Listening Section
Script:
Listen to a lecture in a gemology class. Today, I’ll be talking about different styles of gem-cutting, particularly about how these different styles developed historically. The various styles of gems that I’ll be talking about are the cabochon, the table cut, the rose cut, and the brilliant cut. The first style of gem-cutting, which you can see in this drawing, is the cabochon. The cabochon is a rounded shape, without facets. The cabochon style is quite old. It was the earliest style used to finish gems. The cabochons in these drawings are shown from the side. A cabochon could be a simple cabochon, with a rounded top and a flat bottom, or it could be a double cabochon, which is rounded on both the top and the bottom. It was discovered early on that powders of harder materials such as diamonds could be used to polish gemstones, and many ancient cultures used this method to finish gems. The cabochon cut was not a faceted cut. A facet, for those of you who don’t know, is a flat surface cut into a gem. It′s not clear when faceting of stones first developed. Stones were faceted as early as the fifteenth century in Europe, and they may have been faceted earlier than that in other cultures. Now, we’ll look at one of the earliest styles of faceted gems, the table cut. You can see a table-cut stone, from the top and from the side, in these drawings. An interesting thing to note is that early stones faceted in this way were probably not actually cut but were polished to this shape, using powders of harder stones such as diamonds. It does look like it was cut, but this stone was polished to this shape. Some stones, including diamonds, occur naturally in eight-sided double pyramids. To create a table cut from an eight-sided double pyramid, it’s necessary only to polish a flat surface on the top of one side of the naturally occurring eight-sided shapes. The next stage in the development of gem-cutting is the rose cut. In a rose cut, a stone is actually cut rather than polished. This was one of the earliest methods of faceting the entire surface of a diamond, or other gem . . . It′s a very pretty cut, isn’t it? As you can tell from its name, it’s supposed to look like a rose in bloom. The rose cut involved cutting up to 32 triangular facets on the top of a diamond and a flat surface on the bottom. You can see a rose cut in the drawing from the top and from the bottom. . . . Oh, excuse me, that′s a top view and a side view. There’s no bottom view of the rose cut. . . . Now, you should note that this type of cut was beneficial because it maintained much of the original stone. However, it doesn’t reflect light in a way that maximizes the stone’s shine and brilliance. Because it doesn’t reflect light as well as other cuts, the rose cut’s no longer used much today. The last type of cut we′ll look at is the brilliant cut. The brilliant cut came into use after the other styles. You can see a brilliant cut from the top and from the side and from the bottom. The brilliant cut’s faceted on the sides and top and also on the bottom. A stone with a brilliant cut in the correct proportion reflects the maximum amount of light out through the top of the stone and creates a stone that, as its name indicates, shines the most brilliantly. This style of stone is used quite often today because it′s so reflective. We′ve seen four different styles of gems today, in the order that they developed historically. Two of them, the cabochon and the table cut, are polished rather than cut to create the style, while the other two are actually cut. Before next class, please look over the photos of gems at the end of the chapter and identify the style of each stone.
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1. How does the professor present the different styles of gems?
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From the oldest to the most recently developed |
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From the least common to the most common |
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From the simplest to the most complex |
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From the least expensive to the most expensive |
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2. Which gemstone cuts are unfaceted?
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3. Which gemstone cuts are faceted only on the top?
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4. Which gemstone cuts are faceted on the top and bottom?
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5. What does the professor say about faceting?
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It was not done earlier than the fifteenth century |
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It may have been done earlier than the fifteenth century. |
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It was done in the fifteenth century. |
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It was not done until after the fifteenth century. |
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6. Which style of gem is no longer used much because it does not reflect light well?
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7. What overall conclusion can be drawn from the lecture?
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That the polishing of gemstones developed earlier than the cutting of gemstones |
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That the polishing of gemstones developed as a result of the cutting of gemstones |
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That the cutting of gemstones developed earlier than the polishing of gemstones |
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That the cutting of gemstones developed at the same time as the polishing of gemstones |
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8. What is the assignment for the next class?
