听出托福好英文 online test 缺失文本

出处：ETS online test section 1 lecture 2, question 1-6

听力原文

讲座 earth

 

(Listen to part of a lecture in an Earth Science class. The class is having a discussion)

Professor: Okay, so we say rocks of volcanic. What do we really mean? Linda?

Linda: Well, would it come up as hot and melts of rock, lava from deep down inside the Earth, and then cool and harden in the air?

P: Good, except that it isn’t always the air that cools the lava into rock.

L: Oh, the ocean. Isn’t there a lot of volcanic activity down at the bottom of the ocean? way out of the middle along the… oh, what do you call it?

P: Daniel?

S (Daniel): Ahh, the middle ocean ridge?

P: Right.

S: (A male student): See, how do scientists go about studying that?

P: Well, in the 70’s they started mapping the shape of the ocean floor out there with sonar. You know how sonar works?

S: Sure, like radar.

P: Ok.

S: But sonar is sound, high-frequency sound that a ship sends down. And, well, the scientists on the ship can tell a lot about the ocean bottom by how these pulses of sounds echo back.

P: That’s good.

S: Thanks, but I was wondering like, couldn’t they just go down to the ocean floor in submarines and take a look?

P: Well, first, we have to realize that at this depth, say, around 3-kilometer down, the pressure will be about 300 times the pressure up the surface.

L: Oh, so, you’re saying the pressure would crush any submarine out there you’ that tried to go all the way down to the bottom.

P: Well, for a long time that was the case, and still is, even today for any normal submarine. But eventually, a few of very special ones were constructed, with titanium hulks that won’t collapse even at pressures that great. And they have got little windows made of special material that can withstand high pressures, and video cameras and really powerful lights that the people inside the sub use to explore the ocean bottom. And after about 4 hours moving around down there using a battery-power motor, well, then the submarine releases its weights, the heavy metal weights that pull it down. And for the next couple of hours, it’s rising back up to the surface, and…

L: So, what do they end up seeing down there?

P: Well, for one thing - these long ridges running up and down in the middle of the oceans, they were able to confirm that these were volcanic, not just the origins. But I mean, the hot lava had flowed up fairly very recently, sorta like toothpaste coming out of the tube. And it’d cooled into rock formations along the ridge. Oh, and that reminds me of one dive back in… I think that was 1979. The submarine went down to explore the middle ocean region of Pacific, and I have to understand the temperature of the bottom is normal just about freezing, zero degree Celsius. And they’re down there exploring some very new lava formations.

 And they see what it looks like this big, black, sorta muddy cloud in the water. So they move up close enough to it that they can use this thermometer on the outside of the sub. And suddenly it starts melting. This thermometer was made to measure the temperatures over 300 degrees Celsius. It just melts. And these guys realized that temperatures like that can also melt the special windows in their sub. And they’re almost gone right into the middle of this big, black they’ cloud.

S: Wow.

P: Yeah, you said that – ‘Wow.’ So, anyway, since then these things have been Wow.’ found spreading up all over along the middle ocean ridges. And now they haven’t a name. We call them ‘Smokers’ – ‘Black Smokers’. And we’ve come to understand that they are part of a really important process, one that regulates the chemistries of the oceans.

S: The chemistry? How so?

P: Well, we know that the rivers flowing into all the oceans around the world carry dissolved salts. So what happens to those salts? They don’t all just stay dissolved in the water.

S: No? then what?

P: Well, there are cracks in volcanically active parts of the ocean floor where cold ocean water seeps down into the rock below. What do you suppose happens there?

S: Well, I guess the water will cool the hot, volcanic rock down there…

P: And?

L: And, that will heat up the water a lot.

P: Right, even super-heated, and then shoot it back up again. And in theory, over millions of years, all the water in the oceans could’ve circulated down through the rocky crust, and come back up again super-heated. And in the process, reactions with the hot lava remove the salt, taking them out of the water. So, when the water shoots up from the ocean floor, it leaves behind the salts, and it brings up a hot, thick, and incredibly rich cloud of minerals drawn out of the rock that was cooling.

