conversation one
man: (1) itll start my new job in 2 weeks. my human resources manager wants to conduct an interview with me before i leave.
woman: ah, an exit interview. are you looking forward to it?
man: im not sure if i should tell them how i really feel.
woman: to my way of thinking, there are two main potential benefits that come from unleashing and agitated stream of truth during an exit interview. the first is release. unburdening yourself of frustration, and perhaps even anger to someone who isnt a friend or close colleague can be wonderfully free.
man: let me guess. the second is that the criticism will, theoretically, help the organization im leaving to improve, making sure employees of the future are less likely to encounter what i did?
woman: thatt. in my company, the information gained from these interviews is often not confidential. (2) the information is used as dirt against another manager, or can be traded among senior managers.
man: now youll disclose in the interview. (3) there is always a chance that it could affect my reputation and my ability to network in the industry. it is a pretty small industry after all.
woman: anything you initially gained from the instant satisfaction of telling it like it is, you might lose down the track by injuring your future career prospects.
man: right. (4) perhaps i would be better getting things off my chest by going to one of those rate-your-employer websites.
woman: you could. and dont do the interview at all. exit interviews are not mandatory.
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q1: what do we learn about the man from the conversation?
a) he will tell the management how he really feels.
b)he will meet his new manager in two weeks.
c) he is going to attend a job interview.
d) he is going to leave his present job.
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q2: what does the woman think of the information gained from an exit interview?
a) it should be kept private.
b) it should be carefully analyzed.
c) it can be quite useful to senior managers.
d)it can improve interviewees job prospects.
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q3: why does the man want to rethink what he will say in the coming exit interview?
a)it may leave a negative impression on the interviewer.
b)it may adversely affect his future career prospects.
c)it may displease his immediate superiors.
d) it may do harm to his fellow employees.
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q4: what does the man think he had better do?
a)prepare a comprehensive exit report.
b)do some practice for the exit interview.
c)network with his close friends to find a better employer.
d)pour out his frustrations on a rate-your-employer website.
conversation two
man: today, i’m talking to the renowned botanist, jane foster.
woman: thank you for inviting me to join you on the show, henry.
man: recently, jane, you’ve become quite a celebrity, (5) since the release of your latest documentary. can you tell us a little about it?
woman: well, it follows my expedition to study the vegetation indigenous to the rain forest in equatorial areas of southeast asia.
man: you certainly get to travel to some very exotic locations.
woman: it was far from glamorous, to be honest. the area we visited was accessible only by canoe and the living conditions in the hut were primitive to say the least. (6) there was no electricity.? our water supply was a nearby stream.
man: how were the weather conditions while you were there?
woman: the weather was not conducive to our work at all, since the humidity was almost unbearable. at midday, we stayed in the hut and did nothing. (6) it was too humid to either work or sleep.
man: how long did your team spend in the jungle?
woman: originally, we planned to be there for a month. but in the end, we stayed for only 2 weeks.
man: why did you cut the expedition short?
woman: halfway through the trip, (7) we received news that a hurricane was approaching. we had to evacuate on very short notice.
man: that sounds like a fascinating anecdote.
woman: it was frightening. the fastest evacuation route was through river rapids. we had to navigate them carrying all of our equipment.
man: (8) so overall was the journey unsuccessful?
woman: (8) absolutely not. we gathered a massive amount of data about the local plant life.
man: why do you put up with such adverse conditions?
woman: botany is an obsession for me. many of the destinations i visit have a stunning scenery. i get to meet a variety of people from all over the world.
man: so where will your next destination be?
woman: i havent decided yet.
man: then we can leave it for another vacation. thanks.
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questions 5 to 8 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
q5: what does the man want jane foster to talk about?
a) her unsuccessful journey
b)her month-long expedition
c)her latest documentary
d)her career as a botanist
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q6: why does the woman describe her experience as far from glamorous?
a)she had to live like a vegetarian
b)she was caught in a hurricane.
c) she had to endure many hardships
d) she suffered from water shortage
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q7: why did the woman and those who went with her end their trip halfway?
a)a hurricane was coming
b)a flood was approaching
c)they had no more food in the canoe.
d) they could no longer bear the humidity
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q8: what does the woman think of the journey?
a) it was memorable
b)it was unbearable
c) it was uneventful
d) it was fruitful
passage one
scientists often use specialized jargon terms while communicating with laymen. (9) most of them dont explained.
