2016年英语专业八级真题听力 Interview1

M: Good evening, everybody. Today we are pleased to have invited Maggie Shorts from Harvard University to tell us her feeling of studying together with her mom. Well, Maggie.

W: Thanks. I'm happy to meet you all.

M: Maggie, are you and your mom studying the same major at the university?

W:Not really. She is studying in law school and I'm studying journalism. So, you see she is a graduate student while I am an undergraduate. Since we study at the same time and hers is a four-year night program, our school schedules are synched.

M: Which means?

W: We follow the same schedules of study. We take our exams during the same busy weeks and experience similar relief at the end of December and May. Last spring, we compared notes on our cover letters and interviews for our job applications. Last June, as we were both preparing for our summer internships, my mother and I traded fashion advice. Presently, we will probably graduate within days of each other.

M: Interesting. Then you must have a lot in common at study.

W: You bet. As students, we've shared study habits (take notes by hand), general truths (You can't avoid having a few bad professors), and encouraging platitude(like, it's okay! No one will care how you did on your "Science of Cooking"or "Constitutional Law" midterm!). Where she's listened to my complaints about freshman-year roommates and dining-hall food, I've helped her buy textbooks online and wished her luck in moot-court practice. Occasionally, we've even studied together. When Mom came to visit during Freshman Parents Weekend, I took her into the libraries on the pretext that she was on the library tour. We sat side by side in the big open room on the first floor, she diligently taking notes on a huge red volume that she had lugged from New York City on the train, I casually reading about Greek myths.

M: What do you think is the biggest advantage of having a parent studying together with you?

W: I know that my mother has felt the frustration of a paper that won't write and the excitement of mastering a difficult topic. I don't need to explain my elaborate theory that I am a "bad test-taker", she's said the same thing about herself. And talking with her is a good way to get perspective on those occasional hurdles that crop up in college. Although we are both taking a substantial course load, Mom is also working a full-time job in the financial industry. That urges me to study harder, so I should say encouragement.

M: Any disadvantages then?

W: Well, sometimes I wonder whether we are getting a little too involved in each other's scholastic lives. This usually occurs to me about twice a year, when my mother calls to inform me of her grades. Once, she reached me in the middle of a date ("I got my first A! Aren't you going to congratulate me?"), and often, when the news has been disappointing, I haven't known how to respond. Last fall, I was chastised for passing along a speculative tidbit I had heard in the dining hall--- that, because of grade inflation, GPAs once considered good might be viewed with new scrutiny. "Jane has informed me that 'B is the new F,'" Mom announced at Thanksgiving. I didn't know what to say to comfort her.

男：大家晚上好。很高兴我们今天邀请到哈佛大学的玛吉·肖茨来跟我们分享，和妈妈一起上学的感觉。玛吉。

女：谢谢。很高兴见到大家。

男：玛吉，你和妈妈在大学学的是同一专业吗?

女:没有。她在法学院学习，我学新闻。她是研究生，而我是本科生。我们在同一时间学习，她上的是四年制夜校，我们的学校时间表是一样的。

男：这意味着什么?

女：我们遵循相同的学习时间表。我们在相同的几个考试周里忙着参加考试，在12月底和5月底的时候一起放松。去年春天，我们对比了求职信和面试的笔记。去年6月，当我们都在为暑期实习做准备时，妈妈和我交换了关于穿着打扮的建议。目前，我们两个可能会在几天内相继毕业。

男：很有趣。那你们在学习上一定有很多共同点。

女：当然。作为学生，我们有共同的学习习惯(手写笔记)，面临同样的现实(不可避免地会碰到一些糟糕的教授)，并互相鼓励(比如，没关系！没有人会关心你在“烹饪科学”或“宪法”期中考试中表现怎么样的！）她会听我抱怨新生室友和食堂伙食，我帮她在网上买了课本，并祝她在模拟法庭联系中表现出色。偶尔，我们还一起学习。双亲周妈妈来看望我时，我借口她去书海遨游，带她进了图书馆。我们肩并肩坐在一楼的大房间里，她翻看着坐火车从纽约市拖来的一本红色的大书，认真写笔记，我就随便读点希腊神话。

男：你认为父母和你一起学习最大的好处是什么?

女:我知道我的母亲面对一篇写不出来的论文有多么沮丧，也知道掌握一个高难度的话题之后她有多兴奋。我是一个“不会考试的人”，这不需要解释，我妈说她也是这样。和妈妈聊天可以换一个角度看待大学里偶尔出现的障碍。虽然我们都在承受巨大的课程负担，但妈妈还在金融行业做全职工作。这激励着我更努力地学习，所以我认为最大的好处就是受到鼓励。

男：有没有什么缺点呢?

女：嗯，有时候我在想我们是不是对彼此的学习生活干涉太多了。这样的想法我每年会有两次，也就是我妈妈打电话通知我她的成绩的时候。有一次，我正在约会，她打电话过来(“我得到了我的第一个A!你要恭喜我吗？”）通常，传来的不是好消息，我还不知道该如何回应。去年秋天，我因传播在餐厅里听到的一段小道消息而受到惩罚。有人说，考试成绩给分过高，因此从前比较好的平均分数，可能会受到新的审查。“简告诉我，‘B是新的F’，”妈妈在感恩节这样说。我不知道该说什么安慰她。