CET-4 Listening Passages: Learning a Language as an Adult and Sleep Before Exams

Passage One.

短文一。

Is it too late to learn a new language after the age of twenty?

過了二十歲再學一種新語言，是不是太晚了？

Many people believe it is, but the truth is more interesting.

很多人覺得是，但真相有趣得多。

In 2018, researchers in the United States studied almost seven hundred thousand people.

2018年，美國的研究人員針對將近七十萬人做了研究。

Everyone took a short online grammar quiz in English.

每個人都在網路上做了一份簡短的英文文法測驗。

The results suggested that our ability to learn grammar stays strong until about seventeen.

結果顯示，我們學文法的能力大約到十七歲以前都還很強。

To sound like a native speaker, it helps to start before about the age of ten.

如果想說得跟母語人士一樣，最好在十歲左右以前開始學。

But that's not the whole story.

但這還不是全部。

Adults often learn new words faster than children, because they know how to study.

成年人懂得怎麼讀書，所以背新單字常常比小孩還快。

And you don't need to sound like a native speaker to communicate well!

而且要溝通順暢，根本不需要說得跟母語人士一樣！

Questions sixteen to eighteen are based on the passage you have just heard.

第16題到第18題根據你剛才聽到的短文。

Question sixteen. What did the people in the 2018 study do?

第16題。2018年那項研究的參與者做了什麼？

Question seventeen. According to the study, until what age does our ability to learn grammar stay strong?

第17題。根據這項研究，我們學文法的能力大約到幾歲以前都還很強？

Question eighteen. What is the speaker's attitude towards adult language learners?

第18題。說話者對成年的語言學習者抱持什麼態度？

Passage Two.

短文二。

Many students think the best way to prepare for an exam is to stay up all night.

很多學生以為，準備考試最好的方法就是熬夜到天亮。

Science says otherwise.

科學可不這麼說。

In 2019, researchers at MIT gave nearly ninety students fitness trackers to wear.

2019年，麻省理工學院的研究人員請將近九十名學生戴上運動手環。

The trackers recorded how long and how well the students slept during one term.

手環記錄了學生一整個學期的睡眠時間和睡眠品質。

Sleep explained almost a quarter of the differences in their grades!

睡眠竟然能解釋他們成績差異的將近四分之一！

But here's the surprising part.

但最讓人意外的是這個。

Sleep on the night before a test made little difference.

考試前一晚的睡眠幾乎沒什麼影響。

What mattered was regular sleep in the weeks before.

真正重要的是考前幾週規律的睡眠。

So start sleeping well today, not the night before the exam!

所以從今天就開始好好睡吧，別等到考前一晚！

Questions nineteen to twenty-one are based on the passage you have just heard.

第19題到第21題根據你剛才聽到的短文。

Question nineteen. What did the researchers give the students?

第19題。研究人員給了學生什麼？

Question twenty. What did the study find about sleep on the night before a test?

第20題。關於考試前一晚的睡眠，這項研究發現了什麼？

Question twenty-one. What is the speaker's advice?

第21題。說話者給了什麼建議？