听力对话部分:
就短对话部分而言，这次考试总体难度比往年也略有增加，主要体现在其句长和用词两个方面。整个10段对话中几乎没有一个人的话是少于10个单词的。而且也出现了一些很少在听力中出现的难词，诸如：第5题的swing, 第9题的question作动词，第9题的terrorist,第9题的incredible，第10题的recruit, 第10题的resume等等。但就总体技巧而言，除了这些难词的障碍，也的确从未走出以往考试技巧的圈子，所以说它色厉内荏实不为过，但正是这个“色厉”却很有可能吓倒了无数的考生，从而连透过现象“听”本质的能力都丧失了，因此下文就这次考试的10题进行一个简单分析，希望能起到为众多考生拨云见日、指点迷津。
1. W: Carol told us on the phone not to worry about her. Her left leg doesn’t hurt as much as it did yesterday.
M: She’d better have it examined by a doctor anyway. And I’ll call her about it this evening.
Q: What does the man think Carol should do?
本题从女人话中的left leg以及hurt可以明显知道这是我们常考的医疗健康场景，而在男人的回应中明显出现了She’d better一词，作为建议句型的提示信息出现，标明答案所在。以往考试中也反复考察，笔者在对2005年6月考试中也对此作了详细分析(《由2005年6月大学英语四级听力考题看听力考试发展趋势与变化》)，这里不再赘述。本题答案：See a doctor。
2. M: There’s a non-stop train for Washington, and it leaves at 2:30.
W: It’s faster than the 2:00 train. Besides, we can have something to eat before getting on the train.
Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
本题通过男人话中的train可知为交通场景。而火车在以往考试中的负面特色往往为：误点、慢、伙食差等几个方面。本题对两列火车作出比较，通过女人口中的faster和have something to eat before getting on即可简单知道2：30分的车较之2：00的车，解决了慢以及伙食差两大问题，所以本题答案自然是：The woman prefers the 2:30 train.
3. M: Hi, Melissa, how’s your project going? Have you thought about going to graduate school? Perhaps you can get into Harvard.
W: Everything is coming along really well. I’ve been thinking about graduate school. But I’ll talk to my tutor Dr. Gauthier first and see what she thinks.
Q: What do we learn about the woman from the conversation?
本题通过男人的project一词即可推断为学习场景。而在男人对女人反复发问后女人的回答自然重要，而女人回答中的but一词，无数次证明了答案之所在，可谓“重要中之尤其重要者”。如果能在平时加强对but这类小词的听力敏感度，可谓百试不爽。所以本题答案为She’ll consult Dr. Garcia about entering graduate school.
值得一提的是，本题答案中那个consult其实也是个词组词汇的考点，因此对不认识该单词的同学来说，也是一大困惑。就本题答案本身而言，用排除法还是不难的。但另一个选项中也考察了一个词组词汇，而且考的还是一词多意，那就是选项中的She has been longing to attend Harvard University.其中的long表示渴望的意思。
4. W: Did you attend Alice’s presentation last night? It’s the first time for her to give a speech to a large audience.
M: How she could be so calm in front of so many people is really beyond me.
Q: What do we learn from the conversation?
本题也能同过presentation一词推断为学习场景，从而加快对对话的理解。而本题考察的事实上是反问句式，虽然形式上来说这只是个带主语从句的陈述句，但究其根本会发现，男人的表达就是一个反问式的感叹：How could she be so calm in front of so many people?他在那么多人面前怎么会这么镇定？！而就本题答案而言，也完全符合以往考题中的男生紧张女生从容的特点，使其规律化也变得明朗起来。 本题答案为：Alice didn’t seem to be nervous during her speech.
5. W: You’ve been doing weather reports for nearly thirty years. How’s the weather got anywhere in all those years?
M: well, not necessarily worse, but we’re seeing more swings.
Q: What does the man say about the weather?
本题通过weather reports推测为天气场景，之后紧跟一特殊疑问句，而特殊疑问的内容一般可以通过回答推测，而且也缺乏重点，因此一般都可以忽略(除其中的场景词以外)。本题也同样适用这一技巧。而男人回答中的but无疑又给“疑无路”的考生指明了那“柳暗花明”的“又一村”。但之后就体现了这次考试的一个很大特点，就是听力原文中的难词：本题中的swing并没太多和天气有关的内容，所以通过其本意和上下文可知，其意思为摇摆不定、大起大落的意思。而答案中只有more extremes一词与此对应。但通过上下文也能推测该答案。男人前句说到不见得真的变差了，后文又用but转折，说明还是有不好的地方，因此容易排除选项中的：It’s worse than 30 years ago. 和It remains almost the same as before. 把答案限定到剩下两个，而其中温度上升的选项从未提及，所以通过排除也可以得到正确答案。本题答案为：There are more extremes in the weather.
