identity n. 身份；个性；同一性
intricate a. 错综复杂的
theoretical 理论的
execute vt. 执行
slip v. 滑；溜走；下降
motel n. 汽车旅馆
bureaucracy n. 官僚主义
toll n. 过路费；伤亡人数
strip v. 剥去；剥夺
squeeze v. 挤；压榨；捏
descendant n. 后代
affection 影响、喜爱
constitute vt. 组成；设立
tuition n. 指导；学费
tutor 导师、私人教师、辅导
console 安慰；n. 控制台
terminate v. （使）终止
yield v. 屈服；产生；让步 n. 产量
premium n. 保险金；a. 高级的
diploma n. 毕业文凭
variation 变化
crucial a. 至关重要的
budget n. 预算
admission n. 准许进入；承认
consideration n. 考虑；体贴
surpass vt. 超过
radical a. 根本的；激进的
trivial a. 琐碎的，不重要的
bind vt. 捆绑；约束；使结合；
scrap n. 碎片；残余物；
bypass n. 旁道； vt. 绕过；
interact vi. 相互作用
contract n. 合同、契约；
context n. 背景；上下文
comparative a. 比较的
exclusive a. 独有的；不包括…的
confront vt. 面对、面临
confess v. 坦白；承认
resist v. 抵抗
temptation n. 诱惑、引诱
immerse 使沉浸在，使专心于
hospitality n.好客
destiny / fate n. 命运；
ascend 渐渐上升，升高；vt. 攀登，登上
descend 下降
simultaneous 同时发生的
flush 冲洗；脸红
entail 使承担，使成为必要，需要
petition n. 申请书
obedient a. 服从的，顺从的
dub / nickname vt. 给…起绰号；为（电影等）配音
lest 以免、唯恐
formidable a. 可怕的；难对付的
hatch v. 孵；筹划
gasp v. 喘气，喘息
dividend n. 红利；回报；被除数
prestige n. 威信，威望、受尊重的
concise a. 简明的
facilitate vt. 使变得容易，使便利
mobilize v. 动员；调动
relay vt. 传送，转述
unify vt. 联合、统一；
precedent n. 先例，范例；
leaflet n. 传单；小册子
civilian n. 平民，百姓
escalate v.逐步升级、迅速增长
impetus n. 推动，促进
magnitude n. 重大；巨大
pastime n. 消遣，娱乐
trench n. 沟，沟渠
perplex vt. 使困惑
hasty a. 匆忙的、草率的
jeopardize vt. 危及，损害
corrode vt. 腐蚀，损坏
inlet n. 水湾，小湾；进口，入口
conspicuous a. 出色的、引人注目的；显眼的，明显的
timid a. 羞怯的，胆小的
synthesis n. 综合；合成
gossip n. 流言飞语；
graphic a. 生动的；图表的
apparatus n. 设备、器械；机构，组织
clasp n. 扣子，钩子；紧抱，紧握
despise vt. 鄙视，看不起
clamp vt. （用夹具等）夹紧，固定；
denounce vt. 谴责，指责；
jerk 猛拉， 急推
ivory n. 象牙；象牙色，乳白色
听力
2020年7月全1套：真题听力
Conversation one
M: You are a professor of physics at the university of Oxford. You're a senior【年纪大的】advisor at the European organization for nuclear【原子核】research. You also seem to tour the globe tirelessly【不知疲倦的】giving talks. And in addition, you have your own weekly TV show on sites. Where do you get the energy?
W: Oh, well, l just love what I do. I'm extremely fortunate to have this life doing what I love doing.
M: Professor, what exactly is your goal? Why do you do all of this?
W: Well, as you said, I do have different things going on, but these I think, can be divided into 2 groups, the education of science and the further understanding of science.
M: Don't these two things get in the way of each other? What I mean is, doesn't giving lectures take time away from the lab?
W: Not really. No. I love teaching and I don't mind spending more time doing that now than in the past. Also what I will say is that teaching a subject helps me comprehend【理解】it better myself. I find that it furthers my own knowledge when I have to explain something clearly, when I have to aid others in understanding it, and when I have to answer questions about it. Teaching at a high level can be very stimulating【使人兴奋的、刺激、促进】for anyone, no matter how much expertise they may already have in the field. They're instructing.
