1) She wanted to see St. Paul‟s Cathedral.
2) She was so surprised because she saw so many Englishmen who looked alike.
3) They were all wearing dark suits and bowler hats, carrying umbrellas and newspapers.
4) Because she had often read about them and seen photographs of them, who all looked as if they
were wearing a uniform. 5) No, he didn‟t.
6) He used the English saying “It takes all kinds to make a world” to prove his opinion. B.
If all the seas were one sea, what a great sea it would be! And if all the trees were one tree, what a great tree it would be! And if this tree were to fall in the sea, what a great splash there would be!
【原文】
Yesterday morning Gretel went to the City of London. She wanted to see St. Paul's Cathedral. She was surprised to see so many Englishmen who looked alike. They were all wearing dark suits and bowler hats. They were all carrying umbrellas and newspapers. When she returned home she
asked Mr clark about these strange creatures. \"They must be typical English gentlemen,\" she said.\" I have often read about them and seen photographs of them. They all look as if they are wearing a uniform. Does the typical English gentleman still exist?\"
Mr. Clark laughed. \"I've never thought about it,\" he answered.\" It's true that many of the men who work in the City of London still wear bowler hate and I suppose they are typical Englishmen. But look at this.\" Mr. Clark picked up a magazine and pointed at a photo of a young man. \"He's just as typical, perhaps. It seems as if there is no such thing as a 'typical' Englishman. Do you know the English saying 'It takes all kinds to make a world'? That's true of all countries-including England.\"
“Oh, just like the poem „If All the Seas Were One Sea‟,” Gretel began to hum happily. If all
the seas were one sea, what a great sea that would be! If all the trees were one tree, what a great
tree that would be! And if this tree were to fall in the sea, what a great splash that would be!” Task 2
【答案】 A.
1) people were much busier
2) colder than England; minus thirty degrees; last longer
3) much more mountainous; much higher and much more rocky; more beautiful 4) tend to be more crowded 5) the houses; smaller B.
1) T 2) T 3) F 4) F 5) F
【原文】
John is British but has worked in Japan. Etsuko is Japanese from Osaka, but she is studying
in Britain. In the following passage you are going to hear, they are comparing life as they see it inthe two countries. But before listening to it, think of the two countries and try to answer the following pre-listening questions.
John: I found that living in Japan, people were busier. They seem to work the whole day.
Etsuko: Yes, that‟s right. We work from Monday through Saturday, even in summer. You know, summer in Japan is just horrible. It‟s very, very humid and hot, and you need to shower three times a day.
John: So you find it cooler in England? Etsuko: Yes, that‟s right.
John: Where I was living in Japan, in the North, it was much colder than England, especially in winter, minus thirty degrees centigrade. Does the winter in Osaka last longer than the winter in England?
Etsuko: No, I don‟t think so. December, January, February, March. John: Yes. It‟s a little bit shorter if anything.
Etsuko: Ever since I came here, I noticed that the countryside here in England is very beautiful. John: It‟s much flatter than in Japan.
Etsuko: Yes. Japan is a mountainous country and our cities are full of people. There are lots of people in a limited flat area.
John: Yes, I found Japan much more mountainous than Britain, especially in the north. The
mountains are much higher and much more rocky. I found it more beautiful than Britain, I think. Etsuko: Yes, if you like mountains.
John: And therefore the towns and villages tend to be more crowded. Etsuko: Yes, that‟s right.
John: Yes. So because the cities are more crowded, the houses tend to be smaller, don‟t they? Etsuko: Yes, they are very compact, and we don‟t have a lot of space. In big cities we have a lot of taller buildings now.
John: Is this a problem because there are more earthquakes in Japan? Etsuko: Yes, that‟s right and… Task 3
【答案】 A.
1) In the US, people usually dance just to enjoy themselves; they don‟t invite other people to watch them.
2) Usually eight people dance together.
3) Because people form a square in dancing with a man and a woman on each side of the square. 4) He usually makes it into a song. 5) They wear old-fashioned clothes. B.
1) F 2) T 3) F 4) F 5) T C.
1) eight people form a square; on each side of the square
2) what they should do; makes it into a song; sings it 3) don‟t have much time to think 4) old-fashioned clothes 【原文】
Rosa: Why don‟t you have folk dances in the United States? Most countries have special dances that the people have done for many years. The dancers wear clothes from the old days. Everyone likes to watch them dance.
Steve: We have folk dances, too. A lot of people belong to folk dancing groups. But when they dance, they usually do it just to enjoy themselves. They don‟t invite other people to watch them.
Rosa: Is there a folk dancing group here?
Steve: I think so. There must be. There‟s one in almost every city, and some big cities have several.
Rosa: What are the dances like?
Steve: Usually eight people dance together, four men and four women. When they start, they form
a square, with a man and a woman on each side of the square. That‟s why it‟s called square dancing. Then there‟s a man who tells the dancers what they should do. He usually makes it into a song. He sings it while they dance. Rosa: Oh, that should make the dances easy!
Steve: Yes, but they are very fast. They don‟t have much time to think. I like to watch them, though. The dancers wear old-fashioned clothes. That makes the dances pretty to watch. Rosa: I‟d like to watch a group dance. Steve: I‟ll take you sometime. Task 4
【答案】
1) It was a time to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of spring. 2) They burned the picture of their kitchen god to bring good luck.
3) The custom said the brides must wear “something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue” to bring good luck.
4) Because they could not eat meat, eggs or dairy products during Lent, so they tried to use up these things before Lent began.
5) It was a straw man made by children in Czech; it was a figure of death.
6) People brought their animals to church. And before the animals went into the church people dressed them up in flowers and ribbons.
【原文】
1) On the evening of February 3rd, people in Japanese families took one dried bean for each year of their age and threw the beans on the floor, shouting \"Good luck in! Evil spirits out!\" This was known as \"Setsubun\
2) Before the Chinese Lunar New Year in the old days, many Chinese families burned the picture of their kitchen god to bring good luck. When Lunar New Year's Day came, they put ancw picture of the kitchen god on the wall.
3) When American women got married, they sometimes followed an old custom in choosing what
to wear on their wedding day. The custom said the bride must wear \"something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue\". This was to bring good luck.
4) Before Lent (a time on the Christian calendar), the people of Ponti, Italy ate an omelet made with 1,000 eggs. People could not eat meat, eggs or dairy products during Lent, so they tried to use up these things before Lent began.
5) When winter ended in Czech, the children made a straw man called \"Smrt\of death. They burned it or threw it in the river. After they destroyed it, they carried flowers home to show the arrival of spring.
6) January 17th was St. Anthony's Day in Mexico. It was a day when people brought their animals to church. But before the animals went into the church, the people dressed them up in flowers and ribbons. This ceremony was to protect people's animals. Task 5
【答案】 A.
1) F 2) T 3) F 4) T 5) F 6) T 7) T B.
Advantages Disadvantages
Lots of servants to do the work Terrible life for servants beautiful clothes to wear very uncomfortable clothes
lots of tea parties boring and formal tea parties — often no men being invited
life being slower much more illness
plenty of time to talk to each other children left with servants all day very poor education no freedom for women
【原文】
Man: Well, I think life used to be much more fun than it is now. I mean, look at the Victorians. They had lots of servants to do all the work; they never had to do any cooking or cleaning; they just wore those beautiful dresses and went to tea parties.
Woman: You must be joking! Their clothes were terribly uncomfortable and their tea parties were very formal and boring. They used to wear their hats and long gloves even when they were eating cakes and biscuits. And men were not usually invited. Man: Really? Weren't they?
Woman: And think of the poor servants. What a terrible life — just cleaning and cooking for other people all the time!
Man: But you hate housework!
Woman: Yes, I know, but there are lots of machines now to help you with the housework. People don't need servants.
Man: Maybe they don't, but life then was much slower than it is now-people nowadays are always rushing, and they never have time to stop and enjoy themselves.
Woman: Life then was fine for the rich, but it was dreadful for the poor. There was much more illness. They didn't have the money to pay doctors, and they often used to die of illnesses that don't exist in England now.
Man: Maybe. But people used to talk to each other, play the piano or play cards together.
Nowadays people just sit in front of the television for hours and never talk to each other.
Woman: I agree with you about television; but what about their children? They left their Children with the servants all day. Children hardly ever saw their parents! And the clothes they had to wear! Horrible, tight, uncomfortable, grown-up clothes. Children have a much better life now than they used to, and schools and education are much better too. Man: I hate school.
Woman: And look at opportunities for women. In those days, women used to stay at home, play the piano, change their clothes several times a day and have tea parties. What a life! They didn't have any freedom at all. I'm very happy living now. I can work, have a career, do what I want to.
Man: You mean you can work hard all your life like a Victorian servant. Woman: Life isn't all tea parties, you know. Task 6
【答案】 A.
1) b 2) a 3) c 4) a B.
1) family unit; process; change; used to be; the extended; the nuclear
2) job patterns; progressed; agricultural; industrial; forced; job opportunities; split up 3) traditional; family; expanded; other living arrangements C.
1) mother, father, children, and some other relatives, such as grandparents, living in the same house or nearby
2) only the parents and the children
3) previously married men and women marry again and combine the children from former marriages into a new family 【原文】
The American family unit is in the process of change. There used to be mainly two types of
families: the extended and the nuclear. The extended family most often included mother, father, children, and some other relatives, such as grandparents, living in the same house or nearby. Then
as job patterns changed and the economy progressed from agricultural to industrial, people were forced to move to different parts of the country for job opportunities. These moves split up the extended family. The nuclear family became more prevalent; this consisted of only the parents and
the children. Now besides these two types of traditional groupings, the word \"family\" is being expanded to include a variety of other living arrangements.
Today's family can be made up of diverse combinations. With the divorce rate nearly one in two, there is an increase in single parent homes: a father or mother living with one or more children. \"Blended families\" occur when previously married men and women marry again and combine the children from former marriages into a new family. On the other hand, some couples are deciding not to have any children at all, so there is an increase in childless families. There are also more people who live alone: single, widowed, divorced. Now one in five Americans lives alone.
Task 7
【答案】 A.
Men Women Both
Study subjects like history or English √
Study engineering √
Go to university to get good jobs
√
Look for a good job because they want a good husband √
Look for a good job because they want to be successful √ Work for a lifetime √ Work up to ten years √
Get married by twenty-seven √
Cook the meals √
Look after the children
√
Go out for a drink after work √
Come home by four o'clock in the afternoon √ B.
1) c 2) c 3) a 4) b 5) c 6) c 7) c 【原文】
In Japan both men and women go to university and both men and women study the arts such as history or English. But very few women study science, medicine or engineering. In engineering classes of thirty or forty students, there may be only one or two women. Men and women both go
to university in order to get good jobs: men want to work for a big company, be successful, earn a lot of money and support a family; women, on the other hand, want to work for a big company because they have a better chance of meeting a successful man and getting married. This is
changing, however, as Japanese women begin to think about their own careers. They have began to take jobs which they like rather than jobs in order to find a husband.
Men work for their whole lives and usually stay with the same company. A woman may work up to ten years, but after that she usually gets married. Most women are married by the age of twenty seven, then they stay at home and look after the children. A man does not cook or look after the children. When he comes home, his meal must be ready. The woman may go out in the afternoon, shopping with her friends or having a chat, but she must go back home by four o'clock to prepare the meal. Then she may have to wait a long time for her husband to come home. Often
he has to go out for a drink after work: if he doesn't he may not rise very high in the company.
After her children grow up, a woman can go back to work, but it is not easy. If her former
company takes older women back, she might be lucky. But most women find it difficult to find a job when they are older. Task 8
【答案】 A.
1) a 2) c 3) b 4) c 5) c 6) b 7) c 8) b B.
1) T 2) T 3) F 4) F 5) T 6) F 7) F 8) F 9) T 10) F
【原文】
Matthew: Geth, how do people set about getting married in England?
Geth: I suppose the most common way is still for people to go home. For example, people who live in London now will go back to their homes in the provinces where they'll meet all their relatives and their parents, and they'll get married in a church, with the bride wearing white, the traditional white. Then they'll go off and have a booze-up with their relatives and friends and a jolly good time will be had by all. Otherwise you can get married in a registry office, which means you turn up with your bride-to-be or
bridegroom-to-be with two witnesses only. The ceremony takes about five minutes, I suppose. You sign the form and that's it.
Matthew: There are many today who say that marriage is a complete waste of time. What's your view of marriage in the twentieth century?
Goth: Well, I live in London as you know. I think in London, the tendency is to... for a... boy and girl, man or woman to live together before marriage and often to live together without any prospect of marriage at all. I think this probably is... is true of London and the other big cities than elsewhere, because after all people in London are living in a big place where home ties are obviously less restrictive. They can do more or less as they please and I think this is the pattern.
Matthew: But do you think it helps for people to live together before taking their vows? Geth: I think in a sense the habit of living together before marriage may, in a strange sort of way, make marriage stronger, because after all the people will know each other better when they do get married and it might be suggested that divorce would be less likely between such a couple.
Matthew: Sue, you've been married for two or three years now. How's it working out? Sue: I think it's a successful marriage. It's... I mean, it's difficult to say why, because we basically suit each other very much. We have a good friendship, apart from anything else, and, you know, we just go together very well because we respect each other's freedom and individuality, but on the other hand we really need each other, you know, it's...
Matthew: What about.., have you thought of having children?
Sue: Well, obviously, like most young couples, we have thought about it, but, you know, we both feel rather, sort of, loath to lose our freedom just yet. I think we'll probably wait another few years.
Matthew: Is it easy in England today to people to get divorced, or is that quite difficult? Chris: I think technically it's probably fairly easy, I think, because I'm not English but, I think
technically it's fairly easy to be... to get divorced. But it's not just the technicality of it which is the problem. Divorce is... is a social stigma which people can probably Cope
with to varying degrees, but it's also a lot easier for the man because the woman, after she is divorced is, in fact, frowned upon by... by a lot of people in society. She is... is... at a... a much more difficult social position in terms of... of meeting other men, or whatever, simply because she is a divorcee. Task 9 【原文】
Social customs and ways of behaving change. But they do not necessarily always change for
the better. Things which were considered impolite many years ago are now acceptable. Just a few years ago, it was considered impolite behaviour for a man to smoke on the street. No man who thought of himself as being a gentleman would make a fool of himself by smoking when a lady was in the room.
The important thing to remember about social customs is not to do anything that might make other people feel uncomfortable — especially if they are your guests. There is a story about a rich nobleman who had a very formal dinner party. When the food was served, one of the guests started
to eat his peas with a knife. Other guests were amused or shocked, but the nobleman calmly picked up his knife and began eating in the same way. It would have been bad manners to make his guest feel foolish or uncomfortable. Unit 2 Task 1 【答案】 1) b 2) a 3) d
【原文】
Texas was the biggest state before Alaska became the forty-ninth state in 1959. One good
way to understand the size of Texas is to learn about its weather. Different parts of the state have very different kinds of weather.
Laredo is one of the hottest cities in the United States in summer. The best time to visit Laredo is in winter, when it is pleasantly warm.
Amarillo gets very cold in winter. Sometimes there is more snow in Amarillo than in New
York, which is a northern city. Summers are better, but sometimes it gets quite hot. The best time to visit Amarillo is in the autumn when it is cool.
If anyone asks you about the weather in Texas, ask him, “What part of Texas do you mean？ ” Task 2
【答案】 A.
1) T 2) F 3) F B.
1) d 2) c 3) c C.
climate, reputation, extraordinary, unreliable, dry, wet, clear, dull, hot, cold, bad, mild 【原文】
Our friend, Nick, whose English gets better and better, declared solemnly the other day that
he thought that the British climate was wonderful, but the British weather was terrible. He went on
to explain by pointing out that the British climate was a temperate one. This meant, he said, \"that you could always be certain that the weather would never be extreme — at any rate not for any length of time — never very hot and never very cold.\" He quite rightly pointed out that the rainfall
in Britain, according to the statistics, was not very heavy. \"Why then,\" he asked, \"has the British climate such a bad reputation?\" He answered by saying it was because of the extraordinary,
unreliable weather. There was no part of the year at which you could be certain that the weather would be dry or wet, clear or dull, hot or cold. A bad day in July could be as cold as a mild day in January. Indeed you could feel cold at almost any time of the year. Nick blamed drafty British
houses for this, but agreed you could also blame the small amount of sunshine and a great amount
of dampness. He advised every student coming to Britain to bring an umbrella and to understand the meaning of that splendid word \"drizzle\". Task 3
【答案】 I.
the country; Trees, grass, lakes and steams II. A.
1. concrete, iron, steel
2. take in the heat during the day and throw off heat into the air at night B. Warmer winters, car engines; electrical appliance
Ⅲ.
A. air pollution may stop sunlight from reaching the earth B.
1. Ice near the North and South poles to melt
2. to be slowly flooded and people living in these cities to move to higher land 【原文】
Cities change the climate around you. In the country, there are trees, grass, lakes, and streams. In hot weather, the trees and grass cool the area around them. Lakes and rivers also cool the area around them.
But cities are not cooled in these natural ways. Cities are built of asphalt, concrete, iron, and steel. There are few trees and usually not much grass. Rain falls onto the streets and into the sewers.
When the summer sun shines, streets and buildings take in the heat; after the sun sets, the
streets and buildings throw off heat into the street. Once the sun sets, the countryside cools off, but
a city may stay hot all night.
Cities are hotter than the countryside in winter, too. Standing near a car with its motor
running, winter or summer, you will feel the heat thrown off by the engine. The heat comes from the gasoline burned by the engine. This heat warms the air and the ground around the car. Thousands of running cars are almost like thousands of small fires burning.
Carefully put your hand near a light bulb or television set. As you can see, electricity creates a lot of heat. This heat from electricity warms the house and the outside air.
The heat given off by cities can affect the climate. Some experts even believe that cities can change the climate of the whole world. They think that air pollution may stop sunlight from reaching the earth. If less sunshine reaches the earth, the earth may become cooler.
Still other experts think the world will get warmer. If the world did get warmer, great changes would occur. Ice near the North and South poles would melt. This would make the oceans rise. Cities near oceans — like Los Angeles, Boston, and Miami — would slowly be flooded. People living in these cities would have to move to higher land. Task 4
【答案】 A.
1) b 2) c
B. night, delight; morning, warning; gray, way, red, head C.
1) F 2) T 3) F
【原文】
A red sky at either dusk or dawn is one of the spectacular and beautiful weather predictors we have in nature. By closely observing this phenomenon, you can achieve short-range accuracy of the weather as good as, or better than your local weatherman. In the Bible, Jesus in Matthew 16, 2-3 is quoted as saying, “When it is evening, it will be fair weather: for the sky is red. And in the morning it will be foul weather today: for the sky is red” when speaking to the Pharisees. An old English weather proverb based on this passage is: Red sky at night, sailors delight.
Red sky at morning, sailors take warning. Or
Evening red and morning gray, Sends the traveler on his way. Evening gray, morning red,
Brings the rain down on his head.
At dusk, a red sky indicates that dry weather is on the way. This is due to the sun shining
through dust particles being pushed ahead of a high pressure system bringing in dry air. A red sky in the morning is due to the sun again shining through dust. In this case however, the dust is being
pushed on by an approaching low reassure system bringing in moisture. Don't confuse a red sky in
the morning with a red sun in the morning. If the sun itself is red and the sky is a normal color, the
day will be fair. Task 5 【答案】
1) c 2) b 3) d 4) c 5) c 【原文】
Mark: I am an avid fly fisherman and frequently find myself on the river in a raft
during lightning storms. We always have a debate at these times on where we are safest — pulling into shore or staying on the water. Since I have heard one is safe in a car when lightning strikes I wonder if the raft floating on the water is insulated, and therefore the safest place to be.
Meteorologist A: We spoke with some scientists about your question, and they all agreed that under no circumstances should you remain on the water during a lightning storm. If your raft is made of rubber, you might feel that you're .well insulated, but don't kid yourself. Typical lightning flashes travel 10 to 15 kilometers and can deliver as much as 100,000 amps of current. In comparison, a toaster uses about 10 amps of current. If lightning strikes the water near you, it will have no trouble traveling through a few extra centimeters of rubber.
Meteorologist B: So, if you're on the water and a thunderstorm approaches, get to the shore and seek shelter on land. Try a building or car. If neither is available, look for a cave, cliff, wall, or a group of trees. Never take shelter under an isolated tree-it's also a good target for lightning. Task 6
【答案】 A.
1) F 2) T 3) F 4) T 5) F 6) T B.
Incredible, one minute, one kilometer, destroyed, lifted up, carried away, killed, injured
【原文】
Every spring and summer many inland areas are hit by tornados. A tornado is a kind of storm. It's a revolving, funnel-shaped column of air that moves through the sky at very high speeds. A tornado looks like a huge, black ice cream cone whirling through the sky. The speed of a tornado is very fast-it is believed to be between 200 and 700 kilometers per hour.
Tornados form under very special weather conditions, and these special weather conditions
occur most often in inland areas, such as the central United States. A tornado forms when a layer of warm, dry air is on top of a layer of cooler, moist air. This combination of dry, warm air above wet, cool air creates a condition that causes the lower layer of air to lift up. As the lower air rises, both layers of air begin to rotate, to turn around and around. The air begins to rotate faster and faster because of centrifugal force. The tornado has a center called an “eye” and the air rotates quickly around this eye.
As the air begins to rotate faster and faster, the tornado cloud begins to grow downward; that is, it begins to form a funnel or cone, and this cone goes down toward the ground.
The cone of air is dark because it develops from a dark rain cloud. As the cloud gets longer,
as the cloud gets closer to the ground, it begins to pull up dirt from the ground. Then the funnel of
rotating air becomes very dark because of the dirt in it. As the tornado funnel gets longer, it begins
to drag along the ground.
When the tornado touches the ground, it does incredible damage. It usually touches the ground for only about one minute, and it usually travels along the ground for only about one
kilometer, but during that one minute, buildings are destroyed, trees are lifted up out of the ground,
small objects are carried away, and sometimes people are injured or killed. Task 7 【答案】 A.
1) b 2) a 3) b B.
1) It has been nice weather during the day, but it is going to change at night. 2) Fine weather in southern Europe and not so nice in northern Europe For today
Southeast England---26 degrees Celsius by mid-afternoon
Southern Scotland---Maximum temperatures of around 21 degrees Brighton---15 hours of lovely sunshine
Midlands---23 degrees Celsius by early afternoon
Northwest of Scotland---Light showers around midday For the weekend
Spain---34 degrees Celsius Greece---32 degrees Celsius
France---Cloudy with rain, maximum temperatures of 22 degrees Northern Ireland---Heavy rain, 17 degrees Celsius
Most of England---Cloudy but mainly dry with sunny periods, 23 degrees Celsius
【原文】
Radio Announcer: You‟re listening to Radio Metro. It‟s two minutes to nine, and time for the latest
weather for cast from Dan Francis at the London Weather Centre.
Francis: Hello. It's been another warm and fine day for most of us. Temperatures in southeast England reached 26 degrees Celsius by mid-afternoon, and Brighton had 15 hours of lovely
sunshine. Further north it was a little cooler with maximum temperatures of around 21 degrees in
southern Scotland, and in the far northwest of Scotland there were some light showers around midday. But the rest of the country, as I said, has been warm and dry with temperatures in the Midlands reaching 23 degrees Celsius by early afternoon though it was a little cooler along the west coast and in Northern Ireland. But already the weather is beginning to change, I'm afraid, and
during the night showers will slowly move in from the Atlantic to reach south-west England and the southern coast of Wales by early morning.
The rest of the country will have a very mild, dry night with minimum temperatures no lower than
15 degrees in the south, a little cooler — 11degrees or so — in the north. Any remaining showers in northwest Scotland will pass quickly to leave a mild, dry night there too.
And now the outlook for Friday and the weekend. Well, southern Europe will, once again, get the best of the weekend weather, and if your holiday starts this weekend, then southern Spain is the place to go, with temperatures of 34 degrees along the Mediterranean coast. At the eastern end of
the Med, too, you can expect uninterrupted sunshine and temperatures of up to 32 degrees
Celsius
in Greece and southeast Italy, but further north the weather's not so settled. Much of France, Belgium and the Netherlands will be cloudy with occasional rain, and maximum temperatures will
be around 22 degrees — very disappointing for this time of the year.
Scotland and Northern Ireland will have heavy rain for much of the weekend and temperatures will drop to a cool 17 degrees. Across most of England the weather will be cloudy but mainly dry with sunny periods. And when the sun does come out, temperatures could rise to a maximum of 23
degrees. Task 8 【答案】
Natural Phenomena Air Pressure (Rise or Fall) Causes
Faraway objects are focused. Fall The dust particles begin to settle to the ground in thinner air and the air clears.
Birds‟ calls become Sharper. Fall Instead of traveling upward and outward into the atmosphere they are bent back to the earth and their range extended. Swamp doesn‟t smell very strong.
Rise The methane is trapped in the bottom of the swamp because of the thick air.
Bird fly high. Rise Birds prefer to fly where the air is the densest and they can get greater lift with their wings
Smoke rise high in the air Rise Smoke rises with thicker air.
Elderly people‟s joints ache. Fall The gas in our bodies expands in lower air pressure. 【原文】
As the air pressure around you either rises or falls, many changes in nature occur. Most of these are very obvious changes while others are of a more subtle nature.
Mountains and other far away objects will appear to be much closer and more sharply
focused as wet weather approaches and the air pressure drops. The dust particles in the air begin to
settle to the ground and the air clears, allowing you to see more details of faraway objects. As a high pressure front approaches and the air becomes “thicker,” more dust particles become suspended in air and things take on their normal somewhat hazy appearance.
“Sharp horns on the moon threaten bad weather.” This and a bright, clear moon are good
indicators that wet weather is on the way. As the air clears of dust particles ahead of a low pressure
system, the moon appears to come closer and be more sharply focused due to the lack of dust. Sound also becomes sharper and more focused prior to stormy weather. Instead of traveling
upward and outward into the atmosphere sound waves are bent back to the earth and their
range
extended. Bird calls sound sharper, and, at my house, we can hear the blowing of the train horn as
it rumbles through the valley below.
If you find yourself out in a marsh or swamp and the air really seems to stink more than
normal, expect rainy weather. This happens when the pressure drops and the methane trapped on
the bottom of the swamp is released in greater quantities. In reverse, as fair weather approaches and the pressure rises, things won't smell quite so strong.
Birds and bats have a tendency to fly much lower to the ground right before a rain due to the “thinning” of the air. They prefer to fly where the air is the most dense and they can get greater lift
with their wings. With high pressure and dry air, the atmosphere becomes denser and they can easily fly at higher altitudes.
Smoke rising straight into the air means fair weather and smoke hanging low means rain is on the way. This is pretty much the same as with the birds and methane in the swamp. When high pressure approaches, smoke will rise whereas with low pressure it can't rise and tends to lay low. Remember a grandparent talking about how their corns, bunions, or joints ached right before a rain? Again, this is due to the decreasing atmospheric pressure allowing the gas in our bodies to expand. Task 9 【答案】
A. Statements 3, 6, 7 are true. B.
f—c—a—d—b—e C.
1) F 2) T 3) F 4) F D.
1) d 2) b 【原文】
It was 1974. Richard Nixon was still president. Kidnapped heiress Patty Hearst was still
missing. In Xenia, a pretty spot of 25,000 people amid fields of soybeans and corn, American Graffiti was held over at the Cinema. The Xenia Hotel offered a chicken and dumpling dinner for $2.25, but everyone flocked to the A&W drive-in for burgers and root beer floats. That's where five of the bodies were found after the storm.
In all, 33 people died in Xenia's tornado, the deadliest of 148 storms that raged through 13
states during the infamous \"Super Outbreak'' of tornadoes April 3 to 4, 1974. In 16 hours and 10 minutes, 330 people were killed and nearly 5,550 were injured from Illinois to Georgia. Though the Xenia death toll has been matched by other killer storms, the degree of
devastation makes the city's tornado among U.S. history's most destructive. The storm still is studied in colleges by aspiring meteorologists, a textbook case of a rare Category F-5, the most intense of tornadoes.
