Unit 8

Task 1:

【答案】

A. 

1) 37 people were killed and more than 700 injured.

2) During morning rush hour (on Thursday).

3) Islamic terrorists.

4) They were shocked and angry, but determined to carry on with their lives.

5) He was at the Group of Eight summit in Scotland.

6) To keep up their fight against terrorism.

7) Hundreds of thousands of Londoners walked home from work in the rain late Thursday

8) On Friday.

B.

1) vast and overwhelming majority，decent and law-abiding，abhor this act of terrorism

2) we will not be intimidated，we will not be changed，we will not be divided，our resolve will hold firm

 

【原文】

A series of bombings on London's subway and bus network has killed at least 37 people and wounded more than 700. The British government suspects Islamic terrorists are responsible. A massive investigation is under way. 

The attacks during morning rush hour Thursday have left Londoners shocked and angry, but apparently determined to carry on with their lives.

As police, fire and ambulance crews grappled with the carnage, Prime Minister Tony Blair rushed backed to London from the Group of Eight summit in Scotland to assess the situation.

After his meetings, Mr. Blair confirmed that Britain suspects Islamic terrorists.

     "We know that these people act in the name of Islam," said Mr. Blair.  "But we also know that the vast and overwhelming majority of Muslims here and abroad are decent and law-abiding people who abhor this act of terrorism every bit as much as we do."

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says the bombings bear, in his words, "all the hallmarks of al-Qaida," the terrorist network that attacked the United States on September 11, 2001.

Mr. Blair is appealing to the British public to keep up the fight against terrorism with what he calls their "stoic resolve."

"When they try to intimidate us, we will not be intimidated," added Mr. Blair.  "When they seek to change our country or our way of life by these methods, we will not be changed.  When they try to divide our people or weaken our resolve we will not be divided and our resolve will hold firm."

Hundreds of thousands of Londoners walked home from work in the rain late Thursday. Bus and subway service was running only sporadically. An empty taxi was hard to find. Streets were gridlocked with vehicles, and police kept traffic away from some of the bombed subway stations.  Authorities are hoping to resume normal public transport service on Friday.

Task 2:

【答案】

A.

	President Bush	Republican Senators	Democratic Senators
What have they done ?	He has sent the US Senate the names of men and women he’d like to appoint as federal judges.	They’ve tried and tried to get a vote on all of the nominees.
What do they do?			The talk and talk and on the Senate floor to stall votes on the nominees.
What do they do?		By comfortably winning re-election, the president earned the right to put his choices on the federal bench.	The president is trying to skew judicial decisions by packing the courts with conservatives.

B.

1) F

2) F

3) F

4) T

5) T

6) F

【原文】

President Bush has sent the U.S. Senate the names of men and women he'd like to appoint as federal judges. And Republican senators have tried and tried to get a vote, yea or nay—or "up or down" as they like to say—on all of them. By comfortably winning re-election, the Republicans say, the president earned the right to put his choices on the federal bench.

But Democratic Party leaders say the president is trying to skew judicial decisions by packing the courts with conservatives. So they talk and talk and talk on the Senate floor to stall votes on the nominees.

It's called "filibustering”, and it takes at least 60% of members to stop this delaying tactic and force a vote. The majority Republicans run the show in the Senate, but not by 60%.

"Filibuster" is a Dutch term from the days when filibusters were pirates capturing ships on the high seas. Now the word describes holding a bill, or a nomination, hostage—even if it means reading recipes or names from the telephone book for hours on end to block a vote. The gifted orator Huey Long was a master filibusterer in the 1930s. So was fellow southerner Strom Thurmond. He set a record by rambling on for 24 hours straight in 1957.

Classic movie lovers remember the film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, in which Jimmy Stewart filibusters passionately before collapsing. "You all think I'm licked! Well I'm not licked. And I'm going to stay right here and fight for this lost cause…Somebody will listen to me. So…" (And he collapses as screams fill the Senate chamber.)

