最新版雅思听力指南 Listening Test4-section1(在线收听

[00:03.34]In a moment,you are going to hear the rest of Yuki and Michael's conversation.
[00:10.63]They are discussing a book on the subject of famous first events in modern history.
[00:19.04]Before you listen,look at Questions 22 to 33.
[00:26.54]Note the examples that have been done for you.
[00:33.54]As you listen to the conversation,answer Questions 22 to 33.
[00:41.33]Yuki:So,Michael,what is that book you're reading?
[00:45.90]Michael:It's titled "Did You Know...
[00:49.89]Famous Firsts throughout the Modern Age."by Herbert Brown.
[00:55.69]It's a compilation of facts and dates about the first time certain events happened
[01:02.17]or when important items were invented.
[01:06.95]Yuki:I am not sure I understand what you mean.
[01:11.37]Well,the chapter I am reading right now is named 'Transportation Firsts'.
[01:18.37]So,for instance,it contains facts such as train services that carried passengers
[01:25.45]were first used 1830 in Britain.
[01:30.93]Yuki:That book sounds rather interesting.What else does it say?
[01:36.73]Michael:Well,the first Underground was used in London in 1863.
[01:43.24]Yuki:What is an 'Underground'?  Michael:Oh,right, sorry.
[01:47.94]'Underground'is the name we in the UK use to refer tothe subway.
[01:54.34]Yuki:How adorable! Underground!Yes I understand now.
[02:00.53]You British are so clever with your terminology.
[02:06.04]You know,I bet they invented the subway
[02:10.93]just so the people of London do not have to stand in the rain
[02:16.20]while waiting for their trains to arrive
[02:20.09]I hear London weather is terrible.
[02:23.88]Michael:You really shouldn't believe everything you hear,Yuki.
[02:28.98]Actually,it doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.
[02:34.49]I mean,the weather is not anywhere
[02:38.98]near as nice as it is here in New Zealand,but it's not bad either.
[02:44.99]Did you know that Milan and Paris both get much more rain than London?
[02:51.39]Ok,ok,so next time I'm in the London area I'll be sure to check the weather.
[02:59.28]So what else does your book have to say?
[03:03.38]You just can't admit when you're wrong,can you Yuki?Let's see...
[03:09.39]The first bullet train was used in Japan in 1964.
[03:16.39]It went 130 miles per hour.
[03:21.09]Yuki:130 miles per hour in 1964?
[03:27.28]Wow,that seems to me to be quite technologically advanced for the time
[03:34.49]Leave it to the Japanese to figure out a way to take something
[03:39.48]that was invented in England 100 years earlier
[03:44.50]and modify it to be even faster and more modern. Michael:Very funny.
[03:51.58]The first cable cars were used in San Francisco,USA,in 1873.
[03:59.36]Yuki:Well,of course they were!I was there last summer.
[04:04.66]San Francisco is famous for its cable cars.
[04:09.65]The city is built on very hilly terrain,
[04:14.56]so the city had to design a mass transit system
[04:19.87]that could make it up sharp inclines.
[04:24.36]Engineers came up with a system of cables,pulleys and levers.
[04:30.47]The cars were literally pulled up the hills.
[04:35.36]Actually,the city still operates some of the cable cars,
[04:40.95]and it's really quite a lot of fun to ride up the steep hills of the city
[04:47.03]on one of those old things.
[04:50.53]It makes you feel as though you are a part of history.
[04:56.54]Michael:I didn't know that you'd been to the States.
[05:00.33]Where else did you go?
[05:03.54]Yuki:I only visited California.I have relatives in Los Angeles.
[05:10.13]Michael:In that case,
[05:13.00]did you know that the first trolley was used in Los Angeles in 1910?
[05:19.90]Yuki:Now,how would I know that?
[05:23.68]I don't even think I have ever seen a trolley. Michael:You're kidding!
[05:28.49]Well,these days we don't have many historic things
[05:33.09]of that nature just lying about Japan.
[05:37.48]Oh,I forgot the Japanese went immediately from Shinto shrines to bullet trains.
[05:44.89](Michael laughs) Hey,here is something interesting!
[05:49.60]Taxicabs were first used in 1896 in Stuttgart,Germany.
[05:56.28]That doesn't surprise me at all.
[05:59.99]Also,the name of the first commercial jetliner was theComet.
[06:06.58]Yuki:Comet,I lik that.I've been looking for a name for my cat.
[06:13.37]I think I am going to name him'Comet'.
[06:18.57]Michael:Really,I don't know why I bother with you sometimes.
[06:23.87]Yuki:Because no one else wants to talk to you!
[06:28.05]Michael:I'll ignore that.The first jumbo jet was used in 1970;
[06:34.95]it was the Boeing 747.