On that fateful day, I was a young boy of 8 years old. We lived in the Arrowhead Subdivision. That afternoon I was around the corner playing with some neighbor kids. I thought I could hear
my father calling me, so I ran back to the house. Thinking back now, there is no way I would have been able to hear him. I was too far away for a voice to have traveled in the afternoon noise. Besides, Dad had a very bad case of tonsillitis that day. Like I was saying, I went back home and got through the door just in time to answer the ringing phone. On the other end of the phone was
my Mother. Mom was working. She told me she heard a bad storm was on the way. She told me to
make sure the garage door was shut and to stay inside. After I hung up the phone, I settled down to
watch The Dennis Show. To this day I can vividly remember the electricity going out. I looked out the large window in the living room and didn't have a clue as to what I was looking at.
Dad was asleep on the couch, so I woke him up to look. Dad looked and said to get into the
bathroom. We sat on the floor. Dad had his back to the door and his feet pushing against the wall opposite the door. I remember that as soon as we sat down, the windows broke. Glass blew under
the door, and the sound was tremendous. I know it really didn‟t take too long for the tornado to go
past, but I do remember the conversation we had in the process. I could feel the cool air rushing under the floor through the crawlspace vents. I asked if we were flying. He said he wasn't sure, but
he didn't think we were. He said the house was tearing apart. I asked him how he knew. He said he
just knew it was.
When things calmed down, we opened the door. The odd feeling I had, looking up the street from inside what once was my hallway, is still with me today.
I think back often to that day. I think back and wonder what would have happened if my Dad hadn't been sick that day. Like a lot of kids, I stayed home by myself after school back then. I seriously doubt I would be able to tell you my story, if I had been alone that day. I still live in Xenia and wouldn‟t trade this town for any other. Task 10
【原文】
Undoubtedly, Tibet is one of the harshest places for human existence. It is cool in summer but freezing cold in winter. In Lhasa, the mildest city in Tibet, temperature may exceed 29C in summer while plummeting to -16C in winter! Sun radiation is extremely strong in Tibet. The sunlight in Lhasa is so intense that the city is called Sunlight City. The thin air can neither block off nor retain heat so that there are great temperature extremes on the same day. The average temperature in north Tibet is subzero and winter arrives in October until the following May or June. July and August are the best time to visit the area, enjoying warm temperature, intense sunshine, beautiful scenery and festive events. May, June and September is the tourist season in east Tibet. In winter, roads are all blocked by heavy snow. Landslides and rock falls frequently occur, which will make travel difficult. Unit 3 Task 1 【答案】
A.
1) Stress on the job costs American companies as much as $150 billion a year in lower productivity, unnecessary employee sick leave, and higher medical costs.
2) The most stressful professions are those that involve danger and extreme pressure and those that carry a lot of responsibility without much control.
3) The best way to deal with stress is through relaxation, but sometimes the only answer is to fight
back or walk away. B.
1) Three-quarters
2) psychologists, doctors
3) nervousness, anger, frequent illness, forgetfulness, mental problems
【原文】
Stress on the job costs American companies as much as $150 billion a year in lower
productivity, unnecessary employee sick leave, and higher medical costs. Three-quarters of the office workers today say they suffer from stress at work. Recently, psychologists and doctors have begun to study the problem more closely. They have discovered that the most stressful professions
are those that involve danger, extreme pressure and those that carry a lot of responsibility without
much control.
The sign of stress range from nervousness, anger, and frequent illness to forgetfulness or even mental problems. The best way to deal with stress is through relaxation, but sometimes the only answer is to fight back or walk away. Task 2
【答案】 A.
1) give in so easily to hijackers‟ demands
a) threaten to blow up a plane, commit some other outage
b) hold out against this kind of blackmail, always have terrorists, Start executing terrorists automatically
c) be prepared to face the consequences of evil 2)
a) It‟s the lesser of two evils. Terrorists have proven often enough that they really mean business. b) Innocent lives, threatening the innocent will achieve its ends. B.
She implies that if the first speaker was one of the victims of terrorism, she would want the government to give in to the demands so that she wouldn‟t die. 【原文】
Margaret: Governments give in so easily to hijackers‟ demands. A hijacker only has to threaten to blow up a plane or commit some other outrage, and a government gives in to his demands.
Valerie: Naturally. It‟s the lesser of the two evils. What government would risk innocent lives just to see if terrorists will really do what they threaten to do? Terrorists have proven often
enough that they really mean business.
Margaret: Yes, but if a government doesn‟t hold out against this kind of blackmail, we will always have terrorists. Governments are afraid to punish these people. They almost always let them go free. Start executing terrorists automatically wherever they land, and terrorism will stop.
Valerie: And what about the innocent lives that will be lost in the process? Terrorism is based on the simple idea that threatening the innocent will achieve its ends.
Margaret: You can‟t get rid of evil without being prepared to face the consequences of evil. Valerie: So long as you‟re not one of the victims! Task 3
【答案】 A.
1) thirty-five, natural light, a small window, hot, airless, very noisy 2) Mexico
3) ought to, shouldn‟t B.
1) It is located in a narrow street with five-and six-storey buildings eight kilometers from downtown Los Angeles.
2) This factory makes shirts and jeans
3) She‟s already been working for ten hours, but won‟t stop for another two hours. 4) She can‟t complain about those things because she is an illegal immigrant. 【原文】
Eight kilometers from downtown Los Angeles there is a narrow street with five- and
six-storey buildings. Inside one of these buildings there is a small factory making shirts and jeans. The women working in the factory sit close together, each with a small table, each with their own sewing machine. The women say nothing, and work hard. In one of the rooms there are thirty-five
women. There is only a little natural light, and this comes from a small window in the roof. The room is hot, airless, and very noisy. On the left-hand side of the room there is a young girl sitting next to the wall. Every now and again she closes her eyes, and her fingers stop working. She's already been in her chair for ten hours, but she'll be here until the bell rings — and that won't be for another two hours. Her name is Maria, and she comes from Mexico. She won't complain about
her work. She won't say that the working hours ought to be changed; she won't say that the working conditions shouldn't be permitted. Task 4 【答案】 A.
Every year the British government publishes statistics about social trends. Their findings show definite patterns in the British way of life. 1) marked differences
a) one hour more every day, three hours more every week
b) 1 percent, cleaning and ironing, keep household accounts, do repairs or improvements c) 30 percent
2) leisure activities, watching television, 20 hours a week, going for walks, Swimming, British women B.
Unlike the other couples, Carla has always kept her won accounts and Adrian has always done his own housework. Neither of them like watching television very much and they both like swimming. 【原文】
When Adrian Hutton and Carla Leone get married they will move into a new house that they have bought. But what sort of life will they have? What can they expect in modern Britain? Every year the British government publishes statistics about social trends. Their findings show definite patterns in the British way of life.
In most marriages there are some marked differences between husbands and wives. Working wives, for example, sleep (on average) one hour more a day than working husbands. Housewives, on the other hand, sleep only about three hours more every week than their working husbands. And what about housework? The government survey showed that only 1% of men do the
household chores — like cleaning and ironing. But they do usually keep household accounts and it
is always men who do repairs or improvements in the house. 30% of all marriages end in divorce. The government survey also looked at leisure activities. They found that the two most
popular leisure activities in Britain are watching television (the average family spends 20 hours a week in front of the TV set) and going for walks. Swimming is an especially popular activity among British women.
Carla and Adrian's life, though, will probably be different from the average marriage. In the first place Carla has always kept her own accounts and Adrian has always done his own
housework. Neither of them like watching television very much and they both like swimming. Task 5 【答案】 A.
Topic: How a city in Japan solve the problem of garbage disposal.
Supporting details: 160 million, every year, 10 percent, 10 percent, the rest, public cooperation 1) garbage that can be easily burned, kitchen and garden trash 2) electrical appliances, plastic tools, plastic toys 3) are poisonous, cause pollution, batteries
4) bottles and glass containers that can be recycled 5) metal containers that can be recycled 6) furniture and bicycled
on different days, on request, fertilizer, to produce electricity, recycled, cleaned, repaired, resold cheaply, give away B.
1) The garbage will be taken to a center that looks like a clean new office building or hospital. Inside the center, special equipment is used to sort and process the garbage.
2) Official from cities around the world visit Machida to see whether they can use some of these ideas and techniques to solve their own garbage disposal problems. 【原文】
Disposing of the garbage we produce every day is a major problem in cities around the world. In the United States, over 160 million tons of garbage are produce every year. Ten percent is
recycled, ten percent is burned, and the rest is put in landfills. But finding land for new landfills is becoming more difficult.
A city that has solved this problem in an unusual way is Machida, in Tokyo, Japan. They
have developed a totally new approach to garbage disposal. The key to the operation is public cooperation. Families must divide their garbage into six categories:
1. garbage that can be easily burned (that is, combustible garbage) such as kitchen and garden trash;
2. noncombustible garbage, such as small electrical appliances, plastic tools, and plastic toys; 3. products that are poisonous or that cause pollution, such as batteries and fluorescent lights; 4. bottles and glass containers that can be recycled; 5. metal containers that can be recycled; 6. large items, such as furniture and bicycles.
The items in categories1 to 5 are collected on different days. Large items are only collected
upon request. Then the garbage is taken to a center that looks like a clean new office building or hospital. Inside the center, special equipment is used to sort and process the garbage. Almost everything can be reused: garden or kitchen trash becomes fertilizer; combustible garbage is
burned to produce electrical; metal containers and bottles are recycled; and old furniture, clothing,
and other useful items are cleaned, repaired, and resold cheaply or given away. The work provides
employment for handicapped person and gives them a chance to learn new skills.
Nowadays, officials from cities around the world visit Machida to see whether they can use some of these ideas and techniques to solve their own garbage disposal problems. Task 6 【答案】
1) They were talking about Mrs. Carter.
2) She was a tall, handsome woman who used to come into the shop at least twice a week. 3) She lived alone in a large house on an old farm---about three miles from the shop.
4) He was absolutely certain, otherwise he would never call the police. His evidence was this: First, he saw her do it; second, he found the things in her bag; third, she had done it before. 5) Because two young people saw her. The shopkeeper believed that if they didn‟t punish her, young people would think that stealing didn‟t matter.
6) The judge thought that it was difficult case from a humanitarian point of view. The excuses her found for her were: First, the woman was old and she lived alone---she was lonely. Second, she wasn‟t poor---she was well-known for her generosity to charities and she didn‟t need to steal. Te items were only worth a pound or two. Third, she pleaded not guilty and she didn‟t know that she had done it. 【原文】
Shopkeeper: I knew Mrs. Carter very well. She was a tall, handsome woman who used to come into the shop at least twice a week. She lived alone in a large house on an old farm — about three miles from here. People ask me if I am certain she did it. The answer is yes. I was absolutely certain, otherwise I would never have called the police. In the first
place, I saw her do it. I watched her put the things into her bag and I watched her walk
out of the store. In the second place, we found the things in her bag, and finally, shehad done it before. It wasn't the first time. I think she was in such a confused state that
she didn‟t know what she was doing, but two other people say her — two young
people. We had to punish her, otherwise young people would think that stealing didn‟t matter.
Judge: It was a difficult case from a humanitarian point of view. The woman was old and she lived alone — she was lonely. She wasn‟t poor — she was well-known for her generosity to charities and she didn‟t need to steal. The items were only worth a pound or two. She pleaded not guilty and said she didn‟t know that she had done it. From the legal point of view the case was straightforward. The woman stole; she was caught and reported. There were witnesses. She had to be punished or else no one could be punished for stealing. Task 7
【答案】
A. not all modern cities are alike; modern city.
1) a single high-density center, skyscrapers, motorways, as far as you can see
2) the low-density multi-center city, a large collection of a number of small centers, shopping centers, factories, businesses, skyscrapers B.
1) He thinks that the second type( the Los Angeles model) is more sensible.
2) He considers it highly likely that the kind of city we know now will completely disappear. 【原文】
Interviewer: Would you say then that all modem cities are pretty much alike?
Urban Planner: Quite definitely not. There seem to be two types of modem city. In type one there
is a single high-density centre, and that's where you'll find the skyscrapers. This is surrounded by motorways. And all around this centre, low-density suburbs stretch as far as you can see. This is like Houston, or Calgary, or Toronto. Interviewer: And the second type?
Urban Planner: The other type is like Los Angeles — the low-density multi-centre city. As I'm sure you know Los Angeles is really a large collection of a number of small centres, each with its shopping centres, factories, businesses, and skyscrapers scattered everywhere. In a way it's almost one enormous suburb. Interviewer: Do you. think one type is better than the other? Urban Planner: I think the Los Angeles model is more sensible.
Interviewer: And so do you think Los Angeles is the city of the future?
Urban Planner: Well, it is arguable that the next step after Los Angeles is the complete disappearance of the city, with no real centre, where well-designed forms of urban life-modem factories and office blocks which are clean and quiet, and beautiful forms of rural life — the trees and parks of suburbs, live side by side. Interviewer: So are you saying that the city as we know it will disappear... Task 8 【答案】 A.
1) He thinks that this country‟s problems all come from inflation, which is the result of the Democrat‟s careless spending.
2) No, she doesn‟t agree with Ned. She believes that the problem is unemployment. If the government cuts spending too much, people will fall into a vicious circle of more unemployment and fewer taxpayers to share the burden.
3) She agrees with Barbara. She believes that unemployment is a big problem, especially in the big industrial cities. And the government isn‟t doing very much to help the big industries out. 4) He believes in the free market system rather than government regulation or protection. He thinks that without a lot of government interference everything will be okay.
5) No, they think it‟s bad for the weak, the poor and the unprotected/ it‟s bad for the underprivileged. B.
more and more money, come from somewhere, higher taxes and higher prices
【原文】
Ned: ... you know, I think this country's problems all come from inflation. That's the main cause of our troubles right now. And what's causing the inflation? It's the reckless spending of the Democrats! Every year they spend more and more money, and that money has to come from somewhere. So we pay it in the form of higher taxes and higher prices on the goods we buy.
Barbara: Well, I'm not sure that I agree with you. It seems to me that inflation is only one of our problems. What about unemployment? If people don't have jobs because the government cuts spending too much, they can't buy things; and then you have a vicious circle of more unemployment and fewer taxpayers to share the burden.
Ellen: You know, I think Barbara may have something there. Unemployment is a big problem, especially in the big industrial cities. The auto industry is fighting for its life right now, and the government isn't doing very much to help it.
Ned: Well, it's true that the auto industry is in a mess, but I don't think the answer is in government regulation or protection. I believe in the free market system — let the system work without a lot of government interference, and everything will be okay. Ellen: So the strong will win, and the weak will be defeated. Is that what you mean? Ned: Well, that's the way it goes. The survival of the fittest.
Barbara: And too bad about the weak, the poor, the unprotected...
Ned: Now you're getting emotional. You have to remain objective about these things. Let me give you an example of what I'm talking about... Task 9
【答案】 A.
1) The problem is whether or not the inner city — the core of most urban areas — will manage to survive at all.
2) They moved to the suburbs in search of fresh air, elbow room, and privacy.
3) As a result, suburbs began to sprawl out across the countryside. Many cities began to fall into disrepair. And many downtown areas existed for business only.
4) The result was that urban centers declined even further and the suburbs expanded still more. 5) Because from the decision of the Taylors and many other young couples, we can see that some
people may be tired of spending long hours commuting, and they may have begun to miss the advantages of culture and companionship provided by city life. B.
1) F 2) T 3) F 4) F 5) T 6) T C.
1) middle-class, tax money, neighborhoods 2) Crime, public transportation
3) housing construction costs, was allowed to, constructed
【原文】
A few years ago, Ann and Walter Taylor thought it might be time to move out of their New York City apartment to the suburbs. They had one young son and another child on the way. But after months of looking, they became discourage and decided to buy an old townhouse right in the
middle of Brooklyn, which is a part of New York City. To their delight, they discovered that they weren‟t the only young couple to have made such a decision. In fact, their entire area in Brooklyn had been settled by young families. And as a result, the neighborhood, which had been declining for years, was now being restored.
Brooklyn isn‟t the only city in the United States to experience this kind of renewal. So are Philadelphia and St.Louis. And Charleston, South Carolina, has so successfully rebuilt its old
central area that it now ranks as one of America‟s most charming cities. The restoration of the old
port city of Savannah, Georgia, is also living proof that downtown areas do not need to die.
But encouraging as these developments may be, they are among the few bright spots in a mass of
difficulties that today‟s cities face. Indeed, their woes are so many that it is fair to ask whether or not the inner city the core of most urban areas will manage to survive at all.
In the 1940s, urban Americans began a mass move to the suburbs in search of fresh air, elbow room, and privacy. Suburbs began to sprawl out across the countryside. Since most of those making the move were middle-class, they took with them the tax money the cities needed to maintain the neighborhoods in which they had lived. The people left in the cities were often those
who were too old or too poor to move. Thus, many cities began to fall into disrepair. Crime began to soar, and public transportation was neglected.( In the past sixty years San Francisco is the only city in the United States to have completed a new mass transit system.) Meanwhile, housing
construction costs continued to rise higher and higher. Middle-class housing was allowed to decay,
and little new housing was constructed.
Eventually, many downtown areas existed for business only. During the day they would be filled with people working in offices, and at night they would be deserted. Given these
circumstances, some business executives began asking, “Why bother with going downtown at all?
Why not move the offices to the suburbs so that we can live and work in the same area?”
Gradually, some of the larger companies began moving out of the cities, with the result that urban
centers declined even further and the suburbs expanded still more. This movement of business to
the suburbs is not confined to the United States. Businesses have also been moving to the suburbs
in Stockholm, Sweden, in Bonn, Germany, and in Brussels, Belgium, as well.
But it may well be that this movement to the suburbs has reached its peak. Some people may be tired of spending long hours commuting, and they may have begun to miss the advantages of culture and companionship provided by city life. Perhaps the decision made by the Taylors is a sign that people will return to the cities and begin to restore them. It begins to look as if suburban
sprawl may not have been the answer to man‟s need to create an ideal environment in which to live and work. Task 10
【答案】 A.
1) 54, 20, 1980, £70,000. 2) 30, 1980
3) a newspaper article, to research the market 4) another few months, in April 1981, a 1,500 sq ft 5) third, Canada, America, 20 percent, £1 million 6) 20, 70, 3 B.
1) F 2) T 3) F 4)F 5)T C.
1) He was deeply involved in the present job and rather enjoyed himself. He thought the shop was
his own little baby and thought it was fun to serve behind the counter. However, he also thought that there was a lot more hard work than he was used to; he was working over the weekend doing his books. He called his old job “boring trips to Manchester to sell vast quantities of PVC”.
2) He thought that there are far more job satisfaction; and believed that he was making money, rather than making money for other people.
3) He was about to diversify into commercial distribution of imported and domestically produced wine and wines he‟s produced himself. 【原文】
William Rudd, 54, worked for ICI petrochemicals for 20 years until 1980 when he took early
retirement with &70,000. He opened his own delicatessen and butcher's shop in Kensington and has just bought a second London shop.
I knew about a year before I left that I was going to go, so I looked around for office jobs. I
had one of those frustrating periods where I nearly got some jobs but then I didn't. Actually it was
a dinner party conversation which got me into the shop. A woman I knew said she was going to open a delicatessen and thought it sounded fun. So ! said, \"Super, I'll come in with you.\" I'd always thought retailing would be amusing, after a lifetime of industrial selling.
We found that the lease of the building stipulated we had to keep it as a butcher's and I added fish and cheese and things like that. I ended up spending far more than I'd ever intended. I didn't really do much research, except for fish, about which I knew nothing. I was clearly
going to be the person standing behind the counter filleting, so I talked to one person who showed
me a little, supplied me, and kept me under his wing for a little while. But it's quite easy to learn about fish; once you get used to gutting salmon you're on your way. Meat is more difficult; the skill is in the butchery, so I employ people for that. I had to learn about equipment by trial and error.
I started in July — the worst time of the year for a shop like this — and the overdraft kept
going up. That was rather frightening because there was no one between me and the bank manager.
My reaction early on was that it was bound to come right. At the same time I was deeply involved and rather enjoying myself. It was my own little baby and it was fun to serve behind the counter — completely different from boring trips to Manchester to sell vast quantities of PVC. There was a lot more hard work than I was used to; I was working over the weekend doing my books. I remember my accountant saying to me when I was starting up, \"What are you going to do
for mental stimulation?\" In fact there's quite a lot of mental stimulation in the sheer terror of losing
money: I couldn't have conceived of doing this 20 years ago. It was a great leap in the dark. I don't
know if I'm brave or foolish, or a bit of both I suppose. But I do know that if I'd listened to anyone I would never have done it.
Les Shield, 30, a boiler technician, was made redundant from British Steel at Consett in 1980. 145'th Mike Heywood, a Consett transport manager made redundant at the same time, he started
British Brewing Products, manufacturing beer kits and now diversifi2ing into wine production. I read a newspaper article about a company which had done quite well in home brew, and I
started to research the market 18 months before the closure at Consett. By the time the steelworks
were due to close I had a business plan ready. We bought some products which we had made for us and went out into the wilds of Yorkshire and Lancashire and sold them as a test. It took two months before we got any repeat business and that was a nail-biting period. It took another few months to fend premises and to get financial assistance from BSC industry and the bank. We went
into production in April 1981 manufacturing home-brewing kits in a 1,500 sq ft factory. Let's face it, in this area, there wasn't a lot of choice. You could sit and vegetate and spend
your redundancy money, you could move away and find new employment, or you could use your redundancy money to sink or swim.
We're swimming. We're actually doing very well. I like being self-employed; there's far more
job satisfaction. You know that at the end of the day you're getting the full value, personally, of the
work you do. That's what you're in business for — to make money, rather than make money for other people. It was obviously a strain when I spent 5 days a week training, but after 18 months,
we were able to afford our first salesman.
I think my wife was happy for me to do what I've done. She accepted that there would be a certain amount of stress during the early days, but she probably realized that if I was successful the rewards would be there at the end of the day.
We're now in our third factory since we started. We export our products to the Republic of Ireland, Canada and America; exports account for 20 percent of production. Our turnover will exceed &1 million for the first time this year.
We're about to diversify into commercial distribution of imported and domestically produced wine and wines we're producing ourselves. We employ 20 people at the moment but that will rise
to 70 in the next 3 months. Task 11
【原文】
I could hear the guard blowing his whistle, so I ran onto the platform and up to the train.
Luckily someone saw me coming, a door opened, and I jumped on while the train was moving out of the station. “Phew!” I thought. “That was hard work!” I was sure the other passengers could hear my heart beating; it was so loud, and I was in a cold sweat.
After a while, I recovered, and had a look at the other passengers. The compartment was full, but I was the only one standing. The people in the carriage turned their eyes away as they noticed me looking at them; all except one, a beautiful woman sitting in the corner. I saw her watching me in the mirror. Automatically, I adjusted my tie. She had seen me running for the train: maybe this was my lucky day after all. I prepared to say hello.
She spoke first, however. “Would you like my seat?” she asked. “You look rather ill.” That was the day on which I realized I was getting middle-aged. Unit 4 Task 1 【答案】
1) They were orphans and had nobody to support them.
2) Each boy was given only one bowl of gruel for supper and no more — far from enough.
3) They boys were so hungry that they could not bear it any more. They decided that tone of them
must ask the master for more gruel. Olive Twist was chosen by casting lots.
4) He never thought that any boy would dare to ask for more food than the given portion. Therefore, he was both surprised and angry on hearing Oliver‟s request.
5) He was struck on the head by the master and pushed out of the room. And for a week Olive remained prisoner in the cellar. 【原文】
Oliver Twist had no parents and lived in the workhouse.
The room in which the boys had their food was a large stone hall. Each boy was given one
bowl of gruel and no more. The bowls never needed washing. The boys polished them with their spoons. But still the boys were hungry.
Oliver Twist and the other boys suffered from slow starvation for three months. At last they got so wild with hunger that one of the boys, who was tall for his age, said:
\"If this goes on, I am afraid I shall eat the boy who sleeps next me.\" He had wild hungry
eyes and the boys believed him. The boys gathered and thought of a plan.
\"One of us must walk up to the master at supper this evening and ask for more gruel,\" said one boy.
\"Let us east lots,\" said another. \"In that way we shall see who must go up to the master and ask for more.\"
So they cast lots. The lot fell to Oliver Twist. He had to go up to the master and ask for more gruel.
The evening came. The boys took their places and quickly ate up their gruel. Then they
looked at Oliver. He rose from his place, bowl and spoon in hand, went up to the master and said, \"Please, sir, I want some more.\" The master was a fat, healthy man, but he turned pale. \"What!\" he said at last.
Oliver repeated: \"Please, sir, I want some more.\"
The master struck Oliver on the head and pushed him out of the room. For a week Oliver remained a prisoner in the cellar. Task 2 【答案】
A. 1) F 2) F 3) T B.
1) d 2) b 【原文】
Mark Twain was a famous American writer. There were many stories about him. One day Mark Twain was fishing. A stranger came along. \"Good morning!\" said the stranger.
\"Good morning!\" said Mark Twain. \"Nice weather we're having!\" \"Very nice indeed,\" said the stranger. \"How was fishing?\"
\"Very good. I caught three trout here yesterday in just about an hour.\" \"Is that so?\" said the stranger. \"Yes. I'm very fond of trout.\"
\"By the way,\" said the stranger, \"do you happen to know who I am?\" \"No, I haven't any idea,\" said Mark Twain.
\"Well, I'm the game warden of this county,\" said the stranger. \"Fishing is not allowed here.\" Mark Twain paused a minute. Then he asked: \"By the way, do you know who I am?\" \"No, I don't.\"
\"Well, I am the biggest liar in the country.\" Task 3 【答案】 A.
Name: Lewis Carroll
Occupation: mathematics; Oxford University
Literary works: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; 1865; Through the Looking-Glass; 1871 B.
These stories are about a dream world in which Alice meets strange creatures and has interesting
adventures.
【原文】
Which would you rather be? A mathematician or a writer? Perhaps you will never be faced with this kind of choice. Lewis Carroll was both a mathematician and a writer. He was a lecturer in mathematics at Oxford University. But he is better known as the author of two of the most famous children‟ s books that have ever been written: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. The author‟s real name was Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, but he
preferred to use the pen-name “Lewis Carroll” when he wrote Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and this is the name we remember him by.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was published in 1865, when its author was 33 years old; it was followed by Through the Looking-Glass in 1871. Both books were written for a real girl
called Alice, but they have been read by millions of children since they were first published. These
stories are about a dream world in which Alice meets strange creatures and has interesting adventures . I‟m sure you know this already, but if you don‟t, you had better read the stories yourselves. Task 4
【答案】
the Greeks, closed the gates of the city and stayed behind the walls, the Greeks, a huge wooden horse, hide inside it, the horse, they stopped, hid their ships, Greek prisoner, the horse, The Greek
soldiers, the wooden horse
【原文】
Many, many years ago there was a war between the Greeks and the Trojans. The Greek ships sailed up to the city of Troy. When the Trojans saw the Greek ships, they closed the gates of their city and stayed behind the walls. The Greeks attacked the city many times, but could not take it. Then one of the Greeks thought of a plan. The Greeks made a big wooden horse and had some soldiers hide inside the horse. In the morning the Greeks burned their camps and sailed away. Only the big wooden horse remained in front of the city gate.
But the Greek ships did not sail far. The Greeks stopped at a place near Troy, where the
Trojans could not see them, and hid their ships. At first the Trojans wanted to burn the wooden horse, but a Greek prisoner said, \"Don't bum the horse. Bring it into Troy. It will help you.\" The horse was very big, and the Trojans could not bring it in through the gate. They had to make a hole in the wall. Then they brought the wooden horse into the city. The next day was a holiday in Troy. At night all the Trojan soldiers fell asleep after a heavy festive drinking. The Greek ships came back to Troy in the night. When everything was quiet, the Greek
soldiers came out of the wooden horse and opened the gates of the city. The Greek army came into
the city, killed many Trojans and took the city. Task 5 【答案】 A.
