【听力答案】

7.C 8. 9. D 10. B

【听力原文】

Passage 3

While nearly all men are poor at public speaking，women are even worse. This is partly because women cannot tell jokes，but also because we are better at self-awareness and therefore know that our speech is average and the audience would rather be doing something else—（7）thoughts that do little to enhance performance.（上文中自我意识的想法很难为演讲增色。）(8)To combat fear and innate hopelessness, I try quite hard to be better.（演讲者努力地克制恐惧和固有的绝望感。）Every time a book about public speaking arrives on my desk, I skim it for tips. Mostly they tell you to "relax" and "be yourself" (9)which is downright irresponsible.（演讲者认为书中的建议是非常不负责任的。）

This works only for the one in a trillion who is born a brilliant speaker. Being good, for everyone else means reaching such an elevated level of nervousness and artifice that you can present an entirely convincing picture of authenticity and relaxation. I have only come across two bits of helpful advice. The first is practice, practice, practice. This is a bore because it takes a lot of time, but there is no way round it, (10)The second is to junk all aids. PowerPoint is a crutch.（不建议使用幻灯片。）It is an ugly thing in itself and must be thrown away if you want to talk smoothly. Equally, you must never read a speech. Write it, learn it and then leave it at home, speaking with minimal notes.

【核心词汇】

artifice n.诡计；欺骗

average a.平常的，普通的

crutch n.拐杖

downright a.彻底的，完全的

elevated a.提高的

hopelessness n.绝望

innate a.天生的，固有的

junk v.丢弃，废弃

minimal a.最小的

self-awareness n.自我意识