College English Test Band Four
Part Two Listening Comprehension
Section A
Directions: In this section,
you will hear three news reports.
At the end of each news report,
you will hear two or three questions.
Both the news report and the questions
will be spoken only once.
After you hear a question,
you must choose the best answer from thefour choices
marked A), B), C) and D).
Then mark the corresponding letter onAnswer Sheet 1
with a single line through the centre.
Questions 1 and 2 will be based
on the following news item.
Employers have the right to monitor
their workers』 online private messages,
according to a ruling by the European Court
of Human Rights (ECHR).
It comes after a Romanian man was fired
for sending personal messages while atwork.
The Strasbourg court sided on Tuesday
with the employer of a Romanian engineer
who was dismissed from his job after usingYahoo Messenger
to communicate with his fiancée while atwork.
During his time as an engineer,
Bogdan Barbulescu was asked by his employer
to create a Yahoo Messenger account
to answer his clients』 queries.
However, he was informed in July that
he had breached company rules
by using the program for personal reasons,
and was subsequently sacked.
Barbulescu took his case against Romania
to the human rights court later,
alleging that his employer’s decision to
end his contract was based on a violation
of his right to confidentialcorrespondence.
1. What is legal for employers according tothe ECHR?
2. What can we learn about BogdanBarbulescu?
Questions 3 and 4 will be based
on the following news item.
At the Sifa Primary School outside Nairobi,
Kenya, students pay their tuition with anew,
local currency called the pesa.
The school is one of several institutions
that accept the community currency.
The currency is widely used by people
in the Gatina Village.
The pesas are equal in value to the Kenyanshilling
and can be spent in the community just likecash.
The new currency gives poor people morebuying power
than they would otherwise have.
If members of the community
have a shortage of the national currency,
they can use the community currency
to get access to the goods and servicesthey may need.
The non-profit group Grassroots Economics
introduced the currency here last year.
Community currency programs are being setup
by non-profit organizations across theworld.
They help poor communities increase trade andcreate jobs,
according to Grassroots Economics,
based in Mombasa, Kenya.
It does not replace but rather supplements
the national currency system,
reported the non-profit group.
3. What is the advantage of the pesa?
4. What can we learn about the GrassrootsEconomics?
Questions 5 to 7 will be based on thefollowing news item.
Health officials in Brazil have declared
a state of emergency in several states.
They are also warning women not to getpregnant.
These extreme actions are the result
of a recent rise in birth defects.
About 2 400 babies in Brazil were bornrecently
with extremely small heads.
The babies have a condition calledmicrocephaly.
Microcephaly causes severe brain damage.
To date, 29 of these babies have died.
The number of microcephaly cases
in Brazil is about 10 times higher
than what the country usually sees in ayear.
The US Centers for Disease Control
says the link between a virus infection
and microcephaly is being investigated.
The virus is called Zika.
Zika is spread by mosquitos.
Some babies in Brazil with microcephaly
have tested positive for the Zika virus
while others have tested negative.
The CDC says that Brazil reported
its first case of Zika virus in May 2015.
Since then, the virus has spread and
has caused infections in many Brazilianstates
and other countries in Latin America.
5. What situation is Brazil facing?
6. How many deaths have been reported sofar?
7. What is related to the situationaccording to the CDC?
Section B
Directions: In this section,
you will hear two long conversations.
At the end of each conversation,
you will hear four questions.
Both the conversation and the questions
will be spoken only once.
After you hear a question,
you must choose the best answer from thefour choices
marked A), B), C) and D).
Then mark the corresponding letter onAnswer Sheet 1
with a single line through the centre.
Conversation One
W: Hi Leo,
why do you say English would become theworld language?
M: Well. For one thing, it’s so commonlyused.
The only language that is used by morepeople is Chinese.
W: Why is English spoken by so many people?
M: It’s spoken in many countries of theworld
because of the British Empire.
And now of course, there is the influenceof America as well.
W: Many students find English a difficultlanguage to learn.
M: Oh, all languages are difficult tolearn.
But English does have two great advantages.
W: What are they?
M: Well, first of all,
it has a very international vocabulary.
It has many German,
Dutch, French, Spanish and Italian words init.
So speakers of those languages
will find many familiar words in English.
In fact, English has words from many otherlanguages as well.
W: Why is that?
M: Well, partly because English speakershave travelled a lot.
They bring back words with them,
so English really does have aninternational vocabulary.
W: And what is the other advantage ofEnglish?
M: It’s that English grammar is reallyquite easy.
For example, it doesn’t have dozens ofdifferent endings for
its nouns, adjectives and verbs, not likeLatin,
Russian and German for example.
W: Why is that?
M: Well, it’s quite interesting actually.
It’s because of the French.
When the French ruled England,
French was the official language,
and only the common people spoke English.
They tried to make their language as simpleas possible.
So they made the grammar easier.
Questions 8 to 11 are based on theconversation
you have just heard.
8. What does the man say about Chinese?
9. What made English a widely usedlanguage?
10. What is said to be special aboutEnglish vocabulary?
11. What is the other advantage of English?
Conversation Two
M: Hello. Yes?
W: Hello. Is that the sales department?
M: Yes, it is.
W: Oh, well.
My name is Jane Kingsbury of GPF limited.
Ah, we need some supplies for our designoffice.
M: Oh, what sort?
W: Well, first of all,
we need one complete new drawing board.
M: DO44 or DO45?
W: Ah, I don’t know.
What’s the difference?
M: Well, the 45 costs 15 pounds more.