6. M: Excuse me, I’m looking for the textbook by Professor Jordan for the marketing course?
W: I’m afraid it’s out of stock. You’ll have to order it. And it will take the publisher three weeks to send it to us.
Q: Where did this conversation most probably take place?
本题通过文中的找textbook可知是个和书有关的场景，而四级中一般出现书籍，可大致推测属于买卖场景。到这里基本就能做题了，知道该说话人在书店。但保险起见可以往下看一下。女人的话中out of stock，即没有库存的意思，也同样容易指向书店的特点，当然阅览室借完了也勉强凑合，但再往下的order则绝对排除了阅览室的可能，因为order表示预定买的意思。最后那句中的publisher send又排除了出版社的可能。所以本题答案为：At the book store.
7. M: I’m going to New York next week, but the hotel I booked is really expensive.
W: Why book a hotel? My brother has two spare rooms in his apartment.
Q: What does the woman mean?
本题考点在于原因解释。而本题基本就是往年考题的再现。比如05年6月第10题：
M: This article is nothing but advertising for housing developers. I don’t think the houses for sale are half that good.
W: Come on, David. Why so negative? We are thinking of buying a home, aren’t we? Just a trip to look at the place won’t cist us much.
Q: What can be inferred form the conversation?
再如03年1月考题第5题：
M: Hurry. There’s a bus coming!
W: Why run? There will be another one in two or three minutes.
可以说这些题目如出一辙，考察时则可以考察反问句所表示的建议，也可以考察后半句的解释说明。本题就是对后半句解释说明的考察。本题答案为：The man can stay at her brother’s apartment.
8. W: In my opinion, watching the news on TV is a good way to learn English. What do you think?
M: It would be better if you could check the same information in English newspapers afterwards.
Q: What does the man say about learning English?
本题为一个建议型的表达，用的是if表原因的形式。而if这个小词也正是我们四级考试的重点，无时无处不提醒着我们答案的出现。此处男人的话的意思说：如果在那之后你能在英语报纸上看看相同的信息就更好了。言下之意：现在还不够完美的原因是你还没看报纸。所以考察的部分是男人认为现在不够完善的原因，当然，从字面上也可以理解为一个建议。无论是原因也好，建议也罢，都是我们四级考试的重点内容，所以本题一如既往地考察了这个知识点。本题答案为：It’s more effective to combine listening with reading.
9. M: I hear a newly invented drug can make people tell the truth. And it may prove useful in questioning terrorists. Isn’t it incredible?
W: Simple solutions to complex problems rarely succeed. As far as I know, no such drugs are ever known to work.
Q: What does the woman think of the new drug?
本题考察第一大难度就是词汇本身，用作动词质问的question、恐怖分子terrorist以及无法让人相信的incredible都是高端词汇，用于听力中对考生一定会有较大干扰。而本题考察重点在于女人的态度，所以这是一题态度考察题，考察了女人对让人说实话的药品的态度。女人话中的第一句就可以作为参考，但是却难在一个近音词汇rarely上，对该词不熟悉的同学很可能听成really，在这样的情况下，反而得到了截然相反的答案。女人后半句对前半句作出解释，完全可以认为是在as far as I know之前加个because，所以可以认为是个省略了提示信息的原因部分，而这个部分也可以作为答案的支持出现。而现在省略关系词的句子在听力中的考察是越来越多了，需要考生通过实际能力推测句子间关系来完成解题。因此，本题答案为：It will most likely prove ineffective.
值得一题的是，本答案中的likely一词也预示着本答案的正确性，因为该词为一相对性描述词汇，在以往考试中也曾经出现过，如03年1月第1题正确答案：They are likely to have dinner together.
10. M: You know the electronics company is coming to our campus to recruit graduate students next week.
W: Really? What day? I’d like to talk to them and hand in my resume.
Q: What does the woman want to do?
本题有相当的难词出现考察词组词汇考点。其中recruit则是一般考生都无法听懂的一个词，表示招收(员工、职员的意思)。本题通过company和campus可以大致了解是个公司到学校招聘的问题。而考点却不在这里，在女人的话中最后那个词resume.该词一般考生都会认为是重新开始的意思，但在这里却考查了一个法语发音，意思为简历。虽然可以认为是个生僻词汇，但作为一个大学生，面临以后的工作抉择，这样的词还是必须的。 而且东方课堂上说到找工作场景时，这也是个不可缺少的重要词汇，相信只要对该单词有所熟悉的同学，这题得来全不费功夫吧。本题答案为：Apply for a job in the electronics company.