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To identify the style of some gems |
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To read about some gems |
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Script:
Listen to part of a talk in a biology class. M: Until recently, we knew almost nothing about how important bees are in maintaining natural diversity. Now we know more about them. We know, for example, that honeybees are the dominant pollinators because they play a role in pollinating four out of five food crops in North America. We also know that honeybees along with the other insects, bats, and birds that transfer pollen between flowers—all together they contribute more than ten billion dollars a year to fruit and seed production on North American farms. Pollination is one of nature’s services to farmers. So think about this: if you eliminated the pollinators, it would take the food right out of our mouths. We biologists never imagined we′d see the day when wild plants or crops suffered from pollinator scarcity. But, unfortunately, that day has come. In fact, fanners in Mexico and the U.S. are suffering the worst pollinator crisis in history. So ... what happened? Any ideas? Alicia? W: Is it ... um ... because of natural enemies? I read something about a kind of parasite that’s killed lots of bees. M: It’s true. An outbreak of parasitic mites has caused a steep decline in North American populations of honeybees. But parasites aren′t the only factor. W: What about the pesticides used on farms? All those chemicals must have an effect. M: Most definitely, yes. Pesticides are a major factor. Both wild and domesticated bees are in serious trouble because of pesticides. In California, farm chemicals are killing around ten percent of all the honeybee colonies. Agriculture in general is part of the problem. Think about this for a minute: the North American continent is a vast collection of “nectar corridors“ made up of flowering plants. These corridors stretch for thousands of miles, from Mexico to as far north as Alaska. And every year, there′s an array of migratory pollinators flying north and south with the seasons, following the flowers. The migratory corridors the flyways—are like ... uh ... something like a path of stepping-stones for the pollinators, with each “stone” being a collection of flowering plants. But our system of large-scale agriculture has interfered. During the past fifty years, millions of acres of desert in western Mexico and the southwestern United States have been turned into chemically intensive farms, planted with exotic grasses, creating huge stretches of fly way that are devoid of nectar-producing plants for migratory pollinators. What we have now are huge gaps between the stepping-stones—patches of plants here and there. A couple of migratory pollinators are worth noting. One is the lesser long nosed bat, and another is the most famous pollinator what is our most famous pollinator? Or I should say our most beautiful pollinator. W: Oh, I know. It’s the monarch butterfly! M: The monarch butterfly—yes. Millions of monarchs from all over the U.S. and southern Canada fly south every year in late summer. The monarch is the only butterfly that returns to a specific site year after year. Unfortunately, the herbicides used on the milkweed in the Great Plains are taking a toll on monarchs. and fewer of them are reaching their winter grounds in Mexico. Another important pollinator is the long nosed bat. These amazing animals feed on cactus flowers. What they do is, they lap up the nectar at the bottom of the flower, and then when the bat flics off to another cactus, the pollen stuck to its head is transferred to that plants flower. But the long-nosed bat is having a tough time, too. Some desert ranchers mistake them for vampire bats, and they’ve tried to poison them, or dynamite the caves where they roost.
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9. What is the talk mainly about?
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The economic importance of bees |
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How flowers are pollinated |
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Nature's services to farmers |
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A decline in pollinator populations |
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10. According to the professor, what factors have affected pollinator populations? Click on TWO answers.
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11. Listen again to part of the talk. Then answer the question. Why does the professor say this?
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To show the effect of agriculture on pollinators |
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To show how stones improve a garden |
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To describe nectar-producing plants |
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To describe effects of plant disease |
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12. Listen again to part of the talk. Then answer the question. What can be inferred about monarch butterflies?
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Their population has been reduced because of herbicides. |
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Their diet consists mainly of other butterflies. |
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They are the most common butterflies in North America. |
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They have lived on Earth for several million years. |
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13. Based on the information in the talk, choose TWO answers that describe long nosed bat.
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It feeds on the nectar of cactus flowers. |
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It has been mistaken for a similar animal. |
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It pollinates four out of five food crops in North America. |
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It returns to the same site every year. |
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14. Based on the information in the talk, choose the answer that describes honey bee.
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It has been mistaken for a similar animal. |
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It returns to the same site every year. |
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It pollinates four out of five food crops in North America. |
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It feeds on the nectar of cactus flowers. |
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15. Based on the information in the talk, choose the answer that describes monarch butterfly.
