Music affects us as profoundly as anything we experience. Very many people say that music is a big part of their everyday life. We can hear evidence of this in the blurring car radio and see the jogger with his personal stereo. That is the new portability of music. That brings it everywhere people live, play and work.

There are different kinds of music , for all tastes – classical, pop, rock, rap, jazz, folk – each culture has its own style. Different parts of the body resonate to different sounds and pitches, and most significantly, certain kinds of music resound powerfully in the human spirit.

We can listen to music anywhere and everywhere.

Listening to music can change your mood – sometimes dramatically. Sometimes, if you’re feeling low, it’s tempting to play slow sad music, but this would make you feel worse. And lifting tune or cheerful song can instantly improve your energy levels and your emotional well being.

Music in film and television shows us how music can affect mood. A romantic drama would have a very different film score to a thriller. The old “silent” films originally had a pianist in the cinema playing along, trying to strike the right mood. At times, when watching a film or TV programme, you know what’s about to happen because of the music being played – you can anticipate the terror, such as in “Jaws”. There’re many times when I’ve turn down the sound during a TV programme and use subtitles because the music unsettles means so much.

Playing Mozart when studying is said to increase our IQ. A recent study has showed that children who learn a musical instrument are much quicker at developing spatial awareness and problem solving skills.

Relaxation music has a slow rhythm. Sounds are often synthesised and there may be added natural sounds, such as whalesong, birdsong, waves or gentle rain to help produce a feeling of calm and relaxation.

點評：這是一篇關(guān)于各種音樂與人之間的關(guān)系的文章。音樂在現(xiàn)今社會因為移動終端設備而變得在生活中無時不在，無處不在。不同的音樂對人的精神和情緒影響也各有不同。悲傷時，如果我們聽慢調(diào)而悲傷的音樂，我們會更悲傷。而那些快樂的歌曲則能讓我們的情緒迅速恢復過來。電影和電視劇中的音樂同樣能夠影響我們的情緒，例如恐怖片和浪漫愛情片的音樂是如此不同，另外還舉了默片時代的音樂以及看電影電視劇時我們配著背景音樂時會做出的一些反應。最后談到研究表明音樂能提高智商。舒緩的音樂節(jié)奏緩慢。同時，音樂中越來越多地加入原生態(tài)、大自然的元素來幫住人們獲得更多平靜和放松。

文章屬于考生日常生活中都會接觸到的娛樂休閑類的話題，正如文中所說，音樂在我們現(xiàn)今的社會無時、無處不在，相信考生對文中談及的音樂及其作用都感同身受，從而能夠比較輕松地完成這篇聽寫題目。

1. My computer doesn’t seem to be working. I have lots of e-mail letters that I have to reply this afternoon. can I use the one over there on the desk?

2. We had little choice about when to send the bidding documents. Yesterday was too soon to send it, and tomorrow will be too late.

3. Alice has been offered the manager’s job. Although she has hardly any relevant working experience, this is a big surprise even for herself.

4. You can learn something about a place by reading a travel book. But you will be more interested and more fascinated when you actually travel there.

5. There are many challenges we face today, but time permits me to concentrate on only one question. That is where shall we get the money for our new investment project?

6. I regret to say that we are still unable to send the goods you ordered. But we’d like to emphasize that the delay is entirely due to the circumstances beyond our control.

7. Rather than taking a chance on being grounded at the airport because of the impending strike, we decided to take the slower but surer route and arrived at Kansas City.

8. Sally turned down both the auditor’s job and the local school accountant job. The former involved working in the city, and the latter offered a very low pay.

9. A number of houses along the elevated subway route have been torn down, so as to make room for two new highways that are being built.

10. Today, it is as difficult for us to imagine family life without information technology as it would have been for our parents to imagine family life without electricity.

評析：10個statements主要還是以商務英語為主。這些句子是我們在商務口語對話，商務信函中常碰到的。難度不大，生詞也不多。

Talks and Conversations 1

M: May I help you?

W: Yes, I want to buy some shoes to replace the ones I am wearing.

M: What’s wrong with them?

W: They are too old and shabby.

M: I can see they have simply been worn out. Would you like the same color? More or less?

W: Yes, and something a little less casual.

M: How about this light brown pair? They are similar to what you have, but a little bit dressier.

W: Yes. I was thinking of something along that line. I will try them on.

M: They certainly look charming.

W: The trouble is, they feel uncomfortable.

M: Then try on this other pair in the similar style, but by a different manufacturer.

W: These are much better, do you have the main red?

M: Yes, would you like both pairs?

W: Yes, if they won’t cost too much.

M: Oh, no. They won’t. The second pair is half price. Shall I put them both in a box for you?

W: Just the red and the old ones. I wear the new brown pair home.

Questions:

11. What did the woman’s shoes look like?

12. What was wrong with the first pair of shoes the woman tried on?

13. How many pairs of shoes did the woman buy?

14. Which shoes did the woman wear home?

點評：這段對話是女士買鞋子的場景。整體上來說，全篇沒有難詞，比較容易混淆的是對細節(jié)的考查。比如女士試了幾雙鞋，買了幾雙，為什么沒有買，穿著哪雙回家了等等，在聽的時候?qū)W員注意排除干擾項，記下細節(jié)。

Talks and Conversations 2

I lived in a dread for a whole year, and I have to be honest and say that at first I wasn’t very happy. You see, I was homesick, I missed my family and I just wanted to go home. Part of the problem was my Spanish. I couldn’t communicate very well. But I love to eat, and that’s what really saved me. You see, once I discovered Tapas … oh ,let me explain — these delicious appetizers you eat. So I made some Spanish friends and we’d go out to Tapas bars. So I got to eat a lot of delicious food. And of course, my Spanish improved dramatically as well. But there was one thing that was difficult to adjust to, and that was that dinner was always served at a late hour. I wasn’t used to eating at eleven at night.

Questions:

15. How long did the woman live in a dread?

16. Which of following partially explains why