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SECTION B INTERVIEW
Directions: In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions.
Now listen to the interview.
听力原文:A: So, you're an architect?
B: Yes.
A: Do you work for a public or private organisation, or are you self-employed, that is, working on your own?
B: I'm working for a private design and construction company.
A: How did you start your career?
B: I started with the government.
A: Oh, did you? What made you decide to work for the government?
B: Well, it was a matter of chance really. I saw an advertisement for a vacant position in a newspaper, and I thought "Why don't you try it? " In fact, I have no preferences to where I work, public or private.
A: And do you still have this idea, or. . .
B: More or less, yes, although I'm now working for a private firm, I worked for the government for about three years. It was alright. Of course there's the bureaucracy one has to put up with, but it's not that bad, if you don't mind bureaucratic wheels turning slowly, and things not being as efficient.
A: Ah-ah. And what made you leave the public sector?
B: Money mainly. You see, I got married, and my wife doesn't work, and we wanted to start a family right away. So we thought it might be better off if I movered to the private sector. This is why it's hard for me to be self-employed because self-employed work has the disadvantage that there may be time, or a period of time when you're unemployed.
A: I see, so did you join this company straight away or. . .
B: No, I worked for, in a couple of private firms before I came to this one.
A: Hmm, hmm. Now what qualifications does one have to become an architect?
B: Well, you've got to have a degree in architecture. That means before you apply to study architecture in any university, you have to pass exams, usually three A-levels with good results. Also you generally have to study sciences at school rather than arts. . . as the basis for the subject to be studied at university level, although when you really get down to it, the subject involves some aspects of arts too. Then you need between six and seven years to work through, by the end of which you usually sit for the final examination.
A: So you mean to take up architecture, one has to have a scientific background?
B: Well, yes, mainly scientific, but it helps if you have some general arts background too. You know, architecture is not a pure science.
A: Now, if one wants to take up architecture, one has got to be able to draw? Is that really true?
B: Well, it is true that the work of an architect involves a lot of drawing, and to be an architect you must be able to draw. But this doesn't mean that if you can't at present draw, you won't have the opportunity to be an architect, because you can be taught to draw. In fact drawing in architecture is different from drawing in art. An artist's drawing must be good in the sense that it gives a certain impression in the mind of the viewer, in fact some famous artists can't draw very well at ail, at least not from a technical point of view. On the other hand, an architect's drawing must be accurate. So I'd say that accuracy of the drawings is what we aim at, what's important.
A: Now what qualities do you think make a good architect, apart from being accurate in his drawings?
B: Well, I'm not sure if I can generalise about that. You see architecture is a mixture of theory and practice. So I suppose a good architect should be good at both. An architect's work is good in as much as the construction is built precisely as the theory requires, so that it doesn't collapse o

A. a newspaper.
B. the government.
C. a construction firm.
D. a private company.

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听力原文: Washington (dpa)-The United States, never shy to lecture the rest of the world on the virtues of democracy, has become the target of ridicule from newspapers and hostile governments delighting at the Election 2000 paralysis.
The Washington Times noted that "nations used to being targets of lectures for their own election irregularities were taking barely disguised glee in the drawn-out battle for the White House between Republican George W. Bush and Democrat Al Gore.
The leaders of the United States allies have politely held back with mockery, but not so their newspapers, or officials from countries that have less than cordial ties with Washington. A brief selection of the global ridicule:
Rome's La Republica judged in a front-page headline that Tuesday was "A day worthy of a banana republic. "
"Washington, we have a problem, " joked the French-language Swiss daily 24 Heures.
A Russian daily quipped about the "Divided States of America. "
British tabloid the Daily Mirror ran the headline "Forrest Chumps" with the kicker "This election's like a box of chocolates you never know what you're going to get. "
Iran's Khabar state broadcaster delighted in showing the 1996 Hollywood comedy "My Fellow Americans, about corruption in the White House, on election night. "
In Russia, the recipient of generous advice from Washington over the years, President Vladimir Putin offered to send election monitors to help with the vote count.
His election commission chief Alexander Veshnyakov who was invited to the U. S. to observe the poll, rubbed salt into the wound by praising a system which "definitely enriches my understanding of how irregularities can occur. "
Officials in India, the world's largest democracy, also offered advice and offered to send help, as did Zimbabwe.
There, the campaign chief of President Robert Mugabe, Jonathan Moyo, said: "Perhaps now we have reached a time when they can learn a lot from us. Maybe Africans and others should send observers to help Americans with their democracy. "
Libya's U. N. envoy commented about the "Florida model: We can see from the elections that we are the true democracies and not this ridiculous American model. "
In a Washington press briefing, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher was forced to tell journalists questioning him that the United States had not entertained a proposal to allow observers from the Organization of American States, a common practice in elections in many Latin American countries.
Pushed by journalists, he added: "I think pretty much most of the world maybe most of the world outside this room understands that this is a regular, normal, legal, clear, transparent, open process for United States democracy. "
According to the news, why does U. S. become the butt of world's jokes?

A. Because of the Clinton's scandal.
Because of the Ballot debacle.
C. Because of the democracy.
D. Because Bush will be the president.

