『新东方在线托福听力』为托福考生准备了ETS托福TPO/Official 31 Con 1听力练习：What are the speakers mainly discussing?原文题目答案解析，TPO/Official 31 Con 1听力原文范文音频翻译。

托福TPO/Official 31 Con 1听力原文What are the speakers mainly discussing?-新东方托福官方网校手机版

旁白：听一段学生和她美国历史教授的对话。

Narrator: Listen to part of a conversation between a student and her United States History professor.

教授：Amanda，你问了很多关于美国殖民时期贸易的问题。

Professor: So, Amanda, you've asked a lot of questions about trade during the colonial period of the United States.

我们的讨论有没有帮你把一些问题说明白呢？

Has our discussion clarified things for you?

学生：是的，解决了一些问题，但是现在我觉得写贸易论文可能行不通。

Student: Well, yeah, but now, I think writing about trade for my paper isn't going to work.

教授：所以你是为了你的研究论文问的运输路线的问题？

Professor: Oh, so your questions about shipping routes were for your research paper?

学生：是的。但是现在，我觉得我应该要想一个新的论文题目了。

Student: Yeah. But now, I see that I probably need to come up with a new paper topic.

事实上，我还有另外一个想法。

Actually, there was one other idea I had.

我考虑过写早期在北美东部英国殖民地的社区规划。

I have been thinking about doing something about community planning in the early British settlements in Eastern North America.

你为什么开始对殖民时期社区规划感兴趣了呢？

Why are you interested in doing something on community planning in colonial times?

Student: Well, I am much more into architecture.

我的意思是这是我的专业，城镇规划的话题和这个相吻合。

It's my major and I mean, planning out a town or city goes along with that.

我并不是说我不喜欢历史，我喜欢，非常喜欢，但是我认为，如果是作为职业，我还是更倾向于建筑学。

I mean, not that I don't like history…I am interested in history…really interested…But I think, you know, for a career, architecture is more for me.

我已经收到很多学生的论文，这些论文都非常发人深省，他们的兴趣都超出了历史范畴。

I've gotten some very thought-provoking papers from students whose interests go beyond history.

学生：好的。但是你让我们写的论文当中是希望我们去包含一个对比的，是吗？

Student: OK. But for the paper you wanted us to try to include a comparison, right?

教授：事实上，这正是这个作业的目的。

Professor: Yes. Actually, that was really the purpose of the assignment.

美国发展的方式啊，或者我应该说殖民地，因为这个土地会成为美国东部……额……在400年前那里有英国殖民地。

The way the United States developed or perhaps I should say the colonies, since the land that would become the Eastern United States…uh…there were British colonies there four hundred years ago.

但是不管怎样……额……由于地理位置的不同，殖民地的发展也大大的不同。

But anyway…uh… development in the colonies differed greatly depending on geography.

我想在论文中看到的是在北方殖民地发生的一些事情在南方殖民地有什么不同。

I am looking for papers that have ideas about how something that happened one way in the Northern colonies happened a different way in the Southern colonies.

学生：从城市规划的角度来写是对的吗？

Student: Is that true in terms of urban planning?

教授：非常正确。在北部殖民地的小镇是非常集中紧凑的。

Professor: Very true. Towns in the Northern colonies were centralized and compact.

他们为交换商品，公民参政，和宗教修行提供集合点。

They provided a meeting point for exchanging goods, for participatory government, and for practicing religion.

房屋会沿着通向小镇的马路建造。

Houses would be built along the roads that led into town.

并且，就在发达地区的外面，通常会有一个开阔的区域，用来放牧和进行群体活动的。

And just outside the developed area, there would usually be an open field of some sort for grazing animals and also group activities.

事实上，给北部殖民地城镇设计的模型和中世纪欧洲没有什么不同。

Actually, the model for planning a town in the Northern colonies was not unlike the model for the development of towns in medieval Europe.

毕竟，殖民者都是从欧洲过来的，而且中世纪也刚刚结束。

After all, the colonists had just come from Europe and the medieval period was just ended.

学生：中世纪的欧洲。那么南方呢？

Student: Medieval Europe. But what about the South?

我很清楚的记得，在南方，起码在一开始他们并没像建造贸易站那样去建造城镇。

If I remember correctly…In the South, at least initially, they didn't build towns so much as they built trading posts.

教授：是的。大部分在北方的定居者想要开始全新的生活。

Professor: That's right. Most of the settlers in the North wanted to start a whole new life.

但是大部分从欧洲到南方的人只是想赚点钱，然后回去。

But most of the people who came from Europe to the South just wanted to make some money and then go back.

那么最常见的建筑是存储和港口设施也就不足为奇了。

It is not surprising that some of most common buildings were storage facilities and port facilities.

What is the professor’s opinion about the student’s interest in architecture?

What does the professor want the student to do when they write their papers?

Why does the professor mention medieval Europe?

What does the professor imply about storage and port facilities?