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英语四级听力部分算是同学们考试时的难点吧。听力这部分不能急于求成，需要时间来练习。对于这部分同学们平时在积累词汇的基础上多加练习就可以，听的多了就能掌握技巧，距离12月份的四六级考试还有一段时间，同学每天练习一点听力，考试时听力就能取得高分了。
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听力材料：
A new "Star Trek" movie is out! Today, we talk aboutthe influence of the popular television and movieseries.
We also play music from the latest album by VampireWeekend.
And we go to California to learn what's happening to the dirty Los Angeles River.
The Power of "Star Trek"
Another movie based on the television show "Star Trek" recently opened in theaters. "Star TrekInto Darkness" has led to new discussion about the show's influence on science, technologyand society. Christopher Cruise has more.
Star Trek's spaceship is well-known to people who have watched the TV series. And those whodid not can still see the first model of the Enterprise. It can be seen at the SmithsonianInstitution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington.
The imaginary spacecraft led to the name of the American space agency's first space shuttle,says museum official Margaret Weitekamp.
"Well, the very first space shuttle was actually named Enterprise as a result of a write-incampaign organized by Star Trek fans of the 1970s."
That is just one sign of Star Trek's influence. Ms. Weitekamp recently spoke about the subjectin a group discussion at the museum. She notes that the series was first broadcast in the late1960s, when women and minorities were pressing for equal rights.
"Star Trek has been a really important vision not only of what future space flight could look like,but also a reflection of what the hopes were, especially in the 1960s, for what human societycould look like. So, very importantly in 1966, it's a mixed sex, racially integrated, multinationalspace crew that even includes an alien."
The first Star Trek series also showed technologies that have become reality, says PaceUniversity Professor Nancy Reagin. She served as editor of the book "Star Trek and History."
"You see the first depiction of a plasma screen TV; you see the first depiction of what wouldcall a cell phone. I mean the communicators – they sort of flip open just like the first cellphone that I ever had. You see the first example of Bluetooth technology, where Uhura iswearing the little Bluetooth in her ear. You see the first use of tablets, you know, where they'reusing the multi-touch pads."
Star Trek still excites engineers, says Mike Gold of Bigelow Aerospace. The company isdeveloping next-generation spacecraft.
"I'd like to think that our entire program is again very much in keeping with the spirit of Startrek, which is to push the boundaries for human exploration."
He says the Bigelow Expander Activity Module will be tested on the International Space stationin 2015. The module, called BEAM for short, is yet another example of Star Trek's influence. Theshow made famous the words, "Scotty, beam me up." This was the command given to theengineer who controlled teleportation of crewmembers.
The new film appeals to Star Trek fans old and new. Fans and astronauts, and the stars andwriters of "Star Trek Into Darkness," discussed the appeal of the series on a Google Hangout.
Astronaut Kjell Lindgren said Star Trek fuels the imagination.
"That's one of the real fun things about these movies and science fiction in general: it's justthat opportunity to imagine what the future could be like and what technology is going to belike."
Star Trek has been a part of popular culture for almost 50 years. And with yet another moviebeing planned, the series will continue to inspire people to think about space, the final frontier.
To Clean A River
The Los Angeles River is a man-made water passage. It collects dirty water from storm drains.Sadly, it has become a place where much of the city's waste collects. But as Katherine Colereports, the river is being cleaned up thanks to volunteers.
Thousands of volunteers appeared on a recent weekend to remove the waste from the LosAngeles River. The amount of trash has been growing as a result of winter rain storms.
Engineers added a concrete lining to the bottom of the waterway in the 1930s after years ofperiodic flooding. Volunteer Carol Henning says it now looks like a river again, at least in someplaces.
"Well, it's beginning to look a little better. My memory of the river was people having drag racesin the LA River on the cement bottom."
Part of the LA River was used for filming a car race in the 1978 movie, "Grease." Today parts ofthe river have been turned into a recreation area. There are plants growing along the water, andsome of the birds, fish and other wildlife have returned.
Los Angeles poet Lewis McAdams launched the group Friends of the LA River in 1986. He saysthe waterway is no longer considered the city's ugly back yard.
"Now it is increasingly the front yard of the city. People don't ignore it. More and more peoplecome down. This is the 24th annual LA River clean-up. We figure at this point we have cleanedup and taken out about a million pounds (450 kilograms) of trash out of the LA River."
Some objects found in the clean-up surprise the volunteer clean-up crew. John Dubler is avolunteer from the Disney Company.
"We find snack bags and clothing. It is amazing what you see. Little CDs."
There are food store carts, building materials and floor coverings.
Volunteer Jack Lebic says there is one very common object.
"Tons and tons of plastic bags. I think that is the number one. And they are buried underneathhere."
It is a yearly effort that is paying off -- with a river that is, once again, starting to look like ariver.
Vampire Weekend's Number One Album
"Modern Vampires of the City" is the latest album from New York City-based band VampireWeekend. This week it entered "Billboard" magazine's Top 200 albums chart at number one.The group's most recent album, "Contra", was a Billboard number one in 2010. But thesimilarity ends there.
Vampire Weekend has reformed its sound. "Modern Vampires of the City" seems a more simpleproduction than "Contra" and the song lyrics feel more serious. Much of the music has religiousthemes or subjects.
"Ya Hey" is a good example. It sounds a lot like Yahweh, the Hebrew name for God. And bandmember Ezra Koenig sings about Zion, Babylon and a saint, or holy person, in the first verse.
This is the third album for Vampire Weekend. Its first, called "Vampire Weekend", came out in2008. The four members of the band met while they were attending Columbia University in NewYork City. The four still live in the New York area.
Vampire Weekend usually produces its own albums. But, on "Modern Vampires of the City,"band members tried something new. They asked for help from producer Ariel Rechtshaid. He isknown for his work with Usher, Kylie Minogue and Plain White Ts.
The band also worked with actor Steve Buscemi, who directed a live webcast of itsperformance last month at the Roseland Ballroom in New York.
Vampire Weekend performed on the American television show, "Saturday Night Live", earlier thismonth. We leave you with one of the songs they played. Here is "Diane Young." |
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发表于 2016-7-28 21:08:58