托福听力每日一练第35天：（2002年9月）
演讲听写训练1：
Not long ago, some of you may have read about the team of mountain climbing scientists who helped to recalculate the elevation of the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest. Of course the elevation of Mount Everest was determined many years ago using traditional surveying methods. But these scientists wanted to make a more precise measurement, using a new method that takes advantage of recent a dvances in technology; it’s called the Global Positioning System. The Global Positioning System uses 24 satellites that circle the earth. Each of the satellites is constantly sending out signals, and each signal contains important information that can be used to determine the longitude, latitude and elevation at any point on the earth’s surface. Well, In order to use this system to calculate Mount Everest’s elevation, scientists need to put a special receiver on its summit to receive signals from the satellites. The problem with this was that in the past, the receivers were much too heavy for climbers to carry. But now these receivers have been reduced to about the size and weight of a hand-held telephone, so climbers were able to take the receiver to the top of the Everest, and from there, to access the satellite system signals that would allow them to determine the precise elevation. And it turns out that the famous peak is actually a few feet higher than was previously thought.
演讲听写训练2：
Human populations near the equator have evolved dark skin over many generations because of exposure to the fiercest rays of the sun. A similar phenomenon has also occurred in other parts of the animal kingdom. The African grass mouse is a good example. Most mice are nocturnal, but the African grass mouse is active during daylight hours. This means that it spends its days searching for food in the semi-dry bush in scrubby habitats of eastern and southern Africa. Its furry stripe’s like a chipmunk’s, which helps it blend in with its environment. Because it spends a lot of time in the intense tropical sun, the grass mouse has also evolved two separate safeguards against the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. First, like the population of humans in this region of the world, the skin of the grass mouse contains lots of melanin, or dark pigment. Second and quite unusual, this mouse has a layer of melanin-pigmented tissue between its skull and skin. This unique cap provides an extra measure of protection for the grass mouse and three other types of African mouse, like rodents that are active during the day. The only other species scientists has identified with the same sort of skull adaptation is the white tent-making bat of the Central American tropics. Although these bats sleep during the day, they do so curled up with their head exposed to the sun.
演讲听写训练3：
We are going to start today talking about congressional aides, that is, the people who work for our congressional representatives, both in Washington and in the representatives’ local districts. It used to be that members of Congress had a relatively small staff of people working for them, and role of these people wasn’t of primary importance. But now, there are thousands of congressional aides, and they’ve profoundly affected the way the whole government works. Congressional aides work in two different locations: one, in the congressional representative’s local offices, the districts from which they were elected, and two, in Washington. Staff in local offices help members of Congress stay in touch with citizens in their districts. These citizens can bring problems in, in person, or by mail or phone.
This personal connection between the aids and local people can be helpful, when the next election comes around. People remember the help they get from the office of their local congressional representative. But as you know members of the Congress have to spend most of their time in Washington taking care of their legislative duties. Over 6000 new laws are introduced in Congress each session. Without help, representatives would have trouble keeping up with proposed laws that directly affect their districts, so that’s why congressional aides play their major role in Washington: they keep their bosses informed about pending legislation, organizing hearings, and just keep their local congressional representatives up-to-date, and informed on what’s going on in other parts of Congress. Now, another thing congressional aides do is to help develop ideas for laws that their bosses can eventually propose to Congress, this can be called the staff’s entrepreneurial function, a bit like a business executive trying to find out what product is most popular. Congressional aides promote or encourage laws they think will be popular with the public. You’ve also got other employees that work for the whole Congress, not just for individual members. We’ll talk about these people next.
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