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Passage 1
We don't choose friends on thebasis of how much money they have, of course, but vast differences can bedisturbing to both sides. Aaron, for example, is single, and earns a very goodsalary. Her friend, Pat, a divorced mother of three, is struggling to make endsmeet. "We are both frequent theatergoers," Aaron explains, "andI'll gladly pay for two tickets, just to have Pat's company at plays andconcerts. But she won't go anywhere unless she can pay her own way. I hate togo alone. So we both stay home. It all seems so silly." Pat sees thesituation differently. After an unhappy marriage to a man who tried to controlher without considering her wishes and feelings, she says, "It's very importantto me to carry my own weight. I'm not comfortable in any relationship where allI do is take."
The difficult situation finally changed when Aaron moved recently. Pat's childrenwere with their father, so she took a picnic lunch to her friend's new place,and then spent the day helping her unpack and get settled. "I was sograteful," Aaron says, "but I persuaded Pat to let me return thefavor in my own way with season tickets to our little theater group. I thinkshe's beginning to recognize that she contributes as much to our friendship asI do.".
Questions 26 to 29 are based on the passageyou have just heard.
26. What do we learn about Pat?
27. What draws Aaron and Pat together?
28. What does Aaron do to return Pat's favor?
29. What do we learn aboutfriendship from the passage?
Passage 2
Sun School, in the town of Ashburton,England, is a day school for children aged 10 to 18. It is based on the valueof social equality between students and staff, and has few rules. Sun Schoolbelieves that the healthy growth of a child is more important than academicsuccess. It offers a variety of lessons and activities for students to choosefrom and free time for children to follow their own interests. Classes aresmall and based on the individual needs of each child. The timetable is fixed,but democratically decided and students are expected to attend. The weeklyschool meeting is at the center of the way. Sun school is organized. It makesall the decisions that affect the school, including rules, the timetable andaccepting or rejecting new students and teachers. Participating in thesemeetings gives the children an understanding of democratic decision-making andhelps them develop their skills of argument and persuasion. The most importantadvantage of the school meeting is that it shows the children that the schoolis really theirs. They have the right to decide on changes. And the school'ssuccess or failure depends on their decisions and their behavior. Sun Schoolemploys no cooking or cleaning staff, these jobs are done by the students andteachers. Decorating and simple repairs are also done by the students, it isbelieved that for the school to truly belong to those who use it, they musttake responsibility for its maintenance.
Questions 30 to 32 are based on the passageyou've just heard.
30. What value is Sun Schoolbased on?
31. What is characteristic of theschool’s decision-making process?
32. Why does Sun School askstudents to do the maintenance?
Passage 3
Well, to continue, as I mentionedearlier, there is also research that demonstrates that individuals performworse, not better on tasks when other people are there. R.W.Hubbert did aninteresting experiment. He had his subjects learn a finger maze. This is a gamein which you indicate with your finger the way through a complex system ofpassages or paths. The subjects who had an audience did worse than the subjectswho did alone.
Nowhow can we explain these very different results? It seemed very confusing for along time. Social psychologist John Roberts finally cleared up the confusionabout why people sometimes perform better and sometimes worse in front of anaudience. Roberts found that the presence of an audience facilitates what youalready know how to do. That is, if you know what you are doing, having anaudience helps you do it better. But if you don’t already know how to dosomething, you will probably make some mistakes and you will make mistakes fora longer time if you have an audience. That’s exactly what happened to thesubjects who were learning the finger maze.
Soif you are doing well, having an audience increases the chances that you willcontinue to do well. If you are doing badly, having an audience seem increasesthe chances that you will continue to do badly. Roberts cleverly pointed outthat when you are first learning something, you are better off working alonethan practicing with other people.
Question 33 to 35 are based on the passageyou have just heard.
33. What did the speaker probablydiscuss before coming to this part of the talk?
34. When does the presence of anaudience facilitate your performance according to Roberts?
35. What does Roberts think is abetter way to learn new things?
