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Question: Why does the man worry about the upcoming trip?
5. W: Hey, George, take a look at this article. It says several major airlines are considering allowing people to use their cell phones while in the air. M: Oh no, really? That 蒺 s one of the worst ideas I 蒺 ve ever heard. A plane is now one of the few places where
I don蒺t have to hear people chatting on cell phones. I really enjoy the peace and quiet. Question: What does George hate according to the conversation?
Section B
In this section, you will hear two long conversations. Each conversation will be read only once. At the end of each conversation, there will be a one- minute pause. During the pause, read the questions and mark your answers on the answer sheet with a single line through the centre.
Conversation One
Listen to the conversation, mark each statement as either true (T) or false (F) according to what you hear.
W: Hello, I 蒺 m Sarah Forbes. I 蒺 m visiting the Advanced Engineering Centre in Malaysia. You must be
Professor Robinson. M: Hello! Welcome to the Solar-Hydrogen Eco-house!
W: So this is it ... I must say, it 蒺 s a very interesting-looking house.
M: Yes, it 蒺 s the house of the future, but when we designed it, we used a traditional Malaysian house design as
well as modern technology. W: If you could explain how it works, I 蒺 m sure our listeners will be very interested. M: Sure. This is the first house in the world to run on hydrogen. W: Oh! What 蒺 re those things up there on the roof?
M: They 蒺 re solar panels. When the sunlight hits them, the sun 蒺 s energy is converted into electricity. W: Wonderful. And what happens if it rains?
M: We collect the rainwater. It runs down that pipe into a big water tank in the garden. Then we use the electricity we make from the sun to convert the water into hydrogen and oxygen. W: Brilliant! You can make oxygen as well?
M: Yes, but it蒺s the hydrogen that we want. We keep it in a tank outside the house.
W: Why? Is it dangerous?
M: No, actually it蒺s quite safe. Come and see the hydrogen gas tank. If you come this way, OK, ah...here it is.
And that 蒺 s the gas pipe that takes the hydrogen into the house. W: What do you use the hydrogen for?
M: To power everything in the house―the cooking stove, the hot water. W: That蒺s pretty good.
Conversation Two
Listen to the conversation, and choose the answer according to what you hear.
W: Well, good morning again, everyone, and welcome to “Perspectives”, the weekly New South Wales Radio
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programme on subjects of general interest from our local area. Today I have in the studio Mr. George Symonds. Good morning, George.
M: Good morning, Anne.
W: So, what are you going to talk to us about today, George?
M: Well, for people from New South Wales and particularly Sydney, this will be of great interest — I hope.
I 蒺 m going to tell you a little about Sydney Harbour Bridge. W: Wow! That 蒺 ll be so interesting.
M: I think so. To start with, I 蒺 d like to tell you a little about the size of the bridge. The arch span is 503 metres and the weight of the steel arch is 39,000 tons. The summit is 134m above mean sea level, though it can actually increase by as much as 18cm on hot days as the result of steel expanding in heat. The two pairs of pylons at each end are about 89 metres high and are made of concrete and granite. The steel used for the bridge was largely imported. About 79% came from the United Kingdom but the rest was Australian-made. The granite was quarried in Moruya down the coast, and the concrete is also Australian. W: So, most of the steel used to make our great bridge actually came from England?
M: Yes, I 蒺 m afraid so. However, the workforce were all Australian! W: Thank God for that. When was the bridge actually built?
M: The bridge was opened in 1932 but work first began in 1924, with the construction of the bridge approaches and spans, with two separate teams building the arch on each side working towards each other. The arch was successfully joined on August 19, 1930. I 蒺 m afraid that working practices weren 蒺 t very fair in those days and the local government demolished 438 homes which were in the way of the approaches, and as many as 800 families living there were displaced without compensation. The standards of industrial safety were inadequate too. 16 workers died during its construction, mainly from falling off the bridge. W: I didn 蒺 t realise that.
M: It 蒺 s true. The bridge was formally opened on the 19th March 1932 by the Premier of New South Wales, Mr.
Jack Lang. When it was opened, it was the longest single span steel arch bridge in the world and one of the greatest engineering masterpieces of its time. Several songs were also composed in advance for the occasion but these have now been largely lost or forgotten. However, three postage stamps were issued to commemmorate the opening of the bridge and these still exist. One of these stamps, with a face value of five shillings, is now worth several hundred dollars.
Section C
In this section, you will hear five short news items. Each item will be read only once. After each item, there will be a fifteen- second pause. During the pause, read the question and the four choices marked A, B, C and D, and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on the answer sheet with a single line through the centre.
