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托福TPO4套听力真题(文本)

托福TPO4套听力真题(文本)
托福TPO4套听力真题(文本)

托福TPO4套听力真题(文本)

小马过河为大家准备了“托福TPO4套听力真题(文本)”,供各位备考托福的考生们参考使用,来提高自己的托福成绩!免费咨询电话:400-0123-267。

TPO-4

TPO 04 – Listening Part

Conversation

Narrator

Listen to a conversation between a student and a librarian.

Librarian

Can I help you?

Student

Yeah, Ineed to find a review. It’s for myEnglish class. Wehave to find reviews of theplay we are reading. But theyhave to be from when the play was first performed,so I need to know when that was and I suppose I should startwith newspaper reviews and…

Librarian

Contemporary reviews.

Student

Sorry?

Librarian

You want contemporaryreviews. What’s the name of the play?

Student

It’s Happy Strangers. Itwas written in 1962 and we are supposed to write

abou t itsinfluence on American theatre and show why it’s been so important.

Librarian

Well, that certainly explains whyyour professor wantsyou to read some of

those old reviews. The critiquesreally torethe play to pieceswhen it opened.

It’s so controve rsial. Nobody had everseen anything like it on the stage.

Student

Really? Isthat a big deal?

Librarian

Oh, sure. Ofcourse thecritiques’reaction made some people kind ofcurious

about it.Theywanted to see what’s causing all the fuss. In fact,we wer eon

vacation in New York. Oh, I had tobe, eh,around 16 or so, and myparentstookme to see it. That would’ve been about 1965.

Student

So that wasthe year premier,great, but eh,newspaper from back then weren’t

online,so, how do I…

Librarian

Well, wehave copies ofall the newspapers in the basement, and all the major

papers publish reference guides to their articlesreviews,etc. You willfind

them in the reference stacksin the back. ButI start with 1964, so I thinkthe

play had been running for a little while when I saw it.

Student

How do you like it?I mean just two characterson the stage hanging around

and basically doing nothing.

Librarian

Well, Iwas impressed. Theactors werefamous, and besides it was myfirst

time in a realtheatre.But you are right.It was definitelydifferent from many

plays that we read in high school. Ofcourse, in a small town the assignments

are prettytraditional.

Student

Yeah, I’ve only read it but it doesn’t seem like it would be much fun to watch.

The st orydoesn’t progress in anysort oflogical matter,doesn’t have real

ending either,just stops. Honestly,you know,I thought it was kind of slow and

boring.

Librarian

Oh, wellI guess you might think that. Butwhen Isaw it back then it was

anything but boring. Some parts werereally funny,but Iremembercrying too.

But I’m not sure just reading it. You know, they’ve done thisplay at least once

on campus. I’m sure thereis a tape of theplay in our video library. You might

want to borrow it.

Student

That’s a good idea. I’ll have a better idea of what I really thinkof it before I read those reviews.

Librarian

I’m sure you willbe surprised that anyone ever found it radical. But you will see whyit is still powerful, dramatically speaking.

Student

Yeah, it must be something about it,or the professor wouldn’thave assigned it.

I’m sure I’ll figure it out.

Lecture

Narrator

Listen to part ofa lecturein a biology class. The class is discussing animal behavior.

Professor

Ok, the nextkind ofanimal behavior I want to talkabout might be familiar to

you. You mayhave seen, for example, a bird that’s in the middle ofa mating ritual, and suddenly it stops and preens,you know, takesa few momentsto

straighten its feathers, and then returns tothe mating ritual. This kind of behavior,this doing something that seems completelyout ofplace, is what we

calla ‘Displacement Activity’. Displacement activitiesare activities that animal’s engaging in when theyhave conflicting drives. Ifwe takeour example

from a minute ago, if thebird is afraid ofits mate,it’s conflicted.It wantsto mate but it’s also afraid and wantsto run away. So, instead, it startsgrooming itself.So, the displacement activity,the grooming, the straightening ofits feathers,seems to be an irrelevant behavior.So, what do you think another

example ofa displacementactivity might be?

Karl

How about an animal that, um, instead of fighting its enemyor running away,it

attacksa plant or a bush?

