Section C
Directions: In this section, you will hear recordings of lectures or talks followed by somequestions. The recordings will be played only once. After you hear a question, you must choosethe best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the correspondingletter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.
Now listen to the following recording and answer questions 16 to 19.
Moderator:
Hello Ladies and Gentleman, it gives me great pleasure to introduce our keynote speaker fortoday’s session, Dr. Howard Miller. Dr. Miller, Professor of Sociology at Washington University,has written numerous articles and books on the issues facing older Americans in our grayingsociety for the past 15 years. Dr. Miller:
Dr. Miller:
Thank you for that introduction. Today, I’d like to preface my remarks with a story frommy own life which I feel highlights the common concerns that bring us here together. Severalyears ago when my grandparents were well into their eighties, they were faced with the realityof no longer being able to adequately care for themselves. My grandfather spoke of hisgreatest fear, that of leaving the only home they had known for the past 60 years. Fightingback the tears, he spoke proudly of the fact that he had built their home from the ground up,and that he had pounded every nail and laid every brick in the process. The prospect of havingto sell their home and give up their independence, and move into a retirement home was anextremely painful experience for them. It was, in my grandfather’s own words, like having alimb cut off. He exclaimed in a forceful manner that he felt he wasn’t important anymore.
For them and some older Americans, their so-called “golden years” are at times not sopleasant, for this period can mean the decline of not only one’s health but the loss of identityand self-worth. In many societies, this self-identity is closely related with our social status,occupation, material possessions, or independence. Furthermore, we often live in societiesthat value what is “new” or in fashion, and our own usage of words in the English language isoften a sign of bad news for older Americans. I mean how would your family react if you camehome tonight exclaiming, “Hey, come to the living room and see the OLD black and white TV Ibrought!” Unfortunately, the word “old” calls to mind images of the need to replace or discard.
Now, many of the lectures given at this conference have focused on the issues of pensionreform, medical care, and the development of public facilities for senior citizens. And whilethese are vital issues that must be addressed, I’d like to focus my comments on an importantissue that will affect the overall success of the other programs mentioned. This has to do withchanging our perspectives on what it means to be a part of this group, and finding meaningfulroles the elderly can play and should play in our societies.
First of all, I’d like to talk about . . .
16. What does the introduction say about Dr. Howard Miller’s articles and books?
17. What is the greatest fear of Dr. Miller’s grandfather?
18. What does Dr. Miller say the “golden years” can often mean?
19. What is the focus of Dr. Miller’s speech?
Now listen to the following recording and answer questions 20 to 22.
The 2010 Global Hunger Index report was released today by the International Food PolicyResearch Institute (IFPRI). It notes that, in recent years, experts have come to the conclusionthat undernourishment between conception and a child’s second birthday can have seriousand long-lasting impacts.
Undernourishment during this approximately 1,000-day window can seriously check thegrowth and development of children and render them more likely to get sick and die than well-fed children. Preventing hunger allows children to develop both physically and mentally.
Says IFPRI’s Marie Ruel, “They will be more likely to perform well in school. They will stay inschool longer. And then at adulthood, IFPRI has actually demonstrated that children who werebetter nourished have higher wages, by a pretty large margin, by 46 percent.”
Ruel says that means the productivity of a nation’s future generations depends in a largepart on the first 1,000 days of life.
“This is why we’re all on board in focusing on those thousand days to improve nutrition.After that, the damage is done and is highly irreversible.”
The data on nutrition and childhood development has been slowly coming together fordecades. But Ruel says scientific consensus alone will not solve the problem.
“It’s not enough that nutritionists know you have to intervene then, if we don’t have thepoliticians on board, and also the...people that implement [programs] in the field.”
Ruel says there are encouraging signs that politicians and implementers are beginning toget on board. Many major donors and the United Nations are targeting hunger-relief programsat pregnant women and young children. They focus on improving diets or providing micro-foodsupplements. They improve access to pre-birth care and encourage exclusive breastfeedingfor the first six months of a child’s life.
Ruel says in the 1980s Thailand was able to reduce child undernourishment by recruiting alarge number of volunteers to travel the countryside teaching about health and nutrition.
“They really did very active promotion of diversity in the diet and good eating habits. Sothey were providing more food to people, but also educating people on how to use them, andalso educating people on how to feed their young children.”
Ruel says countries may take different approaches to reducing child undernutrition. But shesays nations will not make progress fighting hunger and poverty until they begin to focus onthose critical first thousand days.
20. What is the experts’ conclusion regarding children’s undernourishment in their earliestdays of life?
21. What does IFPRI’s Marie Ruel say about well-fed children in their adult life?
22. What did Thailand do to reduce child undernourishment in the 1980s?
Now listen to the following recording and answer questions 23 to 25.
I’d like to look at a vital aspect of e-commerce, and that is the nature of the product orservice. There are certain products and services that are very suitable for selling online, andothers that simply don’t work.
Suitable products generally have a high value-to-weight ratio. Items such as CDs and DVDsare obvious examples. Books, although heavier and so more expensive to post, still have ahigh enough value-to-weight ratio, as the success of Amazon, which started off selling onlybooks, shows. Laptop computers are another good product for selling online.
Digital products, such as software, films and music, can be sold in a purely virtualenvironment. The goods are paid for by online transactions, and then downloaded onto thebuyer’s computer. There are no postage or delivery costs, so prices can be kept low.
Many successful virtual companies provide digital services, such as financial transactions, inthe case of Paypal, or means of communication, as Skype does. The key to success here isproviding an easy-to-use, reliable service. Do this and you can easily become the marketleader, as Skype has proved.
Products which are potentially embarrassing to buy also do well in the virtualenvironment. Some of the most profitable e-commerce companies are those selling sex-related products or services. For a similar reason, online gambling is highly popular.
Products which are usually considered unsuitable for selling online include those that havea taste or smell component. Food, especially fresh food, falls into this category, along withperfume. Clothes and other items that need to be tried on such as diamond rings and goldnecklaces are generally not suited to virtual retailing, and, of course, items with a low value-to-weight ratio.
There are exceptions, though. Online grocery shopping has really taken off, with mostmajor supermarkets offering the service. The inconvenience of not being able to see the foodyou are buying is outweighed by the time saved and convenience of having the goodsdelivered. Typical users of online supermarkets include the elderly, people who work long hoursand those without their own transport.
23 What is important to the success of an online store?
24. What products are unsuitable for selling online?
25. Who are more likely to buy groceries online?