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It feeds on the nectar of cactus flowers. |
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It returns to the same site every year. |
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It has been mistaken for a similar animal. |
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It pollinates four out of five food crops in North America. |
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Script:
Listen to a discussion by a group of students in an oceanography class. Instructor: OK, in this course, we′ve discussed a number of the ocean’s unusual features. Today we’re going to discuss atolls and how they′re formed. First, can you tell me what an atoll is? Beth? Beth: An atoll’s a ring-shaped mass of coral and algae. Instructor: That’s right. An atoll’s made of coral and algae, and it’s in the shape of a ring. . . . And where’re atolls found? Jim? Jim: Atolls′re found in tropical and subtropical areas of the ocean. Instructor: It’s true that atolls’re found in tropical and subtropical areas. . . . Why is that, do you think? Jim: It’s where the water temperature’s fairly warm. The coral and reef-building algae grow best in fairly warm water. Instructor: OK, now, let’s look at how atolls’re formed. We’ll look at a series of three diagrams and discuss what′s happening in each. This diagram shows the first step in the process. What does the diagram show? Linda? Linda: Well, it . . . uh . . . looks like a volcano. Instructor: (dryly) It certainly does . . . but perhaps there’s something more you could add. Linda: Uh, it’s a volcanic island ... a newer volcanic island that has formed recently. Instructor: And what’s growing around the volcanic island? Linda: Ah ... a coral reefs growing around this new volcanic island. Instructor: Yes, good. ... OK, now let’s look at the second diagram. Beth, can you describe what’s happening in this diagram? Beth: The second diagram shows that the volcanic island has started to erode – it’s wearing down. Instructor: And what’s been happening with the coral reef while the volcanic island has been eroding? Beth: The coral reef has continued to grow. Instructor: Excellent. Now let’s look at the third diagram in the series. What’s happening in this diagram? Jim? Jim: Well, in this diagram, you can see that the volcanic island has, um, worn down so far that it’s below the level of the ocean. The coral has built up even further, so the coral′s above the water, and the remains of the volcano are under water. Instructor: Yes, and it’s at this stage when the ring of coral’s called an atoll. The volcano has sunk, and there’s a pool of water inside the atoll. Now, what do we call the pool of water that remains inside an atoll? Linda? Linda: The pool of water inside the atoll is called a lagoon. Instructor: That’s correct. The body of water inside an atoll is called a lagoon. Well, you seem to understand quite clearly how atolls result when coral reefs around volcanic islands continue to grow as the volcanic island themselves diminish. That’s all for today. I′ll see you next class.
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16. What is this discussion mainly about?
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Where atolls most likely occur |
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The formation of lagoons |
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The formation of certain coralline structures |
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How oceanic volcanoes occur |
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17. What is an atoll made of?
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A combination of coral and algae |
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A combination of algae and volcanic ash |
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18. Where do atolls tend to grow?
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19. Listen again to part of the discussion. Then answer the question. Why does the instructor say this?
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She would like a more thorough response from the student. |
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The diagram they are looking at is not clear enough. |
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The student's response was incorrect. |
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She does not understand the student's response. |
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20. Which occurs in the first step?
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A volcanic island forms. |
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The volcano disappears underwater. |
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21. Which occurs in the second step?
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C. |
The volcano disappears underwater. |
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A volcanic island forms. |
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22. Which occurs in the third step?
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B. |
A volcanic island forms. |
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The volcano disappears underwater. |
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23. Which occurs in the fourth step?
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B. |
A volcanic island forms. |
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The volcano disappears underwater. |
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24. What is true about a lagoon?
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It is a body of water. |
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It is surrounded by an atoll. |
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It encircles an atoll. |
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Script:
Listen to a conversation between a student and a professor. Professor: Sandy, how′s class been going for you this semester? Female Student: (genuine enthusiasm) Oh, it′s great. I really like your business psychology class, but I have one major concern about the last assignment, you know—the one where we have to interview a local business owner, uh, I mean entrepreneur? Professor: Are you having trouble coming up with interview questions? Female Student: Well, that′s just it. I mean, I worked on my high school newspaper for years, so I actually have great questions to ask. The thing is . . . I′m new to the area, and I don′t know people off campus . . . So, I was wondering if . . . well, could you possibly give me the name of someone I could interview . . . ? Professor: You don′t know anyone who owns a business? Female Student: Well, yeah, back home . . . my next-door neighbors—they own a shoe store, and they′re really successful—but they′re not local. Professor: Well, it wouldn′t be fair to the other students if I gave you the name of a contact—but I could help you figure out a way to find someone on your own. Let′s see . . . Do you read the local newspaper? Female Student: Sure, whenever I have the time. Professor: Well, the business section in the paper often has stories about local business people who′ve been successful. If you find an article, you could call the person who is profiled. Female Student: You mean, just call them up . . . out of the blue . . . and ask them if they′ll talk to me? Professor: Sure, why not? Female Student: Well, aren′t people like that awfully busy? Too busy to talk to a random college student. Professor: Many people enjoy telling the story of how they got started. Remember, this is a business psychology class, and for this assignment, I want you to get some real insight about business owners, their personality, what drives them to become an entrepreneur. Female Student: Like, how they think? Professor: And what motivates them. Why did they start their business? I′m sure they′d talk to you, especially if you tell them you might start a business some day. Female Student: I′m not sure I′d have the guts to do that. Opening a business seems so risky, so scary. Professor: Well, you can ask them if they felt that way too. Now you just need to find someone to interview to see if your instincts are correct.
