Directions: In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions.
Now listen to the interview.
听力原文:INTERVIEWER: Cattle raising in the U.S. is big business, isn't it?
BECK: Yes, it's the largest business.
INTERVIEWER: It must be a very profitable business then.
BECK: Uh... not necessarily.
INTERVIEWER: It's not necessarily a profitable business?
BECK: At times, it's not profitable. Your production costs get—It's a supply and demand market, and if your supply is larger than your demand, why at times—
INTERVIEWER: So the price is fluctuating all the time.
BECK: Right. It fluctuates, and it can get below production costs.
INTERVIEWER: But you never know.... For instance, next year, you don't know what it'll bring on the market.
BECK: No, technically, it takes a year and a half from the time you breed the cow, until you get the calf, until the calf's marketable.
INTERVIEWER: Dh-hmm...
BECK: You've got a year, to a year and a half, tied up there.
INTERVIEWER: So, you're making an investment all the time.
BECK: Right. So you're not sure.
INTERVIEWER: It sounds like it might be a very.., uh... insecure kind of existence. Wonder why it is that people want to be farmers or ranchers then.
BECK: I think the majority of it is you like it. It's one thing... It's a breed of people. They like it. If you don't like what you're doing, why...
INTERVIEWER: What is there about it? You live essentially in a rural place. Doesn't that of isolation ever bother you ?
BECK: No. It's getting too crowded.
INTERVIEWER: Too crowded? !
BECK: Too many people!
INTERVIEWER: I can see that, for instance, in a city, you have.., uh... restaurants to go to, movie theaters—all kinds of things available to people,... a lot of conveniences which you don't have in the more rural areas. What to people who farm, ranch, do for recreation and relaxation, for instance...
BECK: Well. I think a lot of it is if you're a livestock raiser, you.., you just.., you'll go check your cows in the evening instead of going to a movie.
INTERVIEWER: Uh-huh...
BECK: That's as much recreation as going--driving through a...
INTERVIEWER: Uh-huh...
BECK: ... bunch of cows, and if you like them, why, you.., you enjoy that.
INTERVIEWER: In terms of the way of life,... uh... to a lot of people, it would.., it would seem that it's a very hard life. It means a lot of hard work. I mean, you have a schedule whether you feel like it or not, you have to get out and feed animals, and so forth. Would you regard that as one of the difficult things about it, or is that... ?
BECK: No... For me, if I had to go to a desk every morning, that'd kill me.
INTERVIEWER: Is there a problem of... uh... on the feeling of security?
BECK: What kind of security are you talking about—financial security?
INTERVIEWER: Uh... yeah, financial security.... Uh... the thing is up and down. You don't know what the market's going to bring for beef. You work all year, and so forth... uh... Is there any problem of that sort?
BECK: Sure, there's the problem of security. Especially, if you've had one or two bad years. You feel awfully insecure.
INTERVIEWER: Uh-huh.
BECK: If you've borrowed money to buy a farm or to operate, and.., and there's no money coming in, you feel awfully insecure.
INTERVIEWER: Uh-huh...
BECK: But you do always have... if... if you've got a fairly good amount of your ranch paid off, you've got that to fall back on. You always feel, you know, you can think of that as a security. If everything else fails, if you can't pay for your operating expenses...
INTERVIEWER: How do you handle uh... the whole family-life situation—children ? You're out almost as much as.
A.the demand is too low
B.the supply is too large
C.the cost is too high
D.the price is changeable