Quartz 4

cet4_2025_06_1

17 min read

听力部分：

  • 00:00:43 - News 1
  • 00:02:41 - News report 2
  • 00:04:30 - News 3
  • 00:07:44 - Conversation 1
  • 00:10:51 - Conversation 2
  • 00:14:25 - long Con 1
  • 00:17:19 - long Con 2
  • 00:20:17 - long Con 3

Listening

NEWS 1

A) By slapping some butter on it.

Everything changed for 7-year-old Tariq when he slapped some butter on an ear1 of corn. He knew it tasted good, but butter made it better. His passion for produce got him a position as South Dakota’s Official Corn Ambassador. Tariq profession of love for his favorite vegetable earned him the name, the Corn kid. This was after his online interview attracted millions of views and was made into a song. South Dakota is one of the top corn producers in America. The corn provides nourishment across the globe. Tariq said, not everyone has to like corn, but everyone should definitely try it, especially with butter. Tariq and his family were invited to South Dakota to attend the honorary ceremony at the State’s Corn Palace. Officials wanted to highlight South Dakota’s two largest industries, tourism and agriculture. Tariq couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw the palace made of corn.

Q1:How did Tarig make corn taste better?
Q2:Why were Tariq and his family invited to South Dakota?

NEWS 2

Two arrests were announced Thursday. The arrests were in connection with a string of mail thefts from U.S. Postal Service’s collection boxes in Marion County and for the possession of a stolen postal key, according to the Department of Justice. Jordan Jax and Tarod Goodman, both 23,were arrested after evidence gathered in an investigation showed the pair stole mail on multiple occasions using a postal key, according to a news release. Jax and Goodman stole mail for around four months. Investigators reviewed videos of the collection boxes; the video showed the two men loading the stolen mail into Jax’s vehicle. Investigators were also able to recover the key that was used to open the collection boxes. Jax and Goodman each face up to five years in federal prison in the mail thefts and up to ten years for possession of the postal key.

string： a series of things or people that come closely one after another 一系列；一连串；一批

a string of hits
接二连三的成功
He owns a string of racing stables.
他有好多个赛马训练场。

recover： to get back or find sth that was lost, stolen or missing 找回；寻回；找到

~ sth
The police eventually recovered the stolen paintings.
警方最终追回了失窃的油画。
~ sth from sb/sth
Six bodies were recovered from the wreckage.
从残骸中找到了六具尸体。

  1. What did Jordan Jax and Tarod Goodman do according to a news release?
  2. What do Jordan Jax and Tarod Goodman face?

PDF

Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heard.
A) Stole mail several times.
C) Attacked postmen on multiple occasions.
B) Forged postal keys illegally.
D) Broke a number of postal collection boxes.

A) sentence for life.
C) Twenty-three years’ hard labor.
B) Loss of all their possessions.
D) Up to fifteen years in prison.

PDF

Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.
5. A) It escapes regulation and misleads consumers.
B) It ignores economically feasible recycling options.
C) It creates waste and severely impacts the environment.
D) It produces clothes affordable only to a tiny minority.
6. A) To cut consumers’ expenses in buying quality clothes.
B) To enable the whole fast-fashion industry to be sustainable.
C) To incentivize manufacturers to be more consumer-friendly.
D) To urge manufacturers and consumers to reduce waste.
7. A) Recognizing the impact on consumers.
C) Abandoning the current business model.
B) Identifying the source of the problem.
D) Establishing powerful regulatory bodies.

NEWS 3

Can fast-fashion be sustainable? Researchers think yes. Identifying why the fast-fashion business model creates waste and determining whether regulators can establish incentives for consumers and manufacturers are steps to reduce waste.

~ (of sth)the act of using sth in a careless or unnecessary way, causing it to be lost or destroyed 浪费；滥用

I hate unnecessary waste.
我憎恨不必要的浪费。
It seems such a waste to throw good food away.
把好好的食物扔掉似乎太浪费了。
I hate to see good food go to waste (= be thrown away).
我不愿看到好好的食物被扔掉。
The report is critical of the department’s waste of resources.
报告批评了这个部门对资源的浪费。
What a waste of paper!
多么浪费纸啊！

Recently, the clothing industry has come under attack for creating a waste problem with serious environmental consequences. In the absence of environmentally and economically feasible recycling options, fast-fashion manufacturers pump out low-quality clothes produced in high volumes that are worn only a few times and then discarded.

