学术综合英语听力原文.doc

Comprehensive Academic English For Graduates
Unit 1 Presenting a Speech
Road Building
Good morning, everyone. Today I'll be talking about the relationship between road building and the development of the American economy during the 18th century. About 300 years ago, the United States' economy was growing rapidly, mainly because of a booming trade in two important agricultural products: grain and cotton.
Grain output in the eastern part of America increased quickly at that time due to the rapidly growing population and the large number of immigrants from Europe. As a result, the demand for grain almost doubled. For this reason, the trade in grain first developed in this part of the country. At the same time, the road system was gradually built up in order to transport the grain from the rural areas to various cities. The road building clearly helped develop the economy quickly in these areas and in the cities as well.
During the same period, farmers in the South could get a large amount of laborers from Africa, and they started to grow cotton. As the cotton output increased, the farmers needed to sell it in other places. As a result, many roads were built to link the rural areas to the cities.
At first, this trade of grain and cotton took place along the coast, or near rivers and lakes. It took place there because it was easy and cheap to transport goods from one place to another. Before 1700, it was very expensive to move the goods by road. So, farmers had to rely mainly on rivers to move their crops to markets.
At that time, there was only one continuous road that existed in the US. It ran from north to south along country roads, which were linked together to make one long road. Within a short time, the first east-to-west roads were built. They were called turnpikes. Private companies built these roads and collected fees from all vehicles that traveled on them.
Eventually, because of the booming trade of grain and cotton, a network of roadways was completed that connected some major cities and towns. Although traveling was still costly for farmers, they soon preferred to move their crops to cities and other areas on roadways rather than by boat because it was faster and more convenient.
So here we can see a rather clear picture of road building in the United States and its impact on economic development during that period.
The Mississippi River in America
Good afternoon. Today we’re going to talk about the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River is the largest river of the North America. Its major tributaries drain an area of approximately 3,000,000 square kilometers, or about one-eighth of the entire continent. The Mississippi River lies entirely in the United States. From its source at Lake Itasca in Minnesota, it flows from the North almost due south across the continental interior, collecting the waters of its major tributaries, down to the Gulf of Mexico.The Mighty Mississippi, as it is affectionately known, flows a total distance about 4,000 kilometers from its source. With its tributaries, the Mississippi drains all or part of 31 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces.
As everyone knows, in the past the river was the most important way of transporting goods from the North to the South, or from the South to the North in the United States.
The Mississippi River is also a river that can sometimes get out of control and cause serious flooding in summer. Nowadays engineers use four different methods to control the floodwaters of the river. These four ways are: flood ways,dams, levees and reservoirs. I'll discuss each of these here.
Floodways are the first way of controlling the floodwaters of the Mississippi River. Floodways are empty channels ready to hold water from the river. When the Mississippi River is too high, the floodways are opened and some of the water can flow into the floodways. There are several floodways along the lower Mississippi River, which help prevent flooding effectively.
The second way of controlling the floodwaters of the Mississippi River is with dams. Dams are walls that are built across a river to control the water. There are more than 30 dams on the Mississippi River. Dams control the water by holding the water behind them until a decision is made to release it.
Levees are a third way of controlling the floodwaters of the Mississippi River. Levees are earthen walls built alongside a river. They hold the water in the river and keep it from covering the land beside the river. There are more than 2,000 miles of levees along the Mississippi River.
In the 19th and 20th centuries, several reservoirs were built along the Mississippi River to harness the water. They have two functions. One is to hold water, and the other is to generate electricity through hydroelectric power stations. Since the 20th century, no huge flood has broken out of the Mississippi River.
Unit 2 Energy Conservation
An Eyewitness to Changes in China
(Y: Yang Rui, anchor of Dialogue, CCTV-9
R: Sidney Rittenberg, president of Rittenberg Associates, Incorporated. )
Y: Mr. Rittenberg, you are a successful businessman and also a big name to the Chinese due to your close association with the first generation of the PRC leaders. How do you look at the impact that that experience has had on your current perception of China's reform and development?
R: I feel in my heart that what I’m doing today is a continuation of what I was trying to do in the that is, I had this ambition, this dream, from the time that I began studying Chinese at Stanford University in 1943，I had this dream of working to build bridges between Chinese people and American people, and to help them understand each other and cooperate together. And I tried to do that in the past, working in China in Mao’s day. And that's exactly what I'm trying to do today. I really think that what I'm doing today is more effective than what I was able to do in the past.
Y: At that time many foreigners came to China, but you were among the very few who got close to the Communist Party of China.
R: You know, it’s quite obvious to me that the only reason that the Communist Party of China was able to win in the final stages of the Civil War is because of their extremely close relations with the people. The Chinese people that came to know them, trusted them and considered them their representatives. This small peasant army led by Mao Zedong had no tanks, no big guns, no planes, and was greatly outnumbered by the opposition, which was the most powerful armed force in Asia after the Second World War. And yet in only three and a half years, the Nationalists were completely defeated and driven off to the island province of Taiwan. Why? Because the ties that the Communists had with the Chinese people were unbreakable. They had their trust. They had their confidence and support. And that was something that the Nationalists were not able to get.
You know, the Revolutionary Army was a poor army, even in terms of the food they got. The soldiers had grass sandals that they made themselves along the march. But what made them do it? The fact that they had a vision. They believed that they were fighting for their land, for their family to have their own farmland, and for a fair government that would listen to the people and do what they needed. So this is the only explanation I can think of for why they were able to win.
Y: In the Long March you just talked about, the Communist army had to overcome extreme difficulties. But in the new Long March of modernization today, we are also facing difficulties, though very different. What’s your view of this new Long March?