Professor

That’s reallygood suggestion, Karl. But that’s called ‘redirecting’.The animal is

redirecting itsbehavior to another object, in this case, theplant or the bush.

But that’s not an irrelevant or inappropriate behavior.The behavior makes

sense. It’s appropriate under the circumstances.But what doesn’t make sense

is the object thebehavior‘s directed towards. Ok, who else? Carol?

Carol

I thinkI read in another class about an experimentwhere an object that the

animal was afraid of was put nextto its food – nextto the animal’s food. And

the animal, it wasconflicted between confronting theobject and eating the

food, so instead, it just fellasleep. Like that?

Professor

That’s exactlywhat I mean. Displacement occursbecause theanimal’s got two

conflicting drives – two competing urges, in thiscase, fear and hunger. And

what happens is, theyinhibit each other,theycanceleach other out in a wayand a third seemingly irrelevant behavior surfaces through a processthat we

call‘Disinhibition’. Now in disinhibition, thebasic idea is that two drivesthat

seem to inhibit,to hold back, a third drive. Or, well,they’re getting in a wayof

each in a… in a conflict situation and somehow lose control,lose their

inhibiting effecton that third behavior,which means thatthe third drive surfaces, it’s expressed in theanimal’s behavior.Now,these displacement

activities can include feeding, drinking, grooming, even sleeping. These are

what we call ‘Comfort Behavior’.So whydo you thinkdisplacement activities

are so often comfort behaviors, such as grooming?

Karl

Maybe because it’s easy for them to do? I mean,grooming is like one of the

most accessible things an animal can do. It’s something theydo all thetime,

and theyhave the stimulus right there on the outside oftheir bodies in order to do thegrooming, or if food is right in front of them.Basically, theydon’t have to think verymuch about those behaviors.

Carol

Professor,isn’t it possible that animals groom because they’ve got messed up

a little from fight ing or mating? I mean if a bird’s feathersget ruffled or an animal’s fur,maybe it’s not so strange for them to stop and tidythemselves up

at that point.

Professor

That’s another possible reason although it doesn’t necessarily explain other behavi ors such as eating, drinking or sleeping. What’s interesting is that studies have been done that suggest thatthe animal’s environment mayplay a

part in determining what kind of behavior it displays. For example,there’s a

bird, the ‘wood thrush’,anyway, when the ‘wood thrush’is in an attack-escape

conflict, that is, it’s caught between the two urges to escape from or to attack

an enemy,if it’s sitting on a horizontalbranch, it’ll wipe itsbeak on itsperch.If

it’s sitting on a verticalbranch, it’ll groom its breast feathers.The immediate

environment of thebird, its immediate,um, its relationship to its immediate

environment seemsto play a part in which behavior will display.

Lecture

Narrator

Listen to part ofa lecturein a literatureclass.

Professor

All right,so let me close today’s class with some thoughts to keep in mindwhile you are doing tonight’s assignment. You will be reading one of Ralph

Waldo Emerson’s best-known essays ‘Self-Reliance’and comparing it with his

poems and other works. Ithink this essay has the potentialto be quite

meaningful for all ofyou as young people who probably wonder about things

like truth and whereyour lives are going - all sorts ofprofound questions.

Knowing something about Emerson’s philosophie s will help you when you

read ‘Self-Reliance’.And basically, one ofthe main beliefs that he had was

about truth. Not that it’s something that wecan be taught,Emerson says it’s

found within ourselves. So this truth,the idea that it’s in each one ofus, is one

of thefirst points that you’ll see Emerson ** in this essay. It’s a bit

abstract but he’s very into…ah…into each person believing his or her own

thought, believing in yourself, the thought or conviction that’s truefor you. But actually, he tiesthat in with a sort of ‘universal truth’ – something that everyone knows but doesn’t realizetheyknow. Most of us aren’tin touch with ourselves

in a way,so we just aren’t capable of recognizing profound truth. Ittakes

geniuses, people like, say,Sh akespeare, who’reunique because when they

have a glimpse at this truth,this universal truth,theypay attention to it and expressit and don’t just dismiss it like most people do.

