2001年英语专业八级考试真题听力原文本B

　　SECTION B CONVERSATION

　　W: Well, it seems quite common actually. A lot of people in Australia no w are travelling and taking time off. And when I was actually travelling, I met so many people doing the same thing.
　　M: Yeah, yeah, so where did you start off
　　W: Well, I went to New Zealand first. Eh, and got a job in a computer company as a secretary. And I worked there for 4 months.
　　M: Really You can do that, can you I mean it’s possible for anyone to get a j ob in New Zealand, without being a New Zealander
　　W: No, not everybody, only Australians and New Zealanders can exchange either. You know you can work in either country.’
　　M: Right, yeah.
　　W: So that was easy. So I worked there for 4 months and raised enough money for the rest of travels really. So from there I went to Indonesia, and travelled around the different islands around Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, China , Nepal and India.
　　M: What about Indonesia What did you do Did you fly mostly between the Islands
　　W: Eh, I did a bit of that, and boats, mainly local boats between the Islands.
　　M: What about Singapore People said it’s very very modern. But because it is s o modern, it’s rather boring. Did you find that
　　W: Well, it’s difficult to say really. It has different attractions. You know t h e Chinese, Malay, and Hindu communities are there. Each has his own culture and custom, very different from the others. And it’s a great big shopping center an d I really enjoy it from that point of view. And it was very clean.
　　M: And after, you said you went what, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and then China That’s a great country to travel in, isn’t it
　　W: Eh, it was. Yeah, it was fabulous. It really was. You have been there then
　　M: No, I haven’t. No, I mean it’s very big. What did you do
　　W: Yeah. Well, I had only one month to travel in China, and that was too short f or such a vast country as China. I felt I didn’t have enough time, so I sacrifced a lot of places and did the main tourist throughout really. I went to Beijing, the capital, Kaifeng, Yinchuan, and Tibet.
　　M: Well, how exciting! You said after Beijing, you went to
　　W: That was Kaifeng in central China’s Henan province. It’s a charming city, and has got a lot to look around, like temples and pagodas, very traditional.
　　M: Eh, eh.
　　W: What fascinated me when I was there was that some Jews went to live in Kaifeng many years ago. As early as 16th century, there were Jewish families there. They have their synagogue and five books of Masses. Even today several hundred descendants of the original Jews still live in Kaifeng.
　　M: Really, I’ve never heard of that. And where did you go after Kaifeng
　　W: I went to northwest to Yinchuan, the provincial city of Ningxia Hui autonomous region.
　　M: Is this the place where there always is a shortage of water
　　W: No, no, on the contrary, it has got abundant supply of water, because it is n ear the Yellow River. In this sense, Yinchuan has a favorable geographical posit on in otherwise harsh surroundings.
　　M: What did you see there then
　　W: Ningxia was once the capital of Western Xia during the 11th century. So outside Yinchuan, you can still see the Western Xia mausoleum, where the Kings and t heir Kingdoms were buried. The tombs were scattered in a pretty big area at the foot of the Henan Mountain, and inside the city there are famous mosques in the architectural style of Middle East. It’s really a place worth visiting. You got to know something about Chinese Moslems.
　　M: And that sounds really interesting. Where did you travel after that
　　W: I was lucky enough to get into Tibet, and that was brilliant.
　　M: Yeah. What was the most interesting place you visited, do you think
　　W: Well, I think actually Tibet is the most fascinating and exciting. I’ve never been anywhere so different. The people there are wonderful, the clothes .they w ear, the food they eat.
　　M: And you said you went to Nepal as well
　　W: Yeah, eh, that’s a sort of easier passion of Tibetans really and there are a lot of Tibetans---there as well as other tribes and Nepalese, so that was good because I went trekking in Nepal, you should do that.
　　M: How long did you trek for
　　W: Oh, I only did a short one, only for a week. I was lazy.
　　M: Was it very tiring
　　W: No, it wasn’t actually. I mean you just set your own pace, and don’t pace you rself too hard, that was a stupid thing to do. Eh, you don’t have to walk very far, so that was great.
　　M: So how did you feel after all this travelling How did you feel to stop travelling I mean you were on the move alone for months and months ,and suddenly you’re here ,and not traveling any more. How does it feel
　　W: I was ready to stop anyway. You get pretty sick, wearing the same clothes, and washing them in the different hotels. I never stay in the same place for longer than two days. And since I was ready to stop, I don’t think I could keep doing it. I mean I’ve met people who’ve been travelling for 2 or 3 years. I couldn' t do it.
　　M: Yeah, yeah. Maybe it’s something I should try after this.
　　W: I think you really should.