英语四级听力短文理解模拟训练第19套_大学英语听力

英语四级听力短文理解模拟训练第19套

　　By this time most people had a very good life. Of course new inventions continued to be made. But man now had a desire to explore again. The world was known to man, but the stars were not. Man began looking for ways to go into space. Russia made the first step. Then the United States took a step. Since then other countries, including China and Japan, have made their steps into space.

　　Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you have just heard.

　　26. When did people stop exploring a lot?

　　27. Which was an important invention in the 19th century?

　　28. What made people healthier and let them live longer lives in the middle part of the 20th century?

　　Passage Two

　　We know that we have to pay for what we get. If we buy food, we know there will be a bill to pay. These are private bills. But there are also public bills that must be paid. Public bills are paid by the government. In turn, we get these services through taxes. What would happen if everyone in the city stopped paying taxes? The water supply would stop; water might become unclean and impure. The streets might not be cleaned. There would be no police force to protect people and property. Schools would be closed. People would become sick and diseases might spread. We

　　should not want to live in such a city. We all want pure water and food, clean streets and good schools. We want the police to prevent crime. The chief duty for every government is to protect persons and property. More than three quarters of the money spent by our government is used for this purpose. The next largest amount of public money goes to teach and train our citizens. Billions of dollars each year are spent on schools and libraries. Public money is used to pay the teachers and all the public officials. A large number of public funds are also spent on roads.