Section A
Directions: In this section, you will hear 10 short conversations. At the end of each conversation, there will be a question. Each conversation and question will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four suggested answers marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.
1. M: It doesn’t make any sense to go home for spring vacation now.
W: That’s right. Especially since you’ll be graduating in May.
Q: On what did the two speakers aGREe?(A)
2. M: Are you busy Friday night? If not, would you like to go to the concert?
W: I have a few commitments, but I think I can postpone them for another time.
Q: What will the woman probably do on Friday night? (A)
3. M: Look, I’m sorry to bother you about this, but that music is really loud.
W: I didn’t realize you could hear it.
Q: What will the woman probably do? (C)
4. W: Do you think Mary will pass the final examination?
M: She won’t fail if she works hard, I think.
Q: What does the man think of Mary?(D)
5. W: Tom said their teacher speaks too quickly for him to understand.
M: Really? Mary and Bob said they could understand him.
Q: Who can’t understand the teacher?(D)
6. W: I just want a wash and set, please.
M: Fine. Why don’t you let me blow and dry it this time instead of putting it up in rollers? I think you would like it that way.
Q: Where did this conversation most probably take place?(C)
7. W: I waited until 9:20 for you.
M: I must have arrived six minutes after you left.
Q: What time did the man arrive?(C)
8. W: How did you find your new apartment?
M: Well, it’s quite nice really, although I’m having a hard time getting used to such a big building.
Q: What’s the man’s problem?(C)
9. M: If it rains on Saturday, the party will be ruined.
W: It doesn’t matter. We can always hold it indoors.
Q: What are the man and woman hoping to do? (C)
10. W: What a wonderful dress you’ve got!
M: I bought the 90-dollar dress for one-third off the regular price.
Q: How much does the dress cost? (C)
Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. You are required to fill in the blanks numbered from S1 to S7 with the exact words and the blanks numbered from S8 to S10 with sentences. You can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words.
Students in the UK can expect to face (S1) debts of ￡18—21,000 when they leave the university in the future, says Education Secretary Charles Clarke.
The government has published (S2) controversial proposals to allow universities to charge students top-up fees of up to ￡3,000 for their studies. Up-front fees of ￡
Mr. Clarke told the BBC TV programme Breakfast with Frost:
(S8)“The type of debt we are talking about goes up from about ￡12—15,000 to about ￡18—21,000—that kind of thing. The payback burden varies according to earnings later in life to about ￡
“We will be raising the threshold at which you have to start paying back so there will be less requirement to pay back initially but there will be a debt there to serve.” Asked what kind of interest rate graduates could expect on their debts, Mr. Clarke said details had to be thrashed out but he insisted it would be “significantly less than commercial rates”. (S10) He said the proposals would shift the financial burden from families and should not discourage students from poorer backgrounds from applying. “Students at the age of 18 and develop their lives on that basis and I am proud of the fact that I will be able to make an announcement to that effect later in the week,” he said
