专四听写原文

专四听写原文

01. Town and Country Life in England

There

is

a

big

difference

between

town

life

and

country

life

in

England.

In

the

country,

everybody

knows

everybody

else.

They

know what time you get up, what time you go to bed and what you

have for dinner. If you want help, you will always get it and you will

be glad to help others.

In a large town like London, however, it can sometimes happen that

you have never seen your next door neighbor and you do not know

his

name

or

anything

about

him.

People

in

London

are

often

very

lonely. This is because people go to different places in the evenings

and

at

weekends.

If

you

walk

through

the

streets

in

the

centre

of

London on Sunday, it is like a town without people. One is sorry for

old people living on their own. They

could die in their homes

and

would not be discovered for weeks or even months.

O2.

A Change in Women’s Life

The

important

change

in

women’s

life

-pattern

has

only

recently

begun to have its full effect on women’s economic position. Even a

few years ago most girls left school at the first opportunity, and most

of

them

took

a

full-time

job.

However,

when

they

married,

they

usually

left

work

at

once

and

never

returned

to

it.

Today

the

school- leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age,

and

though

women

tend

to

marry

younger,

more

married

women

stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very

many

more

afterwards

return

to

full-time

or

part-time

work.

Such

changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with the husband

accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfactions of family life

and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing

the

money,

and

running

the

home,

according

to

the

abilities

and

interests of each of them.

Useful Words and Expressions:

1. life- pattern

生活方式

2. share

03 A Popular Pastime of the English People

One of the best means of understanding the people of any nation is

watching what they do with their non- working time.

Most

English

men,

women

and

children

love

growing

things,

especially flowers. Visitors to England in spring, summer or autumn

are likely to see gardens all the way along the railway lines. There

are flowers at the airports and flowers in factory grounds, as well as

in gardens along the roads. Each English town has at least one park

with

beautifully

kept

flower

beds.

Public

buildings

of

every

kind

have brilliant window boxes and sometimes baskets of

flowers are

hanging on them.

But what the English enjoy most is growing things themselves. If it

is

impossible

to

have

a

garden,

then

a

window

box

or

something

growing

in

a

pot

will

do.

Looking

at

each

other’s

gardens

is

a

popular pastime with the English.

Useful Words and Expressions:

1. window box:

窗台上的花盆箱

e

消遣，娱乐

Swimming is my favorite pastime.

04 British and American Police Officers

Real policemen, both in Britain and the U.S., hardly recognize any

common

points

between

their

lives

and

what

they

see

on

TV

—

if

they ever get home in time.

Some

things

are

almost

the

same,

of

course,

but

the

policemen

do

not think much of them.

The first difference is that a policeman’s real life deals with the law.

Most

of

what

he

learns

is

the

law.

He

has

to

know

actually

what

actions are against the law and what facts can be used to prove them

in court. He has to know nearly a

s much law as a lawyer, and what’s

more,

he

has

to

put

it

into

practice

on

his

feet,

in

the

dark

and,

running down a narrow street after someone he wants to talk to.

Little of his time is spent in talking with beautiful girls or in bravely

facing

cruel

criminals.

He

will

spend

most

of

his

working

life

arranging millions of words on thousands of forms about hundreds

of

sad,

ordinary

people

who

are

guilty---

or

not

of

stupid,

unimportant crimes.

Useful Words and Expressions:

1. think much of

重视，尊重

2. in court

在法庭上

3. criminal

罪犯，犯罪者

4. guilty

犯罪的，有罪的

05 Living Space

How much living space does a person need? What happens when his

space needs are not met? Scientists are doing experiments on rats to

try

to

determine

the

effects

of

overcrowded

conditions

on

man.

Recent

studies

have

shown

that

the

behavior

of

rats

is

greatly

affected

by

space.

If

rats

have

enough

living

space,

they

eat

well,

sleep

well

and

produce

their

young

well.

