Section 1: Listening Test

Part A: Spot Dictation

　　Good morning. The discussion topic for today’s seminar is “Homelessness in America.” In the United States, homelessness had grown at a dramatic rate during the last decade. Estimates of the number of Americans currently without a permanent home vary wildly. Advocacy groups like the National Coalition for the Homeless say that close to 3 million Americans live on the streets or in emergency and temporary shelters. The US department concerned puts the figure at 350,000. Yet both bureaucrats and advocates agree on one point, that is, the face of homelessness has changed radically in the past 10 years, as more and more low-income housing is mowed down in the name of progress. Some 20 years ago, the typical "street person" was a white male who suffered from a mental illness or an addiction to drugs or alcohol. Today's homeless, however, are a more eclectic group. More than 60 percent of the homeless today are Black, mostly single mothers with small children. More than half of them have never been homeless before. In many cases, they have been evicted from their homes, or the low-income housing in which they lived was demolished or burned down. About 60 percent of all homeless people live on some form of public assistance with an average monthly income of 450 dollars. About 20 percent are mentally ill.

　　All sorts of people have been pushed out of the housing market because of the critical shortage of affordable places to live. As a result, homelessness has climbed to the top of the "me-generation's" short list of social concerns. But there is a great gap between concern and active involvement in the effort to solve this growing problem. For many people, the inaction is due to ignorance, not indifference.

　　The fact is that there are many ways in which individuals can help the homeless. Yet for those people truly interested in the cause, one of the first steps is to get to know the homeless and understand how they became that way. Many advocates believe that it is important for middle-class people to get to know and reach out to the homeless and bridge the gap that exists. (359)

Part B: Listening Comprehension

Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following conversation.

(Woman) John, I’ve got to use your advice. You have been a builder for many years, haven’t you?

(Man) Well, that’s true. How can I help you?

W:  The other day I was reading a book about roofs, and I got very confused. You see, I think I may have some repairs done on my roof, and I went to the library and borrow that book on roofs. I was trying to understand the basic principles of roof construction. You know I have been interested in this kind of stuff ever since my retirement.

M: What’s wrong with your roof?

W: The trouble is in what I think they call trusses, spelt T R U S S E S, and that’s one of the terms that confuses me.

M: Well, a truss is a structure with straight pieces forming triangles to support a load. When properly designed, these pieces are placed only under tension and compression and do not bend.

W:  You mean a truss is a triangle structure that supports a load.

M:  That’s right.

W:  Also in the book I was reading, they talked about rises and spans.

M:  Well, the distance between the centers of support is called the span. Rise is the distance between the highest point and base of the structure. The top members of the truss are called upper chords, while the base members are the lower chords. It’s really very simple.

W: Well, it may be to you as a builder. It’s really too complicated to me. Anyway, I have one more question for you. How much weight must the truss support?

M: First of all, of course, its own weight. Then the roof covering. In addition, depending on the locality, the truss must be able to support the weight of snow and the pressure of wind in severe weather conditions.

W: Aren’t trusses used in bridges, too?

M:  Sure. Some suspension bridges?have very long spans, as long as over 6500 feet. By the way, the idea of the truss is a very old one. I read somewhere that, even in the Bronze Age, primitive men used trusses in their lake houses.

W:  Well, I think I’ll be able to understand what I read a little better now. I shall not worry about being overcharged by you builders.

M:  You must be kidding. You really shouldn’t. (394)

Question 1:

Why does the woman go and ask John for advice?

Question 2:

What has the woman done recently?

Question 3:

According to the man, what is a truss?

Question 4:

Where else can trusses be used for construction?

Question 5:

What is the man?

Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following news

BAMAKO，MALI

   Malians woke up to a state of emergency after Friday's assault on the Radisson Blu Hotel in the capital killed 20 people plus two assailants, according to a military commander.

   In addition to an American public health worker murdered in a terrorist raid on a luxury hotel in Mali's capital on Friday, the 19 dead included six Russians, three Chinese, two Belgians and an Israeli national.

   Two gunmen who conducted the assault died after Mali Special Forces entered the hotel. Mali troops, backed by French and U.S. Special Forces, conducted a seven-hour operation Friday that ended the violence and led to the rescue of 170 hotel guests and staff held hostage during the siege.