R: I agree with calling this a new Long March, only the barriers are very different. Those barriers were certainly very grim and threatening. Some of these barriers look very good and inviting but actually they are not. I mean, in the days before and during the Long March, the leaders had the task of studying the Chinese reality and getting everybody that they could influence to study reality and from it to derive a set of policies, practical strategies to guide everybody. So people had a shared vision and dream. They were motivated by this common dream to work together. And I think, during the current Long March of modernization, China would need to do the same thing, to gradually study Chinese reality and develop a set of strategies, a common vision and a set of values that most people will share. And then you'll find that you don't have a problem of disconnection between the central government and local governments, or a problem of a big gap between city and country life.
Y: Still, people are wondering in this country why we were able to live with poverty but have problems living with the new wealth.
R: Again it’s the lack of a practical, down-to-earth, realistic vision that everyone shares, in my opinion. I remember after the “Great Leap Forward” when there was a famine, many, many people in Beijing, including government workers, professors in schools, their faces were swollen because people weren’t getting enough food. But nobody admitted that it was because of malnutrition. No one said, “It’s because we don’t have enough food.” You know, I personally don’t think that, for most people, they were motivated just for a distant future dream of Communism. It was because of what the new government had actually already done for the people: workers got their eight hours a day, farmers got their own land for the first time, the public health campaigns, etc. These things raised the standards of living, especially during the first five or six years from 1949 to 1955. Tremendous social changes made people feel, "This is my government, they represent my interests, they bring me real benefits.”
Y: What lessons do you think we should draw from the Cultural Revolution?
R: Well, I think the Cultural Revolution pointed out one fact, which actually was articulated by Deng Xiaoping in his interview after the Cultural Revolution with an American correspondent. He said that any government that doesn’t succeed in making life better for most people in China year by year is not going to succeed. And I think that was the lesson that was taught: it’s not enough just to have growth of the economy, you’ve got to make people feel that you represent their interests and you are working for them.
Y: Besides making people’s life better, there is another core idea of Deng Xiaoping’s theory, that is, the emancipation of people’s mind.
R: I think the emancipation of the followed the Cultural Revolution is equally important to the development of the market economy in China today. But compared to the economic reform, I think the emancipation of the mind hasn’t gone far enough. There’s still the shadow of the old feudalistic habits of governments and individuals in their thinking and in their relationships. When I say a common vision, I don't mean a political code that everyone recites. I mean a feeling that we are working together to build a common society that’s more or less represented by the eight lines that were raised by President Hu Jintao, the moral code.
Talk with “Harry Potter” –Daniel Radcliffe Answers Questions form Fans
Q: How does it feel to work with the same group of actors and actresses again?
A: It always feels good working with Emma, Rupert, Tom and Matthew. We have become very good friends and as this is now the third film we have made together our relationships just get stronger.
Q: Are you going to work on any more Harry Potter films?
A: At the moment I am working on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and I will certainly make Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. After that? Who knows?
Q： I really want to know how you manage to do everything you do.
A: I manage to fit in a lot of things thanks to the brilliant organization on the film set, by my tutors who receive a lot of support from my school, and also because I have great friends who I see regularly. I can keep up to date with everything that is going on at my old school via e-mail or text messaging.
Q: Rupert seems to do other movies besides Harry Potter. I wonder if you or Emma has plans to do other movies besides Harry Potter?
A: As I film practically every day on the movie, it is pretty impossible to fit in other films between times. However, last year I was able to appear as the “surprise guest” in The Play That I Wrote in the West End directed by Kenneth Branagh. It was great fun and the first time I had been on stage!
Q: Have you found that people treat you and your new-found celebrity differently in foreign countries?
A: I am always completely overwhelmed by the reception I receive when I visit different countries. People are always extremely kind, warm and generous and I feel very privileged to have visited so many countries and seen some of the most amazing sights in the world.
Q: How does working with the new director (Alfonso Cuaron) compare with your experience with Chris Columbus?
A: First of all, I consider myself very lucky to have worked with two great directors on these films. Chris is, without doubt, the most energetic director I have ever met. He was amazing in keeping us motivated and in encouraging us every step of the way. Alfonso on the other hand directs in a more intense way. The scenes in this film are some of the most passionate and emotional I have ever worked on, and Alfonso’s style has been very helpful to me.
Q: Have you ever felt like you wanted to go back to your normal life, instead of being famous?
A: As far as I am concerned I am a normal person. I go back to school when I am not filming, I go out with my friends, I go to the cinema — all the normal things that teenagers do. There is an assumption that I cannot leave my house without being hounded — that is not the case. I am able to do many more things than people think I can.
Q: What did it feel like to talk to Dobby the computerized house elf? Is it hard to remember your lines?
A: I loved doing the Dobby scenes. I talked to an orange ball at the end of a stick. It was very detailed work because as he bounced around I had to ensure that my eyeline was in exactly the right position. It was demanding, but when I saw the end result I was really pleased.
Q: What are your favorite things to do during your time off?
A: I am absolutely obsessed with film and music. I am learning the bass guitar and it goes everywhere with me. Also, I have a portable DVD player, which travels with me with a large supply of films. These two things occupy most of my spare time.
Q: Are you a football (soccer) fan? If so, of what team?
A: I don’t really play football but I support Fulham as I live very close to the ground.
Unit 3 Traffic
Driving While on a Cell Phone Worse Than Driving While Drunk
21:44:27 EDT June 29, 2006
Thursday, June 29 — Maneuvering through traffic while talking on the phone increases the likelihood of an accident five-fold and is actuall