[06:39.02]Yuki:Don't they still use those?
[06:42.42]Michael:I think so,but now they have ven larger jumbo jets.
[06:48.01]The largest are used by the military.
[06:51.82]In 1976 the Concord flew its first passenger flight.
[06:58.22]Ynki:What's the Concord?
[07:01.51]Michael:The Concord was the world's first supersonic plane.
[07:06.81]It broke the sound barrier.Imagine flying faster than sound.
[07:13.01]That's even stranger than crossing the international date-line.
[07:17.81]Yuki:Michael,may I see your book?
[07:21.81]Michael:Feel free.Here you are.
[07:25.41]Yuki:Let's find a more interesting chapter,shall we?Hmmm...
[07:31.40]Here we are.
[07:34.30]This chapter is about firsts in the fashion world.
[07:39.08]Michael:Right.How about we look at another chapter?
[07:44.09]Yuki:Hey!I had to sit through you telling me about trolleys and taxis.
[07:49.89]Now you're going to learn about fashion.
[07:54.28]Besides,here is something that relates to your life.
[07:59.37]The first pair of blue jeans was manufactured in America over a hundred years ago;
[08:07.16]Levi Strauss made them in 1850.
[08:11.76]Michael:So are the Levis jeans of today related to Levi Strauss?
[08:17.87]Yuki:They are one and the same company.
[08:21.55]Haven't you ever read the big brown tag on the back of every pair of Levis jeans?
[08:28.76]Hey,listen to this:European shoemakers first made shoes
[08:34.95]with different shapes for the left and right feet in 1818.
[08:41.06]Don't you think that sounds a bit late?
[08:44.75]You'd think they would have figured that one out quicker.
[08:49.74]Shoes must have been uncomfortable before 1818.
[08:55.04]On the other hand,contact lenses have been in existence since 1887.
[09:02.82]They were invented in Switzerland.
[09:06.30]I would have thought they were a relatively more modern invention.
[09:12.49]Michael:Yeah,but who would have thought that nowadays people,
[09:17.27]who do not even need to wear contact lenses
[09:21.87]choose to wear them only to change their eye color.Crazy world!
[09:28.16]Well it makes sense,then,that only 29 years after contact lenses were invented
[09:35.66]wearing false eyelashes became popular in Europe and America.
[09:41.46]At the same time,using nail polish became fashionable as well.
[09:47.65]Michael:So,once women were able to take off their glasses
[09:52.74]they wanted to dress up their now exposed eyes somehow.
[09:58.44]So they started to wear false eyelashes.
[10:02.83]I can see that.Forgive the pun.
[10:06.82]Yuki:Your sense of humor really leaves something to be desired.
[10:12.44]You know that,don't you?
[10:16.44]Here's something else that should interest you.
[10:20.64]A French designer first produced the bikini in 1946.
[10:26.94]Muchael:So when did the first swim suit magazine come out?1947?
[10:33.44]Yuki:(mockingly) Ha,Ha,Michael.
[10:36.63]No wonder you don't have a girlfriend.
[10:40.84]Michael:But I thought you were my girlfriend,Yuki.
[10:45.43]Yuki:Sure,I am.Just keep telling yourself that.
[10:50.14]Sometimes I don't even want to admit that I know you.
[10:54.94]Michael:(laughing)Stop it!You're hurting my feelings! Yuki:Anyway...
[11:01.52]miniskirts were first made popular in
[11:05.50]1965 by a British designer named Mary Quant.
[11:11.27]You know how I told you that my mother keeps everything she's ever owned?
[11:16.86]Well,in her closet at home she has a bunch of miniskirts
[11:22.45]that she bought when she was a teenager in the sixties.
[11:27.54]She and my grandparents were visiting London in the late sixties,
[11:33.13]and they were all the rage,very fashionable;so she bought a couple.
[11:39.32]However,she couldn't wear them in Tokyo,
[11:43.53]because,at that time,Japan was a very conservative place.
[11:49.12]If she had worn one of those miniskirts in public,
[11:53.69]she would probably have caused a riot!
[11:57.87]Now every girl in Tokyo wears them.How things have changed!
[12:03.38]Michael:Well,you know,in the sixties everyone said 'London swings'.
[12:09.08]Now I guess it would be appropriate to say'Tokyo swings'.
[12:15.19]Question 22-32 according to section 3. Question 22-23.
[12:17.18]Write no more than three words for each answer.
[12:19.19]Example: Book:Did you know (Famous Firsts)
[12:21.17]throughout the Mordern Age,by Herbert Brown.
[12:23.18]22.The'Underground' is the British term for (  ).
[12:25.14]With the bullet train,Japan improved on the subway system,
[12:27.13]which had been invented by the British over 100 years earlier.