So Emerson is reallyinto each individual believing in and trusting him or

herself.You’ll see thathe writesabout, well,first, conformity. Hecriticizes that people of his time for abandoning their own minds and their own wills for the

sake of conformity and consistency. Theytryto fit in with the restof the world

even thou gh it’s at odds with their beliefsand their identities. Therefore,it’s

best to be a non-conformist – to do your own thing, not worrying about what

other people think. That’s an important point. Hereally drives thisargument

home throughout the essay.

When you are reading, I want you to think about that and why thatkind of

thought would be relevant to the readers of his time. Rememberthis is 1838,

‘Self-Reliance’was a novel idea at thetime and the United State’s citizens

wereless secure about themselvesas individuals and as Americans. The

country as a whole was trying to define itself. Emerson wanted to give people

something to reallythink about, help them find theirown wayand what it meant

to be who theywere.So that’s something that I thin k is definitely as relevant

today as it was then, probably, um, especially among young adults like

yourselves, you know,uh, college being a time to sort of reallythink about who

you are and where you’re going.

Now we already said that Emerson really emphasizesnon-conformity, right,as

a way to sort of not lose your own self and identityin the world, to have your

own truth and not be afraid to listen to it. Well, he takes thisa stepfurther. Not

conforming also means, uh, not conforming with yourself or your past. What

does that mean?Well, if you’ve always been a certain way or done a certain

thing, but it’s not working for you anymore,or you’re not content,Emerson

says that it’d be foolish to be consistent evenwith our own past. ‘Focus on t he

future,’ he says, “That'swhat matters more.Inconsistency is good.”He talksabout a ship’s voyage and this is one of themost famous bits ofthe

essay - how the best voyage is made up of zigzag lines. Up close, it seemsa

little all over theplace, but from fartheraway, the truepath shows and in the

end it justifies all theturns along the way.So, don’t worry if you are not sure

where you’re headed or what your long-term goals are.Staytrue to yourself

and it’ll make sense in the end. I mean,I can at test tothat. BeforeI was a

literatureprofessor, Iwas an accountant.Beforethat,I was a newspaper

reporter.My life is taking some prettyinteresting turns and here I am, very

happy with my experiencesand wherethey’ve brought me. Ifyou relyon

yourself and trust your own talents,your own interest, don’t worry,your path

will make sense in the end.

Conversation

Narrator

Listen to a conversation between a student and a professor.

Professor

Hey,Jane, you look like you arein a hurry.

Student

Yeah, things are a little crazy.

Professor

Oh yeah? What’s going on?

Student

Oh, it’s nothing. Well, since it’s your class, I guess it’s OK. It’s, it’s just I am having trouble with mygroup project.

Professor

Ah, yes, due next week.What’s your group doing again?

Student

It’s about United StatesSupreme Court Decisions. We are looking at the

impact of recent caseson propertyrights, municipal land use cases, owning

disputes.

Professor

Right,OK. And i t’s not going well?

Student

Not really.I’m worried about othertwo people in my group. Theyare just sittingback, not really doing their fair share ofthe work and waiting for an A. It’s kind

of stressing me out,because we aregetting close to thedeadline and I feellike

I’m doing everything for this project.

Professor

Ah, the good old free writerproblem.

Student

Free writer?

Professor

Ah, it’s just a term that describes thissituation, when people in the group seek

to getthe benefits ofbeing in a group without contributing tothe work. Anyway,

what exactly do you mean when you say theyjust sit back? I mean,they’ve

been following theweekly progress repotswith me.

Student

Yes, but I feellike I’m doing 90% ofthe work. I hateto sound so n egative here,

but honestly, theyare taking credit for things theyshouldn’t take credit for. Like

last weekin the library,we decided to split up theresearch into 3 partsand

each of us was supposed to find sources in the library for our parts. I went off

to the stackand found some really good materialfor mypart, but when I got

back to our table,theywere just goofing off and talking. So I wentand got

materialsfor theirsections as well.

Professor

Um…you know you shouldn’t do that.

Student

I know,but I didn’t want to risk the project going down thedrain.