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the problem is that the mere presence of jargon sends a discouraging message to readers. hillary schulman, the author of the study, asserts that specialized words are a signal. jargon tells people that the message isns important to communicate clearly when talking about complex science subjects. this is especially true with issues related to public health, like the safety of new medications and the benefits of vaccines. （11）schulman concedes that the use of jargon is appropriate with scientific audiences. but scientists who want to communicate with the general public need to modify their language. they need to eliminate
jargon.
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questions nine to eleven are based on the passage you have just heard.
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q 9: what does the passage say about the use of jargon terms by experts?
a) it diminishes laymens interest in science
b) it ensures the accuracy of their arguments
c) it makes their expressions more explicit.
d) it hurts laymens dignity and self-esteem.
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q10: what do researchers find about people reading scientific articles containing jargon terms?
a) they can learn to communicate with scientists
b)they tend to disbelieve the actual science
c)they feel great respect towards scientists
d)they will see the complexity of science
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q11: what does schulman suggest scientists do when communicating with the general public?
a) find appropriate topics
b)stimulate their interest
c) explain all the jargon terms
d)do away with jargon terms
passage two
at the beginning of the twentieth century, on the gulf coast in the us state of texas, there was a hill where gas leakage was so noticeable that schoolboys would sometimes set the hill on fire.
(12) patio higgins, a disreputable local businessman, became convinced that there was oil below the gassy hill. oil wells werent drilled back then. they were essentially dug. (13) the sand under the hill defeated several attempts by higgins’ workers to make a proper hole. higgins had forecast oil at 1000 feet, a totally made-up figure. higgins subsequently hired a mining engineer, captain anthony lucas. (14) after encountering several setbacks, captain lucas decided to use a drill, and his innovations created the modern oil drilling industry. in january 1901, at 1020 feet, almost precisely the depth predicted by higgins wild gas, the well-roared and suddenly ejected mud and six tons of drilling pipe out of the ground, terrifying those present. for the next nine days until the well was capped, the well poured out more oil than all the wells in america combined.
in those days, texas was almost entirely rural, with no large cities and practically no industry. cotton and beef were the foundation of the economy. (15) higgins’ well changed that. the boom made some prospectors millionaires, but the sudden surplus of petroleum was not entirely a blessing for taxes. in the 1930s, prices crashed to the point that in some parts of the country, oil was cheaper than water. that would become a familiar pattern of the boom or bust texas economy.
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q12: what did texas businessmen patio higgins believe?
a) the local gassy hill might start a huge fire
b) there was oil leakage along the gulf coast
c) the erupting gas might endanger local children
d) there were oil deposits below a local gassy hill
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q13: what prevented higgins’ workers from digging a proper hole to get the oil?
a) the massive gas underground
b)their lack of the needed skill
c)the sand under the hill
d)their lack of suitable tools
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q14: what does the passage say about captain lucas drilling method???
a) it rendered many oil workers jobless
b)it was not as effective as he claimed
c) it gave birth to the oil drilling industry
d)it was not popularized until years later
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q15: what do we learn about texass oil industry boom???
a)it radically transformed the states economy
b) it resulted in an oil surplus all over the world
c) it totally destroyed the states rural landscape
d)it ruined the states cotton and beef industries
?recording one
most people dislike their jobs. itve never read a management book or attended a management course. they might not have even reflected on what good management looks like and how it would influence their own management style. the researchers interviewed employees about their managers. beginning with a question about the worst manager they had ever had. from this, the researchers came up with four main causes of why some managers are perceived as being simply awful at their jobs.
[17]the first cause was company culture, which was seen by employees as enabling poor management practices. it was specifically stressful work environments, minimal training, and a lack of accountability that were found to be the most blame worthy. often a manager superiors can effectively encourage a managert their skill set, or other merits that got them the job, it was their tenure.
a point worth making is that the study [18] was based only on the perspective of an employeere actually causing. which might explain why, as the researchers conclude, those same middle managers are usually unaware that they are a bad manager.
