TEST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS (2016)
-GRADE FOUR-
PART ⅠDICTATION
Listen to the following passage.
Altogether the passage will be read to you four times. During the first reading,
which will be done at normal speed,
listen and try to understand the meaning.
For the second and third readings,
the passage will be read sentence by sentence,
or phrase by phrase,
with intervals of 15 seconds.
The last reading will be done at normal speed again
and during this time
you should check your work.
You will then be given 1 minute
to check through your work once more.
Please write the whole passage on ANSWER SHEET ONE. Now listen to the passage.
Think Positive and Feel Positive
Are you confident
or insecure in a difficult situation? /
Do you react positively or negatively? /
The answer may depend in part
on whom you’re around. /
A study found
that negative thinking can be contagious in some cases. /
For example, the researchers studied 103 college roommates. / They measured each roommate’s tendency
towards negative thinking. /
It was found that thinking patterns can be contagious. / Students with a negative thinking roommate
became more depressed themselves, /
and students with more positive thinking roommates /
were more likely to become more positive as well.
The second and third readings.
You should begin writing now.
Are you confident
or insecure in a difficult situation? /
Are you confident
or insecure in a difficult situation? /
Do you react positively or negatively? /
Do you react positively or negatively? /
The answer may depend in part
on whom you’re around. /
The answer may depend in part
on whom you’re around. /
A study found
that negative thinking can be contagious in some cases. /
A study found
that negative thinking can be contagious in some cases. /
For example, the researchers studied 103 college roommates. / For example, the researchers studied 103 college roommates. / They measure d each roommate’s tendency
towards negative thinking. /
They measured each roommate’s tendency
towards negative thinking. /
It was found that thinking patterns can be contagious. /
It was found that thinking patterns can be contagious. / Students with a negative thinking roommate
became more depressed themselves, /
Students with a negative thinking roommate
became more depressed themselves, /
and students with more positive thinking roommates /
and students with more positive thinking roommates /
were more likely to become more positive as well.
were more likely to become more positive as well.
The last reading.
Are you confident
or insecure in a difficult situation? /
Do you react positively or negatively? /
The answer may depend in part
on whom you’re around. /
A study found
that negative thinking can be contagious in some cases. /
For example, the researchers studied 103 college roommates. / They measured each roommate’s tendency
towards negative thinking. /
It was found that thinking patterns can be contagious. / Students with a negative thinking roommate
became more depressed themselves, /
and students with more positive thinking roommates /
were more likely to become more positive as well.
Now, you have one minute to check through your work.
This is the end of Part I Dictation.
PART ⅡLISTENING COMPREHENSION
SECTION A TALK
In this section you will hear a talk.
You will hear the talk ONCE ONLY.
While listening,
you may look at the task on ANSWER SHEET ONE
and write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each gap. Make sure what you fill in
is both grammatically and semantically acceptable.
You may use the blank sheet for note-taking.
You have THIRTY seconds to preview the gap-filling task. Now listen to the talk.
When it is over,
you will be given TWO minutes to check your work.
What Is Grit?
Good afternoon, everyone.
Today, I would like to talk about my research project concerning the key to success.
I would like to start my topic with my own story.
When I was 27 years old,
I left for a demanding job-
teaching seventh graders math
in the New York City public schools.
And like any teacher,
I made quizzes and tests.
I gave out homework assignments.
When the work came back,
I calculated grades.
What struck me was that
I.Q. was not the only difference
between my best and my worst students.
Some of my strongest performers
did not have super I.Q. scores.
Some of my smartest kids weren’t doing so well.
Then, I felt very interested
in knowing the reason why the students’ math performance is not that closely related to their I.Q. scores.
I started studying kids and adults
in all kinds of challenging settings,
and in every study my question was,
who is successful here and why.
My research team and I
went to West Point Military Academy.
We tried to predict
which students would stay in military training
and which would drop out.
We went to the National Spelling Contest
and tried to predict
which children would advance furthest in competition.
We worked with private companies,
asking which of these salespeople is going to keep their jobs,
and who’s going to earn the most money.
We went to many places and finally,
one characteristic emerged as a significant predictor of success. And it wasn’t social intelligence.
It wasn’t good looks, physical health,
and it wasn’t I.Q. It was grit.
What is grit?
Well, grit is passion and perseverance
for very long-term goals.
Grit is sticking with your future,
day in, day out,
not just for the week,
四级听力
not just for the month, but for years,
and working really hard to make future a reality.
Grit is living your life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.
A few years ago,
I started studying grit in the Chicago public schools.
I asked thousands of high school juniors
to take grit questionnaires,
and then waited around more than a year
to see who would graduate.
It turned out that
grittier kids were significantly more likely to graduate,
even when I matched them on every characteristic I could measure, things like family income, test scores, and so on.
To me, the most shocking thing about grit is how little we know, how little science knows, about building it.
Every day, parents and teachers ask me,
“How do I build grit in kid s?
How do I keep them motivated for the long run?”
Our data shows very clearly
that there are many talented individuals
who simply do not follow through on their commitment.
In fact, in our data,
grit is usually unrelated to measures of talent.
So fa r, the best idea I’ve heard about building grit in kids
is something called “growth mindset.”
Growth mindset is the belief
that the ability to learn is not fixed,
that it can change with your effort.
Kids with grit are much more likely to persevere when they fail, because they don’t believe that failure is a permanent condition. So growth mindset is a great idea for building grit.
But we need more.
And that’s where I’m going to end my talk,
because that’s where we are.
That’s the work that stands before us.
We have to be willing to fail,
to be wrong, to start over again with lessons learned.
As a conclusion,
we need to be gritty about getting our kids grittier.
Next time, I would like to share with you
my experience in building up students’ grit.
Now, you have TWO minutes
to check your work.
THIS IS THE END OF SECTION A TALK.
SECTION B CONVERSATIONS
In this section you will hear two conversations.
At the end of each conversation,
five questions will be asked about what was said.
Both the conversation and the questions
will be spoken ONCE ONLY.
After each question there will be a ten-second pause.
During the pause,
you should read the four choices of A), B), C) and D),
and mark the best answer to each question
on ANSWER SHEET TWO.
You have THIRTY seconds to preview the questions.
Now listen to the conversations.
Conversation One
Questions 1 to 5 are based on Conversation one
W: Hello, this is Kate Smith.
I’m calling from ABC Company.
M: Oh, hello, Kate. Great to hear from you.
W: You’ve already been told
that you’ve been shortlisted for interview.
M: Oh, yes.
W: Well, we are very excited about meeting you.
OK. I just want to talk you through the procedure for the day. Someone will meet you when you arrive,
and then bring you up to meet myself and Arthur Miller, the CEO. M: OK, sounds good.
So will you be the only members of the interview panel there then? W: Yes, it’ll be just me and Arthur who will talk to you.