Professor

I know Teresa and Kevin. I had both ofthem on othercourses. So, I’m familiar

with the workand work habits.

Student

I know,me too. That’s why this has reallysurprised me.

Professor

Do you…does your group like your topic?

Student

Well, Ithink we’d all ratherfocus on casesthat deal with personal liberties,questions about freedom of speech,things like that.But Ichose property

rights.

Professor

You chose the topic?

Student

Yeah, Ithought it would be good for us, all of us to trysomething new.

Professor

Um…maybe that’s part of theproblem. Maybe Teresa and Kevin aren’t that

excited about the topic? And since you picked it,have you thought…talkto

them at all about picking a different topic?

Student

But we’ve got all the sourcesand it’s due next week. We don’t have time to start from scratch.

Professor

OK, I will letyou go ‘cause I know you are so busy. But you might consider talking to your group about your topic choice.

Student

I willthink about it. Gotto run, see you in class.

Lecture

Narrator

Listen to part ofa lecturein a geology class.

Professor

Now we’ve got a few minutes beforewe leave for today.So I’ll just touch on an inter esting subject that I think makesan important point. We’ve been covering rocks and different types ofrocks for the last severalweeks. Butnext weekwe are going to do something a bit different.And to get started I thought I’d mention something that sho ws how uh…as a geologist, you need toknow

about more than just rocksand the structureof solid matter,moving rocks, you may have heard about them.

It’s quite a mystery.Death valley is this desert plane, a dry lake bed inCalifornia surrounded bymountains and on the desertfloor these huge rocks,

some ofthem hundreds of pounds. And theymove. Theyleave long trails

behind them,tracksyou might say as theymove from one point to another.But

nobody has been able to figure out how theyare moving because no one has

everseen it happen.

Now there area lot of theories,but all we know for sure is that people aren’t’

moving the rocks. Thereare no footprints, no tyretracks and no heavy

machinery like a bulldozer…uh, nothing was everbrought in to move these

heavy rocks.

So what’s going on? TheoryNO.1 ---Wind? Some researchersthink powerful

uh…windstorms might move the rocks. Most of therocks move in the same

direction as the dominant wind pattern from southwest to northeast.But some,

and thisis interesting, move straight west while some zigzag or even move in

large circles.

Um…How can that be?How about wind combined with rain? The ground of

this desertis made of clay. It’s a desert,so it’s dry.But when thereis the

occasionalrain, the clay gr ound becomesextremelyslippery.It’s hard for

anyone tostand on, walk on. Some scientiststheorized that perhaps when the

ground is slipperythe high winds can then move the rocks. There’s a problem

with this theory.One team ofscientists flooded an area ofthe desert with water,

then tryto establish how much wind forcewould be necessary to move the

rocks. And guess this, you need winds of at least five hundred miles an hour to move just the smallest rocks. And winds that strong have neverbeen recorded. Ever!Not on thisplanet.

So Ithink it’s safe to say that that issues has been settled.Hereis another possibility–ice.It’s possible that rain on thedesert floor could turn to thin sheetsof ice when temperaturesdrop at night. So if rocks…uh becomi ng

better than ice,uh … OK, could a pieceof ice with rocks in it be pushed around by thewind? Butthere’s a problem with thistheory,too. Rockstrapped in ice togetherwould have moved togetherwhen the ice moved. Butthat doesn’t

always happen. The rocksseem to take separate routes.

Thereare a fewother theories. Maybe the ground vibrates, or maybe the

ground itself is shifting, tilting. Maybe the rocksare moved bya magnetic force. But sadly all these ideas have been eliminated as possibilities. The re’s just no evidence.I bet you are saying to yourself well, whydon’t scientists just setup video camerasto record what actually happens? Thing is this is a protective wilderness area. So by law that type of research isn’t allowed. Besides, in powerful windstorms, sensitive camera equipment would be destroyed. So

whycan’t researchers just live therefor a while until theyobserve the rocks’moving? Same reason.

