英语四级新闻听力20210809

一、听力练习

1.

A. One.

B. Two.

C. Three.

D. Four.

2.

A. Outside the Texas town of Van Horn.

B. In the desert near the town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.

C. On Merritt Island, Florida.

D. In downtown Houston, in the Clear Lake area.

二、听力文本

As the race to launch space tourism flights continues in the United States, two small American towns have entered the action. On Tuesday, American billionaire Jeff Bezos flew to the edge of space on a rocket built by his company Blue Origin. Three other people took the quick trip with him: Bezo's brother, a Dutch teenager and an 82-year old pilot. The space tourism trips permit passengers to experience weightlessness and observe Earth for a few minutes after crossing into space. On July 11, British billionaire Richard Branson made a similar trip. He flew on a rocket plane built by the company he founded, Virgin Galactic. Two pilots and three company officials joined him. The flights by Branson and Bezos officially launched a new industry that promises any citizen the chance to visit space. Such trips will be costly, however. Virgin Galactic's price for a single flight is $250,000 and Blue Origin has not yet announced its rate. Virgin Galactic's 70-square kilometer Spaceport America is in the desert near the town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. About 5,800 people live in the town. Blue Origin's New Shepard flight operations center is outside the Texas town of Van Horn, home to about 1,800 people.

Question 1: According to the news report, how many people flew to the edge of space with American billionaire Jeff Bezos on Tuesday?

Question 2: According to the news report, where is Blue Origin's New Shepard flight operations center?

三、重点词汇

1. weightlessness: the state of having or appearing to have no weight; the fact of not being affected by gravity (= the force that makes things fall to the ground) 没有重量；失重状态

四、背景知识

以 2043 亿美元个人资产位列世界首富的杰夫·贝索斯 (Jeff Bezos) 在 2021 年 7 月 20 日“兵行险招”，57 岁的他登上蓝色起源自研的新谢泼德号 , 亲自进行火箭的首次载人航天测试。这不仅是历史上商业航天公司第一次成付费乘客的旅行，也是首次无人驾驶全平民太空飞行——舱内没有一位专业宇航员参与，全是普通人。（背景知识来自于https://www.163.com/dy/article/GGMEA31N0517BD18.html）

五、参考答案

Question 1: C

Question 2: A