第十一期 2008年12月真题 文章(5/6)-英语听力

[00:02.00]Passage Three [00:03.94]When US spacewoman Joan Higginbotham is not flying and working in space, [00:10.32]she might be found somewhere on earth giving a speech. Higginbotham, [00:16.39]who grew up in Chicago and became an engineer before joining NASA that is the National Air and Space Administration, [00:25.13]gives about a dozen speeches a year.Each speech is different because she tailors her remarks to each audience. [00:34.63]Through interviews and E-mails,she finds out in advance her listeners'educational level and what information they want to know. [00:46.07]On the subject of space walks,for example,audiences vary in their interests and how much complexity they can comprehend. [00:56.45]To elementary school children, Higginbotham may discuss a problem that many kids want to know about. [01:05.00]"How do spacemen in a spacesuit eat, drink, and go to the bathroom?" [01:12.63]Her answer is"the spacesuit is really a small spacecraft with room for food and water containers,and a waste-collection system." [01:25.42]To a high school audience, she might satisfy a curiosity that often arises in her pre-speech interviews with students [01:35.33]who obviously have seen many science fiction movies."Do spacemen carry weapons in case they encounter enemies in space?" [01:45.99]Her answer is "No".To scientists, she might provide technical details on such topics as the design of spacesuits [01:57.22]that protects spacemen from the deadly temperature extremes of space. [02:03.15]Just as elaborate preparation is required for success in space, [02:08.96]Higginbotham says that it's important for speakers to learn [02:13.51]as much as possible about their listeners before a speech because every audience is different.