【NPR边听边练】致力于提供新鲜有趣、饶有意味的时讯资料，致力于通过精听的方式促进听力提高，致力于不断开阔眼界和深入了解美国观点。

精听建议：

先完整地把一条新闻听一到三遍，争取掌握大意。然后，一句一句精听，力争每句话都听明白。遇到实在不懂的地方，再听写。

下面的文本材料中空缺部分里面要填的词都很简单，不过是一些值得注意的连读或者典型的美式发音哦，有些语速比较快。试试看，你能不能全部写对?

(参考文本，欢迎指出错误^^)

This is All Things Considered from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block. And I'm Robert Siegel. To business journalist Charles Fishman, Wal-Mart is a mammoth American success story, a transforming but ___1___ force in the American economy. It is an expression of our preference for low prices. It is a force driving manufacturing jobs overseas. It is not so much a business as an economic phenomenon. And he's written a book about it, The Wal-Mart Effect. Charles Fishman says, we have to know more about Wal-Mart, because of its ___2___ and its power. There are nearly 4,000 Wal-Mart stores in the United States alone. 90% of Americans live within 15 miles to the Wal-Mart. So they are everywhere. The company is 2% of the United States' economy all by itself, which is ___3___. And Wal-Mart is the No.1 seller of guns in America, ___4___, DVDs, bicycles and toys. So if you makes guns or ___4___ or movies, every morning you wake up thinking about the same major customer, Wal-Mart.

参考答案：

1. secretive 隐秘的

2. sheer size 巨大的规模

3. extra-ordinary 非同寻常的

4. deodorant 除臭剂