【聽力答案】

7.C 8. 9. D 10. B

【聽力原文】

Passage 3

While nearly all men are poor at public speaking，women are even worse. This is partly because women cannot tell jokes，but also because we are better at self-awareness and therefore know that our speech is average and the audience would rather be doing something else—（7）thoughts that do little to enhance performance.（上文中自我意識的想法很難為演講增色。）(8)To combat fear and innate hopelessness, I try quite hard to be better.（演講者努力地克制恐懼和固有的絕望感。）Every time a book about public speaking arrives on my desk, I skim it for tips. Mostly they tell you to "relax" and "be yourself" (9)which is downright irresponsible.（演講者認為書中的建議是非常不負責任的。）

This works only for the one in a trillion who is born a brilliant speaker. Being good, for everyone else means reaching such an elevated level of nervousness and artifice that you can present an entirely convincing picture of authenticity and relaxation. I have only come across two bits of helpful advice. The first is practice, practice, practice. This is a bore because it takes a lot of time, but there is no way round it, (10)The second is to junk all aids. PowerPoint is a crutch.（不建議使用幻燈片。）It is an ugly thing in itself and must be thrown away if you want to talk smoothly. Equally, you must never read a speech. Write it, learn it and then leave it at home, speaking with minimal notes.

【核心詞匯】

artifice n.詭計；欺騙

average a.平常的，普通的

crutch n.拐杖

downright a.徹底的，完全的

elevated a.提高的

hopelessness n.絕望

innate a.天生的，固有的

junk v.丟棄，廢棄

minimal a.最小的

self-awareness n.自我意識