2014年12月英语四级听力备考练习6

英语自学网

　　

20160513035603200.gif

听力音频点击下载
　　

20160513035603617.gif

听力材料：
　　Happy Valentine's Day! Americans celebrate theholiday each year on February fourteenth. So docandy companies, jewelry stores and people sellingflowers. Marsha James tells us more aboutValentine's Day in the United States.
　　This couple married high up on the Empire StateBuilding in New York on Valentine's Day.Valentine's Day is for lovers. It is a good day to askyour boyfriend or girlfriend to marry you. It is also a popular day for marriage ceremonies.
　　But, other couples might celebrate with dinner at a nice restaurant.
　　The holiday is named for Saint Valentine. He was an early Christian clergyman who was said tohave helped young lovers. Valentine was executed for his Christian beliefs on Februaryfourteenth, more than one thousand seven hundred years ago. But the day that has his nameis even older than that.
　　The ancient Romans celebrated a holiday for lovers more than two thousand years ago. Aspart of the celebration, each girl reportedly wrote her name on a piece of paper and put it in alarge container. Each boy reached into the container and pulled out the name of a girl. Thatgirl became his girlfriend for a year.
　　Lovers still put their names on pieces of paper on Valentine's Day. They send each other cardsthat express their love. Sometimes they send other gifts, too, like jewelry... or flowers... orcandy...or all three!
　　So Valentine's Day is big business in America. The National Retail Federation is a trade group.The federation represents retail stores in the United States and other countries. It expects theaverage American to spend about $134 for Valentine's Day this year. That is up about threedollars from 2013. The organization also says men will about twice as much on their partners aswomen will. And it says it expects total spending for Valentine's Day in the United States toreach about $17.3 billion.