1) c 2) a B.
1) All the animals thought that he was the king of beasts. Actually he was a coward. He was afraid of human beings and other big animals. He roared only to scare them away and never really hurt them.
2) Dorothy and her dog wanted to get back to Kansas. The Scarecrow wanted some brains and the
Tinman wanted a heart. The Lion wanted to have courage. 【原文】
The following story has been taken from The Wonderful Wizard of Oz written by L. Frank Baum in 1900. The book is a modern fairy tale and is one of the great favorites of American children.
One day a tornado carried away Dorothy and her dog Toto from their home in Kansa sand landed them in the wonderful land of Oz. Here they made friends with two strange fellows, a scarecrow and a tin man. The four were now on their way to the Emerald City where the Great Oz lived.
Just as the Tinman spoke there came from the forest a terrible roar, and the next moment a
great Lion rushed into the road. With one blow of his paw he knocked the Scarecrow to the edge of the road, and then he hit the Tinman with his sharp claws. But, to the Lion's surprise, he could make no mark on the tin, though the Tinman fell over in the road and lay still.
Little Toto, now that he had an enemy to face, ran barking towards the Lion. The great beast had opened his mouth to bite the dog. Dorothy feared that Toto would be killed. She forgot all danger and rushed forward. She slapped the Lion upon his nose as hard as she could, and cried out:
\"Don't bite Toto! You should be ashamed of yourself, a big beast like you, to bite a poor little dog!\"
\"I didn't bite him,\" said the Lion, as he rubbed his nose with his paw where Dorothy had hit it.
\"No, but you tried to,\" she said in anger. \"You are nothing but a big coward.\"
\"I know,\" said the Lion, and he hung his head in shame. \"I've always known it. But how can I help it?\"
\"I don't know, I'm sure. But how can you hit a stuffed man like the poor Scarecrow?\"
\"Is he stuffed?\" asked the Lion, in surprise, as he watched her pick up the Scarecrow and set him upon his feet, while she patted him into shape again. \"Of course he's stuffed,\" replied Dorothy. She was still angry.
\"That explains it. He really went over easily,\" said the Lion. \"It surprised me to see him turn around so. Is the other one stuffed also?\"
\"No,\" said Dorothy, \"he's made of tin.\" And she helped the Tinman up again.
\"He really hurt my claws,\" said the Lion. \"When they scratched against the tin it made a cold shiver min down my back. What is that little animal you are so kind to?\" \"He is my dog, Toto,\" answered Dorothy.
\"Is he made of tin, or stuffed?\" asked the Lion. \"Neither. He's a meat dog,\" said the girl. \"Oh. He's a curious animal, and seems really small, now that I look at him. No one thinks of biting such a small, little thing except a coward like me,\" continued the Lion sadly.
\"What makes you a coward?\" asked Dorothy. She looked at the great beast in wonder, for he was as big as a small horse.
\"I don't know,\" replied the Lion. \"I suppose I was born that way. All the other animals in the forest expect me to be brave, for the Lion is everywhere thought to be the King of Beasts. I
learned that if I roared very loudly every living thing was afraid and got out of my way. Whenever I've met a man I've been very much frightened; but I just roared at him, and he has always min away as fast as he could go. If the elephants, tigers and bears ever tried to fight me, I would run away — I'm such a coward; but just as soon as they hear me roar, they all try to get away from me,
and of course I let them go.\"
\"But that isn't right. The King of Beasts shouldn't be a coward,\" said the Scarecrow.
\"I know it,\" said the Lion, and he wiped a tear from his eye with the tip of his tail. \"It is a
great sorrow, and it makes my life very unhappy. But whenever there is danger, my heart begins to
beat fast.\"
\"Perhaps you have heart disease,\" said the Tinman. \"It may be so,\" said the Lion.
\"If you have,\" continued the Tinman, \"you should be glad, for it proves you have a heart. For my part, I have no heart; so I can't have heart disease.\"
\"Perhaps,\" said the Lion, \"I am a coward because I have a heart.\" \"Have you brains?\" said the Scarecrow.
\"I suppose so. I've never looked to see,\" replied the Lion.
\"I am going to the great Oz to ask him to give me some,\" remarked the Scarecrow, \"for my head is stuffed with straw.\"
\"And I am going to ask him to give me a heart,\" said the Tinman.
\"And I am going to ask him to send me and Toto back to Kansas,\" added Dorothy. \"Do you think Oz can give me courage?\" asked the Cowardly Lion. \"Just as easily as he can give me brains,\" said the Scarecrow. \"Or give me a heart,\" said the Tinman. \"Or send me back to Kansas,\" said Dorothy.
\"Then if you don't mind, I'll go with you,\" said the Lion, \"for life is hard without courage.\" \"You will be very welcome,\" answered Dorothy, \"for you will help to keep away the other wild beasts. I think they must be more cowardly than you if they allow you to scare them so easily.\"
\"They really are,\" said the Lion, \"but that doesn't make me any braver, and as long as I know myself to be a coward I shall be unhappy.\"
So once more the little company set off upon the journey. The Lion walked at Dorothy's side. Toto did not like the Lion at first, because he could not forget how nearly he had been crushed between the Lion's great jaws; but after a time he became more at ease, and before long Toro and
the Cowardly Lion became good friends. Task 6 【答案】 A.
1) Civil War 2) first, equality
3) battlefields, bloodiest 4) ordinary B.
1) d 2) c
【原文】
Walt Whitman is often called the poet of American democracy. He lived during the American Civil War, and he admired President Abraham Lincoln very much.
Whitman was the first American poet who wrote about tree equality among all people. In a
poem called \"Song of Myself\" he compared himself to all other people, and he found no difference. He wrote:
\"...every atom belonging to me... belongs to you.\"
In the same poem Whitman spoke up for women. He wrote: \"The Female equally with the Male I sing.\" He also wrote:
\"In the faces of men and women I see God.\" and \"A great city is that which has the greatest men and women.\"
Whitman understood war and the results of war. He worked in a hospital, taking care of
wounded men. In a description of northern soldiers who had returned from prisons in the south he
wrote: \"The sight is worse than any sight of battlefields or any collection of wounded, even the bloodiest.\" In Whitman's words: \"The real war will never get in the books.\"
Whitman was the first important American poet to write about ordinary people, using ordinary language. Task 7
【答案】 A.
1) A red, red rose that‟s newly spring in June and the melody that‟s sweetly played in tune.
2) He will love her till all the seas are dried and the rocks melt in the sun. his love will last as long as the sands of life run(there is life on earth).
3) Yes, he is, and he will come back no matter how far it is. B.
June---tune I---dry sun---run while ---mile 【原文】
O, my love is like a red, red rose, That is newly sprung in June. O, my love is like the melody, That is sweetly played in tune. As fair are you, my lovely lass, So deep in love am I,
And I will love you still, my Dear, Till all the seas go dry.
Till all the seas go dry, my Dear, And the rocks melt with the sun!
O I will love you still, my Dear, While the sands of life shall run. And fare you well, my only Love, And fare you well a while!
And I will come again, my Love,
Although it were ten thousand mile! Task 8 【答案】
1) Tall stories, that is, unlikely ones.
2) Because he wanted to be a member of a certain club.
3) He went there because he was told that a lion came there each evening to drink water. 4) Sixteen times.
5) He killed sixteen lions.
【原文】
A famous French writer who wrote many books about England and the English people once
wrote about the Englishman's fondness for improbable or tall stories. In one of his books about the
First World War, an English priest tells the following story:
He had wanted to become a member of a certain club in Africa. In order to become a
member, each person had to shoot at least one lion. The priest had never shot an animal in his life.
So, armed with a rifle and accompanied by a young African boy, the priest set out one evening for a pool in the jungle where he was told a lion came each evening to drink. He waited patiently for a
few hours until shortly before midnight when he heard a rustling noise. Sure enough a few yards away the head of a lion appeared above a bush that separated the priest and the pool. He aimed and fired. The head of the lion immediately fell behind the bush but a moment later reappeared. So
the priest aimed and fired again. The head of the lion immediately fell behind the bush but a moment later reappeared. The priest fired again: the same result. He remained calm because he knew he had brought sixteen bullets with him. After his fourth attempt his aim seemed to become
more and more inaccurate. In fact, after his fifteenth attempt the African boy had to warn him, \"This is your last chance. If you miss this time, we are in trouble.\"
The priest then realized how serious the situation was, so he took a deep breath, aimed
very carefully and fired. They waited a moment, then slowly counted up to twenty: the head of the
lion did not reappear. The priest was certain that at last he had shot his lion. They rushed forward together to the spot behind the bush. And what do you think they found? Sixteen lions. Task 9 【答案】
I. a young prince who lived on land
A. rose to the surface of the sea and waited for the prince to come to her B. never came
II. a witch
A. changed her fish‟s tail into a pair of human legs B. she gave the witch her tongue III. the prince‟s palace A. her feet hurt terribly B. didn‟t love her Ⅳ. a young princess A. drive back into the sea
B. a spirit of the air and lived forever
【原文】
Copenhagen is the capital of Denmark. In Copenhagen harbor, you can see a statue of the Little Mermaid. I wonder if you know her story. It's a sad one.
That Little Mermaid fell in love with a young prince who lived on the land. Every night she
used to rise up to the surface of the sea and sit staring at his palace, waiting for him to come to her.
But he never came.
Finally she visited a witch. The witch changed her fish's tail into a pair of human legs so
that she could go and live on land. But in return, the Little Mermaid had to give her tongue to the witch, so that she could never sing or speak again. She loved the prince so much that she gave it happily.
She went and lived in the prince's palace, and every night, she danced for him, although her
strange new feet caused her terrible pain. But she didn't mind the pain. She waited and waited for
the prince to fall in love with her.
But, although the prince liked the Little Mermaid very much, he didn't love her. He fell in
love with a young princess and they got married. On their wedding night, the Little Mermaid sadly
dived back into the sea. She had no tail now, only legs, and she thought that she would die. She didn't die, though. Because of her kind heart, she became a spirit of the air and lived forever. Task 10
【答案】 A.
1) b 2) c 3) b 4) a 5) a B.
No. 1[e] No. 2 [b] No. 3 [a] No.4 [d] No.5 [c]
【原文】
1) A wolf thought that by disguising himself as a sheep he could get enough to eat. So he put on a sheepskin and joined the flock without being discovered. At sunset the shepherd shut him with the
sheep in the fold. Then he felt hungry, so he picked up his knife and killed one of the sheep for his supper. But it was the wolf that he killed.
2) A bird in a cage at a window used to sing during the night. A bat which heard her came up and asked why she never sang by day, but only by night. She explained that there was a good reason: she was caught while she was singing in the daytime, and this had taught her a lesson.
\"One must be careful before one is caught, not after,\" said the bat.
3) Monkeys are said to have a strange habit. When twins are born to them, the mother will
take care of only one of the twins. She will hold it tightly to her breast and neglect the other. But the one taken care of will die because it cannot breathe freely, while the neglected one will grow up strong and healthy.
4) A gnat alighted on a bull's horn. After it had stayed there a long time and felt like moving
on, it asked the bull if he would like it to go now. \"I didn't notice when you came,\" replied the bull,
\"and I shall not notice if you go.\"
5) A reed and an olive tree were quarrelling one day. They wanted to see which one was the stronger. Finally the olive tree said to the reed, \"You are weak. You are easily bent by the
wind.\" But the reed did not say a word. Before long a storm arose. The reed was tossed about and
bent by the winds, but it was not hurt. The olive tree stood bravely against the storm and was broken by its force. Task 11
【答案】 I.
A. struck a rock and began to break up. B. sank too C. had survived II.
A. he was tied very firmly by a large number of fine ropes.
B. about forty little men shot at him with their arrows, which hurt like needles. C. the little men gave him all the bread, meat and wine they had. III.
was seven feet by three feet, equipped with twenty-two wheels and pulled by fifteen hundred little horses 【原文】
Gulliver was travelling by ship. The ship struck a rock and began to break up. Some of the
sailors and Gulliver got away in a boat, but that sank too. In the end Gulliver was the only person who survived-who didn't drown. He kept on swimming, and just managed to reach land. By that time it was already evening. Gulliver kept on walking, but by then he was so exhausted that he lay
down on the grass, and fell sound asleep.
He slept until the following morning. When he woke up, he could not move. His arms and
legs were tied to the ground, very firmly, and so was his hair. There were a large number of very fine, thin ropes across his body, he discovered, and these prevented him from moving. Gulliver could just manage to look down his body — that was all he could do — and there
he saw, advancing up his body, about forty little men. These little men were only about six inches high. They were dressed as soldiers, and each one carried a bow and arrow. Gulliver shouted out, and when he did this, all the soldiers ran away, though they gradually came back again. Gulliver decided to try to escape. He managed to break some of the ropes, and he was also
able to free his head. But when he began to move, the soldiers shot at him with their arrows. These
arrows were small but sharp like needles, and they hurt Gulliver. He decided to keep still and when he did so, the soldiers stopped shooting at him with their arrows.
By this time Gulliver was feeling very hungry, so he put his finger to his mouth, to show the little people that he needed food. They understood this, and they brought him bread and meat. Gulliver ate all the bread and meat, and then indicated that he was thirsty. Again he was understood, and the people brought him wine. In fact Gulliver drank all the wine that was available — all they had.
After that one of the king's officers came up to Gulliver. He spoke to him, and indicated that he had to go to the city, to the capital of the island. This was what the king had ordered. Guliver asked to be set free, but the officer refused. Gulliver again thought of trying to escape, but he remembered those arrows which the soldiers had shot at him, and he decided to do nothing. In any
case he soon fell asleep, because of all the wine he had drunk.
While he was asleep, the people on the island made arrangements — got everything ready — to take Gulliver to the capital. They managed to get him on a cart which they had built specially to
take him to the city. It was seven feet long, and three feet wide, and it had twenty-two wheels in all. It took about three hours to get Gulliver on the cart, and fifteen hundred horses to pull the cart
to the city. Task 12
Aesop was a very clever man who lived in Greece thousands of years ago. He wrote many good fables. He was known to be fond of jokes. One day, as he was enjoying a walk he met a traveler, who greeted him and said, “Kind man, can you tell me how soon I shall get to town?” “Go,” Aesop answered.
“I know I must go”, said the traveler, “but I should Like you to tell me how soon I shall get to town.”
“Go,” Aesop said again angrily.
“This man must be mad,” the traveler thought and went on.
After he had gone some distance, Aesop shouted after him, “You will get to town in two
hours.” The traveler turned around in astonishment. “Why didn‟t you tell me that before?” he asked.
“How could I have told you before?” answered Aesop. “I did not know how fast you could walk. Unit 5 Task 1 【答案】 A.
1) People‟s ideas on permanent education.
2) One is an ordinary “man in the street”. The other is an educational psychologist.
3) The first person thinks this idea of permanent education is crazy. He can‟t understand people who want to spend all their lives in school. The second person thinks the idea of permanent
education is practical because people are never really too old to go on learning. B.
1) was; hated; stand; got out 2) all their lives 3) certain limits; age limits 【原文】
Two people are interviewed about their ideas on education. One is an ordinary \"man in the street\"; the other is an educational psychologist. The man in the street:
When I was at school, I hated it. I couldn't stand it. I wasn't happy until I got out. I think this idea of permanent education is crazy. I know some people go back to school when they're older, go to language classes at the local \"tech\" and all that, but I can't understand people who want to spend all their lives in school. The educational psychologist:
The idea of permanent education is practical because we're never really too old to go on
learning. Of course, there are certain limits, but they aren't age limits. For example, let's say a man
past sixty tries to learn how to play football. It's foolish for him to do that, but only because his body is too old, not his mind! Task 2 【答案】 A.
Age Schooling
Four Nursery School Five The Infants‟ School Seven The Junior School B.
1) He stayed there for a year.
2) He has faint, but very pleasant memories of it. He had fun and played games---including story-telling, drawing, singing and dancing.
3) He began t have more formal lessons and even worry about exams.
4) The exam was called the “Eleven Plus”. Students took the exam to see what kind of secondary school they would get into. 【原文】
John is talking to Martin about his primary schooling. Martin: Did you go to a state primary school?
John: Yes, I did. I went to a nursery school first, at the age of four, but this was purely voluntary. There was a good kindergarten in our neighbourhood so my parents decided to send me there for a year.
Martin: Can you still remember it?
John: Yes, I have faint, but very pleasant memories of it. It was a delightful place, full of fun and games. As in most nursery schools, work — if you can call it that — consisted of storytelling, drawing, singing and dancing.
Martin: You probably don't remember but you must have missed it when you left — you know, when you went to the Infants' School at the age of five.
John: I suppose I must have, but you know, right up to the age of seven, school life was very
pleasant. It was only later in the Junior School that we began to have more formal lessons and even worry about exams.
Martin: Really? Did you have to do exams at that age?
John: Yes, we used to then. We had to take an exam at the age of eleven called the \"Eleven Plus\" to see what kind of Secondary school we would get into. But this exam has disappeared nowadays. Task 3 【答案】 A.
1) compulsory; the ages of 5 and 16; state-funded; independent
2) available; at a nursery school; in the nursery class at a primary school 3) preparatory; primary; aged 5 to 13
4) enter the state education system; at the age of 5; secondary school
5) 7, 11, 13 or 16; gain admission at 11 or 13; the Common Entrance Examination
6) one further year; Advanced Supplementary Examinations; Advanced Level Examinations 7) classroom; laboratory; work independently; undertake research for projects 8) vocational; conventional
9) secondary education; with A-levels; further; higher B.
1) GCSE stand for the General Certificate of Secondary Education. It is normally take at the age of sixteen.
2) Students usually study form 8 to 12 subjects over two years.
3) Some subjects take account of the work students do throughout the year, while others are assessed entirely by examination.
【原文】
Education in the United Kingdom is compulsory for everyone between the ages of five and sixteen, and is provided by two kinds of schools: state-funded schools and independent (fee-charging) schools. Children education
Pre-school or pre-preparatory education: pre-school education is available in both the
independent and the state systems. Many children start their education at the age of three or four at
a nursery school or in the nursery class at a primary school.
Preparatory education: in the independent system, preparatory (or primary) education is available for children aged 5 to 13.
Primary education: most children in the United Kingdom enter the state education system when they go to primary school at the age of five and generally move to secondary school or college at the age of 11.
Secondary education (including the General Certificate of Secondary Education and equivalents)
Most pupils enter independent boarding schools at the age of 7, 11, 13 or 16. To gain
admission at 11 or 13, some pupils sit an exam called the Common Entrance Examination. At 16, they enter the school to study in its sixth form (for A-levels and equivalent qualifications). All UK secondary schools, both state and independent, teach pupils at least until the age of
sixteen and prepare them for the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) or
equivalent qualifications. Significant numbers of international students enter the UK secondary education system when they are either eleven or thirteen. Many attend independent boarding schools.
GCSEs in vocational subjects are normally taken at the age of 16. Following these, students
can do one further year of academic study before taking Advanced Supplementary examinations (AS-levels).
Alternatively, there are career-based qualifications, such as General National Vocational
Qualifications (GNVQs) or vocational A-levels, which can be taken after one or two years of study. All these courses give access to university or further study.
Students usually study from 8 to 12 GCSE subjects over two years. Most students study a core of statutory subjects and choose additional subjects from a list.
On any GCSE course, you receive formal tuition in the classroom and laboratory but are also
encouraged to work independently and undertake research for projects, often outside school hours.
Educational visits, either on your own or as part of a small group, are often part of the timetable. Some subjects take account of the work you do throughout the year, while others are assessed entirely by examination. Examinations are independently marked and graded. GCSE grades range from A (the highest) to G.
New GCSEs in vocational subjects are a career-based version of the GCSE. Eight subjects are available: Art and Design, Business, Engineering, Health and Social Care, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Leisure and Tourism, Manufacturing, and Science. One vocational GCSE is equivalent to two conventional GCSEs. As with other GCSEs, grades range from A (the highest) to G.
Sixth-formers usually finish their secondary education at the age of eighteen with A-levels or equivalent qualifications, then go on to study at either further or higher education level. Task 4
【答案】 A.
Topic of This Discussion: Corporal Punishment Interviewees Position on This Topic For/Against
Arguments/Reasons
Kate For It‟s difficult to teach children these days, when many of them know they won‟t get jobs. It‟s hard to control the class if you can‟t punish them. Some children need discipline.
Rolf Against It always has been difficult to be a teacher. But you don‟t have to use violence. It‟s impossible to teach students about nonviolence and being good citizens when you are violent yourself. Jane Against
Raoul For Its‟ impossible to teach the rest of the class of
you have one student who constantly misbehaves. It‟s bad for the others. B.
1) F 2) F
【原文】
Kate: Yes, it's difficult to teach children these days, when many of them know they won't get jobs. It's hard to control the class if you can't punish them. I often hit them with a ruler. Of course, in my part of Scotland we're allowed to hit them, and I think it's necessary — some children need discipline.
Interviewer: What do you think, Rolf? I know you feel very strongly about corporal punishment. Rolf: I don't agree with Kate. I know it's difficult to be a teacher, but I think it always has been. But you don't have to use violence. It's impossible to teach students about non-violence and being good citizens when you are violent yourself.
Interviewer: What do the Welsh think, Jane? Rolf thinks corporal punishment is wrong. Jane: Yes, I think so too. Interviewer: And Raoul?
Raoul: Well, I think it's sometimes necessary. When one child constantly disobeys, you have to beat him, or else send him away — maybe to a special school. It's impossible to teach the rest of the class if you have one student who constantly misbehaves. It's bad for the others.
Interviewer: Did anyone beat you when you were at school? Raoul: Well... Task 5 【答案】 A.
1) Because the television program by that name can now be seen in many parts of the world. 2) This program is very popular among children. Some educators object to certain elements in the
program. Parents praise it highly. Many teachers also consider it a great help, though some
teachers find that problems arise when first graders who have learned from “Sesame Street” are in the same class with children who have not watched the program.
3) In order to increase the number of children who can watch it regularly. 4)
1. The reasons may include the educational theories of its creators, the support by both government and private businesses, and the skillful use of a variety of TV tricks
2. Perhaps an equally important reason is that mothers watch “Sesame Street” along with their children. This is partly because famous adult stars often appear on “Sesame Street”.
3. The best reason for the success of the program may be that it makes every child watching it feel
able to learn. The child finds himself learning, and he wants to learn more. B.
1) six million; regularly; half; economic; racial; geographical
2) fifty; Spanish; Portuguese; German; one hundred thousand; English; every two weeks 3) songs; stories; jokes; pictures; numbers; letters; human relationships
【原文】
Sesame Street\" has been called \"the longest street in the world. That is because the television program by that name can now be seen in so many parts of the world. That program became one of America‟s exports soon after it went on the air in New York in 1969.
In the United States more than six million children watch the program regularly. The viewers include more than half the nation‟s pre-school children, from every kind of economic, racial, and geographical group.
Although some educators object to certain elements in the program, parents praise it highly. Many teachers consider it a great help, though some teachers find that problems arise when first graders who have learned from “Sesame Street” are in the same class with children who have not watc
Tests have shown that children from all racial, geographical, and economic backgrounds have benefited from watching \"Sesame Street\". Those who watch it five times a week learn more than the occasional viewers. In the United States the program is shown at different hours during the week in order to increase the number of children who can watch it regularly.
In its American form \"Sesame Street\" is shown in nearly fifty countries. Three foreign shows
based on \"Sesame Street\" have also appeared in Spanish, Portuguese, and German. Viewers of the
show in Japan buy one hundred thousand booklets with translations of the English sound track every two weeks.
The program uses songs, stories, jokes and pictures to give children a basic understanding of numbers, letters and human relations. But there are some differences. For example, the Spanish program, produced in Mexico City, devotes more time to teaching whole words than to teaching Why has \"Sesame Street\" been so much more successful than other children's shows? Many
reasons have been suggested. People mention the educational theories of its creators, the support
by the government and private businesses, and the skillful use of a variety of TV tricks. Perhaps an
equally important reason is that mothers watch \"Sesame Street\" along with their children. This is partly because famous adult stars often appear on \"Sesame Street\". But the best reason for the success of the program may be that it makes every child watching it feel able to learn. The child Task 6
【答案】 A.
1) It is to have all public schools connected to the Internet computer system and have computers available for all students.
2) Its web site provides information about the school, the teacher and their mail addresses. It also
lists student events and organizations.
3) They learn numbers and letters. They also learn how to use the computers they will need later in
their education. B.
1) 1994; 35%; Last year; %
2) universities; colleges; urge; require
【原文】
One of the goals of American education officials is to have all public schools connected to
the Internet computer system and have computers for all students. Government studies show that
in 1994 only 35 percent of American public schools were connected to the Internet. Last year, that
number reached percent.
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University is a large university in the southern state of Virginia. Officials at Virginia Tech say computers are very important to a student's education. All students at Virginia Tech have been required to have a computer since 1998.
Each student's living area at Virginia Tech has the necessary wires to link a computer to the
Internet. The students can send and receive electronic mail, use the World Wide Web part of the Internet and link with other universities, all without leaving their rooms. They can also use their computers to send electronic copies of their school work to their teachers. And they can search for
books in the school's huge library.
Most major American universities and colleges strongly urge or require new students to have a computer. Most colleges and universities also have large rooms where students can use computers for classwork.
American high schools also have computers. Many have their own areas on the World Wide Web. If you have a computer you can learn about Fremont Union High School in Sunnyvale,
California, for example. Its web site provides information about the school, the teachers and their electronic mail addresses. It also lists student events and organizations.
Young children also use computers in school. Smoketree Elementary School, in Lake
Havasu, Arizona is a good example. The school also has a World Wide Web site. It tells about the school and the teachers and has an area for young children. These young children use computers in
school to learn numbers and letters. They also learn how to use the computers they will need later
in their education. Task 7
【答案】 A.
I. spoken; written
A. saying poetry aloud; giving speeches
B. advanced degrees; field of study; custom; candidates; doctor‟s degree II. written A. nineteenth
B. the great increase in population; the development of modern industry C.
1. objective; personal opinions; memory of facts and details; range of knowledge; a fairer chance; easier; quicker; learning
2. essay; ling answers; broad general questions; the element of luck; put facts together into a
meaningful whole; really knowing much about the subject; have trouble expressing their ideas in essay form; examiner‟s feelings at the time of reading the answer. III.
unsatisfactory; along with B. b
【原文】
In ancient time the most important examinations were spoken, not written. In the schools of ancient Greece and Rome , testing usually consisted of saying poetry aloud or giving speeches. In the European universities of the Middle Ages, students who were working for advanced
degrees had to discuss questions in their field of study with people who had made a special study of the subject. This custom exists today as part of the process of testing candidates for the doctor's degree.
Generally, however, modern examinations are written. The written examination, where all
students are tested on the same question, was probably not known until the nineteenth century. Perhaps it came into existence with the great increase in population and the development of modern industry. A room full of candidates for a state examination, timed exactly by electric clocks and carefully watched over by managers, resembles a group of workers at an automobile factory. Certainly, during examinations teachers and students are expected to act like machines. There is nothing very human about the examination process.
Two types of tests are commonly used in modern schools. The first type sometimes called an “objective” test. It is intended to deal with facts., not personal opinions. To make up an objective
test the teacher writes a series of questions, each of which has only one correct answer. Along with
each question the teacher writes the correct answer and also three statements that look like answers to students who have not learned the material properly.
For testing a student's memory of facts and details, the objective test has advantages. It can be scored very quickly by the teacher or even by a machine. In a short time the teacher can find out a great deal about the student's range of knowledge.
For testing some kinds of learning, however, such a test is not very satisfactory. A lucky
student may guess the correct answer without really knowing the material. For a clearer picture of
what the students knows, most teachers use another kind of examination in addition to objective tests. They use “essay” tests, which require students to write long answer to broad general questions.