The researchers put forth policy contributions, ranging from sustainable disposal of leftover stock to production tax to incentivize both manufacturers and consumers to be more waste conscious.

range from … to …
对生产环节征税，并以可持续的方式处置剩余库存。

In order to devise effective policies to curb the environmental impact of the clothing industry, it is important to identify the source of the problem in the supply chain. Manufacturers, consumers, and regulatory bodies can then take an informed approach to recognize the environmental impact of fast-fashion and to design an ecosystem to reduce waste, incentivize innovation, and create new business models to manage waste.

cet4_2025_06_1, p.1

Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard.

  1. A) It escapes regulation and misleads consumers.
    B) It ignores economically feasible recycling options.
    C) It creates waste and severely impacts the environment.
    D) It produces clothes affordable only to a tiny minority.
  2. A) To cut consumers’ expenses in buying quality clothes.
    B) To enable the whole fast-fashion industry to be sustainable.
    C) To incentivize manufacturers to be more consumer-friendly.
    D) To urge manufacturers and consumers to reduce waste.
  3. A) Recognizing the impact on consumers.
    C) Abandoning the current business model.
    B) Identifying the source of the problem.
    D) Establishing powerful regulatory bodies.
  1. Why has the clothing industry come under attack?
  2. Why did the researchers put forth such policies as production tax?
  3. What should be done first to eliminate the harm caused by the clothing industry?

Conversation One

M:Hey Mary, you seem to be very much annoyed. What happened?
W:Rush hour in this city is killing me. M:Ah,yes.Rush hour is terrible, especially in the morning between 8 and 9. But what else can you expect in a city this big?
W:Well,I think the local government could help improve things. I mean, getting rid of rush hour may be impossible, but it could be made more tolerable, don’t you think?
M:Um…but I’m not sure how.
W:Well,for example, the subway system could have air conditioning. I know many cities in the world have air conditioning in their subway, so why can’t we? It gets so hot in the summer. I can hardly breathe down there. And add to that the rush-hour crowds with strangers packed close together in the subway carriages, the whole thing is just horrible.

M:Ah,yes,you are completely right. The trains here are too old. The government should definitely invest in new ones with air conditioning. I guess I’m fortunate I take the bus instead.
W:Oh,that’s much better.
M:Yeah,it’s more convenient. Bus No.36 goes straight from my house to the office. It’s a 30-minute ride and I don’t have to make any changes. W:That sounds nice. I tell you, my current commute is killing me. Maybe I should move closer to the office.
M:Well,I know a great housing agent. I found the flat I’m living in now through him. And I love it.

agent: a person whose job is to act for, or manage the affairs of, other people in business, politics, etc. （企业、政治等的）代理人，经纪人

an insurance agent
保险经纪人
Our agent in New York deals with all US sales.
我们在纽约的代理商经办在整个美国的销售。

W: Hmm, could you send me his number, please? M:Sure thing. Just tell him exactly what you are looking for and I’m sure he will find something good.

cet4_2025_06_1, p.1

Directions: Suppose your university is seeking students’ opinions on the necessity of making College Chinese a compulsory course. You are now to write an essay to express your view. You will have 30 minutes to write the essay. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.

Conversation Two

M:Did you hear about Johnny?
W: No. Why? Is he okay?
M: He had some plastic surgery done.
W:What?Why?
M:Doyou remember he had a scar on his face?
W:Yes,of course. He always had that. I’ve known him since primary school, and I always remember him having that
on his cheek.
M:Well,he had it fixed.
W: Fixed? What do you mean? You can’t fix a scar.
M:Youknow what I mean？ He had an operation done on it, plastic surgery, in order to cover it and make it less noticeable.
W:Oh,well,that’s ridiculous, isn’t it? It was noticeable, sure. But it wasn’t an ugly scar. It never occurred to me that he should have it taken care of like that.

have it taken care of = have someone take care of it

M:I agree. I can understand some scars and physical defects can be ugly and distracting, but not Johnny’s. In fact, I thought it added character…like it gave him a certain uniqueness.
W:He must have felt differently though. He must have felt self-conscious and insecure, perhaps.
M:No,no,that’s not the reason. He was totally fine with his scar. As you said, he had had it for most of his life.
W:Then why did he have the operation?
M:Because his girlfriend wanted him to.
W:What? That’s so superficial and selfish of her. If Johnny’s girlfriend doesn’t like him for who he is, then she does not deserve to be his girlfriend.
M: You are right. So he is insane to give in to her like that. But when I told him, he said he loves her and would just do what she wants him to.
W:What a fool he is.

