2011年12月四级考试听力原文

短文题

Passage 1

While Gale Obcamp, an American artist, was givinga speech on the art of Japanese brush painting to an audience that includedvisitors from Japan, she was confused to see that many of her Japanese listenershad their eyes closed. Were they turned off because an American had the nerveto instruct Japanese in their own art form or they deliberately trying tosignal their rejection of her? Obcamp later found out that her listeners werenot being disrespectful. Japanese listeners sometimes close their eyes to enhance concentration. Her listeners were showing their respect for her bychewing on her words. Someday, you may be either a speaker or a listener in asituation involving people from other countries or members of a minority groupin North America. Learning how different cultures signal respect can help youavoid misunderstandings. Here are some examples. In the Deaf Culture of NorthAmerican, many listeners show applause not by clapping their hands but bywaving them in the air. In some cultures, both overseas and in some minoritygroups in North America, listeners are considered disrespectful if they lookdirectly at the speaker. Respect is shown by looking in the general directionbut avoiding direct eye contact. In some countries, whistling by listeners is asign of approval while in other countries it is a form of insult。

26.What did Obcamp’s speech focus on?
A) Characteristics of Japanese artists
B) Some features of Japanese culture
C) The art of Japanese brush painting
D) The uniqueness of Japanese art

27. Why do Japanese listeners sometimes close their eyes while listening to aspeech?
A) To calm themselves down
B) To enhance concentration
C) To show their impatience
D) To signal their lack of interest

28. What does the speaker try to explain?
A) How listeners in different cultures show respect
B) How speakers can win approval from the audience
C) How speakers can misunderstand the audience
D) How different Western and Eastern art forms are

Passage2

Chris is in charge of purchasing and maintainingequipment in his division at Taxlong company. He’s soon going to have anevaluation interview with his supervisor and personnel director to discuss thework he has done in the past year. Salary, promotion and plans for the comingyear will also be discussed at the meeting。

Chris has made several changes for his division inhis past year. Firstly, he bought new equipment for one of the departments.He’s been particularly happy about new equipment because many of the employeeshave told him how much it has helped them. Along with improving the equipment,Chris began a program to train employees to use equipment better and to dosimple maintenance themselves. The training saved time for the employees andmoney for the Company。

Unfortunately, one serious problem developedduring the year. Two employees that Chris hired were stealing, and he had tofire them. Chris knows that a new job for a purchasing
and maintenance managerfor the whole company will be open in a few months and he would like to bepromoted to the job. Chris knows, however, that someone else wants the new job,too. Kim is in charge of purchasing and maintenance in another division of thecompany. She has also made several changes over the year. Chris knows that hisboss likes Kim’s work, and expects that his work will be compared with hers。

29. What is Chris’ main responsibility at Taxlongcompany?
A) Directing personnel evaluation.
B) Buying and maintain equipment.
C) Drawing up plans for in-service training.
D) Interviewing and recruiting employees.

30. What problem did Chris encounter in his division?
A) Some of his equipment was damaged in a fire.
B) The training program he ran was failure.
C) Two of his workers were injured at work.
D) Two of his employees committed theft.

31. What does Chris hope for in the near future?
A) A better relationship with his boss.
B) Advancement to a higher position
C) A better-paying job in another company
D) Improvement in the company’s management

32. What do we learn about Kim from the passage?
A)She has more self-confidence than Chris.
B)She works with Chris in the same division.
C)She has more management experience than Chris.
D) She is competing with Chris for the new job.

Passage 3

Proverbs, sometimes called sayings, areexamples of folk wisdom. They are little lessons whicholder people of the culture pass down to the younger people to teach them aboutlife. Manyproverbs remind the people of values that are important in the culture. Valuesteach people how to act, what is right and what is wrong, because the values of eachculture are different. Understanding the values of anotherculture, helps to explain how people think and act. Understanding your ownculture values is important, too. If you can accept that people from other cultures actaccording to their values not yours, getting along with them will be much easier.Many proverbs are very old. So some of the values they teach may not be asimportant in the culture as they once were. For example, Americans today do not paymuch attention to the proverbs “haste makes waste”， because patience is notimportant to them. But if you know about past values, it helps you tounderstand the present. And many of the old values are still strong today.Benjamin Franklin, a famous American diplomat, writer, and scientist died in1790. But his proverb “Time is money” is taken more seriously by Americans oftoday than ever before. A study of proverbs from around theworld shows that some values are shared by many cultures. In many cases though, the same idea is expressed differently。

33. Why are proverbs so important?
A) They help us see the important values of a culture.
B) They guide us in handling human relationships.
C) They help us express ourselves more effectively.
D) They are an infinite source of human knowledge.

34. According to the speakers, what happens to some proverbs withthe passage of time?
A)Their wordings may become different.
B) The values they reflect may change.
C)Their origins can no longer be traced.
D) They may be misinterpreted.