大学英语专业八级满分听力训练

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大学英语专业八级满分听力训练

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大学英语专业八级满分听力训练

　　ECTION A MINI-LECTURE

　　In this section, you will hear a mini-lecture. You willhear the lecture ONCE ONLY. While listening, takenotes on the important points. Your notes will not bemarked, but you will need them to complete a gap-filling task after the mini-lecture. When the lecture isover, you'll be given two minutes to check yournotes, and another 10 minutes to complete thegap-filling task. Now listen to the mini-lecture.

　　Types and Acceptance

　　Good afternoon, everybody. Today we'll go on with our discussion about "Elements of Culture".We have talked about the element of language, which is viewed by sociologists as thefoundation of every culture.

　　Now let's look at the second element—norms. What are norms? Norms can be defined as theestablished standards of behaviour maintained by a society.

　　Well, you know, all societies have ways of encouraging and enforcing what they view asappropriate behaviour while discouraging and punishing what they consider to be improperconducts. For example, respect for older people is a norm found in China. "Put on some cleanclothes for dinner" is a norm followed in America. Bowing deeply to each other when meetingand saying good-bye to people is a norm practised in Japan. These are all norms.

　　In order for a norm to become significant, it must be widely shared and understood. Forexample, when we go to the movies, we typically expect that people will be quiet while the film isshowing. Because of this norm, if a member of the audience talks loudly, he may be asked tolower his voice. And when we go to school or go to work, we are expected to be punctual. Ifsomeone is late, he or she may feel uneasy and should say sorry to others.

　　Now we'll have a look at the types of norms. Sociologists distinguish norms in two ways. First,norms can be classified as formal and informal. Formal norms have generally been written downand involve strict rules for punishment of violators. Laws are an example of formal norms,because in a political sense, the law is the body of rules, made by government for society,interpreted by the courts, and backed by the state. Besides, the requirements for a collegemajor and rules of a card game are also formal norms.

　　By contrast, informal norms are generally understood but are not precisely recorded.Standards of proper dress are a common example of informal norms. Our society has nospecific punishment or sanction if a student comes to college dressed quite differently fromeveryone else. The most likely response is that he or she might be made fun of by otherstudents for his or her unusual choice of clothing.

　　Second, norms are also classified by their relative importance to society. When classified thisway, they are known as mores and folkways. Mores are norms that are regarded highlynecessary to the welfare of a society, often because they embody the most valuable principlesof a people. Each society demands obedience to its mores, and violation can lead to severepenalties. For example, our society has strong mores against murder and treason. Folkwaysare norms governing everyday behaviour whose violation raised relatively little concern. Forexample, walking up a "down" escalator in a department store challenges our standards ofappropriate behaviour, but it will not result in a fine or a jail sentence. Folkways play animportant role in shaping the daily behaviour of members of a culture.

　　OK, how do people accept norms? Now we'll talk about the acceptance of norms. First, norms,whether mores or folkways, are not followed in all situations. In some cases, people evade anorm because they know it is weakly enforced. For example, although smoking in public isforbidden, we often find people smoking in buses or other public places.

　　Second, norms are violated in some instances because one norm conflicts with another. Forexample, suppose you live in an apartment building and one night you hear the screams of thewoman next door. She is being beaten by her husband. If you decided to intervene by callingthe police, you are violating the norm of "mind your own business" or "don't interfere withother family's business", while at the same time you are following the norm of assisting avictim of violence.

　　Then, even when norms do not conflict, there are always exceptions to any norm. The sameaction, under different circumstances, can cause one to be viewed either as a hero or as avillain. For example, Eaves-dropping on telephone conversation is normally considered illegalor mean, but it can be done by the police to obtain valid evidence for a criminal trial. Evenkilling another human being is tolerated as a form of self-defence and is actually rewarded inwarfare.

　　Acceptance of norms is also subjected to change, as the political, economic, and socialconditions of a culture is transformed. For example, under traditional norms, a woman wasexpected to marry, rear children, and remain at home if her husband could support the family.However, these norms have been changing in recent decades, and more and more women areready to or encouraged to have her own career and support the family together with herhusband. As support for traditional norms weakens, people will feel free to violate them morefrequently and openly and will be less likely to receive serious negative sanctions for doing so.

　　Well, time is almost up for today's lecture. To sum up, norms are established standards ofbehaviour maintained by a society. They are distinguished in two ways, that is, formal orinformal norms according to their formality, and mores and folkways according to theirrelative importance to society. People in a culture normally follow its norms, but acceptance ofnorms differs in different situations and social conditions.

