1996年英语专业八级考试真题（附听力mp3及答案）

听力原文

SECTION A TALK

OK, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. In theprevious week we talked about different types ofpollution, and this week I want to focus on airpollution, air pollution caused by the car. It's wellknown that cars are the main cause of air pollutionin a city. This can mean up to 50% of some diseasesor even higher than 90 % of all air pollution are caused by the car. Obviously cars contributea great deal to the air pollution in our cities, and this will get worse as the number of carsincreases in the cities.

Firstly, I would like to talk about how cars cause air pollution. How does the car cause airpollution? Well, you are all familiar with internal combustion engine, there is a mixture ofpetrol which explodes, and the explosion that propels the car forward. Unfortunately, in thisprocess there are some poisonous chemicals made, and these poisonous chemicals mainlycome out of the back of the car through the exhaust.

Now it's not just what comes out of the car exhaust that is dangerous, the brakes also causepollution. The brakes in some cars give off asphaltum, and you know asphaltum is, is highlydangerous substance, and can kill us. And thirdly, the tyres themselves give off small rubberparticle which is not very good for health.

We need to find solutions to this problem. I'm going to talk about four possible solutions.Firstly, we could try and discourage the use of cars. We could do this by putting higher taxeson petrol, or we could make cars more expensive, we could put prices of cars up.

Secondly, we might encourage alternative methods of transport. For example, recently inShanghai, a new built supra-underground will take some of the pressure off the roads. Somepeople will use the underground rather than use cars.

In addition we could improve public transport, make it more comfortable, safer, more regularso that people will use the public transport rather than the car. Next, we could also use cleanerfuel rather than petrol. For example, we might use natural gas in the future or we mightexperiment battery cars.

And lastly, we could try mechanical means for reducing the amount of chemicals that areemitted, which comes out of the cars' the exhaust pipe. We could fix things called "absoluteconverters" for exhaust pipe. It's something, it's a device which is seated over the exhaust,which controls the carbon amount of minor primer, which reduces the amount of dangerouschemical that cars give off. Now, it's unlikely that any one of these solutions will work on itsown. I'm pretty sure that it will take a combination of all four of these solutions to solve thisproblem.

SECTION B INTERVIEW

Interviewer: So, you are an architect?

Interviewee: Yes.

Interviewer: Do you work for a public or private organization, or are you self-employed, that is,working on your own?

Interviewee: I'm working for a private design and construction company.

Interviewer: How did you start your career?

Interviewee: I started it with the government.

Interviewer: Oh, did you? What made you decide to work for the government?

Interviewee: Well, it was a matter of chance really. I saw an advertisement for a vacant positionin a newspaper, and I thought "Why don't you try it?" In fact, I have no preferences to where Iwork, public or private.

Interviewer; And do you still have this idea, or ...

Interviewee: More or less. Yes. Although I'm now working for a private firm. I worked for thegovernment for about three years. It was all right. Of course, there is the bureaucracy onehas to put up with, but that's not that bad, if you don't mind bureaucratic wheels turningslowly, and things not being as efficient.

Interviewer: Ah-ah. And what made you leave the public sector?

Interviewee: Money mainly. You see, I got married, and my wife doesn't work, and we wanted tostart a family right away. So we thought it might be better if I moved to the private sector. Thisis why it's hard for me to be self-employed because self-employed work has the disadvantagethat there may be time, or a period of time when you are unemployed.

Interviewer: I see, so, did you join this company straight away or ...

Interviewee: No, I worked for ..., in a couple of private firms before I came to this one.

Interviewer: Hmm ... hmm. Now, what qualifications does one have to have to become anarchitect?

Interviewee: Well, you've got to have a degree in architecture. That means before you apply tostudy architecture in any university you have to pass exams. Usually 3A levels with goodresults. Also you generally have to study sciences at school rather than arts ... as the basis forthe subject to be studied at university level. Although when you really get down to it, thesubject involves some aspects of arts too. Then you need between six and seven years to workthrough, by the end of which you usually sit for the final examination.