W: Mm, so what’s the total price then?
M: It’s 387 pounds.
W: Does that include value-added tax?
M: Oh, I’m not sure.
Most of the prices do.
Yes, I think it does.
W: Mm, what are the boards actually madeof?
M: Oh, I don’t know.
I think it’s a sort of plastic stuff thesedays.
It’s white anyway.
W: Mm, and how long does it take todeliver?
M: Oh, I couldn’t really say.
It depends on how much work we』ve got
and how many other orders there are to sendout,
you know.
W: OK, now we also want some drawing pens,
ink and rulers,
and some drawing paper.
M: Oh dear.
The girl who takes orders for all thosesupplies isn’t here this morning.
So I can’t take those orders for you.
I only do the equipment, you see.
W: OK, well, perhaps I』ll ring backtomorrow.
M: So do you want the drawing board then?
W: Oh, I have to think about it.
Thanks very much.
I』ll let you know. Goodbye.
M: Thank you. Goodbye.
Questions 12 to 15 are based on theconversation
you have just heard.
12. What is the woman’s purpose
in making the phone call?
13. What do we learn about the man from theconversation?
14. What does the man say about delivery?
15. What does the woman say
she will possibly do tomorrow?
Section C
Directions: In this section,
you will hear three 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 thefour choices
marked A), B), C) and D).
Then mark the corresponding letter onAnswer Sheet 1
with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
No one knows for sure just how old kitesare.
In fact, they have been in use forcenturies.
25 centuries ago,
kites were well known in China.
These first kites were probably made ofwood.
They may even have been covered with silk,
because silk was used a lot at that time.
Early kites were built for certain uses.
In ancient China,
they were used to carry ropes acrossrivers.
Once across, the ropes were tied down
and wooden bridges were hung from them.
Legend tells of one general who flewmusical kites
over the enemies』 camp.
The enemy fled,
believing the sounds to be the warningvoices of angels.
By the 15th century,
many people flew kites in Europe.
Marco Polo may have brought the kite back
from his visit to China.
The kite has been linked to great names andevents.
For instance, Benjamin Franklin used thekite
to prove that lightning is electricity.
He flew the kite in the storm.
He did this in order to draw lightning fromthe clouds.
He tied a metal key and a strip of silk tothe kite line.
The silk ribbon would stop the lightning
from passing through his body.
Benjamin’s idea was first laughed at.
But later on,
it led to the invention of the lightningrod.
With such grand history,
kite flying is sure to remain anentertaining
and popular sport.
Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage
you have just heard.
16. What does the speaker say about kites?
17. What did the ancient Chinese use kitesto do?
18. Why did Benjamin Franklin fly a kite inthe storm?
Passage Two
I have learned many languages,
but I』ve not mastered them the way aprofessional interpreter
or translator has.
Still, they have opened doors for me.
They have allowed me the opportunity toseek jobs
in international contexts and help me getthose jobs.
Like many people who have lived overseasfor a while,
I simply got crazy about it.
I can’t imagine living my professional orsocial life
without international interactions.
Since 1977, I have spent much more timeabroad
than in the United States.
I like going to new places,
eating new foods and experiencing newcultures.
If you can speak the language,
it’s easier to get to know the country andits people.
If I had the time and money,
I would live for a year in as manycountries as possible.
Beyond my career,
my facility with languages has given me
a few rare opportunities.
Once, just after I returned from my year inVienna,
I was asked to translate for a German judge
at an Olympic level horse event and learneda lot about the sport.
In Japan, once when I was in the studioaudience
of a TV cooking show,
I was asked to go up on the stage
and taste the beef dish that was beingprepared
and tell what I thought.
They asked 「Was it as good as Americanbeef?」
It was very exciting for me to be onJapanese TV,
speaking in Japanese about how deliciousthe beef was.
Questions 19 to 22 are based on the passage
you have just heard.
19. What does the speaker say about herself?
20. What does the speaker say about manypeople
who have lived overseas for a while?
21. How did the speaker’s experience
of living in Vienna benefit her?
22. What was the speaker asked to do
in the Japanese studio?
Passage Three
Dr. Ben Carson grew up in a poorsingle-parent household in Detroit.
His mother, who had only a third-gradeeducation,
worked two jobs cleaning bathrooms.
To his classmates and even to his teachers,
he was thought of as the dumbest kid in theclass,
according to his own not so fond memories.
He had a terrible temper,
and once threatened to kill another child.
Dr. Carson was headed down a path ofself-destruction
until a critical moment in his youth.
His mother convinced that he had to dosomething dramatic
to prevent him from leading a life offailure,
laid down some rules.
He could not watch television except fortwo programs a week,
could not play with his friends afterschool
until he finished his homework,
and had to read two books a week,
and write book reports about them.
His mother’s strategy worked.
「Of course, I didn’t know she couldn’tread.
So there I was submitting these reports.」He said.
「She would put check marks on them like
she had been reading them.
As I began to read about scientists，
economists and philosophers,
I started imagining myself in their shoes.」
As he got into the habit of hard work,
his grades began to soar.
Ultimately he received a scholarship to
attend Yale University,
and later he was admitted
to the University of Michigan MedicalSchool.
He is now a leading surgeon at JohnsHopkins Medical School,
and he is also the author of three books.
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the passage
you have just heard.
23. What do we learn about Ben Carson?
24. What did Ben Carson’s classmates
and teachers think of him when he was firstat school?
25. What did Ben Carson’s mother tell him
to do when he was a school boy?
This is the end of listening comprehension.