2009-2010学年第1学期2009级大学英语(1)期末口语机考

2009-2010学年第1学期2009级大学英语(1)期末口语机考 Part One Reading A, B Passage One Every day I see advertisements in the newspapers and on the buses claiming that it is easy to learn English. According to these advertisements, with very little effort on the student’s part, he will be able to speak the language fluently in three months or even ten days. There is often a reference to William Shakespeare or Charles Dickens to encourage him even more. When I see advertisements like this, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. If it were as easy to learn English as they say, I would have to look for another job, because very few qualified teachers would be needed. But a large number of people must believe these ridiculous claims, or else the advertisements would not appear. It is natural for students to be attracted to methods that will teach them as quickly and efficiently and cheaply as possible. But it is difficult for anyone to explain in simple language why one method is better than another, and it is no use pretending that anyone has discovered a perfect way of teaching English in every possible situation. Some experts even argue that there are as many good methods of teaching a language as there are good teachers, because every teacher is an individual with his own personality. No doubt this is true to a certain extent, but it is not very helpful to students. Passage Two My parents moved to Vermont when I was still an infant. A soft-spoken man, my father settled quietly into his medical practice in a small town called Enosburg. Soon the local people accepted him as one of their own. Word passes quickly in small Vermont towns. They know good people when they meet them. Around town the neighbors greeted my father as “Doc Eppley.” And I soon learned that as long as I lived in Enosburg I would always be known as “Doctor Eppley’s son.” On the first day of school, my classmates crowded around me because I was the doctor’s son. “If you’re anything like your father, you’ll be a smart boy,” my first-grade teacher said. I couldn’t stop beaming. Somewhere in the midst of my teenage years, however, something changed. I was sixteen years old and the neighbors still called me “Doctor Eppley’s son.’’ They said that I was growing up to be an honorable and industrious young man, living an honest life just like my father. I groaned whenever I heard their compliments. Passage Three Every person feels the same basic emotions, such as fear, happiness, anxiety and pain, yet each responds to them individually. When Kara’s grandmother died, for example, her sorrow was expressed through tears. Another person might show the same kind of sorrow in a quiet, reflective way. Similarly, when you hear a piece of good news, you may jump up with joy and may immediately decide to throw a party for your classmates and friends to share your happiness and joy; another person may just keep the good news to himself or herself and just enjoy the happiness secretly. As you observe how people handle their emotions, you start to form a picture of this part of their personality. People are also different in how they relate to others. This reveals the social side of their personality, and there are plenty of variations. Some people prefer the company of others rather than being alone. We say they are sociable. Others are just the opposite. Most people want some combination of the two. Intellectual traits are the third part of personality. These qualities are influenced by the mind and how it works. One person may prefer spending his spare time in deep thought. Another may be more creative. Jake, for example, often has people in his class laughing. He sees humor in almost everything and is able to express it in entertaining ways. 1 Passage Four On Christmas Eve, Meagan and I carried our gaily wrapped gift to GG. “It’s for you, ’’ Meagan said, “but first you have to read the story that goes with it.” “Read it out loud,’’ we demanded. GG no sooner got through the first page than her voice cracked and she was unable to go on, but Meagan took over where she left off. Then it was time to open her present. I’ll never forget the look on GG’s face as she lifted the doll and held it to her chest. Once again her tears fell, but this time they were tears of joy. Cradling the doll in her frail arms, she repeated over and over again, “She’s exactly like my old doll, exactly like her.’’ And perhaps she wasn’t saying that just to be kind. Perhaps however impossible it seemed, we had managed to produce a close copy of the doll she remembered. But as I watched my eight-year-old daughter and her great-grandmother examining the doll together, I thought of a likelier explanation. What GG really recognized, perhaps, was the love that inspired the gift. And love, wherever it comes from, always looks the same. Passage Five Not long ago my oldest son wanted to come to the park and talk, so we came and sat under our tree. He hemmed and hawed for a few minutes, and then he finally told me he was getting married. I cried tears of joy as my son hugged me — his hug a rare and special treat. I told him how proud I was of the man he had become. As I sat there that cool April afternoon soaking up the sun and the smell of freshly mown grass, I felt I had come full circle under this giant pine tree. Holding my son in my arms, I was happy for him, just the way I knew my mother had been happy for me all those years ago when I told her I was getting married. Looking over my son’s shoulder, I saw that several young pine trees had been planted recently. As these trees grow straight and tall, I thought, will the lives of my family continue to grow with them? I wanted to share this spot with my grandchildren, too. Passage Six It was raining and cold when we went out to eat. We found a boring looking little joint carelessly decorated for the holiday. It smelled greasy. Only five tables in the restaurant were occupied. There were two German couples, two French families, and an American sailor, by himself. In the corner a piano player monotonously played Christmas music. I was too stubborn and too tired and miserable to leave. I looked around and noticed that the other customers were eating in stony silence. The only person who