清华大学 北京大学《现代大学英语听力2》听力原文及题目答案unit2

《现代大学英语听力

2

》听力原文及题目答案

Un it

2Unit

2

Task

1

【答案】

1)

b 2) a 3) d

【原文】

Texas

was

the

biggest

state

before

Alaska

became

the

forty-ninth

state

in

1959.

One

good

way

to

understand

the

size

of

Texas

is

to

learn

about

its

weather.

Different

parts of the state have very different kinds of weather.

Laredo

is

one

of

the

hottest

cities

in

the

United

States

in

summer.

The

best

time to visit Laredo is in winter, when it is pleasantly warm.

Amarillo

gets

very

cold

in

winter.

Sometimes

there

is

more

snow

in

Amarillo

than in New York, which is a northern city. Summers are better, but sometimes it

gets quite hot. The best time to visit Amarillo is in the autumn when it is cool.

If

anyone

asks

you

about

the

weather

in

Texas,

ask

him,

“What

part

of

Texas

do you mean”

Task 2

【答案】

A.

1)

T 2) F 3) F

B.

1) d 2) c 3) c

C.

climate, reputation, extraordinary, unreliable, dry, wet, clear, dull, hot, cold,

bad, mild

【原文】

Our friend, Nick, whose English gets better and better, declared solemnly the

other day that he thought that the British climate was wonderful, but the British

weather

was

terrible.

He

went

on

to

explain

by

pointing

out

that

the

British

climate

was a temperate one. This meant, he said,

the

weather

would

never

be

extreme

—

at

any

rate

not

for

any

length

of

time

—

never

very hot and never very cold.

Britain,

according

to

the

statistics,

was

not

very

heavy.

then,

he

asked,

the British climate such a bad reputation

the extraordinary, unreliable weather. There was no part of the year at which you

could be certain that the weather would be dry or wet, clear or dull, hot or cold.

A bad day in July could be as cold as a mild day in January. Indeed you could feel

cold at almost any time of the year. Nick blamed drafty British houses for this,

but agreed you could also blame the small amount of sunshine and a great amount of

dampness. He advised every student coming to Britain to bring an umbrella and to

understand the meaning of that splendid word

Task 3

【答案】

I.

the country; Trees, grass, lakes and steams

II.

A.

1. concrete, iron, steel

2. take in the heat during the day and throw off heat into the air at night

B. Warmer winters, car engines; electrical appliance

Ⅲ

.

A. air pollution may stop sunlight from reaching the earth

B.

1. Ice near the North and South poles to melt

2. to be slowly flooded and people living in these cities to move to higher land

【原文】

Cities change the climate around you. In the country, there are trees, grass,

lakes, and streams. In hot weather, the trees and grass cool the area around them.

Lakes and rivers also cool the area around them.

But cities are not cooled in these natural ways. Cities are built of asphalt,

concrete, iron, and

steel. There are few trees and usually not much grass. Rain falls onto the streets

and into the sewers.

When the summer sun shines, streets and buildings take in the heat; after the

sun sets, the streets and buildings throw off heat into the street. Once the sun

sets, the countryside cools off, but a city may stay hot all night.

Cities

are

hotter

than

the

countryside

in

winter,

too.

Standing

near

a

car

with

its

motor

running,

winter

or

summer,

you

will

feel

the

heat

thrown

off

by

the

engine.

The heat comes from the gasoline burned by the engine. This heat warms the air and

the ground around the car. Thousands of running cars are almost like thousands of

small fires burning.

Carefully put your hand near a light bulb or television set. As you can see,

electricity creates a lot of heat. This heat from electricity warms the house and

the outside air.

The heat given off by cities can

affect the

climate. Some experts even believe

that

cities

can

change

the

climate

of

the

whole

world.

They

think

that

air

pollution

may stop sunlight from reaching the

earth. If

less sunshine

reaches the

earth,

the

earth may become cooler.

Still

other

experts

think

the

world

will

get

warmer.

If

the

world

did

get

warmer,

great

changes

would

occur.

Ice

near

the

North

and

South

poles

would

melt.

This

would

make the oceans rise. Cities near oceans

—

like Los Angeles, Boston, and Miami

—

would

slowly

be

flooded.

People

living

in

these

cities

would

have

to

move

to

higher

land.

Task 4

【答案】

A.

1)

b 2) c

B.

night, delight; morning, warning; gray, way, red, head

C.