Now let us further explore the long and colorful history of filibustering. "There will be no filibustering here, sir!"

The president must wish it were that easy!

Task 3:

【答案】

A.

sleep，memory(or: the ability of the brain to form memories)，the memory process，got to sleep，with no sleep in between， Harvard Medical School，continues to learn，exclusively during sleep， scanned，different parts of the brain were active，off-line memory processing，the brain is quite busy (or: not dormant) during sleep，20—30，our memory，a biological necessity

B.

1) F

2) F

3) T

4) T

5) F

6) T

【原文】

Research just published sheds new light on the surprising relationship between sleep and the ability of the brain to form memories. In fact, sleep may actually be an important part of the memory process.

Piano students may be told that "practice makes perfect," but at least when it comes to memorizing certain finger movements, it seems that practice may be only part of the story.

In an experiment conducted by researchers at Boston's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, participants practiced tapping out a sequence of numbers on a special keyboard. It's similar to the kind of memory skill a pianist might need in order to learn a piece of music. After 12 hours, the subjects were tested on how well they remembered the number sequence.

In some cases they got to sleep during that 12-hour period; in other cases they were tested later in the day, with no sleep in between. "And what we found," explained lead researcher Matthew Walker, "is that after you learn a memory task, you improve initially when you practice that memory task, but the brain doesn't stop learning, it turns out. Once you finish practice, the brain actually continues to learn in the absence of any further continued practice. However, that delayed learning, as it were, develops exclusively during sleep, and not during equivalent time periods when you're awake."

In the second stage, as they were trying to reproduce the finger movements they had memorized, the participants' brains were scanned using an MRI, to see what parts of the brain were involved. It turns out that different parts of the brain were active, depending on whether the subject had slept during that 12-hour period between learning and testing, or been awake.

During sleep, the brain apparently conducts what Dr. Walker calls "off-line memory processing"—in this case reorganizing the motor-skill memory for more efficient retrieval the next day.

Matthew Walker says this research is only the latest in a series of studies that has led scientists to recognize that the brain is quite busy during sleep. "We are starting to abandon the notion in science that the sleeping brain is simply a dormant brain. It turns out to be quite the contrary. In fact, parts of the brain can be up to 20-30% more active during certain kinds of sleep than when we're awake."

Dr. Walker says his study adds to an ample body of research that stresses the importance of getting a good night's sleep. "It's certainly additional evidence to suggest that sleep is critical - firstly in terms of our memory. From a more general perspective, though, I think it again just stresses that sleep is a biological necessity," he says. "Evolution has created sleep for a very specific reason, in fact probably for multiple reasons, and we have to start to learn that we can't shortchange either our brain or our bodies of sleep. Because there are consequences."

University students are famous for their poor sleep habits, and Dr. Walker says that includes the ones in his classes, despite their lessons about the importance of getting a good night's sleep. So I had to ask him about his own sleep habits. "That's a good question," he acknowledged, laughing. "Well, the irony of sleep research, in fact, is that I get very little of what I'm trying to study. But in some ways it's actually a great, subjective insight into the consequences of sleep deprivation. So I actually see it as an academic endeavor and a benefit rather than a hindrance."

Task 4:

【答案】

A.

1) At the Paris Air Show in France.

2) It’s China’s state-run Aviation Industry Corporation.

3) Medium and short-range commercial aircrafts.

4) The company will first satisfy customers in China and then expand markets in Africa and Southeast Asia.

5) The 70 to 90-seat jet planes.

6) The company will spend 60 million dollars to purchase parts from Chinese companies fot its new 787 Dreamliner and for a new generation of 727 jets.

B.

1) F

2) F

3) T

4) T

5) F

 

【原文】

China's commercial aviation industry is being showcased this week at the Paris Air Show in France. VOA's Chris Simkins reports from the French capital on efforts to promote the country's aircraft manufacturing industry and to meet the rapid growth of commercial air travel in China.

