Passage 1
　　The New Year always brings with it a cultural tradition of new possibilities. We see it as a chance for renewal. We begin to dream of new possible selves. We design our ideal self or an image that is quite different from what we are now. For some of us, we roll that dreamy film in our heads just because it is the beginning of the New Year, but we are serious about making changes. We just make some half hard resolution and it evaporates after a week or two. The experience makes us less successful and leads us to discount ability to change in the future. It’s not the changes impossible, but it won’t last unless our resolutions are supported with plans for implementation. We have to make our intensions manageable by detailing the specific steps that will carry us to our goal.
　　Say your goal is to lose weight by dieting and cutting off sweets. But one night you just have to have a cookie and you know there is a bag of your favorites in the cupboard. You want one, you eat two, you check the bag and find out that you’ve just shot 132 calories. You say to yourself, “What the hell. ” and polish off the whole bag. Then you begin to draw all kinds of unpleasant conclusions about yourself. To protect your sense of yourself, you begin to discount the goal. You may think, “Well , dieting wasn’t that important to me and I wouldn’t make it anyhow.” So you’ll abandon the goal and return to your bad habits.

　　Questions 26 to 28 are based on the passage you’ve just heard:
　　26: What do people usually wish to do at the beginning of the New Year?
　　27: How can people turn their New Year’s resolutions into reality?
　　28: Why does the speaker mention the example of sweets and cookies?

　　Passage 2
　　25 years ago, Ray Anderson, a single parent with a one-year-old son, witnessed a terrible accident, which took place when the driver of a truck ran a red light and collided it with the car of Sandra Drinkens. The impact of the collision killed Sandra instantly, but her three-month-old daughter was left trapped in the burning car. While others looked on in horror, Anderson jumped out of his vehicle and crawled into the car through the shattered rear window to try to free the infant. Seconds later, the car was enclosed in flames, but to everyone’s amazement, Anderson was able to pull the baby to safety. While the baby was all right, Anderson was seriously injured.
　　Two days later, he died. But his heroic act was published widely in the media. His son was soon adopted by relatives.
　　The most remarkable part of this story unfolded only last week. Karen and her boyfriend Michael were looking through some old boxes when they came across some old newspaper clippings. “This is me when I was a new born baby. I was rescued from a burning car but my mother died in the accident,’’ explained Karen. Although Michael knew Karen’s mother had died years earlier, he never fully understood the circumstances until he skimmed over the news paper article. To Karen’s surprise, Michael was absorbed in the details of the accident and he began to cry uncontrollably. Then he revealed that the man that pulled Karen from the flames was the father he never knew. The two embraced and shed many tears, recounting stories told to them about their parents.

　　Questions 29 to 31 are based on the passage you’ve just heard:
　　29: What happened 25 years ago?
　　30: What does the speaker say about Michael’s father?
　　31: Why did Michael cry uncontrollably when he skimmed over the newspaper article?

　　Passage 3
　　Americans suffer from an overdose of work. Regardless of who they are or what they do, Americans spend more time at work than at any time since World War II. In 1950, the US had fewer working hours than any other industrialized country. Today it exceeds any country but Japan, where industrial employees log 2,155 hours a year, compared with 1,951 in the US, and 1,603 in the former West Germany. Between 1969 and 1989 employed Americans added an average of 138 hours to their yearly work schedules. The work week has remained at about 40 hours, but people are working more weeks each year. Specifically, paid time off, holidays, vacations, sick leave shrank by 50 % in the 1980’s. As corporations have experienced stiff competition and slower growth in productivity, they have pressed employees to work longer. Cost cutting lay-offs in the 1980’s
　　reduced the professional and managerial ranks leaving fewer people to get the job done. In lower paid occupations, when wages have been reduced, workers have added hours in overtime or extra jobs to preserve their living standards. The government estimates that more than 7 million people hold a second job. For the first time, large numbers of people say they want to cut back on working hours even if it means earning less money. But most employers are unwilling to let them to do so. The government, which has stepped back from its traditional role as a regulator of work time should take steps to make shorter hours possible.

　　Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard:
　　32: In which country do the employees work the longest hours?
　　33: How do employed Americans manage to work more hours?
　　34: Why do corporations press the employees to work longer hours according to the speaker?
　　35: What does the speaker say many Americans prefer to do?