16年四级真题二:听力原文

1. News

New 1

Recording

You probably think college students are experts at sleeping. But parties, preparations for tests, personal problems and general stress can wreck a student's sleep habits, which can be bad for the body and the mind. Texas Tech University is even offering a class called "Improving Your Sleep Habits". People suffering from sleep loss are adding increased risk from obesity, psychological problems and car crashes. Students who don't get enough sleep have poorer attendance and lower grades. On top of all that, a new study published in the journal Learning & Memory finds you are probably better off sleeping than making last-minute preparations for a test. Two hundred college kids were taught to play some unfamiliar video games. Subjects who learned the games in the morning lost some skills when they played again 12 hours later, but they did much better after getting a good night sleep. So, if you really want to do your job well, don't forget to get some sleep. 

Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heard. 

Question 1. What is the news report mainly about? 

Question 2. What is the finding of the new study published in the journal Learning & Memory? 


New 2 

Recording

Long queues, delayed flights and overcrowding at airports have become almost as much a topic for conversation in Britain as the traditional complaining about the weather. Meanwhile, there are complaints that poor service at London's major airports is discouraging foreigners from doing business in Britain. Much of the criticism is directed at the British Airports Authority, which runs seven major airports, including the three main ones serving London. The Competition Commission is now to investigate whether the British Airports Authority needs to sell off some of its assets. The idea is that competition between rival operators would lead to better service at airports. The British Airports Authority, recently bought by a Spanish company, says the root cause of the problem is not the ownership structure but a lack of runway and terminal capacity, which it is addressing through a program of heavy investment. 

Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.

Question 3. What is the Competition Commission going to investigate? 

Question 4. What is the root cause of the poor service at British airports according to the British Airports Authority? 


New 3 

Recording

Under the law in Massachusetts, tobacco companies have to measure the nicotine content of every type of cigarette and report the results. The Department of Public Health in Boston gathers and carefully examines the figures and then draws its conclusion. A hundred and sixteen brands were looked at for the study. Ninety two were found to have higher nicotine yields than they did six years previously. The biggest increases tended to be in brands that were popular with young smokers. That worries the department because of the addictive nature of nicotine. Stand Glance, a professor of medicine in San Francisco, explains why: "The amount of nicotine that is delivered in every cigarette is ten percent higher than it was six year ago, which means that is easier to get hooked and harder to quit. The big tobacco companies have always insisted that they are frank with their customers about the dangers of smoking and provide them with enough detail to make an informed decision. However, none of them were prepared to comment on this study or discuss the detailed nicotine content of their products." 

Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard. 

Question 5. What do tobacco companies have to do under the law in Massachusetts? 

Question 6. What do we learn from the study by the Department of Public Health in Boston? Question 7. What do we learn from the news report about the big tobacco companies?