M: Nice to meet you, too, Kathy. My name is John. I’m a university friend of the bride. What about you? Who do you know at this party?
W: I am a colleague of Brenda. I was a little surprised to be invited, to be honest. We’ve only been working together the last six months, but we quickly became good friends. We just wrapped up a project with a difficult client last week. I bet Brenda is glad it’s done with, and she can focus on wedding preparations.
M: Oh, yes. So you’re Kathy from the office. Actually, I’ve heard a lot about you and that project. The client sounded like a real nightmare!
W: Oh, he was. I mean we deal with all kinds of people on a regular basis. It’s part of the job, but he was especially particular, enough about that. What line of work are you in?
M: Well, right out of college, I worked in advertising for a while. Recently, though, I turn my photography hobby into a small business. I’ll actually be taking photos during the big event as a wedding gift.
W: That sounds wonderful and very thoughtful of you. I bake, just as a hobby. But Brenda has asked me to do the cake for the wedding. I was a bit nervous saying yes, because I’m far from a professional.
M: Did you bake the cookies here at the party tonight?
W: Yes, I got the idea from a magazine.
M: They’re delicious! You’ve got nothing to worry about. You’re a natural.
W: You really think so?
M: If you hadn’t told me that, I would have guessed they were baked by the restaurant. You know, with your event-planning experience, you could very well open your own shop.
W: Ha, ha! One step at a time. First, I’ll see how baking the wedding cake goes. If it’s not a disaster, maybe I’ll give it some more thought.
资源路径：
本地缓存路径：Unit9/19143197.mp3
Question：What did Kathy and Brenda finish doing last week?
音频：
本地缓存路径：Unit9/19143197.mp3
A : Gift wrapping for the colleagues.
B : Preparations for the party. C : A project with a troublesome client.
D : A six-month-long negotiation.
解析：细节题。音频中提到，Kathy和Brenda上周刚和一个棘手的客户完成了一个项目，所以选C。
Question：What is John going to do for Brenda?
音频：
本地缓存路径：Unit9/19143197.mp3
A : Start a small business. B : Take wedding photos.
C : Advertise her company.
D : Throw a celebration party.
解析：细节题。音频中提到，最近男士把自己的摄影爱好变成了小生意；事实上，他将在婚礼期间拍照片作为结婚礼物，所以选A。
Question：How did Kathy feel when asked to bake the cake?
音频：
本地缓存路径：Unit9/19143197.mp3 A : Nervous.
B : Flattered.
C : Hesitant.
D : Surprised.
解析：细节题。音频中提到，Brenda要求女士为自己的婚礼制作蛋糕，女士答应了，但她还是有点紧张，因为她认为自己远不及专业人士，所以选B。
Question：What does the man suggest the woman do?
音频：
本地缓存路径：Unit9/19143197.mp3
A : Prepare for the wedding.
B : Share her cooking experience. C : Start her own bakery.
D : Improve her baking skill.
解析：细节题。音频中提到，男士夸赞女士做的饼干美味，认为凭女士的活动策划经验，她完全可以开一家自己的店，所以选A。
Question 19143052
全文资源：
W: Hi, Mark! How is it going?
M: Well, not so great.
W: What’s wrong?
M: I’ve got a big problem with the poetry course that’s required for my major.
W: Is that all filled up?
M: No, no, there is plenty of room, but there is a prerequisite. I’ve got to take an introduction to poetry before I can take the special course in poets of the 1960s and the introductory courses only offered in the evenings.
W: You don’t like evening classes?
M: No, that’s not the point. I work in the cafeteria every evening. I need the money to pay my tuition.
W: Can you ask someone that works there to switch hours with you? Maybe you could just switch a couple of evenings, since the course probably only meets two times a week.
M: I wish I could. The boss just did me a favor by putting me on evenings, and he’ll hit the ceiling if I ask to change again.
W: Wait a minute! I have an idea. Have you checked the courses over at the community college? They might offer introductory poetry courses during the day.
M: Hey! That’s a great idea. I’m free this afternoon. I think I’ll go over and check it out.