One advantage of the essay test is that it reduces the element of luck. The student cannot get a high score just by making a lucky guess. Another advantage is that it shows the examiner more about the student‟s ability to put facts together into a meaningful whole. It should show how deeply he has thought about the subject. Sometimes, though, essay tests have disadvantages, too.
Some students are able to write rather good answers without really knowing much about the subject, while other students who actually know the material have trouble expressing their ideas
in
the essay form.
Besides, on an essay test the student's score may depend upon the examiner's feelings at the time of reading the answer. If he is feeling tired or bored, the student may receive a lower score than he should. Another examiner reading the same answer might give it a much higher mark. From this standpoint the objective test gives each student a fairer chance, and of course it is easier
and quicker to score.
Most teachers and students would probably agree that examinations are unsatisfactory.
Whether an objective test or an essay test is used, problems arise. When some objective questions
are used along with some essay questions, however, a fairly clear picture of the student's knowledge can usually be obtained. Task 8
Americans know that higher education is the key to the growth they need to lift their country, and today that is more true than ever. Just listen to these facts. Over half the new jobs created in the last three years have been managerial and professional jobs. The new jobs require a higher level of skills.
Fifteen years ago the typical worker with a college degree made 38 percent more than a
worker with a high school diploma. Today that figure is 73 percent more. Two years of college means a 20 percent increase annual earnings. People who finish two years of college earn a quarter of a million dollars more than their high school counterparts over a lifetime. Unit 6 Task 1
【答案】 A.
[d]—[b]—[a]—[e]—[c] B. a
【原文】
Laura usually leaves the offices of Quest Productions at about 5 o'clock, but last Monday she left at 5:30. She wanted to get home by 6:30 and she ran to the bus stop but she couldn't get on a bus.
There were too many people and not enough buses. Laura was desperate to get home so she decided to go by tube.
In the station she went to one of the automatic ticket machines but she didn't have enough change, so she had to join the queue at the ticket window. She bought her ticket and ran to the escalator. Laura went to the platform and waited for the tube. It arrived and the crowd moved forward.
Laura was pushed into the train. It was almost full but she was given a seat by a man with a
moustache. Laura thanked him and sat down. She started to read her newspaper. In the tunnel the
train stopped suddenly and Laura was thrown to the floor together with the man with the moustache. Somebody screamed. The lights went out. It was quarter past 6 on a cold, wet
December evening. Task 2 【答案】 A.
1) a 2) b 3) d 4) c B.
1) T 2) T 3) F C.
wondered; television plays; exciting; every cigarette lighter; tape recorder; held in a certain way; the touch of a gold ring against the hand of; reveal; How wrong they were
【原文】
X was a secret agent. He had rented a furnished room in a provincial town not far from the
public park and had been there two weeks. He was standing at the window looking out at the dull
beds of geraniums, the park gates and the cold, uninviting statue of Queen Victoria that stood across the street from him, It was raining hard and the few people who passed by looked wet and miserable. X was miserable, too. How, he wondered, could anybody think there was anything interesting about the life of a secret agent? He knew it was because people had seen so many television plays about glamorous spies that they thought the life of a secret agent was exciting. They were convinced that every cigarette lighter concealed a secret tape recorder; that a fountain pen held in a certain way would open a locked door, that the touch of a gold ring against the hand
of an enemy would make him reveal all his secrets. How wrong they were! He looked round his room. The wallpaper was in the worst possible taste, the pictures horrible, the carpet worn, dirty and faded; and he was cold. This was the third Monday he had come to the window to look out. He prayed it would be the last.
As if in answer to his prayer, a certain meeting he had been sent to investigate was about to
take place. He took out his camera. Just beneath the statue two women had stopped to speak. He
knew one of them, and it was she who pointed in his direction. The other woman looked up towards him and in that brief moment he photographed her. Task 3
【答案】 A.
Names Ideal Careers Harry Sailor
Nora Farmer(if she were a man) Robert Civil engineer
Peter Racing driver or explorer B.
1) a 2) b 3) c 4) b 5) d 【原文】
Harry: Well, Robert, have you made up your mind yet what you want to do when you leave college?
Nora: Oh Harry. Surely he's a bit young to decide on his career. He hasn't even got to college yet. Harry: Not at all, Nora. It's wisest to decide in good time. Look at me, for example. I really wanted to be a sailor, but now I spend my days sitting at a desk in an office. Yes, it's silly to train for the wrong job. And after all, Robert will be going to college soon.
Nora: Now if I were a man I'd be a farmer. To see the crops growing--that's my idea of a good life.
Harry: Yes, and to see the money rolling in is more important still.
Robert: Well, that's not the way I look at it, Dad. It's the job I care about, not the money. Harry: Maybe not; but you'll learn to care about the money too, when you've got a family to keep.
Nora: And of course Peter — well, he's keen to be a racing driver, or else an explorer. Robert: Oh, Peter's not old enough to make up his mind about such things.
Harry: You haven't answered my question yet, Robert. What would you like to do? Nora: Are you sure you don't want to be a farmer, Robert? Or a market gardener?
Robert: No, I'm sorry Mum, but I don't want to at all. I'd rather be a civil engineer. I want to build roads and bridges.
Harry: Not ships? Isn't it better to be a shipbuilding engineer? Robert: Look here, is it my career we're planning, or yours?
Harry: All fight, all right, there's no need to lose your temper. But you'd better win that scholarship first. Task 4 【答案】
I. correspondents; columnist A. may not need either
B. to go to places where events take place and write stories about them II. first; bigger; better; who will soon leave to work for other people III. working hours; free time; work long hours to begin with
【原文】
Here are some of the things a young man or woman should not do when he first asks an editor for a job:
He should not tell the editor that he wants to be a foreign correspondent or a columnist.
Very probably the editor does not need either. He wants a reporter who will go to such places as government offices and police stations and write a true story of what is happening there. Being a foreign correspondent or a columnist will come later.
A young person should not tell tile editor that newspaper work is only the first step on the
way to bigger and better jobs, such as those in government. The editor must take a lot of time and
trouble teaching someone to be a good newspaperman or woman. He does not like the idea of teaching people who are soon going to leave him to work for someone else.
A young journalist should accept the working hours and free time the editor gives him. As a new journalist, it is very probable that he will work longer hours than others and work on
weekends. The editor did the same when he was a young newspaperman with no experience. He expects a journalist to understand how things are on a newspaper. Task 5
【答案】 A.
1) acd 2) abe B.
1) she is the wrong sex 2) she wears the wrong clothes
【原文】
SYLVIA: We've got a new manager in our department. LARRY: Oh? You hoped to get that job, didn't you? SYLVIA: Yes, I did.
LARRY: I'm sorry. That's too bad. Who is it? Who got the job, I mean?
SYLVIA: Someone called Drexler. Carl Drexler. He's been with the company only two years. I've been here longer. And I know more about the job, too!
LARRY: Hmm. Why do you think they gave it to him and not to you? SYLVIA: Because I'm the wrong sex, of course !
LARRY: You mean you didn't get the job because you're a woman? SYLVIA: Yes, that was probably it! It isn't fair. LARRY: What sort of clothes does he wear? SYLVTA: A dark suit. White shirt. A tie. Why?
LARRY: Perhaps that had something to do with it.
SYLVIA: You mean you think I didn't get the job because I come to work in jeans and a sweater?
LARRY: It's possible, isn't it?
SYLVIA: Do you really think I should wear different clothes? LARRY: Well. . . perhaps you should think about it. SYLVTA: Why should I wear a skirt? Or a dress?
LARRY: I'm not saying you should. I'm saying you should think about it. That's all! SYLVIA: Why should I do that? I'm good at my job! That's the only important thing! LARRY: Hmm. Perhaps it should be the only important thing. But it isn't. Not inthis company. Task 6
【答案】 A.
Former Jobs When Laid-off Why Laid-off
1st man Car salesman Recently Low sales, due to the increase of interest rates
2 nd man Worker at a vacuum cleaner plant
10 months ago Plant moved to Singapore where workers are paid much less B.
1 st speaker(bcd) 2 nd speaker(ae)
C.
1) F 2) F 【原文】
Al: Is this the right line to file a claim?
Bob: Yeah. It's the same line for everything. You just stand here and wait. Al: Oh. Is there always such a long line?
Bob: Every week. Sometimes longer. Is this your first time here? Al: Yes.
Bob: What happened? Your plant closed down?
Al: No. I'm a car salesman, or, I was a car salesman. But we just aren't selling cars. It's the interest rates. Two years ago, I averaged ten new cars a month. Do you know how many cars I sold last month? One. One car to a lady who had the cash. But the interest rates are up again. The boss let three of us go. How about you?
Bob: I worked at a vacuum cleaner plant with about fifty workers. We put in a good day's work. But the machinery was getting old. As a matter of fact, the whole plant was old. So the
management decided to build a new plant. You know where? In Singapore. The workers here made about seven dollars an hour, a couple of people made eight or nine an hour. You know how much they're paying the workers in Singapore? $2.50 an hour! Anyway, all fifty of us got laid off.
Al: How long ago was that?
Bob: They closed down ten months ago. Al: Any luck finding another job?
Bob: Nothing. I have one, sometimes two, interviews a week. Last week I thought I had something.
They liked my experience with machines. But I never heard from them again. Al: At least you know something about machines. All I can do is talk.
Bob: Maybe you'll talk yourself into another job. Good luck. I'll see you here next week. Al: I hope not. I hope I'll have something by then. Task 7 【答案】 A.
1) F 2) F 3) T 4) F 5) T 6) F B.
1) According to the first speaker, it is frustrating because the teacher cannot see clearly the results
of his efforts.
2) According to the second speaker, English language teaching is a good job, because it guarantees
a stable income and regular working hours and means less pressure. He also likes the way elderly teacher are. 【原文】
Interviewer: Do you prefer what you're doing to teaching?
John Smith: Yes, one of the things I found a bit frustrating about teaching was that it was rather, very intangible than um, especially if you're teaching in England and most of the students know
quite a lot of English before they arrive. They learn a lot of English outside the classroom, in pubs or coffee shops or other places, with the families they're living with. It's very difficult to pin down how much they learn from your actual lesson, whereas in marketing um, again there are lots of areas that are gray rather than black or white, but there are quite a few other areas where one can
see quite clearly the results of one's efforts.
Interviewer: What did you do after you quit your job in advertising?
Second Man: In fact, I became a journalist and I worked as a freelance. I didn't have a full-time job with any newspaper. I just had to contribute things as they came along and 1 wrote for magazines, and I did quite a lot of broadcasting for the VOA. Well, this was in a way the opposite of advertising because I enjoyed it a lot but I found it very hard to earn enough money to live on.
Interviewer: And then you decided to be a teacher?
Second Man: Well, and so I thought. Well, I must do something which produces an income that I can be sure of. While I was working as a journalist I had done an article for a
magazine about the English language teaching world and m fact I had come to the school where I now teach as a journalist and interviewed a lot of the people. And I thought it seemed a very nice place and I thought that the classes I visited had a very, very nice feeling about them, and so I thought, well, I'll see if they'll have me. Interviewer: Why do you prefer teaching to advertising?
Second Man: Well, partly because in teaching you work regular hours. It I advertising you just had to stay at the office until the work was finished [I see.] and it could be three o'clock in the morning. [Oh, dean] Also you were very often made to work at weekends. Often some job would come up that was very important and they said it had to be finished — it had to go into the newspapers next week. Interviewer: So there was a lot mom pressure.
Second Man: There was a lot more pressure in advertising. Also, the people I worked with when I was first in advertising were young hopeful people like myself. By the end I was working with a lot of old people who quite honestly were awful. And I kept looking at them and saying, \"Am I going to be like that?\" And I thought if I am I'd better get out, whereas the English language teachers I saw, who were older people I thought, well, they seemed quite nice. And I wouldn't mind being like that myself. Task 8 【答案】
The interview with Michale: Does he work? No.
Why or why not? The work he used to do was not what interested him and what he likes to do cannot earn him enough money to support himself.
What are the advantages of not having to work? 1) You do not have to get up it you don‟t feel like it.
2) You can spend your time on the things you want to do.
Why does he feel justified in not working? He believes he does things which are enjoyable
for him and useful to people and the community.
The interview with Chris:
What is the value of work in the current society?
Very little value other than supporting oneself and ones family.
What are the two main aspects of work? 1) It is a bread-winning process. 2) The activities in it can be valuable to society. What does he think of the work of a car factory worker?
He thinks it harmful to both the environment and the society, for cars add to pollution and consume the scarce resources.
What does he think of the work of a doctor? He thinks it a valuable job in any society. What kind of job does he do? He is perhaps a university teacher. What does he think of his work?
He regarded his job a “white collar” job, which he does with his mind and receives mental satisfaction from it.
【原文】
Matthew: Michael, do you go out to work?
Michael: Not regularly, no. I... I used to; I used to have a job in a publishing company, but I decided it wasn't really what I wanted to do and that what I wanted to do wouldn't earn me much money, so I gave up working and luckily I had a private income from my family to support me and now I do the things I want to do. Some of them get paid like lecturing and teaching, and others don't.
Matthew: What are the advantages of not having to go to work from nine till five?
Michael: Ah... there' re two advantages really. One is that if you feel tired you don't have to get up, and the other is that you can spend your time doing things you want to do rather than being forced to do the same thing all the time.
Matthew: But surely that's in a sense very self-indulgent and very lucky because most of us have to go out and earn our livings. Do you feel justified in having this privileged position?
Michael: Yes, because I think I use it well. I do things which I think are useful to people and the community and which I enjoy doing.
Matthew: Chris, what do you think the value of work is?
Chris: Well, I think in our present-day society, for most people, work has very little value at all. Most of us go out to work for about eight to nine hours of our working day. We do things which are either totally futile and totally useless or have very little justification whatsoever, and for most of us the only reason for working is that we need to keep ourselves alive, to pay for somewhere to live, to pay to feed our children.
Matthew: But surely people wouldn't know what to do if they didn't have to go to work? Chris: Well, again this raises the sort of two main aspects of work. Should we think of 'work
only as a sort of bread-winning process, and this is very much the role it has in current society, or should we take a much wider perspective on work and think of all the possible sort of activities that human beings could be doing during the day? I think the sort of distinction currently is between say, someone who works in a car factory and who
produces cars which are just adding to pollution, to over-consumption of vital resources, who is doing something which is very harmful, both to our environment and to, probably society, to contrast his work with someone perhaps like a doctor, who I think in any society could be justified as doing a very valuable job and one which incidentally is satisfying to the person who is doing it.
Matthew: What do you do? Is your job just a breadwinning process or do you get some satisfaction out of doing it?
Chris: Well, in the job I do find that most of the satisfaction is a mental one; it's coming to grips with the problems of my subject and with the problems of teaching in the University. Clearly this is the type of satisfaction that most people doing what we call in England \"white-collar\" jobs. This is quite different from the sort of craftsman, who is either working that his hands or with his skills on a machine, or from people perhaps who are using artistic skills, which are of a quite different character. Certainly it's becoming a phenomena that people who do \"white-collar jobs during the day, who work with their minds to some extent, people who work on computers, people who are office clerks, bank employees, these people have fairly soul-destroying jobs which nevertheless don't involve much physical effort, that they tend to come home and do \"do-it-yourself\" activities at home. They make cupboard, paint their houses, repair their cars, which somehow provide the sort of physical job satisfaction that they're denied in their working day. Task 9
【答案】 A.
Interviewees Like their jobs (percent)
Dislike their jobs (percent)
Like jobs in part (percent) Men 91 5 4 Women 84 12 4
Men/Women 18-24 70 20 6 Men/Women 25-29 88 9 3 Men/Women 30-39 92 8 0 White-collar workers 87 8 4 Blue-collar workers 91 5 3 B.
1) No major change. For some→“less paperwork” Some:→less working hours Others:→earn more money.
2) Most adults→would go on working.
Esp. young adults (18 to 24)→9 out of 10 would go on working 【原文】
Are most workers today feeling bored and dissatisfied with their jobs? It is often claimed
that they are. Yet a study conducted by Parade magazine more than 20 years ago showed that people at that time felt the opposite.
Parade asked questions of a representative sampling of adult Americans from coast to coast. The sampling included different sexes, age groups, and occupations.
The interviewees were asked to make a choice from one of the following three to describe their feelings towards their work. A. Like their jobs. B. Dislike their jobs. C. Like their jobs in part,
Results showed that 91 percent of the male interviewees and 84 percent of the females
chose A, while only 5 percent men and 12 percent women interviewed chose B. The rest said that they liked their jobs in part and they comprised a very tow percentage.
In all the three age groups — from 18 to 24, from 25 to 29 and 30 to 39 — those who liked their
jobs made up the majority. 70 percent, 88 percent and 92 percent respectively choose A. Those choosing B accounted for 20 percent, 9 percent and 8 percent of different age groups. And the rest,
6 percent, 3 percent and 0 percent respectively claimed that they only liked their jobs in part. The difference in responses among people with different occupations is small. Among the
white-collar employees, those choosing A, B and C are 87 percent, 8 percent and 4 percent of the total. And for the blue-collar employees, 91 percent, 5 percent and 3 percent choose A, B and C respectively.
It is interesting to note that there are few differences in attitude between men and women,
professionals and factory workers. In each group, the largest number reported that they liked their jobs.
Next, Parade asked, \"If there were one thing you could change about your job, what would it be?\" It was expected that many would wish to make their jobs less boring, but very few gave this reply. No major changes were reported. Some wished for \"less paperwork\"; many would shorten their working hours, but others would like more hours in order to earn more money. No serious complaints were made.
Most people have to work in order to live. But what would happen if someone had enough money to stop working? Parade asked, \"If you inherited a million dollars, would you go on working — either at your present job or something you liked better--or would you quit work?\" The answers showed that most adults would prefer to work, even if they didn't have to. This is true
especially of the younger adults aged 18-24. Of these, nine out often said they would go on working, even if they suddenly became millionaires. Task 10 【答案】 A.
According to Mother According to Cathy
Intelligence very bright reasonably intelligent
Interests music and dancing tennis and swimming, talking to people
Career inclination teacher or vet hairdresser B.
1) F 2) T C.
1) b 2) a D.
1. She really enjoyed meeting new people.
2. She had good qualifications in English and Maths.
3. She did not mind hard work, even if it was not always pleasant. 4. She liked living away form home. 【原文】
Officer: Come in, please take a seat. I'm the careers officer. You're Cathy, aren't you? Mother: That's right. This is Catherine Hunt, and I'm her mother. Officer: How do you do, Mrs. Hunt? Hello, Catherine. Cathy: Hello. Pleased to meet you.
Officer: And you'd like some advice about choosing a career?- Mother: Yes, she would. Wouldn't you, Catherine? Cathy: Yes, please.
Officer: Well, just let me ask a few questions to begin with. How old are you, Catherine? Mother: She's nineteen. Well, she's almost nineteen. Officer: And what qualifications have you got?
Mother: Well, qualifications from school, of course. Very good results she got. And she got certificates for ballet and for playing the piano.
Officer: Is that what you're interested in, Catherine, dancing and music? Cathy: Well...
Mother: Ever since she was a little girl, she's been very keen on music and dancing. She ought to be a music teacher or something. She's quite willing to train for a few more years to get the right job, aren't you, Catherine? Cathy: Well, if it's a good idea.
Mother: There you are, you see. She's a good girl really, a bit lazy and disorganized sometimes, but she's very bright. I'm sure the careers officer will have lots of jobs for you.
Officer: Well, I'm afraid it's not as easy as that. There are many young people these days who can't
find the job they want.
Mother: I told you, Catherine. I told you, you shouldn't wear that dress. You have to look smart to get a job these days.
Officer: I think she looks very nice. Mrs. Hunt, will you come into the other office for a moment and look at some of the information we have there. I'm sure you'd like to see how we can help young people.
Mother: Yes, I'd love to. Mind you, I think Catherine would be a nice teacher. She could work with young children. She'd like that. Or she could be a vet. She's always looking after sick animals.
Officer: I'm afraid there's a lot of competition. You need very good results to be a vet. This way, Mrs. Hunt. Just wait a minute, Catherine. (The mother exits.)
Officer: There are just one or two more things, Catherine. Cathy: Do call me Cathy.
Officer: OK, Cathy. Are you really interested in being a vet?
Cathy: Not really. Anyway, I'm not bright enough. I'm reasonably intelligent, but I'm not brilliant. I'm afraid my mother is a bit over-optimistic.
Officer: Yes, I guessed that. She's a bit overpowering, isn't she, your mum? Cathy: A bit. But she's very kind.
Officer: I'm sure she is. So, you're interested in ballet and music, are you?
Cathy: Not really. My mother sent me to lessons when I was six, so I'm quite good, I suppose. But I don't think I want to do that for the rest of my life, especially music. It's so lonely. Officer: What do you enjoy doing?
Cathy: Well, I like playing tennis, and swimming. Oh, I went to France with the school choir last year. I really enjoyed that. And I like talking to people. But I suppose you mean real interests — things that would help me to get a job?
Officer: No. I'm more interested in what you really want to do. You like talking to people, do you? Cathy: Oh yes, I really enjoy meeting new people. Officer: Do you think you would enjoy teaching?
Cathy: No, no, I don't really. I was never very interested in school work, and I'd like to do something different. Anyway, there's a teacher training college very near us. It would be just like going to school again.
Officer: So you don't want to go on training?
Cathy: Oh, I wouldn't mind at all, not for something useful. I wondered about being a hairdresser — you meet lots of people, and you learn to do something properly—but I don't know. It doesn't seem very worthwhile. Officer: What about nursing?
Cathy: Nursing? In a hospital? Oh, I couldn't do that, I'm not good enough.
Officer: Yes, you are. You've got good qualifications in English and Maths. But it is very hard work.
Cathy: Oh, I don't mind that.
Officer: And it's not very pleasant sometimes.
Cathy: That doesn't worry me either. Mum's right. I do look after sick animals. I looked after our dog when it was run over by a car. My mother was sick, but I didn't mind. I was too worried about the dog. Do you really think I could be a nurse?
Officer: I think you could be a very good nurse. You'd have to leave home, of course. Cathy: I rather think I should enjoy that.
Officer: Well, don't decide all at once. Here's some information about one or two other things which might suit you. Have a look through it before you make up your mind. Task 11
【原文】
I began my career during college, reporting on news stories at a Toronto radio station. The
station‟s program manager was also a professor who taught one of my classes. I convinced him that she needed a youth reporter because that year was International Youth Year. After graduation,
I took a job as a television news reporter and later, news anchor. But sports reporting was something different, so I decided to try it. Figure skating was my first assignment.
I had two months until my new job began. It was like waiting an entire summer for school to start. I spent those two months talking to figure skating coaches and judges. I read boring rule books. I drove to the rinks where the skaters trained, and made notes about our conversations. I even took a lesson, which made some of the skaters laugh. Unit 7 Task 1
【答案】
1) Because he wrote an astonishing number of books. 2) Mankind would have to create a world state. 3) No.
4) Cities were destroyed by bombs dropped from aeroplanes.
5) Any two of the following: The War in the Air, The First Men in the Moon, The Time Machine, and The Invisible Man.
6) Events forecast in Well‟s books might come true. 【原文】
H. G. Wells was born in 1866. His energy must have been enormous, for he wrote an
astonishing number of books. Many of the later ones were concerned with his idea that mankind would have to create a world state, if it was not to end up by destroying itself.
There we're novels like Kipps, Love and Mr. Lewisham and The History of Mr. Polly. The
best of these are now recognized as classics. But in addition, this incredible man somehow found the time and inspiration to write the stories forecasting future events that entitle him to be known
as the father of science fiction.
When The War in the Air appeared in 1908, how many people could have foreseen that
within thirty years great cities were going to be destroyed by bombs dropped from aeroplanes? The First Men in the Moon was published in 1901. How many of those who read it realized that men really were going to walk on the moon within their lifetime?
And what about The Time Machine and The Invisible Man? Are we going to wake up one morning and find that here too Wells was forecasting events which were going to come true? Task 2 【答案】 A.
1) b 2) c 3) c 4) a B.
1) tall; narrow; tousled 2) surveyed; half-closed 3) taking a long stride 4) capable; flexible; still life 5) faded; frayed
6) tilted his head; smiled; walked forward; with a flourish
【原文】
If you came into his studio in the evening as the sun was setting you could see him. You
would notice how the soft light coming through the long windows fell on his left profile as he stood in front of his easel. He was tall; his shoulders were narrow; his head was large with an abundance of dark, tousled hair.
He surveyed the canvas in front of him and half-closed his eyes. His cheek bones were high
and prominent, and accentuated the line of the jaw. This in turn set off his long neck. He stepped back, taking a long stride, and remained with one foot in front of the other. He wore sandals without socks and you could see that a big toe had developed a blister where a leather strap cut across it. He had short, strong, capable fingers and he used his broad, flexible thumb to smooth some of the paint on the still life he was busy finishing. The jeans he wore were faded and frayed; paint rags hung from each pocket. His shirt was a checked one of many colors, mainly purple, blue
and yellow. It contrasted peculiarly with the ephemeral colors on the canvas. He tilted his head to one side, smiled, walked forward and brought his brush slowly towards the bottom of the canvas, and with a flourish signed his name. Task 3
【答案】 A.
1) F 2) T 3) F 4) F 5) F 6) T 7) F 8) T B.
1) dramatic sunsets and sunrises 2) 1930s; 1840s; impressionistic 3) reds; oranges; 1820 【原文】
Joseph Turner (1775—1851) is one of the two greatest English landscape painters of his age. He is especially noted for his imaginative water colours and oil paintings, which often show
dramatic sunsets and sunrises, done in a brilliant kaleidoscope of colours. His painting Burning of the Houses of Parliament appears in colour in the Painting article. During the 1830s and 1840s, the
method he used became more and more impressionistic. His work influenced the impressionist movement in France led by Claude Monet in the 1870s. Turner is also known for his landscape drawings, especially the book of drawings called Liber Studiorum, which he produced between 1807 and 1819.
Turner was influenced at first by Rembrandt and later by Claude. He began to use bright
colours in his paintings, especially the reds and oranges for which he is known, after about 1820. Some of his most famous paintings are Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Ulysses Deriding Polyphemus, Bay of Baiae, and View of Orvieto.
Turner was born in London, the son of a barber. He was' something of a boy genius, and
exhibited at the Royal Academy at the age of 15. He traveled widely, first in England and Scotland, and after 1800 in France, Italy, and Germany. Turner drew and painted wherever he went, working
incessantly and producing hundreds of paintings and thousands of drawings, many of which he left to the nation. During his lifetime Turner was said to be a miser, and towards the end of his life,
he became slovenly, solitary, and secretive. Many people did not like his work until John Ruskin championed him in 1843, but Turner died wealthy and was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral, London. He left his money to a charity for poor English artists. Task 4
【答案】
1) A natural curiosity./A good interviewer is one who likes meeting people and wants to find out about them.
2) A curious kind of affinity with people, and an ability to get on will with people. 3) Because television depends a lot on the director getting the right shot.
4) By research./By knowing more about the guest than they‟ve forgotten about themselves. 5) All./Every ounce of research.
6) Because Mitchum rarely said anything.
7) Because very often the interviewees spin off into areas that the interviewer has never thought about and sometimes it‟s worth pursing. 8) A traffic cop.
9) Talent, ambition and energy.
【原文】
Interviewer: With all your experience of interviewing, Michael, how can you tell if somebody is going to make a good interviewer?
Michael: Oh, I say, what a question! I've never been asked that before. I think that the prerequisite obviously is curiosity. I think that's a natural one, not an assumed one. I think the people who have done my job, and the graveyard of the BBC is littered with them, their tombstones are there, you know; who failed, have been because basically they've not been journalists. My training was in journalism. I've been 26 years a
journalist and, to be a journalist argues that you like meeting people to start with, and also you want to find out about them. So that's the prerequisite. After that, I think there's something else comes into it, into play, and I think again, most successful journalists have it: It's a curious kind of affinity with people; it's an ability to get on with people; it's a kind of body warmth, if you like. If you knew the secret of it and could bottle it and sell it, you'd make a fortune.
