2012年英语专业八级考试听力真题（附mp3及答案）

听力原文

　　Part 1, Listening Comprehension

　　SECTION A MINI-LECTURE

　　Observing Behaviour

　　Good morning, everyone. Today we will look at how to observe behaviour in research.Perhaps you would say it is easy and there is nothing extraordinary. Yes, you may be right. Allof us observe behaviour every day. For example, when traveling in another country, we canavoid embarrassment by observing how people behave in that culture. And failing to beobserving while walking or driving can be life-threatening.

　　We learn by observing people's behaviour. Researchers too rely on their observations tolearn about behaviour,but there are differences. For instance, when we observe casually, wemay not be aware of factors that bias our observations, and, [1] and when we rarely keepformal records of our observations. Instead, we rely on our memory of events. [2]Observationsin research on the other hand are made under precisely defined conditions, that is, in asystematic and objective manner, and with careful record keeping.

　　Then how are we going to conduct observations in our research studies, and what do weneed to do in order to make a scientific and objective observation? Now, as you remember,the primary goal of observation is to describe behaviour, but it is in reality impossible toobserve and describe all of a person's behaviour. So we have to rely on observing samples ofpeople's behaviour. Doing so, we must decide whether the samples represent people's usualbehaviour. Thus, we will first take a brief look at how researchers select samples of behaviour.

　　Before conducting an observational study, researchers must make a number of importantdecisions, that's about when and where observations will be made. As I've said before, theresearcher cannot observe all behaviour. Only certain behaviours occurring at particulartimes, in specific settings can be observed. In other words, behaviour must be sampled. In thislecture, I will briefly introduce two kinds of sampling, that is, time sampling and situationsampling.

　　Now first, time sampling. Time sampling means that researchers choose various timeintervals for their observation. Intervals may be selected systematically or randomly. Supposewe want to observe students' classroom behaviour. Then in systematic time sampling, ourobservations might be made during five 20-minute periods, beginning every hour. The firstobservation period could begin at 9 am, the second at 10 am and so forth. [3]However, inrandom sampling, these five 20-minute periods may be distributed randomly over the courseof the day. That is to say, intervals between observation periods could vary—some longerothers shorter. One point I'd like to make is systematic and random time sampling are notalways used in isolation. They are often combined in studies. For example, while observationintervals are scheduled systematically, observations within an interval are made at randomtimes. That means the researcher might decide to observe only during 15-second intervals thatare randomly distributed within each 20-minute period.

　　[4]Now let's come to situation sampling. Then, what is situation sampling? It involvesstudying behaviour in different locations and under different circumstances and conditions. Bysampling as many different situations as possible researchers can reduce the chance that theirobservation results will be peculiar to a certain set of circumstances and conditions. [5]Why?Because people or for that manner animals do not behave in exactly the same way across allsituations. For example, children do not always behave the same way with one parent as theydo with the other parent, and animals do not behave the same way in zoos as they do in thewild. [6]So, by sampling different situations, a researcher can make more objectiveobservations than he would in only a specific situation.

　　[7]Having discussed ways to sample behaviour in research, we are now moving ontoanother issue, that is, what researchers should do to record behaviour as it occurs, that iswhether researchers are active or passive in recording behaviour. This refers to the methodsof observation. Observational methods can be classified as “observation with intervention”or “observation without intervention”. Observation with intervention can be made in at leasttwo ways, participant observation and field experiment. In participant observation,observers, that is researchers, play a dual role: They observe people's behaviour and theyparticipate actively in the situation they are observing. If individuals who are being observedknow that the observer is present to collect information about their behaviour, this isundisguised participant observation. But in disguised participant observation, those whoare being observed do not know that they are being observed.

　　[8]Another method of observation with intervention is field experiment. What is a fieldexperiment? When an observer controls one or more conditions in a natural setting in order todetermine the effect on behaviour, this procedure is called field experiment. The fieldexperiment represents the most extreme form of intervention in observational methods. Theessential difference between field experiments and other observational methods is thatresearchers have more control in field experiments.

