Part Ⅰ Listening Comprehension (40 min)

In Sections A, B and C you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully a nd then answer the questions that follow. Mark the correct response to each ques tion on your Coloured Answer Sheet.

SECTION A TALK

Questions 1 to 5 refer to the talk in this section. At the end of the talk you w ill be given 15 seconds to answer each of the following five questions. Now list en to the talk.

1. Changes in the size of the World Bank' s operations refer to ___.
A. the expansion of its loan programme
B. the inclusion of its hard loans
C. the inclusion of its soft loans 
D. the previous lending policies

2. What actually made the Bank change its overall lending strategy?
A. Reluctance of people in poor countries to have small families.
B. Lack of basic health services and inequality in income distribution.
C. The discovery that a low fertility rate would lead to economic development.
D. Poor nutrition and low literacy in many poor countries of the world.

3. The change in emphasis of the Bank's lending policies meant that the Bank would ___.
A. be more involved in big infrastructure projects
B. adopt similar investment strategies in poor and rich countries
C. embark upon a review of the investment in huge dams and steel mills
in projects that would benefit the low-income sector of society

4. Which of the following is NOT a criticism of the bank?
A. Colossal travel expenses of its staff. 
B. Fixed annual loans to certain countries.
C. Limited impact of the Bank's projects. 
D. Role as a financial deal maker.

5. Throughout the talk, the speaker is ___ while introducing the Wor ld Bank.
A. biased B. unfriendly C. objective D. sensational

SECTION B CONVERSATION

Questions 6 to 10 are based on a conversation. At the end of the conversation yo u will be given 15 seconds to answer the question. Now listen to the conversatio n.

6. The man sounds surprised at the fact that ___.
A. many Australians are taking time off to travel
B. the woman worked for some time in New Zealand
C. the woman raised enough money for travel
D. Australians prefer to work in New Zealand

7. We learn that the woman liked Singapore mainly because of its ___.
A. cleanness B. multi-ethnicity C. modern characteristics D. shopping opportunities

8. From the conversation we can infer that Kaifeng and Yinchuan impressed the woman with their ___.
A. respective locations B. historic interests  C. ancient tombs D. Jewish descendants

9. Which of the following words can best describe the woman's feelings a bout Tibet?
A. Amusement. B. Disbelief. C. Ecstasy. D. Delig ht

10. According to the conversation, it was that made the woman ready to stop traveling.
A. the unsettledness of travel
B. the difficulties of trekking
C. the loneliness of travel
D. the unfamiliar environment

SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST

Questions 11 and 12 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item , you will be given 30 seconds to answer the questions. Now listen to the news.

11. Mike Tyson was put in prison last August because he ___.
A. violated the traffic law
B. illegally attacked a boxer
C. attacked sb. after a traffic accident
D. failed to finish his contract

12. The license granted to Tyson to fight will be terminated ___.
A. by the end of the year B. in over a year C. in August D. in a few weeks

Question 13 is based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you wil l be given 15 seconds to answer the question. Now listen to the news.
13. The Russian documents are expected to draw great attention because ___.
A. they cover the whole story of the former US president
B. the assassin used to live in the former Soviet Union
C. they are the only official documents released about Kennedy
D. they solved the mystery surrounding Kennedy's assassination

Question 14 and 15 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item,
you will be given 30 seconds to answer the questions. New listen to the news.

14. In the recent three months, Hong Kong's unemployment rate has ___.
A. increased slowly B. decreased gradually C. stayed steady D. become unpredictable

15. According to the news, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Business conditions have worsened in the past three months.
B. The past three months have seen a declining trend in job offers.
C. The rise of unemployment rate in some sectors equals the fall in others.
D. The unemployment rate in all sectors of the economy remains unchanged.

SECTION D NOTE-TAKING AND GAP-FILLING

Fill each of gaps with ONE word. You may refer to your notes. Make sure the word you fill in is both grammatically and semantically acceptable.

The Press Conference
 
The press conference has certain advantages. The first advantage lies with the
 
(1)___ nature of the event itself; public officials are supposed to  1.___
 
submit to scrutiny by responding to various questions at a press conference.
 
Secondly, statements previously made at a press conference can be used as a
 
(2)___ in judging following statements or policies. Moreover, in case  2.___
 
of important events, press conferences are an effective way to break the news
 
to groups of reporters.
 
However, from the point of view of (3)___, the press conference  3.___
 
possesses some disadvantages, mainly in its(4)___ and news source.  4.___
 
The provider virtually determines the manner in which a press conference
proceeds. This, sometimes, puts news reporters at a(n)(5)___ , as can  5.___
 
be seen on live broadcasts of news conferences.
 
Factors in getting valuable information preparation: a need to keep up to date on journalistic subject matter;
 
—(6)___ of the news source:  6.___
 
1 ) news source’ s (7)___ to  7.___
 
   provide information;
 
2)news-gathering methods.
 
Conditions under which news reporters cannot trust the information
 
provided by a news source
 
— not knowing the required information;
 
— knowing and willing to share the information, but without
 
       (8)___ skills;  8.___
 
— knowing the information, but unwilling to share;
 
— willing to share, but unable to recall.
 
(9)___ of questions asked  9.___
 
Ways of improving the questions:
 
       no words with double meanings;
 
       no long questions;
 
 
— specific time, place, etc.;
 
— (10)      questions;  10.___
 
— clear alternatives, or no alternatives in answers.