　　Next time we'll go on with other elements of culture, sanctions and values. See you then.

　　Section B INTERVIEW

　　In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY.Listen carefully and then answer the questions thatfollow. Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview.At the end of the interview, you will be given 10seconds to answer each of the following 5 questions.Now listen to the interview.

　　Interviewer (W): I first encountered ParkerRossman' s work in the early 1990s via hisgroundbreaking book, The Emerging WorldwideElectronic Universit

　　y: Information Age Global Higher Education (Rossman, 1992 ). When I saw that his currentproject is a freely accessible online book-in-progress on the future of lifelong and highereducation, I asked if he would allow Technology Source readers to learn about and participatein the project. He graciously consented to this interview. Parker, I note on your Web site thatyou have three book-length volumes concerning the future of higher education: Volume I, TheFuture of Higher Lifelong Education and Virtual Space; Volume II, Research On Global Crises,Still Primitive; and Volume III, Future Learning and Teaching. What struck me in particular wasyour note asking readers to contact you if they saw errors, or if they could contribute Website URLs or in terms of information that were pertinent to the material. As these notesindicate, you clearly regard this to be a work in progress. Certainly this is a great way todevelop the manuscripts relatively quickly. What do you expect to accomplish via thistechnique?

　　Parker Rossman (M) : My objectives are to examine the ways in which a global virtualeducation system can come into existence and to raise questions about needed research onlearning, teaching, and overcoming the problems ( such as hunger, bad health, war, andrevolution) that stand in the way of providing education for everyone in the world. I realizethat education for all is impossible, but perhaps only in the sense that the United States, outof necessity, accomplished what was "impossible" after the attack on Pearl Harbor. I assumethat H.G. Wells was right when he said that civilization is in a race between education anddisaster. So I am willing to be audacious—as someone retired and with no axe to grind—and to initiate a project that might at least stimulate thought and discussion. For 30 yearsor more I have been studying the university, higher education, and academia in the developingworld. In the 1980s I began to see the emergence and potential of a global virtual university;this insight culminated in a book that was widely read and used and that led to my beinginvited to lecture in various countries. The next year Praeger published it as a paperback in theirContributions to the Study of Education series. Developing world delegates to the 1997UNESCO conference on higher education in Paris complained that it was too expensive forthem. So I said that I would put a sequel online, free to anyone in the world. I asked that, inreturn, they send me feedback and suggested links. And I have now accomplished this.

　　W: Doesn't your online manuscript deal with far more than higher education? Yourclassification is a bit confusing to me, because each volume looks like a book. Why not saythat you have three books on the Web?

　　M: It must be one book if it is to be holistic. It should introduce all of the needs and problemsthat must be dealt with at once as we enter a time of lifelong education. "Education for all" mustinclude programs for pre-kindergarten children, for primary and secondary school age learners,and for college students. It also must include continuing educational programs that foster jobskills, career planning, and hobbies as well as special interest programs for senior citizens.Instead of talking about a "global university", the time has come to explore possibilities for aglobal virtual education system.

　　W: Then why do you keep speaking of the "future of the university"?

　　M: It is also my assumption that the university, however it changes, will continue to be themajor research center for all education. It will be a crucial focus of educational vision and thegathering place of scholars and educators. There will continue to be residential campuses forthose who can afford them, and higher education institutions will continue to be thespringboard for online education for all—all places, all ages, all needs, lifelong, in the world.

　　W: What kinds of constructive criticism or negative feedback are you getting?

　　M: Well, the list is long. I try to cover too much. Some information is out of date. Web URLsdisappear, which limits my ability to link to the latest research as a means of avoiding excessivedetail in the text. Also, different readers come with expectations that are not met. In discussingtechnology, for instance, how can we address those who are technological experts and those inthe developing world whose knowledge is still limited? My project seems out of focus in that itstruggles with the nature and future of the university in a time of lifelong education, and withthe added problem of how to provide education for everyone in the world.

　　W: Are you encouraged that others are getting involved?

　　M: Recognizing the perils in my experiment, I must be prepared for all kinds of criticism, evenantagonism. Perhaps now that I am retired, I am better prepared to face antagonism andscorn than those who have jobs and careers to consider. However, I see the whole project asan initial effort that might later be enlarged to be more useful to those who need to discusscurrent problems and future issues. I see it as nothing definitive, but as an outline on whichto hang all kinds of ideas and topics that might stimulate discussion, imagination, andconversation.

　　W: Parker, via this interview and the subsequent web cast, many more people will learn of thiscreative, exciting, and valuable project. Be prepared for a flood of eager volunteers!

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