Gaokao English Listening Comprehensive Training (Book + Audio Cassette)

Author: Zhu Mingxin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: The quality of English listening mainly reflects students' responses to the pronunciation of vocabulary they have learned, their understanding of phrases, idioms, sentences, chunks, pauses, their perception of sentence intonation and tone, their ability to distinguish weak forms and linking in words, as well as their comprehensive understanding of Western cultural background and ways of thinking. While listening is not the only standard to judge English proficiency, poor listening skills can significantly hinder our English communication abilities. In our country, listening is almost the most feared part for all English learners in both exams and practical applications. Although this book does not explicitly require listening training, the listening skill standards it sets are still quite high. It requires students to "identify different attitudes expressed through different tones; understand tactful suggestions or advice; grasp the main points in simple passages; and basically understand the themes or gist of English news broadcasts and TV programs." Without a certain amount of listening training and good listening habits, achieving this standard is quite challenging. Based on the information we have, few students can meet this standard. Students in big cities have a slightly better listening foundation, while the gap for rural children is even larger.