Uint3
II. Basic Listening Practice
5. Script
W: Did you see the paper today? There was an earthquake in Brazil. M: Yes, but it only measured 3.5 on the Richter scale. I don?t think there were any casualties. Q: What is the result of the earthquake of 3.5 on the Richter scale according to the man?
2. Script
W: I?d a bit worried about Suzie traveling to southern India. It?s the rainy season there, and there may be landsides. M: Suzie can take care of herself; she won?t go anywhere too risky. Besides, you can always e-mail her if it makes you feel better. Q: What is Suzie doing?
3. Script
M: Hi, I thought you were on holiday in Asia! Back already? W: we never got there! Our travel agent cancelled our arrangements because the whole region is flooded. We were so disappointed; we won?t get another chance to go this year. Q: What is the woman doing?
4. Script
M: Our flight to Tokyo was delayed by twelve hours. Can you believe it? A typhoon hit the east coast and it was chaos. W: I saw it on the news. The flooding and damage were terrible. I don?t think anyone was hurt though. Q: What is the consequence of the typhoon?
5. Script
W: Did you see the program last night about volcanoes? It was fascinating! M: Yes, the weird thing is the molten lava looks so beautiful, yet it?s so destructive. And I couldn?t believe how far the ash can travel. I?m glad we don?t have any volcanoes here! Q: What does the man think the volcano is?
Keys: 1.D 2.A 3. C 4.B 5.C
III. Listening In
Task 1: Soft answers turn away wrath.
Son: Hi, mom, what are we having for dinner tonight? Mom: I haven?t started yet. Why, have you any requires? Son: How about tsunami for a change—I don?t know what is, but I heard some Japanese people using the word on the bus the other day. Sounds like a food. Maybe it?s similar to sushi. Mom: Nonsense. Tsunami comes from Japanese words meaning harbor and wave. If we had a tsunami, it would be the other way around, young man. Son: Why? What is it? Mom: I mean it may swallow you up. A tsunami is an enormous series of very powerful waves. Son: Could you surf on them? That could be cool. Mom: They?re not cool. They are very destructive. When they pound the shore of populated areas, they cause tremendous damage. They destroy everything in their path. Son: What causes them? Mom: I think they are caused by some sort of shock, like an earthquake, volcano, or landside that starts a chain reaction in the ocean. Son: Do the waves get to big that they crush buildings? Mom: Easily. They can be dozens of meters high. They toss cars and houses around as though they were children?s toys. Son: Can you see them coming? Mom: You can see them at quite a distance. But there?s not much you can do. In the open ocean they move at up to 800km per hour, but when it reaches the shore, the system slows down and the waves get bigger. Son: How big? Mom: They can reach 30 meters. Big enough to finish you off in one gulp. 11. What the son think a tsunami is? 12. What does Mom imply by saying, “If we had a tsunami, it would be the other way around”? 13. What does the son think surfing on tsunami waves would be like? 14. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as the cause of a tsunami? 15. How high can tsunami waves reach? Keys: 1B 2.C 3.A 4.D 5.C For Reference 1. In the open ocean they move at up to 800km per hour, but when it reaches the shore, the system slows down and the waves get bigger. 2. They can reach 30 meters. Big enough to finish you off in one gulp.
Task3: A Blizzard
Script
A blizzard is a sever weather condition characterized by low temperatures and strong winds, greater than 15 miles per hour, bearing a great amount of snow. Because the factors for classifying winter storms are complex, there are many different definitions of what a blizzard truly is. But it is generally agreed that in order to be classified as a blizzard, as opposed to merely a winter storm, the weather must meet several conditions. The storm must decrease visibility to a quarter of a mile for three hours running. Include snow or ice as precipitation, and have wind speed of at least 32 miles per hour, which means Force 7 or more on the Wind Scale. Another standard, according to Environment Canada, is that the winter storm must have winds of 40 kilometers per hour or mi=ore, plenty of snow, visibility less than 1 kilometer, a temperature of less than -25 degrees Celsius, and all of these conditions must last for 4 hours or more, before the storm can properly be called a blizzard. When all these conditions continue after snow has stopped falling, the storm is referred t o as a ground blizzard. An extensive form of blizzard is a whiteout, when the downdrafts, together with snowfall, become so sever that it is impossible to distinguish the ground from the air. People caught in a whiteout can quickly become disoriented, losing their sense of up and down as well as their sense of direction. Severe blizzard can also occur along with arctic cyclones.
11. What is the passage mainly about? 12. Which of the following is true of a blizzard according to the first standard? 13. Which of the following is true of a blizzard according to the second standard? 14. What is a ground blizzard? 5. Which of the following is in the order of increasing force?
Keys: 1A 2.B3. C 4.D 5.C For Reference They can quickly become disoriented, losing their sense of up and down as well as their sense of direction.
VI. Further Listening and Speaking
Task1: Description of a Tsunami Script
A strange hissing noise filled the air, said witnesses to the disaster, and that was followed by an ear-shattering roar. Racing toward the shore at speed of 450 kilometers per hour was a vast black wall of water more than 20 meters high. For sunbathers on the beaches and diners at outdoor beachfront cafes there was no escape. Along with fishing boats, automobiles, trams, trains, early-morning shoppers and beach bungalows they were smashed to the ground and swept as far as two kilometers inland by the force of the tsunami that came after a force 9 earthquake deep under the sea off the coast of Sumatra. Many local residents, including numerous children, rushed onto the beach to pick up fish thrown ashore by the first giant wave. Before they could return to safety, a second powerful wave struck and swept them to their deaths at sea. When the worst of the waters finally retreated back into the ocean, bodies lay everywhere, and many hung from trees. At least 140,000 people died in the flooding around the rim of the Indian Ocean and as far away as Kenya and Somalia. Still missing are more than a thousand people, among then 200 Indonesian fishmen. Hundreds of fishing village in India, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Thailand are cut off from supplies of clean water, food and medicines. Relief efforts from across the globe are rushing towards the disaster area. Whether they will be able to prevent further deaths from disease remain to be seen.
8. What happened after shoppers were smashed to the ground? 9. According to the passage, what happened after the first giant wave? 10. How many people are missing in the disaster? 11. What may follow immediately after the disaster, according to the passage? 12. What id the passage mainly about?
Keys: 1.A 2.C 3.B 4.D 5.A
Task 2: Drought in South Africa
Script
South Africa is heading for a disaster in the new year because of a drought. The water level at some dams have dropped below 20% while the ground water table has dropped by as much s 30 meters Emergency measure have been introduced ensure that millions of people have enough water to survive. In rural areas without dams, the government has to send water by truck and sink new, deeper wells to provide drinking water. Tanked water is provided about 3.5 million South Africans. People here normally use barely 30 liters a day, and is impossible to further limit their usage. That is why agricultural use has to be restricted. More than 100,000 farm workers might lose their jobs if it does not rain soon. Water restrictions, which have a negative influence on the agricultural sector in particular, have already been imposed in several districts. Farmers have been forced to stop irrigating their crops to ensure that enough water is available for domestic use. Maize farmers in the eastern parts of the country have almost no hope of planting their crop in time. They need rain within the next two weeks to be able to start planting. Where farmers did sow, the seedlings have been scorched under the sun. An estimated 40,000 head of livestock have died because of the dry spell. Thousands of stock farmers will have to slaughter their livestock on a large scale because there is no grass left. The parts suffering the most were rural areas without dams. If it does not rain, the people there will face a huge crisis.
Keys: FFTFT
