新世纪大学英语系类教程视听说第三版4until1听力原文

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Unit 1 Our Earth

Listening

Audio Track 4-1-1

1.

I’ve

visited

a

few

caves

in

Guilin.

The

rocks

in

the

caves

are

in

different

shapes

and

colors.

If

you

use

your

imagination,

the

rocks

can

resemble

many

different

things.

It looks like a whole other world.

2. I went to the desert in Gansu once. As I stood in the middle of the desert, I

faced

endless

sand

and

felt

very

small.

By

day

the

desert

was

extremely

hot,

by

night

it got very cold. I experienced summer and winter in the same day.

3. To my knowledge, California has beautiful coastlines. People love them and

thousands of volunteers often give up part of their weekends to keep the sandy

Californian beaches clean.

4. The Port of Shanghai is located at the mouth of the Yangtze River. It handles

many

millions

of

shipping

containers

each

year.

In

fact

it

might

even

be

the

busiest

container port in the world.

5. Japan has many hot springs. Some of them are located in mountainous areas and

are

great

attractions

to

foreign

tourists.

Supposedly,

the

hot

springs

have

healing

properties.

6. The most famous mountain range in the world is the Himalayas. It contains the

world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest . Qomolangma), which climbs to a height

of 8,848 meters.

7.

The

White

Cliffs

of

Dover

are

one

of

the

United

Kingdom’

s

most

spectacular

natural

sights.

The

cliffs

are

made

from

bright

white

stone.

On

a

clear

day,

they

are

visible

from France, approximately 30 kilometers away.

8.

Mount

Vesuvius

is

a

famous

volcano

in

Italy,

which

has

not

been

active

for

about

two centuries. But people say it might erupt again, someday soon.

9.

Niagara

Falls

crosses

the

border

of

two

countries,

Canada

and

the

United

States.

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Every

year,

millions

of

tourists

observe

the

beauty

of

these

magnificent

waterfalls.

More

recently,

the

waterfalls

have

become

a

valuable

source

of

hydroelectric

power.

Audio Track 4-1-2/Audio Track 4-1-3

Blake: What are you working on, Mary

Mary: I’m finishing my paper. It’s due tomorrow, Blake.

Blake: What’s the topic

Mary: It’s about Greenland.

Blake: Greenland. Hmmm …

that’s part of Canada, right

Mary: I think you need to study your world geography, Blake.

Blake: Well, isn’t it near Canada

Mary: Yes, it’s off the coast of northeast Canada, but it’s part of Denmark.

Blake: Oh, I didn’t know that. Well, what’s your paper

about exactly

Mary:

In

my

paper,

I

answer

the

question

“Is

Greenland

really

green”

In

other

words,

is Greenland covered by a lot of plants and trees

Blake: Is it

Mary: What do you think

Blake:

Let’s

see

…

Greenland

is

in

the

Arctic

Circle

—

way

up

north.

It’s

cold,

…

so “Is Greenland really green” I’d answer “probably not.”

Mary: You’d be correct. It’s too cold there. In the north, a lot of the ground

is frozen. The summers are short, so only the surface thaws.

Blake: That sounds tough.

Mary:

It’s

hard

for

the

construction

industry.

It’s

not

easy

to

build

in

Greenland.

Blake: It sounds so harsh. Why would anyone want to go there

Mary: There are big mountain ranges on the coasts. They’re great for hiking and

outdoor sports. And there are lots of animals there. You can sometimes see whales

swimming in the harbors.

Blake: That sounds cool! OK, so if it’s not really a “green” place, why was it

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named “Greenland”

Mary:

The

first

settlers

wanted

to

attract

other

people.

They

gave

it

an

attractive

name.

Audio Track 4-1-4/Audio Track 4-1-5

Jay: Come in here, Elise. You should see this show!

Elise: What is it

Jay: It’s called “The Titanic of the Sky.” It’s about the Hindenburg, a great

engineering feat.

Elise: The Hindenburg …

Jay: You know, that giant zeppelin that crashed in 1934. Thirty-five people died.

Elise: Oh yeah, I remember now. It was flying from Germany to the United States.

It crashed as it was landing.

Jay:

Right.

It’s

so

funny

looking,

don’t

you

think

It

doesn’t

look

anything

like

the airplanes we have today.

Elise:

That’s

true.

Why

would

people

ride

in

a

zeppelin

anyway

It

seems

so

dangerous.

Jay: Well, some people called the Hindenburg “man’s greatest achievement in

flight.” They thought it was safe, I guess.

Elise: Who rode in it anyway

Jay:

Mostly

wealthy

people.

It

accommodated

between

30

and

40

passengers

and

crew.

One person said it was like a “flying hotel.”

Elise: It sounds pretty great.

Jay:

Yeah,

and

it

was

fast.

That’s

why

people

rode

it.

They

wanted

to

get

to

their

destination faster.