L: Those ‘black smokers’ they saw…

P: Exactly.

 

出处：ETS IBT ONLINE section 1 lecture 1

样题解析：

讲座 art appreciation

 

(Listen to part of a lecture in an art appreciation class. The

professor has been discussing the Dutch painter Johannes

Vermeer)

Professor:

One of the things that attract people to Vermeer’s work is thathe’s able to show a clear capture of moment in time on canvas.His paintings are often likened to photographs in this way, like his

painting called The Art of Painting which shows a simple scene but with such subtlety of detail that fills the picture with meaning. A word about the title though; the painting is sometimes referred to with other titles like ‘the artist in his studio’, and ‘allegory of painting’. But, there is a good reason to call it ‘the art of painting’. Vermeer didn’t keep his paintings. He generally used them to pay his debts except for this one. He held on to it after he finished it, so it must’ve (have) held the importance to him. But after his death in 1675, his wife gave the painting to her mother, and, in the legal document that’s associated with the transfer, it was referred to as a painting in which is depicted ‘the art of painting’, okay? So, let’s take a look. What we see is an artist’s studio. The artist, his back is toward us so we don’t see his face. Maybe it’s supposed to be Vermeer himself. He’s painting a portrait of a young woman. She’s standing by a window wearing… she’s got a laurel wreath on her head. Now, in ancient Greece, crowns made of laurel breaches were awarded to poets who’d achieved a certain honor or distinction, and also to athletes, victors of athletic contests. They conferred glory and honor on their wears. She’s also wear, eee, holding, sorry, she’s holding some kind of horn, enn, kind of trumpet. Now, trumpets are used for spreading or announcing the fame of worldly people. So, a lot of artists of Vermeer’s time used them in their paintings to symbolize fame. And she’s holding a book in her... with her left hand, eee, possibly the works of the Greek historian Thucydides. The laurel wreath, the book, and the trumpet suggest that the woman is Clio, the ancient Greek Muse of history, the Greek’s Goddess of history. You see, using one of the nine sister Muses from Greek’s mythology was a popular device in seventeenth century’s paintings, which supports that’s part of why she’s identified as Clio. She’s also been identified as the personification of the concept of fame. So, several concepts seem to converge in her, fame, history, and glory. On the table there is a mask, which is a symbol for artistic imitation. And, and behind her is a map, a tapestry with a map of Netherlands in the seventeenth century, another object connected with fame. As Vermeer’s home, that’s, enn, that would be the area where artist’s fame could spread. So, how are we to understand all the symbolism? The standard interpretation is that the artist we see is painting a picture of the Muse -- Clio. He’s capturing the image of fame and honor, suggesting that this, the artist’s job, is honorable. Maybe the painting is a statement to about the honor of making art that artists hold or should hold as special place in society, which was an issue that was debated at that time. What a role was the artist in society, whether painters should be considered as crafts people like carpenters, or as uniquely creative people, special, like poets? So, the painting seems to be paying honor to the art of painting, seems that artistic imitation should confer fame and honor upon the painter. Now, that’s the common wisdom, the received opinion about this painting, so to speak. But look again at the young woman, doesn’t she look rather, I don’t know, relaxed, doesn’don’ casual, indifferent to the artist? In Greek mythology, Muses are goddesses who inspire people to achieve great things. They’re ideals. Does she look like the embodiment of an ideal, like someone to inspire the artist? Well, some of the observers say that her pose isn’t very Muse-like. In fact, that is rather odd. She’s holding that trumpet awkwardly, like she’s unfamiliar with it. And she’s gazing downward at something on the table, like, that’s what’s the real interest to her. It’s an odd thing to be looking at. So, her pose doesn’t convey the sense of a goddess, but of a human. So, maybe she is not a Muse at all, which would give the painting an entirely different meaning. Maybe what Vermeer’s saying, and this alternative interpretation is fairly new, maybe its meaning is that the artist whose intent on achieving fame and glory will be focused on the wrong things. He’s got the wrong goals. Maybe Vermeer’s saying that the artists would be going down the wrong path if they’re inspired by the visions of glory and fame, instead of by trying to see and capture what’s real, what’s human, which is what artists are to focus on.

