2008年12月六级听力Passage 1原文
To find out what the weather is going to be, most people go straight to the radio, television, or newspaper to get an expert weather forecast. But if you know what to look for, you can use your own senses to make weather predictions. There are many signs that can help you. For example, in fair weather the air pressure is generally high, the air is still and often full of dust, and far away objects may look vague. But when the storm is brewing, the pressure drops, and you are often able to see things more clearly. Sailors took note of this long ago, and came up with the saying, “The farther the sight, the nearer the rain.” Your sense of smell can also help you detect the weather changes. Just before it rains, odors become stronger, this is because odors are repressed in a fair high pressure center. When a bad weather low moves in, air pressure lessens and odors are released. You can also hear an approaching storm. Sounds bounce off heavy storm clouds and return to earth with increased force. An old saying describes it this way, “Sounds traveling far and wide a stormy day will be tied”. And don’t laugh at your grandmother if she says she can feel a storm coming. It is commonly known that many people feel pains in their bones or joints while the humidity rises, the pressure drops, and bad weather is on the way.
Question 26: Why does the speaker say we can see far away objects more clearly as a storm is approaching?
Question 27: What does the speaker want to show by quoting a couple of old sayings?
Question 28: What does the passage mainly talk about?
2008年12月六级听力Passage 2原文:
Many days seem to bring numerous tasks and responsibilities, all of which apparently must be tackled right away. You spend a day putting out fires, but by the end of the day, you haven’t accomplished any of the really important things you set out to do. In desperation, you draft a “to-do” list. But most days, you can make little progress with it. When you look at the list each morning, a big fat cloud of doom is right at the top—those difficult, complex, important tasks that are so crucial to get done and so easy to avoid. Plenty of us create a “to-do” list to address feelings of being overwhelmed, but we rarely use these tools to their best effect. They wind up being guilt-provoking reminders of the fact that we are over-committed, and losing control of our priorities. According to Timothy Pikle, professor of a psychology at Carlton University in Ottawa. People often draw up a “to-do” list and then that’s it. The list itself becomes the day’s achievement, allowing us to feel we’ve done something useful without taking on any real work. In fact, drawing up the list becomes a way of avoiding the work itself. “Too often, the list is seen as the accomplishment for the day, reducing the immediate guilt of not working on the tasks at hand by investing energy in the list,” says Pikle, “when a list is used like this, it’s simply another way in which we lie to our selves.”
Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you’ve heard.
Question 29. What is the problem that troubles many people nowadays according to the speaker?
Question 30. According to the speaker, what do many people do to cope with their daily tasks?
Question 31. According to psychologist Timothy Pikle what do people find by the end of the day?
2008年12月六级听力Passage 3原文
In many stressful situations the body’s responses can improve our performance. We become more energetic, more alert, better able to take effective action. But when stress is encountered continually, the body’s reactions are more likely to be harmful than helpful to us. The continual speeding up of bodily reactions and the production of stress-related hormones seem to make people more susceptible to heart disease. And stress reactions can reduce the disease-fighting effectiveness of body’s immune system, thereby increasing susceptibility to illnesses, ranging from colds to cancer. Stress may also contribute to disease in less direct ways by influencing moods and behavior. People, under stress, may become anxious or depressed and as a result may eat too much or too little, have sleep difficulties, or fail to exercise. These behavioral changes may in turn be harmful to their health. In addition, people are more likely to pay attention to certain bodily sensations such as aches and pains when they are under stress and to think they are sick. If the person were not under stress, the same bodily sensations might not be perceived as symptoms and the person might continue to feel well. Some researchers have suggested that assuming the role of a sick person is one way in which certain people try to cope with stress. Instead of dealing with the stressful situation directly, these people fall sick. After all, it is often more acceptable in our society to be sick and to seek medical help than it is to admit that one can not cope with the stresses of life.
Questions 32 to 35 are based on the conversations you have just heard.
Question 32: What does the speaker say about people who encounter stress once in a while?
Question 33: What does speaker say frequent stress reactions may lead to?
Question 34: What are people more likely to do when they are under stress?
Question 35: What does the passage mainly talk about?
