STEPHANIE: Hello, Trevor.
TREVOR: Hello, Stephanie. You said you wanted to talk about the course I’m taking on literature for children.
STEPHANIE: That’s right. I’m thinking of doing it next year, but I’d like to find out more about it first.
TREVOR: OK, well, as you probably know, it’s a one-year course. It’s pided into six modules, and you have to take all of them. One of the most interesting ones, for me, at least, was about the purpose of children’s literature.
STEPHANIE: You mean, whether it should just entertain children or should be educational, as well.
TREVOR: Right, and whether the teaching should be factual – giving them information about the world – or ethical, teaching them values. What’s fascinating is that 【Q21】 the writer isn’t necessarily conscious of the message they’re conveying. For instance, a story might show a child who has a problem as a result of not doing what an adult has told them to do, implying that children should always obey adults.
STEPHANIE: I see what you mean.
TREVOR: That module made me realise how important stories are – they can have a significant effect on children as they grow up. Actually, 【Q22】 it inspired me to have a go at it myself, just for my own interest. I know can’t compete with the really popular stories, like the Harry Potter books – they’re very good, and even young kids like my seven-year-old niece love reading them.
STEPHANIE: Mm. I’m very interested in illustrations in stories. Is that covered in the course?
TREVOR: Yes, there’s a module on pictures, and how they’re sometimes central to the story.
STEPHANIE: That’s good. I remember some frightening ones I saw as a child and I can still see them vividly in my mind, years later! Pictures can be so powerful, just as powerful as words. I’ve always enjoyed drawing, so 【Q23】 that’s the field I want to go into when I finish the course. I bet that module will be really helpful.
TREVOR: I’m sure it will. We also studied comics in that module, but I’m not convinced of their value, not compared with books. One of the great things about words is that you use your imagination, but with a comic you don’t have to.
STEPHANIE: But children are so used to visual input – on TV, video games, and so on. There are plenty of kids who wouldn’t even try to read a book, so I think 【Q24】 comics can serve a really useful purpose.
TREVOR: You mean, it’s better to read a comic than not to read at all? Yes, I suppose you’re right. I just think its sad when children don’t read books.
STEPHANIE: What about books for girls and books for boys? Does the course go into that?
TREVOR: Yes, there’s a module on it. For years, lots of stories, in English, at least, assumed that boys went out and did adventurous things and girls stayed at home and played with dolls. I was amazed 【Q25】 how many books were targeted at just one sex or the other. Of course this reflects society as it is when the books are written.
STEPHANIE: That’s true. So it sounds as though you think it’s a good course.
TREVOR: Definitely.
TREVOR: Have you been reading lots of children’s stories, to help you decide whether to take the course?
STEPHANIE: Yeah. I’ve gone as far back as the late seventeenth century, though I know there were earlier children’s stories.
TREVOR: So does that mean you’ve read Perrault’s fairy tales? Cinderella, The Sleeping Beauty, and so on.
STEPHANIE: Yes. They must be important, 【Q26】 because no stories of that type had been written before, there were the first. Then there’s The Swiss Family Robinson.
TREVOR: I haven’t read that.
STEPHANIE: The English name makes it sound as though Robinson is the family’s surname, but a more accurate translation would be The Swiss Robinsons, because it’s about 【Q27】 a Swiss family who are shipwrecked, like Robinson Crusoe in the novel of a century earlier.
TREVOR: Well I never knew that!
STEPHANIE: Have you read Hoffmann’s The Nutcracker and the Mouse King?
TREVOR: Wasn’t that 【Q28】 the basis for Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker?
STEPHANIE: That’s right. It has some quite bizarre elements.
TREVOR: I hope you’ve read Oscar Wilde’s The Happy Prince. It’s probably my favourite children’s story of all time.
STEPHANIE: Mine too! And it’s so surprising, because Wilde is best known for his plays, and most of them are very witty, but The Happy Prince is really moving. 【Q29】 I struggled with Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings – there long books, and I gave up after one.
TREVOR: It’s extremely popular, though.