Interviewer: So, you mean to take up architecture, one has to have a scientific background?

Interviewee: Well, yes, mainly scientific, but it helps if you have some general arts backgroundtoo. You know, architecture is not a pure science.

Interviewer: Now, if one wants to take up architecture, one has got to be able to draw? Is thatreally true?

Interviewee: Well, it is true that the work of an architect involves a lot of drawing, and to be anarchitect you must be able to draw. But this doesn't mean that if you can't at present draw,you won't have the opportunity to be an architect, because you can be taught to draw. Infact, drawing in architecture is different from drawing in art. An artist's drawing must be good ina sense that it gives a certain impression in the mind of the viewer, in fact, some famousartists can't draw very well at all, at least not from the technical point of view. On the otherhand, architect's drawing must be accurate. So, I'd say that accuracy of the drawings is whatwe aim at, what's important.

Interviewer; Now what qualities do you think make a good architect, apart from the accuracyin his drawings?

Interviewee: Well, I'm not sure if I can generalize about that. You see architecture is a mixtureof theory and practice. So I suppose a good architect should be good at both. An architect'swork is good in as much as the construction is built precisely as the theory requires, so that itdoesn't collapse or can't be used after a period of time because it's dangerous. I don't mean awell-built construction will last forever, but it's predictable that if the building is constructedin a certain way, or with certain materials, we can say how long it will last, provided there's noother factor.

Interviewer: Such as?

Interviewee; Er, for example, an earthquake or if the ground level sinks which may destroy it,so that's one part of being a good architect — to design a construction which is attractiveand will last a long time.

Interviewer: Right. So that's the theory side. Now, what about the practical aspect?

Interviewee: Yes, the practical side concerns, I'd say, the use of the construction you design.If you design a house, the people who live in later on, must be happy as living in it. Er, a collegestudent shouldn't think to himself. Oh, I'd rather be study, I'd rather study in the library. Mybedroom is too cold because the ceiling seems to be too high, and the windows too big. Orsay, when somebody is cooking in the kitchen, the smell of the food shouldn't disturbsomebody who's still in bed. The bathroom should be situated for everyone's convenience,but while it's being used, the noise shouldn't disturb anyone. So you see these practical thingswhich give you comfort apart from serving the purpose of the construction whatever it maybe — a school, a hospital, a hotel and so on ...

SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST

News Item One (For Questions 11—12)

A man who fired three shots into a crowded birthday party killing one man and wounding twoother people has been sentenced to six years in prison. 36-year-old Mark Eastwood was incourt for sentencing today after a jury had found him guilty of manslaughter, but not guilty ofmurder.

Mark Eastwood snapped after being kept awake for four successive nights by noisy partiesyards away from his home. He took a loaded revolver and fired three shots through the windowof a house in the southwestern part of the city. A 25-year-old man at the party died after beinghit in the head, two other people were seriously wounded.

The court was told that Eastwood had a lengthy criminal record for dishonesty and he waskeeping a gun without a license. Sentencing him to six years in prison, Mr Justice Dawson said, "No one must be allowed to kill innocent people and not be severely punished."

News Item Two (For Questions 13—15)

A 23-day search operation that begins Thursday will include 84 Americans and their Vietnamesecounterparts split in the eight teams. The spokesman for the operation said four of the teamsare currently in the midst of a dry season. The spokesmen said Vietnam turned over 67 sets ofremains which the Vietnamese believed to be of Americans last year, the most since it beganreturning such remains in the early 1980s. Vietnam first allowed American search teams into thecountry in 1988, and the first consisted of just three men. Vietnam has turned over hundredsof sets of remains since the end of the war in 1975. So far 280 such sets have been positivelyidentified as the remains of missing Americans. The remains are examined by forensicspecialists at a US military laboratory in Hawaii. The fates of more than 2200 Americanservicemen who are missing in southeast Asia remain unsolved. 1648 of those are listed asmissing in Vietnam or its waters. In an interview with the Associated Press, Major GeneralThomas Needham, the search operation commander said he was pleased with the progressbeing made to account for the missing men. He said he and his teams were allowed to gowherever they wished in Vietnam. General Needham said that he constantly pushed theVietnamese to find and hand over more documents about the missing men.

