填空听写二十篇 (Spot Dictation).doc

填空听写二十篇 (Spot Dictation)说明：本次听写练习题的难度在英语专业三级水平（相当于大学英语四级）。每篇填空听写练习的前7个空只填写一个单词，较为简单，主要考查词汇量和辩音能力，第8-10个空应填写完整的句子，主要为专四标准听写做准备，可以不必完全与原句一样，用自己的话写出语法正确符合原文意思的Major Points即可。填空听写训练是向专四标准听写过渡的重要阶段，这类习题可以在非英语专业的大学英语四级练习题中找到，建议训练几十篇后再进行难度较大的全文听写。试题的语音及文字资料仅供课堂教学使用，请勿用于其他任何形式的转载和引用。Passage 1 People have been working on the idea of the helicopters for more than four hundred years. About four hundred years ago, a man thought of a flying machine and (1) _ a picture of it. It was like a helicopter in some ways. But the people of that time did not know about the (2) _ of flying. So the mans idea (3) _ a picture on a piece of paper for many years. About one (4) _ ago, some men made (5) _ of flying machines and the first airplanes were born. Since then (6) _ has been making (7) _ progress. In about 1930, some people made a big helicopter. (8) _. Then some other people made another kind of helicopter, which carried only one man, but could fly for many hours. Today there are many kinds of helicopters, big and small. (9) _. People in some places cannot always drive their cars to the airport to board a plane. Some of them have helicopters of their own, though they are not always rich people. They fly to the airport in their helicopter, get on a plane, and take off again. (10) _. Then people will go to work in their own helicopters just as they do in their cars today. Indeed, the helicopter is a great achievement of science.Passage 2 Martin Luther King, Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, on (1) _ 15, 1929. He was a black (2) _, who devoted himself (3) _ to the struggle for equal rights for the black people and an end to segregation in the South of the United States. In (4) _, he organized a black boycott of the city buses in Montgomery, Alabama. The black people there had (5) _ that they would no longer ride in segregated buses. Led by King, they (6) _ to the courts for support of their effort. The boycott against segregation lasted 381 days, and ended in (7) _ the next year. In the spring of 1963, he began to organize a march to Washington to persuade the U.S. government to back a mass Civil Rights Movement for black people. (8) _. From all over the country, citizens came to march on Washington in support of civil rights legislation. It was then that King delivered the most impressive speech of his career. (9) _. In 1964, at the age of only 35, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. (10) _.Passage 3 One of the (1) _ of large modern cities is the number of big department stores, most of which are to be found in or near the (2) _ area. Theyre vast buildings many stories high, where you can buy almost anything you need, from a box of toothpicks to a suite of (3) _. Most of them are very modern and are equipped with (4) _ elevators and escalators, and have (5) _ lighting, air-conditioning and ventilation. You can spend hours (6) _ around in one of these department stores, and you will probably lose your way while you are doing so, in spite of the many (7) _ pointing the way to the elevators and exits. If you have been in one of these stores so long that you feel hungry, you and your family will not need to leave the building, for nearly all the big stores have cafes, snack bars or restaurants in them. (8) _, though occasionally an assistant may ask you whether he or she can be of help to you. Another feature of Shanghais shopping life is the chain-store, in which prices are lower than in the big store, and a wide variety of goods are offered chiefly foodstuffs, household goods, clothing and stationery. (9) _, in spite of the vigilance of the store security guards. A lot of the food stores in Shanghai now operate on the serve yourself system: (10) _. At the exit there are a number of counters where you pay for all your purchases together.Passage 4 In the United States the cost of living has been (1) _ rising for the past few (2) _. Food prices, clothing costs, housing (3) _, and tuition fees are constantly getting higher and higher. Partly because of (4) _ need, and partly because of (5) _ choices for personal fulfillment, mothers have been leaving the (6) _ role of full-time homemaker. Increasingly they have been taking (7) _ jobs outside the home. Making such a significant role change affects the entire family, especially the children. Some consequences are obvious. For example, dinnertime is at a later hour. (8)_. They suppress their guilt since they believe that their work will benefit everyone in the long run. The income will enable the family to save for college tuition, take an extended vacation, buy a new car, and so on. The emotional impact on the children can be significant. (9) _. They might need assistance with their homework or want to share the days activities. (10) _. Their priority is making the evening meal for the family, not engaging in relaxed conversation.Passage 5 If you break your arm or leg, the doctor will (1) _ send you to a hospital to have an X-ray photograph taken to find out just where the break is and what kind of break it is. If a small child (2) _ a coin or some other hard (3) _, as sometimes happens, the doctor will take an X-ray photograph of the childs (4) _. Every hospital has an X-ray (5) _, and doctors now depend on these photographs to find out if there is anything wrong with the (6) _, for example, which can not be seen from outside the body. X-rays were first discovered by a German scientist, Wilhelm Konrad Rontgen, in 1895, almost by (7) _. He and other scientists were experimenting with passing electric currents through certain gases in a special glass tube. (8) _. This aroused Rontgens curiosity. The next