 

出处：ETS IBT online section 2 lecture, question 6-11

moonstone, 月光宝石，侦探小说。

 

原文：

Today I’d like to introduce you to a novel that some critics consider the finest detective novel ever written. Um, it was also the first. We’re talking about The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. Now, um, there are other detective stories that preceded The Moonstone historically, Um, notably the work of Poe, um, Edgar Allen Poe’s stories, such as The Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Purloined Letter. Now these were short stories that featured a detective, um, probably the first to do that. But The Moonstone, which follows them by about twenty years, it was published in 1868, um, this is the first full length detective novel ever written.

 

Now, um, in The Moonstone, if you read it as, um, come to it as a contemporary reader. What’s interesting is that most of the features you find in almost any detective novel are in fact already present. Um, it’s hard to disjuncture to read this novel and realize that no one had ever done that before, because it all seems so strikingly familiar. It’s, it’s really a wonderful novel and I recommend it, even just as a fun book to read, if you’ve never read it. Um, so in The Moonstone, as I said, um, Collins did much to establish the conventions of the detective genre. I’m not gonna go into the plot at length, but, you know, the basic set-up is, um, there’s this diamond of great um, of great value, um, a country house, um, the diamond mysteriously disappears in the middle of the night, um, the local police are brought in, um, in an attempt to solve the crime, and they messed it up completely, and then the true hero of the book arrives. That’s sergeant Cuff.

 

 

Now, Cuff, this is extraordinarily important character. Um…well, let me try to give you a sense of who sergeant Cuff is by first describing the regular police. And um…this is the dynamic you’re going to see throughout the history of the detective novel, where you have the regular cops who are well meaning but officious and fumblingly inapt and um…they are countered by a figure who’s eccentric analytical brilliant and able to solve the crime. So, first the regular police get called in to solve the mystery, um, in this case, detective, uh, superintendent S. When Superintendent S comes in, he orders his minions around, they bumble, and they actually make a mess of the investigation, which you see repeated. Um…you’ll see this pattern repeated, particularly in the Sherlock Holmes stories of a few years later where, uh, inspector L who this well meaning idiot is always countered, uh…by Sherlock Holmes, who’s a genius. So, now Cuff arrives. Um, Cuff is the man who’s coming to solve the mystery, and again he has a lot of the characteristics that future detectives throughout the history of this genre will have. He’s eccentric. Uh, he has a hobby that he’s obsessive about in this, um, in his case; it’s the love of roses. He’s a fanatic about the breeding of roses and here think of N and his orchids, um, Sherlock Holmes and his violin. A lot of those later classic detective heroes have this kind of outside interest that they um, they go to as a kind of antidote to the evil and misery they encounter in their daily lives. At one point, Cuff says he likes his roses because they offer solace, uh, an escape, from the world of crime he typically operates in.

 

 

Now, um, these detective heroes um…they have this characteristic of being smart, incredibly smart, but of not appearing to be smart. And most importantly, from a kind of existential point of view, these detectives see things that other people do not see. And that’s why the detective is such an important figure I think, in our modern imagination. Um, in the case of The Moonstone, I don’t want to say too much here and spoil it for you, but the clue that’s key to um… the solving of the crime is a smear bit of paint in a doorway. Of course, the regular police have missed this paint smear or made some sort of unwarranted assumption about it. Cuff sees this smear of paint, this paint, the place where the paint is smeared and realizes that from this one smear of paint you can actually deduce the whole situation, um, and the whole world. And that’s what the hero in a detective novel like this brings to it that the other characters don’t. It’s this ability to see meaning where others see no meaning and to bring order to where it seems there is no order.

