Talks and Conversations 3

John: Good morning, Betty. Do you know what the assignment is for our term paper in history?
Betty: Sure John. But weren’t you in class on Monday? That’s when it was given out.
John: No, I missed that class. Was there a handout?
Betty: No, the instructor just wrote the assignment on the board.
John: Could I copy the assignment from your notes?
Betty: You could if I had copied it all down, but I just wrote down the part that I wanted.
John: Oh no...
Betty: You see, there were four choices of topics for the term paper, but when I saw them, I knew which one I wanted, so I didn’ t copy the others down.
John: Can you remember any of the others?
Betty: Let’s see... There was one about World War I, something about it, but I don’t remember what. And there was one called the idea of progress in the 19th century.
John: And what was the last one?
Betty: I can’t remember. My mind is a complete blank. Maybe you could ask someone else.
John: Yes, I will. Anyway, those are certainly broad topics.
Betty: Yes, but you can focus on a special area within them. Which one would you take?
John: Of course, I don't know what the last one is, but of these three, I think I'd take the idea of progress.
Betty: That's very abstract.
John: Yes, but it is one of my interests and I've read a lot on the subject. I've never written a term paper on it though.
Betty: Me neither. I haven't even read about it. Are you going to class on Wednesday?
John: Yes.
Betty: Maybe he'll write it on the board again.
John: I hope so. Good luck with your paper.
Betty: Same to you.

Questions:

19. How many topics did the teacher give for the term paper?
20. How was the assignment given out by the instructor?
21. Why can't John copy the assignment from Betty's notes?
22. Why does John choose to write on the idea of progress in the 19th century?

【評析】
本段聽力講述的是男同學周一沒有去上課，來詢問女同學老師給出的期末論文題目是什么。恰巧老師給出的是4個話題以供挑選，女同學沒有記下所有的話題，只是憑記憶講述了兩個話題給男同學聽。男同學在已知的話題中傾向于寫“the idea of progress in the 19th century”，因為他喜歡這方面知識，而且之前也有閱讀。問題都是常見細節題，涉及所給話題數目、話題告知方式等，難度不大，只要認真聽不難得出答案。