Part III Listening Comprehension

　　Passage 1

　　Donna Fredrick’s served with the Peace Corps for two years in Brazil. She joined the Peace Corps after she graduated from the college because she wanted to do something to help other people. She had been brought up on a farm, so the Peace Corps assigned her to an agricultural project. Before she went to Brazil, she studied Portuguese for three months. She also learnt a great deal about its history and culture. During her two years with the Peace Corps, Donna lived in a village in northeast Brazil. That part of Brazil is very dry and farming is often difficult there. Donna helped the people of the village to organise an irrigation project, and she also advised them on planting crops that didn’t require much water. When Donna returned to the States, she couldn’t settle down. She tried several jobs, but they seemed very boring to her. She couldn’t get Brazil out of her mind. Finally, one day she got on a plane and went back to Brazil. She wasn’t sure what she’s going to do. She just wanted to be there. After a few weeks, Donna found a job as an English teacher, teaching five classes a day. Like most of the teachers, she doesn’t make much money. She shares a small apartment with another teacher. And she makes a little extra money by sending stories to newspapers in the States. Eventually she wants to quit teaching and work as a full-time journalist.

　　Question 16

　　Why did Donna join the Peace Corps after she graduated from college?

　　Question 17

　　What was Donna assigned to do in Brazil?

　　Question 18

　　Why did Donna go back to Brazil once again?

　　Question 19

　　How did Donna make extra money to support herself?

　　答案：

　　16. A She had a desire to help others.

　　17. B Work on an agricultural project.

　　18. D She could not get the country out of her mind.

　　19. B By writing stories for American newspaper.

　　【點評】

　　本篇短文主要講述了Donna Fredrick的職業發展，大學畢業之后加入和平隊（the Peace Corps），參加農業項目，兩年的時間她住在巴西的東北部，開展灌溉項目，幫助當地居民種植無需很多水的農作物。回到美國之后嘗試了幾個工作，但仍心心念念巴西。最終回到巴西任英語老師，同時兼職給美國報紙寫文章，來賺取額外的生活費。最后Donna想辭去教師工作專心做全職記者。

　　本篇文章基本上沒有生僻的詞匯，以敘述為主；不知道Peace Corps的意思不會影響做題，只需將其定義為一個組織名，中間涉及的Brazil，Portuguese也都是大家較熟悉的單詞。四個題目都是考查考生對事實細節的抓取能力。