It's been a busy week at the Paris Air Show exhibition stage of China's state-run Aviation Industry Corporation known as AVIC 1. Potential customers want to see and hear more about the company's medium and short-range commercial aircraft. For the first time the company is marketing several advanced regional jets that are under development.

Ji Hongsheng, a Senior Engineer at AVIC 1, says the company wants to build more planes for China's growing number of air travelers and increase exports of its commercial aircraft worldwide. "The aviation market in China is big and we must concentrate on our research and design. Our first step is to satisfy our customers in China and then we will expand our markets in Africa and in Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia."

AVIC 1 has had big success with its MA-60 Turbo-prop plane built in Xian. The 50 to 60-seat regional passenger plane is being flown by several small airlines in China, Africa, and the Middle East. Now the company is hoping its 70 to 90-seat jet planes will help Chinese airlines expand point to point passenger service especially in Western sections of the country. AVIC 1 has gotten 15 orders for the new jets from four Chinese airlines.

China's aircraft manufacturing industry is taking off at a time when more and more Chinese have the money to fly.

With the number rapidly growing, the big airline makers like Airbus and Boeing see China as a huge market to sell their planes. Earlier this year Boeing signed an agreement to sell its new 787 jetliner to six Chinese airlines. Randy Tinseth, is a marketing director with Boeing. "To Boeing long term that means the potential of a market of two thousand six hundred planes over the next 20 years now most of those aircraft requirements are for 737 type of aircraft so we are working very hard with the airlines in China to ensure that we can meet that demand over the next 20 years."

While Boeing will build planes for Chinese airlines, the company announced plans at the Paris Air Show to spend 60 million dollars to purchase parts from Chinese companies for it's new 787 Dreamliner and for a new generation of 737 Jets.

Task 5:

【答案】

A.

Members of the International Whaling Commission have voted down a Japanese effort to overturn a 19-year ban on hunting whales for profit.

B.

Number of member states in International Whaling Commission: 66

Results: 29 to 23 uphold the ban on commercial whaling

Venue of this year's meeting: Ulsan, South Korea

C.

	Chris Carter	Shigeko Misaki
Title/Affiliation	New Zealand Environment Minister	Japan Whaling Association
Reaction to the vote	Delighted	A little surprised
Views on Revised Management Scheme (RMS)	Is a "return to the dirty old days" of whale killing	Disputes environmentalists' claims that all whale species remain endangered
Implications of the ban on commercial whaling	Helps protect the profitable whale watching industry in both New Zealand and Australia
Further actions to be taken		Japan will press forward with plans to double its scientific whale kills in the coming years.

D.

1) It would have been a first step toward allowing commercial whale hunting.

2) Japan kills about 500 whales a year for what it says is scientific research.

3) $120 million.

4) Anti-whaling countries and whale conservation still have an upper hand in the commission.

 

【原文】

Members of the International Whaling Commission have voted down a Japanese effort to overturn a 19-year ban on hunting whales for profit. The vote shows the commission remains, for now, under the control of anti-whaling nations.

The 66-nation International Whaling Commission voted 29 to 23 to uphold the ban on commercial whaling at its annual meeting in Ulsan, South Korea.

If it is passed, a Japanese-backed proposal called the Revised Management Scheme, or RMS, would have changed the way whale-killing limits are set. Whaling opponents say it would have been a first step toward allowing commercial whale hunting.

Whale meat is a delicacy in Japan. Japan kills about 500 whales a year for what it says is scientific research, but the meat is then marketed to consumers.

New Zealand Environment Minister Chris Carter, who called the Japanese proposal a "return to the dirty old days" of whale killing, says he is delighted with the vote.

"Great loss of face for Japan," he said. "No doubt a lot of effort, resources and time went into garnering support. [It has] collapsed completely."

Mr. Carter says the ban on commercial whaling helps protect the profitable whale watching industry in both his country and Australia. He says whale tourism brings in $120 million a year in New Zealand.