M: Are there any scientific breakthroughs that you see on the horizon【即将来临的、在地平线】, a significant discovery on venture【风险项目、冒险】we can expect soon?
W: The world is always conducting science and there are constantly new things being discovered. In fact, right now【就是现在、马上】we have too much data sitting in computers. For example, we have thousands of photos of planet Mars taken by telescopes【望远镜】that nobody has ever seen. We have them. Yet nobody has had time to look at them with their own eyes, let alone【更不用说】analyze them.
Q1. Why does the woman say she can be so energetic?
Q2. What has the woman been engaged in?
Q3. What does the woman say about the benefit teaching brings to her?
Q4. How does the woman say new scientific breakthroughs can be made possible?
Conversation two（3:55）
M: Do you think dreams have special meanings?
W: No, I don't think they do.
M: I don't either, but some people do. I would say people who believe that dreams have special meanings are superstitious【迷信的】, especially nowadays. In the past, during the times of ancient Egypt, Greece or China, people used to believe that dreams could foresee the future. But today, with all the scientific knowledge that we have, I think it's much harder to believe in these sorts of things.
W: My grandmother is superstitious and she thinks dreams can predict the future. Once she dreamed that the flight【航班】 she was due to take the following day crashed, can you guess what she did? She didn't take that flight. She didn't even bother to【费心去做某事】go to the airport the following day. Instead, she took the same flight, but a week later, and everything was fine, of course. No plane ever crashed.
M: How funny. Did you know that flying is actually safer than any other mode of transport? It's been statistically【统计学的】 proven. People can be so irrational【不理智的】sometimes.
W: Yes, absolutely. But even if we think they're ridiculous【可笑的、荒谬的】, emotions can be just as powerful as rational【理性的、合理的】thinking.
M: Exactly. People do all sorts of crazy things because of their irrational feelings. But in fact, some psychologists believe that our dreams are the result of our emotions and memories from that day. I think it was Sigmund Freud who said that children's dreams were usually simple representations of their wishes, things they wished would happen. But in adults, dreams are much more complicated reflections of their most sophisticated sentiments【情绪、感情】.
W: Isn't it interesting how psychologists try to understand, using the scientific method, something as bizarre as dreams? Psychology is like the rational study of irrational feelings.
Q5: What do both speakers think of dreams?
Q6: Why didn't the woman's grandmother take her scheduled flight?
Q7: What does the woman say about people's emotions?
Q8: What did psychologist Sigmund Freud say about adult's dreams?
PASSAGE 1（7:40）
While some scientists explore the surface【表面】of Antarctica, others are learning more about a giant【巨大的】body of water, four kilometers beneath【在...下面】the ice pack【包裹】. Scientists first discovered Lake Vostok in the 1970s by using radio waves that penetrate【穿透、刺入】the ice. Since then they have used sound waves【声波】and even satellites【卫星】to map this massive body of water. How does the water in Lake Vostok remain liquid beneath ice sheet【床单、纸片】? "The thick glass here above acts like an insulating【绝缘的】blanket【毛毯】and keeps the water from freezing." says Martin Siegert, a glaciologist【冰川学家】from the university of Wales. In addition, geothermal【地热的】heat from deep within the earth may warm the hidden Lake. The scientists suspect【猜想、怀疑】that microorganisms【微生物】may be living in Lake Vostok." closed off【封锁、隔绝】from the outside world for more than 2 million years.
Anything found that will be totally alien to what's on the surface of the earth." says Siegert. Scientists are trying to find a way to drill【钻】into the ice and draw water samples without causing contamination【污染】. Again, robots might be the solution. If all goes as planned, a drill shakes【摇动、发抖】robot will melt through the surface ice. When it reaches the Lake, it will release another robot that can swim in the lake, take pictures and look for signs of life.
The scientist hope their discoveries will shed【去除、摆脱】light on life and outer space, which might exist in similar dark and airless conditions. Recently closeup pictures of Jupiter's moon Europa showed signs of water beneath its ice surface. Once tested in Antarctica, robots could be sent to Europa to search for life there, too.
