问答题 Listen to the following passage. Altogether the passage will be read to you four times. During the first reading, which will be read at normal speed, listen and by to understand the meaning. For the second and third readings, the passage will be read sentence by sentence, or phrase by phrase, with intervals of 15 seconds. The last reading will be read at normal speed again and during this time you should check your work. You will then. be given 2 minutes to check through your work once more.
Please write the whole passage on ANSWER SHEET ONE.

【正确答案】

【答案解析】[听力原文]
Balloons have been used for sports for about one hundred years. There are two kinds of sport balloons: gas and hot air. Hot air balloons are safer than gas balloons, which may catch fire. Hot air balloons are preferred by most balloonists in the United States because of their safety. They are also cheaper and easier to manage than gas balloons. Despite the ease of operating a balloon, pilots must watch the weather carefully. Sport balloon flights are best early in the morning or late in the afternoon, when the wind is light. Over the years, balloonists have tried unsuccessfully to cross the Atlantic Ocean. It wasn't until 1978 that three American Balloonists succeeded. It took them just six days to make their trip from their homes in the United States to Paris, France. Their voyage captured the imagination of the whole world.