2014年英语专八真题听力原文

　　SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST

　　News 1:

　　An Italian cash-strapped budget airline, Wind Jet,has suspended all its flights, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded. At Rome airport, some200 Israeli nationals ─ who had been due to fly to Tel Aviv ─ spent the night at the terminal.Another five flights to destinations across Italy were cancelled as well. Further chaos isexpected as some 300,000 passengers across Italy have booked tickets with Wind Jet incoming weeks. Alitalia, Italy's national airline,says it will help Wind Jet passengers to findalternative flights, but only on payment of supplements.

　　News 2:

　　Researchers studying fossils from northern Kenya have identified a new species of humanthat lived two million years ago. The discoveries suggest that at least three distinct species ofhumans co-existed in Africa. The research has been published in the journal Nature.Anthropologists have discovered three human fossils that are between 1.78 and 1.95 millionyears old. The specimens are of a face and two jawbones with teeth. The discoveries back theview that a skull found in 1972 is of a separate species of human, known as Homorudolfensis. The skull was markedly differentto any others from that time. It had a relativelylarge brain and long flat face. But for 40 years the skull was the only example of the creatureand so it was impossible to say for sure whether the individual was an unusual specimen or amember of a new species. With the discovery of the three new fossils researchers can say withmore certainty that Homo rudolfensis really was a separate type of human that existedaround two million years ago alongside other species of humans.

　　News 3:

　　Picasso's Nude Woman in a Red Armchair was covered up at the Edinburgh Airport. The Airporthas reversed its decision to cover up a poster featuring a Picasso nude following complaints.The poster was advertising the Picasso and Modern British Art Exhibition at the ScottishNational Gallery of Modern Art. However, the airport decided to cover the image after severalcomplaints from passengers in international arrivals. After gallery chiefs branded the move"bizarre", the airport has backed down and removed the cover. John Leighton, director-general of the National Galleries of Scotland, said, "It is obviously bizarre that all kinds ofimages of women in various states of dress and undress can be used in contemporaryadvertising without comment, but somehow a painted nude by one of the world's most famousartists is found to be disturbing and has to be removed. "I hope that the public will come andsee the real thing, which is a joyous and affectionate portrait of one of Picasso's favoritemodels, an image that has been shown around the world." An Edinburgh Airport spokespersonsaid, "We have now reviewed our original decision and reinstated the image. And we are morethan happy to display the image in the terminal and we'd like to apologize, particularly to theexhibition organizers, for the confusion."

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