Q9.What did scientists first use to discover Lake Vostok in the 1970s?
Q10. What does it scientists think about Lake Vostok?
Q11. What do the scientists hope their discoveries will do?
Passage2（10:35）
The idea to study the American Indian tribe【部落】Tarahumaras came to James Copeland in 1984 when he discovered that very little research had been done on their language. He contacted a tribe member through a social worker who worked with the tribesmen in Mexico. At first, the tribe member, named Gonzalez, was very reluctant【勉强的、不情愿的】to cooperate. He told Copeland that no amount of money could buy his language. But after Copeland explained to him what he intended to do with his research and how it would benefit the Tarahumaras, Gonzalez agreed to help. He took Copeland to his village and served as an intermediary【中间的、中间人】. Copeland says, “Thanks to him, the Tarahumaras understood what our mission was and started trusting us.”
Entering the world of the Tarahumaras has been a laborious【辛苦的】project for Copeland. To reach their homeland, he must drive two and a half days from Houston, Texas. He loads up【装载货物】his vehicle with goods that the tribesmen can't easily get, and gives the goods to them as a gesture【姿势、表示】of friendship. The Tarahumaras, who don't believe in accumulating【累加】wealth【财富】, take the food and share it among themselves.
For Copeland, the experience has not only been academically satisfying, but also has enriched his life in several ways. "I see people rejecting technology and living a very hard, traditional life, which offers me another notion about the meaning of progress in the Western tradition," he says. "I experience the simplicity of living in nature that I would otherwis only be able to read about. I see a lot of beauty in their sense of sharing and concern for each other."
LECTURE 1（14:15）
What is a radical? It seems today that people are terrified【害怕】of the term【时期、术语】, particularly of having the label attached to them. Accusing individuals or groups of being radical often serves to silence them into submission【屈服、投降】, thereby maintaining the existing state of affairs【事务】and more important, preserving the power of a select minority【少数】, who are mostly wealthy white males in Western society.
Feminism【女权主义】is a perfect example of this phenomenon. The Women's Movement has been plagued【困扰】by stereotypes【模式化的思想】, misrepresentations by the media and accusations of man-hating and radicalism, when the basic foundation of feminism is simply that women deserve equal rights in all facets of【在所有方面】life. When faced with a threat of being labeled radical, women back down【放弃】from their worthy calls and consequently participate in their own oppression【压迫】.
It has gotten to the point that many women are afraid to call themselves feminists because of the stigma【耻辱】 attached to the word. If people refuse to be controlled and intimidated【害怕】by stigmas, the stigmas lose all their power. Without fear on which they feed, such stigmas can only die. To me a radical is simply someone who rebels【反抗、反叛】against the norm or advocates【拥护、提倡】of change in the existing state of affairs. On closer inspection【观察、检查】, it becomes clear that the norm is constantly evolving and therefore is not a constant entity. So why there is deviation【偏差、背离】from the present situation, such a threat when the state of affairs itself is unstable and subject to【遭受】relentless【不屈不挠的、残酷无情的】transformation.
It all goes back to【回到、追溯到】maintaining the power of those who have it and preventing the rise of those who don't. In fact, when we look at the word radical in a historical context, nearly every figure, we now hold up as a hero was considered a radical in his or her time. Radicals are people who affect change. They are the people about whom history is written. Abolitionists were radicals. Civil rights activists were radicals. Even the founders of our country in the fight to win independence from England were radicals. Their presence in history has changed the way our society functions, mainly by shifting the balance of power that previously existed. Of course, there are some radicals who've made a negative impact on humanity, but undeniably【不可否认的】there would simply be no progress without radicals. That being said, next time someone calls me a radical, I will accept that label with pride.
Q16: What usually happens when people are accused of being radical.
Q17: What is the speaker's definition of a radical?
Q18: What does the speaker think of most radicals in the American history?
intimidated / terrified【害怕】
LECTURE 2(18:10)
We are very susceptible【易受影响的】to the influence of the people around us. For instance, you may have known somebody who has gone overseas for a year or so, and has returned with an accent【口音】perhaps. We become part of our immediate environment. None of us are immune to the influences of our own world and let us not kid【小孩、欺骗】ourselves that we are untouched【不受影响的】by the things and the people in our life. Fred goes off to his new job at a factory.
