Section 1:LISTENING TEST (30 minutes)

Spot Dictation:

Directions: In this part of the test, you will hear a passage and read the same passage with blanks in it. Fill in each of the blanks with the ward or words you have heard on the tape. Write your answer in the corresponding space in you ANSWER BOOKLET. Remember you will hear the passage only once.

Today we will talk about what other effects watching TV might produce on children. Children should be discouraged from watching a lot of television. Many experts and parents agree. But there is at least one circumstance when that might be beneficial, muting pain. A recent study conducted by Italian researchers found that children who viewed cartoons immediately preceding and during blood tests experienced less pain than children whose mothers attempted to distract them during the procedure or children whose mothers were at present but did not interact with them.

The research led by Carlo Brown MD at the University of Sienna is published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. 69 children participated in the study. None received any type of anesthesia. The children and their mothers determine their pain scores. Both the groups whose mothers attempted to distract them from the blood tests and those whose mothers simply observed reported substantially higher pain ratings than the group who watched the cartoons. For that group, the levels of pain were less and the children were better able to tolerate the pain they did experience.

One of the possible explanations is that children might have picked up on their mothers anxiety during the procedures, exacerbating their perception of pain. The higher pain level reported by children during mothers' efforts at distraction shows the difficulty mothers have in interacting positively at a difficult moment in their children's life, the authors write. However, they stress that the mother's presence still provided benefits, noting that the children would appreciate not being left alone during the procedures. Indeed, children state that having their parent present provides the most comfort when in pain, says the authors.

Another possibility offered for consideration is the notion that the pleasure of watching TV might release pain-quelling endorphins. Endorphins, biochemical compounds produced by the pituitary gland resemble opiates in their ability to produce analgesia and a sense of well-being. In other words, they might function as natural pain killers. In any case, the study results suggest that health workers should consider allowing children to watch television during painful procedures to minimize their distress.

Listening Comprehension:

Directions: In this part of the test there will be some short talks and conversation. After each one, you will be asked some questions. The talks, conversations and questions will be spoken only once. Now listen carefully and choose the right answer to each question you have heard and write the letter of the answer you have chosen in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET.

Q1-5

Female: Now let's turn to eating habits. France is traditionally known as home of the two-hour, sit-down, mid-day meal, but nowadays it's witnessing a boom in take-out sandwiches. At noon, customers line up outside Paris bakeries, waiting to buy long fan versions of a shrimp salad and fruit sandwich or other delicacies. The variation in eating habits is reflecting a deeper change in French society.

Male:  Right! It starts with the change in the workforce, so it's a feminization, white-collarization, if I can say so.

Female: The result has been a revolution in one of France's core industries, the bakery. Formerly, bakeries here offered a limited range of albeit excellent products about four kinds of bread, breakfast, and dessert pastries. Now that's just the start.

Male:   Au Pair Gourmet, a bakery on the corner of a market street, is in the ordinary working class area of Paris. It is eight in the morning, and the owner already has the slicer going, cutting bread for lunch sandwiches.

Female: Every morning Au Pair Gourmet, with its glass cases stacked full, does so much sandwich business. The owner says she is just responding to the demands. She even tried making a four-course sandwich meal. It was a bit much for people to swallow.

Male:  Nowadays, people want to eat faster at noon, and leave earlier at the end of the day. Life is changing. We have to keep up. The changes include women making up almost half the labor force now, and men more likely to be working behind a jack hammer, not needing to eat so much.

Female: They also have to pick up the children as early as possible from the day care center.

Male:   So basically, they look for something that's very close to what is called fast food, and the interesting point is that the supply that has developed goes well beyond your basic MacDonald's hamburgers.

Female: For example. Au Pair Gourmet's multi-shaped, multi-content sandwiches. They are obviously a hit with the lunch time customers who line up all the way onto the sidewalk. They agree this recent phenomenon is growing. It's exploding, this kind of eating. Every baker offers sandwiches.

