CET-4 Listening Passages: Why We Put Things Off and Learning to Swim at Seventy

Passage One.

短文一。

Why do we put off important tasks, even when we know they matter?

为什么我们明知道重要的事情很重要，却还是会拖延？

Many people think it's because they're lazy.

很多人以为是因为自己懒。

But researchers say the real reason is our feelings.

但研究人员说，真正的原因是我们的情绪。

When a task feels boring or difficult, we feel bad.

当一件事让人觉得无聊或困难时，我们就会感到不舒服。

So we do something easy instead, like checking our phones.

于是我们转而去做一些轻松的事，比如看手机。

We feel better for a moment, but the task is still there.

我们会暂时感觉好一些，但事情还在那里。

The good news is that there's a simple trick.

好消息是，有一个简单的小窍门。

Tell yourself you'll work for just five minutes.

告诉自己，只做五分钟。

Once we start, the task usually feels much easier than we expected.

一旦开始，事情往往比我们想象的容易得多。

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

第16题到第18题基于你刚才听到的短文。

Question sixteen. What is the real reason people put off tasks?

第16题。人们拖延的真正原因是什么？

Question seventeen. Why do people check their phones instead of working?

第17题。人们为什么看手机而不去做事？

Question eighteen. What does the speaker suggest?

第18题。说话人提出了什么建议？

Passage Two.

短文二。

Margaret Hill was seventy when she decided to learn to swim.

Margaret Hill七十岁时决定学游泳。

As a child, she had almost drowned in a river, and she'd been afraid of water ever since.

小时候她差点在河里淹死，从那以后就一直怕水。

At her first lesson, she couldn't even put her face in the water.

第一节课时，她连把脸放进水里都做不到。

But her teacher was patient, and Margaret came back every week.

但她的老师很有耐心，Margaret每周都坚持去上课。

After six months, she swam her first full length of the pool!

六个月后，她第一次游完了泳池的全程！

Now she swims three times a week and helps other older beginners.

现在她每周游三次泳，还帮助其他年纪大的初学者。

She says the hardest part wasn't swimming. It was walking through the door.

她说最难的不是游泳，而是走进那扇门。

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

第19题到第21题基于你刚才听到的短文。

Question nineteen. Why was Margaret afraid of water?

第19题。Margaret为什么怕水？

Question twenty. What happened at her first lesson?

第20题。她第一节课时发生了什么？

Question twenty-one. What does Margaret say was the hardest part?

第21题。Margaret说最难的是什么？

Two stories, one lesson: the first step is always the hardest.

两个故事，一个道理：第一步永远是最难的。

So take it today.

所以，今天就迈出这一步吧。