Interviewer: When you've done an interview yourself, how do you feel whether it's been a good interview or not a good interview?
Michael: I can never really tell on air. I have to watch it back, because television depends so much on your director getting the right shot, the right reaction you can't--it's amazing. Sometimes I think \"Oh, that's a boring interview\" and just because of the way my director shot it, and shot reaction he's composed a picture that's made it far more interesting than it actually was.
Interviewer: How do you bring out the best in people, because you always seem to manage to, not
only relax them, but somehow get right into the depths of them.
Michael: By research. By knowing, when you go into a television studio, more about the guest in front of you than they've forgotten about themselves. And, I mean that's pure research. I mean, you probably use, in a 20 minute interview; I probably use, oh, a 20th of the research material that I've absorbed, but that's what you've got to do. I
mean I once interviewed Robert Mitchum for 75 minutes and the longest reply I got from him was \"Yes.\" And that's the only time I've used every ounce of research and every question that I've ever thought of, and a few that I hadn't thought of as well. But that really is the answer — it's research. When people say to you, you know, \"Oh you go out and wing it\interviewer just starting, that you wing it, there's no such thing. It's all preparation — it's knowing exactly what you're going to do at any given point and knowing what you want from the person.
Interviewer: And does that include sticking to written questions or do you deviate?
Michael: No, I mean what you do is you have an aide memoire. I have. My list of questions aren't questions as such — they're areas that I block out, and indeed, I can't remember, I can't recall, apart from the foresaid Mr. Mitchum experience, when I've ever stuck to that at all. Because, quite often you'll find that they spin off into areas that you've not really thought about and perhaps it's worth pursuing sometimes. The job is very much like, actually, a traffic cop — you're like you're on point duty and you're, you know when you're directing the flow of traffic, well, you're directing the flow of
conversation, that's basically what you're doing, when you're doing a talk show, in my view.
Interviewer: Have you got a last word of encouragement for any young people setting out on what
they'd like to be a career as an interviewer?
Michael: I envy them, I mean, I really do. I mean I'd go back and do it all again. I think it's the most perfect job for any young person who's got talent and ambition and energy. And the nice thing about it is that the proportion of talent is indeed only 5 percent. The other 95 percent is energy and no examinations to pass. I'd love to do it over again. Task 5 【答案】 A.
Wangari Maathai Award:
Nobel Peace Prize (the twelfth woman/ the first African woman since 1901 to win the prize) Comments from the Nobel Committee:
Peace on earth depends on our ability to secure our living environment.
Major reason for receiving the award: Green belt movement Personal information: Nationality: Kenyan Age: Education:
Studied in the United States and Kenya
Believed to have been the first woman in East and central Africa to earn a doctorate degree Career:
Was a professor of animal science at the University of Nairobi
Is assistant minister of environment, natural resources and wildlife B.
1997, plant trees all over Africa, thirty million, seeds nurseries, communities, planting, taking care of the trees, survives, fuel 【原文】
Kenyan environmental activist Wangari Maathai says poor women can fight poverty and help the environment by planting trees. In December, she will receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts to save the forests of Africa.
Wangari Maathai is the twelfth woman since nineteen oh one to win the prize. Last year the Norwegian Nobel Committee also recognized a woman, Shirin Ebadi of Iran. She is a lawyer who has fought for human rights for women.
But this is the first time the peace prize will go to an African woman. It is also the first time
someone within the environmental movement has been recognized at such a high level. The Nobel
Committee said: \"Peace on earth depends on our ability to secure our living environment.\" In 1977, Wangari Maathai started the Green Belt Movement. The goal is to plant trees all
over Africa, to replace those cut down over the years. Trees are the main source of cooking fuel. Trees also protect wildlife. And they keep nutrients in the soil and help prevent flooding. Today the program operates in a number of countries. A reported thirty million trees have been planted.
Young trees are grown from seeds at thousands of nurseries. The Green Belt Movement gives these young trees to communities. Locally trained people advise women farmers about planting and taking care of the trees. The movement pays farmers for every tree that survives. Later the women can use some of the trees for fuel.
Professor Maathai is sixty-four years old. She studied in the United States and Kenya. She is
believed to have been the first woman in East and Central Africa to earn a doctorate degree. She became a professor of animal science at the University of Nairobi. But her activism angered the former government in Kenya. She was beaten and arrested.
Now, she is assistant minister of environment, natural resources and wildlife.
But she does not speak out only about the environment. In August, she called the AIDS virus a biological weapon to control black people. Later, she said her comments were meant to get people to ask questions and not think of AIDS as a \"curse from God.\"
Wangari Maathai will receive the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo on December tenth. She will also receive almost one point four million dollars in prize money. Task 6 【答案】 I.
A. Norway
B. the United States II.
A. a lack of balance; inflation; recession
B. low interest rates; increased government spending; higher interest rates C. low employment; high inflation
D. high employment; low inflation; the time consistency problem Ⅲ.
A. business cycles B. new technology C. market corrections D. an increase in oil price
【原文】
The winners of the Nobel prize in economics this year are Finn Kydland of Norway and Edward Prescott of the United States.
Mister Prescott is an adviser at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is also an Arizona State University professor. Mister Kydland is a professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The prize recognizes their work together on two studies. The first was published in nineteen seventy-seven.
Before the 1970s, economic problems were seen mainly in terms of a lack of balance. Too much demand caused inflation. Too much supply caused a recession.
Governments would take steps aggressively to re-balance supply and demand. Low interest
rates and increased government spending would expand growth and employment. Then, if prices went up too much, higher interest rates would ease inflation.
But in the 70s, many nations experienced both low employment and high inflation at the same time. This was called stagflation. And no one could explain it.
Finn Kydland and Edward Prescott showed that stagflation resulted when policymakers did not do as they promised. Most governments say they want high employment and low inflation. But, over time, events can cause them not to follow their stated economic policy to support these
goals. This is called the time consistency problem.
The two economists published another study in nineteen eighty-two. They developed ways to explain business cycles, times of increase or decrease in economic activity. They showed how new
technology creates periods of economic growth and productivity.
Markets then make corrections which slow the growth. Wages change. Investments change. People buy more or less of things. The two economists showed how activities at this level govern an economy. They also showed how a shock like an increase in oil prices can affect business cycles.
Today, their work influences central bank officials and policymakers around the world. Task 7 【答案】 A.
1) It was originally released in local newspaper in serial form.
2) The two short, little sections are easily doable, and then you get hooked on the story and wonder what‟s happening next. 3) Through mail and twice a month.
4) Because the book opens on Christmas Eve and it has a strong message about family. 5) 5,600 B.
1) 1860; London; in suspense
2) adventures; love; betrayal; a poor orphan
3) any likeness of either of them; photograph; their tombstones 4) Industrial Revolution; altering daily life 5) profound change; fundamental values
【原文】
Host: In December, 1860, the first serialized part of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations hit the streets of London. Every week, readers were kept in suspense waiting for the next installment. Over the next few months, Stanford University will let readers experience Great Expectations the way Victorians did.
Reporter: It's Thursday evening and the Stevens' family has settled into the living room to take turns reading the latest weekly installment of Great Expectations. Peter and Rosemary Stevens thought that the installment plan was a terrific way to read Great Expectations with their seven- and eight-year-old daughters.
Mrs. Stevens: You have two short, little sections that are easily doable, and where if it's a huge book, you'd say, \"How am I going to approach this?\" where if it's little pieces, say, \"Oh, okay. I can do this.\" And then you get hooked on the story and think, \"Well, what's happening next?\"
Reporter: It's a little like a very good soap opera, says Rosemary. Most of Dickens' novels — Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol and Great Expectations — were released in serial form. Stanford University Professor Linda Paulson wanted to recreate that experience.
Prof. Paulson: Imagine sitting there in 1860, this brand-new Dickens' novel. You know him as a writer. You respect him. He's wonderful. He's great fun. And you don't know what he's got in his mind.
Reporter: Dickens' works were originally released in local newspapers. Stanford made copies of the installments and sends them to readers through the mail twice a month. The university kicked off the serial with a public reading by local actor Marco Barricelli.
Mr. Barricelli: My father's family name, being Pirrip, and my Christian name, Philip, my infant tongue could make of both names nothing longer or more explicit than Pip. So I called myself Pip and came to be called Pip.
Reporter: For those who aren't familiar with Great Expectations, it is the story of Pip, who writes as an adult looking back on his youth. He faces adventures, love and betrayal, too. Like many Dickens' characters, Pip is born a poor orphan.
Mr. Barricelli: As I never saw my father or my mother, and never saw any likeness of either of them, for their days were long before the days of photographs, my first fancies regarding what they were like were unreasonably derived from their tombstones.
Reporter: Paulson says Great Expectations was a good choice for this time of year because it opens on Christmas Eve and it has a strong message about family.
Prof. Paulson: The idea of what constitutes a family, which is not necessarily the biological family.
Reporter: Dickens was writing during the Industrial Revolution, says Paulson, at a moment when technology was altering daily life.
Prof. Paulson: He was looking at a world that was in profound change and reminding people that there were some fundamental values that they needed always to remember, and I think that's not far off from what we are trying to remind ourselves of now.
Reporter: More than 500 people showed up for the public reading, and 5,600 have signed up to get the serial installments. For many, like Alison Price, it is an opportunity to get closer to friends and family.
Ms. Price: I'm doing it with my parents, who live in Southern California, and my friend Miriam and my husband. So we're sort of doing it together.
Reporter: Although Price and everyone else could just go out and buy a copy of Great
Expectations, most seem to enjoy waiting expectantly for the next episode to arrive in the mail. Task 8
【答案】
the ability to laugh; luxury; a unifying force; disagree; ideological factions; political camps; a sense of humour; a universal appeal; a correct sense of values; taking ourselves too seriously; tragedy; comedy; irony; satire; redress the balance; arrogant politicians; absurdity; powerful; laughter; happiness; uniquely human; key 【原文】
Biologically, there is only one quality which distinguishes us from animals: the ability to
laugh. In a universe which appears to be utterly devoid of humor, we enjoy this supreme luxury. And it is a luxury, for unlike any other bodily process, laughter does not seem to serve a
biologically useful purpose. In a divide world, laughter is a unifying force. Human beings oppose each other on a great many issues. Nations may disagree about systems of government and human
relations may be plagued by ideological factions and political camps, but we all share the ability to
laugh. And laughter, in turn, depends on that most complex and subtle of all human qualities: a sense of humor. Certain comic stereotypes have a universal appeal. This can best be seen from the
world-wide popularity of Charlie Chaplin‟s early films. The little man at odds with society never fails to amuse no matter which country we come from. As that great commentator on human affairs, Dr. Samuel Johnson, once remarked, „Men have been wise in very different modes; but they have always laughed in the same way.‟
A sense of humor may take various forms and laughter may be anything from a refined tingle to an earth quaking roar, but the effect is always the same. Humor helps us to maintain a correct sense of values. It is the one quality which political fanatics appear to lack. If we can see the funny
side, we never make the mistake of taking ourselves too seriously. We are always reminded that tragedy is not really far removed from comedy, so we never get a lopsided view of things. This is one of the chief functions of satire and irony. Human pain and suffering are so grim;
we hover so often on the brink of war; political realities are usually enough to plunge us into total despair. In such circumstances, cartoons and satirical accounts of somber political events redress the balance. They take the wind out of pompous and arrogant politicians who have lost their
sense
of proportion. They enable us to see that many of our most profound actions are merely comic or absurd. We laugh when a great satirist like Swift writes about war in Gulliver’s Travels. The
Lilliputians and their neighbors attack each other because they can‟t agree which end to break an
egg. We laugh because we meant to laugh; but we are meant to weep too. It is too powerful a weapon to be allowed to flourish.
The sense of humor must be singled out as man‟s most important quality because it is associated with laughter. And laughter, in turn, is associated with happiness. Courage,
determination, initiative — these are qualities we share with other forms of life. But the sense of humor is uniquely human. If happiness is one of the great goals of life, then it is the sense of humor that provides the key. Task 9
【答案】 A.
1) At the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. 2) The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.
3) Sudies for Leonardo's most famous paintings, and the results of new research into such subjects
as Leonardo's patrons, his teachers, and the work of his pupils. 4) Because they are particularly sensitive to light and temperature. 5) Because drawings are difficult to see in a museum. B. 1) T 2) F 3) T 4) F 5) T C.
1) Master Draftsman; artistic apprenticeship; 1470s; scientist; inventor; France;1519 2) artist; scientist; theorist; Renaissance Man
3) revealing; rationalizing; the mysteries of the world; the great depths of human emotion; convincing
4) magical sense; draws; creates; greatest personalities
5) reassuring; cajoling; security; insurance; the general public; knowledge
【原文】
The most comprehensive collection of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci ever assembled in the United States, is on exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The exhibition is taken from major collections from around the world, and features many pieces not seen in public since the 1930s.
Even for seasoned art historian and curator Carmen Bambach, who put together the
exhibition of nearly 120 drawings, seeing so many works by Leonardo da Vinci in one place is a moving experience. \"It is possibly the most emotional time in my entire life, that I am likely to have. To think about these works you will see on the walls, or that you have already seen on the
walls, that normally live in dark, black boxes. To see them all together here, so many of them, is a very, very emotional thing,\" she said.
Leonardo da Vinci — Master Draftsman follows da Vinci's entire career, from his artistic
apprenticeship in Florence, Italy in the 1470s, to his highly productive years as a scientist and an inventor in Milan, through to his return to Florence in the beginning of the 16th century, and death
in France in 1519.
Ms. Bambach said the drawings in the exhibition provide a rare opportunity to confront the diverse talents that made Leonardo da Vinci, artist, scientist, engineer, theorist, teacher, the original \"Renaissance Man.\"
\"He very much believed in revealing, and in the process of revealing, rationalizing. At the
same time, he was deeply and humbly aware of the mysteries of the world, the mysteries of human
life. He talks a great deal about that. The mysteries of life, the great depths of human emotion as a
kind of shaper of physical gesture. That is why his figures are so deeply convincing.\"
Although Leonardo da Vinci is perhaps best known for paintings such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, very few paintings by the master exist today — 15 at most, whereas there are 4,000 pages of his drawings and notes in various collections throughout the world.
The one painting in the exhibition, the unfinished St. Jerome Praying in the Wilderness, has
the imprint of the artist's fingers in the upper left corner. Metropolitan Museum Director Philipe de
Montebello says tiny details like this are what make the Master Draftsman exhibition so compelling.
\"You get that magical sense that you are looking over the shoulder of the artist as he draws and creates. It brings you in touch with one of the greatest personalities in the world on such a close basis that it is deeply moving,\" Mr. de Montebello said.
The exhibition includes studies for Leonardo's most famous paintings, Virgin and Child with St. Anne, The Last Supper, Adoration of the Magi, as well as a recently discovered, two-sided sketch of a Hercules statue, possibly meant to compete with Michaelangelo's David.
Interwoven in the exhibition are the results of copious new research into such subjects as Leonardo da Vinci's patrons, his teachers, and the work of his pupils.
Mr. Montebello said the new research helped convince some reluctant lenders to temporarily part with their da Vinci treasures. \"There is no question that it took a lot of reassuring and cajoling,
in terms of security and insurance and the like, but I think ultimately what prevailed was the
seriousness of the project. The new research, the scholarship, the fact that the exhibition will make
not only a contribution to the general public, but a contribution to knowledge,\" he said. Some art experts have questioned the wisdom of transporting and showing such valuable
work because of its fragility. The old work is particularly sensitive to light and temperature. But Francoise Viatte, chief curator of drawings at the Musee de Louvre in Paris, says it is a risk worth taking.
\"If we never attempt this kind of thing, very few people will see the works of art in the world.
I think part of the job of the museum is to make exhibitions between them in partnerships. Especially for drawings. Because Drawings are difficult to see in a museum. Drawings are a
special section in a museum. You have to make a special request and get authorization to see them.
So it is very important to make a big exhibition like Leonardo,\" Ms. Viatte said.
21 of the drawings in the exhibition come from the Louvre. Other major contributions come from museums and private collections in the Netherlands, Portugal, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Austria, and the United States. The Royal Library of Windsor Castle in England lent 31 drawings. The exhibition will travel to the Louvre later this year. Task 10
Thomas Edison was often said to be the greatest genius of his age. There are only a few men in all of the history, who have changed the lives of other men as much as the inventor of the first useful electric light. But Edison could never be happy only because someone said he was a genius.“ There is no such thing as genius,” Edison said. He said that what people called genius was mostly hard work.
But Edison was a dreamer as well as a worker. From his earliest days as a child he wondered
about the secrets of nature. Nature, he often said, is full of secrets. He tried to understand them; then, he tried to learn what could usefully be done with them.
Edison enjoyed thinking. He knew that most people will do almost anything instead of the difficult work of thinking, especially if they do not think very often. But he knew, too, that thinking can give men enjoyment and pleasure. Unit 8 Task 1 【答案】 A.
1) interest rates; third time 2) shrunk; first time 3) A fall; employment 4) higher B. News Items
Figures Possible Causes or Effects 1
1) The overnight bank lending rate rose by 0.25 percent. And the current rate was 5.5 percent. 2) The discount rate increased by 0.25 percent to 5 percent.
The increase would reduce the danger of inflation. 2
The total value of goods and services produced in the US fell by four tenths of 1 percent (0.4 percent) between July and September.
3
US bonds fell nearly two points. More jobs had been created in March than had been expected. 4
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up nearly 1 percent or points at 10,205. Some analysts believed some signs indicated the US inflation was under control.
【原文】 News Item 1
The United States central bank, the Federal Reserve, has raised interest rates for the third
time this year. The Federal Reserve raised the overnight bank lending rate by 0.25 percent (one fourth of one percent) to 5.5 percent. It raised the discount rate also by 0.25 percent to 5 percent.
The Federal Reserve said it had no plans to raise interest rates again any time soon. It said the increase today should reduce the danger of inflation. News Item 2
The Commerce Department says the American economy has shrunk for the first time in
eight years. The total value of goods and services produced in the United States fell by four tenth of one percent (0.4 percent) in the period of July through September. A recession is commonly defined as at least six months where the economy shrinks. News Item 3
A fall in the New York market had been widely predicted following Friday's better than expected US employment figures. US bonds from which the government funds long-term
borrowing fell nearly two points on the news that more jobs had been created in March than had been expected. The Dow Jones Index was closed on Friday for the Easter holiday, so today was the first chance for the share market to react. News Item 4
And we go straight to Wall Street where share prices closed higher. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average was up nearly 1 percent or points at 10,205. Shares made up for some of the
losses they incurred in the past week, thanks to what was interpreted as \"signs the US inflation is under control\". Task 2 【答案】 A. 1) F 2) F 3) T B.
manned; third; the Soviet Union; a person; Shenzhou ⅴ ; the Gobi Desert; Inner Mongolia; Thursday; 14; about 20; importance; modernity
【原文】 News Item 1
China has launched a manned space flight, becoming the third country to do so 40 years
after the Soviet Union and the United States. A single astronaut was on board the Shenzhou V Craft,
which took off from the Gobi Desert. It's expected to go round the earth 14 times during a 24-hour
period before landing in Inner Mongolia. President Hu Jintao watched the launch, a sign of the importance China attaches to its space programme. Francis Margnez reports from Beijing. Half an hour after the spacecraft blasted off, China's state television showed footage of the launch, the rocket climbing slowly into the clear blue sky. And many Chinese will feel their country has taken a proud step towards modernity. News Item 2
China's first man in space has returned to Earth. Reports say Chinese officials declared the space flight a success. Astronaut Yang Liwei is also reported to be in good health. On Tuesday, China became only the third nation to send a person into orbit. Astronaut Yang and his spacecraft landed in China's Inner Mongolia early Thursday. He had orbited the earth 14 times in about 20 hours. The United States and Russia praised China for the launch. Russia and the United States were the first two nations to send people into space. Task 3
【答案】 A. 1) d 2) b 3) a 4) a B. 1) ban
2) tobacco taxes 3) substance
4) Health warning 5) treatment programs 6) Education
7) secondhand smoke C.
1) Reference: Negotiations→proposed treaty→approved by the WHO meeting→individual
approval by the WHO members→coming into effect when at least 40 members have ratified the treaty 【原文】
Negotiators have agreed to the wording of a proposed international treaty on tobacco control. Delegates from more than 170 countries approved the final wording earlier this month in Switzerland. This came after four years of negotiations. The proposed treaty is called the
Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. It will be presented in May at the yearly meeting of the World Health Organization, a UN agency. The final version approved there will also require
individual approval by WHO members. Once 40 nations have approved it, the treaty will go into effect in those countries.
Member states cannot make any amendments once the WHO approves a final version of the treaty. They must either accept or reject the agreement as it is written. The proposed Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is part of the efforts to reduce deaths and diseases from smoking. The WHO estimates that almost five million people die each year from lung cancer and
other tobacco-related diseases. That number could rise to ten million a year by 2020. Developing nations are the biggest growth areas for tobacco-related diseases. These nations are calling for the
strongest laws possible to control tobacco. The treaty would ban advertising and other marketing campaigns for tobacco products, where doing so would not violate a country's constitution. It also
calls for high tobacco taxes. It would even require companies to make public all the substances they use to make cigarettes.
In addition, tobacco companies would have to place health warnings on at least thirty
percent of their products. These warnings could not include information that might lead people to
believe that some cigarettes are less harmful than others. In addition, governments would have to
support treatment programs to help people stop smoking. And, there would have to be education
campaigns to get people not to start. The proposed treaty also calls for measures to protect non-smokers from second-hand smoke, that is, smoke from other people's tobacco. Task 4
Thank you. And thank you for asking me to share in your weekly address to the American people.
Britain and America have so much in common: language, values, belief in family and
community, in a real sense of national pride. We share many problems, too. And it has been clear from our discussions that we are agreed, in general terms, about some of the solutions. You took the tough decisions needed for long-term economic stability. We are doing so. You
have focused on education, welfare reform, a new approach to crime. So are we. Together, we are
breaking down boundaries of left and right and creating a new politics of the radical centre. Task 5 【答案】 A. 1) b 2) c B. 1) e) 2) f) 3) b) 4) d) 5) a)
6) c) C.
1) The award recognizes women's actions in building peace, protecting women's human rights and
supporting community life during and after war.
2) Because women can play a very important role in re-establishing normal community life after peace has been reached 【原文】
Each year, the Nobel Committee in Oslo, Norway announces the winners of its famous Nobel
Prizes. Most winners of the Nobel Peace Prize have been men. Only ten percent have been women
since the prize was first presented in 1901.
Now the United Nations Development Fund for Women and the human rights group
International Alert have presented a new award to honor women peacemakers. It is called the Millennium Peace Prize for Women. Officials will present the award every three years. The award recognizes women's actions in building peace, protecting women's human rights and supporting community life during and after war.
Experts say women are usually not as involved in the peace process as men are. However,
their work to re-establish normal community life after peace has been reached is very important. Because of this, International Alert says women also need to be recognized as leaders in peace building.
Earlier this month, six women and organizations received the Millennium Peace Prize for
Women. One of the winners is the Colombian group “Ruta Pacifica de las Mujeres”, or Women's Road to Peace. This group has organized protests against the violence between rebel groups and the Colombian government.
The group “Leitana Nehan Women's Development Agency” also won the peace prize. It
helped in the peace process between the military and rebel forces in Papua New Guinea. Another winner is the group Women in Black. It is an international organization that organizes protests against violence, aggression and war.
Flora Brovina also received the peace prize. She organized the League of Albanian Women of Kosovo. Doctor Brovina has taught emergency medical skills to people in Kosovo.
Asma Jahangir and Hina Jilani are also peace prize winners. They worked to support human
rights and women's rights in Pakistan. And the leader of the women's movement in Rwanda also won the Millennium Peace Prize, after her death. Veneranda Nzambazamariya helped re-build Rwanda after the mass killings in 1994. She died in a plane crash last year. Task 6 【答案】 A.
1) Because of the outbreak of dengue fever. 2) More than 80,000.
3) Severe headaches, fever and vomiting.
4) He considers it his government‟s biggest political weakness. B.
1) The EU has banned all imports of animal products from the Netherlands.
2) The Dutch government has confirmed four cases of foot-and-mouth disease. 3) Only Britain and France have been affected by the disease.
4) Officials have seized some sheep suspected of having mad cow disease. 【原文】 News Item 1
Brazil's new Health Minister Hosein Selar has sacked two senior health officials in Rio de
Janeiro amid growing concern about the epidemic of dengue fever. More than 80,000 people in southeast Brazil have caught the mosquito-born disease which causes severe headaches, fever and
vomiting. In some cases, it can be fatal. Our Brazil correspondent Steven Switch reports that
President Fernando Henrique Cardoso regards the issue of health care as his government's biggest
political weakness. News Item 2
In agriculture news. The European Union has banned all imports of animal products from the Netherlands. The ban was ordered after the Dutch government confirmed four cases of
foot-and-mouth disease there. Dutch officials have had all infected animals destroyed. Until now, only Britain and France have been 'affected by the animal disease. Also, in the American State of Vermont, officials seized some sheep suspected of having mad cow disease. More than 230 sheep
were taken from a farm. The animals will be destroyed and tested for the disease. Task 7
【答案】 A.
1) correspondent 2) a Jamaican town 3) the cruise liner
4) an island in the Caribbean 5) the Royal Navy vessel 6) the hurricane B. 1) F 2) F 3) T 4) T 5) T C.
Reference: In this exercise, students can use their own imagination and guess what might happen next. D.
1) Yes。
2) They had thought the ship would sink, so they went there for shelter. 3) No.
4) The Royal Navy frigate Steadfast would take them off the island.
5) No. Apart from a few minor injuries there were no casualties.
【原文】 Part One
Announcer: ... in Garderers' Question Time at 2 o'clock. And now over to Gordon Chartwell in the newsroom.
Newsreader: Here is the news, read by Gordon Chartwell. The cruise liner, Princess of Wales, which ran aground last night off the island of St. Catherine in the Caribbean, is
reported to be sinking. Here's a report from our correspondent in Jamaica, Graham Smith.
Graham Smith: A weak radio signal was received here in Kingston a few hours ago from the radio operator on the 28,000-ton luxury cruise ship, the Princess of Wales. According to this message, the ship is taking in water and is starting to sink. All the passengers have been ordered into the lifeboats and told to make for the nearby island of St. Catherine, the coast of which is some 20 miles from the scene of the accident. In normal circumstances this would be an easy 3-hour trip, but with Hurricane Zelda approaching fast and blowing away from the island, it's feared that some boats may not make it in time to the safety of the island. Once on the island, it would be possible for passengers and crew to shelter from the wind and await rescue. The Royal Navy frigate Steadfast is heading for St. Catherine at full speed but it may take her up to 24 hours to get there. So things look pretty grim for the 700 passengers and 420 crew at the moment. This is Graham Smith in Kingston, Jamaica.
Newsreader: As soon as we have any further news we, will interrupt our programmes to bring it to you. And now the rest of the news. In Liverpool today the Prime Minister said in a speech... Part Two
Announcer: We interrupt this programme to take you over to the newsroom for a newsflash. Newsreader: This is Gordon Chartwell in the newsroom with a further report from our correspondent Graham Smith in Jamaica about the stranded liner, Princess of Wales.
Graham Smith: A further signal has been picked up from the Princess of Wales within the past few
minutes. According to this, the ship is now out of danger. Apparently the damage to the liner is not as serious as was originally thought and she is still completely seaworthy and out of danger. However, before this was realized, 5 of the lifeboats had been launched and about 200 passengers and crew had made their way to the island of St. Catherine where they are reported to be safe. For the time being they are likely to remain on the island. The remaining 920 people are still on board the liner and in no danger. Although Hurricane Zelda has reached the island, the wind seems to have blown itself out to some extent and although there are heavy seas, there is no danger for a ship of the size of the Princess of Wales. The ship is now clear of the rocks. The passengers and crew sheltering on the island will be brought off by the Royal Navy frigate Steadfast, which is now close to the area. Apart from a few minor injuries there are no casualties. This is Graham Smith
returning you to the studio.