Male:   Because before it was only with ham and butter, and now we have salad and tomatoes. Because we eat sandwich, but it's French products in it.

Female: French products in it. That may be the key. Instead of being overrun by MacDonald at some field, the French have adapted the idea of fast food and made it their own.

Q1: What is the main topic of the conversation?

Q2: What is the reason behind the revolution in the bakery industry?

Q3: Which of the following statements best describes the fast food supplying in France now?

Q4: Which of the following statements is true according to the conversation?

Q5: Why are the hamburgers offered by bakery such as "Au Pair Gourmet" so popular now?

Q6-10

Paris, France

A 68-year-old man has been arrested in France on suspicion of killing 18 people, most of them gay, prosecutors said today. Nicolas Panard is suspected of killing 11 people in the eastern Alsace region, four in a neighboring region and three in the Paris area, the public prosecutor in the eastern town of Montbeliard said. Panard, who is gay, was arrested in the eastern city of Mulhouse. The murders took place between 1998 and 2006.

Tokyo, Japan

Japan's Upper House of Parliament voted yesterday to halt the country's air force transport mission in Iraq, intensifying the opposition bloc's standoff with the government over Tokyo's role in peacekeeping missions abroad.. The opposition-controlled Upper House approved the Democratic Party of Japan's bill to halt the mission in a vote 133-103 during a plenary session. However, the legislation is expected to be voted down when it goes to the more powerful Lower House where the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has enough votes to override the Upper Chamber's decision.

United Nations

Disaster-prone Bangladesh is among the countries most vulnerable to climate change, which could worsen water scarcity and force mass displacement, the United Nations said on Tuesday. The U.N. Development Program in its latest report warned that climate change will hit the world's poorest countries by breaking down agricultural systems, worsening water scarcity, increasing risks of diseases and triggering mass displacement due to recurring floods and storms. The report said more than 70 million Bangladeshis, 22 million Vietnamese, and 6 million Egyptians could be affected by global warming-related flooding.

Washington, US

US President George W. Bush invited Israeli and Palestinian leaders to the White House to renew long-stalled peace talks yesterday but faced deep skepticism over chances for a deal before he leaves office. Bush would bring together Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas one day after a 44-nation conference where both pledged to try to forge a peace treaty by the end of 2008 that would create a Palestinian state. The White House talks were expected to wrap up three days of intense Middle East diplomacy that underscored Bush's aim of achieving in his final 14 months in office what has eluded US administrations for decades.

Toronto, Canada

Online shoppers reached a record this week as Canadian retailers cut prices as much as 60 percent to lure shoppers returning to work after the Thanksgiving holiday. ComScore Inc. said sales on retailers' websites rose 21% to $733 million on Nov. 26, the first Monday after Thanksgiving, as Walmart.com, Best Buy Co. and Circuit City Stores Inc. ran online promotions for high-definition televisions and leather jackets. Shoppers sought bargains in the face of rising gasoline prices and the worst housing slump since at least 1991. Companies count on November and December for 20% of their profits, and they used lower prices to get consumers into stores and onto websites to start the Canadian holiday shopping season.

Q6: How many people were Nicolas Panard suspected to have killed when he was arrested?

Q7: What did Japan's Upper House of Parliament vote to do yesterday?

Q8: There might be several disastrous consequences due to global climate change. Which of the following is NOT one of these consequences mentioned in the news?

Q9: Why did President Bush invite Israeli and Palestinian leaders to the White House?

Q10: What percentage did sales on retailers' websites increase on November 26, the first Monday after Thanksgiving?

Q11-15

W:  Tomas, because you are a lawyer, I want to get you opinion about crime control, and what I'd like to know is what do you think really works, not for hardened criminals, but for first time offenders?

M:  Well, you are asking me a pretty complex question. The first step of course is deterrence, to stop people from committing crimes in the first place. That involves the economy, are there enough jobs for everyone? They should be, and social structure. Are there enough support systems? And so on.

