上外中级口译第三版听力教程原文及讲解--Unit-16

Unit 16.

Part one. Air quality in Britain. 2. Exercises.

1. Listen to the passage about air quality in Britain. And then briefly answer the foll owing questions.

Air quality in Britain has improved considerably in the last 30 years. Total emissions of smoke in the air have fall en by over 85 percent since 1960. London and other major cities no l onger have the dense smoke l ed in smog of the 1950s. And in central London winter sunshine has increased by about 70 percent since the late 1950s. However new concerns have arisen, especially over the emissions from the growing number of motor vehicl es, and their possibl e impact on health. Measures have consequently been ad opted to reduce substantially emissions from new vehicl es. The environment act of 1995 provid es a new frame work for air quality management, including the publication by the government

of the national strategy which was said air qualities standards and targets for the pollutants causing the most concern. This was issued for consultation in August 1996 containing air quality targets for the year 2005. The act also places new duties on l ocal authorities to assess air quality in their boundaries, and to prepare action plans where standards are not met or are likely to be met in future. Pil ot schemes are being taken forward in 14 areas before full impl ementation in April 1997. Earlier l egislation all ows l ocal authorities to declare smoke control areas within which the emission of smoke from chimneys is in offends. About two thirds of the dwellings in connorbations are covered by smoke control orders around 6,340 are in force.

2. Listen again and supply the missing information.

Part two. Statements. 2. Exercises. Listen and then choose the answer that is cl osest in

7) After the buil ding was damaged by a fire caused by faulty wires, the inhabitants were paid by the insurance company.

8) Everyone knows the foll owing trend as the technol ogy of el ectronics improves, the prices of personal computers shoul d come d own. 9) There shoul d be one of those dresses that can fit you. They come in 3 different sizes. They are all imported from France or Britain.

10) Moner has been offered the manager’s job, although she has hardly any work experience. This is a big surprise even for herself.

11) I need to do something to improve my spoken French. I don’t kn ow whether the community coll ege offer something.

12) At the board meeting hel d last Friday she voted against the investment plan, because she thinks it involves too great a risk.

13) The landl ord coll ects rent on the first of the month without fail. So I need to always have cash ready before the end of each

month.

14) The president appointed Mr. Brown head of the newly formed commission, although Mr. Brown is already well over 60 and he is expected to retire soon.

15) In ord er to make more money to support her two sons Martha is hol ding down 2 jobs at the same time, but she’d better take it easy. 16) Pawl l ooked better when we visited him in the hospital last week. The doctor said he coul d come home to recover.

17) We’ve come to the restaurant a bit t oo late. We woul d like to have the tabl e by the wind ow, but that tabl e has been reserved. 18) After meeting with several failures, Walter has been unsuccessful with his new business. He was rather depressed in recent months.

19) At the annual general meetings the board chairman of the car company outlined the devel opment strategy for the next d ecade. 20) Everybody says that Bob shoul dn’t go into

arts since he is no good in math. But he had to decid e for himself in my opinion.

Part three. 3. Exercises.

1. Acid rain. Listen to the foll owing passage and then choose the best answer to each question you hear.

M: You know everyone today is concerned about pollution. And scientists are talking a l ot about one kind of pollution, acid rain. W: Why exactly is it call ed acid rain?

M: It’s call ed acid rain because the rain or some other kind of precipitation has been polluted with acid.

W: Where does the acid come from?

M: From cars or factories, anything that burns coal or oil. These are made up mostly of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxid es, which react with water vapor to form sulphuric acid or nitric acid.

W: You mean that when coal or oil is burned acid gets formed. And when it rains or snows the acid falls back on the earth?