Shigeko Misaki, with the Japan Whaling Association, disagrees the vote is an embarrassment for Japan.

"This was expected," said Ms. Misaki. "We thought we probably had even numbers. But then, a lot of nations turned around and started to abstain, and this was a surprise to us."

Ms. Misaki disputes environmentalists' claims that all whale species remain endangered. She says Japanese and international research has shown a surge in whale populations, particularly the minke whale, during the past 20 years. She says Japan will press forward with plans to double its scientific whale kills in the coming years.

Whaling opponents are also celebrating another victory. While it was widely expected that Japan would fail to win the two-thirds majority necessary to enact the proposal, there were fears it would win a simple majority. That would have indicated that the balance of the commission had tilted toward the pro-whaling camp. In failing to get a simple majority, pro-whaling nations may find they still need to take a back seat to nations that support whale conservation.

Task 6:

【答案】

A.

1) T

2) F

3) F

4) T

5) T

B.

1) trebled，week on week comparison，modest boost，eight-fold increase，remarkable fourteen times more copies

2) rock stars use charity to disguise self promotion 

3) generous donor，he can afford it，maintaining the moral high-ground，principled campaign against poverty

 

【原文】

Last weekend's Live 8 concerts, organized to draw attention to poverty in Africa, have had the effect of increasing record sales in Britain for several of the artists involved. This report from Lawrence Pollard:

No one knows what the effect of the weekend's concerts will be on the leaders about to gather for the G8 in Gleneagles in Scotland or on the millions living in poverty in Africa. But we do know what the effect has been on the record sales of several of the rock n roll millionaires who played. They've soared. Sales of Madonna's greatest hits have trebled according to a week on week comparison by one of Britain's biggest chains of record shops. But this is a modest boost compared to an eight fold increase for the veteran rockers The Who and a remarkable fourteen times more copies sold of the latest compilation by Pink Floyd.

This is potentially embarrassing for those involved in the concerts, as the cynics' favourite accusation has always been that rock stars use charity to disguise self promotion.

Perhaps aware of this one of the stars of the London concert has announced that he will not profit from the surge in sales and will donate his royalties to charity. David Gilmour, the guitarist of Pink Floyd is known as a generous donor - again cynics will point out he can afford it, but his is an important gesture in maintaining the moral high-ground of those involved in what was presented as a principled campaign against poverty. Gilmour urged other musicians - as well as their record companies - to make similar donations.

Task 7:

【答案】

A.

1) Less than 2 minutes after a lift-off in the Barents Sea, Cosmos I suddenly stopped sending data. Scientists say it could take days to figure out what happened to it.

2) The Volna booster rocket carrying Cosmos 1 had failed just 83 seconds after launch.

3) It was privately funded by US groups and built in Russia.

4) Solar sail technology.

B.

1) unmanned spacecraft，separated from the booster rocket，8 giant sails，unfurled，blades of a ten-story windmill，catch light particles called photons，110-kilogram

2) windsail，near vacuum of space，large reflective sail，a wind pushing on you

3) science fiction novels，$30 million，to the sun and beyond

 

【原文】

Scientists say it could take days to figure out what happened to the $4 million spacecraft. Less than 2 minutes after a lift-off in the Barents Sea, Cosmos 1 suddenly stopped sending data. Faint signals were picked up late Tuesday, but on Wednesday, the Russian space agency confirmed the V1na booster rocket carrying Cosmos 1 had failed just 83 seconds after launch.

An agency spokesman says the booster's failure means the solar sail vehicle was lost.

But Planetary Society co-founder Bruce Murray hasn't given up hope. "We do not have evidence, direct evidence, of its failure. It's worrisome, and it's not what we'd hoped to have happened."

The spacecraft, which was privately funded by US groups and built in Russia, was intended to showcase solar sail technology. The unmanned spacecraft would have separated from the booster rocket 800 kilometers above the earth, after which 8 giant sails would have unfurled. The sails, resembling the blades of a ten-story windmill, are designed to move independently to catch light particles called photons, which propel the 110-kilogram spacecraft through space.