W:  And what about when people are convicted, and put in Prison?

M:  Then the goal should be to have rehabilitation programs inside prisons, so that when the person comes out, they don't return to a life of crime. The problem is that recently, the kinds of programs that existed in the past, like education programs and drug treatment programs have been cut. And so convicted criminals are not being rehabilitated.

W:  Can you explain a little more about these education programs and drug programs?

M:  Yes, in some states where the drug laws are very harsh, you end up having a lot of people in prisons, who are not the kingpins of drug deals, but who are actually drug addicts. The point is that they need help, that's why there need to be programs that have a psychological component, and an educational component. Because without these programs people don't became rehabilitated. The prisoners have a lot of time on their hands, and a culture developed inside the prison; it takes on a life of its own, and gang start. You see gangs provide a family away from home, but we need to make prison a less repressive experience. Then we also need bridge programs.

W:  Bridge programs?

M:  Yes, for when they come out of prison, what is clear statistically is that most criminals are recidivists. That means they are repeated offenders. People go into prison, get out and go right back in again. Bridge programs help with housing and jobs. So that society doesn't look at released prisoners in such a disdainful way. And So that no stigma is attached to them once they reenter society. But unfortunately, there are only a very small number of these programs.

Q11: On what topic is the man being interviewed?

Q12: According to the man, there are several elements which are related to abduction in crime, which of the following is not one of these elements?

Q13: What problem is there inside prisons according to the interview?

Q14: Which of the following statements is true about education and drug programs?

Q15: According to the man, why is there a need for bridge programs?

Q16-20

Today let's talk about how to actually get a job. You need to be able to participate well in an interview because in most jobs you'll need to interact with colleagues and clients not only face to face but in telephone conversations too. You'll need to express yourself well and have excellent control of what you want to say and how to say it. These skills are needed more than ever in today's high-pressure world. Each company where you have an interview will expect you to know something about the work they do and have intelligent questions and comments during the interview. And when they hire you, you will be expected to complete multiple tasks and be willing to move around and work in different areas of the company.

Of course, there are also certain technological skills that are expected of people today. Every situation is unique, but let's take as an example a position in an office environment. This type of position requires basic to advanced knowledge of computer applications. You have to know how to write a simple but professional-looking letter and you have to know how to put together a presentation and Microsoft power-point with basic facts and organized data in a spread-sheet program. Advanced users should know how to create and organize a database.

If you're looking for any type of administrator of work, you can forget about the good old days of paper calendars, roller desks and file cabinets. Now we have links to digital databases that store all the information that used to be kept on paper, such as appointments, clients, records and other important information. Many departments use spread-sheet programs to keep track of all transactions, costs and profits. These programs are essential to an organization's survival as well as your career's survival.

Let's continue with our basic example of a typical job in an office. Now that you know about the skills necessary to be productive in the office of the 21st century, you must have a plan for how to acquire these skills. The first thing you should have in mind is that in the same manner that technology has become a vital part of a modern organization's life, it should also become part of yours. Whenever given a chance, you should enhance your key-board skills, E-mail your friends, practice with power-point, try making simple posters to announce an event, like a party or some activity that you and your friends will do together. You can even practice with pre-made data bases, by storing telephone numbers and addresses. The best advice I can give anyone is to play with the computer in your free time and become familiar with its operating system, software and hardware. Try to figure out what each program does and how to use it to your benefit. A computer class, on the level of your expertise, is also recommended to perfect those skills you learned on your own. Learning more advanced functions is highly recommended as well. It's easy to look through books and free editorials found on the Internet. Even office-users can learn how to create professional-looking flyers, business cards and other documents you'll need in the workplace.

Q16: What is the main topic of this talk?

Q17: Apart from being expected to complete multiple tasks and work in different areas of the company, what other skills are employees expected to have?

Q18: If you take a position in an office, which of the following are you supposed to display?

Q19: What's the advice the speaker gives at the end of his talk?

Q20: Who are the most likely audience for this talk?