TUTOR: OK, Jim. You wanted to see me about your textile design project.
JIM: That’s right. I’ve been looking at how a range of natural dyes can be used to colour fabrics like cotton and wool.
TUTOR: Why did you choose that topic?
JIM: Well, I got a lot of useful ideas from the museum, you know, at that exhibition of textiles. But I’ve always been interested in anything to do with colour. Years ago, I went to a carpet shop with my parents when we were on holiday in Turkey, and I remember all the amazing colours. 【Q21】
TUTOR: They might not all have been natural dyes.
JIM: Maybe not, but for the project I decided to follow it up. And I found a great book about a botanic garden in California that specialises in plants used for dyes.
TUTOR: OK. So, in your project, you had to include a practical investigation.
JIM: Yeah. At first I couldn’t decide on my variables. I was going to just look at one type of fibre for example, like cotton …
TUTOR: … and see how different types of dyes affected it?
JIM: Yes. Then I decided to include others as well, so I looked at cotton and wool and nylon. 【Q22】
TUTOR: With just one type of dye?
JIM: Various types, including some that weren’t natural, for comparison.
TUTOR: OK.
JIM: So, I did the experiments last week. I used some ready-made natural dyes. I found a website which supplied them, they came in just a few days, but I also made some of my own.
TUTOR: That must have taken quite a bit of time.
JIM: Yes, I’d thought it’d just be a matter of a teaspoon or so of dye, and actually that wasn’t the case at all. Like I was using one vegetable, beetroot, for a red dye, and I had to chop up a whole pile of it 【Q23】. So it all took longer than I’d expected.
TUTOR: One possibility is to use food colourings.
JIM: I did use one. That was a yellow dye, an artificial one.
TUTOR: Tartrazine?
JIM: Yeah. I used it on cotton first. It came out a great colour, but when I rinsed the material, the colour just washed away 【Q24】. I’d been going to try it out on nylon, but I abandoned that idea.
TUTOR: Were you worried about health issues?
JIM: I’d thought if it’s a legal food colouring, it must be safe.
TUTOR: Well, it can occasionally cause allergic reactions, I believe.
TUTOR: So what natural dyes did you look at?
JIM: Well, one was turmeric. The colour’s great, it’s a really strong yellow. It’s generally used in dishes like curry.
TUTOR: It’s meant to be quite good for your health when eaten, but you might find it’s not permanent when it’s used as a dye – a few washes, and it’s gone. 【Q25】
JIM: Right. I used beetroot as a dye for wool. When I chop up beetroot to eat I always end up with bright red hands, but the wool ended up just a sort of watery cream shade 【Q26】. Disappointing.
TUTOR: There’s a natural dye called Tyrian purple. Have you heard of that?
JIM: Yes. It comes from a shellfish, and it was worn in ancient times but only by important people as it was so rare. I didn’t use it. 【Q27】
TUTOR: It fell out of use centuries ago, though one researcher managed to get hold of some recently. But that shade of purple can be produced by chemical dyes nowadays. Did you use any black dyes?
JIM: Logwood. That was quite complicated. I had to prepare the fabric so the dye would take.
TUTOR: I hope you were careful to wear gloves.
JIM: Yes. I know the danger with that dye.
TUTOR: Good. It can be extremely dangerous if it’s ingested 【Q28】. Now, presumably you had a look at an insect-based dye? Like cochineal, for example?
JIM: Yes. I didn’t actually make that, I didn’t have time to start crushing up insects to get the red colour and anyway they’re not available here, but I managed to get the dye quite easily from a website. But it cost a fortune 【Q29】. I can see why it’s generally just used in cooking, and in small quantities.
TUTOR: Yes, it’s very effective, but that’s precisely why it’s not used as a dye.
JIM: I also read about using metal oxide. Apparently you can allow iron to rust while it’s in contact with the fabric, and that colours it.
TUTOR: Yes, that works well for dying cotton. But you have to be careful as the metal can actually affect the fabric 【Q30】 and so you can’t expect to get a lot of wear out of fabrics treated in this way. And the colours are quite subtle, not everyone likes them. Anyway, it looks as if you’ve done a lot of work …
Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
听前预测：定位词 choose；提示词 first inspired。
题目解析：先是出现了定位词 choose，接着 Jim 提到了 A 选项中的观点“I got a lot of useful ideas from the museum, you know, at that exhibition of textiles.”（我从博物馆那个关于纺织品的展览中得到了很多有用的启发。），但是他又说“But I’ve always been interested in anything to do with colour.”（但是，我以前就对与色彩相关的一切很着迷。），因此 A 排除。然后出现信号词 years ago，对应题干提示词 first，紧接着的“I went to a carpet shop…, and I remember all the amazing colours.”（我曾去过一个专卖地毯的商店……，我一直对那些明艳的色彩记忆犹新。）对应 C 选项 carpets he saw on holiday，因此答案为 C。之后，Jim 还提到了 B 选项的对应信息 a great book about a botanic garden，但它并不是 Jim 选择这个项目的原因，而是确定做这个课题以后的后续研究，因为他说“but for the project I decided to follow it up. And I found a great book about a botanic garden…”（但是为 了我的研究项目，随后我翻阅了一本关于植物园的书籍。），因此 B 排除。
听前预测：定位词 practical investigation；提示词 eventually。
题目解析：首先听到定位词 practical investigation， 然后听到 Jim 说“At first I couldn’t decide on my variables…look at one type of fibre…”，其中 one type of fibre 对应 B 选项，但是通过 at first 可以排除 B。接下来听到了逻辑信号词 then，对应提示词 eventually，之后听到 Jim 说“I decided to include other as well, so I looked at cotton and wool and nylon.”，导师问“With just one type of dye?”，Jim 答“Various types. ”，其中 various types 对应 A 选项的 a range of dyes，cotton and wool and nylon 对应 different fibres，因此答案为 A。另外，C 选项在文中未提及。
听前预测：定位词 experiments；提示词 surprised。
题目解析：首先 Jim 提到了定位词 experiments，然后提到了“I used some ready-made natural dyes, I found a website which supplied them.”（与 B 选项部分重叠），但这并不是 Jim 感到 surprised 的点，可排除 B ；接下来，导师提到“That must have taken quite a bit of time.”（它们肯定相当耗费时间。），对应 C 选项 time 部分，但 C 选 项说的时间是把布料放入染料的时间，而非原文中 Jim 做整个实验的时间，因此可以排除 C。最后 Jim 提到“Like I was using one vegetable, beetroot, for a red dye, and I had to chop up a whole pile of it.”（像是我本以为红色的染料仅需一棵甜菜根即可，结果我用掉了一整堆的甜菜根。），其中 a whole pile of 对应 A 选项 的 how much，beetroot 对应 natural material，for a red dye 对应 make the dye，因此答案为 A。
听前预测：定位词 tartrazine；提示词 problem。
题目解析：首先听到定位词 tartrazine，然后听到 Jim 说“I used it on cotton first. It came out a great colour, but when I rinsed the material, the colour just washed away.”， 其中 the colour just washed away 对应 B 选项的 not a permanent dye，因此答案为 B。 另外，后面还出现了“I’d been…on nylon, but I abandoned that idea.”，可排除 C。最后还出现了 A 选项中的 allergic reaction，但是是导师提及的，Jim 在使用 tartrazine 作为染料的过程中并未发生过敏现象，因此可排除 A。