Newsreader: There will be a further report in our main news at one o'clock. And now back to Down Your Way... Task 8
【答案】 A. 1) c 2) c 3) a B.
Countries Attitudes Towards the Treaty
The US It was one of the first countries that signed the treaty, but has withdrawn from it on the grounds that the treaty would weaken/harm American economy.
The EU It strongly supports the treaty, and is also trying to push/persuade other countries to accept it.
Japan It wants flexible rules allowing it to plant more trees rather than cut its pollution greatly, and to impose weaker penalties if it fails to fulfill its obligations.
Russia It has not made the final decision, but wants firm guarantees of foreign investment in clean technology before ratifying it. 【原文】 News Item 1
The European Union has officially approved the Kyoto Treaty on climate change. Officials
from all 15 EU states attended a ceremony Friday at the United Nations in New York. However, the treaty still needs the approval of more countries to come into effect. The treaty limits the release by Industrial countries of gases blamed for trapping heat in the atmosphere. The United States was one of the first countries to sign the Kyoto Treaty, but has since withdrawn. President Bush says the treaty could harm the American economy. News Item 2
Welcome to BBC World News, I'm Nick Gowing. Environment ministers from 180
countries will start trying to rescue the Kyoto Treaty on global warming shortly. They join their officials who have been meeting all week in the German city of Bonn. The 1997 Kyoto agreement commits industrialized countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The protocol was
undermined in a major way in March when US President George W. Bush said it would weaken America's economy.
It's Beethoven who dominates the town square here and it's unlikely that he'll have to give
up his place to a monument celebrating a conference which halted global warming. Ministers from
over 180 countries have already agreed to global cuts in emissions of greenhouse gases 5 percent below the 1990 levels. But here they must decide how this will be achieved. Since George Bush pulled out of the deal, the argument is between Japan and Europe. The Japanese want flexible rules allowing them to plant more trees in place of steep cuts in pollution and weaker penalties for
missing targets. Europe doesn't like it but really wants a deal. News Item 3
A major international conference on climate change is to open in Moscow shortly with
Russia coming under renewed pressure to sign the Kyoto Protocol. That's the agreement to limit the industrial pollutants that are believed to contribute to global warming. The Kyoto Protocol of 1997 can only come into force when 55 percent of countries have signed up to it. With United States refusing to sign, ratification by Russia is crucial to the treaty's success. From Moscow our environment correspondent Tim Hersch reports.
President Putin himself called this conference in his own capital to discuss the latest signs of climate change and it had been thought he might use the opportunity to announce that his government was finally prepared to sign up to Kyoto, but comments from senior Kremlin officials have played down expectations, saying Russia wanted firm guarantees of foreign investment in clean technology before pressing ahead with ratification. The European Union and UN bodies have been putting pres-sure on Mr. Putin to end the delays so that international action against global warming could finally start six years after the Kyoto agreement was signed. Task 9
【答案】 I.
September 19 th ; three days; child activists; non-government organizations A. actions
2. a good education for all children
3. the chance for all children to become an important part of their communities B. the progress II.
seventy-one heads of state and government; a treaty aimed at improving the lives of children around the world; the rights of children III.
(former) world leaders; creators A. educating children
B. protecting them from war C. fighting AIDS
get involved; take action; work for change
【原文】
The United Nations General Assembly will hold a special session on children beginning
September Nineteenth. The meeting will bring together government leaders, child activists,
non-government organizations and many young people. The three-day gathering will give officials a valuable chance to change how the world thinks about children.
Eleven years ago, the U-N held a similar meeting called the World Summit for Children.
During that conference, seventy-one heads of state and government signed a treaty aimed at improving the lives of children around the world. Efforts to reach the goals established in that treaty have made the rights of children an important issue.
The UN agency for children, UNICEF, is supporting the special session. Officials are
expected to produce a plan of action to guarantee that three important goals are reached. The goals
are the best possible start in life for all children, a good education for all children and the chance for all children to become an important part of their communities. The session will also examine
progress made since the Nineteen-Ninety World Summit for Children.
Former South African President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Nelson Mandela is working
toward these goals. He is joined by his wife Graca Machel who is an activist for children. They are calling on community, business and government leaders to form an international movement aimed
at improving the world for young people.
The movement is hoping to build international support for a public campaign to help children. Several world leaders have joined the movement. They include South Korean President Kim
Dae-Jung and Queen Rania of Jordan. Movie stars, professional sports teams, and the creators of children's television programs and books also have joined the movement.
The group's public campaign lists ten ways to improve the lives of young people. These
include educating children, protecting them from war and fighting the disease AIDS. UNICEF officials say the goal of the movement is for people around the world to get involved, take action and work for change. They say that for every child who comes into the world, the hopes and dreams of the human race are reborn. Task 10
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says hunger kills millions of people
each year — especially children . The UN organization says millions more people will die unless more money is invested to fight against hunger.
This is based on the result of a new UN study called “The State of Food Insecurity in the
World, 2002”. It found that more than nine million people die each year from hunger. Six million of them are children younger than age five. Researchers also found that the number of starving people is growing in some parts of the world.
The report says that about eight hundred and forty million people around the world are not getting
enough food to eat. Ninety-five percent of these people are in developing countries. Unit 9 Task 1 【答案】
1) the campus hero; the women‟s track coach 2) the class started before I got here 3) will develop
4) cloudy; the glass is a little dirty 5) a symbol of happiness; wear black 【原文】
1) Man: I had the girls running in circles when I was in college. Woman: I never knew you were the campus hero. Man: I wasn't. I was the women's track coach. 2) Instructor: Mr. Jenkins, why are you late?
Student: I guess because the class started before I got here.
3) Woman: Doctor, you have to come immediately--my baby swallowed some camera film! Doctor: Just calm yourself, nothing will develop. 4) Customer: Waiter, this water is cloudy.
Waiter: The water's okay, madam. It's just that the glass is a little dirty.
5) Woman: The bride wears white on her wedding day as a symbol of happiness, for this is the most joyous day in her entire life.
Man: Why does the groom wear black? Task 2
【答案】
Speakers Preferences Reasons
lst speaker French Melodic; easy on the ear; poetic; a rhythm to the language; rounded; no sharp, jagged edges; pleasing
2nd speaker Dane speaking English Beautiful, low, sensitive, very soft quality
3rd speaker French speaking English Nice pronunciation of \"h\" and \"th\"; very nice, steady rhythms; gentle; lyrical
4th speaker Mediterranean accents Mediterranean culture; gives English life; beautiful mixture of the serious Northern European and the Southern European
5th speaker Swedish accent Makes her smile; sing-songy; makes her want to imitate
【原文】
Catherine: I think firstly I find the French language, very melodic to listen to. It's very easy on the ear, and it almost sounds poetic. No matter what kind of mood the individual is in,
who's talking, or what they're talking about, there seems to be a rhythm to the language. And it's rounded; there are no sharp, jagged edges to the language, so it's very pleasing to the ear.
Chris: I think the accent I really like is the Dane speaking English. They sound awful when they speak Danish, but when they speak English there's a beautiful, low, sensitive, very soft quality about it.
Donald: I like the way they bring their French pronunciation into English. They can't pronounce \"h\"s and they can't pronounce \"th\" properly. And I think that actually sounds very nice. Also I like the rhythm: they bring French rhythms into English--nice, steady rhythms and I like that too. It's just it, it... whenever I hear a French person speaking English it sounds more gentle and more lyrical.
Lesley: I think the most attractive foreign accents for me are Mediterranean accents because they,
if you like, import their own culture into the English accent and give it a lot of life that sometimes, that kind of--the gestures and everything that the English people don't have, so you get a beautiful mixture of the serious Northern European and the Southern European together.
Susan: I like the Swedish accent because it, it makes me smile and the way it's spoken is so sing-songy that you can't help but smile when other people actually speak it. And it always makes you want to try and put the accent on yourself. Task 3 【答案】
spelling; meaning; history; a slab of ham; a lump of bread; hunk of something to eat; a strong man;
a book of maps; the top bone of the neck; Olympians; holding the sky on his head and hands;
Sixteenth; on the cover of a book of maps; blessing; I hope you will have a good night; day’s eye; it has a little golden eye, like a tiny sun; the English daisy closes at night; the English loved their daisies. 【原文】
The spelling and meaning of words are very interesting. But what's more interesting is the history of a word, or where it came from. Let's examine some of the words and see how they got into our
language.
LUNCH Lunch perhaps comes from an old Spanish word lonje, a slab of ham. We may also
get our word from a form of lump, maybe a lump of bread, but whether lunch comes from ham or
bread, it meant a hunk of something to eat.
ATLAS An atlas is a strong man, and also a book of maps. The story of this word begins a
long time ago in Greece. The ancient Greeks believed that their gods had once been a race of giants called Titans. The Titans fought with another group of gods called Olympians, and the
Olympians won. Atlas was a Titan. He was punished for fighting by having to stand at the western edge of the world, holding the sky on his head and hands, so that it would not fall on the world and smash anything.
After the ancient Greek religion died out, the idea of Atlas changed. From holding up the sky with his head and hands, he came to be thought of as holding the world on his shoulders. Mercator, a mapmaker of the sixteenth century, used a picture of Atlas on the cover of a book of maps, so a book of maps came to be called an atlas.
The word has still another meaning. The top bone of the neck is called atlas because it supports the head.
GOOD-BYE Good-bye is a blessing; originally it was God be with ye, and in the course of
time it became one word. Many of our greetings are good wishes, but we say them with so little thought that we forget this. When we say good morning, good evening, good night, and so on, what we are really saying is, \"I hope you will have a good morning (or evening, or night).\" DAISY The daisy has a little golden eye, like a tiny sun. Perhaps this is the reason the
English people named it day's eye, or perhaps they chose the name because the English daisy closes at night. The English loved their daisies, which were pink and red, as well as white. Six hundred years or so ago, the English poet Chaucer said: The daisy, or else the eye of the day, The queen, and prettiest flower of all. Task 4 【答案】 A. 1) T 2) T 3) F 4) T 5) F B. 1) b
2) c 3) a 4) c 5) c 6) b
【原文】
MATTHEW: Chris, why is it that there are so many different languages , and that in Europe certainly if you travel more than a hundred miles , you're likely to find people speaking a completely different language to your own?
CHRIS: Well, it's true to say that there are er ... hundreds and hundreds of different languages. It's perhaps um . . . however , more interesting and more informative to say that there are several different groups of languages er . .. Most European languages,with the exception of I think Finnish and er .. . Basque and . . . Hungarian I believe,belong to the Indo-European group of languages, I'm not very sure myself of the . . . the actual details of the history of these languages, but you can be very sure that er ... most of these languages , say Latin and Greek nd our own language a and er . . . German and er ... French and ... all the others, are connected. The reason why you can travel from one Willage to another in Switzerland and er . . . from one area to another in England and find different dialects, if not different languages spoken, is that um ... several
hundred years ago communication was by word of mouth. Word of mouth meant that people had to move ; if people were to move they needed roads and there were no roads.
MATTHEW: Do you see any chance for a universal language like Esperanto?
CHRIS: Not for an artificial er ... language, no ... I suppose the Roman Catholic Church used Latin. but Latin had a ... a particular religious basis and this is probably why it was therefore chosen. I don't see very much chance for Esperanto; I think it's an awfully good idea but I don't believe that language works like that.I think people will
probably er .. . work towards the most convenient language to use.They will not set out to learn a new language. It seems to me that er ... either English,. Russian or Chinese, perhaps Japanese, will be the language of the future er . . . My bet's on English.
MATTHEW: Maggie, why do you think it is that so few English people speak a second language? MAGGIE: I think when you learn a language at school ...it tends to be rather a dead occupation, and it's very difficult to stimulate any interest among school children. But when you actually go to the country and spend say a month in . . . in an exchange visit when you're a schoolgirl, or a schoolboy um ... then you suddenly become more interested because you ... you want to communicate with poeple when you're actually abroad, and it's not safe to rely on the fact that most people speak English when um . . . in foreign countries. Mm . . . I think English people traditionally thought that . . . that foreigners always spoke English, and a lot of foreigners do, but there are people that you meet in the street or you want to take a bus somewhere, then you find that you need to speak the language and'it's very unnerving to be in a situation where you can't communicate with people when you do want to travel around.
MATTHEW: Have you ever been abroad and learnt er ... a language in the country?
MAGGIE: Yes , well when I was a secretary I er... went and lived in Geneva for two years, and I learnt French at school but I . . . I really didn't speak it at all. I knew it theoretically but I wasn't able to communicate with people. But I was in a situation where if I didn't speak French , then I would not have been able to do my shopping and buy
food ,and so I picked the language up and I made friends with French people ... Swiss French people, and I found that if I wanted to communicate with all . . . all the people that I met , then I had to learn French, and I think it's the best method of learning because you're in the situation. It's very hard at times —you can sit through dinner parties and not understand what ... what's going on and you think everybody thinks you're stupid because you can't communicate with them, but it's ... it's the hard way but I think it's the best way to learn.
MATTHEW: Elfriede, you come from Austria and yet you've been living in England now for the last three years. Has having to learn and speak another language created great problems?
ELFRIEDE: Um ... At the beginning, yes, it was rather difficult for me to get the right job . . . um. after you've lived here for one or two years you get to know the system and then that's quite good. You know how to use libraries and oh .. . you get to know where to um... call in emergencies; um ... you get to know ... er ...trying to get a radio and
understand the radio and all the . . . programmes they have . . . um and when they're on and the little stories.
MATTHEW: What about English humour on the radio?
ELFRIEDE: Um . . . I think that takes a very very long time to understand and I'm sorry to say that I haven't managed yet to understand it completely, but er... I find it very interesting to speak other languages um ... because English people have different er ...have a different mentality, and have a very different character and a different temperament and it is fascinating for me to talk to them um... and also for myself to be able to express myself in a different language and to communicate with them. Task 5 【答案】
1) A mother is leaving instructions with her babysitter before going out.
2) Wake up; give her the dummy; give her a cuddle; sing to her; read her a story; go back to sleep.
3) Two friends are taking about their holiday together.
4) It reminds.., of... holiday; city; wine; good food; tower; view; walking along the river; paintings; I love...; I like...; I remember...
5) Two women are meeting at a doctor‟s waiting room.
6) It's diagnosed; have another look; do something about...; go away; give.., for...; it's your turn. 【原文】 Number 1
Fiona: Okay, Deek, I'm off now. [Okay.] Everything's okay, is it? Deek: Yes, I think so. The only thing is... is she likely to wake up? Fiona: No, I don't think so. She doesn't usually, but... Deek: What if she does?
Fiona: Well, yes. Don't. worry about it. Her dummy's by the bed, so if you just pick her up, give
her the dummy, give her a little bit of a cuddle; [Yes.] sing to her if you like. Deek: Shall I read her a story or something?
Fiona: Yes, anything like that. [Yes.] Then she should just go back to sleep again quite happily. Deek: Okay.
Fiona: Oh! And I've left stuff for you in the fridge. There's some salad and cold chicken and some beer as well. Okay then? Deek: Right then. Bye. Fiona: Bye-bye. Number 2
Lesley: Ah ... it's such a lovely day. It reminds me of last week, doesn't it you? Fiona: Oh don't! I mean that was just so fantastic, that holiday! Lesley: I love that city, you know.
Fiona: I do too. Really, it's got something about it, a certain sort of charm ... Lesley: Mm, and all that wine and good food ...
Fiona: And so cheap. Right, I mean, compared to here ... Lesley: Yes, although the shops are expensive. Fiona: Mm, yes.
Lesley: I mean, really I bought nothing at all. I just ate and ate and drank and drank. Fiona: I know. Wasn't that lovely?
Lesley: Yes, and I, I go there. I like listening to the people talking, sitting outside drinking wine. Fiona: Yes. Could you understand what they were saying? When they were speaking quickly, I mean.
Lesley: Well, it is difficult, of course. And then I liked that tower, too.
Fiona: You liked that tower? I'm not sure about it, really. (No) It's very unusual, right in the centre of the city.
Lesley: True, but there's a lovely view from the top.
Fiona: Oh, you went right up, didn't you? (Mm, yes) Oh no, I didn't. Lesley: Of course you didn't.
Fiona: I remember that day. We weren't together.
Lesley: No, that's right. (Mm) You went down by the river, didn't you?
Fiona: That's it. Oh, walking along the river and all the couples (Yes) and it's so romantic ... (Is it true) and the paintings too ...
Lesley: They do have artists down by the river, do they? (Yes) Oh, how lovely! Fiona: Oh, it really is super.
Lesley: Yes. Oh, I think we ought to go back there again next year, don't you? Fiona: I do, yes. (Mm) If only just to sample some more of the wine. Lesley: It'd be lovely, wouldn't it? Fiona: Yes. Number 3
Mary: I'm so pleased. What about you then?
Jane: Well, he said he wanted to have another look at it. Mary: Yes. What are they doing about it?
Jane: Well, I don't think they're going to do anything really. It just sometimes goes away [Well, can't...] something like that.
Mary: Well, can't they give you anything for it?
Jane: Well, no, they didn't say the9 could. [Really?] No, just got to be patient and wait for it to go away.
Mary: Well, that seems a bit stupid, doesn't it? Jane: Yes, it does.
Mary: You'd have thought.., you'd have thought they'd have thought of something. Jane: Yes. Ooh it's your mm. Mary: Yes. Certainly. Jane: Good luck! Mary: Thank you! Task 6 【答案】 A. 1) c 2) a 3) b 4) c B. 1) T 2) F 3) F 4) T 5) F 6) T
【原文】
Learning to Speak
It is, everyone agrees, a huge task that the child performs when he learns to speak, and the fact that
he does so in so short a period of time challenges explanation.
Language learning begins with listening. Individual children vary greatly in the amount of
listening they do before they start speaking, and late starters are often long listeners. Most children
will “obey” spoken instructions some time before they can speak, though they word obey is hardly
accurate as a description of the eager and delighted cooperation usually shown by the child. Before they can speak, many children will ask questions by gesture and by making questioning noises.
Any attempt to trace the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties. It is agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves out as particularly indicative of delight, distress,
sociability, and so on. But since these cannot be said to show the baby‟s intention to communicate,
they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language. It is agreed, too, that from about three
months they play with sounds for enjoyment, and that by six months they are able to add new sounds to their voices. This self imitation leads on to deliberate imitation of sounds made or words
spoken to them by other people. The problem then arises as to the point at which one can say that
these imitations can be considered as speech.
It is a problem we need not get our teeth into. The meaning of a word depends on what a
particular person means by it in a particular situation; and it is clear that what a child means by a word will change as he gains more experience of the world. Thus the use, at say seven months, of \"mama\" as a greeting for his mother cannot be dismissed as a meaningless sound simply Because he also uses it at other times for his father, his dog, or anything else he likes.
Playful and apparently meaningless imitation of what other people say continues after the
child has begun to speak for himself. I doubt, however, whether anything is gained when parents cash in on this ability in an attempt to teach new sounds. Task 7 【答案】
Topic: Body language 1. Brief introduction
\"statements\"; non-verbal communication; small facial expressions, hand gestures and body movements that we make to express our feelings 2. Detailed introduction
our facial expressions and gestures are automatic and unconscious most of the time; we paid conscious attention to the hidden messages in body language; facial; body 2.1 facial expressions
Eyes, eyebrows, lips and facial muscles: capable of “saying” things. Eyes Suggestions Note
Wide eyes Surprise, wonder, excitement or sometimes fear (possible) One element alone does not tell us everything. We have to see gestures in combination.
Wide eyes, a little smile and a slight tilt of the head Wonderfully pleased
\"Squinty\" eyes, tight lips, and the head pushed forward Anger or hostility
Half-closed eyes Fatigue, boredom or indifference (possible)
Half-closed eyes, a lowered tilt of the head, a fluttering of the eyelids and a slight smile Coy and flirtatious
The size of our pupils Our interest in a subject Eyebrows Signal Flags
One brow up, one down Doubt, disbelief or uncertainty Both up Surprise or mistrust
Squeeze them together Frown or scowl Lips Both Nonverbal and Verbal Messages Baring the teeth just on one side or pull the lips tightly across the teeth Snarl and threat (close to animals)
The \"pout\" \"I'm not happy because I'm not getting what I want.\" Tuck the lower lip into out mouth and bite it
Anxiety and fear
Licking the lips: a \"dry mouth\" gesture Stress or anxiety 2.2 Hand and body gestures
Hand or sign language: highly developed, especially by the deaf. The Routine Hand Language Message
Pointing with the index finger To accuse someone
The clenched fist beating in the air To threaten someone A clenched fist held close to the body Tension or anxiety
The open hands, palms up \"I'm innocent\" or \"give me\" or \"forgive me\" Both hands raised up and facing the audience \"I give up\" or \"I surrender\" Tilt the hand and palm down and extend the arm \"I bless\" or \"I give\" Pat on the head Blessing or love and giving
Clap hands To show approval or call someone or get attention
bring our finger to our lips; scratch or rub our heads; slap our heads; take our head in both hands to sort of clear our minds 3. Conclusion
A sampling of; we pull an ear; we cross our legs; who don't communicate with body language; writers; frowns, scratches his chin, slaps his head, purses his lips, stares at the ceiling and throws up his arms.
【原文】
Let's talk about body language. You already \"speak\" it and \"read\" it. Body language is all of the small facial expressions, hand gestures and body movements that we make. We may not realize it,
but each movement and expression says something about our feelings.
In fact, we might say that body language is the clearest and most common way Of
communicating our feelings directly to others. We all know the most obvious body \"statements\": We wave our hands in greeting, we shake hands, pat each other on the back, we hug friends and kiss loved ones. We smile, we laugh, we wink and we frown, and sometimes we cry. All of these gestures are called non-verbal communication (non-verbal means we do not use words to \"say\" what we feel.)
Normally, we don't think very much about our body language. Our facial expressions and
gestures are automatic and unconscious most of the time. But researchers tell us we might learn to
under-stand each other a little better if we paid conscious attention to the hidden messages in body
language. Let's consider a few of the more obvious facial, hand and body gestures.
The human face is wonderfully rich in its ability to express feelings. The eyes, the eyebrows, the lips and the facial muscles are all capable of \"saying\" things.
For example, we speak of \"wide-eyed wonder\". If the eyes open wide, that may mean
surprise, wonder, excitement or sometimes fear. And that is an important thing to remember about
body language--one element alone does not tell us everything. We have to see gestures in
Combination. So wide eyes alone would not tell us whether the person was surprised, pleased or scared, but when we see wide eyes, a little smile and a slight tilt of the head, we understand that the person is \"wonderfully pleased\".
\"Squinty\" eyes, tight lips, and the head pushed forward probably suggest anger or hostility. Half-closed eyes may suggest fatigue, boredom or indifference. But add a lowered tilt of the head, a fluttering of the eyelids and a slight smile, and we get a coy and flirtatious message. Strangely enough, one of the eye features over which we have very little control--the size of our pupils--says something about our interest in a subject. If we like something, our pupils get larger. Studies show that most men think a woman with large pupils is more \"attractive\" than the same woman with small pupils. But the men aren't really conscious of the pupils. They just know they like the \"looks\" better in the samples with large pupils. No wonder eye make-up is so popular.
Eyebrows are almost like signal flags: one brow up, one down suggests doubt, disbelief or
uncertainty. Both up means surprise or mistrust. Squeeze them together and we get a frown or scowl.
The lips shape non-verbal as well as verbal messages. The smile is the most obvious, but try
baring the teeth just on one side or pull the lips tightly across the teeth and the smile becomes a snarl and a threat. In this, and in many of our other body gestures, we are close to the animals. The lower lip by itself can say little things. The \"pout\" is a fat lower lip pushed way out. It
means \"I'm not happy because I'm not getting what I want.\" But if we tuck the lower lip into our mouth and bite it, we are conveying anxiety and fear. Licking the lips is a \"dry mouth\" gesture which usually means stress or anxiety.
There are whole books written on hand gestures, and, in fact, hand or sign language has
often been highly developed, especially as an aid to the deaf. But the routine hand language, such
as pointing with the index finger to accuse someone, or the clenched fist beating in the air to threaten someone, is familiar to us all. But a clenched fist held close to the body usually means tension or anxiety while the open hands, palms up may mean \"I'm innocent\" or \"give me\" or \"forgive me\".
Both hands raised up and facing the audience means \"I give up\" or \"I surrender\". But tilt the
hands and palm down and extend the arm and it means \"I bless\" or \"I give\". The \"pat on the head\"
is a kind of blessing or gesture of love and giving. We clap hands to indicate approval or in some
cases to call someone or get attention.
When the hands get very busy we say that someone \"talks with his hands\" and among
certain individuals and cultures it is almost impossible to talk without a wild display of hand motions.
If we are slightly puzzled by something, we may bring our finger to our lips. If it's a real puzzler, we scratch or rub our heads. If we do something wrong, we slap our heads. To start
allover something, we often begin by taking our head in both hands to sort of clear our minds and
\"set our head on straight\".
These are only a sampling of the many types of body language. There are books which
discuss everything from the way we pull an ear to the way we cross our legs. From the looks of things, the only people who don't communicate with body language are the writers. Readers never
get to see how often the writer frowns, scratches his chin, slaps his head, purses his lips, stares at the ceiling and throws up his arms. Task 8
In contemporary English, there are many reported differences in the talk of males and females . In
same gender pairs having conversations, women generally discuss their personal feelings more than men . Men appear to prefer non-personal topics such as sport and news . Men tend to respond
to an expression of feelings or problems by giving advice or solutions, while women are more likely to mention personal experiences that match or connect with the other woman‟s . There is a
pattern documented in the American English social context of women cooperating and seeking connection via language, whereas men are more competitive and concerned with power via language . In mixed-gender pairs having conversations, the rate of men interrupting women is substantially greater than the reverse. Women are reported to use more expressions associated with
tentativeness , such as “hedges” (sort of , kind of ) and “tags”(isn‟t it ? , don‟t you ?) , when expressing an opinion : Well ,erm , I think that golf is kind of boring , don‟t you ? Unit 10 Task 1 【答案】 A.
Names of the States Meanings Illinois Brave Men
Connecticut At the Long River Mouth Hawaii Homeland B. 1) T 2) F 3) T
【原文】
People who visited the United States sometimes wonder how the states got their names.
Some of the most interesting names came from American Indian language. For example, Illinois, was named for the Indians who used to live in that part of the country. In their language, Illinois means “Brave Men”. Connecticut means “At the Long River Mouth” in the language of the Indians who used to live there.
Twenty-five of the states have Indian names, but other names were taken from different languages. Georgia and Pennsylvania have names which were taken from the Latin language. Florida and Colorado were named by Spanish people. States like New Hampshire and New Jersey were named for places in England.
The two newest states have names which did not come from any of those languages. Hawaii
got its name from a word in the Hawaiian language which means “Homeland.” Alaska was named by the Russians, from whom Alaska was bought in 1867. Task 2
【答案】 A.
1) Probably between 2000 B.C. and 1400 B.C. 2) About four tons.
3) They might have been sent on rivers and rolled over land on tree trunks. 4) By hand. B.
meeting place; sunrise; sunset; worship; observatory; computer; eclipses 【原文】
The circle of stones that can be seen at Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain in England is one
of the oldest and most mysterious monuments in the world. The monument was probably put up between 2000 B.C. and 1400 B.C. When it was completed it consisted of a double circle of stones, with two more groups of stones outside the circles. Many of the stones used in this monument must have been transported over 250 miles to Stonehenge. Single stones, some of them weighing
about four tons, must have been sent on rivers and rolled over land on tree trunks. They can't have
been carried! The men who moved the stone didn't have wheels or horses. Each stone had to be moved by hand and placed in position. They were fitted together with great technical skill. There are many theories about the purpose of the stones. Stonehenge was certainly a meeting place. The stones have been arranged in a particular way to mark sunrise and sunset at certain times during the year. This may have been a place of worship of the sun and also an observatory. One interesting theory suggests that the stones were some kind of computer which was used to predict eclipses of the sun and moon. Task 3 【答案】
Time Descriptions
About 30,000 years ago Who painted the pictures? People who hunted animals. What was painted?
