 hasmeant that the bank has tended to support labour intensive activities, rather than capita lintensive ones. Both rural and urban areas, there is a better chance in the first case, that itsfunds 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 manydeveloping countries since this would create employment opportunities for people with lowerincomes. 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, about500 times in one year. Also, the large growth of the organization’s personnel has not pleasedsome critic s . A more substantial criticism has concerned the bank’s policy of setting annualtarget for lending to specified countries. This could lead to the deterioration in quality ofloans, some say. One former bank official has said, rather than encourage growth for its ownsake, the bank should begin to think of itself less as a foreign aid agency and more of a financialdeal-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 beenmodest. When one looks around the world at regions or countries that have successfullytransformed to industrial status, it seems that one should be aware of over-estimating thebank’s impact. Take Hong Kong for example. Its changes have come about as a result of tradeoffensive. The purpose has been to flood western market with low price goods made bycapitalist methods of production. The example seems to indicate that some regions canprosper 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 andtaking 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 NewZealand, without being a New Zealander??

　　W: No, not everybody, only Australians and New Zealanders can exchange either. You knowyou 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 oftravels really. So from there I went to Indonesia, and travelled around the different islandsaround 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’srather 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 theothers. And it’s a great big shopping center an d I really enjoy it from that point of view. And itwas very clean.?

　　M: And after, you said you went what, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and then China? That’s agreat 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 vastcountry as China. I felt I didn’t have enough time, so I sacrifced a lot of places and did the maintourist 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 lotto 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 manyyears ago. As early as 16th century, there were Jewish families there. They have theirsynagogue and five books of Masses. Even today several hundred descendants of the originalJews 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 theYellow River. In this sense, Yinchuan has a favorable geographical posit on in otherwise harshsurroundings.?

　　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 thecity there are famous mosques in the architectural style of Middle East. It’s really a place worthvisiting. 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 anywhereso 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 youwere on the move alone for months and months ,and suddenly you’re here ,and not travelingany more. How does it feel??

　　W: I was ready to stop anyway. You get pretty sick, wearing the same clothes, and washingthem in the different hotels. I never stay in the same place for longer than two days. And sinceI was ready to stop, I don’t think I could keep doing it. I mean I’ve met people who’ve beentravelling 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 BrianNielsen here on August 21 in the heavy weight’s first fight since his release from jail. Theformer World Heavy Weight champion was released on Monday after 4 months behind bars foran assault in the wake of a traffic accident last August. His deal with Showtime makes anAugust come back likely. “August 21st is certainly a day we’re looking at,” Showtime boarddirector, James Lock en s said , “Hopefully in the next few days we’ll have somethingconcrete”. Nevada boxing officials revoked Tyson’s license for more than a year after he bitEvander Holyfield’s ear off in June 1997. But they plan no action on Tyson because the licensethey granted him to fight doesn’t expire until the end of the year. That came before the assaultcharge 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 formerpresident John F. Kennedy, and is expected to release them once the review is complete, theWhite House said on Monday. The documents which the Russians gave the United States onSunday would be of particular interest because Kennedy’s assassin Lee Harvey Oswald lived inthe former Soviet Union for several years before he returned to the United States, and wasarrested for killing t he former president on November 22, 1963. Russian President Boris Yeltsinsurprised US president Bill Clinton on Sunday when he turned over what was described a s theresult of exhaustive search of Russian government, military and private archives for papersabout 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, asbusiness conditions have improved in the last month Figures indicate that from March to Maythis year, the size of the labor force was provisionally at 3,469,000, while the number of theunemployed people stood at 216,000. The number of cases of insolvency, sensationalbusinesses and retrenchment, and numbers of workers affected these cases as recorded bythe Labor Department have shown a declining trend in recent months. From March to May1999, 78 such cases involving 3,882 workers were recorded as compared 93 cases affecting5,220 workers for the 3 months from December 1998 to February 1999. Figures for the periodfrom March to May 1999 when compared with those from February to April 1999 show anincrease in the unemployment rate, mainly in renovation, maintenance, whole sale, and retailand transport sectors, which offset the decrease in construction, import and export andfinancing sectors ??