出处：ETS online sample section 2 conversation 1

 

原文：

Listen to a conversation between a student and her basketball coach

Coach: Hi, Elizabeth!

Elizabeth: Hi, coach! I just thought I’d stop by to see what I missed while I was gone. 

Coach: Well, we’ve been working real hard on our plan for the next game. I’ve asked Susan to go over with you before practice this afternoon, so you’ll know what we’re doing.

Elizabeth: Ok!

Coach: By the way, how did your brother’s wedding go?

Elizabeth: Oh, it was beautiful. And the whole family was there. I saw aunts, uncles and cousins I hadn’t seen in years.

Coach: So it was worth the trip.

Elizabeth: Oh definitely. I’m sorry I had to miss practice so. I feel bad about that.

Coach: Family is very important.

Elizabeth: Yep! Ok! I guess I’ll see you this afternoon at practice, then.

Coach: Just a minute. There are a couple of other things I need to tell you.

Elizabeth: Oh, ok!

Coach: Uh, first everybody’s getting a new team jacket.

Elizabeth: Wow. How that happen?

Coach: Uh, a woman who played here about 20, 25 years ago came through town a few weeks ago and saw a game, and said she wanted to do something for the team, so…

Elizabeth: So, she’s buying us new jackets?

Coach: Yep.

Elizabeth: Wow, that’s really nice of her.

Coach: Yes, it is. It’s great that former player still care so much about our school and our basketball program. Anyway you need to fill out an order form. I’ll give to you now, so you can bring it back this afternoon. I’ve got the forms from the other players, so as soon as I get yours we can order. Maybe we’ll have the jackets by the next game.

Elizabeth: Ok!

Coach: Great! And the next thing is, you know Mary’s transferring to another college next week, so we need someone to take over her role as captain for the second half of the season. And the other players unanimously picked you to take over as captain when Mary leaves.

Elizabeth: Wow! I saw everybody this morning and nobody said a word.

Coach: They wanted me to tell you. So, do you accept?

Elizabeth: Of course! But Susan’s a much better player than I am, I’m really surprised they didn’t pick her.

Coach: They think you’re the right one. You have to ask them their thoughts.

Elizabeth: Ok! I guess one of the first things I’ll have to do as caption is to make sure we get a thank you card out to the lady who’s buying us the jackets.

Coach: Good idea. I have her address here somewhere.

Elizabeth: And I’ll make sure the whole team signs it.

Coach: Good! That’s all the news there is. I think that’s it for now. Oh, let me get you that order form. 

出处：ETS IBT ONLINE SAMPLE section 1  Conversation 1

 

第二个对话 录音原文（要再检查）

 

(Listen to a conversation in a professor’s office)

S: Hi, professor Haskel. Can I talk to you for a second?

P: Of course, Nancy. Come on in. Do you have a question about the lecture?

S: No. Actually, I was hoping to ask your advice.

P: Sure. What about?

S: Well. I’m applying for a grant from the geographic institute. And I wanna get the wording for my application just right, especially the grant proposal part. Have you ever applied for a grant?

P: Hnn, more times than I can count. Let’s see what you’ve got so far.

S: Um, ok. This is a draft of my application, and here is the description of the grant. They have money available for students, umm, to study traffic patterns in the city.

P: Ok. I see urban geography.

S: Right. I am interested in foot traffic actually. You know, how people walk to work in the city, here in Boston? I got statistics.

P: So, people who already live here…

S: Or, people who take a train in, and then walk to work from the station. Since the city raised the bus fares, I mean they went up about a lot, I wanna see if that’s caused more people to walk when before they would’ve taken the bus.

Anyway.