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25. Why does the student go to see the professor?
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For assistance in finding a person to interview |
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To schedule an interview with him |
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To ask for advice on starting a business |
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For suggestions on how to write interview questions |
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26. Why does the student mention her high school newspaper?
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To explain why the assignment is difficult for her |
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To indicate that she has experience with conducting interviews |
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To inform the professor that she plans to print the interview there |
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To show that she enjoys writing for school newspapers |
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27. How does the professor help the student?
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He gives her more time to complete the assignment. |
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He allows her to interview business owners in her hometown. |
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He suggests that she read the business section of the newspaper. |
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He gives her a list of local business owners. |
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28. What does the professor want the students to learn from the assignment?
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How to develop a detailed business plan |
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Why writing articles on local businesses is important |
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That starting a business is risky |
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What personality traits are typical of business owners |
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29. Listen again to part of the conversation. Then answer the question. What does the student imply?
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The professor has not quite identified her concern. |
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The professor has guessed correctly what her problem is. |
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She is surprised by the professor's reaction. |
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She does not want to finish the assignment. |
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Script:
A cultural historian has been invited to speak to an urban studies class. Listen to part of the lecture. The agricultural revolution of ten thousand years ago started the great shift from rural to urban living. As human settlements evolved from simple groups of huts to larger villages, and then to towns and cities, their basic pattern changed. The early rural villages grew naturally—sort of organically—as if they were plants or bushes, and buildings were clustered near water sources, and around village gardens, with trees for shade and pastures for animals. A lot of us yearn to escape to these simpler, more romantic settlements of the past. But there are probably more of us who have a powerful urge to explore new ideas and to build bigger and better structures. We now have super settlements called cities. Our city planners and architects have converted the organic pattern of the village into a geometrically perfect grid. Our natural habitat has been transformed into an expanse of hard straight surfaces, with stone and metal and concrete and glass. Of course, the city is still a wonderful place for stimulation, for opportunity, and for cultural interaction. In fact, you could say the city is our most spectacular creation. And believe it or not it still has elements of the rural past. In the average North American city, about one-third of the surface is given to streets and buildings. The rest is covered by trees and grass foresters call it the "urban forest” -meaning all the trees in city parks, the trees planted along streets and highways, and the trees in people’s yards. The extent of this forest is sort of amazing—two-thirds of our urban space. The concept of a tree-lined village green has a long history, but one of North America′s first public parks - that was sort of created as a unified project—was Central Park in New York City. Central Park was designed by landscape architects Olmsted and Vaux in the late nineteenth century. They took their inspiration from the gardens of European estates and the romantic landscape paintings from that period. Central Park was set in a rectangular site covering over 800 acres in the middle of Manhattan Island. By the nineteenth century, the original forest was long gone. The area had been used as a common pasture for farm animals, but eventually it deteriorated into a kind of urban wasteland, dotted with garbage dumps. Olmsted and Vaux transformed this wasteland into something like its original appearance, with rolling hills, grassy meadows, and woody thickets with thousands of trees. The result is sort of an oasis in the middle of steel and stone. Central Park has been called “the city’s lung" because of its purifying effect on the air, not to mention its effect on the human psyche. It remains one of the best examples of what we can do with the open spaces of our cities. When you look at how far we’ve come as humans, when you consider that we′ve developed something called civilization, you come to realize that the finest evidence of our civilization is the city. The city is a symbol of experimentation and creation, a place where we can come together for work and entertainment, for art and culture, for wonder and opportunity. And. like the rural villages of the past, the city is where we come together to share cultural experiences with other humans—indeed, to define what it is to be human.
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30. What topics does the speaker discuss? Click on TWO answers.
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The significance of trees in urban spaces |
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Causes and effects of the agricultural revolution |
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A change in the design of human settlements |
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Why people prefer living in romantic villages |
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31. How did early rural villages differ from the cities of today?
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Villages were more likely to inspire landscape painters. |
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Villages were designed as perfect rectangular grids. |
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Villages grew organically around features of the land. |
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Villages provided better economic opportunities. |
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32. What is the “urban forest”?
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The forest surrounding a city |
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The trees cultivated on farms |
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A park designed by an architect |
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All of the trees in an urban area |
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33. Why does the speaker talk about New York City?
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To recommend places to visit in New York |
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To give an example of an urban park project |
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To compare New York to other large cities |
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To describe urban architecture and culture |
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34. Listen again to part of the lecture. Then answer the question. What does the speaker imply about New York′s Central Park?