But

if

their

living

conditions become too crowded, their behavior and even their health

change obviously. They can not sleep and eat well, and signs of fear

and worry become clear. The more crowded they are, and more they

tend

to

bite

each

other

and

even

kill

each

other.

Thus,

for

rats,

populations

and

violence

are

directly

related

.

Is

this

a

natural

law

for human society as well? Is enough space not only satisfactory, but

necessary for human

survival

? These are interesting questions.

06 The United Nations

In 1945, representatives of 50 nations met to plan this organization.

It was called the United Nations. After the war, many more nations

joined.

There are two major parts of the United Nations. One is called the

General Assembly. In the General Assembly, every member nation is

represented and has an equal vote.

The second part is called the Security Council. It has representatives

of just 15 nations. Five nations are permanent members: the United

States, Russia, France, Britain, and China. The 10 other members are

elected every two years by the General Assembly.

The major job of the Security Council is to keep peace in the world.

If necessary, it can send troops from member nations to try to stop

little wars before they turn into big ones.

It is hard to get the nations of the Security Council to agree on when

this is necessary. But they did vote to try to stop wars.

Useful Words and Expressions:

1. representative

代表

2. General Assembly

联合国大会

3. permanent

永久的，持久的

4. Security Council

联合国安全理事会

07 Plastic

We

use

plastic

wrap

to

protect

our

foods.

We

put

our

garbage

in

plastic

bags or plastic cans. We sit on plastic chairs, play with plastic

toys, drink from plastic cups, and wash our hair with shampoo from

plastic bottles!

Plastic does not grow in nature. It is made by mixing

certain

things

together. We call it a produced or manufactured material.

Plastic

was

first made in the 1860s from plants, such as wood and cotton. That

plastic

was soft and burned easily.

The first modern plastics were made in the 1930s. Most clear

plastic

starts out as thick, black oil. That

plastic

coating inside a

pan

begins

as natural gas.

Over the years, hundreds of different plastics have been developed.

Some

are

hard

and

strong.

Some

are

soft

and

bendable.

Some

are

clear.

Some

are

many-colored.

There

is

a

plastic

for

almost

every

need. Scientists continue to experiment with plastics. They hope to

find even ways to use them!

08 Display

of Goods

Are supermarkets designed to

persuade

us to buy more?

Fresh fruit and vegetables are displayed near supermarket entrances.

This gives the

impression

that only healthy food is sold in the shop.

Basic foods that everyone buys, like sugar and tea, are not put near

each other. They are kept in different aisles so customers are taken

past other

attractive

foods before they find what they want. In this

way, shoppers are encouraged to buy products that they do not really

need.

Sweets

are

often

placed

at

ch

ildren’s

eye

level

at

the

checkout.

While parents are waiting to pay, children reach for the sweets and

put them in the trolley.

More

is

bought

from

a

fifteen-foot

display

of

one

type

of

product

than from a ten-foot one. Customers also buy more when shelves are

full

than

when

they

are

half

empty.

They

do

not

like

to

buy

from

shelves

with

few

products

on

them

because

they

feel

there

is

something wrong with those products that are there.

Useful Words and Expressions:

1.

aisle

走廊，过道

2. trolley

手推车

3. checkout

收款台

09 Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein was born in Germany in 1879, His father

owned a

factory that made electrical devices. His mother enjoyed music and

books.

His

parents

were

Jewish

but

they

did

not

observe

many

of

the religion’s rules. Albert was a quite child who spent much of his

time alone. He was slow to talk and had difficulty learning to read.

When Albert was five years old, his father gave him a

compass

. The

child was filled with wonder when he discovered that the compass

needle

always pointed in the same direction

—

to be north. He asked

his

father

and

his

uncle

what

caused

the

needle

to

move.

Their

answers about

magnetism

and

gravity

were difficult for the boy to

understand

. Yet he spent a lot of time thinking about them. He said

later that he felt something hidden had to be behind things.

Useful expressions and words:

1.

device

装置，设备

leave to one’s own devices

听任某人自行其是，允许某人按自己