1) F 2) T 3) F

【原文】

A

red

sky

at

either

dusk

or

dawn

is

one

of

the

spectacular

and

beautiful

weather

predictors

we

have

in

nature.

By

closely

observing

this

phenomenon,

you

can

achieve

short-range

accuracy

of

the

weather

as

good

as,

or

better

than

your

local

weatherman.

In the Bible, Jesus in Matthew 16, 2-

3 is quoted as saying, “When it is evening,

it

will

be

fair

weather:

for

the

sky

is

red.

And

in

the

morning

it

will

be

foul

weather

today: for the sky is red

”

when speaking to the Pharisees. An old English weather

proverb based on this passage is:

Red sky at night, sailors delight.

Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.

Or

Evening red and morning gray,

Sends the traveler on his way.

Evening gray, morning red,

Brings the rain down on his head.

At dusk,

a red sky indicates

that dry weather is on the way.

This is

due to the

sun shining through dust particles being pushed ahead of a high pressure system

bringing

in

dry

air.

A

red

sky

in

the

morning

is

due

to

the

sun

again

shining

through

dust.

In

this

case

however,

the

dust

is

being

pushed

on

by

an

approaching

low

reassure

system bringing in moisture. Don't confuse a red sky in the morning with a red sun

in

the

morning.

If

the

sun

itself

is

red

and

the

sky

is

a

normal

color,

the

day

will

be fair.

Task 5

【答案】

1)

c 2) b 3) d 4) c 5) c

【原文】

Mark: I am an avid fly fisherman and frequently find myself on the river

in

a

raft

during

lightning

storms.

We

always

have

a

debate

at

these

times

on

where

we

are

safest

—

pulling

into

shore

or

staying

on

the

water.

Since

I

have

heard

one

is

safe

in

a

car

when

lightning

strikes

I

wonder

if

the

raft

floating

on

the

water

is

insulated,

and

therefore

the safest place to be.

Meteorologist A: We spoke with some scientists about your question, and they all

agreed that under no circumstances should you remain on the water

during

a

lightning

storm.

If

your

raft

is

made

of

rubber,

you

might

feel that you're .well insulated, but don't kid yourself. Typical

lightning

flashes

travel

10

to

15

kilometers

and

can

deliver

as

much

as 100,000 amps of current. In comparison, a toaster uses about 10

amps of current. If lightning strikes the water near you, it will

have

no

trouble

traveling

through

a

few

extra

centimeters

of

rubber.

Meteorologist B: So, if you're on the water and a thunderstorm approaches, get to

the

shore

and

seek

shelter

on

land.

Try

a

building

or

car.

If

neither

is

available,

look

for

a

cave,

cliff,

wall,

or

a

group

of

trees.

Never

take shelter under an isolated tree-it's also a good target for

lightning.

Task 6

【答案】

A.

1)

F 2) T 3) F 4) T 5) F 6) T

B.

Incredible,

one

minute,

one

kilometer,

destroyed,

lifted

up,

carried

away,

killed,

injured

【原文】

Every spring and summer many inland areas are hit by tornados. A tornado is a

kind

of

storm.

It's

a

revolving,

funnel-shaped

column

of

air

that

moves

through

the

sky

at

very

high

speeds.

A

tornado

looks

like

a

huge,

black

ice

cream

cone

whirling

through the sky. The speed of a tornado is very fast-it is believed to be between

200 and 700 kilometers per hour.

Tornados

form

under

very

special

weather

conditions,

and

these

special

weather

conditions occur most often in inland areas, such as the central United States. A

tornado forms when a layer of warm, dry air is on top of a layer of cooler, moist

air.

This

combination

of

dry,

warm

air

above

wet,

cool

air

creates

a

condition

that

causes the lower layer of air to lift up. As the lower air rises, both layers of

air

begin

to

rotate,

to

turn

around

and

around.

The

air

begins

to

rotate

faster

and

faster

because

of

centrifugal

force.

The

tornado

has

a

center

called

an

“eye”

and

the air rotates quickly around this eye.

As

the

air

begins

to

rotate

faster

and

faster,

the

tornado

cloud

begins

to

grow

downward;

that

is,

it

begins

to

form

a

funnel

or

cone,

and

this

cone

goes

down

toward

the ground.

The

cone

of

air

is

dark

because

it

develops

from

a

dark

rain

cloud.

As

the

cloud

gets

longer,

as

the

cloud

gets

closer

to

the

ground,

it

begins

to

pull

up

dirt

from

the ground. Then the funnel of