Conversation 2

　　W: Oh, I’m fed up with my job.

　　M: Hey, there is a perfect job for in the paper today. You might be interested.

　　W: Oh, what is it? What do they want?

　　M: Wait a minute. Eh, here it is. The European Space Agency is recruiting translators.

　　W: The European Space Agency?

　　M: Well, that’s what it says. They need an English translator to work from French or German.

　　W: So they need a degree in French or German, I suppose. Well, I’ve got that. What’s more, I have plenty of experience. What else are they asking for?

　　M: Just that. A university degree and three or four years of experience as a translator in a professional environment. They also say the person should have a lively and enquiring mind, effective communication skills and the ability to work individually or as a part of the team.

　　W: Well, if I stay at my present job much longer, I won’t have any mind or skills left. By the way, what about salary? I just hope it isn’t lower than what I get now.

　　M: It’s said to be negotiable. It depends on the applicant’s education and experience. In addition to basic salary, there is a list of extra benefits. Have a look yourself.

　　W: Hm, travel and social security plus relocation expenses are paid. Hey, this isn’t bad. I really want the job.

　　Q23: Why is the woman trying to find a new job?

　　Q24: What position is being advertised in the paper?

　　Q25: What are the key factors that determine the salary of the new position?

　　Section B Short Passages

　　Passage 1

　　When couples get married, they usually plan to have children. Sometimes, however, a couple can not have a child of their own. In this case, they may decide to adopt a child. In fact, adoption is very common today. There are about 60 thousand adoptions each year in the US alone. Some people prefer to adopt infants, others to adopt older children, some couples adopt children from their own countries, others adopt children from foreign countries. In any case, they all adopt children for the same reason ----they care about children and want to give their adopted child a happy life.

　　Most adopted children know that they are adopted. Psychologists and child-care experts generally think this is a good idea. However, many adopted children or adoptees have very little information about their biological parents. As a matter of fact, it is often very difficult for adoptees to find out about their birth parents because the birth records of most adoptees are usually sealed. The information is secret so no one can see it. Naturally, adopted children have different feelings about their birth parents. Many adoptees want to search for them, but others do not. The decision to search for birth parents is a difficult one to make. Most adoptees have mixed feelings about finding their biological parents. Even though adoptees do not know about their natural parents, they do know that their adopted parents want them, love them and will care for them.

　　Questions 26-29 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　26. According to the speaker, why do some couples adopt children?

　　27. Why is it difficult for adoptees to find out about their birth parents?

　　28. Why do many adoptees find it hard to make the decision to search for their birth parents?

　　29. What can we infer from the passage?

　　Passage 2

　　Catherine Gram graduated from the University of Chicago in 1938 and got a job as a news reporter in San Francisco. Catherine’s father used to be a successful investment banker. In 1933, he bought a failing newspaper, the Washington Post.

　　Then Catherine returned to Washington and got a job, editing letters in her father’s newspaper. She married Philip Gram, who took over his father-in-law’s position shortly after and became a publisher of the Washington Post. But for many years, her husband suffered from mental illness and he killed himself in 1963. After her husband’s death, Catherine operated the newspaper. In the 1970s, the newspaper became famous around the world and Catherine was also recognized as an important leader in newspaper publishing. She was the first woman to head a major American publishing company, the Washington Post company. In a few years, she successfully expanded the company to include newspaper, magazine, broadcast and cable companies.

　　She died of head injuries after a fall when she was 84. More than 3 thousand people attended her funeral including many government and business leaders. Her friends said she would be remembered as a woman who had an important influence on events in the United States and the world. Catherine once wrote, “The world without newspapers would not be the same kind of world”. After her death, the employees of the Washington Post wrote, “The world without Catherine would not be the same at all.”

　　Questions 30-32 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　30. What do we learn from the passage about Catherine’s father?

　　31. What does the speaker tell us about Catherine Gram?

　　32. What does the comment by employees of the Washington Post suggest?

　　Passage 3

　　Obtaining good health insurance is a real necessity while you are studying overseas. It protects you from minor and major medical expenses that can wipe out not only your savings but your dreams of an education abroad. There are often two different types of health insurance you can consider buying, international travel insurance and student insurance in the country where you will be going.

　　An international travel insurance policy is usually purchased in your home country before you go abroad. It generally covers a wide variety of medical services and you are often given a list of doctors in the area where you will travel who may even speak your native language. The drawback might be that you may not get your money back immediately, in other words, you may have to pay all you medical expenses and then later submit your receipt to the insurance company.

　　On the other hand, getting student heath insurance in the country where you will study might allow you to only pay a certain percentage of the medical cost at the time of the service and thus you don’t have to have sufficient cash to pay the entire bill at once. Whatever you decide, obtaining some form of health insurance is something you should consider before you go overseas. You shouldn’t wait until you are sick with a major medical bills to pay off.

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

　　33. Why does the speaker advice the overseas students to buy health insurance?

　　34. What is the drawback of the students buying international travel insurance?

　　35. What does the speaker say about students getting health insurance in the country where they will study?

　　Section C Compound Dictation

　　More and more of the world’s population are living in towns or cities. The speed at which cities are growing in the less developed countries is alarming. Between 1920 and 1960, big cities in developed countries increased two and a half times in size, but in other parts of the world the growth was eight times their size. The sheer size of growth is bad enough, but there are now also very disturbing signs of trouble in the comparison of percentages of people living in towns and percentages of people working in industry. During the 19th century, cities grew as a result of the growth of industry. In Europe, the proportion of people living in cities was always smaller than that of the work force working in factories. Now, however, the reverse is almost always true in the newly industrialized world. The percentage of people living in cities is much higher than the percentage working in industry. Without a base of people working in industry, these cities cannot pay for their growth. There is not enough money to build adequate houses for the people that live there, let alone the new arrivals. There has been little opportunity to build water supplies or other facilities. So the figures for the growth of towns and cities represent proportional growth of unemployment and underemployment, a growth in the number of hopeless and despairing parents and starving children.

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