　　Now let's take a look at observation without intervention. [9]Observation withoutintervention is also called naturalistic observation because its main purpose is to describebehaviour as it normally occurs, that is, in a natural setting, [10] without any attempt by theobserver to intervene. An observer using this method of observation acts as a passiverecorder of what occurs. The events occur naturally and are not controlled by the observer.

　　OK, in today's lecture, we have focused on how to make decisions of sampling beforebeginning our observation, and what we can do during observation. I hope what we'vediscussed will help you in your future research design.

　　SECTION B INTERVIEW

　　M: People often wonder how the human brain creates, for example, a beautiful painting, asculpture or even a delicious dinner. Today we are honoured to have Dr. Nancy Andreasen, aneuroscientist at the University of Iowa on our talk show. Dr. Andreasen has recently written abook called The Creating Brain: The Neuroscience of Genius. In her book, she tackles thequestionand tries to look into the brain behind creativity.

　　M: Dr. Andreasen, thanks for coming on our show.

　　W: Pleasure.

　　M: Now, Dr. Andreasen can we start with the question “What is creativity?”

　　W: Well, creativity can be saying as a process. This process starts with a person, for examplean artist, musician, inventor or even someone who's trying to figure out a better way of doinga task at work or at home. [1]That person must think about the problem or, or their project ina novel way and then come up with a solution.

　　M: Hmm, I see. But how long will it take for the person to find a solution as it were?

　　W: Well, it depends. [12]The creative process can go by in a flash or it can take years. But theend result is invariably the production of something new and useful, such as the automobile,or something beautiful and artistic, such as a painting by Vincent van Gogh.

　　M: Hmm, Dr. Andreasen, then do you think the ability to be creative is inborn or not?W: Well,no one knows yet if the ability to be creative, for example the ability to produce a hauntingsymphony is the result of the environment or a genetic makeup that allows people to becreative more easily. [2]However, creativity does seem to run in certain families.

　　M: Is that so?

　　W: Yes. You see, [2] Johann Sebastian Bach was the most famous member of the Bach family,but there were 20 other eminent musicians who came from the same family.

　　M: That's very interesting. Now Dr. Andreasen,we've so far been talking about those famouscreative people like van Gogh or Bach who have produced great pieces of work. Does thatmean that creativity only resides in great people?

　　W: No, certainly not. Creativity is not limited, I mean, to the masterpiece work of art

　　but can also be found in everyday tasks such as cooking or gardening.

　　M: Oh, really?

　　W: For example, a cook changes a recipe or even makes one up using ingredients he or shehas on hand to produce a new one. He is in fact using the creative process to create noveltaste sensations.

　　M: So can we say both famous and ordinary people can be creative?

　　W: Yes.

　　M: Now Dr. Andreasen, can you describe to us what the actual creative process is?

　　W: OK. Uh, [3] artists, musicians and writers often describe periods during which they'rerelying on ordinary creativity. For example, you know writers can spend hours at the keyboardputting thoughts together – this process is similar to the way people put together novel ideaswhen talking. And and many great artists also describe a dream-like state during which asymphony, a poem or the idea for the ending of a play comes to them in a flash.

　　M: So what's going on in the brain during a flash of inspiration?

　　W: Well, for the moment no one knows for sure, but but researchers suggest that creativepeople often slip into a zone in which ideas, uh, and thoughts come up freely in a sort ofdisorganized way. During that state a part of the brain becomes very active. And that brainregion is known to be able to link up ideas or or thoughts in potentially novel ways.

　　M: I see. Another question, do you think there is a creative personality?

　　W: Well, perhaps we can put it this way. Gifted people in the arts or science tend to enjoyadventure. They often like to explore new places or ideas. Uh, [4] they don't like beinghemmed in by rules or convention and,and they often look at problems from a different angle.Another point is,is they often have to move doggedly ahead on a project -- even when theoutside world rejects their art or new ideas.