综上种种，虽现象千奇百怪、句长年年有长，然考点依旧、技巧长存。只要做到真题脑中过，方法心中留，到了考场上自然临危不惧、游刃有余、收放自如，真正达到无极的境界。[next]
2005年12月四级听力短文解析
对于PASSAGE部分，虽然难度也比以往有所加大，尤其体现在难词的使用上，以及题材的选择上，然而它一如既往地继承了以往考试的种种特点和思路。
首先，三篇文章都以说明文的形式出现，正如笔者在对2005年6月的PASSAGE题的分析中提出的：“对于听力短文部分，本次考试三篇文章以长度递增顺序排布，而题量则按照3、4、3的顺序安排，3篇文章都以说明文的体裁出现。”(摘自《由2005年6月大学英语四级听力考题看听力考试发展趋势与变化》一文)，这已经成了现在四级考试听力PASSAGE部分的一个趋势了。当然，虽然是以说明文的形式出现，文章中记叙、议论的内容也时有出现，所以更精确的说，现在的文章形式是越来越综合的。
其次，文章的复杂度并为影响到出题的思路与解体的思维模式。出题点仍偏爱文章开头与结尾，文章中比较典型的、比较重要的分支结构，以及转折关系、因果关系的表达。下文将对本次考试的3篇文章分别作这方面的详细分析：
Passage One
(1)A new study reports the common drug aspirin greatly reduces life-threatening problems after an operation to replace blocked blood vessels to the heart. More than 800,000 people around the world have this heart surgery each year. (2)The doctors who carried out the study say giving aspirin to patients soon after the operation could save thousands of lives. People usually take aspirin to control pain, and reduce high body temperature. Doctors also advise some people to take aspirin to help prevent heart attacks. About 10~15% of these heart operations end in death or damage to the heart or other organs. (3)The new study shows that even a small amount of aspirin reduced such threats. (4)The doctors said the chance of death for patients who took aspirin would fall by 67%. They claimed this was true if the aspirin was given within 48 hours of the operation. The doctors believe aspirin helps heart surgery patients (5)because it can prevent blood from thickening, and blood vessels from being blocked. (6)However, the doctors warned that people who have stomach bleeding or other bad reactions from aspirin should not take it after heart surgery.
Questions 11 to 13 are based on the passage you have just heard.
11. What is the finding of the new study of aspirin?
12. In what way can aspirin help heart surgery patients according to the doctors?
13. What warning did the doctors give about the use of aspirin?
文章本身阅读难度较大，因为牵涉到一些学术词汇的运用，诸如：blood vessel, organ, heart surgery, blood thickening, stomach bleeding等。但就考点本身而言却难度适中，甚至可以说非常循规蹈矩。
第11题提问的就是文章开头第一句的部分(文中划线1处)，对应词为New Study(以黑体标出)，而且也是本文说明对象之所在，而文章主旨、说明对象等一直就是往年考说明议论型文章的重心，而且也是文章中会反复涉及的内容(文中划线2、3、4处)，因此比较容易把握。答案为：It reduces the chance of death for heart surgery patients.
第12题问及的是阿斯匹林如何帮助做过心脏手术的病人，看似是个方法，其实在原文中仍然以原因的形式表达，在原文倒数第二句中(文中划线5处)，Because(以黑体标出)明显指示第二题的答案。此即为因果考察点。答案为：It keeps blood vessels from being blocked.
第13题考察位置出现在文章末句(文中划线6处)，也是以往出题的重点位置之一，而考察点则为转折后的内容。根据常识我们知道，几乎任何医疗行为都会有副作用，而任何医药说明或医生嘱咐的最后一句一般都是经过转折后产生的对该副作用的提醒以及避免方法的说明。这里的However(以黑体标出)也很明确的指示了答案的鲜明特征。此即为转折考察点。答案为：It is harmful to heart surgery patients with stomach bleeding.
Passage Two
When you are the first or last child in your family, or, when you are middle or only child, some people think it matters where you are born in your family. But there are different ideas about what birth order means. (1)Some people say that the oldest children are smart and strong willed, and they are very likely to be successful. The reason for this is simple: parents have a lot of time for that first child. They give him or her a lot of attention. So this child is very likely to do well. An only child will succeed for the same reason. What happens to the other children in the family? (2)Middle children don’t get so much attention. So they don’t feel that important. If a family has many children, the middle one sometimes gets lost in the crowd. The youngest child then, often gets special treatment. He or she is the baby. Often this child grows up with funny and charming. Do you believe this idea about birth order, too? A recent study saw things quite differently. The study found that first children believed in family rules. They didn’t take many chances in their lives. They usually followed orders. (However) (3)Rules didn’t mean as much to late children in a family. They went out and followed their own ideas. They took chances and they often did better in lives.
Questions 14 to 16 are based on the passage you have just heard.
