Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Section 1
Listen to the following report and fill in the blanks as you listen. You will listen to the talk ONCE
only.
[pause 60 seconds]
[tone]
Higher education in the United States is an optional final stage of formal learning following
secondary education, often at one of the 4,495 colleges or universities and junior colleges in the
country.
Students traditionally apply for admission into colleges. Schools differ in their competitiveness and
reputation; generally, the most prestigious schools are private, rather than public. Admissions criteria
involve the rigor(standards and expectations set by the university) and grades earned in high school
courses taken, the students' GPA, class ranking, and standardized test scores. Most colleges also
consider more subjective factors such as a commitment to extracurricular activities, a personal essay,
and an interview. While colleges will rarely list that they require a certain standardized test score,
class ranking, or GPA for admission, each college usually has a rough threshold below which
admission is unlikely.
Once admitted, students engage in undergraduate study, which consists of satisfying university and
class requirements to achieve a bachelor's degree in a field of concentration known as a major. Some
students enroll in double majors or minor in another field of study.
Professional degrees such as medicine, pharmacy, dentistry and law are offered as graduate study
after earning at least three years of undergraduate schooling or after earning a bachelor's degree
depending on the program. These professional fields do not require a specific undergraduate major,
though medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry have set prerequisite courses that must be taken before
enrollment.
Some students choose to attend a community college for two years prior to further study at another
college or university. Some community colleges have automatic enrollment agreements with a local
four-year college, where the community college provides the first two years of study and the
university provides the remaining years of study.
You now have TWO minutes to check and transfer your answers to the answer sheet.
[pause 2 minutes]
That is the end of Section 1.
1
Listening test 1 script
Section 2
Part A
You are going to hear a telephone conversation between an agent at Easthill Information Center and
a man. As you listen, complete the following form by writing NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS
for each answer. You will listen to this part ONCE only.
[pause 30 seconds]
[tone]
You now have ONE minute to check and transfer your answers to the answer sheet.
[pause 1 minute]
Part B
2
Listening test 1 script
Now listen to the news from BBC. As you listen, write T for the correct statement and F for the
incorrect statement. You will listen to the news ONCE only.
Female: Health officials warn that oral health problems have a major negative effect on a person’s
quality of life. A new report says nearly four-billion people, that is more than half the world’s
population, have major tooth decay, or cavities. The issue is both social and psychological.
Male: Retail sales in Japan grew at the fastest pace in 17 years in March as consumers rushed to
make purchases ahead of the sales tax hike in April. Japan raised its sales tax, also known as
consumption tax, to 8% from 5% from 1 April, the first hike in 17 years. The hike comes as Japan
has been looking to rein in public debt, while facing rising social welfare costs linked to an ageing
population.
Female: A powerful 7.1 magnitude earthquake violently shook the central part of the Philippines
Tuesday morning. Dozens of people were killed when buildings fell and dozens of others were
missing. A worker with the charity said people were staying in the streets in hours after the quake
because some of the buildings that were still standing were very unsafe to be around.
Male: Delegates from nearly 200 countries have spent the past two weeks in Warsaw, Poland. More
than 9,000 representatives gathered for a United Nations conference on climate change. Organizers
called the meeting to work toward a treaty to fight rising temperatures on our planet. The treaty
would be signed in 2015 and take effect after 2020.
Female: NASA has confirmed that the Voyager-1 spacecraft has become the first man-made object to
leave the solar system. The probe was launched 36 years ago, but scientists believe it left our solar
system last August; it's now nearly 19 billion kilometers from Earth in what's known as interstellar
space, a cold, dark part of the Milky Way.
You now have ONE minute to check and transfer your answers to the answer sheet.
[pause 1 minute]
Section 3
You are going to hear an interview with Professor Burke on his job. As you listen, answer the
following questions by writing NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. You will listen
to this part TWICE.
You now have THREE MINUTES to check and transfer your answers to the answer sheet.
[pause 3 minutes]
Section 4
You are going to hear a report about weight loss industry. As you listen, complete the following
statements by writing NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. You will listen to this
part TWICE.
[pause 60 seconds]
[tone]
Many of us gain weight because of inactivity during the winter. Some people go to extremes to lose
that extra weight before going to the beach. In the weight loss industry, there is never a lack of ideas
about how to lose weight. Each one promises to help people lose weight and get a beach beautiful
body. The weight loss industry takes in billions of dollars each year, and it is growing. One research
company estimates the weight loss business is (31) worth about $670 billion worldwide in the year
2015.
The weight loss industry is made up of three major parts. They are weight loss services; physical
fitness and surgical equipment; and (32) diets. There is a seemingly endless supply of ideas about
how to lose weight. So where does one begin? Which one is best? Experts say there is no single diet
plan that works best for everyone. Many experts agree on one thing: that to lose weight, you must
use or burn off more calories than you take in.
(33)Calories are a measure of energy in food. A pound of fat is equal to 453 grams or about 3,500
calories. To lose that fat in a week, you have to burn off at least that amount in calories or eat that
5
Listening test 1 script
much less. The best thing to do is to eat fewer calories and increase physical activity so that you burn
off more.
For years, eating a diet low in fat was said to be the best way to lose weight. Dr. Ornish developed in
1990 one of the most popular low fat diets after years of research on ways to control (34) heart
disease. The Ornish diet plan became more popular in 1993 with the release of his book "Eat More,
Weigh Less." Dr. Ornish found that carbohydrates were not to blame for making people fat. Instead,
he said, (35) fat leads to overweight. He noted that a baked potato is not high in fat, but it becomes
fatty when people add sour cream and butter to it. Like other low-fat diets, the Ornish plan suggests
that people eat diets high in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans and other legumes. The plan
advises people to avoid all meat, and to stay away from (36) oils, nuts and seeds.
Unlike the Ornish diet, low carbohydrate diets limit foods that are high in carbohydrates. These diets
advise people to avoid things like white flour, pasta, rice, potatoes and foods high in sugar. Instead
they suggest that people eat foods that are high in (37) proteins.
Both weight loss plans have been carefully studied over the years. But, no one plan has come out as a
clear winner. In 2008, a study in the New England Journal of Medicine found low-carbo diets to be
the best at providing the most weight loss.
Some people are unable to lose weight through diet and exercise, no matter how hard they try. Others
are just not willing to put in the effort. Many of these people choose to have surgical operations to
reach their weight loss goals. One kind of weight loss surgery reduces (38) the stomach size. This is
done by separating the stomach into two parts, including a very small section at the top. People who
have had this operation are forced to eat smaller amounts of food because their top stomach fills up
much faster. Research suggests that most people lose about half of their overweight pounds in the
first year after surgery. However, a large number of people regain the weight in three to five years.
Surgical operations has been widely used since the 1970s to (39) improve the body's appearance. It
improves body shape by removing fat from some parts of the body. Recently, researchers found that
the effects of the surgery may not be long-lasting. They said people who have surgical operations
usually experience weight gain within (40) one year after the surgery. And the fat that comes back
reappears in a new area of the body, most noticeably the shoulders, arms and upper abdomen.
You now have THREE minutes to check and transfer your answers to the answer sheet.
[pause 3 minutes]