SANTA CRUZ，BRAZIL

　　A wave of toxic mud travelling down the Rio Doce river in Brazil from a collapsed dam has reached the Atlantic Ocean, amid concerns it will cause severe pollution. The waste has travelled more than 500km since the dam at an iron mine collapsed two weeks ago. The contaminated mud, tested by the water management authorities, was found to contain toxic substances like mercury, arsenic and chromium at levels exceeding human consumption levels.

   In an interview, Andres Ruchi, director of the Marine Biology school in Santa Cruz, said that mud could have a devastating impact on marine life when it reaches the sea. He said the area of sea near the mouth of the Rio Doce is a feeding and breeding location for many species of marine life including the threatened leatherback turtle, dolphins and whales.

TEXAS, UNITED STATES

   A security hole that could allow attackers to access users' personal data was inadvertently placed on Dell computers, the company has admitted. The hole represented a "profound security flaw" that could allow access to bank details and other personal data, experts said. Dell has issued guidance on removing the software that produced it.

   In a?statement released on Monday, Dell acknowledged the vulnerability and linked to a guide on permanently removing the software that caused it. "We became aware that a certificate (eDellRoot), installed on our PCs, unintentionally introduced security vulnerability. The certificate was implemented as part of a support tool and intended to make it faster and easier for our customers. Customer security and privacy is a top concern and priority for Dell; we deeply regret that this has happened and are taking steps to address it."

LEEDS, GREAT BRITAIN

　　Nearly 60 years ago, a crane was brought in to lift a huge computer 'capable of addition and subtraction' into the disused Eldon Chapel across from our Chemistry building. Today, think about all the things the little microchip in your phone can do.   

Microbubbles will be to drugs and manufacturing what microchips were to computing. In the near future, microbubbles will float through the human body to carry a drug to its target. And beyond medicine, you’ll see how very small mixtures will revolutionise some manufacturing processes. Then, what’s a microbubble?

　　Imagine a soap bubble that’s 100th the size of a human hair. It includes a gas core and a surrounding shell. Why would such a small bubble be useful? It already is. Microbubbles were developed in the 1990s to improve the clarity of ultrasound. They help measure blood flow in organs because their gas core reflects stronger ultrasound waves better than tissue does. Scientists started thinking, 'if these bubbles can safely travel around the human body, let’s get a drug to hitch a ride and be dropped off exactly where we want it to go.'

NEW YORK, UNITED STATES

　　Disney dragged down the Dow Jones industrial average Friday after the media and entertainment giant said ESPN lost 3 million subscribers in the last year.

　　Disney fell $3.54, or 3 percent, to $115.13, its biggest one-day loss since August. Late Wednesday, Disney disclosed that U.S. subscribers to its ESPN sports channel fell for the second year in a row, to 92 million as of Oct. 3, matching the lowest total since 2006. ESPN's subscriber totals had hovered around 100 million for years.

　　Disney has said that ESPN has lost subscribers, but investors appeared shaken by the size of the losses. Small but growing numbers of people are opting out of traditional cable TV bundles and buying smaller, less expensive groups of channels instead. Investors in media companies are worried about potential losses of subscribers and revenue. (727)

Question 6

How many people were reported to have been murdered in the Friday assault on the Radisson Blu Hotel?

Question 7

What is the consequence of the collapsed dam in Brail?

Question 8

What has Dell Company admitted about its computers on Monday?

Question 9

Which of the following is TRUE about microbubbles?

Questions 10

As was disclosed by Disney late Wednesday, what was its lowest subscriber total since 2006?

Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following interview

(Woman): Henry, they say that adolescence is the time when people begin to get most pressure from their peers. Do you think that's true?

(Man): What I've seen is that adolescence is the time when the pressure begins to shift from the family and the school to friends. I think it begins about eleven, but comes into full bloom at about thirteen, fourteen.

W: What actually happens then?

M: Well the first thing you see is that adolescents begin to make fashion statements. And certainly those ideas don't come from you. You can tell at a glance that they don't come from you! Like wearing baggy pants that look like they're falling down, and, you know, piercing their ears. My younger son began to ask if he could dye his hair blue.       

W: And what did you say?

M: We said when he was a little older he could make that decision, with the hope that that fad would have passed out of style.

W: OK, but where would you draw the line? I mean, you'd let him wear baggy pants, but would you let him dye his hair?

M: I think, in the end, I would. But not without a fight.

W: So, what other things happen?