14. According to common belief, in what way are the first and the only child alike?
15. What do people usually say about middle children?
16. What do we learn about later children in the family from a recent study of birth order?
本文解释了孩子因出生顺序不同而形成的不同特征，与日后人生之影响。本文是属于词汇角度而言，三篇中相对容易的一篇了。但其写作手法有一定难度，是以比较的方法来描述了这些孩子特征的不同点，所以自然也就以比较性的问题为突出。但作为这次考试的第二篇，其出题难度还不及第三篇，而其比较行内容也只有第14题是两方面都涉及的，而其他两题都只涉及比较的一方，因此解体思路类似以往的学校教育类文章和风土人情类文章，找差异就成了其考察核心。
第14题，考察了家中第一个孩子和唯一孩子的共性，是一题综合考察比较双方的题目。虽然从题型上来看有一定难度，但考察点仍然是因果关系， 文中涉及到理由The reason(以黑体标出)的那句(文中划线1处)加上So(以黑体标出)的支持，使之成为了我们第一题的答案位置。答案为：They are very likely to succeed in life.
第15题，考察了中间出生的孩子的特征，同样以一个So(以黑体标出)为中介(文中划线2处)，表现了其中的原委。因此这又是一个因果类型的题目。答案为：They get less attention from their parents.
第16题，压轴在文章最后一句，题目难度也相应改变，一眼扫去，除了结尾这一明显特点外，似乎考点并不明显。这里考察了研究结果中后期出生的孩子的特点。虽然没有明显的关联词，但不难发现，这一点是和前一句中家中最早出生的孩子形成鲜明对比的部分，其实也就是省略了我们写在括号里的那个However(以黑体标出)，这类题在以往考察短对话中也时有见到省略转折词或原因词的。
Passage Three
(1)When my interest shifted from space to the sea, I never expected it would cause such confusion among my friends. Yet, I can understand their feelings. As I have been writing and talking about space flight for the best part of twenty years, a sudden switch of interest to the depth of the sea does seem to be peculiar. (2)To explain, I’d like to share my reasons behind this unusual change of mind. (3)The first excuse I give is an economic one. Underwater exploration is so much cheaper than space flight. The first round-trip ticket to the moon is going to cause at least ten billion dollars if you include research and development. By the end of this century, the cost will be down to a few millions. On the other hand, the diving suit and a set of basic tools needed for skin diving can be bought for twenty dollars. (4)My second argument is more philosophical. The ocean, surprisingly enough, has many things in common with space. (5)In their different ways, both sea and space are equally hostile. If we wish to survive in either for any length of time, we need to have mechanical aids. The diving suit helped the design of a space suit. The feelings and emotions of a man beneath the sea will be much like those of the man beyond the atmosphere.
17. How did the speaker’s friends respond to his change of interest?
18. What is one of the reasons for the speaker to switch his interest to underwater exploration?
19. In what way does the speaker think diving is similar to space travel?
20. What is the speaker’s purpose in giving this talk?
本文是三篇段子中最难的一篇，贯穿了几乎所有议论说明类文章能考的考点，并以高度隐蔽性和全面性见长。
第17题不出任何意外的从文章首句入手(文中划线1处)，考察对文章首句的把握，但希奇的是这却不是文章的主题之所在。而主题部分却被移到了第20题来考察，却万万没有想到的是本文经层层铺垫后，主题却异常地隐蔽。所以20题的考察点其实有相当难度，但这类文章的基本结构还是给解题留下了线索，作为一个总-分-(总)结构的文章体系，分述往往回应总起，因此通过本文的first(文中划线3处)和second(文中划线4处)，可以直接回应到主题(文中划线2处)，从而解决第20题。
因此17题答案为They were puzzled by his decision.，以puzzle对应第一句中的confusion.
第20题答案为To explain why he took up underwater exploration.，以why对应文中的reasons.
第18题则是考察了分论点中比较重要的一方面，文中以first(以黑体标出)的形式给出，这也是一贯的考法，曾经常考的有：最高级提示词、first、chief、major、main等。本题答案为It is much cheaper than space travel.。
第19题也非常的蹊跷，考察了比较的双方面特点，有一定难度。但把握住文章末尾的核心句(文中划线5处)，即可简单解题。虽然不是最后一句，但其后都是对它支持的具体例子，已经无关紧要，而此处的hostile(以黑体标出)也对应了答案中的challenging. 本题答案为：They are both challenging.
综上所述，今年的听力passage文章本身难度较往年又更上一层，尤其在词汇和理解角度，但秉承了以往的考试技巧，尤其以文章格式比较鲜明的说明议论文为主导，而且越来越提倡辅以比较性的描述特点，而把考点设置在比较结果的异同上。这也正是以往考题的一个综合考察的方法。一言以蔽之，今年听力段子考题：难，但万变不离其宗。
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