Passage One

Talking is unique to humans. An animal might make 10 different sounds, but an adult human knows more than
20,000 words. Additionally, were the only animal that expresses thoughts in full sentences. Researchers don’t think language was invented; instead, they think it evolved. How did talking evolve? There are two main theories.
The first theory is that language started with people making different sounds, mostly imitating the things around them, like animal calls, nature sounds, and the sounds of tools. Perhaps they made the sound of wind to comment on the weather or imitated the sound o fa bird to tell a friend that there was a bird nearby. Then over hundreds of thousands of years, those sounds turned into words that people began to learn as part of their language. At some point, people started stringing the words together to form sentences.
The other main theory, which is more recent, is that people started off by gesturing —— pointing at things with their hands and imitating actions using their bodies. Eventually these gestures turned into a full sign language. This theory guesses that after developing sign languages, people eventually started making sounds along with their gestures. At some point, they switched to mostly making sounds that became words instead of just using their bodies. The reason they switched to making sounds, the theory goes, is that talking out loud lets you communicate with someone even when you can’t see them.

Long con 2

Is it a good idea to display luxury brands and other signals of status? It depends on the situation. Studies have shown that people who appear to be wealthy tend to be considered more intelligent, disciplined, and competent than those who do not. [19] But new research found that people believe someone who shows off their social status cares more about benefiting themselves than helping others. This means people are less willing to collaborate with them. Modesty may be key when cooperation is essential, but the researchers also found that in some cases, status signaling has advantages.

Experiments showed that participants were less likely to choose someone who signals their wealth or status to join a group seeking cooperative members. [20] But participants were more likely to choose that person when they’re looking for a competitive team member. These findings suggest that people should change how they present themselves depending on their social goal.

This is the era of social media. [21] People can easily share their wealth and status to large audiences, but they need to consider the consequences. Posting about luxury purchases and expensive vacations online may help you to persuade others and frighten competitors, but it could also signal to potential friends or future employers that you are unlikely to think about the needs of others. This makes things tricky for people who may want to impress others while also demonstrating that they are a team player.

Essay

60 out of 100
I am proud to stand here to explain my view on the subject of making College Chinese a compulsory course. I think it is (nessearry) in some points. In aspects of the main course which the students are currently learning, it is obviouse that it is nessearyy. It can help us make progress during our study, and vice verser. But in the other case, students for the most of time don’t care about other courses that are not really important at all . And I agree with these aspect of the views. Over all, I suppose it is quite nesseary that Colleage making some compulsory course. But I am not saying it contains all the courses that the students are learning.

Fixed:
I think it is necessary in some points. In aspects of the main course which the students are currently learning, it is obvious that it is necessary. …and vice versa. But on the other hand, students for most of the time don’t care about other courses that are not really important at all. And I agree with (these aspect → this aspect) of the views. Overall, I suppose it is quite necessary that the college makes some compulsory courses.

例文：
The university is now collecting students’ opinions on whether College Chinese should be made a compulsory course. In my view, this course is indeed necessary for several reasons. First, College Chinese can strengthen students’ language ability, which is essential for academic writing, critical reading, and effective communication. These skills support our study in many other subjects.

On the other hand, it is true that students often feel overwhelmed by courses that seem unrelated to their majors. Some may worry that compulsory courses take up too much time. However, I believe that a well-designed College Chinese course can benefit students rather than burden them. It can help us better understand our cultural roots and improve our overall literacy.

benefit: ~ sb to be useful to sb or improve their life in some way 对（某人）有用；使受益

We should spend the money on something that will benefit everyone.
我们应该把这笔钱花在大家都能得益的事上。

In conclusion, I support making College Chinese a compulsory course, as long as it is taught in a practical and engaging way that meets students’ real needs.

[T] ~ sth to do or satisfy what is needed or what sb asks for 满足；使满意 SYN fulfil

How can we best meet the needs of all the different groups?
我们怎样才能最好地满足各种人的需要呢？
Until these conditions are met we cannot proceed with the sale.
除非这些条件得到满足，否则我们不能继续这项交易。
I can’t possibly meet that deadline.
我不可能如期完成。

Footnotes

  1. the top part of a grain plant, such as wheat, that contains the seeds （谷类植物的）穗 ears of corn 玉米穗 ↩

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