Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! As instructed in our previous meeting, the subcommittee on building development has now drawn up a brief to submit to the firm's architect. In short, the building would consist of two floors. There would be a storage area in the basement to be used by the research center as well as by other departments. We are, as you know, short of storage base, so the availability of a large basement would be a considerable advantage. The ground floor would be occupied by laboratories. Altogether there would be six labs. In addition, there would be six offices for the technicians, plus a general secretarial office and reception area. The first floor would be occupied by the offices of Research and Development staff. There would be a suite of offices for the Research and Development director as well as a general office for secretarial staff. It's proposed to have a staff room with a small kitchen. This would serve both floors. There would also be a library for research documents and reference material. In addition, there would be a resource room in which audio visual equipment and other equipment of that sort could be stored. Finally, there would be a seminar room with closed circuit television. This room could also be used to present displays and demonstrations to visitors to the center. The building would be of brick construction so it's to conform to the general style of construction on the site. There would be a pitched roof. Wall and ceiling spaces would be insulated to conform to new building regulations。
Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you've just heard。
16. What is said about the planned basement of the new building?
17. Where would be the Research and Development director's office?
18. Why would the building be of brick construction?
As we help children get out into the world to do their learning well, we can get more of the world into the schools. Aside from their parents, most children never have any close contact with any adults except their teachers. No wonder they have no idea what adult life or work is like. We need to bring more people who are not full-time teachers into the schools. In New York City, under the teachers' and writers' collaborative, real writers come into the schools, read their work, and talk to the children about the problems of their craft. The children love it. In another school, a practicing attorney comes in every month and talks to several classes about the law. Not the law it is in books, but the law as he sees it and encounters it in his cases. And the children listen with intense interest. Here's something even easier: let children work together, help each other, learn from each other and each other's mistakes. We now know from this experience of many schools that children are often the best teachers of other children. What's more important, we know that when the fifth floor six-grader who is being having trouble with reading, starts helping a first-grader, his own reading sharply improves. A number of schools are beginning to use what some call paired learning. This means that you let children form partnerships with other children. Do their work even including their tests together and share whatever marks or results this work gets. Just like grown-ups in the real world. It seems to work。
Questions 23 to 25 are based on the passage you've just heard。
23: Why does the speaker say most children have no idea what adult life is like?
24: What is happening in New York City schools?
25: What does the experience of many schools show?
