Question 7 is based on the conversation you have just heard.

Conversation Two

听力原文

M: Welcome to this week’s episode of Book Talk. (5) [With me today is Heidi Brown, a historian who has written five critically acclaimed books about military history.]

W: Thanks for having me, John. I’m so excited to talk about my latest book, which was published last month.

M: So this book is a novel, your first attempt at that genre. And that’s a bit of a departure for you.

W: (6) [I’d say it’s a major departure as it’s not just a work of fiction. It’s set 200 years in the future.]

M: Right. So how did that happen? You spent three decades writing about the past and focusing on the 18th and 19th centuries. And now you’re speculating about the future.

W: Well, after years of researching soldiers and chronicling their lives during battle, I just started wondering about other facets of their lives, especially their personal lives.

M: I can see that. Your novel is about soldiers, but it focuses on their relationships, especially the bonds between sons and mothers, and men and their wives.

W: Yes. (7) [That focus came about when I still intended to write another book of history. I started by researching soldiers’ actual personal lives, studying their letters home.]

M: So how did that history book become a novel?

W: Well, I realized that the historical record was incomplete, so I’d either have to leave a lot of gaps or make a lot more assumptions than a historian should.

M: But why write a novel set in the future, when your credentials are perfect for a historical novel? As a historian, any historical novel you write would have a lot of credibility.

W: (8) [I felt too constrained working with the past. Like what I wrote needed to be fact as opposed to fiction.] But writing about the future gave me more freedom to imagine, to invent.

M: Well, having read your book, I’m glad you made that choice to move into fiction.

7. What did the woman do before writing her new book? （女士在写新书之前做了什么？）

解析：D。在录音中女士提到，她打算写另一本有感历史的书（another book of history），从调查士兵们的实际生活开始（started by researching soldiers’ actual personal lives），从后面录音可知，女士说的another book of history就是她后来的新书（new book）。D项与此内容相符，其中looked into是录音中researching的同义替换，the personal lives of soldiers是录音中soldiers’ actual personal lives的同义替换，故D项为正确答案。

错项排除：A项利用录音中的mothers和wives进行干扰，但录音中是说小说主要是关于士兵的关系，尤其是母子关系和夫妻关系，并不是说女士对士兵的母亲和妻子进行了访问，故A项排除。B项的conducted surveys、C项的met a large number of soldiers in person在录音中都无依据，故均可排除。