题目内容
What is the most probable meaning of the word "impasse" (Line 1,Para. 4)？
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Section A
Directions: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations. At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A, B, C and D, and decide which is the best answer.
听力原文：W: I really appreciate your help．Without your direction．I may have got lost in this community．It is so out of the way．
M: It was my pleasure to be of help in some way．Good day．madam．
Q: What did the man do？
(12)
A．They can invite guests to have meals at a reduced price.B．They receive cards that al
The History of Chinese Americans
Chinese have been in the United States for almost two hundred years. In fact, the Chinese had business relations with Hawaii prior to relations with the mainland when Hawaii was not yet part of the United States. But United States investments controlled the capital of Hawaii at that time. In 1788, a ship sailed from Guangzhou to Hawaii. Most of the crewmen were Chinese. They were considered the pioneers of Hawaii. The Immigration Commission reported that the first Chinese arrived in the United States in 1820, eight in 1830 and seven hundred and eighty in 1850. The Chinese population gradually increased and reached 64,199 in 1870.
For many years it was common in the United States to associate Chinese Americans with restaurants and laundries. People did not realize that the Chinese had been driven into these occupations by the prejudice and discrimination that faced them in this country.
The first Chinese to reach the mainland United States came during the California Gold Rush of 1849. Like most of the other people there, they had come to search for gold. In that largely unoccupied land, the men staked a claim for themselves by placing markers in the ground. However, either because the Chinese were so different from the others or because they worked so patiently that they sometimes succeeded in turning a seemingly worthless mining claim into a profitable one, they became the scapegoats of their envious competitors. They were harassed in many ways. Often they were prevented from working their claims; some localities even passed regulations forbidding them to own claims. The Chinese therefore started to seek out other ways of earning a living. Some of them began to do the laundry for the white miners; others set up small restaurants. (There were almost no women in California in those days, and the Chinese filled a real need by doing this "woman's work".) Some went to work as farmhands or as fishermen.
In the early 1860's many more Chinese arrived in California. This time the men were imported as work crews to construct the first transcontinental railroad. They were sorely needed because the work was so strenuous and dangerous, and it was carried on in such a remote part of the country that the railroad company could not find other laborers for the job. As in the case of their predecessors, these Chinese were almost all males; and like them, too, they encountered a great deal of prejudice. The hostility grew especially strong after the railroad project was complete, and the imported laborers returned to Calitbrnia--thousands of them, all out of work. Because there were so many more of them this time, these Chinese drew even more attention than the earlier group did. They were so very different in every respect: in their physical appearance, including a long "pigtail" at the back of their otherwise shaved heads; in the strange, non-Western clothes they wore; in their speech (few had learned English since they planned to go back to China); and in their religion. They were contemptuously called "heathen Chinese" because there were many sacred images in their houses of worship.
When times were hard, they were blamed for working for lower wages and taking jobs away from white men, who were in many eases recent immigrants themselves. Anti-Chinese riots broke out in several cities, culminating in arson and bloodshed. Chinese were barred from using the courts and also from becoming American citizens. Californians began to demand that no more Chinese be permitted to enter their state. Finally, in 1882, they persuaded Congress to pass the Chinese Exclusion Act, which stopped the immigration of Chinese laborers. Many Chinese returned to their homeland, and their numbers declined sharply in the early part of this century. However, during the World War II, when China was an ally of the United States, the Exclusion laws
听力原文：M I have with me on the programme Victoria Sanderson, this year's winner of the Financial News Businesswoman of the Year Award. Victoria, you run a multi-million pound company offering computer solutions for businesses. How did you get started？
F Well, my first job was with SHC Computer Systems. I first started working there when I was a law student. I needed work for the vacation before starting back at university in the autumn. It was so exciting that I knew I wanted a permanent post there - and not in their legal department. That's why I went there after I graduated.
M But you left SHC after a few years. Why was that？
F Well, SHC was an internationally known firm with a great reputation. But all our rivals were trying to do the same kind of thing. I felt that, if we were going to stay in that area, we should aim to create software based on companies' real needs. You know, like coming up with programs for the insurance industry.
M So you left SHC when they disagreed with you.
F Yes, but I offered my ex-boss a deal for the first three years, so that there wouldn't be any concern about winning contracts away from them. Basically, if any SHC product was available that suited my customers' needs, that's what I'd recommend. But where no standard product was sufficient, then we'd develop a product that was more appropriate.
M But it must be hard to satisfy the needs of companies as varied as, say, insurance firms and chemical companies with just a few specific products.
F That's right. That's why we focused at first on just the motor industry, or rather the companies making the parts which go into each vehicle. Now we produce packages for a slightly larger number of industries - including insurance. But we didn't broaden our range for a few years.
M And now you're a major company, And you've also taken over quite a few other large software firms. How do you think you've managed to do this so successfully？
F Well, you have to be patient. But of course if you wait too long, somebody else will get there first. What takes time is finding out such an enormous amount of information about a company you're interested in acquiring. Whether it's an unknown firm or a firm with an established reputation, you have to find out the facts for yourself.
M I was also interested to read about your pricing policy that you set prices as a percentage of your clients' turnover rather than as a fixed amount.
F Well, whatever price you offer, someone else will always offer a lower one. So I think what you need to do to succeed is to ensure that your clients want to stay with you long-term, which is what our system aims to do.
M It must be hard, though, combining being Chief Executive with bringing up two children, especially with your husband also working ful-time.
F I think if youre very organised, you can combine things. For example, if you want a full social life, or like me, if you want to spend as much time as possible with your family, you just have to organise your work so that it doesn't take over.
M And one final question. What do you enjoy most about your job？
F Well, I'm lucky that I've got such a brilliant team around me. What's really good is when they realise they can do things they couldn't do before. You need to work with them for some time before you really appreciate that. It's great when that happens.
M Oh, yes it is. I'm afraid we'll have to end there. Thank you, Victoria.
How to approach Listening Test Part Four
？In this part of the Listening Test you listen to a long conversation or interview and answer' eight questions.
？Before you listen, read the questions. Think about what the recording will be about.
？Note all possible answers as you listen for the first time. Do not make an immediate decision.
？Do not worry if you do not know the answers. You will hear the recording a second time.
？Listen for overall meaning. Do not choose an answer just because you hea
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