The Planetary Society's Bruce Betts says it works like a windsail. "Once you get in the near vacuum of space, and you get the light pushing on a large reflective sail with a very light spacecraft, you actually can use that to push you just like a wind pushing on you."

Space enthusiasts have big hopes for the project, but Ann Druyan, widow of the late astronomer Carl Sagan and founder of Cosmo Studio, says space exploration has never been an easy science. "You know, whatever we discover from this mission, if it's not a success, we'll still learn from it. You know, the way to the stars is hard."

Before Cosmos 1, space sail technology was something that existed only in science fiction novels. NASA has already invested $30 million on the new technology, which scientists say could power missions to the sun and beyond within a decade.

 

Task 8:

【答案】

A.

Program: Day to Day

Host: Madeleine Brand

Discussant: Stephen Beard, host of "Marketplace"

Subject under discussion: performance of the dollar

I. How well is the dollar doing?

It's doing very well. It's at a 13-month high, or up 12 percent, against the euro, continuing a trend that started at the beginning of the year.

II. Why is the dollar so strong?

A. Higher interest rates in the US

After the Federal Reserve raised interest rates last week, the dollar rose to its highest value in more than a year against the euro.

B. One of depressed conditions in Europe

C. A fairly buoyant economy in the US

The manufacturing data published last week indicates that manufacturing in the US appears

to be rebounding.

III. What's the bad news to a rising dollar?

It's not going to do anything to improve America's huge trade deficit. It's not going to make American exports cheaper abroad, but instead will make imports coming into the US less expensive and therefore widen the huge trade deficit.

B.

1) T

2) F

3) T

4) F

【原文】

Brand: Back now with “Day to Day”. I'm Madeleine Brand.

Even the dollar is celebrating American independence today. After the Federal Reserve raised interest rates last week, the dollar rose to its highest value in more than a year against the euro. Joining me from London is "Marketplace's" Stephen Beard to explain why. And it all sounds pretty good for the dollar, Stephen, so how well is the dollar doing?

Beard: It's doing very well, indeed. As you say, it's actually at a 13-month high against the euro, and this continues a trend that started at the beginning of the year. It's now up 12 percent against the European single currency. And it's pretty surprising, that, since if you recall at the beginning of this year, almost everyone was predicting very sharp declines for the dollar so great is the US trade deficit.

Brand: Well, we mentioned interest rates as one reason. What are some other reasons the dollar might be so strong?

Beard: But the other side of the equation, the American side, the US is doing better than most people predicted at the start of the year. And the latest upward impulse, if you like, to the dollar came from this manufacturing data published last week indicating that manufacturing in the US appears to be rebounding. So the general picture is one of depressed conditions in Europe but a fairly buoyant economy in the US and that means very probably higher US interest rates, which makes the dollar more attractive, lower euro interest rates, which makes the euro less attractive.

Brand: So this all sounds like good news for the US, especially for tourists who want to go abroad from the US, but any bad news to this?

Beard: Of course, the one thing that is not so good about this is that it's not going to do anything to improve America's huge trade deficit. It's not going to make American exports cheaper abroad. It's, on the other hand, going to make imports coming into the US less expensive and so this huge trade deficit looks set to widen. So in "Marketplace" today we'll be taking a look at the dollar and where it's likely to go in the future as well as taking a look at some of the murky waters the cruise industry sails through. That's an expose on the cruise industry.

Brand: Thank you, Stephen.

Beard: Thank you, Madeleine.

 

Task 9:

【答案】

A.

Researcher                Institution                             Opinion

Bill Frey               Center for Strategic                  Demographic changes may

and International Studies            determine which countries

remain great powers in the future.

 

Richard Jackson         New America Foundation      The aging crisis is far worse in most of Europe and in Japan than in the US.

Phil Longman           Brookings Institution         In today's society, it doesn't make economic sense to have children.

