2006。12

Section B: Passages

Passage 1

Reducing the amount of sleep students get at night has a direct impact on their performance at school during the day. According to classroom teachers, elementary and middle school students who stay up late exhibit more learning and attention problems. This has been shown by Brown Medical School and Bradley Hospital research. In the study, teachers were not told the amount of sleep students received when completing weekly performance reports, yet they rated the students who had received eight hours or less as having the most trouble recalling all the material, learning new lessons and completing high-quality work. Teachers also reported that these students had more difficulty paying attention. The experiment is the first to ask teachers to report on the effects of sleep deficiency in children. Just staying up late can cause increased academic difficulty and attention problems for otherwise healthy, well-functioning kids, said Garharn Forlone, the study’s lead author. So the results provide professionals and parents with a clear message: when a child is having learning and attention problems, the issue of sleep has to be taken into consideration. “If we don’t ask about sleep, and try to improve sleep patterns in kids’ struggling academically, then we aren’t doing our job.” Forlone said. For parents, he said, the message is simple, “getting kids to bed on time is as important as getting them to school on time”.

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

Question 26: What were teachers told to do in the experiment?

全文是讲睡眠与学习的关系，既然是试验，老师多半是在做统计之类的工作。文中有report一词，要搞清楚究竟是谁做report，排除D。

Question 27: According to the experiment, what problem can insufficient sleep cause in students?

这道题更像常识题，四个选项中B最符合实际经验，听懂全文的基础上，只要证明自己的猜测就行。此外，其他三个选项文中根本没有提到。

Question 28: What message did the researcher intend to convey to parents?

整篇听力文章都在讲睡眠对学习的影响，可轻易选出D。其他几个选项跟本文毫无关系，C略有干扰，但提高学习质量不是本文的要点，怎么去提高即家长要保证孩子的睡眠是主要问题。

Passage 2

Patricia Pania never wanted to be a public figure. All she wanted to be was a mother and home-maker. But her life was turned upside down when a motorist, distracted by his cell phone, ran a stop sign and crashed into the side of her car. The impact killed her 2-year-old daughter. Four months later, Pania reluctantly but courageously decided to try to educate the public and to fight for laws to ban drivers from using cell phones while a car is moving. She wanted to save other children from what happened to her daughter. In her first speech, Pania got off to a shaky start. She was visibly trembling and her voice was soft and uncertain. But as she got into her speech, a dramatic transformation took place. She stopped shaking and spoke with a strong voice. For the rest of her talk, she was a forceful and compelling speaker. She wanted everyone in the audience to know what she knew, without having to learn it from a personal tragedy. Many in the audience were moved to tears and to action. In subsequent presentations, Pania gained reputation as a highly effective speaker. Her appearance on a talk show was broadcast three times, transmitting her message to over 14 million people. Her campaign increased public awareness of the problem, and prompted over 300 cities and several states to consider restrictions on cell phone use.

Questions 29 to 32 are based on the passage you have just heard.

Question 29: What was the significant change in Patricia Pania’s life?

本题答案就在开头第一句，可见听力抓住开头的重要性，很多同学开头容易走神、漏听首句，这是要注意的，一旦direction结束，就要全神贯注。当然也不用太担心，很多时候正文的叙述也会把开头的意思具体展开，所以仍然可以听出大意。

干扰项在B，因为文中也有educate一词，但educator与对公众进行驾车安全的教育是两码事。选项A恰恰是她现在不做的事情。

Question 30: What had led to Pania’s personal tragedy?

车祸肇事者明显不是主人公，所以排除B、C两项。motorist的肇事原因不是开车太快，而是边开车边打手机，即使开头听不出来，后文中讲主人公积极反对的事情时也能理解。选项为D，要学会转义。

Question 31: How did Pania feel when she began her first speech?

常识加排除法。首先B、C都是正面特征，意思相近，选哪个都不行，只能都排除。其次，按常识第一次演讲都是很紧张、结结巴巴的。干扰项在D，因为文中也出现了这两个单词。考生有两种情况，其一是不认识这两个单词，那么至少选择自己可以确定的选项；其二，认识这两个单词，就应该认识到它们表明的是主人公从事公益活动的态度而不是第一次演讲的表现。

Question 32: What could be expected as a result of Pania’s efforts?

答案就在结尾处，另外文章从头至尾讲的都是抵制开车接电话的问题。干扰项在B，但不要理所当然的认为，听电话的人少了，交通状况就会变好，文中也没这么讲，所以该选项其实是不确定的。主人公活动的直接结果只能是减少行车打电话的人数。

Passage 3

Many people catch a cold in the spring time or fall. It makes us wonder: if scientists can send a man to the moon, why can’t they find a cure for the common cold? The answer is easy. There’re actually hundreds of kinds of cold viruses out there. You never know which one you will get,     so there isn’t a cure for each one. When a virus attacks your body, your body works hard to get rid of it. Blood rushes to your nose and causes a blockage in it. You feel terrible because you can’t breathe well, but your body is actually eating the virus. Your temperature rises and you get a fever, but the heat of your body is killing the virus. You also have a running nose to stop the virus     from getting into your cells. You may feel miserable, but actually your wonderful body is doing everything it can to kill the cold. Different people have different remedies for colds. In the United States and some other countries, for example, people might eat chicken soup to feel better. Some people take hot bath and drink warm liquids. Other people take medicines to relieve various symptoms of colds. There was one interesting thing to note. Some scientists say taking medicines when you have a cold is actually bad for you. The virus stays in you longer, because your body doesn’t develop a way to fight it and kill it.

Questions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.

Question 33: According to the passage, why haven’t scientists found a cure for the common cold?

文中直接以问答形式回答了这个问题，并且用“the answer is easy”做了缓冲，考生听到这里就应该留心后面的回答。题干中其他三个选项文中并未提及。

Question 34: What does the speaker say about the symptoms of the common cold?

symptom，症状。首先排除B、C，这都与symptom无关。干扰项为A，因为文中确实连续提到感冒的诸种症状，人感到多么难受等等，听力中要注意听转折词如but，however，yet等，其后才是关键信息。文中在提到症状之后都用转折性的词引出人体的抵抗反应，并且是连续几个，所以即使听漏一两个反应也不会影响做题。      

Question 35: What do some scientists say about taking medicines for the common cold, according to the passage?

文中直接提到专家的意见是“吃药不好，因为人体有自主的抵抗力”，选项为A。真没有听出来，也应该从全文的意思推断，既然一直在讲抵抗力的问题，那么吃药一定不是好办法，甚至有害。选项B所谓破坏部分器官的功能太夸张，文中也没有提到。