Talks and Conversations

P1. Q11-14

W: Jack, tell me about yourself.
M: I was born in LA. But my family is from China. My father came to the US to study. He got a PHD in computer science. And he stayed on as a professor at a college in California.
W: Is your mother from China, too?
M: No, my mom is from here. She’s Asian-American. Her folks came to the US during the 19th century. In fact, one of her great-grandfathers actually helped to build the first railroad across the United States in the 1860s. What about you?
W: Well, I’m a third-generation Mexican-American. My grandparents were born in Vera Cruz. And they immigrated to this country a long time ago. We still have a lot of relatives in Mexico.
M: Do you keep in touch with them?
W: We visit whenever we can.
M: By the way, how’s your Spanish?
W: It’s pretty good. We speak it at home most of the time. Do you speak Chinese?
M: Yeah, I’m quite fluent. And I’m now learning to write it. I think someday I might be back in China and take up my career there.

Q11 What does the man’s father do for a living?
Q12 What does the man say about his mother?
Q13 According to the woman, why can she speak very good Spanish?
Q14 What is the man doing now?

解析：这一段对话难度很低，基本没有影响理解的生词。一个华裔男生和一个墨西哥裔女生在谈论双方的家庭情况、以及对汉语、西班牙语的知识。提问点也很明显。

P2. Q15-18
Most of us use oil in some way. And it is difficult to imagine the modern world without oil. But oil is not easy to find and get out of the earth, as it is trapped deep down in the ground. We must first study the rocks carefully. When we think that the rocks in a certain place may contain oil, we will build a metal tower in the location, either on the land or on the sea. This metal tower is called a derrick. The derrick is equipped with oil-drilling machinery. The machine will cut a narrow hole down into the ground. Meanwhile, a steel pipe is pushed down to stop the sides from falling and to keep out water. At last, if we have judged correctly, the oil would rush up the pipe with great force. This is basically how an oil well is set up. Oil, as we can see, is obtained more easily than coal. For coal, very often, we must dig it from a mine and have it sent out to the ground surface. But for oil, it rushes up a pipe. If an oil well is made near the middle of the oil field, then natural gas can be obtained. In parts of the world, such gas is often sent through pipes to distant towns and cities, so that it can be used like coal gas in houses and factories.

Q15 Why is it difficult to find oil?
Q16 What is a derrick?
Q17 Why does the speaker say that oil is obtained more easily than coal?
Q18 According to the speaker, what can be obtained when an oil well is made near the middle of the oil field?

解析：今年各种时事依然散布在考卷的四处，这道题讲的是石油的开采。能源问题一直是大家关心的话题，加上不久前的原油泄漏事件，我们在一周前的答疑会上也提到，这个话题是重点。这道题改编自一篇中学阅读题，其实是改得比阅读题中出现的句子更加直接、容易理解了。这篇文章简述了石油开采的步骤、与煤矿开采相比较，最后还提到了天然气。科普类的文章最主要的困难是专业词汇，像这里的Derrick、oil-drilling machinery等等。总的来说这些词汇并不多，提问点也比较中规中矩，难度中等。

P3 Q19-22
W: Good evening, Mr. Smith. It’s nice to meet you and your boy in such nice and cozy weather. Is John going to school this year?
M: Yes. We are thinking of sending him to a private boarding school instead of the local state school.
W: Really? Well, I wouldn’t dream of sending my little boy away to some strange institution for month on end every year. It will break my heart every time.
M: I don’t think so. I would say that a boarding school education is good for children because it teaches them to have confidence in themselves. In a boarding school, they can learn to be more independent of themselves and less dependent on their parents.
W: But not every child can afford to go to a private school. My nephew only went to his local state school and he’s just been awarded a scholarship to study classics at Cambridge.
M: Anyway, the private school is more animative and open-minded in teaching children to learn. You will get the value of your money, and this is worthwhile.
W: Still, I don’t know what I’ll do with my little boy next year. I don’t want him to go to that big new school. The children of all the common people in the area go there.
M: Well, they are closing all the other schools. If you don’t like the new state school, you’ll just have to pay to send him to a private school, won’t you?

Q19
According to the man, what is good about a private boarding school?
Q20
Why does the woman mention her nephew in the conversation?
Q21
Which of the following can be concluded from the conversation?
Q22
What is the woman worried about?

