【摘要】
Section C
Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered form 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.
In November 1965, New York was blacked out by an electricity failure. The (36) authorities promised that it would not happen again. Pessimists were certain that it would occur again within five years at the latest. In July 1977, there was a repeat performance which (37) produced varying degrees of chaos throughout the city of eight million people. In 1965, the failure occurred in the cool autumn and at a time of (38) comparative prosperity. In 1977, the disaster was much more serious because it came when unemployment was high and the city was suffering from one of its worst heat waves.
In 1965, there was little crime or looting during the darkness, and fewer than a hundred people were (39) arrested. In 1977, hundreds of stores were broken into and looted. Looters (40) smashed shop windows and helped themselves to (41) jewelry, clothes or television sets. Nearly 4,000 people were arrested but far more (42) disappeared into the darkness of the night. The number of policemen available was quite (43) inadequate and they wisely refrained from using their guns against mobs (44) which far outnumbered them and included armed men.
Hospitals had to treat hundreds of people cut by glass from shop windows. Banks and most businesses remained closed the next day. (45) The blackout started at 9:30 p. m., when lightning hit and knocked out vital cables. Many stores were thus caught by surprise.
The vast majority of New Yorkers, however, were not involved in looting. (46) They helped strangers, distributed candles and batteries, and tried to survive in a nightmare world without traffic lights, refrigerators, elevators, water and electrical power. For twenty-four hours, New York realized how helpless it was without electricity.