　　M: Dr. Andreasen, what about the role of the environment in the creative process?

　　W: Environment does play a role. You see there have been hotbeds of creativity throughouthistory. For example, the city of Florence during the Renaissance period was home to bothLeonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. Both men in fact came from families that didn't especiallyvalue creativity,yet someone noticed a spark of talent in them and both got the training andfinancial backing to produce extraordinary pieces of art.

　　M: Uh,[5] since the environment helps in the creative process, are there ways for people tobuild a better, more creative brain?

　　W: Well, [5] I suggest that you spend 30 minutes a day on a creativity workout.

　　M: Oh, could you say a bit more about that?

　　W: Yes, you do three things. First, explore an unfamiliar area of knowledge. For example,people who use a lot of math on the job should sign up for a painting class.

　　M: And the second?

　　W: The second is, spend time each day thinking. This means that you don't censor yourthoughts, but allow your mind to go freely to a problem and see what kind of solutions or ideascome up.

　　M: Next thing?

　　W: That is, practice the art of paying attention. Look for and really observe a person,an objector something in your daily commute that you hadn't noticed before. Try describing or drawingthat object in a journal or sketchbook.

　　M: I hope that your advice will help people to train their brain to be creative. OK, thank youvery much Dr. Andreasen for talking on the show.

　　W: Not at all.

　　SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST

　　News 1:

　　NASA astronauts successfully installed a new ammonia pump on the International SpaceStation Monday during their third spacewalk to make the emergency repairs. The astronauts donot yet know whether their efforts were enough to restore the space station's cooling systemto full capacity. It took three spacewalks totaling more than 22 hours, but astronauts DougWheelock and Tracy Caldwell Dyson managed to move the 350-kilogram replacement pumpinto position. They tightened bolts and made connections so ammonia could flow into themodule. NASA called the success “a big step in the right direction.”[6] The space station'scooling system has been running at half capacity for more than two weeks. On July 31, anammonia pump failed. Another module continued to pump coolant through a separate loop,but astronauts had to power down non-essential equipment to prevent overheating. Thespace station's deputy program manager, Kirk Shireman, said [6] the team did anoutstanding job coping with what he called “a major malfunction.”

　　News 2:

　　[8] Pediatricians from the U.S. University have taken a look at one measure of children's wellbeing in Egypt, the Philippines and India --- the extent to which children are subject to corporalpunishment and abuse. The data reveal interesting cultural differences about what seems tobe acceptable when it comes to physically disciplining children.” Among the things we learnedfor instance was that in India, slapping a child in the face or head is more common thanspanking them,” the researchers say. “And in Egypt, 25 percent of the mothers said that theyhad beaten their child up, which was defined as hitting them over and over again with a closedfist.”[7] “And then the other interesting things were, like the Philippines, the rate of tellingpeople that evil spirits was going to get them, the kind of emotional, kind of threatening tolock them out of the home, was very high.”[8] However, despite the differences in punishmentmethods, some notable similarities have been found. For example, the education level ofmothers impacted how often they resorted to physical discipline. The more years of education,the lower the rate of harsh physical punishment in kids.

　　News 3:

　　Officials say Japan lost its place as the world's No. 2 Economy to China in the second quarter,as the island nation's economic growth slowed to a crawl. [9] Japan's Cabinet Office saidMonday that gross domestic product rose an annualized 0.4 percent in the three monthsended June 3, compared with a revised 4.4 percent expansion in the first quarter. [10]Monday's report said export growth slowed and consumer spending stalled. The expansionwas weaker than economists estimated, with their predictions ranging from 0.6 percent to 3.4percent. Analysts say China's economy will almost certainly be bigger than Japan's at the end ofthe year, because of the big difference in each country's growth rates. China is growing atabout 10 percent per year, while Japan's economy is forecast to grow three percent this year.

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