GUIDE TO LISTENING 7SPACECRAFT, AND IT TURNED OUT THAT THE M...
spacecraft, and it turned out that the models they designed
phy class. You wouldn’t need the instructor’s permission to
do that.
could be adapted quite nicely to dancers’ bodies. So any-
way, I’ve reserved the computer lab down the hall for the
Student B:
No, I . . . I don’t consider myself a . . . well, not a
complete beginner, anyway. I took photos for my school
rest of this class. We’re going to spend the rest of our time
newspaper when I was in high school . . . not just news
today playing around with some of this choreography soft-
ware, okay? So let’s walk over there . . .
photos but kind of artistic photos too, you know . . . I could
show her those. I’d really like to take her class. From what
Narrator:
Now get ready to answer the question. You may
you said about her, I think I could learn a lot.
use your notes to help you.
AUDIOS
CRIPTNarrator:
Question 1: What is the main point of this lecture?
Narrator:
Question 5: What is the main topic of this
Narrator:
Listen to a discussion in a psychology class.
conversation?
Student A:
Excuse me . . . excuse me, Professor Mitchie, but
. . . I’m a little confused about what you just said.
[CD 2 Track 2]Professor:
You’re confused? Why is that, Deborah?
Student A:
Well, you said that you don’t . . . well, that most
Exercise 9.2scientists don’t think that ESP really exists.
Narrator:
Listen to a lecture in a dance class.
Professor:
Okay, now you’re clear what I’m talking about
Professor:
Okay, today we’re talking a bit about recording
when I say ESP . . .
choreography. Let me start with a question for you. Do you
Student B:
It’s mind-reading, that kind of stuff. Extrasensory
know what steps dancers used during the first productions
perception.
of . . . oh, say, of Swan Lake, or, for that matter, any of the
Professor:
Well, that’s a pretty good definition. It’s . . . well,
most famous ballets? . . . That’s really a trick question
it can be telepathy . . . that’s communicating mind to mind.
because . . . well, in most cases, no one knows, not really.
Or telekinesis . . . that’s moving things with your mind . . . .
Believe it or not, no written choreography exists for the
precognition, which is knowing the future, or seeing the
early performances of most of the world’s most famous
future. Other phenomena, too. And the study of ESP is
classical ballets, or, for that matter, even for a lot of modern
sometimes called parapsychology.
ballet. So, how did choreographers teach dancers how to
Student A:
But you think . . . well, you think all that is non-
perform their dances? Mostly, they demonstrated the steps
sense, I guess, right?
themselves, or they had one of the dancers model the steps
Professor:
Now, I’m not saying there aren’t people who have
for the other dancers. Sure, systems of written choreogra-
. . . well, remarkable senses of intuition. But I think that’s
phy have been around for a long while. Some systems use
because they’re just very sensitive, very tuned in to their
numbers, some use abstract symbols, some use letters and
environments, to the people around them. I don’t think they
words, oh, and musical notation, some systems use musi-
have any . . . abnormal mental powers beyond that, no.
cal notes. The two most common systems in use are called
Student A:
Well, I was just reading an article about ESP, and
Labanotation, and, uh, the Benesh system, Benesh
it said that there were scientific experiments done at some
Movement Notation it’s called. But here’s the thing—chore-
university, I don’t remember where, but the experiments
ographers don’t use these systems all that often. Why not,
were done with cards, and that they proved that some peo-
you ask. Well, because of the time it takes, because . . . Well,
ple could read minds.
because recording three-dimensional dance movements,
Student B:
She’s probably thinking of those experiments at
it’s very difficult, very complex, and especially it’s very
Duke University . . .
time-consuming. A single minute of dance can take up to
Student A:
Right, it was at Duke.
maybe, maybe six hours to get down on paper. You can
Professor:
Well, yes, there were a series of experiments at
imagine how long recording an entire ballet would take!