seemed happy was the American sailor. While eating, he was writing a letter, and a half-smile lighted his face. My wife ordered our meal in French. The waiter brought us the wrong thing. I scolded my wife for being stupid. She began to cry. The boys defended her, and I felt even worse. Then, at the table with the French family on our left, the father slapped one of his children for some minor fault, and the boy began to cry. On our right, the German wife began scolding her husband. Passage Seven To become a good listener begins with concentration. That looks easy on the surface. In too many cases, we have to listen to other people with physical and mental distractions around us. The ring of the telephone, the slam of a door or other human voices are some of the common physical distractions. The mental distractions in one’s own mind, on the other hand, are much more difficult to overcome for many reasons. A speaker may not be able to keep pace with the working of the listener’s mind. The average person’s rate of thinking is faster than the average rate of speech. With much free time left at their disposal, the listeners are likely to be carried away by their own thoughts and they soon lose their way. That is where the problem lies: listening too quickly. Sometimes, the listener tends to skip part of what is being said unconsciously. Since each person 2 has his own range of interests, when the speaker talks about something that is of no personal interest or concern to him, he would “switch off the talking.’’ Though he might nod his head or respond with gestures, his mind is wandering. This automatic control exercises its influence especially when the topic is too boring. Passage One Becoming fluent in English requires four skills: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. We should read actively. It means that you must think about structure, unfamiliar words, etc. as you read. Besides reading, you should listen every day for about 30 minutes. The thing to remember is being active in listening and taking some notes. Not only do you need to understand and produce language correctly, but also use language to express the communicative functions. Communicating fluently with people from different parts of the world is the most wonderful result of having learned English. Not only can learning English teach us knowledge of the language, but it also can give insights into English culture, and our mind is open to new ways of seeing things. Passage Two She became a private pilot and she went on to do everything her third-grade teacher said was a fairy tale---she did some crop-dusting, made a few hundred parachuting jumps and even seeded clouds for a summer season as a weather-modification pilot. In 1978, she became one of the first three female pilot trainees ever accepted by United Airlines and one of only 50 women airline pilots in the nation at that time. Today, jean Harper is a Boeing 737 Captain for United Airlines. It was the power of one well-placed positive word, one spark of encouragement from a woman Jean respected, that gave that uncertain young girl the strength and faith to purse her dream. Passage Three Here is some advice: show the other that you are listening; look at them; smile and nod quite often; shake your eyebrows if you don’t follow that they are saying; don’t tap your foot because this will show your impatience; don’t look at your watch unless you really have to know the time, and then you should tell the other person why you need to know the time. A good listener has magic! A good listener has the ability to make people feel good, and is as valuable at a party as a good talker. But just listening isn’t enough. One should listen intelligently by trying to find out what the other person would really like to communicate. Passage Four Greene’s confidence isn’t just shown by his wide smile or from his tattoo; it’s in his mind and nothing has been able to break his positive attitude. “I am always a confident person,” Greene said, “I never doubt myself in anything that I do. You have to believe you can go out there and accomplish anything and have no doubts within yourself.” His thinking obviously works. Greene was ranked Number 1 for seven years from 1996 t0 2003. However, one needs more confidence to gain success, and Greene’s attitudes to training are also an important factor in that success. He said, “If you want to be number one, you have to train like you are number two.” Passage Five My life at college has been difficult for me. For the first time I have to handle some serious financial situations. Even if my tuition has been paid, I still have to pay for food, phone bills, car insurance, and all my own necessities. Furthermore, in the future I will have to pay off all the loans I have just to go to this school. However, my parents’ help relieved my burden to some extent, and I managed to live on. Now I am fully aware of the importance of education. Without it, it would be impossible for me to survive in the real world. Therefore, all this money borrowing and penny-pinching for the time being is worth it. Eventually I’ll be a person that is more capable of supporting a family. 3 Part Two Topics (A, B 126) 1. Describe a true friend of yours. What qualities make him / her one of your true friends? 2. What is your favorite pastime? Why do you like it so much? 3. What is your biggest dream? What will you do to fulfill it? 4. Please make an introduction to the town/ city where you come from. 5. To live on campus or to live off campus? Which do you prefer? Why? 6. Many people nowadays are not in good shape. Please analyze the causes of their health problems and offer them some suggestions to restore their health. 7. What’s your most wanted job? Being a college student, what should you do to prepare yourself for the job? 8. What is the greatest difficulty you have encountered in the process of growing up? 9. Why is give and sacrifice important in people’s life? 10. In Chinese culture, some people believe that parents raise children simply because they want their children to look after them when they are old. Do you accept this view? Why or why not? 11. Describe a person who has made a difference in your life. 12. How to make a good impression at a job interview? 4