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UNDERSTANDING PASSAGES
Listening Task 1 Passage1
Peter and Rhoda were going steady for two years. Everyone thought they were going to get married. One evening while they were eating in a restaurant, Peter said to Rhoda:
"You know, Rhoda, you're the only girl I really know well. We are both very young, and I think we must try to make new friends and have new experiences. If we still love each other after all that, then we can get married."
"That's true, isn't it? But I don't want to stop our relationship, do you? We can see each other, can't we? "
"No, Rhoda, not for a while."
"I guess you're right, but I'm going to miss you very much."
"I'm going to miss you, too, Rhoda."
The months passed. Rhoda and Peter were very lonely. Rhoda finally decided to try a computer dating service. She filled out an application which stated what she liked in a person. Soon the phone rang. It was Andre Legros who received her name from the computer service. They arranged to meet that evening for coffee. While she was waiting for Andre, Peter came in. She asked him:
"What are you doing here? "
"Well, I have a blind date for tonight with a girl named April May. It's a computer match. What are you doing here? "
"I'm waiting for my blind date. His name is Andre Legros."
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Rhoda began to laugh. She said:
"I'm April May."
Peter looked surprised. After a moment, he said:
"And I'm Andre Legros. This was no mismatch, was it? It was meant to be."
Questions 1 to 5 are based on the passage you have just heard:
1. How many years were Peter and Rhoda going steady?
2. What did they decide to do one evening?
3. Why did Rhoda try a computer dating service?
4. How did Peter and Rhoda feel when they first knew the truth?
5. What can be inferred from the passage?
Passage2
George's mother was worried about him. One evening, when her husband came home, she spoke to him about it.
"Look, dear, " she said, "you must talk to George. He left school three months ago, but he still hasn't got a job, and he isn't trying to find one. All he does is smoke, eat and play records."
George's father sighed. It had been a very tiring day at the office.
"All right, " he said, "I'11 talk to him."
"George, " said George's mother, knocking at George's door, "your father wants to speak to you."
"Oh! "
"Come into the sitting room, dear."
"Hello, old man, " said George, when George and his mother joined him in the sitting room.
"Your father's very worried about you, " said George's mother. "It's time you found a job."
"Yes, " replied George without enthusiasm.
George's mother looked at her husband.
"Any ideas? " he asked hopefully.
"Not really, " said George.
"What about a job in a bank? " suggested George's mother, "or an insurance company, perhaps? "
"I don't want an office job, " said George.
George's father nodded sympathetically.
"Well, what do you want to do? " asked George's mother.
"I'd like to travel, " said George.
"Do you want a job with a travel firm then? "
"The trouble is, " said George, "I don't really want a job at the moment. I'd just like to travel and see a bit of the world."
George's mother raised her eyes to the ceiling. "I give up, " she said.
Questions 6 to 10 are based on the passage you have just heard:
6. What did George's mother ask his father to do?
7. How did George's father feel after a day's work?
8. When did George leave school?
9. What did George want to do after graduation?
10. What can be concluded from the passage?
Passage3
If you listen to American music, watch American television or magazines, you will probably agree that the most popular subject of these forms of entertainment is love. Romantic love always finds an audience in the United States. Falling in love, solving the problems of love, and achieving the happy ending -- the big wedding are subjects of interest to the adult as well as the teenage public. Millions of Americans celebrate Valentine's Day with special cards and gifts that announce their love to their mates, their friends, their coworkers, and their families. Popular songs tell us that "all the world loves a lover". A popular saying is "Love conquers all". Numerous columns in magazines and newspapers offer advice to the lovelorn, those with difficulties of the heart. To most Americans, romantic love is central to a happy life.
Not only do Americans believe in romantic love but they also believe that it is the best basis for marriage. Despite the high divorce rate in the United States, young men and women continue to marry on the basis of romantic love. Americans consider marriage a private arrangement between the two people involved. Young Americans feel free to choose their own marriage partners from any social, economic, or religious background. The man or woman may have strong ties with parents, brothers, or sisters, but when he or she falls in love, the strongest feelings are supposed to be for the loved one. When an American couple marries, they generally plan to live apart from both sets of parents and build their own independent family structure.
Questions 11 to 15 are based on the passage you have just heard:
11. What is the most popular subject of all forms of entertainment?
12. Who is interested in the subject of love?
13. What do most Americans think of romantic love?
14. What factors do young Americans consider when choosing their own marriage partners?
15. What does an American couple plan to do when they marry?
Passage4
"Family" is of course an elastic word. But when British people say that their society is based on family life, they are thinking of "family" in its narrow, peculiarly European sense of mother, father and children living together alone in their own house as an economic and social unit. Thus, every British marriage indicates the beginning of a new and independent family -- hence the great importance of marriage in British life. For both the man and the woman, marriage means leaving one's parents and starting one's own life. The man's first duty will then be to his wife, and the wife's to her husband. He will be entirely responsible for her financial support, and she for the running of the new home. Their children will be their common responsibility and theirs alone. Neither the wife's parents nor the husband's, nor their brothers or sisters, aunts or uncles, have any right to interfere with them -- they are their own masters.