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听力原文：M: Is this the time to get that great new job？ Is this the time to sell or buy a new home？ Well our financial contributor Mellody Hobson has consulted all the experts including herself and she's got some answers this morning, Mellody, Good morning.
W: Good morning.
M: All right, houses. Is it the time to buy or sell a house？
W: Well, actually, housing looks like it's going to be a bust. The housing sales for this month were down 1.7%. That's the second month in a row. And the markets headed for a correction or a drop in prices. And it's important to know that mortgage rates have been up, so that's one of the big reasons that it's slowing down buying. And on top of that the other big indicator mortgage applications are down. Actually last week mortgage applications hit a three-and-a-half-year low. So what does all this mean？ If you are a buyer, I think you are gonna find some bargains out there.
M: Ok! It is puzzled to both then by the middle of the year you really find bargains. All right, your jobs, is this gonna be the year to look for a new job because they're gonna be available or is this a year in which more people again will get laid off.
W: This is good news on the job front, in November 215,000 jobs were added, that's up from 44,000 in October. December looks good. Companies out there say they're planning to hire in the first quarter of this year and there are still jobs shortages in certain areas like finance, health care and construction.
M: Great to get some optimistic news. All right, Mellody, thanks again and have a great weekend.
(23)
A．There will be a boom in housing.
B．The house market will suffer depression.
C．The bank will exert positive influence on housing.
D．It will hit a three-and-a-half-year low.
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听力原文：M: I'm going to the museum this afternoon. There's a new exhibit of the unearthed bronze sword of the Hall Dynasty. Will you go together with me？
W: I'd love to, but I have to take a biochemistry exam tomorrow. It's a make-up, you know.
Q: What does the woman mean？
(14)
A．She will go to the museum with the man.
B．She likes the bronze sword very much.
C．She hopes the man can pass the exam the next day.
D．She can't go with the man for having an exam the next day.
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听力原文：W: David, listen to this: "Mr. Gray Smith, 80 years old, is making his first attempt to parachute this Wednesday. Mr. Smith said he had been looking forward to the jump for a long time."
M: Yes. Good for him.
W: I don't think it is a good idea for Mr. Smith.
M: Why not？
W: Because he is old. In my country, when a person is 80, he is supposed to stay at home and be taken care of
M: Really？ I think Mr. Smith can do whatever he wants as long as he knows how to do it well and he is sure be is safe.
W: I agree with you there.
(20)
A．To join in the sport games
B．To have a parachute jump
C．To travel around the world
D．To practicing diving
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听力原文：M: Turn your head a little bit leftward and look straight to this direction．Get relaxed and you look great posing like that．Shall I press the shutter？
W: Give me a second．I'd like to put on a little bit of lipstick．
Q: What are the speakers doing？
(19)
A．Choosing cosmetics.
B．Taking photos.
C．Doing hairstyle.
D．Playing a game.
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听力原文：Woman: Welcome to this week's book programme. We've got lots of great new books to tell you about.
My life, by Joe Wrigley, will keep all fans of Joe's stories happy for hours. It explains a lot about where his ideas come from and gives a picture of what was happening in his life when he was working on his most successful books. I must say, though, that some of it is difficult to understand if you haven't read his other books.
Now, for those of you who like a good cry, Goodbye to the fields, by Susan Marks, tells the sad story of John, a small boy who has to leave the countryside he loves when the family move to London because of his father's job. John and his mother would prefer to stay where they are. It's a long time before the family begins to feel comfortable living in the big city.
There are plenty of books with helpful advice this week. First, the A-Z of photography would make a great present for anyone just starting out with a camera. It has everything you need to know to take really good photos, and learn about cameras, film, lighting and so on. This is not one for the experienced photographer, though — there's not much advanced information here.
Turning to the kitchen, Cooking for one, by Adrian White, says on its cover that even people who hate cooking will find it useful. A month ago, I couldn't even boil an egg, but now I'm producing all sorts of dishes, some quite difficult, and, yes, they taste quite good, too. I'rn actually enjoying cooking now. I'm now going to try a new book about cooking Italian food.