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question 16: what is a primary cause of employee dissatisfaction according to recent research?
a)unsuitable jobs
b)bad managers
c) insufficient motivation
d)tough regulations
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question17: what is one of the causes for poor management practices?
a) ineffective training
b)toxic company culture
c) lack of regular evaluation
d)overburdening of managers
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question 18: what do we learn about the study on job dissatisfaction?
a) it collected feedback from both employers and employees
b)it was conducted from frontline managers point of view
c)it provided meaningful clues to solving the problem
d)it was based only on the perspective of employees
recording two
with the use of driver-less vehicles seemingly inevitable, [19]mining companies in the vast australian desert state of western australia are definitely taking the lead. iron ore is a key ingredient in steel-making. the mining companies here produce almost 300 million tons of iron ore a year. the 240 giant autonomous trucks in use, in the western australian mines, can weigh 400 tons, fully loaded. and travel at speeds of up to sixty kilometers per hour. they are a technological leap, transporting iron ore along routes which run for hundreds of kilometers from mines to their destinations. here when the truck arrives at its destination, staff in the operation center direct it precisely where to unload. vast quantities of iron ore are then transported by autonomous trains to ocean ports. advocates argue these automated vehicles will change mining forever. it may only be five years before the use of automation technology leads to a fully robotic mine. a range of factors has pushed western australia union have accepted the inevitability of the introduction of new technology. but they still have reservations about the rise of automation technology. their main concern is the potential impact on remote communities. as automation spreads further, the question is how these remote communities will survive when the old jobs are eliminated? and this may well prove to be the most significant impact of robotic technology in many places around the world.
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questions 19 to 21 are based on the recording you have just heard.
question 19: what does the passage say about the mining industry in western australia?
a) it is seeing an automation revolution
b) it is bringing prosperity to the region
c)it is yielding an unprecedented profit
d) it is expanding at an accelerating speed
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question 20: what is the impact of the digitization of the mining industry?
a) it exhausts resources sooner
b)it creates a lot of new jobs
c)it causes conflicts between employers and employees
d) it calls for the retraining of unskilled mining workers
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question 21: what is the attitude of workers union towards the introduction of new technology?
a) they welcome it with open arms
b)they will wait to see its effect
c)they are strongly opposed to it
d) they accept it with reservations
recording 3
according to official statistics, (22) thailand’s annual road death rate is almost double the global average. thai people know that their roads are dangerous, but they don’t know this could easily be changed. globally, road accidents kill more people every year than any infectious disease. researchers at the institute for health metrics and evaluation in america put the death toll in 2021 at 1.24 million. according to the institute, (23) the overall number of deaths has been more or less static since the turn of the century. but that disguises a lot of changes in individual countries. in many poor countries, road accidents are killing more people than ever before. those countries have swelling, young populations are fast-growing fleet of cars and motorbikes and a limited supply of surgeons. it is impossible to know for sure, because official statistics are so inadequate. but deaths are thought to have risen by 40% since 1990 in many low income countries. in many rich countries, by contrast, roads are becoming even safer. in estonia and ireland, for example, the number of deaths has fallen by about two thirds since the late 1990s. (24)but the most important and intriguing changes are taking place in middle income countries, which contain most of the world’s people. and have some of the most dangerous roads. according to researchers in china and south africa, traffic deaths have been falling since 2000. and in india since 2012, and the philippines reached its peak four years ago. the question is whether thailand can soon follow suit. rob mckinney, head of the international road assessment program, says that all countries tend to go through three phases. they begin with poor, slow roads. in the second phase, as they grow wealthier, they pave the roads, allowing traffic to move faster and pushing up the death rate. lastly, in the third phase, countries act to make their roads safer. the trick, then, is to reach the third stage sooner by focusing earlier and more closely on fatal accidents. how to do that? (25)the solution lies not just in better infrastructure, but in better social incentives. safe driving habits are practices which people know they should follow that often don’t. dangerous driving is not a fixed cultural trait, as some imagine. people respond to incentives such as traffic laws that are actually enforced.
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questions 22 to 25 are based on the recording you have just heard.
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questions 22: what does the speaker say about traffic accidents in thailand?
a) their cost to the nation’s economy is incalculable.
b)they kill more people than any infectious disease.
c) their annual death rate is about twice that of the global average.
d)they have experienced a gradual decline since the year of 2021.
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question 23: what do we learn from an american institutes statistics regarding road deaths?
a) they show a difference between rich and poor nations.
b) they don’t reflect the changes in individual countries.
c)they rise and fall from year to year.
d) they are not as reliable as claimed.
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question 24: what is said about middle income countries?
a)many of them have increasing numbers of cars on the road.
b)many of them are following the example set by thailand.
c) many of them have seen a decline in road-death rates.
d) many of them are investing heavily in infrastructure.
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question 25: what else could be done to reduce fatal road accidents in addition to safer roads?
a) foster better driving behavior.
b)provide better training for drivers.
c)abolish all outdated traffic rules.
d) impose heavier penalties on speeding.