M: Well, as the kids get older you start to lose them, because they're always talking on the phone, or talking online, or doing other things. Twitter, facebook and so on. Even when they're home -- they're in their room most of the time talking on the phone - and not just talking on the phone. They might be talking to one person on the phone and two other people online. And the only thing you know for sure is they're not talking to you!

W: Do you think this is all normal behavior? I mean, should you be trying to monitor it?            

M: I think both. It's healthy to develop your own values, your own tastes. But I also think that parents should be monitoring it. When it's a question of fashion, that's OK. Where you draw the line is when they're doing something dangerous, or illegal -- drugs, smoking, drinking.

W: Is there any advice you could give parents?

M: Well, one thing is to think back to your own experience as a teenager. I must say I find myself repeating the same annoying language my father used with me. I have to try to remember not to do that.

W: So how you talk to your kids is important.

M: Yes, and it's hard to watch your kids doing things you don't want them to do. For example, my kids are into video games, and I can't find any value whatsoever in these games. But I think that you don't have to like everything your kids do. As long as it's not dangerous or illegal. (475)

Question 11:

According to Henry, who would give the adolescents the most pressure?

Question 12.

The man mentioned several things that the adolescents would be doing. Which of the following is NOT one of them?

Question 13.

What happens when the kids are getting older?

Question 14.

When should parents draw the line towards their kids’ activities?

Question 15.

What advice does Henry give to parents?

Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following talk.

　　Everyone will become old and retire someday. So it’s never too soon for you to consider retirement decisions. If you're looking for insights into effective retirement decisions, one of the best things you can do is ask current retirees -- those who have already retired--what actions they took that they're most happy about and what they regret the most. They should have a lot of credibility, and their answers can give you compelling real-life examples of the consequences of good and bad decisions.

   When it comes to steps people were glad they took, here are some common survey responses, for example, living modestly, paying off their mortgage before retirement and staying with a job that offered a traditional defined-benefit pension plan.

   Moreover, our?surveys have found the following steps?to retirement happiness as reported by retirees: creating a retirement budget, making new friends, focusing on relationships with spouses, developing new hobbies or interests, and creating a vision for life in retirement.

   Many people are worried if they can live a decent life on their pensions once they retire. In essence, your finances are as important as your emotions and your physical health, and it's normal to feel stressed before retirement. But according to a survey done earlier this year, many retirees say once they've retired, they feel less stressed because they've figured out how to manage their finances.

Next, let's talk about some of the common regrets reported from our surveys:

* Our surveys?show that the top regret is starting to save for retirement too late and saving too little. This could be the result of not making retirement savings a priority, as reported by 81 percent of workers.

* Another?regret that people have is about their lack of savings. It is reported that more than one in five people say they'd rather "die early" than live without enough money for a comfortable retirement. That might boost your motivation to start saving!

* One survey reports that 49 percent, almost half of all respondents?wished they had retired earlier. On average, they wished they had retired four years earlier than they actually did.

* But another survey reports that more than two-thirds of middle-income boomer retirees say they?wish they had worked longer. These conflicting results show that you need to take this information with a large grain of salt.

* Let me provide you with a list of?these common regrets, many of which I heard myself from retirees while doing my research on retirement: not retiring sooner, not doing your financial homework, not making up with friends and family sooner, not planning for all that leisure time, not kicking a bad habit sooner, such as drinking and gambling, not taking Social Security at the best time, not traveling earlier and not taking better care of your health. Whew -- a tall order, but spot on.

* Other regrets include: retiring too early, expecting too much from Social Security, not having a spending plan and carrying too much debt.

     Here's an idea for the coming holiday season. The next time you're with your older relatives and friends who've already retired, ask them about their regrets as well as about the steps they're glad they took to prepare for retirement. Most people are happy to share their life experience if it helps those they care about. It might be a better use of your time than discussing politics or watching football on TV.

     Keep in mind that you might receive conflicting answers, or the answers may not have much relevance to you. You'll want to reflect on whether these insights make sense to you, and how they might confirm or change your plans. You have unique circumstances and life goals, and you'll reap the rewards or suffer the consequences of your decisions. (632)

Question 16:

How can one find insights into effective retirement decisions?

Question 17:

Which of the following is NOT a step to retirement happiness?

Question 18:

What is the top regret indicated by the retirement surveys?

Question 19:

According to the survey reports, what is the percentage of people who wished that they had retired earlier?

Question 20:

What conclusion can be drawn from the talk?

• 下一篇：1509中口資格證書第一階段考試