Animals they wanted to catch and kill. Where were the paintings found?
On the walls of caves in France and Spain. Why did people paint the pictures?
Perhaps pictures had a magic purpose; perhaps the painters thought that their pictures would help them to catch these animals; or per-haps human beings have always wanted to tell stories in pictures. About 5,000 years ago
Who began to use pictures as a kind of writing? The Egyptians and other people in the Near East. What did the simple pictures and signs represent?
Things and ideas, and also the sounds of their language. How did the Egyptians record information or tell stories? By putting picture-writing and pictures together. By 1000 B.C.
Who developed a simpler system of writing?
People who lived in the area around the Mediterranean Sea. Why was this system simpler?
Because each sign, or letter, represented only one sound in their language.
Who copied the Greek system and developed an alphabet that is used all over the world? The Rom ans.
At present What are some of the pictures we still use today? Drawings, photographs, signs and diagrams.
【原文】
Human beings have been painting pictures for at least 30,000 years. The earliest pictures were painted by people who hunted animals. They used to paint pictures of the animals they wanted to catch and kill. Pictures of this kind have been found on the walls of caves in France and Spain. No one knows why they were painted there. Perhaps the painter thought that their pictures
would help them to catch these animals. Or perhaps human beings have always wanted to tell stories in pictures.
About 5,000 years ago the Egyptians and other people in the Near East began to use pictures as a kind of writing. They drew simple pictures or signs to represent things and ideas, and also to represent the sounds of their language. The signs these people used became a kind of alphabet. The Egyptians used to record information and to tell stories by putting picture-writing and
pictures together. When an important person died, scenes and stories from his life were painted and carved on the walls of the place where he was buried. Some of these pictures are like modem
comic-strip stories. It has been said that Egypt is the home of the comic strip. But, for the
Egyptians, pictures still had magic power. So they did not try to make their way of writing simple. The ordinary people could not understand it.
By the year 1,000 BC, people who lived in the area around the Mediterranean Sea bad
developed a simpler system of writing. The signs they used were very easy to write, and there were fewer of them than in the Egyptian system. This was because each sign, or letter, represented
only one sound in their language. The Greeks developed this system and formed the letter of the Greek alphabet. The Romans copied the idea, and the Roman alphabet is now used all over the world.
These days, we can write down a story, or record information, without using pictures. But we still need pictures of all kinds, drawings, photographs, signs and diagrams. We find them
everywhere: in books and newspapers, in the street, and on the walls of the places where we live and work. Pictures help us to understand and remember things more easily, and they can make a story much more interesting. Task 4
【答案】
1) In the 1lth century A.D. 2) A little over 16,000.
3) A centre of the wool trade. 4) Almost a thousand years. 5) 900 square metres. 6)The Netherlands. 7) 96 metres.
8) Salisbury Cathedral in the west of England. 【原文】
The earliest use of the name Norwich is on an Anglo-Saxon coin, from the time of King Athelstan(924-939). You can see the word \"Norvic\" round the edge. We know that the
Anglo-Saxons fanned in this district, and had a market. We think the Normans held their market in
the same place, so Norwich market is nearly 1,000 years old. For centuries people have come to the market to buy and sell, and today Norwich has the largest open-air market in England. When the Normans conquered England in the 1lth century A.D., Norwich was one of the
largest cities in England, with a population of 5,500. Under the Normans the city became a centre of the wool trade. Since 1066 no foreign army has invaded Britain, but many refugees had fled from Europe and settled in different parts of the country. In the 16th century many weavers came to Norwich from the Netherlands to escape religious problems at home. These cloth-workers numbered about 6,000 of the population of just over 16,000. A large building was called after these settlers, Strangers' Hall.
William the Conqueror built a wooden castle in Norwich in 1067, and 60 years later the
Normans built a stone castle. At first it was an army centre, but from 1220 to 1887 the castle was the prison for the whole county of Norfolk. Down in the dungeons you can still see death masks of
the prisoners. This Norman castle is one of the largest in England. Its walls are 21 metres high, 30 metres along each side and 3 metres thick. The early walls were made of Caen stone, but between
1834 and 1839 builders repaired the walls with new stone from Bath.
Norwich Cathedral, in the heart of the city, is one of the most beautiful in Britain. The first
Bishop of Norwich began the cathedral in 1069. He brought beautiful white stone from Caen, in Normandy. The Normans shipped the stone to Great Yarmouth on the coast, and then up the river
Wensum. The builders had to dig a short canal from the river to the cathedral. People used this canal for about 300 years, but now you cannot see it. Its path was from the street called Lower Close to Pulls Ferry. Another bishop added the spire in the 15th century. It is 96 metres high, so only Salisbury Cathedral in the west of England is taller. Inside the cathedral there are wonderful Norman columns and a beautiful roof. Between 1465 and 1536 workers carved and painted stories
from the Bible on special bosses. Task 5 【答案】
1) During the 18th and early 19th centuries
2) The harnessing of a whole range of newly devised machinery: first to water wheels and later to a completely new source of power — steam.
3) Large factories replaced small workshop and craftsman's cottages.
4) Because people wanted to transport goods and raw materials more cheaply and efficiently. 5) More than 100 years.
6) Industrial sites have been restored, buildings saved and machinery preserved. 【原文】
Britain's industrial heritage is probably richer than that of any other nation, for it was here during the course of the 18th and early 19th centuries that occurred the series of major
technological advances which heralded the greatest social and economic upheaval in the history of
mankind — the upheaval which became known as the Industrial Revolution.
Mining, iron-smelting, the making of textiles and pottery--all these industries had been
carried on in Britain for centuries. What was revolutionary was the sheer scale of production made
possible by the harnessing of a whole range of newly devised machinery: first to water wheels and
later to a completely new source of power — steam.
This enormous and rapid increase in mechanization took British industry out of the small
work-shop and craftsman's cottage and into the factory, perhaps employing thousands of workers.
Entire new cities were developed in the new industrial centres to house them.
Meanwhile, advances in industry were matched by development in engineering and
transport. New networks of roads and canals were constructed to transport goods and raw materials more cheaply and efficiently. Later still came the railways.
The speed of this transformation was dramatic. In less than 100 years from the middle of the 18th century, Britain changed from a predominantly agricultural nation into the world's first great industrial power--the envy of all, and the model for industrialization everywhere. Today, Britain is a treasure-house of relics from this remarkable period. Thanks to the
increasing interest in industrial archaeology, many important industrial sites have been restored, buildings and other structures have been saved from demolition, and machinery of all types,
including examples of the world's earliest steam engines, have been preserved--either in site or as
exhibits in one of the growing number of industrial museums.
Then there are several mines and other industrial undertakings run as \"working\" museums, lovingly preserved steam railways, companies still using traditional methods who welcome visitors... The list is endless. Add to it the many surviving relics of an even earlier age, such as windmills, water mills, medieval mines and ancient quarries, and you have a unique and fascinating record of industrial development down the centuries. Task 6
【答案】 A. 1) T 2) F 3) T 4) F 5) T 6) F B.
1) religious ceremonies; market places
2) grow more and more food; noisy and polluted; water population 3) a civil war; environmental reasons 【原文】
During the Mayan Classical Period, from 300 to 900 A.D., the central area was very
important culturally. There were many large ceremonial centers in the central area. Tikal was the largest known center. Originally, people did not live in these centers. The centers were used only for religious ceremonies, and as market places. These centers were empty except on market days and religious festivals. At those times thousands of people came in from the countryside. Apparently, toward the end of the Classical Period, in about 700 A.D., more and more
people began to move into these market centers. They used these market centers as a place to live.
This increase in population caused problems for the farmers near the centers. The farmers near the
market centers had only a small amount of good farming land. But they had to grow more and more food on their land in order to feed the people in the market centers. It became more and more
difficult for them to raise enough food.
Because of overcrowding, the centers became noisy and polluted. Water pollution was one
of the greatest problems in the centers. Because the population grew so quickly, the centers didn't
have good enough systems for bringing in clean water and for getting rid of dirty water. So this movement to the market centers caused several serious problems for the Mayas in the central area.
At the end of the 9th century, the population in the market centers dropped sharply. Many people moved to the north--to places like Uxmal and Kabah. The market places, the great
buildings, the great artistic achievements were left behind.
Historians have studied these questions. Why did the population drop? Why did the Mayas
leave the market areas? Why did they move to the North where it was so dry and where the soil was so poor?
One theory is that the centers collapsed because of war. There might have been a civil war between the farmers and the people who governed.
Another theory is that the centers collapsed because of environmental reasons. The
overcrowding, the pollution may have caused such serious problems that people were no longer able to live in the centers.
In any case, the greater Mayan civilization began to decline around 900 A.D. People are still studying the Mayan culture and trying to learn about why the civilization declined. Task 7
【答案】
1) More than three thousand. 2) To predict the future.
3) They saw nature as numerous gods using magic, and called their gods called gui-shen, a word for ghost or spirit.
4) They believed that the gods could exercise either benevolent or malevolent magic, and they attempted to bribe the gods.
5) Because they believed that if offerings to the dead were discontinued, the spirits of the dead would become lost and starving ghosts who, in revenge, might do evil.
6) One of the reasons was males alone were allowed to perform rituals at gravesites.
【原文】
It was around 1300 B.C. that the first known writing appeared in the Shang
civilization—writing that developed more than three thousand characters, partly pictorial and partly phonetic. This writing was done on plate-like portions of the bones of cattle or deer, on seashells and turtle shells and perhaps on wood. They were inscriptions concerned with predicting
the future. By applying a pointed, heated rod to a bone or shell, the item cracked, and to which written symbol the crack traveled gave answers for various questions: what the weather was going
to be like, would there be flood, would a harvest succeed or fail, when might be the best time for hunting or fishing, questions about illness or whether one should make a journey.
The people of the Shang civilization appeared to have had the same religious impulses as
others. They saw nature as numerous gods using magic, gods called gui-shen, a word for ghost or spirit. They had a god they thought produced rain. They had a god of thunder and a god for each mountain, river and forest. They had a mother god of the sun, a moon goddess, and a god of the wind. Like others who worked the soil, they had a fertility god. They believed in a master god who had a palace in the center of heaven and who rewarded people for being virtuous. Like priests in West Asia, the priests of the Shang civilization made sacrifices to their gods,
attempting to bribe them, believing that the gods could exercise either benevolent or malevolent magic. The frequency of floods and other calamities led the people of Shang civilization to believe
that some gods were good and others demonic. And they believed in an evil god who led
travelers
astray and devoured people.
The people of the Shang civilization believed in an invisible heaven that people went to
when they died. Shang kings told their subjects that heaven was where the ancestors of the Shang
kings dwelled. Aristocrats were concerned with their status and boasted about their ancestral roots.
They kept records of their family tree, and they saw their ancestors as going back to gods who often took the form of animals--gods who became family symbols like the totems. The common people, on the other hand, had no surnames and no pedigree and did not participate in ancestor worship.
Aristocrats believed that humans had a spirit that was created at conception. They believed that this spirit both continued to reside in one's body after death and ascended to the invisible world where the spirits and the dead dwelled. Aristocrats believed that in this invisible world their
ancestors re-sided in the court of the gods and had powers to help guide and assist their living descendants. Aristocrats saw their ancestors as needing nourishment. At gravesites they offered food and wine to their deceased family members and ancestors — a ritual that males alone were allowed to perform, adding to the preference for the birth of a male into a family. They believed that if offerings to the dead were discontinued, the spirits of the dead would become lost and starving ghosts who, in revenge, might do evil. When an aristocrat wanted a special favor from an ancestor, he supplemented the offerings by sacrificing animals. And, like Abraham, the Shang knew of human sacrifice. If a king wanted a special favor from the gods, he might sacrifice a human. Task 8
【答案】 A.
Clocks Through Time
About 3,000 years ago sundials, candles, and water clocks
About 600 years ago the first clock with a face and an hour hand 1657 pendulum clocks (also called \"grandfather clocks\") 40 years later minute and second hands added By 1900 clocks and watches becoming popular Today electric clocks B.
1) Someone was inspired by shadows moving around trees as the sun moves across the sky. 2) Candles had to be remade, and water clocks had to be refilled.
3) Because the clocks were beautifully decorated and people were not concerned about knowing the exact time.
4) Because the weight on the pendulum could be moved up or down to make the clock go faster or slower.
5) Digital clocks do not have face or hands. They tell the time with a set of numerals that appear in
a little window.
【原文】
It was probably around 3,000 years ago that people first began inventing ways to help
themselves measure the time. Having observed that shadow move around trees as the sun moves
across the sky, someone drew a circle and put a stick in the center. As the sun passed overhead, he
marked even division on the circle as the shadow of the stick crossed it. Then people could tell which part of the day it was by noticing which mark on the circle the shadow fell across. These circles were called \"sundials\". Later, they were made of stone and metal to last longer.
Of course, a sundial did not work at night or on cloudy days, so men kept inventing(发明)
other ways to keep track of time. After glass blowing was invented, the hourglass came into use. An hourglass is a glass container for measuring time in which sand moves slowly from the top half to the bottom in exactly one hour. The hourglass is turned over every hour so the sand could flow again.
A water clock was another way to tell time. A container had a line with a number beside it for every hour. It also had a tiny hole in the bottom. The container was filled with water that
dripped through the hole. When the water level reached the first line, one hour had passed. Each time the water level fell to another line, one more hour has passed.
Candles and water clocks helped people know how much time had gone by. But candles had to be remade, and water clocks had to be refilled. So, after glass blowing was invented, the hourglass came into use. Glass bulbs were joined by a narrow tunnel of glass, and fine, dry sand was placed in the top bulb. The hourglass was easy to use, but it had to be turned over every hour
so the sand could flow again.
It was about 600 years ago that the first clock with the face and an hour hand was made. One of the first clocks with a face and an hour hand was built for a king of France and placed in the tower of his palace. The clock did not show minutes or seconds. Since there were no planes or trains to catch, people were not worried about knowing the exact time.
Gradually, clocks began to be popular and unusual. One clock was in the shape of a cart with a horse and driver. One of the wheels was the face of the clock.
Watches came into use as soon as clocks were made small enough to be carried. These did
not always tell the correct time, either. They were often put into beautiful watchcases, which were
made to look like anything the owner wanted.
The pendulum clock was invented in l657. This was the beginning of the style of clocks we
call \"grandfather clocks\which were enclosed in tall wooden boxes. Pendulum clocks showed the
hours more exactly than earlier clocks, since the weight on the pendulum could be moved up or down to make the clock go faster or slower. About forty years later, minute and second hands were
put on some clocks. Grandfather clocks are very much in demand again today. They are usually very expensive, however, and require more space than other styles of clocks.
As people began to go to more places and do more things, they were more interested in
knowing the correct time. By 1900, almost every house had a clock, and nearly every well-dressed
gentleman wore a watch on a chain tucked in his vest pocket.
Today, of course, we have electric clocks that keep giving the right time until the electricity
goes off Scientists have invented clocks that look like 1arge machines and tell the correct time to a
split second.
The most modem electric clocks for home use do not have faces or hands. These clocks are
called digital clocks, and they tell the time with a set of numerals which appear in a little window. The seconds are counted off like the tenths of a mile on the meter of a car.
Many electric c1ocks are combined with radios, which can sometimes be set to turn on automatically. Thus instead of an alarm ringing in your ear in the morning, you can hear soft music playing when it is time to get up. Some clocks will even start the coffee maker! Task 9
【答案】 A. 1) F 2) T 3) F 4) T 5) F 6) F 7) T B.
1) London; Paris; geological difficulties; crowded; rocky 2) the height of the skyscrapers; anything but flat 3) dug a trench; laid the rails
4) unskilled laborers; Irish; Italian; specialists 5) explosives; rubble; framing; deadly 【原文】
Scott Simon: When the New York City subway was built 100 years ago, it was a marvel of (Host) engineering--it still is. Other subways had already been started in London, Paris, a few other places, but the geological difficulties of building an underground system on a crowded and rocky island were unique. As part of NPR's series on the
100-year anniversary of the New York City subway system, Robert Smith travels to the deepest station in Manhattan to tell the story of the men who built it.
Robert Smith: It's easy to think that the only vertical variation in Manhattan is in the height of the (Reporter) skyscrapers, but New York City on the ground is anything but flat. Riding the path of the original subway line, you can see the challenge that early builders faced. North of Harlem, the subway emerges from a tunnel, and within seconds it's racing along a high trestle over the Manhattan valley. Ms. Vivian Heller: It's actually very hilly. (Author, The City Beneath Us)
Robert Smith: Vivian Heller is the author of The City Beneath Us, the history of the subway
system. As the subway plunges back underground, she points out the window at the other thing that made building subways so difficult.
Ms. Vivian Heller: The actual rock itself is so treacherous and unstable, that was another element that they had to work with that was tricky.
Robert Smith: The early workers built most of the subway with a technique known as cut and coven They dug a trench, laid the rails, and then covered it over again. But up here in-northern Manhattan, cut and cover would have made the subway feel like a roller coaster, so in order to keep the train level, planners had to go deep.
Ms. Vivian Heller: It was 180 feet, so it was really a mining operation because of the depth involved. So now we're at 191st Street. Voice: A hundred and ninety-first.
Ms. Vivian Heller: This is the Ft. George tunnel section.
Simon: \"This station is at the deepest point of the original line, and it has the wet chill of a cave. This section would prove the most challenging to the chief engineer and visionary of the New York subway,\" William Barclay Parsons.
Ms. Vivian Heller: He was chosen to be chief engineer when he was 35 years old, and many people felt that he was much too young for this huge undertaking. He was interrogated very closely and revealed a knowledge of all of the systems of the city that was incredibly minute and detailed, and actually he just astonished everyone.
Robert Smith: The cut-and-cover sections of the subway were built mostly by unskilled laborers, African-Americans and Irish and Italian immigrants. But Par-sons knew he would need specialists for the tunneling sections. Clifton Hood is a history professor at Hobart and William Smith Colleges. He wrote a subway history called 722 Miles.
Professor Clifton Hood: These were miners who came from the anthracite coal mines in eastern (Author, 722 Miles) Pennsylvania. They came from silver mines in Colorado, from the Klondike gold strike. They came from South Africa's gold and
diamond mines. They were highly skilled workers who were paid about $3.75 a day, which was quite a good wage in those times, and they came with real skills.
Robert Smith: Not much is known about the men's lives. They stayed in rowdy boarding houses up above the tunnel in Washington Heights, and dance halls and
casinos opened to serve them. In photos from the time, they stand with their faces in deep shadow, their black hats and vests covered in a light rock dust. They would drill holes for explosives, set them off, clear out the rubble, build framing; and then do it all over again. It was loud and smelly work and
sometimes deadly. The worst disaster in the building of the subway took place just a few hundred feet from the 191st Street station in October of 1903. Author Vivian Heller.
Ms. Vivian Heller: The poignant thing about the Ft. George disaster is that the tunnel was almost completed when it occurred, and the schedule had been stepped up. The
contractor was pressing the foremen, so they had gone from doing two blasts a day to doing three blasts a day.
Robert Smith: After one of those blasts, a supervisor gave the all clear and the men went back inside the tunnel. Then a 300-ten boulder fell from the roof.
Professor Clifton Hood: Six are killed instantly and several more are very, very badly hurt. There's a Catholic priest who bravely goes down, ministers the last rites to these men, most of them Italian men crushed so badly they're not recognizable, their names aren't even known. They're described in the newspapers just by their employment number.
Robert Smith: Engineer William Parsons, when he wrote about the incident in his journal, didn't even mention that in the end 10 people died in the accident. Clifton Hood says that in the technological triumph of the subway, the story of the people who built it has gotten lost.
Professor Clifton Hood: We ignore these workers. They're not given much attention in the triumphal accounts of the subways. You don't see their images on any of the stations. Most New Yorkers who ride through the subway don't give a single thought to the fact that real people actually built it, and in some cases died and were injured building it. That's a part of the story that I think we really need to get back in.
Robert Smith: The only monument that exists to the workers of the tunnels is the sub-way itself and the city it transformed. Robert Smith, NPR News, New York. Task 10
The University of Oxford, situated in the city of Oxford, England, is the oldest university in
the English-speaking world . The universities of Oxford and Cambridge are sometimes referred to collectively as Oxbridge. The two universities have a long history of competition with each other, as they are two oldest and most famous universities in England.
The date of Oxford‟s foundation is unknown, and indeed it may not have been a single event , but there is evidence of teaching there as early as 1096. When Henry II of England forbade English students to study at the University of Paris in 1167, Oxford began to grow very quickly . The foundation of the first halls of residence, which later became college, dates from this period and later. Following the murder of two students accused of rape in 1209, the University was disbanded, and this led to the foundation of the University of Cambridge. In 1214, the University returned to Oxford with a charter, and the University‟s status was formally confirmed. Unit 11 Task 1 【答案】 A.
1) It had quite a warm climate then.
2) About 150 million years ago, Gondwanaland began to break up, and the Antarctic moved southwards until it reached its present position.
3) 99 percent of the total area of Antarctica is covered by a massive ice sheet. B.
1) Africa; Australia
2) small dog; (former) land connection; animals; plants 3) Penguin 【原文】
The Antarctic has not always been covered in ice. Fossil plants found in the rocks indicate
that it had quite a warm climate about 150 million years ago. Antarctica once formed part of the supercon-tinent Gondwanaland, with South America, Africa, India, Australia and New Zealand all grouped around its edge. However, about 150 million years ago Gondwanaland began to break up.
The Antarctic moved southwards until it reached its present position. The final proof for the
former land connection between Antarctica and the Gondwanaland continents was found in some
mountains where the remains of an animal about the size of a small dog were found. Other fossil remains of animals and plants have since been found.
Today the continent is covered by a massive ice sheet more than 4 kilometres thick, which covers 99 percent of the total area. The remaining 1 percent is almost lifeless, apart from a few plants, and the sea animals, like the penguins, which come ashore at certain times of the year. Task 2
【答案】 1) c 2) a 3) b 4) a
【原文】
Bali is a beautiful island of mountains, forests and rice fields. It is also an island of artists.
Almost everybody there is an artist of some kind. The people work all day at home, in the fields or
on their boats, but in the evening they make music, dance, paint or carve things out of wood and stone.
For the Balinese, art is part of religion. It is a way of pleasing their gods--and Bali, they
believe, is full of gods. There are thousands of temples in Bali, and there are festivals at these temples when people die or get married, or when a child is born. At these festivals the people try to keep their gods happy by giving them food, by dancing, by acting, and by playing music for them.
In the past, the Balinese did not care about the outside world. For them Bali was the whole world. But in the 1930s tourists began to visit Bali, and since the 1950s tourism has become big business there. So the islanders have begun to sell their art to tourists. These days the Balinese pro-duce more and more things for tourists; they make fewer things for their temples. They have less time for their gods, so there are fewer festivals.
Each year more tourists bring more money to the island; they also bring new ideas and a new way of life. The Balinese know that if fewer tourists come to the island, there will be less money. But they also know if there are too many tourists, the Balinese way of life will change drastically. The authorities are trying hard to organize and control tourism with caution. Bali has to
change; nevertheless they want to make sure that it changes for the better, not for the worse. Task 3 【答案】 A.
1) Because until 1980, it had been quiet for more than a hundred years. 2) It was strange. No birds were singing, and the air was still.
3) He was standing near the summit and reporting the eruption on radio. B.
Washington; 35; 1980; 123; recreation; summit; tremors; small eruptions; no danger; 1980; dust; ash; rocks; mud; 40; peaceful; empty 【原文】
Most volcanoes are quiet. They rest peacefully for hundreds of years. No one pays much attention to them.
Mount St. Helens was one of these volcanoes. Until 1980, it was a beautiful recreation area.
Its last eruption had been 123 years ago. No one was worried about another one. Then, in March 1980, Mount St. Helens began to make noises. At first, there were tremors. Then, small eruptions occurred. Some residents left immediately. Others felt there was no danger.
But on the morning of May 18, 1980, the mountain blew its top. With the power of
twenty-five atomic bombs, Mount St. Helens exploded. Clouds of dust and ash rose more than twelve miles into the sky. Rocks and mud crashed down the slopes.
Unfortunately, many people were still living, camping, or working in the area. Over forty people lost their lives. Others were rescued.
Robert Baker was fishing with his family when the explosion occurred. He reported that the morning of May 18 was strange. No birds were singing. The air was still. Then, he saw a large black cloud coming down toward them. In minutes, day turned into night. He called his family to their van and they started on the slow dark ride away from the mountain. All the time, hot ash was
raining on them.
But other people were not so lucky. David Johnston, a volcano expert, was standing near the summit of the mountain. At 8:31 a. m. , he radioed, \"This is it!\" He was never heard from again. Mount St. Helens is peaceful now. But its slopes are empty. It will be many years before fish, plants, and trees will again live on the mountain. Task 4 【答案】 A.
1) Mrs. Rakel Surlien is the Norwegian Minister of Environmental Protection, and she is about to begin a three-day visit to Britain. 2) Britain.
3) Britain insists the case against acid rain in general and its contribution in particular is far from proven. / Britain insists that neither the disastrous effects of acid rain nor Britain‟s responsibility in the issue has been proven. 4) Sweden.
5) It refers to a group of some 20 nations which are committed to reducing sulfur dioxide by a third.
6) Norway is against Britain in the dispute over acid rain in spite of its cordial approach. B.
1) fish; aquatic life; forest 2) power stations
3)remain isolateed
【原文】
Norway has decided to resume a \"softly-softly approach\" to Britain in the long-standing dispute over the issue of acid rain, as Mrs. Rakel Surlien, the Norwegian Minister of Environmental Protection, begins a three-day visit to Britain.
All the Nordic countries believe that Britain is responsible for as much as a third of the acid deposit failing in southern Scandinavia, killing fish and most other aquatic life in thousands of lakes and rivers and possibly putting large areas of forest at risk. Emissions from coal and oil
burning power stations are blamed mostly, but Britain insists the case against acid rain in general and its contribution in particular is far from proven.
The issue has become almost fashionable since the Swedes raised it in 1972. More than 20
nations have agreed to join the so-called \"30 Percent Club\by a third, and Britain is increasingly isolated in Western Europe by its refusal to do so.
Mrs. Surlien says there has been no change in the Norwegian position in spite of the cordial
approach, and she also scented victory, as she said, \"I don't see you can remain isolated in this way
for long. It must be very difficult to live with.\" Task 5 【答案】
1) four out of five; survive; rosy; forest flower; for centuries 2) 2,000; fight cancer; 40; wildlife; the rain forest
3) drugs; a South American tree; blood pressure; the snakeroot plant from Indian forests 4) foods; tropical forests; winged bean
5) rubber; oils; one; examined; 99; threatened
【原文】
A representative of an ecological organization is talking about the advantages and benefits for humans of the rain forests.
Four out of five of all children who got leukemia in 1960 died. Now four out of every five
survive. The secret of this miraculous change is the rosy periwinkle, a forest flower which tribal doctors had used for centuries.
The United States National Cancer Institute has identified more than 2,000 tropical rain
forest plants with the ability to fight cancer. In fact, about 40 percent of all drugs given out in the United States today owe much of their strength to chemicals from wildlife, largely from the rain forest.
Other drags include quinine, which comes from a South American tree, and drugs to relieve high blood pressure are derived from the snakeroot plant from Indian forests. The armadillo of South America is helping us find a cure for leprosy.
The tropical forests also contain large amounts of new foods. For example, the winged bean of New Guinea is now grown in about 50 different countries. Japanese scientists have found a calorie-free substance in Paraguay which is 300 times sweeter than sugar, and a coffee free of caffeine has been found in the small forests of the Comoros islands.