W: Yeah, their courses are actually cheaper and you can transfer the credits over here.
M: Thanks for the advice, Linda. I’ll let you know what happens.
W: Sure, Mark! Good luck!
资源路径：
本地缓存路径：Unit9/19143052.mp3
Question：What problem does the man have with the introduction to poetry class?
音频：
本地缓存路径：Unit9/19143052.mp3
A : He has another class at the same time.
B : He’s already familiar with the material.
C : The class is too far away. D : The class meets during his working hours.
解析：对话中男士提到诗歌入门课程只在晚上有，但是他晚上要在自助餐厅工作，可见他的问题在于课程和他的工作时间冲突。
Question：Why doesn’t the man want to change his work schedule?
音频：
本地缓存路径：Unit9/19143052.mp3
A : Because he likes to do his homework in the evening. B : Because he doesn’t want to ask his boss for another favor.
C : Because he wants to work the same schedule as his friends.
D : Because all the other work schedules conflict with his classes.
解析：对话中男士提到他的老板帮忙给他把工作时间排到了晚上，他怕再去要求换班老板会生气，可见他不想再让老板帮忙。
Question：Why does the man work in the cafeteria?
音频：
本地缓存路径：Unit9/19143052.mp3
A : To avoid racking up more debt. B : To earn money to pay his tuition.
C : To enrich his life experience.
D : To earn money to go travelling.
解析：对话中男士提到，他每天晚上都在餐厅工作，他需要钱来支付学费。所以选B。
Question：Why does the man want to take a class at the community college?
音频：
本地缓存路径：Unit9/19143052.mp3
A : Because it has a pool.
B : Because its courses cost less. C : Because it may offer the class he needs during the day.
D : Because the class size is smaller.
解析：对话中女士为了帮助男士解决问题，建议他去社区学院看看，因为他们可能会在白天开设诗歌入门课程，所以选D。
Part 2 6uv45paz
Question 19154941
全文资源：
There’s a lot about Leo Sanchez and his farm in Salinas, California that seems unusual. The national average farm size is around 440 acres, but his is only one acre. The average age of farmers hovers around 58 years old, but he is just 26. And Sanchez constantly attempts to improve everything from seeding techniques out in the field to the promotion and sale of his produce online. This is evidence of an experimental approach. It’s an approach not dictated by the confines of conventional, large-scale agriculture led by international corporations.
While farming is often difficult for both the body and mind, Sanchez says he and many of his fellow young farmers are motivated by a desire to set a new standard for agriculture. Many of them are employing a multitude of technologies, some new and some… not so new. Recently, Sanchez bought a hand-operated tool which pulls out weeds and loosens soil. It actually dates back to at least 1701. It stands in sharp contrast to Sanchez’s other gadget, a gas-powered flame weed killer invented in 1997. He simply doesn’t discriminate when it comes to the newness of tools. If it works, it works. Farmers have a long history of invention and is no different today. Young farmers are guided by their love for agriculture and aided by their knowledge of technology. To find inexpensive and appropriately-sized tools, they collaborate and innovate. Sometimes the old stuff just works better or more efficiently.
资源路径：
本地缓存路径：Unit9/19154941.mp3
Question：What do we learn about Leo Sanchez’s farm?
音频：
本地缓存路径：Unit9/19154941.mp3 A : It is small and unconventional.
B : It is fertile and productive.
C : It is profitable and environmentally friendly.
D : It is well located and completely automated.
解析：细节题。音频中提到，美国农场面积平均约440英亩，但Leo Sanchez的农场只有一英亩。他还不断尝试改善田间播种技术，以及产品的线上推广和销售。这体现了一种实验方法，该方法不受国际公司领导的传统大规模农业的限制。由此可知，Leo Sanchez的农场面积小但不传统，所以选C。
Question：What has motivated Leo Sanchez and his fellow young farmers to engage in farming?
音频：
本地缓存路径：Unit9/19154941.mp3
A : Their hope to revitalize traditional farming.
B : Their desire to improve farming equipment.
C : Their urge to make farming more enjoyable. D : Their wish to set a new farming standard.
