ETS在线免费测试题解——读听结合学术任务题

Narrator
　　Now read the passage about animal domestication¹. You have 45 seconds to read the passage. Begin reading now.
　　Reading Time： 45 seconds
　　Animal Domestication
　　For thousands of years， humans have been able to domesticate²， or tame， many large mammals that in the wild live together in herds⁴. Once tamed， these mammals are used for agricultural work and transportation. Yet some herd³ mammals are not easily domesticated⁵.
　　A good indicator⁶ of an animal‘s suitability for domestication is how protective the animal is of its territory. Non-territorial⁷ animals are more easily domesticated than territorial animals because they can live close together with animals from other herds. A second indicator is that animals with a hierarchical social structure， in which herd members follow a leader， are easy to domesticate， since a human can function as the “leader”。
　　Narrator
　　Now listen to part of a lecture on this topic in an ecology class.
　　[2 seconds]
　　Professor
　　So we‘ve been discussing the suitability of animals for domestication…… particularly animals that live together in herds. Now， if we take horses， for example…… in the wild， horses live in herds that consist of one male and several females and their young. When a herd moves， the dominant⁸ male leads， with the dominant female and her young immediately behind him. The dominant female and her young are then followed immediately by the second most important female and her young， and so on. This is why domesticated horses can be harnessed one after the other in a row. They’re “programmed” to follow the lead of another horse. On top of that， you often find different herds of horses in the wild occupying overlapping⁹ areas——they don‘t fight off other herds that enter the same territory.
　　But it‘s exactly the opposite with an animal like the uh， the antelope¹⁰…… which…… well， antelopes¹¹ are herd animals too. But unlike horses， a male antelope will fight fiercely to prevent another male from entering its territory during the breeding season， ok——very different from the behavior of horses. Try keeping a couple of male antelopes together in a small space and see what happens. Also， antelopes don’t have a social hierarchy——they don‘t instinctively¹² follow any leader. That makes it harder for humans to control their behavior.
　　[2 seconds]
　　Narrator
　　The professor describes the behavior of horses and antelope in herds. Explain how their behavior is related to their suitability for domestication.
　　Please begin speaking after the beep.
　　[2 secs beep]
　　[Appearing on screen]
　　4. The professor describes the behavior of horses and antelope in herds. Explain how their behavior is related to their suitability for domestication.
　　Preparation time： 30 seconds
　　Response time： 60 seconds
　　Narrator
　　Please Listen Carefully
　　Narrator
　　You may begin to prepare your response after the beep.
　　[2 secs beep]
　　[解析]
　　这是与读、听结合的第二个口语任务。这一题型与第一个读、听结合的口语任务不同的是，它是一个关于学术方面的问题。阅读部分是一篇关于某个学术问题的短文，文章从比较宽和抽象的角度讨论这个学术问题；听力部分是课堂授课的节选，将从必将具体的角度讨论这个学术问题。考生需要将两个部分中获得的信息有效的结合起来加以阐述。
　　本题的阅读部分是关于什么样的野生哺乳动物容易驯化的，讲到non-territorial动物比较容易驯化；还讲到有高、低级别之分的动物比较容易驯化。听力部分从比较具体的角度，描述了野马为什么容易驯化，而羚羊却不容易驯化。
　　考生在回答问题时，需要将阅读中的抽象的概念与听力中的具体例子有效的结合起来。值得注意的是，一个好的口语答案应该让那些没有读过阅读短文、没有听过听力篇章的人能明白你讲的是什么