2003.

01 Edited by Merlion, based on sausage's original work

Part A
1.
M: Do you think I could use your computer to type my research paper?
W: If you don’t mind waiting a couple of hours.
What does the woman imply?
2.
W: Look I got a letter from my cousin Jeff in Alaska.
M: Can I get the return address from the envelope?
What will the man probably do?
3.
W: This book is two weeks overdue, and I see from our records that another borrower has
already come in looking for it.
M: I am terribly sorry, but I was called out of town unexpectedly for a few weeks.
What does the man imply?
4.
M: I just saw Larry from our chemistry study group, and he said the grades we got on the
mid exam, they’ve finally been put up.
W: They have? Where?
What does the woman want to know?
5.
W: Have a good trip! I hope you won’t have too long a walk from the car to the check in ar
ea. That’s a lot of luggage for you to carry by yourself
M: Well, I’ll get the driver to give me a hand.
What does the man mean?
6.
W: I don’t know what to think. Which outfit should I wear to my job interview, the black dr
ess or the navy blue suit?
M: Well, Jane, you’ve got to consider the image you want to present, and I say the suit is
more professional looking.
What does the man imply?
7.
M: Now that you’ve finished writing your thesis, do you think you will have time to sit back
and take it easy? Maybe take a little bit vacation?
W: Believe me, that’s exactly what I intend to do.
What does the woman mean?
8.
W: Did you hear? They are moving Kathy to the New York office.
M: They are? That’s news to me.
What does the man mean?
9.
M: Please excuse the mess I haven’t had any time to clean.
W: What mess? You should see how I left my room this morning.
What does the woman imply?
10.
W: $200 to fix my computer? I thought you said you could do it for 50.
M: I did, but it’s not the keyboard after all. That’s the major part inside the machine that w
ill cost a lot more to replace.
What does the man mean?
11.
M: What a great television program. That was really stimulating. Don't you think?
W: Well, only if you like politics.
What does the woman imply about the television program?
12.
W: Hi, Dan, I just came by to see if you want to work out to the gym with me this afternoo
n.
M: I’d love to but I don’t think I’m up to it today. I ’m coming down with a cold.
What does the man mean?
13.
W: The research project from my political science course on the presidency is due in just t
wo weeks. But there’s so much to talk about, I don’t know how to even begin to pick a sub
ject.
M: You know, Mary is doing her graduate work in political science. She would certainly kno
w how to narrow the topic down.
What does the man suggest the woman do?
14.
M: You wouldn’t have to have an extra blank cassette I could buy of you, would you?
W: As a matter of fact, I do.
What will the woman probably do next?
15.
W: My cousin Lisa said she mailed me some books, but they never came.
M: Well, you just moved into a new dormitory. She probably sent them out before she had
your new address.
What does the man imply?
16.
W: A light jacket like this aught to be warm enough for today, don't you think? It's been pr
etty mild the last couple of days.
M: Ur, I go back in and get something heavier. If you don't need it when you get to campu
s, you could always just leave it in the car.
What does the man suggest the woman do?
17.
M: Excuse me. Prof, since we are having a test next Wednesday on Chapter 4, I was wond
ering if there are any more problems I can work on to review for it.
W: Well. The ones I have I’ve already given out in class, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to g
o back and redo a few of them.
What does the Prof say about problems that can be used for review?
18.
M: This is incredible! Only the first day of our Modern American History course and we’ve a
lready been assigned to read three chapters by the next time we meet.
W: If that surprises you, then obviously you never had a class before with Prof Smith.
What does the woman imply?
19.
M: Excuse me. This roommate matching questionnaire is so long and I am kind of in a hurr
y. Do I have to answer all the questions?
W: Just the first side, the ones on the back are optional.
What does the woman mean?
20.
M: Isn’t this a terrific painting? It looks great on the wall in my office.
W: To be honest, I don’t know what you see in it.
What does the woman mean?
21.
W: Did you hear what George did last night? He was cooking dinner for the members of th
e drama club and he spilled spaghetti sauce all over the kitchen.
M: Doesn’t surprise me one bit, he did the same thing last semester, only with the Spanish
club and chocolate syrup.
What does the man imply about George?
22.
M: You are not planning to transfer to a different U. next year, are you?
W: If I were, you’d be the first to know.
What does the woman imply?
23.
M: There is nothing I hate worse than straightening up my apartment before a party.
W: It’s not so stressful if you don’t wait until the last minutes.
What does the woman imply the man should do?
24.
M: What are you doing cooped up here in the lounge on such a beautiful spring day? I can’
t understand why everyone isn’t out there in the fresh air, getting some sunshine.
W: You won't be saying that if you have my allergies.
What does the woman imply?
25.
W: You’ve made enough soup to feed an army.
M: This way we’ll have plenty left over for lunch tomorrow.
What does the man mean?
26.
M: I’m really torn. I need a new bicycle, and I just can’t decide which one to get. There are
just too many different kinds to choose from.
W: Don’t ask me. As far as I am concerned, a bike is a bike; it’s just transportation.
What does the woman mean?
27.
M: I was surprised to see Ed in the job center today. Do you think he’s unhappy over admi
ssions? He’s about the best worker they have over there.
W: I know. But I hear that his boss’s never said a thing to him to acknowledge that. And h
ow would you feel if you’ve been there 3 years and still made the same salary?
What does the woman imply?
28.
M: Did you get caught driving in that downpour after work yesterday? Everyone
had their lights on and I could hardly see where I was going.
W: That must have been a local storm. I go home in the office direction and it was fine.
What does the woman mean?
29.
W: Now that was a delicious meal, shall we order dessert?
M: Not if we expect to make it back in time for our two-o’clock lecture.
What does the man mean?
30.
M: Matthew’s just told me he is moving to a new apartment, way over in Oakville. That’s s
o far away. Can you believe it?
W: Oh, so that’s why he’s trying to buy a car.
What can be inferred about the woman?
Part B
31-34 new students on campus
M: I see you still got all your suitcases with you too. We must have the same problem.
W: Let me guess. Your room’s been given to someone else?
M: Yep.
W: I don’t get it! They sent me my room number a long time ago.
M: Me too. Well, at least there is room in another dorm, Bundy Hall.
W: That’s where they’re putting me too. But you’ll realize that unless you have a car, Bund
y is at least at 25 minutes walk from the center of campus. And don’t count on taking the c
ampus bus, it runs at really inconvenient time.
M: Great way to start your college career. But, I don’t know, maybe there is a positive side
of all these. Since we’ll be so far away from everything, we’ll be forced to use our time wis
ely.
W: True. I’ve heard lots of first year students get into trouble because they hang out every
day in the student center till it closes.
M: Exactly! And not only that, we will get plenty of exercise from all that extra walking.
W: Yeah. And that is not exactly easy walking either. Around here you just about need a p
air of hiking boots, and to enjoy mountain climbing.
M: You count to get avoid there. But at least there are great vistas from some of the buildi
ngs, not to mention the possibility of some serious sled riding when it snows.
31. What problems do the students have?
32. What does the woman imply about the campus?
33. What is one disadvantage of living in Bundy Hall?
34. According to the man, what mistake do many first year students make?