[12:29.14]23.Cable cars were invented in orer to create a mass transit system
[12:31.12]that would word in a city lots of (  )
[12:33.14]The first trolley was used on Los Angeles in 1910.
[12:35.12]Question 24-26. 24.The Comet was (  )
[12:37.13]A.the name of the first taxicab  B.the name of the first commercial jet liner
[12:39.12]C.the name of Yuki's cat
[12:41.10]D.the last name of the inventor of the first aeroplane
[12:43.09]25.The first (  ) was introduced in 1970,by the Boeing company.
[12:45.07]26.The Concord is able to fly (  ).
[12:47.09]Question 27-32
[12:49.07]27.Which country or region was different shapes for shoes intented in 1818?
[12:51.08]28.When was contact Lenses first intented ?
[12:53.07]29.Which country or region did False Eyelashes become popular?
[12:55.08]30.When was Nail Polsih popular?
[12:57.06]31.When was Bikini first intented ?
[12:59.05]32.Which country or region did Miniskirts become popular?
[13:01.06]Section 4 Thursten Tenent:Hello students.
[13:03.96]I am extremely pleased to see so many of you have decided to attend this meeting.
[13:10.44]First off,I would like to thank Headmaster Williams
[13:15.61]for allowing me to take some time away from your regular courses,
[13:21.20]so that I am able to give this lecture.
[13:25.49]Let me just mention now
[13:29.06]that we will be discussing stereotypes about British culture.
[13:35.18]With that said,let's begin,shall we?
[13:39.67]Societies change over time,while their reputations lag behind.
[13:47.17]Many things which are often regarded as typically British
[13:52.68]derive from books,songs or plays which were written a long time ago
[13:59.26]and which are no longer representative of modern life.
[14:05.03]One example of this
[14:09.11]is the popular belief that Britain is a 'land of tradition'.
[14:15.20]This is what most tourist brochures claim.
[14:19.90]The claim is based on what can be seen in public life
[14:25.10]and in the centuries of political continuity.
[14:29.80]At the level of public life,this is undoubtedly true.
[14:35.70]The annual ceremony of the state opening of Parliament,for instance,
[14:41.40]carefully follows customs that are centuries old.
[14:46.70]Likewise,the changing of the guard ritual outside Buckingham Palace
[14:53.28]itself never changes.
[14:56.68]There are many examples of supposedly typical British habits
[15:02.87]which are simply not typical anymore.For example,
[15:07.96]the stereotyped image of the London "city gent"
[15:12.98]includes the wearing of a bowler hat.
[15:17.58]In fact,this type of hat has not been commonly worn for a long time.
[15:24.76]Food and drink provide other examples.
[15:29.15]The traditional "British" (or "English") breakfast is a large "fry-up"
[15:36.15]preceded by cereal with milk and followed by toast,butter and marmalade,
[15:42.94]all washed down with lots of tea.  In fact,
[15:48.24]only 10 percent of the people in Britain actually have this sort of breakfast.
[15:54.96]Two-thirds have cut out the fry-up and just have the cereal,tea and toast.
[16:02.25]The rest have even less.
[16:05.75]What the vast majority of British people have in the mornings
[16:10.55]is much closer to what is called a "continental" breakfast,
[16:16.54]which is a European style breakfast,not British style.
[16:22.13]The image of the British as a nation of tea-drinkers
[16:27.01]is another stereotype that is somewhat out of date.
[16:32.18]It is true that tea is still prepared in a distinctive way(strong and with milk)
[16:39.97]but more coffee than tea is now bought in the country's shops.
[16:45.37]As for the tradition of afternoon tea with biscuits,scones,sandwiches or cake,
[16:51.96]this is a minority activity,
[16:55.85]largely confined to retired people and the leisured upper middle class.
[17:02.43]Even when a British habit conforms to the stereotype,
[17:07.42]the wrong conclusions can sometimes be drawn from it.
[17:12.52]The supposed British love of queues is an example.
[17:17.32]Yes,British people do form queues whenever they are waiting for something,
[17:23.62]but this does not mean they enjoy it.
[17:27.61]In 1992,a survey found that the average wait to pay in a British supermarket
[17:35.11]was three minutes and twenty-three seconds,
[17:40.02]and that the average wait to be served in a bank
[17:44.02]was two minutes and thirty-three seconds.
[17:48.93]You might think that these times sound very reasonable.
[17:53.82]But the Sunday Times newspaper did not think so.
[17:59.12]It referred to these figures as a "problem"
[18:03.72]Some banks now promise to serve their customers "within two minutes"
[18:10.01]It would therefore seem wrong to conclude that their habit of queuing
[18:15.50]shows that the British are a patient people.
[18:20.09]Apparently,the British hate having to wait,
[18:25.01]and have less patience than people in many other countries.
 

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