General Needham said that he didn't believe the Vietnamese government was holding backremains. However, he said some individuals who had come across remains were holding themback in the hope of being paid for them. The US does not pay for remains. In a relateddevelopment, the US military announced Wednesday that Admiral Charles Lawson, thecommander-in-chief of the Pacific will visit Vietnam beginning January 16. Admiral Lawson willvisit the American Missing-in-Action Office in Hanoi, discuss the issue with the Vietnameseofficials, and travel south to observe the excavations. Admiral Lawson will become the highestranking US military officer to visit Vietnam since the end of the War. Admiral Lawson's visit andextensive search come at a time when officials in Washington say the question of the US tradeembargo against Vietnam is under active review.

David Butler for VOA news, Bangkok.

SECTION D NOTE-TAKING AND GAP-FILLING

Today I'm going to consider very briefly a problem concerned with the competition for landuse. That is, that is, whether crops should be used to produce food or to ... should be used toproduce fuel. And um ... in considering this problem, I will look at three main areas: thehistorical background to the problem, the nature of the problems involved in, in thecompetition for land use, and some examples.

In considering the historical background, um ... we should look at the oil crisis of the 1970s.Due to the rapidly increase in ... in or the rapid, due to the rapid trend in increasing oil pricesleading to an energy crisis, many countries have looked for alternative, energy sources tomake them independent of other countries' fossil fuels. Examples of alternative energysources include such thing as solar power, the harnessing of wind, and the wind and waves,tides and also the production of biogas. Biogas is methane which is produced from human andanimal waste. A particularly interesting possibility for many developing countries has been theconversion of plant material to alcohol. This is interesting because in many developingcountries, there is a large agricultural sector and at the same time a small industrial sector. Andthus the possibility of using the agricultural sector to, to produce fuel is of interest to thosecountries.

Scientific research is going on in the production of alcohol, for example, from sugar. And thereare two economic reasons for this. First of all, the world price of sugar has fallen dramatically, orthe world price of sugar has fallen in very real terms in the last decade, which has caused theproblem for those economics which are dependent on their sugar production as it gives theman alternative possibility for using their sugar. And secondly, sugar is the most efficientsource of alcohol. Therefore, it is relatively economical to make fuel by distilling alcohol fromit.

In addition to sugar, there are other starchy plants that can be used to make alcohol. Forexample, in tropical countries, such plants as the cassava plant and the sweet potato are goodsources from which alcohol can be made. And in non-tropical countries, you have such thingsas corn and sugar beet. Now there is a problem arising from the fact that alcohol can bedistilled from starchy plants and that is, that many poor countries use precisely these starchyplants, or these starch-rich crops for their food as a staple diet. So in many such countries,there is ... there is a conflict, if you like, between the choices whether to produce these cropsfor fuel, or to produce these crops for food and for their use, as their staple diet.

It is in fact an economic problem rather than a technical problem as the poor farmers will tendto choose that which is more profitable. Indeed it is an economic problem, not, not necessarilya technological problem. The technology for the conversion of alcohol from starchy plants hasbeen in existence for over 40 years. And there are two ways of using alcohol as car fuel. Onesuch way is in the form of pure alcohol, and an example of this is in Brazil in a project calledthe Pro-Alcohol Project. And in Brazil cars are being produced to run on pure alcohol. A seconduse of alcohol as a car fuel is in a mixture of petrol, or with gasoline. In a mixture withgasoline, this produces a mixture called "gasohol". In Germany for example, they have anexperiment in which there, there is such a mixture of 85% petrol or 85% gas, 85% gasolineand 15% methanol. So if technology and conversion of engines are not a problem, then reallyit is a question of economics, and there are three main factors, which ...

专四专八精选好课 暖心助学

新东方好老师 手把手带学