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M: I’m sure they are much too expensive.
W: Well, we’ve got to have a tree, if you don’t want to buy one, you’ll have to go out and dig one up. Oh, we need a few gifts for the tree, apart from the Holy and the mistletoe, that’s about everything.
M: It’s the same every year. You end up with everything you want and I end up with a headache from worrying about the balance of my bank account.
11. What has the man just done for Christmas?
12. Why didn’t they invite Mrs. Joans and her husband?
13. According to the man, where would them meet Pete O’Dow?
14. What is man most likely to be concerned about?
Question 15 to 18
As we have learned in our previous lectures, our country generally has an excellent system of transportation. There are efficient airlines, railway systems as well as motorways all across the country, however, if you have been to an airport recently, you’ve probably noticed that it is becoming more and more crowded. although airplanes provide the fastest way to travel hundreds or thousands of miles, I don’t think that our air industry can do a good job of transporting people between cities that only a short distance apart. A person who travels between London and Burminham, the so called strip cities, may spend only relatively a short time in the air while spending several hours getting to and from the airport. This situation makes flying almost as time consuming as driving and of course more expensive, moreover, planes use a lot of fuel in taking off and landing down. So they are simply not fuel efficient on short flights. In my opinion, high speed train may be an answer to that problem. By the end of last century, a proposal for such a train was put forwarded. This new type of train is called meglev, meaning magnetic levitated train. Like conventional trains, it has got cars and tracks. But unlike conventional train, the meglev train will not ride on the tracks, but will make use of the magnetic repulsion to glide or float above the tracks. Since the train and tracks do not touch and rub against each other, a lot of maintenance work can be saved. These trains will be able to travel at a speed about 300 million per hour. Undoubtedly, at this speed, conventional trains will have trouble staying on the tracks. At present, the operation of meglev trains is still on the experimental stage, for example, Germany and China. However, I’m sure this new type of train on the horizon will revolutionize transportation of the 21 century, the way airplane did in a 20th century.
15. Which of the following is the best definition for the so-called strip cities?
16. How does a meg-lev train operate?
17. According to the speaker, what is one advantage of meglev trains?
18. Which of the following is true about the meglev trains?
Question 19 to 22
W: Our newspapers often referred to trade gap and balance of payments, what exactly did these terms mean?
M: Britain is an industrial nation, it’s also a trading nation. We export mainly manufactured goods in exchange for other goods. We own our prosperity to our export, however, if we import more than we export, then the trade gap widens and the balance of payment gets worse.
W: I see. But why do you have to import so many goods. Can’t you produce your own?
M: We’re primarily an industrial nation, and we don’t produce enough food to feed our large population. For every one person working in agriculture, there are ten working in manufacturing industry. We are also a very densely populated country. Over 55 million in an area of about 93,000 square miles.
W: Is your population evenly distributed?
M: No, it isn’t. The main areas of population are the industrial areas of the Lowland of Scotland, New Castle, Southwest of Yorkshire, Lankeshire, the Milddleland, South Wales and the London areas
W: Ship building must be one of your most important industry, I believe Britain had built more ships than any other nation.
M: Yes, but we are losing ground to other countries now. Our motorcar is very important. We mass produce some of the best cars in the world for export and home market. We make a wide variety of motor vehicles as you know.
W: Your aircraft industry is very important too, isn’t? We imported quite a lot of British aircraft in the past.
M: Yes, our aircrafts sell very well abroad.
W: By the way, so do your woolen goods. In my country, we think very highly of British textiles. British made materials for men suits and English woolen wear generally are very much admired.