35-38 social psychology

M: One of the most common questions we ask about people’s behavior is why. Why she sa
y this? Why he do that? Sometimes the reason is obvious, for example, someone is driving
down the street, the light turns red, they stop, why?
W: Because they have to, legally I mean.
M: Exactly! In this case the reason is obvious, so we usually don’t question it. But when th
e reason is not so obvious and especially when the behavior could have negative conseque
nces, we’ll more likely to feel a need to explain the causes of the behavior. Social psycholo
gists have a term for this, for the process of explaining the causes of behavior, it’s called c
ausal attribution. And one theory suggests, there’s a pattern in the way we go about attrib
uting causes to people’s behavior. According to this theory, there are two categories of rea
sons: internal factors and external factors. Again, Lisa, say you’re driving down the road a
nd all of a sudden some guy turn into the lane right in front of you, and you have to slam o
n your brake to avoid an accident. How do you react?
W: I’ll probably get very angry.
M: Because….
W: Well, he’s not paying attention, he’s a bad driver.
M: So you automatically attribute the driver’s behavior to an internal factor. He himself is t
o blame because he is careless.
W: So if I said it was because of heavy traffic or something, I’d be attributing his behavior
to an external factor, something beyond his control.
M: Good. Now how do you usually explain our own negative behavior?
W: We blame external factors.
M: That’s right.
35. What is the main topic of the discussion?
36. According to the Prof, when are people likely to try to explain someone else’s behavior
?
37. The Prof mentions an example of a driver who stops at a red light. What does he use t
he example to demonstrate?
38. According to the discussion, how do most people explain their own negative behavior?

