英语四级的新闻听力

　　在大学英语四级听力考试中，有一些常见的听力题型，为了帮助同学们更好的了解，小编给大家整理相关内容，一起练习下吧！
　　英语四级新闻听力
　　一、听力练习
　　1.A. Inadequate financial support from government.
　　B. Decreasing number of customers.
　　C. Years of poor leadership and even worse government oversight.
　　D. Increasing operation and management cost.
　　2.A. $5 million.
　　B. $10 billion.
　　C. $138 million.
　　D. $27 billion.
　　二、听力文本
　　The power company that serves more than 5 million people in one of the world's most technologically developed areas has to make a decision: turn off the electricity or risk starting wildfires. Pacific Gas & Electric, PG&E, is $30 billion in debt and needs billions more to modernize its aging power system. Many Californians are unsure as to whether the company can safely provide electricity to a large part of the state. The company's troubles come from years of poor leadership and even worse government oversight. The problem and its possible answers are the top concern for California politicians. Most experts agree that the fires and the power outages will continue for years and all energy will cost more. In California, a lot of people live near power lines in forests that are very dry. Two years ago, electrical sparks from power lines started several fires that destroyed large parts of Northern California and killed more than 20 people. A year later, PG&E power lines started the Camp Fire, which destroyed the town of Paradise, killing 85 people. The power company is responsible for about 200,000 kilometers of power lines. Many of the lines go through forests that are dry after years of low rainfall. The forests are also filled with dead trees, more than 138 million in all, experts believe. They are possible fuel for wildfires. More than half of PG&E's 181,000 square kilometers of service area is known to be at high risk for fires. That information comes from a plan the company gave to state officials this year. That plan explained how the company was going to try to avoid causing more fires. The company has failed to perform all the necessary repairs to its systems. It was found criminally responsible for a deadly explosion in its gas system in the community of San Bruno in 2010. Company officials say they have invested $27 billion in their power system over the past 10 years.
　　Question 1: According to the news report, where do the troubles facing the power company Pacific Gas & Electric come from?
　　Question 2: According to the news report, how much has the power company Pacific Gas & Electric invested in their power system over the past 10 years?

　　三、重点词汇
　　1. aging: used to describe a person or thing that is getting old 年老的；老化的；过时的
　　2. oversight: a mistake made because of a failure to notice something 失察，疏忽，疏漏
　　3. outage: a period when a service, such as electricity, is not available 停电（等）期间
　　4. spark: a very small piece of fire that flies out from something that is burning, or one that is made by rubbing two hard things together, or a flash of light made by electricity 火花，火星；电火花
　　四、背景知识
　　据俄罗斯卫星网11月21日报道，美国加利福尼亚州太平洋天然气和电力公司(PG&E)在一份声明中表示，为了防止火灾风险，他们将有选择地切断该州的电力供应，预计约有4.8万名居民遭遇断电。PG&E公司在声明中说，“出于安全因素，PG&E公司在周三（11月20日）上午切断了约4.8万名客户的电源。这些客户分布在科卢萨、格、雷克、门多西诺、纳帕、沙斯塔、索拉诺、索诺玛、蒂哈马和优洛等县。今天早些时候，这些县中大多数县的风速都超过了50英里/小时，其中索诺玛县的风速超过了70英里/小时。”早些时候，这家公司曾警告说，将切断超过15万客户的电力供应，但后来由于天气预报的情况有所改善，减少了受影响的家庭数量。媒体援引气象学家的话报道称，“火灾天气”已经重返北加州的大片地区，与此同时，南加州预计将迎来本季度的一、场冬季风暴，并将带来大面积降雨。气象学家表示，这两个自然天气事件是相关的。PG&E公司对这一预测做出了回应，提前切断了数万居民和企业的电力供应，以防止其老化的基础设施引发新的火灾。加州历史上一些具破坏性的火灾是由PG&E电线倒塌引起的，包括本季度的几起火灾。根据该州的多份报告，这家垄断性单位对于基础设施的管理不善和维护延期，是引发这些火灾的根本原因。上个月，PG&E公司就曾为了防止老化的电缆引发更严重的野火而将电源切断，导致加州约150万人断电数日。（背景知识来自于https://new.qq.com/omn/20191121/20191121A0AZAY00.html）
　　五、参考答案
　　Question 1: C
　　Question 2: D