So whereare we now? Well, right now we still don’t have any answers. So all

this leads backto mymain point – you need to know about more than just

rocks as geologists. The researchersstudying moving rocks, well, they

combine their knowledge of rockswith knowledge of wind, ice and such…umnot successfully, not yet.But you know,theywould even have been able to get

startedwithout uh… earth science understanding – knowledge about wind,

storms, you know,meteorology. You need tounderstand physics. So for

severalweeks like Isaid we’ll be addressing geology from a wider prospective.

I guess that’s all for today. See you next time.

Lecture

Narrator

Listen to part ofa lecturein a United Statesgovernment class.

Professor

OK, last timewe were talking about government support for the arts. Who can

sum up some of themain points? Frank?

Frank

Well, Iguess there wasn’t reallyany, you know, official government support for

the artsuntil thetwentieth century. Butthe first attempt theUnited States

government made to,you know, to support the artswas the FederalArt

Project.

Professor

Right,so what can you say about the project?

Frank

Um…it was started during the Depression, um…in the 1930s to employ

out-of-work artists.

Professor

So wasit successful? Janet?What do you say?

Janet

Yeah, sure,it was successful. I mean, for one thing, the project established a lot of…uh like community art centersand galleriesand places like ruralareas where people hadn’t really had access to thearts.

Professor

Right.

Frank

Yeah. Butdidn’tthe government end up wasting a lot of money for art that wasn’t even verygood?

Professor

Uh…some people might say that. Butwasn’t theprimary objective of the FederalArt Project to provide jobs?

Frank

That’s true.Imean…it did provide jobs for thousands of unemployed artists. Professor

Right.But then when the United Statesbecame involved in the Second World War,unemployment was down and it seems that these programs weren’t

really necessary any longer.

So, moving on, we don't actuallysee any govern…wellany realgovernment involvement in the artsagain until theearly 1960s, when President Kennedy

and otherpoliticians started topush for major funding to support and promote

the arts. Itwas felt bya number ofpoliticians that …wellthat the government

had a responsibilityt o support the artsas sort of…oh, what can we say?...the

the soul…or spirit of the country. The idea was that therebe a federal subsidy…um…uh…financial assistance to artists and artistic or cultural institutions. And for just those reasons, in 1965, the National Endowment for the Artswas created.

So it was through the NEA,the National Endowment for the Arts, um…that the artswould develop, would be promoted throughout the nation. And then

individual statesthroughout thecountry started to establish their own state arts councils to help support the arts. Therewas kind of uh…culturalexplosion.

And bythe mid 1970s, by 1974 I think, all fifty stateshad their own arts agencies, their own state artscouncils that work with the federalgovernment

with corporations, artists, performers, you name it.

Frank

Did you just say corporations? How are theyinvolved?

Professor

Well, you see, corporations aren’t always altruistic. Theymight not support the artsunless…well, unless the government made i t attractive for them to do so,

by offering corporations tax incentives tosupport the arts, that is, by letting

corporations pay less in taxesif theywerepatrons ofthe arts. Um, the

KennedyCentre in Washington D.C., you mayuh…maybe you’ve been there,

or Lincoln Centrein New York. Bothof these werebuilt with substantial

financial support from corporations. And the Kennedyand Lincoln centres

aren’t the only examples. Manyof your cultural establishments in theUnited

Stateswill have a plaque somewhere acknowledging the support – themoney

theyreceived from whatevercorporation. Oh, yes, Janet?

Janet

But aren’t therea lot ofpeople who don’t think it’s thegovernment’s role tosupport the arts?

Professor

Well, as a matter offact, a lot ofpoliticians who did not believe in government

support for the arts, theywantedto do away with the agencyentirely, for that

veryreason, to get rid of governmentalsupport.But theyonly succeeded in

taking away about half the annual budget. And as far as thepublic goes,

well…thereare about as many individuals who disagree with the government

support as thereare those who agree.In fact,with artistsin particular, you

have lots of artistswho support and who have benefited from this agency,

although it seems that just as many artistssuppose a government agency

being involved in the arts, for many different reasons, reasons like theydon’t

want the government to controlwhat theycreate.In other words, the

argumentsboth for and against government funding ofthe artsare as many

and, and as varied as the individual styles ofthe artists who hold them.

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