Part C
39-43 geology
Today, I’d like to talk about some of the changes land can undergo, specifically desertificati
on, that’s the process through which land becomes part of a desert. Now a desert is define
d as a place that receives a certain maximum amount of rainfall. But you may not know th
at it usually takes more than just a lack of water to turn productive land into a desert. The
re are several specific human activities that when combined with a lack of rainfall encourag
e desertification. For example, over cultivation, growing more crops than soil can support.
The soil loses its nutrients, so it needs either to be fertilized or to be left unused for at leas
t a season. But if neither of these things happens, if these nutrients in the soil don’t get re
placed, the damaged soil stops producing. Another cause of desertification is overgrazing.
That’s when the grasses and trees and shrubs of an area are expected to feed more animal
s than they reasonably can. Too many animals eating in the same area will kill the vegetati
on. And because it’s the roots of this vegetation that hold much of the soil together, when
too much of the vegetation dies, the soil erodes. But maybe the most ironic example of hu
man behavior that can lead to desertification is irrigation. It may seem to run counter to co
mmon sense to say that introducing water into an area can cause it to become more like a
desert. But there are plenty of bad irrigation practices that do just that. Bringing in too mu
ch salty water and then not providing adequate drainage for it will fill the soil with salt, and
turn the area into a desert.
39. What is the main topic of the talk?
40. How is the soil damaged by over cultivation?
41. What is over grazing?
42. How does over grazing damage soil?
43. According to the speaker, what is the main problem with irrigation?

44-47 biology
I’ve mentioned how DNA have solved many mysteries in biology. And today I want to talk
about how it might relate to hypothesis about the travels of the green turtle. Every winter
some green turtles make a 2000 km journey from Brazil to Ascension Island in the middle
of Atlantic, where they mate and lay eggs. But the question is why do they travel so far to
lay their eggs? One researcher hypothesized that there are two parts to the explanation. O
ne is natal homing, the instinct that drives green turtles to always return to the beach whe
re they were hatched. The second part has to do with continental drift, the theory that the
positions of earth continents have changed considerably overtime. Brazil and Ascension Isl
and were once much closer together, and continental drift drove them apart. But the turtle
s kept on going back to the island where they hatched. However another scientist question
this explanation on the ground that it would be very unlikely that conditions would allowe g
enerations of turtles over hundreds of millions of years to keep going back to the same nes
ting ground every single year. So, what is the connection to DNA? Well, there are groups o
f green turtles that nest in locations other than the Ascension Island. If green turtles alway
s return to the place where they were hatched, then the turtles that have been going to th
e Ascension Island to nest would’ve been genetically isolated long enough to have DNA tha
t was very different from the green turtles that nest else where. But when scientists exami
ne DNA from these turtles, their DNA wasn’t that different from the DNA of the turtles that
go to Ascension Island. Do you have a shock? Well, we still don’t know the answer to the q
uestion about why a certain group of turtles go to Ascension Island, but this study was a ni
ce example of the usefulness of DNA analysis to biology.
44. What does the Prof mainly discuss?
45. What do green turtles do when they get to Ascension Island?
46. According to one hypothesis, why do green turtles go to Ascension Island?
47. How is DNA used in research on green turtles?

48-50 history
As I am sure you are aware, history is full of people who were so admired that over the ce
nturies they become almost mythical figures. George Washington is a good example. Every
one knows this story about his chopping down the cherry tree when he was young and bra
vely confessing to his mischief later. People greatly admired Washington’s integrity. And so
, out of that, this story evolved, even though no one knows for sure whether the incident e
ver occurred. Then there is the American Indian, Poke Hunters, beloved by history for maki
ng peace between the English Colonies and the American Indians. The history of her life ha
s also become somewhat mythical. At the historical society exhibit next week, we’ll see ma
ny artistic works depicting the major events of her life. And while we are there, keeping in
mind that much of what you’ll see in the paintings reflects how much she was admired, but
not necessarily the fact of her life. For instance, one painting shows her saving the life of J
on Smith, an English Colonist, who had been captured by her tribe. Smith, so the story goe
s, was about to be executed when twelve-years-old Poke Hunters lay her head on top of hi
s. Tells you a lot about her courage. But Jon Smith himself related this story only years aft
er Poke Hunters had become famous, which suggests that he may have embellished the tr
uth a little bit, as many of the works that we’ll see in next week may have done. Somethin
g else to remember: paintings portrait her physical appearance in many different ways, bu
t always flattening ways. Yet only one picture of her was ever painted while she was living.

48. Why does the speaker mention the story about George Washington and the cherry tree
?
49. According the speaker, why is Poke Hunters famous?
50. What does the speaker imply about most of the paintings of Poke Hunters?