thing he found out was that if he put his hand between the rays and a photographic plate, the rays would print a shadow of the bony framework of his hand on the plate. (9) _. When Rontgen wrote an account of what he had discovered, (10) _. Other scientists called them Rontgen rays in honor of the man who first found them, but X-ray is the name now commonly used.Passage 6 Atoms are the building blocks of our world (1) _ units that make up everything around us. In the same way that wheels, bands, (2) _, and pins fit together to make a clock or a toy, atoms of (3) _ kinds fit together to form the (4) _ around us. At one time or another, almost everyone has taken apart a toy or a clock to see what makes it work. The result is simply a (5) _ of parts. Some people can (6) _ out how to put the parts together again, to rebuild the toy or clock. And a few people can even work out ways to make (7) _ new devices out of the toy or clock parts. Modern scientists have learned to do very much the same kind of thing with matter. (8) _. Air, water, rock, and even people are composed of matter. (9) _. A molecule is the smallest piece that keeps the characteristics of the original substance. For instance, a sugar molecule is the smallest piece that is still like sugar. (10) _. These are atoms. From this example, we can see why atoms are called the building blocks of matter. All the kinds of matter in the world are made from only about 100 different kinds of atoms.Passage 7 Since the (1) _ of history, men have gathered information and have (2) _ to pass it on to other men. The (3) _ of word-pictures on the walls of (4) _ caves as well as hieroglyphics on stone tablets (5) _ some of mans earliest efforts to (6) _ information. Evidently, these efforts were very simple and (7) _. But as civilizations grew more complex, better methods of communication were needed. The written word, carrier pigeons, the telegraph and many other devices carried ideas faster and faster from man to man but still not fast enough to satisfy ever-growing needs. (8) _. With the invention and development of computers, it is as if man has suddenly come upon Aladins magic lamp. (9) _. For this reason, computers can be defined as devices which accept information, perform mathematical or logical operations with the input information, and then supply the results of these operations as new information. (10) _. However, although computers can replace men in dull, routine tasks, they only work according to the instructions given them, in other words, they have to be programmed. Their achievements are not very spectacular when compared to what the minds of men can do.Passage 8 Canada has the largest (1) _ area in the world after the (2) _ U.S. S. R., but it is rather (3) _ populated. Most (4) _ live in the south, within about 500 kilometers of the (5) _ with the U.S.A. The far north of Canada lies within the Arctic (6) _, where the winters are long and (7) _ cold. Eskimos live in the Arctic, a region where it is too cold even for trees to grow. South of that region is a vast area with many forests and lakes. The more populated part of southern Canada stretches about 5 000 kilometers from east to west. Here are found valuable forests, rich deposits of minerals, and various manufacturing industries. (8) _. To the east of the Rockies are vast grasslands, called prairies, where cattle are reared and a large amount of wheat is grown. Coal and oil also come from this area. In south-eastern Canada is the important lowland region around the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. (9) _. And this is where Canadas two largest cities, Toronto and Montreal, as well as the capital, Ottawa, are located. English and French are the official languages. (10) _. The country is divided into ten provinces and two thinly populated territories. It has a central government, with a parliament, headed by a prime minister.Passage 9 Everybody knows that the car is a (1) _ machine. The experts (2) _ that cars of the future will be made of (3) _ and carbon fibers that will be much stronger than steel and much lighter in weight. Even the (4) _ will be made of these materials. Cars of the future will be smaller and lighter but their designs will probably be (5) _ to those of the latest (6) _ of the modern sports cars. There will probably not be any (7) _ design changes for a long time. The real frontier for cars of the future lies not in body design but with computer activation. Cars may someday actually drive themselves. (8) _. Everyone in the car would be able to relax, even take a nap, as the car speeds along at hundreds of kilometers per hour. (9) _. Changes of destination along the way could be made from a computer in the car to a central computer controlling and regulating the traffic. (10)_, perhaps, even as early as the early 21st century which would make it in your lifetime.Passage 10 Do you have (1) _ sleeping at night? Then, maybe, this is for you: When you worry about not being able to sleep and (2) _ around, trying to find a (3) _ position, youre probably only making matters (4) _. What happens is that your heart rate actually (5) _, making it more difficult to (6) _. You may also have some bad habits that contribute to the problem. Do you rest (7) _ during the day? Do you get almost no exercise or do you exercise strenuously late in the day? Do you think about sleep a lot or sleep late on the weekend? Any of all these factors might be leading to your insomnia by disrupting your bodys natural rhythm. What should you do then on those sleepless night? Dont bother with sleeping pills. (8) _. The best thing to do is to drink some milk or eat some cheese or