Duke about seventy years ago. Professor J. P. Rhine—who
And choreographers tend to be very busy people. But com-
was, interestingly enough, a botanist, not a psychologist—
puter experts came to the choreographers’ rescue.
he founded the Department of Parapsychology at Duke,
Computers have been used since the sixties to record cho-
and he and his wife did a lot of experiments, especially
reography. The first one—well, the first one I know about,
involving telepathy.
anyway, was a program written by Michael Noll . . . and it
Student B:
He used those cards, didn’t he, the ones with,
was . . . oh, I guess by today’s standards you’d say it was
like, stars and crosses?
pretty primitive. The dancers looked like stick figures in a
Professor:
Yes. Well, at first he used ordinary playing cards,
child’s drawing. But, uh, since the 1980’s, sophisticated pro-
but then he started using a deck of twenty-five cards. There
grams have been around, programs that . . . uh . . . well, uh,
were five symbols on these cards: a star, a cross, some wavy
they let choreographers record the dancers’ steps and
lines, a circle and, ummm, maybe a square?
movements quite easily. The only problem with these,
Student A:
So how did the experiments work?
these software programs, was that they required very pow-
Professor:
Well, basically it went like this. One person
erful computers to run them . . . and as you no doubt know,
turned over the card and looked at it carefully, really trying
not all dance companies have the kind of money you need
to focus on it, to . . . to picture it in his mind. This person
to buy a mainframe computer. But because personal com-
was called the sender. The other person, called the percipi-
puters now have more memory, more power, well, now you
ent, had to guess what symbol the sender was looking at. So
can choreograph a whole ballet on a good laptop.
. . . if it was just a matter of chance guessing, how many
Oh, and I meant to mention earlier, we owe a lot of the
times should the percipient guess correctly?
credit for these improvements in the software for dance
Student B:
Five, I guess? I mean, since there are five types of
choreography to the space program. Back in the sixties and
symbols and . . .
seventies, engineers at NASA needed computerized models
Professor:
And twenty-five cards, yes, that’s right, the law of
. . . three-dimensional, moving models of astronauts’ bod-
averages says that you should get 20% right even if you
ies so that the engineers could design spacesuits and
have absolutely no ESP talent. So if someone—and they
TOEFL_ASAK_001-140.qxp 4/21/06 1:16 PM Page 8
8 Section 2 Guide to Listeningarchaeologists have learned from them. There have been
tested thousands of people at their lab—if someone on
plenty of shipwrecks in this area. Over the years, fog and
average got more than 20%, they’d get tested more, and
some of these individuals went on to get remarkably high
storms and rocks and accidents and sometimes even war
scores.
have sunk a lot of ships around New England. I’m going to
Student A:
So, huh, doesn’t this prove that some people can
be showing you some slides of shipwrecks from trading
. . . that they have powers?
ships that sank in Colonial days, in the 1600’s, to the Andrea
Professor:
Well, after Rhine did his experiments at Duke, a
Doria, which went down in the 1950’s. The Andrea Doria,
that’s, uh, I suppose that’s the most famous shipwreck in
lot of similar experiments have been done—at Stanford
the area, the Italian ocean liner, the Andrea Doria, and it’s a
University, in Scotland, and elsewhere, and the conclusion
deep, dangerous dive to get to it, I’ll tell you. Oh, and after
. . . most researchers have decided that Rhine’s results were
that we’re going to play a little game. I’m going to show you
. . . I guess the kindest word I could use is questionable.
More recent experiments have been done under more care-
some slides of artifacts that were found on board ship-
wrecks, show them just the way they looked when they
fully controlled conditions, and those, uh, remarkable
were found, and you have to guess what they are.
results, those really high scores that Rhine got have been
rare . . . practically nonexistent. And in science, the trend
should be the opposite.
Narrator:
Question 3: What does this lecture mainly
Student B:
What do you mean, Professor?
concern?
Professor:
Well, you know . . . if the phenomenon you’re
studying is real, and the experiments are improved, are
Narrator:
Listen to a discussion in an economics class.
more reliable, then the results you get should be more cer-
Professor:
Okay, good morning, everyone, I trust everyone
tain, not less certain.
had a good weekend and that you managed to read
Student A:
So that’s why you don’t believe in ESP?