The last book this week is Holidays in Europe, by Mary Curtis. This is an enjoyable read, which will start your imagination working as you plan for next year's holiday. It doesn't matter that the writer doesn't talk about the famous places everyone visits, but describes lots of small places away from the main tourist areas. The maps are too small to be useful but the book is still good value for money.
That's it for this week, then. Next week, there's a special report on giving books as presents, so if you've saved up your money and you're wondering what to get for a friend or relation for their birthdays, you might get some good ideas. I'll look forward to talking to you then.
To really understand My life you need to
A．read it very slowly.
B．know about the writer's life.
C．read the writer's other books.
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听力原文： The Titanic, with 2, 300 passengers aboard, was on its first voyage from Southampton to New York. It was 11:40 p. m. on April 14th 1912 and the sea was calm. Suddenly the look-out man saw the enormous iceberg. "Iceberg ahead ! "he shouted.
Immediately the ship turned, but not soon enough. The iceberg tore a 300-foot hole in the hull and water began to pour in. At first the captain didn't worry because the ship was said to be" unsinkable". Then the ship began to lean. At 12:05 the captain gave the order" Uncover the lifeboats" !
The Wireless operator sent out an SOS signal. Six ships began to race towards the Titanic. But the two ships who were closest did not hear the desperate calls for help.
At two a. m. the captain gave the order"Abandon ship!"A few minutes later the Titanic began to slip beneath the surface. One by one the last passengers jumped into the sea. Then the stern rose up in the air and the Titanic sank quickly out of sight.
At dawn the next morning a rescue boat picked up 705 survivors from the lifeboats. Most of them were first and second class passengers. All their children survived. Of the children who traveled third class, only a third survived.
Where was the destination of Titanic？
A．Southampton.
B．New York.
C．London.
D．Paris.
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听力原文：M: This shirt is a bit too small. Have you got a bigger size？F: Er… I'm afraid we are out of them now. Could you look in again tomorrow？
What do we know from the talk？
A．The man is looking for a smaller shirt.
B．It's time for the shop to close.
C．Bigger shirts may arrive the next day.
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听力原文：If you are asking for someone to translate this document, I think the new secretary, who is bilingual, can do the job hand over fist.
(23)
A．No one in this office is willing to do the translation except yourself.
B．The new secretary will ask someone to fix the date for you.
C．The new secretary can type and hand in the document for you.
D．The secretary is an able person to help you with the translation.
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听力原文：M: That suitcase looks very heavy, Mrs White. Would you like me to carry it for you？
W: No, it's quite all right. I can manage. Thank you for offering, though.
Q: How does Mrs Smith respond？
(13)
A．She says she doesn't mind if the man carries the case.
B．She is angry when the man offers to carry the case.
C．She refuses the help.
D．She thanks the man and accepts his offer.
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听力原文：M: That suitcase looks very heavy, Mrs White. Would you like mc to carry it for you？
W: No, it's quite all right. I can manage. Thank you for offering, though.
Q: How does Mrs White respond？
(13)
A．She says she doesn't mind if the man carries the case.
B．She is angry when the man offers to carry the case.
C．She refuses the help.
D．She thanks the man and accepts his offer.
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听力原文：M: Hello, Mr. Smith. You look rather tired this morning. Did you have a difficult journey back from Scotland？
W: Well, the business trip was successful but the train arrived four hours late and I didn't go to bed until four o'clock.
Q: Which of the following statements is not true？
(3)
A．His train was delayed.
B．The man's business trip was successful.
C．His journey back form. Scotland took him four hours.
D．He had little sleep last night.
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听力原文：M: If I'd only looked earlier, I could have found a nearer apartment for less money.
W: Yes, now that all the students are returning, the only apartments left are distant and expensive.
What is the man's problem？
A．He doesn't like his neighbor．
B．He is dissatisfied with the present apartment．
C．He lived in a near and cheap apartment．
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听力原文： Lecturer: In the last lecture, we looked...