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It was the first park to be designed by architects. |
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It contributes to the quality of life in the city. |
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It is the largest urban forest in the world. |
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D. |
It contains beautiful buildings of steel and stone. |
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35. What is the speaker′s opinion of the city?
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The city is a like an organic machine. |
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The city is too hard, straight, and unnatural. |
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C. |
The city is a symbol of human achievement. |
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D. |
The city is better than a traditional village. |
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Script:
Listen to part of a talk in a music education class. Learning to play a musical instrument is one of the best experiences that a young child can have. Learning to play music begins with listening to others play music. A child’s first experience with playing an instrument should be by ear without the distraction of printed music. Playing by car is the natural beginning for children. The ability to play by ear will help them throughout their lives, and it also enriches the experience of music making. But children should eventually learn to read music. So, when is the right time? And what′s the best way for a child to learn how to read music? A lot of children start playing an instrument at the age of eight or nine. It′s best for them to spend a couple of years playing by ear before the teacher introduces notation -printed music. Children should first be able to feel that their instrument is a part of them. Playing by ear is the best way for children to become comfortable with their instrument. The teacher should introduce notation only when the child is ready. The right time is when the child feels a need for notation. This might be when the child has learned so many pieces it’s sort of difficult to remember them all. Then the teacher can present the printed music as a memory aid so learning to read music has a practical purpose and isn’t just a meaningless task. A good time to teach notation is when a group of children play together. The printed score is a way to help them sort of keep track of who plays what and when. The score will organize their cooperative effort in a way that makes sense to them. Another good time is when the child wants to play music that’s so complex it would be difficult to learn by ear. In this case, learning to read music is a natural step toward playing the music the child wants to play. The teacher should play the score for the child the first time through, and demonstrate how the notes on the page are transformed into music. The child listens as he or she looks at the printed notes. This way the child can begin to see how the notes represent sound and a printed score becomes a piece of music. As the child listens—and maybe plays along—he or she begins to understand the shape of the new piece. For students who play a chord-producing instrument- the guitar, for example—a natural first step toward reading music is playing by chord symbols. Chord symbols are found in a lot of different styles of music -like pop and jazz and at various levels of difficulty. Chord symbols are a simple form of written music—they’re kind of a halfway point between playing by ear and reading a standard musical score. After children can play by ear and then by chord symbols the next step is to read standard music notation. Although that’s the natural order for children to learn, it doesn’t mean that each successive step is better than the one that came before. The three methods of playing music playing by ear playing chords, and playing by standard notation—are all valuable in their own way. Some children will always prefer to play by ear. Others will like chord playing and have no desire to learn another method. And still others will find their musical home in the tradition of note reading. It′s the job of the music teacher to fit the method to the needs of the students.
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36. What is playing by ear?
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A. |
Listening to music through ear phones |
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B. |
Paying attention to what the teacher says |
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Playing an instrument that is held up to the ear |
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D. |
Learning to play music without reading notation |
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37. Listen again to part of the talk. Then answer the question. Why does the professor ask this?
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To review material for an examination |
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B. |
To find out if everyone in class can read music |
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C. |
To suggest that all children should study music |
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D. |
To introduce the main point he wants to make |
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38. According to the professor, when should children learn to read musical notation? Click on TWO answers.
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A. |
When they are ready to play in front of an audience |
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B. |
When the music is too complex to learn by ear |
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C. |
When they first learn how to play an instrument |
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D. |
When a group of children play music together |
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39. According to the professor, why should a music teacher play the score for a child the first time?
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A. |
To show the child that the teacher is an excellent player |
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B. |
To suggest that the score can be played in different styles |
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C. |
To allow the child to memorize the score by listening |
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D. |
To demonstrate how the printed notes translate into music |
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40. According to the professor, what is the natural order for children to learn music?
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A. |
(i) Learn how to play the instrument by ear. (ii) Learn how to play by chord symbols. (iii) Learn how to read standard notation. |
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B. |
(i) Learn how to read standard notation. (ii) Learn how to play the instrument by ear. (iii) Learn how to play by chord symbols. |
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C. |
(i) Learn how to play by chord symbols. (ii) Learn how to play the instrument by ear. (iii) Learn how to read standard notation. |
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41. What does the professor imply about the three methods of playing music?
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A. |
Students should use the teacher's favorite method. |
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B. |
The best method is playing by standard notation. |
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C. |
Each method is appropriate for some students. |
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D. |
There is no reason to learn all three methods. |
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Score: 0/10
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