STEPHANIE: Yeah, but whereas something like The Happy Prince just carried me along with it, The Lord of the Rings took more effort than I was prepared to give it.
TREVOR: I didn’t find that – I love it.
STEPHANIE: Another one I’ve read is War Horse.
TREVOR: Oh yes. It’s about the First Word War, isn’t it? 【Q30】 Hardly what you’d expect for a children’s story.
STEPHANIE: Exactly, but it’s been very successful. Have you read any …
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
听前预测：定位词 purpose、children’s literature；提示词 interesting。此题要求选出 Trevor 认为有趣的一个事实。
题目解析：定位词重现后，可以听到 Stephanie 说“whether it should just entertain children or should be educational, as well”，对应 B 选项（文学作品可以既有趣又有教育意义），但从前文可以看出，这句话是在对 the purpose of children’s literature 做进一步的阐述，而不是在说具体的有趣的地方，并且从 whether 可以得知这并非是一个肯定的事实，故排除 B 选项；之后 Trevor 说“What’s fascinating is that the writer isn’t necessarily conscious of the message they’re conveying.”，其中 fascinating 与题干中的 interesting 同义，isn’t conscious of 与 A 选项中的 may not realise 同义，message 对应 values，conveying 对应 teaching，因此答案为 A。后文虽提及与 C 选项有关的信息，但文中表达的是儿童应该听从成人的话，而非 C 选项中的模仿故事中的角色，因此可排除 C 选项。
听前预测：定位词 module；提示词 made him。此题要选择的是这门课程让 Trevor 想做什么事情。
题目解析：首先听到 Trevor 说他意识到了儿童故事的重要性，这个信息与三个选项均无关；接着听到他说“it inspired me to have a go at it myself”，其中第一个 it 指代 module，第二个 it 指代写儿童故事，have a go at 意为“尝试”，对应 C 选项（他决定自己写一些儿童故事），因此答案为 C。A、B 选项在文中均未提及。
听前预测：定位词 Pictures module；提示词 because。此题要求选择 Stephanie 对绘画课程感兴趣的原因。
题目解析：先听到含定位词 Pictures module 的信息“there’s a module on pictures”，接着 Stephanie 提到 some frightening ones（ones 指代前文的 pictures），与 B 选项中的 beautiful illustrations 相矛盾，故排除 B；之后她又将图片和文字进行对比，但她说的是“Pictures can be so powerful, just as powerful as words.”（图片和文字一样具有感染力），故排除 C（她认为插图比文字更重要）；最后她说“I’ve always enjoyed drawing, so that’s the field I want to go into when I finish the course.”，对应 A 选项（她想成为一名插画师），因此答案为 A。
听前预测：定位词 comics；提示词 agree。此题要求选择双方就漫画所达成的共识。
题目解析：定位词重现后，Trevor 首先发表了自己的观点：“…I’m not convinced of their value, not compared with books. One of the great things about words is that you use your imagination, but with a comic you don’t have to.”，此处的两个观点分别对应了 A 选项（漫画次于书籍）和 C 选项（漫画阻碍了儿童发挥他们的想象力），但是从后文可知 Stephanie 没有对此表示赞同，而是用转折连词 but 引出了相反的观点：“There are plenty of kids who wouldn’t even try to read a book, so I think comics can serve a really useful purpose.”，对应 B 选项（漫画是有潜在利用价值的），接着 Trevor 对此表示了赞同，因此答案为 B。
听前预测：定位词 books、only boys、only girls；提示词 surprised。此题要求选择让 Trevor 觉得惊讶的事情。
题目解析：首先 Trevor 提到“For years, lots of stories, in English…”（至少英文故事中男孩和女孩间的差异已经存在很多年了），对应 A 选项（针对男孩和女孩的童话故事中的这种差异，这么久以来都没有受到质疑），但是他并未表现出惊讶；然后提示词 surprised 的同义词 amazed 出现并引出了答案对应信息“how many books were targeted at just one sex or the other”，对应 B 选项（很少有童书是既面向男孩又面向女孩的），因此答案为 B。C 选项在文中未提及。