听力原文： Lecturer: In the last lecture, we looked at the adverse effects of desert dust on global climate. Today we're going to examine more closely what causes dust storms and what other effects they can have. As you know, dust storms have always been a feature of desert climates, but what we want to focus on today is the extent to which human activity is causing them. And it is this trend that I want to look at, because it has wide-ranging implications. So, what are these human activities？ Well, there are two main types that affect the wind erosion process, and thus the frequency of dust storms. There are activities that break up naturally wind-resistant surfaces such as off-road vehicle use and construction and there are those that remove protective vegetation cover from soils, for example, mainly farming and drainage. In many cases the two effects occur simultaneously which adds to the problem.
Let's look at some real examples and see what I'm talking about. Perhaps the best-known example of agricultural impact on desert dust is the creation of the USA's 'dust bowl' in the 1930s. The dramatic rise in the number of dust storms during the latter part of that decade was the result of farmers' mismanaging their land. In fact, choking dust storms became so commonplace that the decade became known as the 'Dirty Thirties'.
Researchers observed a similar, but more prolonged, increase in dustiness in West Africa between the 1960s and the 1980s when the frequency of the storms rose to 80 a year and the dust was so thick that visibility was reduced to 1,000 metres. This was a hazard to pilots and road users. In places like Arizona, the most dangerous dust clouds are those generated by dry thunderstorms. Here, this type of storm is so common that the problem inspired officials to develop an alert system to warn people of oncoming thunderstorms. When this dust is deposited it causes all sorts of problems for machine operators. It can penetrate the smallest nooks and crannies and play havoc with the way things operate because most of the dust is made up of quartz which is very hard. Another example - the concentration of dust originating from the Sahara has risen steadily since the mid-1960s.
This increase in wind erosion has coincided with a prolonged drought, which has gripped the Sahara's southern fringe. Drought is commonly associated with an increase in dust-raising activity but it's actually caused by low rainfall which results in vegetation dying off.
One of the foremost examples of modern human-induced environmental degradation is the drying up of the Aral Sea in Central Asia. Its ecological demise dates from the 1950s when intensive irrigation began in the then Central Asian republics of the USSR. This produced a dramatic decline in the volume of water entering the sea from its two major tributaries. In 1960, the Aral Sea was the fourth-largest lake in the world, but since that time it has lost two-thirds of its volume, its surface area has halved and its water level has dropped by more than 216 metres. A knock-on effect of this ecological disaster has been the release of significant new sources of wind-blown material, as the water level has dropped.
And the problems don't stop there. The salinity of the lake has increased so that it is now virtually the same as sea water. This means that the material that is blown from the dry bed of the Aral Sea is highly saline. Scientists believe it is adversely affecting crops around the sea because salts are toxic to plants.
This shows that dust storms have numerous consequences beyond their effects on climate, both for the workings of environmental systems and for people living in drylands ...
SECTION 4 Questions 31-40
Questions 31-32
Complete the notes using NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer
Main focus of lecture: the impact of 【31】______ on the occurrence of dust st
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听力原文：Is this your briefcase （）
A
C．
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听力原文：W: I'm really looking forward to this trip with our geology class. But I'm not certain if I have the strength to carry a backpack up and down the mountain, especially when it's full of tools.
M: They are taking two donkeys to carry the tools. We just have to carry our personal items, like clothing and sleeping bags.
Q: What does the man mean？
(17)
A．He doesn't know what tools to bring.
B．He doesn't mind helping the woman.
C．The woman won't have to carry the tools.
D．The donkeys will carry the woman's personal items.
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听力原文：W: This is Frida and this is her husband Diego Rivera. She can't have fall en in love with him for his look. I reckon he must have been either very rich or very intelligent.
M: Actually, he was both highly intelligent and very rich. At first, Frida's father was against her marrying Diego because he was from an infamous family. But later on he agreed to it because he couldn't pay his daughter's medical expenses any more. Frida must have spent a fortune on doctors and operations over the years.
W: Oh, yes, what a terrible life first polio and then that awful accident. It's amazing she produced so many paintings, isn't it？
M: Yes, she must have been an incredibly brave woman.