解析：对话形式讨论是否要送孩子去私立寄宿制学校(private boarding school)上学。男性说话人认为之所以要选择私立寄宿制学校，是因为：一，它能让孩子对自己充分自信；二，让孩子学会独立；三，私立学习在教育方式上更加活泼和开放。女性说话人认为私立学校不是每个孩子都能读得起的，并举出自己侄子的例子，证明：不去私立学校，也一样会有好的成绩。但是她自己还是拿不定主意到底送自己的孩子去哪种学校上学。她不想让孩子去那所新的公立学校，因为当地所有普通家庭的孩子都会去这所学校。文章难度并不大，大家注意区分观点即可。

P4 Q23-26

Earthquakes are violent, destructive and unpredictable. The overall history of earthquakes leads to one general rule. The more time that has passed since an earthquake, the bigger the chance one will strike. Scientists therefore use information about past earthquakes to guess probabilities about future earthquakes.

For example, they say that within the next 30 years, there is a 60 percent probability that an earthquake will hit somewhere in southern California. But exactly where or when is a mystery. In at least one case, an earthquake in northern china has been predicted by paying attention to clues from nature.

In china, earthquakes have been studied for nearly 4,000 years. And there are records of more than 9,000 earthquakes, going back to the year 1831BC. The official earthquake records of the state of California only go back to 1950. In their long hard look earthquakes, the Chinese have observed many things. Before an earthquake, animals start to act strangely. The ground changed in shape, and earth’s magnetic fields get stronger in the earthquake area. The water in wild bubbles up, and then returns to its normal level. Also, a series of small earthquakes can mean that a big quake is on its way. The Chinese use these clues in 1974 to make the first successful prediction of an earthquake. The United States geological survey, on the other hand, has never predicted a major earthquake.

Q23
What is the general rule about the occurrence of an earthquake?
Q24
According to the speaker, which area is likely to be hit by an earthquake within the next 30 years?
Q25
How long have the Chinese studied earthquakes?
Q26
Which of the following is not a clue that is used by the Chinese to predict an earthquake?

解析：本文关于地震，大家在考前可能也预测到会考到此类话题。本文主要关注地震监测和预报的问题，并将中国和美国在这一问题上的情况作对比。第一、二段论述地震是很难预测的，并在第二段结尾处指出中国曾有一次通过对各种自然现象的观察，成功预测到了一次地震。第三段比较了中美的地震预测情况，并具体论述哪些线索可以为预测地震提供信息。本文难度较前几篇较高，但是题目难度正常。

P5 Q27-30
Man: How did you like the fireworks last night?
Woman: I really didn’t enjoy them too much. There was such a big crowd that we couldn’t get very close.
Man: I thought you were going early.
Woman: We did. But even though we got there on 7 o’clock, the park was already jammed. It was so crowed that we had a hard time finding a place even to stand.
Man: That’s too bad because the fireworks were really spectacular.
Woman: What did you do? How did you manage to get a good view?
Man: We went early. We decided to have a picnic dinner in the park, so we’d be sure to get there early enough to find a good spot.
Woman: I guess that’s what I should do next Fourth of July.
Man: We found a place on top of some rocks where nobody could get in front of us.
Woman: Wasn’t it pretty hot? The temperature was up in the 80s yesterday.

Man: It was nice and cool where we were because there were a lot of trees right behind us. So we had some shade to sit in.
Woman: What did you do about going home? I’ve never been pushed and shoved so much in my whole life.
Man: Well, they rent extra buses until midnight, so we didn’t have any problem.
Woman: I think you were lucky.
Man: It wasn’t luck. It was good planning. You have to come with us next year.
Woman: I don’t know whether I want to try it again next year. Even though I like fireworks, I don’t like big crowds.
Man: Well, next year is still a long time away and next weekend we are going to the beach, a whole bunch of us. Would you like to come with us?
Woman: Yes, thank you, I would. And maybe I can find how you go about planning things.

Q27. According to the woman, why couldn’t she enjoy the fireworks?
Q28. What did the man do to ensure a good view of the fireworks?
Q29. How did the man explain the success for their park trip?
Q30. What did the man do at the end of conversation?

解析：本文主要讲述男女双方在观赏烟花中完全不同的经历。女士因为没有做好事先的计划，结果去观赏时人群拥挤，观赏过程不甚愉快。而男士则做好周全的安排，观赏烟花过程顺利且愉快。
这篇对话内容不难，关键是要抓住男女双方各自不同经历的不同原因。

关键词：a big crowd，jam，early enough，go to the beach

2010年秋季上海中级口译考试听力完整文本及参考答案 下载>>