16. The forests in eastern Zimbabwe supply the country with wood and most of its fresh fruit. But the removal of large numbers of trees and use of fire to clear land have caused a lot of damage to the area. Officials say Zimbabwe lost more than 1.5 million hectares of forest in 2016. This is mostly because of local communities cutting the trees for firewood or setting fires in forested areas to make hunting easier.
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17. With high inflation and food shortages across Russia, some Russians are growing their own vegetables. The
country蒺s struggling economy has kept food prices rising and put millions of people in poverty. In the former Soviet Union, Russians who lived in traditional country homes – called dachas – often grew their own food. Today, many Russian families – including some in cities - are again growing food to deal with the hard economic times.
18. American scientists announced this week that genetically engineered food is generally safe for humans and the environment. They found that changing the genetics of what we eat does not carry the health risks that opponents claim. The Associated Press noted that the growth of genetically engineered crops has yet to lead to a jump in food production, as supporters claimed. The report did not find any conclusive evidence of environmental problems from such crops.
19. More than 700 million people worldwide have trouble getting clean, safe water. That number comes from the Water Project, a non-profit group. It estimates that one in nine people does not have access to safe and clean drinking water. Governments, non-governmental organizations and charities sent representatives to Stockholm, Sweden, earlier this month for World Water Week activities. The subject for this year 蒺 s water week campaign was“water and waste, reduce and reuse.”
20. Several recent studies examined how machine automation and artificial intelligence will change the future of work. Some estimates predict these technologies could displace up to 30 percent of workers worldwide by 2030. One study predicted about 38 percent of American jobs could be at high risk due to automation by the early 2030s. In Germany, up to 35 percent of jobs could be at risk. About 30 percent could be affected in Britain and 21 percent in Japan.
Section D
In this section, you will hear two short passages. The passages will be read twice. A fter each passage, there will be a thirty- second pause. During the pause, write the answers on the answer sheet.
Dictation
Listen to the passage. For questions 21-25, fill in the blanks with the exact words or phrases you hear. The Great Barrier Reef is the largest coral reef in the world. It is off the coast of Queensland, in north-eastern Australia, and it is 2,000 kilometres long. The Great Barrier Reef is not just one reef. It is almost 3,000 reefs and islands!
The Reef is a beautiful place. Some people describe it as an underwater garden. The corals that form the reef are very colourful. Some of them look like plants, but they are not plants. They are made of thousands of tiny animals that are joined together. Corals can only live in warm, clean sea water with lots of light. They feed at night, taking food from the water as it goes past.
Even more colourful than the corals are the fish that live in the Reef. Some are one or two bright colours, like blue or yellow. Others have three or more colours, such as blue, green and pink. Some have stripes and some have spots. One fish is white, black and yellow with red spots. The colours and patterns on some fish change as they grow.
The Great Barrier Reef is one of Australia 蒺 s most popular vacation places. More than 2 million people visit the Reef each year, so it has to be looked after very carefully. In many places people are not allowed to
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fish. Luckily, the fish and other animals on the Reef are so interesting that most people are happy just to look at them.
Summary
Listen to the passage. For questions 26 -30, complete the notes using no more than three words for each blank.
City Hall Station, an abandoned station of the New York Rapid Transit subway, was originally the last stop at the southern end of the subway 蒺 s interborough line. The station opened in 1904, and was designed to be the most impressive station of the city 蒺 s new subway system.
City Hall Station remained in use until 1945, when the station had to be closed due to certain changes in the city 蒺 s subway system. As more and more passengers started to travel by subway, it became necessary to add more cars to subway trains. This meant that subway platforms needed to be extended to fit the longer trains. However, City Hall Station was originally built with a short, curved platform, making renovations to the station difficult. Rather than trying to rebuild it, officials chose to abandon it in favor of a nearby station, the Brooklyn Bridge Station. Apart from being easier to renovate, the Brooklyn Bridge Station was used by more passengers each day than City Hall Station. In its final year, City Hall Station was used by only six hundred passengers a day, a very small number for New York City. Thus, City Hall became a ‘ghost 蒺 station on the New York subway line, a modern underground ruin. Today, one subway line, the Number 6 train, still passes through City Hall Station on its way north, but it does not stop.
In 1998, the New York Transit Museum reopened City Hall Station for tourists. Due to the historic significance and beauty of this station, the New York Transit Museum schedules special tours of the station several times each year.
This is the end of the listening part. Please transfer your answers to the answer sheet.
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