W: But the marriage didn't work out too well, did it？
M: Well, it had its ups and downs.
W: She painted this one with the cropped hair while they were separated, didn't she？
M: Yes, that's right.
W. She really looked like a man here. In fact, she looked as if she's got a moustache! And why was she dressed in a man's suit？ I thought it might have had something to do with women's liberation. You know she cut off her hair to symbolize equality or something.
M: Er, no the reason she cut off her hair and put on a man's suit is because Diego Rivera loved her long hair, and also loved the traditional women's Mexican dresses she used to wear. She did it to hurt him.
(23)
A．An actress.
B．A writer.
C．A teacher.
D．A painter.
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听力原文：Had you looked hard enough in the deserted room, you might have come upon the valuables yourself.
What does the speaker imply？
A．There is still something valuable in the deserted room.
B．Someone else has discovered something valuable before.
C．There was nothing valuable in the deserted room before.
D．You should come to the deserted room looking hard.
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听力原文：M: Mrs Hunt, are you sure it is the man who you saw in last nights robbery？ Now look at him again and this is very important. W: Im absolutely sure about him. Q: Whats the probable relationship between the two speakers？2．
A．Disappointed.
B．Happy.
C．Regretful.
D．Sad.
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听力原文：W: I am looking for quality paper to type my essay. I don't see any on the shelf.M: I saw some in the stockroom this morning. I will go and check.Q: What does the woman want to buy?(5)A．A bookshelf.B．A typewriter.C．Some stocks.D．High-quality paper.
A.
M:
B.
Q:
C.A
D.
B．A
E.
C．Some
F.
D．High-quality
G.
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听力原文：M: Excuse me. I'm looking for this book. It's in the list of titles but I couldn't find it on the shelf.
W: Let me see. Oh, it's been checked out. It's due on June 26. If you want us to reserve it for you, please fill out this card.
Q: Why can't the man find the book he wants？
(18)
A．It won't come out until June 26.
B．It hasn't been returned by the borrower.
C．It is not available unless it has been reserved.
D．It was withdrawn from the shelf as a back issue.
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听力原文：MB I just wanted to remind you that registration for little league baseball's already started, and if you want the kids to take part, you need to register them before the end of the month. Are you planning on enrolling them this year？
WB Yes, but... registration's already begun？ It's only January! When does the league begin？
MB The league doesn't start until May, but... yes, we always do registration this early. And let me tell you, with all the kids that sign up, and all the games that need to be scheduled, we need to do this early, so we can focus on getting kids ready to play once the league begins.
WB Wow, I don't remember it being this early last year. Yes, of course... I'll drop by and register the kids this week. Is it going to cost the same as last year, or has it gone up？
Why has the man contacted the woman？
A．To schedule an appointment
B．To invite her children to an event
C．To inform. her of a change in policy
D．To remind her of an important deadline
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听力原文：M: I bought a few books in the new bookstore. Would you like to have a look at them？
W: A few？ It looks like you bought out the bookstore.
Q: What does the woman mean？
(19)
A．She didn't like the books the man bought.
B．There wasn't a large selection at the bookstore.
C．The man bought a lot of books.
D．She wanted to see what the man bought.
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听力原文：In western Sweden, a five-year-old girl was abducted and stabbed to death last week by an inmate from a psychiatric institute who was able to come and go at will in part because the cost of looking after such patients in this cradle-to-grave welfare state is becoming too high.
It can be inferred from the statement that the Swedish social welfare system, which pro vides life-long care of its citizens, is no longer feasible and satisfactory.
A．正确
B．错误
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听力原文：Hi, Jim! You look pretty good tody. Everybodyt the office sys hello. We’rel听力原文：Hi, Jim! You look pretty good tody. Everybodyt the office sys hello. We’rell pulling for you to pull through this opertionnd get bck to workt soons you cn. Wht’s wrong with Jim He’s going throughn opertion. B．He’s getting sick. C．He’s hdnccident. D．He looks good tody.
A．He’s going through an operation．
B．He’s getting sick．
C．He’s had an accident．
D．He looks good today．
