新世纪大学英语视听说4听力原文1-6单元

英语视听说4听力原文1UNIT1OurEarthTrack4-1-2&4-1-3Blake:Whatareyouworkingon,Mary?Mary:I'mfinishingmypaper.It'sduetomorrow,Blake.Blake:What'sthetopic?Mary:It'saboutGreenland.Blake:Greenland.Hmmm...that'spartofCanada,right?Mary:Ithinkyouneedtostudyyourworldgeography,Blake.Blake:Well,isn'titnearCanada?Mary:Yes,it'soffthecoastofnortheastCanada,butit'spartofDenmark.Blake:Oh,Ididn'tknowthat.Well,what'syourpaperaboutexactly?Mary:Inmypaper,IanswerthequestionIsGreenlandreallygreen?Inotherwords,isGreenlandcoveredbyalotofplantsandtrees?Blake:Isit?Mary:Whatdoyouthink?Blake:Let'ssee...GreenlandisintheArcticCircle-wayupnorth.It'scold,...soIsGreenlandreallygreen?I'danswerprobablynot.Mary:You'dbecorrect.It'stoocoldthere.Inthenorth,alotofthegroundisfrozen.Thesummersareshort,soonlythesurfacethaws.Blake:Thatsoundstough.Mary:It'shardfortheconstructionindustry.It'snoteasytobuildinGreenland.Blake:Itsoundssoharsh.Whywouldanyonewanttogothere?Mary:Therearebigmountainrangesonthecoasts.They'regreatforhikingandoutdoorsports.Andtherearelotsofanimalsthere.Youcansometimesseewhalesswimmingintheharbors.Blake:Thatsoundscool!OK,soifit'snotreallyagreenplace,whywasitnamedGreenland?Mary:Thefirstsettlerswantedtoattractotherpeople.Theygaveitanattractivename.4-1-4&4-1-5Jay:Comeinhere,Elise.Youshouldseethisshow!Elise:Whatisit?Jay:It'scalledTheTitanicoftheSky.It'sabouttheHindenburg,agreatengineeringfeat.Elise:TheHindenburg...Jay:Youknow,thatgiantzeppelinthatcrashedin1934.Thirty-fivepeopledied.Elise:Ohyeah,Iremembernow.ItwasflyingfromGermanytotheUnitedStates.Itcrashedasitwaslanding.Jay:Right.It'ssofunnylooking,don'tyouthink?Itdoesn'tlookanythingliketheairplaneswehavetoday.Elise:That'strue.Whywouldpeoplerideinazeppelinanyway?Itseemssodangerous.Jay:Well,somepeoplecalledtheHindenburgman'sgreatestachievementinflight.Theythoughtitwassafe,Iguess.Elise:Whorodeinitanyway?Jay:Mostlywealthypeople.Itaccommodatedbetween30and40passengersandcrew.Onepersonsaiditwaslikeaflyinghotel.Elise:Itsoundsprettygreat.Jay:Yeah,anditwasfast.That'swhypeoplerodeit.Theywantedtogettotheirdestinationfaster.英语视听说4听力原文2Elise:Whydidn'ttheyjusttakeajetplane?Jay:Elise!Youknowtheydidn'thavejetsbackthen.Look,in1934ittookfivedaystotravelfromGermanytotheU.S.byship.Thezeppelincoulddoitinhalfthattime.Itwasspeedy.Elise:Well,maybeI'llsitdownandwatchalittlebit.MaybeI'lllearnsomething...4-1-6&7&8Jack:Ithinkweshouldbuyabiggercar.Bigcarsaresafer.Kayla:Yes,butontheotherhand,theyconsumemoreoil.Jack:Theyalsolookreallycool.Kayla:That’strue,buttherearesomeSUVswhicharenotbigbutalsoverybeautiful.Jack:AndIthinkbigcarsaremorefuntodrive.Kayla:Butthenagain,it’sveryexpensive.Jack:Well,let’sgetmoreinformationaboutseveralkindsofcars,okay?Track4-1-9MycountryhastwoveryfamousbuildingscalledthePetronasTowers.Thebuildingsaremadeofglass,steel,andconcrete.TheyweredesignedbyanAmericanarchitect,butheusedaMalaysianstyle.Theywerefinishedin1998,andtheywerethetallestbuildingsintheworldatthattime.Eachtowerhas88floors,andis452metershigh.IreallylikethePetronasTowers.TheyshowboththemodernandthetraditionalsideofmycountryTrack4-1-10&11Modernbuildings:Welovethem,WehatethemTheworld-famousLouvreMuseuminParisisalmost500yearsold,anditfacedaverymodernproblem:Theresimplywasn’tenoughspaceforsixmillionvisitorseachyear.In1989,AmericanarchitectI.M.Peidesignedastrikingglasspyramidinthebuilding’scentertobeavisitorentranceandshoppingarcade.Buthealsostartedanangrydebate.Somepeoplefelthisglassbuildingwasapieceofart,liketheonesinsidethemuseum.Otherssaiditwasjustanugly,modernmistake.Kyoto,Japan,isthecountry’sancientcapital,andtheheartofitsculture.Itsrailroadstationwastoosmallforthemillionsofvisitors.In1997,thecitycompletedanewstationinahugeshoppingcenter,rightintheoldestpartofthecity.DesignedbyHiroshiHara,thebuildingalsocontainsahotelanddepartmentstore.Beforeitwasbuilt,criticssaidthatthehigh,wide,modernbuildingwoulddestroythecity’straditionallook.Ontheotherhand,supporterssaiditwouldbringnewlifeintothecitycenter.Track4-1-12&4-1-13Thefuturebuildingboom?Interviewer:Whatdoyouthinkisthebiggestproblemfacingourcities?Erika:Ithinkit'sovercrowding.Talktoanyonelivinginamajormetropolitanareaandtheywillsaythesamething;There'snospace.Eventhesuburbsaregettingcrowded.Interviewer:Well,insomeplacestheresimplyisn'tanylandleftforbuilding,right?Erika:Yes,that'strue,butyouhavetothinkcreatively.Youcan'tgiveupsoeasily.Interviewer:Thinkcreatively?Whatdoyousuggest?Erika:WhatI'msayingisthatwecanbuildmorestructuresunderground.Wecanaddparkinglots,malls,hotels,andevenapartmentbuildings.There'splentyofspace.Interviewer:Isn'titexpensive?Erika:Yes,itcanbe.Inthepastbuildingundergroundhasbeenveryexpensive.However,we英语视听说4听力原文3havenewtechnologythatwillbringthecostdown.Itinvolvesusingrobots.Youdon'thavetopayrobotsasalary!Interviewer:Isn'tbuildingdownmoredangerousthanotherkindofconstruction?Erika:Actually,Ithinkit'ssaferthanbuildingskyscrapers,forexample.Remember,wealreadydoit.Wehavesubwaysandundergroundshoppingmalls.I'mjustsuggestingweinvestinavarietyofbiggerprojectsandthatwedigdeeper.Interview