Some say that France has been Americanized. This is because the United States is a world symbol of the technologi- cal society and its consumer products. The so-called Americanization of France has its critics. They fear that "assembly- line life" will lead to the disappearance of the pleasures of the more graceful and leisurely (but less productive) old French style. What will happen, they ask, to taste, elegance, and the cultivation of the good things in life—to joy in the smell of a freshly picked apple, a stroll by the river, or just happy hours of conversation in a local cafe?
Since the late 1950's life in France has indeed taken on qualities of rush, tension, and the pursuit of material gain. Some of the strongest critics of the new way of life are the young, especially university students. They are concerned with the future, and they fear that France is threatened by the triumph of this competitive, goods-oriented culture. Occasionally, they have reacted against the trend with considerable violence.
In spite of the critics, however, countless Frenchmen are committed to keeping France in the forefront of the modern economic world. They find that the present life brings more rewards, conveniences, and pleasures than that of the past. They believe that a modern, industrial France is preferable to the old.
Which of the following is a feature of the old French way of life?

A. leisure, elegance, and efficiency
B. elegance, efficiency, and taste
C. leisure, elegance, and taste
D. elegance, efficiency, and taste

An international team of astronomers has discovered 11 new planets outside the solar system, raising fresh speculation about the possibility of life in outer space.
Astrophysicists from the Geneva Observatory and the European Southern Observatory (ESO) headquartered in Germany, were involved in the detections announced earlier this month.
Since the first extrasolar planet was found orbitting around the star 51 Pegasi in 1995, astronomers have pinpointed between 60 and 70 such heavenly bodies across the universe.
Each discovery raises new questions about the formation and behaviour of planets among scientists raised on the assumption that distant planets orbitted stars the way the Earth and other planets in the solar system revolve around the sun.
But astronomers are now detecting planets of unexpected size in areas where they least expected to find them. Last year, they found a handful of new planets similar in size to small stars and others that moved freely in space without orbitting any star.
Some of the 11 planets whose discovery has just been disclosed have special characteristics, according to the ESO.
One of them is a gas giant at least 5. 6 times as massive as Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system. It was detected around a star known under the scientific designation HD28185.
Many of the previously discovered extrasolar planets of similar size were found close to stars or revolved around them in eccentric orbits. But the new one has an almost circular orbit similar to that of our own planet.
Its orbital period of 385 days is also similar to the year taken by the Earth to travel around the sun. Its average distance from its central star is 150. 6 million kilometres, almost the same as the 149. 6 million kilometres between our planet and the sun.
This would place the new planet in a so-called hospitable zonewhere temperatures similar to those on Earth are possible.
Although such gas giants are not considered favorable to the development of life forms, they could have moons around them where life might be theoretically possible.
Another new discovery is a two-planet system around the star HD82943 where the orbit of one of the planets is twice as long as that of the other. Such commensurable orbits also exist in the solar system.
A further two-planet system was detected near the star HD74156, with one of the planets similar to the mass of Jupiter and the other having a far greater mass.
Another new discovery was a giant planet 3. 4 times the mass of Jupiter that approached to within 5 million kilometres of the star HD80606. At its furthest point it was 127 million kilometres away.
In contrast Mercury, the planet nearest the sun, is 46 million kilometres away at its closest point.
None of the extrasolar planets has been seen with telescopes. They are detected indirectly by the effects of gravity on the motions of their mother star.
Calculations of the changes in motion of these stars allow astronomers to draw conclusions on the orbit of the planets, their mass and their distance from the central stars.
A major problem affecting observation using current telescope technology is that light shining from the stars tends drown all weaker sources of light in the vicinity.
An international team of astronomers has discovered 11 new planets outside the solar system, raising fresh ______ about the possibility of life in outer space.

A. exploring
B. debate
C. wondering
D. pondering

SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST
Directions: In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. At the end of each news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the questions.
听力原文: Fresh terrorist horror was brought home to the UK yesterday as one Briton was killed and five seriously injured when a suspected woman suicide bomber detonated her explosives on a minibus packed with young holidaymakers in a popular Turkish seaside resort.
An unnamed British woman was one of five fatalities, including an Irish woman in her twenties, who died when the blast ripped through their vehicle as it took them to a popular beach in the Aegean resort town of Kusadasi, 45 miles south-east of the port of Izmir.
The bomb, which blew off the roof and sides of the vehicle carrying 14 holidaymakers travelling with UK tour company Thomas Cook, dramatically reinforced the sense of a concerted terrorist campaign against British targets worldwide, with in- creasing evidence pointing to al-Qaeda.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw condemned this 'repugnant act, saying it had mined the lives of innocent people. ' He added: 'Our thoughts and prayers are with all the victims and their families.
'As always we stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Turkey, in sympathy and in our refusal to allow terrorists to destroy our values and our liberty. '
Coming 10 days after the suicide bombings in London, which have so far claimed 55 lives, the latest bombing in Turkey strongly suggests a carefully coordinated series of attacks against British interests, raising fears that further attacks may be in the pipeline.
The attack happened at about 10. 45am local time (8. 45am BST) as the bus made its way from the town bus station towards an area known as Kadinlar Denizi, or Ladies Beach. Some victims were rushed to nearby hospitals while others were taken to Izmir.
Where did this bomb attack happen?

A. Izmir
B. Kusadasi
C. London
D. Istanbul

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