1998年1月大学英语六级考试听力

Section A
1. W: I haven't had much exercise lately. My only recreation has been watching TV or going to the movies. What do you do for recreation?
   M: In summer I like playing tennis instead of swimming and boating, and my favorite sport in the winter is skating.
   Q: What is the man's favorite sport in summer?

2. M: Why don't you come to our house for dinner some time this week?
   W: I'd like to, but we have visitors be Finland, perhaps next week.
   Q: Why can't the woman accept the man's invitation?

3. W: I'm out of coins for the slot machine. Do you have any?
   M: I don't have any either. But I'll get some for the cafe.
   Q: What does the man offer to do?

4. M: I've just got a statement from the bank. It says I've drawn $300 more than I have in my account.
   W: Well, we did spend a lot on our vocation. In fact, we didn't know exactly how much was in our bank.
   Q: What are they talking about?

5. W: Take a seat, Mr. Brown. Could you tell me which position you think most appeals to you?
   M: Well, as for me, I prefer to take the post of sales manager if you think I'm qualified.
   Q: What's the man's purpose in meeting the woman?

6. W: Billy, have you heard the latest news? It appears that we won't be laid off after all.
   M: Oh, so what! I'm tired of working here anyway.
   Q: What's the man's reaction to the news the woman told him?

7. W: Your room is a mess. When was the last time you tidied your room?
   M: It was when Linda came over. She is been so helpful that I simply can't do without her.
   Q: What does the man mean?

8. M: I'm terribly sorry, Anna. I lost the magazine you lent me the other day.
   W: It doesn't matter. It was a back number anyway.
   Q: Why doesn't the woman care about the lost magazine?

9. M: I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for such a long time. I didn't think the meeting would be so long.
   W: That's all right, Dr. Green. I've brought the data you required and a few reference books Which I think may be useful to your representation at the conference.
   Q: What's the purpose of the woman's visit to the man?

10. W: Excuse me, Sir. I've been waiting here for nearly 20 minutes now just to pay my telephone bill.
    M: I'm sorry about that. But the computer is down, and everybody has had to wait this afternoon.
    Q: What's the woman complaining about?

Section B
Passage One

　　A community theatre is an important part of almost every city or town in the United States. There are over 2,000 community theatres in the United States today, about 4.5 million people work or perform in these theatres for an audience of more than 50 million people annually. These theatres are amateur organizations and are different for professional theatre companies. A community theatre may have its own building or perform in a school or church hall. The actors and actresses do not receive money for their work in the community theatre. They have other jobs to support themselves instead. Small communities can't support a full time theatre. They cannot pay actors, directors or stage workers, so the theatre participants work for free. One purpose of community theatre is to provide an opportunity for creative work. Many people join in community theatres because they wan to perform or to be creative. Several people in a community theatre group were asked why they join. Each one said he or she needed to do creative, to be something original. One man said, "I loved act. It's the only time I feel alive." Another said, "I have a very boring job. In the play, I can create something." One woman said, "My whole life is occupied by husband and family. I need something more than that." Another purpose of community theatre is to educate and improve the community. Theatre is an art but also introduces new ideas to the audience.
11. How many people participate in the work of community theatres in the United States?
12. How are community theatres different from professional theatre companies?
13. What opportunity does the community theatre provide to the people in a community?

Passage Two

　　According to a new study done at the Medical School of University Of California at Los Anglos, left handed people may be more likely to have accidents than the right handed. One reason may be: left handers tend to make minor mental mistakes. In the study of 2000 sailors, those who had more mental errors also had more accidents, and left handers were reported to have more mental errors and more accidents than right handers. The author of the study Jim Watson said, "Minor mental mistakes are mistakes that any of us would make when were tired or careless and they could lead to accidents because we lose track of what we are doing". Paul White, chief of the study program said that he found the study interesting and exciting. But he warned that the conclusions should no be accepted without further investigation. He said the study had limitations, and limitations could have influenced the results. Jim Lawson, who is right handed himself, stressed that the study was not an official project and said that the findings cannot be applied to every left hander. He said minor mental mistakes can be regarded as evidence of lack of concentration. But in the past, it was believed that left handers tended to have more accidents largely because most equipment was designed for right handers.

14. What is said about left handers in the study?
15. What was said about the study program?
16. What was the traditional explanation of left handrs having more accidents?

Passage Three
　　On 15th, Feb, 1989, an instance survey was carried out among 18 overseas postgraduate students. 11 students were male and 7 were female. The purpose of the survey was to discover the view of the students on a number of matters of personal concern. The survey was conducted by means of a questionaire given to the students to complete. There were five questions. The first question concerned favorite color and the second favorite number. The next 3 questions were all concerned with aspects of marriage. No. 3 looked at the ideal age to get married, No. 4 examined the qualities looked for in a partner and No. 5 asked about the ideal number of children. The main findings were as follow: Blue was the most popular color. This was followed by green and purple. There was no real significance in the choice of lucky number. About one third of the students said that they had none. Sixty-one percent of the students selected the age group 26 to 30 yeare as ideal for marriage, followed by 21 to 25 years. In looking at the most important qualities in an ideal partner, someone hoped the person to be intelligent, others chose natural, still others indicated attractive and honest. The ideal number of children was 2, followed by 3. It is not easy tO reach any definite conclusions based up on such a small sample of students from such widely different backgrounds. However, it is clear that majority favored of 26 to 30 is the ideal age to get married with an intelligent partner, and producing 2 children.

17. Who were involved in this instance survey?
18. What do the 5 questions to be answered focus on?
19. What color was chosen as the most popular in the survey?
20. Why is it difficult to reach any definite conclusions be the survey?