2008年英语专业八级考试听力真题（附mp3及答案）

2008年英语专业八级考试听力真题（附mp3及答案）

　　SECTION A MINI-LECTURE听力试题

　　In this section you will hear a mini-lecture. You willhear the lecture ONCE ONLY. While listening, takenotes on the important points. Your notes will not be marked, but you will need them tocomplete a gap-filling task after the mini-lecture. When the lecture is over, you will be given twominutes to check your notes, and another ten minutes to complete the gap-filling task onANSWER SHEET ONE. Use the blank sheet for note-taking.

　　The Popularity of English

　　I. Present status of English

　　A. English as a native/first language

　　B. English as a lingua franca: a language for communication among people

　　whose (1)______ are different

　　C. Number of people speaking English as a first or a second language:

　　— 320-380 million native speakers

　　— 250- (2) _____ million speakers of English as a second language

　　II. Reasons for the popular use of English

　　A. (3) ____ reasons

　　— the Pilgrim Fathers brought the language to America;

　　— British settlers brought the language to Australia;

　　— English was used as a means of control in (4)_____

　　B. Economic reasons

　　— spread of (5) _____

　　— language of communication iii the international business community

　　C. (6)______ in international travel

　　— use of English in travel and tourism

　　— signs in airports

　　— language of announcement

　　— language of (7) ______

　　D. Information exchange

　　— use of English in the academic world

　　— language of (8) _____ or journal articles

　　E. Popular culture

　　— pop music on (9)______

　　— films from the USA

　　III. Questions to think about

　　A. status of English in the future

　　B. (10) ______ of distinct varieties of English

　　SECTION A MINI-LECTURE听力原文

　　In this section you will hear a mini-lecture. You willhear the lecture ONCE ONLY while listening,takenotes on the important points. Your notes will not be marked, but you will need them tocomplete a gap-filling task after the mini-lecture. When the lecture is over, you will be given twominutes to check your notes, and another ten minutes to complete the gap-filling task onANSWER SHEET ONE. Use the blank sheet for note-taking.

　　Now listen to the mini-lecture

　　The Popularity of English

　　Good morning, every one. Today’s lecture is about the popularity of English. As we all know,English is widely used in the world. Although English is not the language with the largestnumber of native or first language speakers, it has really become a lingua franca. Then what is alingua franca? The term refers to a language which is widely adopted for communicationbetween two speakers whose native languages are different from each other’s, and where oneor both speakers are using it as a second language. For example, when an Indian talks to aSingaporean using English, then English is the lingua franca. Then actually how many peoplespeak English as either a first or a second language? Some researchers suggested a few yearsago that between 320-380 million people spoke English as a first language, and anywaybetween 250-350 million as a second language. And of course, if we include people who arelearning English as a foreign language all over the world, that number may increase dramatically.Then we may ask a question: how did English get there? That is, how did English gain thepresent status of popularity? There are in fact a number of interlocking reasons for thepopularity of English as a lingua franca. Many of the reasons are historical, but they alsoinclude economic and cultural factors that have influenced and sustained the spread of thelanguage. Let’s go through the reasons one by one.

　　First is the historical reason. This is related to the colonial history. As we know, when thePilgrim Fathers landed on the Massachusetts coast in 1620 after their journey from England,they brought with them not just a set of religious beliefs, a pioneering spirit or a desire forcolonization, but also their language. Although many years later, the Americans broke awayfrom their colonial master, the language of English remained and still does. It was the same inAustralia, too. When Commander Phillip planted the British flag in Sydney cove on the 26thJanuary, 1788, it was not just a bunch of British convicts on their guardians, but also alanguage. In other parts of the former British Empire, English rapidly became a unifying ordominating means of control. For example, it became a lingua franca in India or a variety ofindigenous languages made the use of any one of them as a whole country systemproblematic. So the imposition of English as the one language of administration helpsmaintain the colonizers’ control and power, thus English traveled around many parts of theworld in those days. And long after that colonial power has faded away, it is still widely used asa main or at least an institutional language in countries as far apart as Jamaica and Pakistan,Uganda and New Zealand. That is the first factor.

　　Now the second major factor in the spread of English has been the spread of commercethroughout the world. The spread of international commerce has taken English along with it.This is the 20th century phenomenon of globalization. Therefore, one of the first sights manytravelers see when arriving in countries as diverse as Brazil, China, for example, is the yellowtwin arch sign of MacDonald’s fast food restaurant or some other famous brands outlets Andwithout doubt, English is used as the language of communication in the international businesscommunity. in the international business community.

　　And the third factor related to the popular use of English is the booming international travel.And you will find that much travel and tourism is carried on around the world in English. Ofcourse this is not always the case, as the multi-lingualism of many tourism workers in manydifferent countries demonstrate. But a visit to most airports on the globe will show signs notonly in the language of that country but also with English, just as many airline announcementsbroadcast in English too, whatever the language of the country the airport is situated in.

　　So far, English is also the preferred language of air traffic control in many countries and is usedwidely in sea travel communication. Another factor has something to do with informationexchange around the world. As we all know, a great deal of academic discourse

　　around the world takes place in English. It is often a lingua franca of conferences,for example,and many journal articles in fields as diverse as astronomy, trio psychology and geology haveEnglish as a kind of default language.

　　The last factor I cite here concerns popular culture. In the western world, at least English is adominating language in popular culture. Pop music in English can be heard on many radios,thus many people who are not English speakers can sing words from their favorite Englishmedium songs. And many people who are regular cinema-goers or TV viewers can frequentlyhear English in subtitle films coming out of the USA.

　　Now, to sum up in today’s lecture, we have reviewed some of the reasons or factors that liebehind the popular use of English as the No. 1 world language. Before we finish, I'd like toleave a few questions for you to think about. Is the status of English as the No. 1 worldlanguage a sure in the future? Will it split into varieties that become less mutually intelligible?Or will some other language or languages take the place of English as world language in future?These questions are not easy to answer, I know. But they are definitely worth pondering overafter the lecture. Ok, this brings to the end of today’s lecture. Thank you for your attention.Now you have two minutes to check your notes. And then pleas

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