英語周報：2008年12月四級聽力模擬試題(四)

　　Directions: In this part, you are to write a composition of no less than 150 words about “College Graduates Work as Village Officials”. You should write according to the outline given below. Please remember to write it clearly on the ANSWER SHEET.

　　Some college graduates choose to work as village officials.

　　1. Do you think it is a good idea?

　　2. What can they offer the countryside?

　　3. What can they gain from their village positions?

　　College Graduates Work as Village Officials

　　There is no denying the fact that it is a hotly debated topic today how college graduates should choose their careers. Some time ago, it was reported that some college graduates chose to work as village officials. To this people’s attitudes differ sharply. Some hold the positive view while others are against it. As far as I am concerned, I believe that it is a wise choice.

　　On the one hand, college graduates can contribute a lot to the development of the countryside. First, they can apply their professional knowledge there. Secondly, they can introduce new concepts to the countryside and speed the development of rural culture. As a result, the gap between the city and the countryside can well be bridged.

　　On the other hand, these graduates can benefit a lot from working as village officials. While too many college graduates are fighting for the handful of positions in big cities, these graduates can find themselves a wider stage of development and realize their value.

　　Therefore, college graduates working as village officials is a win-win choice and more graduates should be encouraged to work in the countryside.

　　Section B

　　Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will

　　hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you

　　hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B)， C) andD).

　　Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the center.

　　Passage One

　　Besides private bills, there are also public bills that must be paid. Public bills are paid for by the government. In turn, we get these services through taxes. What would happen if everyone in the city stopped paying taxes? The water supply would stop. Water might even become unclean and impure. The streets might not be cleaned. There would be no police force to protect people and property. Schools would be closed. People would become sick and diseases might spread. We would not want to live in such a city. We all want pure water and food, clean streets and good schools. We want the police to protect us from crime. The chief duty of every government is to protect persons and property. More than three fourths of the money spent by our government is used for this purpose. The next large amount of public money goes to teach and train our citizens. Billions of dollars each year are spent on schools and libraries. Public money is used to pay the teachers and all the public officials. Also, a large amount of public funds is spent on roads.

　　The greatest part of the needed funds is raised by taxes. Tax is money that we all must pay to support the government. The law orders us to pay taxes. We have no choice in this matter. Almost everyone pays some tax in one form or another.

　　Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　26. How does the government pay for public bills?

　　27. According to the speaker, what would happen if nobody in the city paid taxes?

　　28. Which of the following costs the largest amount of public money according to the speaker?

　　Passage Two

　　America’s national symbol, the bald eagle, almost went extinct twenty years ago, but it has made a comeback. In fact, the U.S. Fish and Wild Life Service is considering the possibility of taking it off the Endangered Species List. Once, more than fifty thousand pairs of bald eagles nested across the country, but by 1960 that number had fallen to below four hundred. The chief killer was the widely used DDT. Fish soaked up DDT, died, and were washed up on the shores, where bald eagles feasted on them. DDT prevented eagle eggshells from thickening. The shells became so thin that they shattered before the babies hatched. Fortunately, in 1972, a law was passed to ban DDT, which saved the bald eagle from total wipeout. And since then, wild-life biologists have reintroduced bald eagles from Canada to America. The result was that last year, U.S. bird watchers counted eleven thousand six hundred and ten bald eagles in the country. If it were dropped from the Endangered Species List, the bald eagle would still be a threatened species. That means the bird would continue to get the same protection. No hunting allowed, and no disturbing of nests. But bald eagles still face tough times. The destruction of their natural homes could be the next DDT causing eagle numbers to drop quickly.��