2012年6月英語四級聽力原文—短文

Part III Listening Comprehension

Section B

Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

Passage One

I first met Joe Gumps when we were both 9 years old, which is probably the only reason he is one of my best friends. If I had first met Joe as a freshman in high school, we wouldn’t even have had the chance to get to know each other. Joe is a day student, but I am a boarding student. We haven’t been in the same classes, sports or extra curriculum activities. Nonetheless, I spend nearly every weekend at his house, and we talk on the phone every night. This is not to say that we would not have been compatible if we had first met in our freshman year. Rather, we would not have been likely to spend enough time getting to know each other, due to the lack of immediately visible mutual interests.

In fact, to be honest, I struggle even now to think of things we have in common, but maybe that’s what makes us enjoy each other’s company so much. When I look at my friendship with Joe, I wonder how many people I’ve known whom I never disliked but simply didn’t take the time to get to know. Thanks to Joe, I have realized how little basis there is, for the social divisions that exist in every community. Since this realization, I have begun to make an even more determined effort to find friends in unexpected people and places.

Questions:

26. Why does the speaker say Joe Gumps become one of his best friends?

27. Where does the speaker spend most of his weekends?

28. What has the speaker learned from his friendship with Joe?

Passage 2

It was a bad night for Louis. His research in the neighboring town had taken longer than he expected. It was late and he was very tired when he drove home. He turned into his building’s parking lot, but all the spaces were full. He drove back out onto the street looking for a parking space. The first block was full. The next block was almost empty. Louis didn’t see a no-parking sign, but he suspected that if parking were allowed there, most of the spaces would be filled. Then he saw a small parking lot with two free spaces. He was so glad to see them that he didn’t even think to read the sign by the entrance. He drove in, parked, and hurried home to go to bed. The next morning he went back to the lot to get his car. It was gone. He ran home and telephoned the city police to say that his car had been stolen. It took the police only a minute to tell him what had happened. His car had been on a private lot. It had been taken away by the police. Louis had to take a taxi to the city garage far from the center of town. He had to pay a fee of $40 to get his car back. In addition, he got a parking ticket --- his first one ever in Greenville.

29. Where did Louis intend to park his car when he came back from work one night?

30. What did Louis think had happened to his car the next morning?

31. Where did Louis finally get his car back?

Passage 3

Well, to pick up where we left off last time, I believe we agreed the creativity is a mysterious idea. It's one of those things we all recognized when we see it. But we don't really understand what it is. We seem to feel that some people are naturally creative, but we don't know how they got that way. Is creativity a natural gift like good looks? Or is it something that can be acquired like knowledge? Perhaps if we analyze the creative process carefully, we might get some insight into what it is and how it might work in our lives. The creative process has always been accepted as a source of all important work in the arts. But we should not think the creativity play the role only in the arts. Every major scientific discovery began with someone imagining the world to look differently from the way others saw it. And this is what the creativity is all about. Imagining the world in a new way, and despite what you may believe about the limits of your own creative imaginations, we all have the potential to imagine the world in an absolute new way.

In fact, you were born with it. It is your birth right as a human being. And what's more, you use it every day almost every moment of your life. Your creative imagination is what you use to make sense of your experiences. It's your creative mind to get the meaning from the chaos of your experiences and brings order to your world.

32: What did the speaker most probably discuss last time?

33: What is a widely accepted idea about the creative process?

34: What leads to major scientific discoveries according to the speaker?

35: What does the speaker imply about the creative process?

點評（滬江網(wǎng)校）：

Passage One

本篇短文主要講述了作者和好朋友Joe之前的友誼。他們二人在9歲的時候就認識了，隨著時間的變化，兩個人的友誼也越來越牢固。作者在文章中反思，他之所以能和Joe有如此深厚的友誼是因為他們能夠有較長的時間相處，能夠充分了解彼此。而在現(xiàn)代社會，人們則很少有時間去了解他人。了解到問題所在，也讓作者更有決心去了解和結(jié)識更多的朋友。

這篇文章基本上沒有生僻的詞匯，以敘述為主。但是其中有幾個短語需要關(guān)注：day student：走讀學(xué)生;boarding student：寄宿學(xué)生;curriculum：課程;mutual：相互的;nevertheless：然而; thanks to：多虧了….。理解了這些詞，對聽力的整體理解會有提升。

Passage Two 本篇文章是一本有趣的小故事。Louis很晚開車回家，發(fā)現(xiàn)自己小區(qū)和附近路邊的停車位都滿了，所以他只能開車到隔壁的一個街區(qū)去停車。但是因為時間太晚，Louis都沒有仔細觀察停車位入口旁的標(biāo)識。第二天早上，Louis發(fā)現(xiàn)車子不見了。他以為車輛被盜所以報警。最后才發(fā)現(xiàn)，自己的車停到了別人私人車位上，被警察拖走了。Louis不得不開車到很遠的地方取車，而且還交了罰單。

這篇文章也很簡單，沒有出現(xiàn)太難的生詞。整個內(nèi)容就是一篇簡短的小故事，只要能抓住時間線索，整篇文章的結(jié)構(gòu)就很清楚了。

Passage Three

本篇文章講述了人類的創(chuàng)造力。大家都知道有創(chuàng)造力的存在，但是卻不知道創(chuàng)造力確切的是什么。文章中提出問題，創(chuàng)造力是與生俱來的還是后天習(xí)得的?最后文章得出結(jié)論，創(chuàng)造力是每個人都有的。它不僅僅在藝術(shù)領(lǐng)域有卓越的貢獻，其實在很多重要的科學(xué)發(fā)現(xiàn)中也扮演了重要角色。創(chuàng)造力可以幫助人們從一個全新的角度認知世界，認識自我。

這篇文章生詞不多，但是所談?wù)摰膬?nèi)容比較抽象。而且文章的第一句話，實際上是在提醒，這篇文章是接著前面的某個內(nèi)容進行深入。pick up在這里表示“重新開始”，第一句話就是說，接著上次的內(nèi)容繼續(xù)講。這一點是需要格外注意的。