解析：细节题。音频中提到，尽管农业会给他们的身心带来挑战，但Leo Sanchez说他和许多其他年轻农民都渴望树立新的农业标准，所以选D。
Question：Why did Leo Sanchez buy a hand-operated weeding tool?
音频：
本地缓存路径：Unit9/19154941.mp3
A : It needs little maintenance.
B : It causes hardly any pollution.
C : It saves a lot of electricity. D : It loosens soil while weeding.
解析：细节题。音频中提到，Leo Sanchez最近购买了一种手动工具，可以除草和松土，所以选D。
Question 19154945
全文资源：
Free-market capitalism hasn’t freed us; it has trapped us. It’s imperative for us to embrace a workplace revolution. We’re unlikely to spend our last moments regretting that we didn’t spend enough of our lives slaving away at work. We may instead find ourselves feeling guilty about the time we didn’t spend watching our children grow, or with our loved ones, or travelling, or on the cultural or leisure pursuits that bring us happiness. Unfortunately, the average full-time employee in the world works 42 hours a week—well over a third of the time we’re awake. Some of our all too precious time is being stolen: office workers do around 2 billion hours of unpaid overtime each year. So it’s extremely welcome that some government coalitions have started looking into potentially cutting the working week to four days.
The champions of free-market capitalism promised their way of life would bring us freedom. But it wasn’t freedom at all: from the lack of secure, affordable housing to growing job insecurity and rising personal debt, the individual is trapped. Nine decades ago, leading economists predicted that technological advances and rising productivity would mean that we’d be working a 15-hour week by now. That target has been somewhat missed.
Here is the most malignant threat to our personal freedom, particularly as the balance of power in the workplace has been shifted so dramatically from worker to boss. A huge portion of our lives involves the surrender of our freedom and personal autonomy. It’s time in which we are directed by the needs and desires of others, and denied the right to make our own choices. That’s bad for us. It’s hardly surprising that over half a million workers suffer from work-related mental health conditions each year, or that 15.4 million working days were lost to work-related stress last year, a jump of nearly a quarter.
Yes, there are those who, far from being overworked, actually seek more hours. But a shorter working week would enable us to redistribute hours from the overworked to the underworked. We need to look at ways of cutting the working week without slashing living standards. After all, the world’s workers have already suffered the worst deduction in wages since the early 1800s. And cutting the working week would be conducive to the individual, giving millions of workers more time to spend as they see fit.
资源路径：
本地缓存路径：Unit9/19154945.mp3
Question：What do people often feel guilty about according to the speaker?
音频：
本地缓存路径：Unit9/19154945.mp3
A : Not earning enough money to provide for the family.
B : Not benefiting from free-market capitalism.
C : Not playing a role in a workplace revolution. D : Not spending enough time on family life and leisure.
解析：细节题。音频中提到，在生命的最后一刻，我们不太可能因为没有花足够的时间在工作上而感到遗憾；相反，让我们感到遗憾的，可能是没有花时间看着孩子成长、与亲人共处、旅行、或者参加能让我们感到幸福的文化或休闲活动，所以选D。
Question：What did leading economists predict 90 years ago?
音频：
本地缓存路径：Unit9/19154945.mp3
A : Most workers could afford to have a house of their own.
B : Technological advances would create many new jobs.
C : The balance of power in the workplace would change. D : People would be working only fifteen hours a week now.
解析：细节题。音频中提到，九十年前，主流经济学家预测，技术的进步和生产率的提高将意味着我们现在每周只需工作15个小时，所以选A。
Question：What is the result of denying workers’ right to make their own choices?
音频：
本地缓存路径：Unit9/19154945.mp3
A : Deprivation of workers’ creativity. B : Deterioration of workers’ mental health.
C : Loss of workers’ personal dignity.
D : Unequal distribution of working hours.
解析：细节题。音频中提到，如今，我们被其他人的需求和欲望引导，没有自己做选择的权力，这对我们是不利的；因此，每年有超过五十万员工患有与工作相关的心理健康问题也就不足为奇了，所以选C。