知不足者好学，耻下问者自满。以下是小编为大家搜索整理的2017年大学英语四级听力短文原文，希望能给大家带来帮助!更多精彩内容请及时关注我们应届毕业生考试网!
Passage One
No one knows for sure just how old kites are. In fact, they have been in use for centuries. 25 centuries ago, kites were well-known in China. These first kites were probably made of wood. They may even have been covered with silk, because silk was used a lot at that time.
Early kites were built for certain uses. In ancient China, they were used to carry ropes across rivers. Once across, the ropes were tied down and wooden bridges were hung from them. Legend tales of one general who flew musical kites over the enemy’s camp. The enemy fled, believing the sounds to be the warning voices of angels. By the 15th centuries, many people flew kites in Europe. Marco Polo may have brought the kite back from his visit to China. The kite has been linked to great names and events. For instance, Benjamin Franklin used the kite to prove that lightening is electricity. He flew the kite in a storm. He did this in order to draw lightening from the clouds. He tied a metal key and a strip of silk to the kite line. The silk ribbon would stop the lightening from passing through his body. Benjamin’s idea was first laughed at, but later on it led to the invention of the lightening rod.
With such grand history, kite flying is sure to remain an entertaining and popular sport.
Q16: What does the speaker say about kites?
Q17: What did ancient Chinese use kites to do?
Q18: Why did Benjamin Franklin fly a kite in a storm?
Passage Two
I have learned many languages, but I have not mastered them the way a professional interpreter or translator has. Still, they have opened doors for me. They have allowed me the opportunity to seek jobs in international contexts and help me get those jobs. Like many people who have lived overseas for a while, I simply got crazy about it. I can’t imagine living my professional or social life without international interactions. Since 1977, I have spent much more time abroad than in the United States. I like going to new places, eating new foods and experiencing new cultures. If you can speak the language, it’s easier to get to know the country and its people. If I had the time and money, I would live for a year in as many countries as possible.
Beyond my career, my facility with languages has given me a few rare opportunities. Once just after I returned from my year in Vienna, I was asked to translate for a German judge at an Olympic level horse event. I learned a lot about the sport. In Japan, once when I was in the studio audience of a TV cooking show, I was asked to go up on the stage and taste the beef dish that was being prepared and tell what I thought. They asked, “Was it as good as American beef?” It was very exciting for me to be on Japanese TV speaking in Japanese about how delicious the beef was.
Q19: What does the speaker say about herself?
Q20: What does the speaker say about many people who have lived overseas for a while?
Q21: How does the speaker’s experience of living in Vienna benefit her?
Q22: What was the speaker asked to do in a Japanese studio?
学识谷