 

B.

1) c

2) b

3) a

4) a

5) c

C.

1) global economics，security

2) pension，health care，nursing homes，social services for the elderly

3) divert resources from defense and international affairs，recruiting for their militaries

4) the rise and fall of civilizations，demographic trends，contracting populations，military， economically，culturally，expanding populations

5) the united states，grow significantly

 

【原文】

Almost everywhere in the world, people are having fewer and fewer babies. How will Europe, Japan and the United States cope with providing for the elderly? And how might demographic changes reshape developing countries in the Middle East and Africa?

In the year 2000, fertility rates in Europe and other parts of the developed world fell to levels never before recorded. Europe's population is now expected to shrink significantly in coming decades.

The United Nations says that birth rates of 2.1 children per woman are needed to replace the population. Yet only four developed countries in the world have birth rates above the replacement level.

Fertility in the United Kingdom has dropped to 1.6 children per woman. Germany's is now 1.4. And women in Italy have an average of just 1.2 children.

Bill Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution research group in Washington D.C., projects that European labor forces and economies will soon shrink along with the population.

"I've always used this metaphor that Europe was going to become this geriatric ghetto among countries of the world. They're going to become increasingly smaller; the continent of Europe is going to lose 100 million people over the next 50 years. It's going to become increasingly aged," he said.

Mr. Frey projects that in 2050, Europe will have a median age of about 52. In the United States, by contrast, the median age will be under 40 because of comparatively high fertility and immigration levels.

In 30 or 40 years, Mr. Frey says that there will only be a 1:1 ratio between each worker and retiree in Europe. He says that by mid-century in the United States, the ratio of working-age people supporting each retiree will still be just over 2:1.

As the Bush administration warns of a looming emergency in the U.S. retirement program known as social security, Mr. Frey argues that the aging crisis is far worse in the rest of the developed world.

"We're much better off here in the United States than in most of Europe and in Japan simply because we have a bit more breathing room, I guess you could say. So if the administration thinks we have a crisis here, I don't know what they should be thinking in Italy or in England or in Germany. Because they have a catastrophic crisis there," Mr. Frey said.

Many European countries have introduced incentives to encourage residents to have more children. This small town of Laviano in Italy is offering couples almost $12,000 for each newborn baby.

But these bonuses appear to have little effect on birth rates.  Some analysts argue that more comprehensive social programs are needed to offset the expense of having a child.

Phil Longman is a demographer at the New America Foundation research group in Washington D.C. "We live in a society in which more and more it really doesn't make economic sense to have children. That's not only unfair, it's imprudent in a society that's increasingly consuming more human capital than it's producing," he noted.

Some analysts believe that shrinking populations in Europe and other developed countries will profoundly affect global economics and even security.

Richard Jackson is head of the global aging initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, CSIS, in Washington D.C. "Graying means paying more for pensions, more for health care, more for nursing homes, more for social services for the elderly."

Mr. Jackson says by the 2030s, developed countries will have to spend almost a quarter of their gross domestic product on services for the elderly, up from about 12 percent today. The fiscal strain will be especially great in Japan and Europe. He says rising retirement costs will divert resources from defense and international affairs, and developed countries may have difficulty recruiting for their militaries.

Mr. Jackson says that demographic changes may well determine which countries remain great powers in the future. "Historians have observed that the rise and fall of civilizations is often linked to demographic trends, and that contracting populations give way not just militarily but economically and ultimately culturally to expanding populations."

While the population of Europe will soon begin to contract, Mr. Jackson says that populations in the Middle East and Central Asia will expand for decades to come. Fertility has declined in these areas, but demographic momentum will keep the population relatively young until mid-century. 

One of the only regions in the world to maintain high fertility rates is sub-Saharan Africa, with more than five children per woman on average. But the AIDS and HIV pandemic have ravaged populations there.  

The only large, developed country to maintain stable fertility levels is the United States, where the population is expected to grow significantly in coming decades.