Chapter . . . Chapter 7, on taxation. Friday we talked about
Professor:
To put it in a nutshell—I’ve just never seen any
experimental proof for ESP that stood up to careful
the difference between progressive and regressive taxes . . .
and, today, we’re going to talk about two other types of tax-
examination.
ation: direct and indirect. What did the text say about direct
taxation? Yes, Troy?
Student A:
Well, the book . . . according to the chapter that
Narrator:
Question 2: What are the speakers mainly
discussing?
we read, it’s, ummm, that’s when the person who’s being
taxed . . .
Professor:
Well, it could be a person or it could be an
Narrator:
Listen to a lecture in an archaeology class.
organization.
Guest Speaker:
Good afternoon, everyone, I’m Robert Wolf,
Student A:
Right. The person or organization who’s being
and I’m president . . . well, I should say past president of
taxed pays the government directly. Is that it?
the State Archaeological Society. I’d like to thank Professor
Professor:
That’s great. Now, can you provide an example
Kingsly for asking me to, to come in and talk to you all
for us?
about a subject I’m pretty passionate about: shipwrecks.
You see, I’m also a diver, and I’m a member of the
Student A:
Yeah, uh, how about income tax?
Professor:
Why would you consider income tax a form of
International Underwater Archaeology Society, and I’ve
direct taxation?
been on a lot of underwater expeditions to investigate
shipwrecks.
Student A:
Well, because, um, the person who earns the
income pays the taxes directly to the government, right?
A lot of times, when someone mentions shipwrecks, you
think of pirates and treasures buried under the sea. And in
Professor:
Yes, good, Troy. Okay, so, someone else, what is
reality, many divers—the ones we call treasure hunters—do
indirect taxation? Cheryl?
Student B:
Well, if I understand the book correctly, it’s when
try to find shipwrecks with valuables still aboard them. In
the cost of taxes, of taxation, is paid by someone other than
fact, that’s one of the problems we face in this field. Some
the, uh, the person . . . or organization . . . that is responsi-
shipwrecks have literally been torn apart by treasure
ble for paying the taxes.
hunters searching for gold coins or jewelry, even if there
Professor:
I’d say you understood the book perfectly—that’s
wasn’t any there, and underwater archaeologists weren’t
a good definition. Now, Cheryl, we need an example of
able to get much information from these ships. But, ship-
indirect taxation.
wrecks are . . . they can be a lot more than just places to
look for treasure. A shipwreck is a time capsule, if you know
Student B:
Okay, let’s see . . . what if someone . . . some
company . . . brings, oh, say, perfume into the country from
what I mean, a photograph, a snapshot of what life was like
France. And let’s say there’s an import tax on the perfume
at the moment the ship sank. And unlike sites on land, a
shipwreck . . . it’s . . . uncontaminated . . . it’s not disturbed
that the government collects from the company, and then
by the generations of people who live on the site later.
. . . well, the importer just turns around and charges cus-
tomers more money for the perfume, to, umm, just to pay
Unless, of course, treasure hunters or someone like that has
gotten there first. And so, they’re valuable tools for archae-
the import tax.
Professor:
Good example! Anyone think of another one?
ologists, for historians. For example, the world’s oldest
known shipwreck—it sank in about, ummm, 1400
B
.
C
., off
Student A:
How about this: last year, my landlady raised my
the coast of Turkey—the artifacts on that ship completely
rent, and when I asked her why, she said it was because the
changed the way we think of Bronze Age civilizations in the
city raised her property taxes . . . is that an example?
Professor:
It certainly is. It . . . yes, Cheryl, you have a
Mediterranean.
So, I’m mostly going to stick to shipwrecks that occurred
question?
Student B:
Yes, Professor, what about sales taxes . . . direct
here, that happened off the coast of New England, and I’m
or indirect?
going to talk about what we’ve learned from them, what
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