Now listen to the following recording and answer questions 20 to 22.

The 2010 Global Hunger Index report was released today by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). It notes that, in recent years, experts have come to the conclusion that undernourishment between conception and a child’s second birthday can have serious and long-lasting impacts. 

Undernourishment during this approximately 1,000-day window can seriously check the growth and development of children and render them more likely to get sick and die than well-fed children. Preventing hunger allows children to develop both physically and mentally. 

Says IFPRI’s Marie Ruel, “They will be more likely to perform well in school. They will stay in school longer. And then at adulthood, IFPRI has actually demonstrated that children who were better nourished have higher wages, by a pretty large margin, by 46 percent.”

Ruel says that means the productivity of a nation’s future generations depends in a large part on the first 1,000 days of life.

“This is why we’re all on board in focusing on those thousand days to improve nutrition. After that, the damage is done and is highly irreversible.”

The data on nutrition and childhood development has been slowly coming together for decades. But Ruel says scientific consensus alone will not solve the problem. 

“It’s not enough that nutritionists know you have to intervene then, if we don’t have the politicians on board, and also the...people that implement [programs] in the field.”

Ruel says there are encouraging signs that politicians and implementers are beginning to get on board. Many major donors and the United Nations are targeting hunger-relief programs at pregnant women and young children. They focus on improving diets or providing micro-food supplements. They improve access to pre-birth care and encourage exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a child’s life. 

Ruel says in the 1980s Thailand was able to reduce child undernourishment by recruiting a large number of volunteers to travel the countryside teaching about health and nutrition.

“They really did very active promotion of diversity in the diet and good eating habits. So they were providing more food to people, but also educating people on how to use them, and also educating people on how to feed their young children.”

Ruel says countries may take different approaches to reducing child undernutrition. But she says nations will not make progress fighting hunger and poverty until they begin to focus on those critical first thousand days.

20. What is the experts’ conclusion regarding children’s undernourishment in their earliest days of life?
21. What does IFPRI’s Marie Ruel say about well-fed children in their adult life?
22. What did Thailand do to reduce child undernourishment in the 1980s?

Now listen to the following recording and answer questions 23 to 25.

I’d like to look at a vital aspect of e-commerce, and that is the nature of the product or service. There are certain products and services that are very suitable for selling online, and others that simply don’t work.

Suitable products generally have a high value-to-weight ratio. Items such as CDs and DVDs are obvious examples. Books, although heavier and so more expensive to post, still have a high enough value-to-weight ratio, as the success of Amazon, which started off selling only books, shows. Laptop computers are another good product for selling online.

Digital products, such as software, films and music, can be sold in a purely virtual environment. The goods are paid for by online transactions, and then downloaded onto the buyer’s computer. There are no postage or delivery costs, so prices can be kept low.

Many successful virtual companies provide digital services, such as financial transactions, in the case of Paypal, or means of communication, as Skype does. The key to success here is providing an easy-to-use, reliable service. Do this and you can easily become the market leader, as Skype has proved.

Products which are potentially embarrassing to buy also do well in the virtual environment. Some of the most profitable e-commerce companies are those selling sex-related products or services. For a similar reason, online gambling is highly popular.

Products which are usually considered unsuitable for selling online include those that have a taste or smell component. Food, especially fresh food, falls into this category, along with perfume. Clothes and other items that need to be tried on such as diamond rings and gold necklaces are generally not suited to virtual retailing, and, of course, items with a low value-to-weight ratio.
There are exceptions, though. Online grocery shopping has really taken off, with most major supermarkets offering the service. The inconvenience of not being able to see the food you are buying is outweighed by the time saved and convenience of having the goods delivered. Typical users of online supermarkets include the elderly, people who work long hours and those without their own transport.

23 What is important to the success of an online store?
24. What products are unsuitable for selling online?
25. Who are more likely to buy groceries online?

参考答案

Part II Listening Comprehension

Section A
1. C 2. B 3. C 4. D 5. D
6. B 7. A 8. C

Section B
9. D 10. B 11. A 12. A 13. B
14. C 15. D

Section C
16. B 17. D 18. A 19. C 20. A
21. B 22. C 23. D 24. A 25. B