TUTOR: Ah … come in, Russ.
RUSS: Thank you.
TUTOR: Now you wanted to consult me about your class presentation on nanotechnology – you’re due to give it in next week, aren’t you?
RUSS: That’s right. And I’m really struggling. I chose the topic because I didn’t know much about it and wanted to learn more, but now I’ve read so much about it, in a way there’s too much to say – I could talk for much longer than the twenty minutes I’ve been allocated. Should I assume the other students don’t know much, and give them a kind of general introduction, or should I try and make them share my fascination with a particular aspect? 【Q21】
TUTOR: You could do either, but you’ll need to have it clear in your own mind.
RUSS: Then I think I’ll give an overview.
TUTOR: OK. Now, one way of approaching this is to work through developments in chronological order.
RUSS: Uh-huh.
TUTOR: On the other hand, you could talk about the numerous ways that nanotechnology is being applied.
RUSS: You mean things like thin films on camera displays to make them water-repellent, and additives to make motorcycle helmets stronger and lighter.
TUTOR: Exactly. Or another way would be to focus on its impact in one particular area 【Q22】, say medicine, or space exploration.
RUSS: That would make it easier to focus. Perhaps I should do that.
TUTOR: I think that would be a good idea.
RUSS: Right. How important is it to include slides in the presentation?
TUTOR: They aren’t essential, by any means. And there’s a danger of tailoring what you say to fit whatever slides you can find. While it can be good to includes slides, you could end up spending too long looking for suitable ones. You might find it better to leave them out. 【Q23】
RUSS: I see. Another thing I was wondering about was how to start. I know presentations often begin with ‘First I’m going to talk about this, and then I’ll talk about that’, but I thought about asking the audience what they know about nanotechnology.
TUTOR: That would be fine if you had an hour or two for the presentation, but you might find that you can’t do anything with the answers you get, and it simply eats into the short time that’s available.
RUSS: So, maybe I should mention a particular way that nanotechnology is used, to focus people’s attention. 【Q24】
TUTOR: That sounds sensible.
RUSS: What do you think I should do next? I really have to plan the presentation today and tomorrow.
TUTOR: Well, initially I think you should ignore all the notes you’ve made, take a small piece of paper, and write a single short sentence that ties together the whole presentation 【Q25】: it can be something as simple as ‘Nanotechnology is already improving our lives’. Then start planning the content around that. You can always modify that sentence later, if you need to.
RUSS: OK.
TUTOR: OK, now let’s think about actually giving the presentation. You’ve only given one before, if I remember correctly, about an experiment you’d been involved in.
RUSS: That’s right. It was pretty rubbish!
TUTOR: Let’s say it was better in some respects than in others. With regard to the structure. I felt that you ended rather abruptly, without rounding it off 【Q26】. Be careful not to do that in next week’s presentation.
RUSS: OK.
TUTOR: And you made very little eye contact with the audience, because you were looking down at your notes most of the time. You need to be looking at the audience and only occasionally glancing at your notes. 【Q27】
RUSS: Mmm.
TUTOR: Your body language was a little odd. Every time you showed a slide, you turned your back on the audience so you could look at it – you should have been looking at your laptop. And you kept scratching your head, so I found myself wondering when you were next going to do that, instead of listening to what you were saying! 【Q28】
RUSS: Oh dear. What did you think of the language? I knew that not everyone was familiar with the subject, so I tried to make it as simple as I could.
TUTOR: Yes, that came across. You used a few words that are specific to the field, but you always explained what they meant, so the audience wouldn’t have had any difficulty understanding. 【Q29】
RUSS: Uh-huh.
TUTOR: I must say the handouts you prepared were well thought out. They were a good summary of your presentation, which people would be able to refer to later on 【Q30】. So well done on that.
RUSS: Thank you.
TUTOR: Well, I hope that helps you with next week’s presentation.
RUSS: Yes, it will. Thanks a lot.
TUTOR: I’ll look forward to seeing a big improvement, then.
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
听前预测：定位词 difficulty；提示词 due to。
题目解析：首先我们听到“I’m really struggling.”（我感到很困惑很挣扎。），与定位词 difficulty 为同义替换 ；然后听到“I didn’t know much about it”，对应 A 选项中的 lack of knowledge，但是 Russ 用“I’ve read so much about it, in a way there’s too much to say”（我已经了解了很多的内容，有太多的内容要说啦）否定掉了这个选项 ；随后听到“I could talk for much longer than the twenty minutes”（我能说远超过 20 分钟的内容），影射 C 选项中的 short time，但注意原文是指报告时间不够，而非 C 选项说的准备报告的时间不够，因此 C 选项可排除 ；最后 Russ 用两个并列疑问句“Should I assume…and give them a kind of general introduction, or should I try and make them share my fascination with a particular aspect?”（我应该要分享给听众一些大体介绍？还是应该给他们分享一些我觉得特别的内容？） 表达出对这次报告的目标感到困扰，对应 B 选项中的 uncertainty about what he should try to achieve，因此答案为 B。
听前预测：定位词 approach；提示词 agree。
题目解析：此题定位不难，但陷阱较多。我们首先听到了含定位词 approach 的信息 one way of approaching this；然后听到 in chronological order，对应 B 选项的 follow the chronological development，但 Russ 没有对此表态 ；接着导师提出第二个观点“talk about the numerous ways that nanotechnology is being applied”（讨论纳米技术被应用于各个领域的内容），与 C 选项相符，但 Russ 同样没有对此表态 ；最后导师提出第三个观点“focus on its impact in one particular area”（关注于纳米技术在一个特定领域的影响），这时 Russ 说“I should do that”，表明同意导师的观点，吻合题干提示的 agree，因此答案为 A。
听前预测：定位词 slides；提示词 advises。
题目解析：此题个别选项理解较难，选项 C 中的 omit 意为“忽略，省略”，如若在考场上碰到选项中有生僻词汇，用排除法来解决会比较好。首先听到定位词 slides，然后听到导师说“They aren’t essential…”（幻灯片不是必要的……），表明导师对做幻灯片的态度并不支持 ；紧接着又听到“You might find it better to leave them out.”（也许你会发现不用幻灯片会更好），对应 C 选项中的 omitting slides，因此答案为 C。A、B 选项在原文中并未提及。
听前预测：定位词 start；提示词 best way。
题目解析：首先 Russ 提到了定位词 start，然后提到了“asking the audience…”，对应 A 选项的内容，但是导师说“but…you can’t do anything with the answers you get”，可排除 A。最后 Russ 说“maybe I should mention a particular way that nanotechnology is used”（纳米技术的使用方式，即为一个列举，对应 C 选项的 an example），得到了导师的认可，因此答案为 C。另外，B 选项在原文中未提及。
听前预测：定位词 to do next；提示词 advise。
题目解析：首先听到导师说“you should ignore all the notes you’ve made”，可以排除 B；然后又听到导师说“…write a single short sentence that ties together the whole presentation…”，意为“写一个简短的句子把整个报告串连到一起（即总结整个报告）”， 对应 A 选项的内容，因此答案为 A。另外，C 选项在原文中未提及。