will be okay.
5) No, they think it’s bad for the weak, the poor and the unprotected/ it’s bad for the underprivileged. B.
more and more money, come from somewhere, higher taxes and higher prices 【原文】
Ned: ... you know, I think this country's problems all come from inflation. That's
the main cause of our troubles right now. And what's causing the inflation It's the reckless spending of the Democrats! Every year they spend more and more money, and that money has to come from somewhere. So we pay it in the form of higher taxes and higher prices on the goods we buy.
Barbara: Well, I'm not sure that I agree with you. It seems to me that inflation
is only one of our problems. What about unemployment If people don't have jobs because the government cuts spending too much, they can't buy things; and then you have a vicious circle of more unemployment and fewer taxpayers to share the burden.
Ellen: You know, I think Barbara may have something there. Unemployment is a big
problem, especially in the big industrial cities. The auto industry is fighting for its life right now, and the government isn't doing very much to help it.
Ned: Well, it's true that the auto industry is in a mess, but I don't think the
answer is in government regulation or protection. I believe in the free market system — let the system work without a lot of government interference, and everything will be okay.
Ellen: So the strong will win, and the weak will be defeated. Is that what you
mean
Ned: Well, that's the way it goes. The survival of the fittest.
Barbara: And too bad about the weak, the poor, the unprotected...
Ned: Now you're getting emotional. You have to remain objective about these things. Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about...
Task 9
【答案】 A.
1) The problem is whether or not the inner city — the core of most urban areas — will manage to survive at all.
2) They moved to the suburbs in search of fresh air, elbow room, and privacy. 3) As a result, suburbs began to sprawl out across the countryside. Many cities began to fall into disrepair. And many downtown areas existed for business only. 4) The result was that urban centers declined even further and the suburbs expanded still more.
5) Because from the decision of the Taylors and many other young couples, we can see that some people may be tired of spending long hours commuting, and they may have begun to miss the advantages of culture and companionship provided by city life. B.
1) F 2) T 3) F 4) F 5) T 6) T C.
1) middle-class, tax money, neighborhoods 2) Crime, public transportation
3) housing construction costs, was allowed to, constructed 【原文】
A few years ago, Ann and Walter Taylor thought it might be time to move out of their New York City apartment to the suburbs. They had one young son and another child on the way. But after months of looking, they became discourage and decided
to buy an old townhouse right in the middle of Brooklyn, which is a part of New York City. To their delight, they discovered that they weren’t the only young couple to have made such a decision. In fact, their entire area in Brooklyn had been settled by young families. And as a result, the neighborhood, which had been declining for years, was now being restored.
Brooklyn isn’t the only city in the United States to experience this kind of renewal. So are Philadelphia and . And Charleston, South Carolina, has so successfully rebuilt its old central area that it now ranks as one of America’s most charming cities. The restoration of the old port
city
of Savannah, Georgia,
is also living proof that downtown areas do not need to die. But encouraging as these developments may be, they are among the few bright spots in a mass of difficulties that today’s cities face. Indeed, their woes are so many that it is fair to ask whether or not the inner city the core of most urban areas will manage to survive at all.
In the 1940s, urban Americans began a mass move to the suburbs in search of fresh air, elbow room, and privacy. Suburbs began to sprawl out across the countryside. Since most of those making the move were middle-class, they took with them the tax money the cities needed to maintain the neighborhoods in which they had lived. The people left in the cities were often those who were too old or too poor to move. Thus, many cities began to fall into disrepair. Crime began to soar, and public transportation was neglected.( In the past sixty years San Francisco is the only city in the United States to have completed a new mass transit system.) Meanwhile, housing construction costs continued to rise higher and higher. Middle-class housing was allowed to decay, and little new housing was constructed.
Eventually, many downtown areas existed for business only. During the day they would be filled with people working in offices, and at night they would be deserted. Given these circumstances, some business executives began asking, “Why bother with
going downtown at all Why not move the offices to the suburbs so that we can live and work in the same area” Gradually, some of the larger companies began moving out of the cities, with the result that urban centers declined even further and the suburbs expanded still more. This movement of business to the suburbs is not confined to the United States. Businesses have also been moving to the suburbs in Stockholm, Sweden, in Bonn, Germany, and in Brussels, Belgium, as well.
But it may well be that this movement to the suburbs has reached its peak. Some people may be tired of spending long hours commuting, and they may have begun to miss the advantages of culture and companionship provided by city life. Perhaps the decision made by the Taylors is a sign that people will return to the cities and begin to restore them. It begins to look as if suburban sprawl may not have been the answer to man’s need to create an ideal environment in which to live and work.
Task 10
【答案】 A.
1) 54, 20, 1980, ￡70,000. 2) 30, 1980
3) a newspaper article, to research the market 4) another few months, in April 1981, a 1,500 sq ft 5) third, Canada, America, 20 percent, ￡1 million 6) 20, 70, 3 B.
1) F 2) T 3) F 4)F 5)T C.
1) He was deeply involved in the present job and rather enjoyed himself. He thought the shop was his own little baby and thought it was fun to serve behind the counter.
However, he also thought that there was a lot more hard work than he was used to; he was working over the weekend doing his books. He called his old job “boring trips to Manchester to sell vast quantities of PVC”.
2) He thought that there are far more job satisfaction; and believed that he was making money, rather than making money for other people.
3) He was about to diversify into commercial distribution of imported and domestically produced wine and wines he’s produced himself. 【原文】
William Rudd, 54, worked for ICI petrochemicals for 20 years until 1980 when he took early retirement with &70,000. He opened his own delicatessen and butcher's shop in Kensington and has just bought a second London shop.
I knew about a year before I left that I was going to go, so I looked around for office jobs. I had one of those frustrating periods where I nearly got some jobs but then I didn't. Actually it was a dinner party conversation which got me into the shop. A woman I knew said she was going to open a delicatessen and thought it sounded fun. So ! said, \I'll come in with you.\I'd always thought retailing would be amusing, after a lifetime of industrial selling.
We found that the lease of the building stipulated we had to keep it as a butcher's and I added fish and cheese and things like that. I ended up spending far more than I'd ever intended.
I didn't really do much research, except for fish, about which I knew nothing. I was clearly going to be the person standing behind the counter filleting, so I talked to one person who showed me a little, supplied me, and kept me under his wing for a little while. But it's quite easy to learn about fish; once you get used to gutting salmon you're on your way. Meat is more difficult; the skill is in the butchery, so I employ people for that. I had to learn about equipment by trial and error.
现代大学英语听力2原文及答案
