19981998听力原文

听力原文1998 The Railways in Britain (1998) The success of early railways, such as the lines between big cities,/ led to a great increase in railway building in Victorian times. / Between 1835 and 1865 about 25000 kilometers of track were built,/ and over 100 railway companies were created. / Railway travel transformed people's lives. / Trains were first designed to carry goods. / However, a law in the 19th century forced railway companies to run one cheap train a day / which stopped at every station and cost only a penny a mile. / Soon working class passengers found they could afford to travel by rail. / Cheap day excursion trains became popular and seaside resorts grew rapidly. / The railways also provided thousands of new jobs:/ building carriages, running the railways and repairing the tracks. / Railways even changed the time. / The need to run the railways on time meant that local time was abolished/ and clocks showed the same time all over the country. / PART Ⅲ LISTENING COMPREHENSION SECTION A STATEMENT 1 . I need some aspirin. please. I'd also like to get this prescription filled. 2. Wow! I hat's terrific. I couldn't agree more. 3. Mr. Dawson bought a thirty-dollar sweater for eighteen dollars on the 13th of July. 4. Staying healthy today means more than just going to a doctor when you're ill. 5. I really don't want any dessert or coffee. Just bring me the bill, please. 6. If I had gone to the game. you bet I would have enjoyed seeing our team win. 7. Some people made more money than teachers. but few get as much satisfaction from their work. 8. Although there are some similarities in the platforms of both candidates, the differences between them are considerably wide. SECTION B CONVERSATION 9. W: Hilton Hotel. May I help you'? M: Mr. John Thomas. Room 13, please. W: I'll put you through. Oh, sorry. Mr. Thomas isn't in at the moment. M: Can I leave a message? W: Certainly. M: Have him call Max Green at 6:00. It's important. 10. W: Good morning. did you sleep well last night? M: Yes. the room is fine. W: Are you checking out this morning? M: Yes. I'm leaving around 10:00. 11. M: Did you do anything last weekend'? W: Not much. What did you do'? M: I had planned to go skiing or do some shopping, but wound up studying. 12. W: Hey, John! Were you in the literature class yesterday'? M: No. I couldn't make it. Weren't you there. either'? W: No. I wasn't. I was hoping you could tell me the reading assignment. 1111tliA 13. W: Are we going to the party this evening'? W; Well. I wonder if James can make it from home. M: He's got a car now. Wilma* WI: Sounds no problem. then. 14. W: I'm going to India next month. Is there any advice you'd like to give me on my first trip'? M: Well, see as much as you can, because it's a country with a very different culture from ours. 15. W: When shall I come again'? M: Well, I'm afraid we must wait till all the applications are in and if we decide to put your name on our short list, we'll let you know. 16. M: What's wrong with your new electric cooker'? Let me see if I can fix it. W: Oh, I had the shop replace it with a new one this morning. 17. W: Look. it's getting late and we'd better be leaving together. Have you got a car. Mr. Smith'? M: No, thanks. There's a bus. SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST Question 18 is based on the following news. Heavy rains and overflowing rivers have caused extensive flooding in some parts of the US midwest and in the eastern regions of the US as well. Melting snow and new snowfall in the midwest states of Iowa, Michigan and Indiana have driven rivers over their banks and have cut off electricity to thousands of customers. In the eastern states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey and West Virginia, flooding has damaged homes and forced evacuations in several counties. Question 19 is based on the following news. Official Iranian news agency, quoting a senior Foreign Ministry official has said preparations were being made for the Foreign Minister Dr. Ali-Ahbar Veliatti to visit Iraq. No specific date was given. The news was carried the day after a preparatory team led by his senior advisor Ali Korum ended a 4-day visit to the Iraqi capital Baghdad. In an interview carried on Teheran radio. Ali Korum said an Iraqi delegation will be traveling to Teheran shortly to follow up on the talks. Questions 20 -21 are based on the following news. US Senate has passed a landmark bill aimed at ending the country's huge budget deficits within the next seven years. It would cut government spending by more than 900.001) million dollars. Health, education, and hundreds of other programs will be hit. The bill was passed last week by the House of Representatives. And congressional leaders now have to work out a compromise. A BBC Washington correspondent says the stage is now set for a confrontation with the White House. President Clinton has threatened to veto the Republican plans. Question is based on the following news. France has carried out the first of a planned series of nuclear tests in the south Pacific despite strong international opposition. The French Defense Ministry said the device exploded at an underground site beneath Mururoa Atoll yielded less than 20 kilotons. Australian scientists described it as fairly small compared with the previous tests. There's been swift reaction from several countries. New Zealand and Chile have recalled their ambassadors to Paris in protest. Australia condemned the test and the US expressed its regret. Before the nuclear device was exploded, the French President Jacques Chirac said his country might carry out fewer than the eight tests originally planned. Question 23 is based on the following news. The Indian police have found a large catche of plastic explosives in Bombay, the type used in last month's serial bombings that killed more than 300 people. Police say they seized nearly two thousand kilograms of explosives from a marshy region north of Bombay. About 1,300 kilograms of similar explosives were discovered in the area last week. Police also arrested 14 more people in connection with the bombings. Questions 24 - 25 are based on the following news. Israel and the PLO, after six days of intensive negotiations. meet again later today for what they say they hope will be the final initialing of an agreement on extending Palestinian self-rule in the West Bank. The two sides had been optimistic about reaching agreement yesterday. But last minute hitches arose over the timetable for releasing thousands of prisoners and arrangements for the redeployment of Israeli troops. The BBC Jerusalem correspondent says it appears the two sides have made progress on one of the most difficult issues of all--the future of Hebron, the only town in the West Bank where there's a community of Jewish settlers.