Fred takes his 10 minute coffee break, but the other workers take a half an hour. Fred says, "what's the matter with you guys?" Two weeks later, Fred is taking 20 minute breaks. A month later. Fred takes his half hour. Fred is saying, if you can't beat them, join them. Why should I work any harder than the next guy?
The fascinating thing about being human is that generally we are unaware that there are changes taking place in our mentality. It is like returning to the city smog【烟雾】after some weeks in the fresh air. Only then do we realize that we have become accustomed【习惯的】to the nasty smells. Mixed with critical people, and we learn to criticize. Mixed with happy people and we learn about happiness.
What this means is that we need to decide what we want from life and then choose our company accordingly. You may well say that is going to take some effort. It may not be comfortable. I may offend【冒犯】some of my present company. Right. But it is your life. Fred may say l' m always broke, frequently depressed. I'm going nowhere. And I never do anything exciting. Then we discover that Fred's best friends are always broke, frequently depressed, going nowhere and wishing that life was more exciting. This is not coincidence【巧合】, nor is it our business to stand in judgment of Fred. However, if Fred ever wants to improve his quality of life, the first thing he'll need to do is recognize what has been going on【发生、进行】all these years.
It's no surprise that doctors as a profession suffer a lot of ill health because they spend their lives around sick people. Psychiatrists have a higher incidence【发生率】of suicide in their profession for related reasons. Traditionally, 9 out of 10 children whose parents smoke, smoke themselves. Obesity is in part an environmental problem. Successful people have successful friends. And so the story goes on.
Q19. What does the speaker say about us as human beings?
Q20. What does the speaker say Fred should do first to improve his quality of life?
Q21. What does the speaker say about psychiatrists?
incidence【发生率】
accident【事故】
LECTURE 3（21:55）
Virtually【事实上】every American can recognize a dollar bill at a mere glance【一瞥】. Many can identify it by its sound【声音】or texture, but few people indeed can accurately describe the world's most powerful, important currency【货币】.
The American dollar bill【账单、钞票】is colored with black ink on one side and green on the other, the exact composition of the paper and ink is a closely guarded【谨慎的、戒备的】government secret. Despite its weighty importance, the dollar bill actually weighs little. It requires nearly 500 bills to tip the scales at a pound【磅】. Not only is the dollar bill lightweight, but it also has a brief life span【寿命】. Few dollar bills survive longer than 18 months.
The word "dollar" is taken from the German word "thaler," the name for the world's most important currency in the 16th century. The thaler was a silver【银】coin first minted【薄荷、铸币厂】in 1518 under the reign of Charles V, Emperor of Germany. The concept of paper money is a relatively recent innovation in the history of American currency. When the constitution【组成、宪法】was signed, people had little regard for paper money because of its steadily decreasing value during the colonial【殖民】era. Because of this lack of faith, the new American government minted only coins for common currency. Interest-bearing bank notes were issued【发布】at the same time, but their purpose was limited to providing money for urgent government crises, such as American involvement in the War of 1812.
The first non interest-bearing paper currency was authorized by Congress in 1862, at the height of the Civil War. At this point, citizens' old fears of devalued paper currency had calmed, and the dollar bill was born. The new green colored paper money quickly earned【挣得、引起】the nickname "greenback." Today, the American dollar bills a product of the Federal Reserve, and is issued from the twelve Federal Reserve banks around the United States. The government keeps a steady supply of approximately【大约】two billion bills in circulation【循环、发行量】at all times.
Controversy【争论】continues to surround the true value of the dollar bill. American history has seen generations of politicians argue in favor of a gold standard for American currency. However, for the present, the American dollar bill holds the value that is printed on it, and little more. The only other guarantee on the bill is a Federal Reserve pledge【誓言、保证】 as a confirmation【确认、证明】in the form of government securities【证券、抵押物】.
22. What does the speaker say about the American dollar bill?
What does the speaker say about the exact【确切的、精确地】composition of the American dollar bill?
24. Why did the new American government mint only coins for common currency?
25. What have generations of American politicians argued for?
Issue【问题】
Issued【发布】
security【安全、证券】