Elise: Wh

y didn’t they just take a jet plane

Jay: Elise! You know they didn’t have jets back then. Look, in 1934 it took five

days

to

travel

from

Germany

to

the

US

by

ship.

The

zeppelin

could

do

it

in

half

that

time. It was speedy.

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Elise:

Well,

maybe

I’ll

sit

down

and

watch

a

little

bit.

Maybe

I’ll

learn

something …

Audio Track 4-1-6/Audio Track 4-1-7/Audio Track 4-1-8

Jack: I think we should buy a bigger car. Big cars are safer.

Kayla: Yes, but on the other hand, they consume more oil.

Jack: They also look really cool.

Kayla: That’s true, but there are some SUVs which are not that big but also very

beautiful.

Jack: And I think big cars are more fun to drive.

Kayla: But then again, it’s very expensive.

Jack: Well, let’s get more information about several kinds of car

s, okay

Audio Track 4-1-9

My

country

has

two

very

famous

buildings

called

the

Petronas

Towers.

The

buildings

are

made

of

glass,

steel,

and

concrete.

They

were

designed

by

an

American

architect,

but

he

used

a

Malaysian

style.

They

were

finished

in

1998,

and

they

were

the

tallest

buildings in the world at that time. Each tower has 88 floors, and is 452 meters

high.

I

really

like

the

Petronas

Towers.

They

show

both

the

modern

and

the

traditional

side of my country.

Audio Track 4-1-10/Audio Track 4-1-11

Modern buildings: We love them, we hate them.

The

world- famous

Louvre

Museum

in

Paris

is

almost

500

years

old,

and

it

faced

a

very

modern

problem:

There

simply

wasn’t

enough

space

for

six

million

visitors

each

year.

In

1989,

American

architect .

Pei

designed

a

striking

glass

pyramid

in

the

building’s center to be a visitor’s entrance and shopping arcade. But he also

started an angry debate. Some people felt his glass building was a piece of art,

like the ones inside the museum. Others said it was just an ugly, modern mistake.

Kyoto,

Japan, is

the country’s ancient

capital, and the heart of

its culture. Its

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railroad station was too small for the millions of visitors. In 1997, the city

completed a new station in a huge shopping center, right in the oldest part of the

city. Designed by Hiroshi Hara, the building also contains a hotel and department

store.

Before

it

was

built,

critics

said

that

the

high,

wide,

modern

building

would

destroy the city’s traditional look. On the other hand, supporters said it would

bring new life into the city center.

Audio Track 4-1-12/Audio Track 4-1-13

Interviewer: What do you think is the biggest problem facing our cities

Erika: I think it’s overcrowding. Talk to anyone living in a major metropolitan

area

and

they

will

say

the

same

thing

.

There’s

no

space.

Even

the

suburbs

are

getting

crowded.

Interviewer: Well, in some places there simply isn’t any land left for building,

right

Erika: Yes, that’s true, but you have to think creatively. You can’t give up so

easily.

Interviewer: Think creatively What do you suggest

Erika: What I’m saying is that we can build more structures underground. We can

add parking lots, malls, hotels and even apartment buildings. There’s plenty of

space.

Interviewer: Isn’t it expensive

Erika: Yes, it can be. In the past building underground has been very expensive.

However, we have new technology that will bring the cost down. It involves using

robots. You don’t have to pay robots a salary.

Interviewer:

Isn’t

“building

down”

more

dangerous

than

other

kinds

of

construction

Erika:

Actually,

I

think

it’s

safer

than

building

skyscrapers,

for

example.

Remember, we already do it. We have subways, and underground shopping malls. I’m

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just suggesting we invest in a variety of bigger projects and that we dig deeper.

Interviewer: What would you say to people who doubt your idea

Erika:

I can

understand

their feelings.

Whenever there’s a

new idea,

it can cause

controversy. But “building down” is not some kind of impractical idea. It makes

sense. There is so much space underground: it can accommodate a lot of traffic,

storage,

and

people.

With

the

new

technology

we

have,

we’d

be

crazy

not

to

consider

the idea

—

it’s the wave of the future.

Audio Track 4-1-14

1. deep cave

2. arid desert

3. long mountain range

4. active volcano

Audio Track 4-1-15

a. narrow harbor

b. long, sunny beach

c. busy vacation

d. high cliffs

Speaking & Communication

Audio Track 4-1-16/Audio Track 4-1-17

Bart: So what exactly did you do over the summer

Gustav: We worked as volunteers at Glacier National Park.

Bart

: I’ve never been there. What’s it like

Carolina:

It’s

beautiful.

There

are

mountains

and

lakes ...

and,

of

course,

glaciers!

Bart: How was the job

Gustav: We had to do a lot of physical work. It was kind of hard.

Carolina: That’s true, but it was exciting

, too! We actually saw bears!

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