　　SECTION D NOTE-TAKING AND GAP-FILLING?

　　The Press Conference?

　　Press conferences are an all too familiar phenomena around us. However, when people startthinking about its advantages, it sometimes seems difficult to think of any that pressconference provides for the competent news reporter. Use of the press conference by publicofficials and private entrepreneurs help give rise to the phrase “pseudo-event”, and the eventcontrived 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 symbolicnature of the event. And perhaps this is reasoned enough to continue the practice. At a pressconference, a public official supposedly submits to examination by responding to unsolicitedand perhaps hostile questions. A related advantage to the reporter is that press conferenceoffers an opportunity to get the public official on the record, with regard to the governmentpolicies. Stat ements from the press conference can serve as criteria against subsequentstatements and policies are measured. In that regard, press conference information may beused 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, anearthquake, or the nomination of a new government minister, the press conference offersbenefits of efficiency in that officials can speak to a number of reporters at once on the issueof public concern and interest. The press conference may be at its best in this almost one-wayformat.?

　　Now let’s move on to the disadvantages. And there are serious ones. Generally speaking, thepress conference format, as it stands, makes it difficult for t he reporters to get worthwhileinformation. At press conference, particularly a large one, the well-prepared reporter maynever 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, thenews provider. The news source generally decides who asks the questions, determines thelength of the answers, and can avoid any follow-up question and rephrase tough questions t ohis or her liking, and sets the time, place and duration of the interview. Press conferencestelevise live for the news audience, sometimes only highlights the disadvantages for the newsreporters since there is little or no time to challenge, clarify or place context materialsprovided by the news source. Despite these disadvantages and others inherent how reportersget information, t he dews reporter can help assure the worthwhile information from a newssource in share with the news audience. One way to reduce the likely heard of errors is to usemultiple forms of interviewing by telephone, in person, and press conferences as well asmultiple sources, common to the success of these approaches, how ever, are suchinterrelated ingredient as the preparation of the news reporter, the component of the newssource and nature of the questions asked.?

　　Let’s look at the preparation first. The nature of much news coverage re quires news reportersto be well-read on contemporary events. Like other professionals and craftsmen, the reportermust keep up to date on journalistic subject matter, that is the human condition. Although thesubject 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 aninterview includes giving some thought to the competence of the news source. Therelationships between news reporters and news sources would benefit the news audiencemore, if reporters would frequently ask themselves: What is this news resource competent totalk about? What can this person tell the news audience that few others can? Towards thecaution regarding the issue of competence, first, the reporter should not take for grantedthat, because of position or experience, the news source should know, does know, and canprovide information. Second, the competence of t he news source needs to be linked with thenews-gathering-methods. Let’s just spend a few minutes on the first point. There are generally4 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 havethe 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, maylie to avoid sharing information. Last, t he source may be willing to share this information butunable to recall it.?

　　Now in addition to preparation of the reporter and competence of the news source, there isone more important ingredient in successful news coverage, that is ,the nature of questionsasked. It is generally agreed that the nature of the question can shape the nature of theanswer. General questions like “Are you for market economy” may lead to the respondentsaying virtually anything, and s till being rather vague. On the other hand, a too narrowquestion may limit the respondent to one particular answer only. In order to gatherinformation from news sources as accurately as possible, reporters can improve the questionin the following 5 ways. Firstly, avoid words wit h double meanings. Secondly, avoid longquestions. 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 immediateand recent experience rather than in generalities. Finally, either make explicit all the alternativethe respondent should have in mind when answering the question or make none of themexplicit. Do not leave the news resource by suggesting a desired answer and not mentioningother alternatives.?

　　OK, to sum up, today’s lecture has covered some of the advantages and disadvantages of thepress conference, and three important factors and successful news coverage. In our nextlecture, we will continue to discuss how to become a competent news reporter.?

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