tuna fish. (9) _. This will enable you to relax and youll be on the way to get a good nights sleep. (10) _. Think about this: when the morning comes, everything will be all right again.Passage 11 Education is (1) _ in Australia. Children begin school when they are 6 and stay until they are at least 15. Children in Tasmania must stay in school until they are 16. Most children start in (2) _ classes at the age of 5. There are (3) _, or state schools in all (4) _ parts of the country, but pupils who live in the (5) _ outback take (6) _ courses and listen to radio classes. Australia also has many (7) _ or independent school. One child in four attends an independent school. As in England, the leading private schools are called public schools. (8) _. The school year, which begins in late January or early February, ends in mid-December. This time of the year is summer in the Southern Hemisphere. Christmas vacation is the time for taking long trips and for going to summer camps. (9) _. Games are taught as part of physical education classes. The boys play cricket in summer and Australian Rules football, soccer, and rugby in winter. The girls play basketball throughout the year. (10) _.Passage 12 Indians in the United States are faced with (1) _ problems. Many Indians still live on reservations, in squalid shacks that dont even have indoor (2) _. The water there is often so (3) _ that it is not fit for drinking. Mechanization has (4) _ eliminated many of the ranching and (5) _ jobs formerly (6) _ to the Indians, and few (7) _ have been set up on the reservations. In any case, most native Americans have had only very little schooling and remain untrained for skilled jobs. (8) _. As groups of people with their own languages and cultures, each tribe wants to keep up its traditions and preserve some of its native customs. The adults want their children to be proud of being Indians, as well as to survive in the modern world. (9) _. Like everyone else, they are anxious to get a good education and a good job. However, they have little prospect for success and become very frustrated because they usually can only go to inferior schools and often find it impossible to adjust to present-day life. (10) _. The most important problem American Indians have to tackle, many experts believe, is the restoring of their pride and self-confidence. And this is to be first and foremost if they are to change their destiny.Passage 13 Most Americans have great (1) _ and (2) _. They prefer to discipline themselves rather than be disciplined by others. They pride themselves on their (3) _, their right to make up their own minds. They are prepared to take the (4) _, even when there is a risk in doing so. They have (5) _ and do not give in easily. They will take any sort of job anywhere rather than be (6) _. They do not care to be looked after by the government. The (7) _ American changes his or her job nine or ten times during his or her working life. (8) _. They are considered sentimental. When on ceremonial occasions they see a flag, or attend parades celebrating Americas glorious past, tears may come to their eyes. Reunions with family and friends tend to be emotional, too. They like to dress correctly, even if correctly means flamboyantly. They love to boast, though often with tongue in cheek. (9) _. They have a wide knowledge of everyday things, and a keen interest in their particular city and state. (10) _.Passage 14 It is only (1) _ that every one of us may, at some point in life, be called upon to make a speech, but most of us will worry a great deal out of (2) _ that we may not do a very good job. Well, here is some (3) _ you will find useful should such an occasion (4) _. So now you have to give a speech and you are (5) _ at the thought. You get nervous, so much so that you gnaw at your (6) _. You stumble over your words, and you forget what you want to say, or you talk too long and you (7) _ your audience. But cheer up! It really doesnt have to be that bad. Here are some simple steps that will take the pain out of your speech-making. (8) _. Then ask yourself the purpose of your speech. Now let us suppose you have been asked to introduce the main speaker at a conference. It is all right to tell a joke or an anecdote if it is in good taste, and will not embarrass the speaker. And most important, be brief. If you are giving a lecture or explaining an idea, gather as many facts as you can on your subject. Spend plenty of time doing research. (9) _. Never forget your audience. Dont talk over their heads, and dont talk down to them either. (10) _. Make sure everyone in the room can hear you. To sum up, remember, be prepared, know your subject, your audience, and the occasion. If you just follow these simple rules, you will see that you dont have to be afraid to speak in public.Passage 15 In China, it is taken for (1) _ that everyone should marry, and every family should have children. Traditionally, children (2) _ fortune and happiness for a family. A large population was (3) _ as an asset for a nation. Not (4) _, Chinas population reached more than a billion in the early 1980s, according to the 1982 census report. Since 1979, the birth control policy of one child per family has been in place. At the national level, the birth rate has been reduced to about 1.7 percent from 1979 to 1995, as (5) _ with 3.4 percent in the early (6) _. At the level of the (7) _ family, the one-child policy has brought changes and challenges to families and parents. (8) _. Nowadays, it is common for both parents to have full-time jobs. In a family that has two or more children, parents often juggle their time around to fit the schedules of their