Every day we use products from the rain forests--robber, spices and oils, and of course
wood. Less than one percent of the forest plants have been examined for their potential, but the remaining 99 percent is threatened by our endless search for wood. The South American Indians
say the trees hold up the sky, and if they come down there will be a catastrophe. Task 6 【答案】 A.
1) A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, and the moon‟s shadow covers part of the earth.
2) A solar eclipse has occurred at Christmas only 30 times during the past 5,000 years, the last time in 1954.
3) The (retina of the) eye can be permanently damaged.
4) It works by projecting the sun‟s image on a piece of paper through a pinhole on another piece. 5) The next eclipse at Christmas will occur in 2307; it can be observed on the west coast of Africa. B. 1) T 2) F 3) T
【原文】
On December 25, 2000, many people across North America received a rare Christmas treat when the moon passed in front of the sun resulting in a partial solar eclipse.
Solar eclipses occur when the moon passes between the earth and the sun, and the moon‟s shadow covers part of the earth, and a total solar eclipse takes place when the moon‟s shadow blocks out the sun entirely. What made this particular solar eclipse unique was that this event has occurred on December twenty-fifth only 30 times during the past five thousand years, the last time in 1954.
But people must be exceptionally careful when attempting to view the solar eclipse. Without taking precautionary measures, one can permanently damage the retina of the eye; however, there
are several safe methods of witnessing this heavenly marvel.
First, you can view a solar eclipse by using eclipse safety glasses for filtering out the sun‟s harmful rays. They should be used when any part of the sun is visible.
Sunglasses can block out some of the sun‟s ultraviolet rays, but the results can be very
deceptive. The eye‟s natural reaction to this darken state when wearing sunglasses is to make the
pupil larger, which allows in more light and can intensify the damage to the your eye.
You can watch an eclipse by projecting the sun‟s image on a piece of paper either by using a
telescope, or easier yet, by creating a pinhole in a piece of paper and viewing the result on another
piece of paper, thus called a pinhole projector.
Only during a total eclipse when the sun is completely and briefly covered can you watch the eclipse without eye protection. Even then, extreme caution should be taken.
In case you didn‟t catch this last spectacular solar eclipse on December twenty-fifth, 2000,
there is no need to fret. Your posterity can record the next eclipse on Christmas in the year 2307, but only if they‟re visiting the west coast of Africa for the holidays. Task 7
【答案】 A.
1) pottery; metal
2) large cities; food production
3) the late 1950s; borrow; returnable; one-trip 4) pots; pans B.
1) Because the food must be shipped from place to place when it is produced, and because of the increased variety of foods available and the convenience of precooked meals, it is impossible for the customer to collect many foods in his own container.
2) Until the late 1950s Americans had to borrow soft-drink bottles by paying a deposit each time they bought one.
3) Yes, beaus sales of soft drink climbed.
4) Glass companies gave soft-drink sellers a helping hand. A US company, Consumer's Glass, made an arrangement with the bottler companies to reimburse them for much of the cost of one-trip bottles.
5) Aluminium food packages now have their own electric plugs. After you eat the food, you can just throw them away.
6) The writer is mildly criticizing the trend toward one-trip living and thinks it probably has gone too far.
【原文】
The product that most people throw out after using only once is packaging. This is not always tree. The pottery or metal container used in Roman times and in most rural areas of the world today is a permanent and valuable household item. Unless a container is accidentally broken, it lasts a lifetime, despite the many journeys from home to market, farm or water well and back. The
growth of large cities and modem methods of food production changes all that. Because the food must be shipped from place to place while it is produced, and because of the increased variety of foods available and the convenience of precooked meals, it is impossible for the customer to collect many foods in his own container.
It costs a great deal to provide a new container each time we buy milk, wine, beer and
other drinks. Yet for a number of reasons the trend towards one-trip bottles for all these items is in
full swing. The case of the vanishing returnable soft-drink bottle shows how much these containers add to the rising tide of waste.
Until the late 1950s, Americans had to borrow soft-drink bottles by paying a deposit each time they bought one. But several years later, soft-drink bottlers decided that it was more
convenient for the customer to throw the bottle away instead. A returnable bottle lasting 30 or more trips was replaced with 30 one-trip cans or bottles. Sales of soft drinks climbed and the container manufacturers smiled all the way to the bank. Glass companies gave soft-drink sellers a helping hand. A US company, Consumer's Glass, made an arrangement with the bottler companies
to reimburse them for much of the cost of one-trip bottles.
Other manufacturers have joined in promoting the throw-away spirit. The Aluminium
Company of America announced that packages would soon replace pots and pans. Food packages were being designed with their own electric plugs. After you eat the food, you just throw away the
pan with the messy old grease. What about a camping holiday? You can make a bonfire on the last
day with the disposable equipment that can now be purchased. In hospitals, there may well be a case on health grounds for disposable syringes. But isn't the use of one-trip sleeping bags and tents
taking disposability too far? Task 8
【答案】 A.
When was it started? 1991 Who started it? Jane Goodall
What kind of programme is it? An environmental and humanitarian programme How many Roots & Shoots groups are there worldwide? In how many countries?
More than 4,000 groups in 68 countries
What is its main purpose? To help kids develop a concern for animals, the environment, and their own communities Why is it called Roots & Shoots?
Young people, like the roots which creep underground everywhere and shoots which break through brick walls to
reach light, can break through the walls, which represent all the problems that humans have caused on the planet, and change the world. B. 1) F 2) F 3) T
【原文】
Jane Goodall, a British field biologist, has devoted her life to wildlife conservation, in
particular to the study of chimpanzees. She makes a special effort to reach out to young people. In
1991, Jane started an environmental and humanitarian programme for kids called Roots & Shoots.
Today, there are more than 4,000 Roots & Shoots groups in 68 countries all over the world and a programme in every state in the US. The main purpose of the Roots & Shoots programme is to help kids develop a concern for animals, the environment, and their own communities. \"Roots creep underground every-where and make a firm foundation. Shoots seem very weak, but to reach
the light they can break through brick walls,\" Jane tells people as she speaks about the
programme.
Imagine the brick walls are all the problems humans have inflicted on the planet. Young people, like those roots and shoots, can break through those walls to change the world.
A hundred years ago, Africa was home to about 2 million wild chimpanzees. Today the population of chimps has dropped to less than 150,000. Jane Goodall knows it will take a worldwide effort to save the species. She is working to sec that this effort is made. In November 2000, the Great Ape Conservation Act was signed into law in the United
States. Jane worked hard to persuade members of the US Congress to support this bill. The act provides money for protecting the great apes of Africa and Asia that are in danger of extinction. Experts predict that if we do not protect them now, soon there will be no more great apes living in
the Congo Basin, their last stronghold in Africa.
Jane Goodall is hopeful about the future. She knows that each of us can do our part, no
matter where we live, to protect wildlife and our environment. Her story shows us that one person
really can make a difference. Task 9
【答案】 A.
1) Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco.
2) It‟s San Francisco's world-famous landmark
3) Because of the gap between the amount of cars and the amount of roadway available. Or: If you
think of it as a supply/demand relationship, you‟ll find that there‟s a lot more demand than supply.
4) Texas Transportation Institute. B. 1) 85
2) 62; Los Angeles; 136; Seattle; Houston; New York; Miami; 69 3) Bigger cities; roadway; transit system 4) expensive; $68 billion 【原文】
James Hattori, the Host:
Hi, everybody. I'm James Hattori. Welcome to our program, this week from the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco's world-famous landmark, at the mouth of the Golden Gate straits. 42 million vehicles a year cross this bridge. That gives you an idea of the often nightmarish traffic drivers face around here. And, of course, we're not alone. Natalie Pawelski, our
environment correspondent, has the numbers on what it costs Americans to cope with rush hour traffic, in time and money.
Natalie Pawelski, the Environment correspondent:
If you think traffic is getting worse in your town, you're probably right.
There's a combination of factors. It's the amount of people, the amount of roadway that is
there. It's sort of a demand/supply relationship. You can think of it that way, and there's a lot more
demand than there is supply.
The annual Urban Mobility Report from the Texas Transportation Institute finds in the
average American city people traveled 85 percent more miles by car in the year 2000 than they did
in 1982. And rush hour drivers are now wasting an average of 62 hours a year stuck in traffic. Now that's not total travel time, that's just the extra time spent going slow or going nowhere because of traffic congestion.
The study says the worst traffic is in Los Angeles where the average rush hour driver loses
136 hours a year, more than three work weeks, to traffic jams. The runners up in the time drained category San Francisco, D.C., Seattle, Houston, San Jose, Dallas, New York, Atlanta and Miami where the average rush hour driver loses an extra 69 hours a year stuck in traffic.
Once you get to a big system, it's difficult to maintain the pace of the roadway and transit
system development and you wind up falling behind. More congestion is typical in bigger cities. The report says traffic jams aren't just annoying, they are expensive. For the 75 cities studied, researchers added up all the extra time and fuel wasted because of traffic congestion. The price tag
they figure is almost $68 billion a year. Task 10 【答案】 I.
A. common; poor housing; unemployment; traffic problems B. peculiar
1. infrastructure 2. urbanization II.
A. Migration
B. Depopulation; decrease; rise C. urban population growth rate 1. adults
2. large families
D. social service; health; education E. labor supply; low-productivity
Ⅲ.
A. (Promote a) more equal land distribution
B. Improve rural social services; health; education C. (Give) financial aid to agriculture; small landowners. 【原文】
Today I want to discuss problems of urbanization and in particular I want to talk about those
problems which are peculiar to developing economies and to discuss three possible policies which
could be used to control or to stem uncontrolled urbanization in developing countries. Certain urban problems of course are common to both developed and developing countries, for example, problems of poor housing, unemployment and those problems connected with traffic, for example,
congestion, pollution and so on. However there are problems which are very peculiar to
developing economies and this is due to the fact the developing countries need to create a basic infrastructure which is necessary for industrialization and consequently for economic growth. In fact it is the provision of this infrastructure which constitutes the urbanization process itself and this infrastructure or the provision of this infrastructure may have undesired effects on the
economy as a whole. Now it‟s these consequences on these effects which um I‟d like to deal with
next. I‟m going to talk about five main consequences of this uncontrolled urbanization. In the first instance there‟s the problem of the migration of people from the country to the city. Of course
people living in the country see the city as a more desirable place to live, whether they are living in developing or developed countries. But the problem is much more serious in a developing country because there are in fact often more people who wish to migrate to the city.
Now the fact of people migrating to the city causes a certain depopulation of rural areas. This is a second consequence if you like, and the result of this is a decrease in the production of food and in the supply of food to the country as a whole. This can in turn also lead to a rise in prices because of the law of supply and demand.
As a result of people moving to the city you get a high urban population growth rate. Now
this is due not only to the fact of more adults moving to the city but can also be due to traditions of
these people from the country because often people from rural areas have a tradition of large families and so on and so the population of the cities increases with these numerous children of the large families.
This leads to a fourth consequence which is a dramatic pressure on the supply of social
services in urban areas, in particular services related to health and education. In relation a health services we can see that there are endemic diseases which could be made worse by overcrowding
people coming from the country to the city, and in the stresses on services in education, with more
children there‟s need for more schools schools and more teachers and so on.
A fifth area which is affected by uncontrolled urbanization is that of the labour supply, and
often uncontrolled urbanization leads to an excess of labour supply in the cities. This can lead to, in turn, an informal kind of labour activities of, if you like, what might be called lowproductivity activities. For example people selling things in the streets or you often find for instance in large urban areas in developing countries children watching cars and so on and asking for tips from their
owners when they come back. This is really a sort of undesirable type of labour. So those are in fact the main consequences of uncontrolled urbanization. Now I‟d like to talk more on the three possible policies which could be developed to stem this kind of uncontrolled urbanization in developing countries.
The first one would be to promote a more equal land distribution. In this way farmers would
be more motivated to stay on the land. They would be able to work more land, and thus be able to
feed their families more adequately. Often the reasons why farmers wish to go to the city is that
they cannot grow enough food to both feed their families and earn a living. So a more equal land distribution is one such policy to stem this kind of move to the city.
A second policy would be to improve the supply of social services in the rural areas
particularly in the field of health and education. Country people often move to the city because they feel that these services are better in the city areas and if they could compare the services and
feel that there was perhaps not much difference between the two, it would be another reason for
not moving.
A third possible policy would be to give financial assistance to agriculture especially to the small landowners.
Now obviously the problem of uncontrolled urbanization, and the consequences which are not favorable, is a difficult problem to which there is no easy solution, but these three types of policies could help to reduce the problem which is felt in particular in developing countries. Task 11
Planet Earth is 4,600,000,000 years old. If we condense this time span we can compare it to a person 46 years old. Only at the age of 42 did the Earth begin to flower. Dinosaurs and the great reptiles did not appear until one year ago, when the planet was 45. Mammals arrived only eight months ago, and in the middle of last week human-like apes developed into ape-like humans, and last weekend the last ice age covered the Earth.
Modem man has been around for 4 hours. During the last hour agriculture was discovered. The Industrial Revolution began a minute ago. Since then, we have multiplied our numbers to plague proportions, caused the extinction of 500 species of animals, turned the planet upside down
in the search for fuels, and now we stand, arrogant with power, on the edge of a war to end all wars, and close to effectively destroying this oasis of life in the solar system. Unit 12 Task 1 【答案】 A.
1) Olmsted wanted the park to be a rural paradise within an urban area, a place for all — “rich and
poor, young and old\".
2) East Side Central Park was opened in 1876.
3) Because this part of Fifth Avenue has many museums, which used to be mansions built soon after the opening of East Side Central Park by wealthy New Yorkers.
4) Central Park West is the street on the western side of the park. It has large and unusual apartment buildings.
5) People laughed because they believed that nobody with money would live in an apartment house, especially when it was so far from the center of town. (It was just like the Dakotas, which are located in the western part of the United States.) B.
1) in the middle of; in the 1850s; landscape architect
2) explore; renting a bicycle; gardens; a zoo; a skating rink; old-fashioned; a lake; an outdoor
theater
3) The Metropolitan Museum of Art 4) famous residents 【原文】
The value of land in Manhattan has turned the island into a sea of concrete. Fortunately for New York's residents, there is one major exception: Central Park.
This huge park in the middle of the city was designed in the 1850s by landscape architect
Frederick Law Olmsted. Olmsted wanted the park to be a rural paradise within an urban area, a place for all — “rich and poor, young and old\". Central Park is still much as he intended. You can take a horse and buggy ride through Central Park. You can explore the park even better by renting a bicycle. Attractions in the park include gardens, a zoo, a skating rink, an
old-fashioned carousel, a lake where you can row, and an outdoor theater, where events are held each summer.
East Side Central Park was opened in 1876. Wealthy New Yorkers soon built mansions
along Fifth Avenue, on the park's east side. The Vanderbilts, a large family, at one point had eleven
mansions on Fifth Avenue!
The mansions that remain now hold art collections. For example, there's the Frick
Collection in what was once the home of millionaire Henry Clay Frick. The Frick is a delightful museum to wander through since it's set up, not like a museum, but as it was when the Fricks lived there.
This part of Fifth Avenue along Central Park has so many museums that it's called \"Museum
Mile\". The Metropolitan Museum of Art, with huge collections of art from around the world, may be the most important museum in the United States.
The street on the western side of the park, Central Park West, has large and unusual
apartment buildings. When the first one was being built, people laughed. They said nobody with money would live in an apartment house, especially when it was so far from the center of town that it might as well be in the Dakotas. The builder had the last laugh; he named his building the Dakota, and when it opened, every apartment was occupied.
The Dakota has had many famous residents, including actress Lauren Bacail and conductor/ composer Leonard Bernstein. But, above all, the building makes people think of John Lennon, who lived there and was killed right outside on December 8th, 1980. Task 2 【答案】 A.
1) twelve miles; several hundred; eight hundred thousand 2) over a thousand 3) far; grander; bigger B. 1) F 2) T 3) T
【原文】
Constantinople and the Medieval Society
In the ninth and tenth centuries Constantinople was one of the biggest, richest and most sophisticated cities in the world. The city was surrounded by about twelve miles of walls, and inside were several hundred churches and chapels and about eight hundred thousand inhabitants.
The river and harbor were crowded with sailing ships from all over the Black Sea and the
Mediterranean. Above it all was the dome of Sancta Sophia. At night, lit by over a thousand lamps
hanging from its dome and arches, the whole building glowed. Paris and the Leisure Society
The crowds of fashionable people going around in coaches or walking in the Tuileries
gardens were a new development in the European city. They formed what was called \"society\": a group of people who did things together, entertained each other and behaved in a certain way. Society became an extremely important element in cities: theatres, opera houses, pleasure gardens,
racecourses, cof-fee houses, shops, entire neighbourhoods and finally entire towns grew up as a result of it.
Manchester and the Industrial Society
Out of the Industrial Revolution grew Manchester and other industrial cities. For a
newcomer the first view of Manchester and its smoking chimneys must have been as amazing as the first view of Constantinople in the tenth century. In Manchester factory chimneys far outnumbered church towers, and warehouses were grander and bigger than the town hall. Task 3 【答案】
Places Descriptions
Greece The weather is nice, and warm. And the people are lovely. I love swimming there. Nepal I like the purity of soul, of the people there. They're the nicest, most direct, most unneurotic people that I've ever met anywhere in the world. Switzerland Switzerland was grand.
Cyprus The food was wonderful. The people were wonderful. The sun was wonderful, and the sea was wonderful. Cyprus is a lovely place.
Brazil I was lucky enough to go there a couple of years ago. The thing that impressed me most of all were the people and how friendly they were. 【原文】
Well, I love Greece and I'd really love to go back to Greece. It's so nice, and so warm, and the people are lovely, and I love swimming.
Nepal. I like the purity of soul of the people there. They're the nicest, most direct, most unneurotic people that I've ever met anywhere in the world.
Gee, I don't know, I mean I like Turkey. I liked Austria, but I wasn't there long enough to
really enjoy it. Switzerland, Switzerland, Switzerland was it. Yeah, I was hiking in Switzerland. Switzerland was grand.
Cyprus. The food was wonderful. The people were wonderful. The sun was wonderful, and the sea was wonderful. Cyprus is a lovely placa.
It has to be Brazil. I was lucky enough to go there a couple of years ago. The thing that
impressed me most of all were the people and how friendly they were. Task 4 【答案】 A.
1) The majority of Australians are of English, Irish, Italian, Greek, Dutch, and Polish descent.
Over the past 50 years, a large number of Asian and African immigrants have poured in. Besides, about one percent of the population is Aborigine.
2) Because much of the land in Australia, particularly in the Outback, is so arid that people are unable to live there. B. 1) T 2) T C.
1) Make friends with; Explore; Marvel at; be awed by 2) vast; amazing; peaceful; unique
3) relax on our beautiful beaches; thousands of years ago; meet interesting people
【原文】
Is Australia the world's largest island or its smallest continent? Actually, it's both. In fact, Australia is the only country that is also a continent. Although roughly the size of the United States mainland, Australia has a population of about 16.5 million people. That makes this island nation one of the least densely populated countries.
What ethnic groups make up the Australian population? The majority of Australians are of
English, Irish, Italian, Greek, Dutch, and Polish descent. However, over the past 50 years, some 4 million people from more than 120 countries have made Australia their home. This includes a large number of Asian and African immigrants. About 1 percent of the population is Aborigine. The Aboriginal people were the first settlers in Australia. They came from Asia about 40,000 years ago.
In addition to being the smallest continent, Australia is also the driest inhabited continent,
Lush green pastures may be typical in sheep farming areas (there are, by the way, more sheep than
people in Australia). However, much of the land, particularly in the Outback, is so arid that people are unable to live there. That explains why most Australians live in metropolitan areas, many of which line the coast, and why Australia is considered one of the world's more urbanized countries.
Make friends with a koala at one of our wildlife parks. Explore the lush, green bush land
areas of the Blue Mountains. Marvel at the coral of our magnificent Great Barrier Reef. Or be awed by our ancient landscapes and strange land formations. Whatever your interests are, Australia has what you're looking for.
Lining our coast are some of the world's most sophisticated cities like Melbourne,
Brisbane, and Sydney. There you can enjoy all the best in food, fashion, the arts, theater, and sports. But you won't want to miss the wonders of the vast and amazing Outback or the peaceful beauty of the bush. Australia has a variety of unique trees, plants, and wildlife. Discover them at any of our magnificent wildlife reserves and parks.
No matter where you go in Australia, you'll find something to delight you. So surf or ski,
relax on our beautiful beaches, see Aboriginal rock art painted thousands of years ago, and meet interesting people. Don't wait. It's always a good time to visit Australia. Task 5 【答案】 A.
Time People Routes Thousands of years ago
Asians Crossed the Bering Strait to Alaska and then moved through North America and on to South America
A.D. 459 Sailors from China Crossed the Pacific to Mexico In the ninth and tenth centuries
Irish explorers Sailed from Iceland to America A.D. 986 A Norseman called Bjami Herjolfsson Another Norseman named Leif Ericsson
Lived for a time in Newfoundland in Canada but then returned to Greenland B.
1) Columbus thought he had arrived in the Indies (the name then used for Asia) when he arrived in
the Bahamas.
2) It was named after another Italian explorer, Amerigo Vespucci, who was a friend of Columbus's and who later explored the coastline of the New World. C. T
【原文】
For many years, people believed that the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus discovered America. But, in fact, others had reached America before him. Thousands of years ago, Asians crossed the Bering Strait to Alaska and then moved through North America and on to South America. Others have claimed that travelers from Europe and China also visited America. According to some people, sailors from China crossed the Pacific to Mexico in A.D. 459. Irish explorers also may have visited America in the ninth and tenth centuries. Irish people reached Iceland in the ninth century before the Norsemen, who came from Scandinavia. They may have sailed from Iceland to America after the Norsemen arrived.
The Norsemen themselves may also have visited America. They were used to sailing long distances in their ships. Some Norse stories tell of a Norseman called Bjarni Herjolfsson who visited America in A.D. 986. Another Norseman named Leif Ericsson probably lived for a time in Newfoundland in Canada but then returned to Greenland. However, the first Western explorer we
can be sure about was Christopher Columbus. He left Spain on August 3rd, 1492, and on October 12th, he arrived in the Bahamas. Columbus thought he had arrived in the Indies (the name then used for Asia). That is why he called the people Indians. He spent many weeks sailing around the
Caribbean and then went back to Spain. He made several more voyages to the New World, though
he never actually landed in North America.
So, who was America named after? It was named after another Italian explorer, Amerigo
Vespucci, who was a friend of Columbus's and who later explored the coastline of the New World. Task 6 【答案】 A.
1) a few hundred metres off the coast of 2) ,000; 8,000 B.
1) Because the population of Skye is getting smaller. Its young people are being tempted by mainland life and the chance of better jobs and better pay.
2) His plan is to build a bridge linking Skye with the mainland. He thinks this will bring new work to the island, and stop people from going away from their homes.
3) Because they think that the bridge will bring in too many tourists and take away the island's independence and character. C. c
【原文】
The island of Skye is one of the most romantic places in the British Isles, but it is suffering a crisis and a local businessman has got an idea to save it. The island of Skye stands just a few
hundred metres off the coast of Western Scotland and it is one of the most beautiful parts of the British Isles. In the summer it is bathed in sunshine, and in the winter it is covered in mists. There is mystery in its hills and valleys, and a strange, almost dream like beauty.
Like so many other rural communities, however, Skye is in danger. The population is
getting smaller. A hundred years ago there were ,000 inhabitants on the island; now there are only 8,000. Skye's young people are being tempted by mainland life and the chance of better jobs and better pay.
\"If you come back in twenty years,\" says Skye businessman Colin Stuart, \"there'll be
nobody here.\" That is why he is trying to get support for a new scheme — a bridge linking Skye with the mainland. He thinks this will bring new work to the island, and stop people from “going over the water\" and away from their homes.
But Colin Stuart's scheme has not been popular with many of the islanders. \"They have not been persuaded yet,\" says Stuart. \"They think that the bridge will bring in too many tourists and take away the island's independence and character. I tell them that unless we bring new business to
Skye there will be nobody here to enjoy our independence.\" Colin Stuart has been to Norway and seen how islands there are joined by sea bridges; and that's what he wants to do in Skye. \"If
enough money can be raised by interested people, the decline of Skye can be stopped.\" Only time
will tell if Colin Stuart's idea will be accepted. Task 7 【答案】
A.
1) parks; museums and shops; in the centre of; further out 2) 450
3) in the 16th century; in 1835 B.
Names Locations Characteristics St. James's Park
Close to Buckingham Palace, and to the government offices in Whitehall
Very attractive, with a long, narrow lake, which is occupied by ducks and other water birds
Green Park Very close to the Palace Very bare Hyde Park
Famous for the Serpentine--the lake, and for Speaker's Corner, where people can, and do, say anything about almost every subject under the sun
Richmond Park In the southwest of London There are still deer in there Kensington Gardens
Next to Hyde Park Very popular with both the old and the young. On warmer days there are always people at the Round Pond, where they come to sail their model boats Regent's Park
Famous for its lake and its flowers, as well as for London Zoo. There is also an open-air theatre, where the public can see many of Shakespeare's plays in the summer months. 【原文】
London is famous for its parks, as well as its museums and shops. These parks are both in the centre of the city and further out. It is the central parks which are the most famous.
St. James's Park was first opened 450 years ago. It is very close to Buckingham Palace, and
to the government offices in Whitehall. Unlike Green Park, which is also very close to the Palace, St. James's Park is very attractive, with a long, narrow lake, which is occupied by ducks and other water birds. Green Park, on the other hand, is very bare. There is a story it was once used by a leper colony, and since then no flowers and plants have grown.
Hundreds of years ago, deer, bears and wild bulls were kept in Hyde Park, and for centuries the Kings and Queens of England went there to hunt. Now it's famous for the Serpentine — the lake, and for Speaker's Comer, where people can, and do, say anything about almost every subject
under the sun. Now there are still deer in one of London's parks--Richmond Park in the
southwest of London.
Kensington Gardens is next to Hyde Park, and it is very popular with both the old and the
young. On warmer days there are always people at the Round Pond, where they come to sail their
model boats.
The last of the large central parks is Regent's Park. This was used by Henry VIII in the 16th century as a hunting park, but it was first opened as Regent's Park in 1835. Today, the park is famous for its lake and its flowers, as well as for London Zoo, which is in the northeast comer. There is also an open-air theatre, where the public can see many of Shakespeare's plays in the summer months. Task 8
【答案】 A.
1) They are in the desert in southern Peru near the Nazca city 2) The lines were discovered in the early 1930s.
3) Because the forms were so big, they were difficult to see from the ground, only visible from the
air. They were not discovered until aircraft flew over this region. B.
37 miles long; 1 mile wide; straight lines; parallel; strange symbols; on a giant scale; 200 B.C.; 600 A.D.
【原文】
In the southern desert of Peru, about 200 miles south of Lima, there lies a plain near the
Nazca city. Across this plain, in an area measuring 37 miles long and 1 mile wide, is an assortment of perfectly straight lines, many running parallel, others intersecting, forming a grand geometric form. In and around the lines there are also strange symbols, and pictures of birds and beasts all etched on a giant scale that can only be appreciated from the sky. They are called the Nazca Lines,
made some-time between 200 B.C. and 600 A.D.
The forms are so difficult to see from the ground that they were not discovered until aircraft, being used to survey for water, spotted them in the early 1930s.
The Nazca Lines are an enigma. No one knows who had built them or indeed why. Since
their discovery, the Nazca Lines have inspired fantastic explanations from ancient gods, a landing strip for returning aliens, a celestial calendar, used for rituals probably related to astronomy, to a map of underground water supplies. These lines still remain a mystery to this day. Task 9 【答案】 A.
1) It erupted on August 24 th , 79 A.D. 2) 2,000
3) In Pompeii, there are lots of shops for clothes and shoes, and all kinds of food. The city is also full of workshops. People make many things like tables, chairs and pots. There are hotels, restaurants and bars for all the summer visitors. There are theaters too.
B. 1) F 2) T 3) F
【原文】
In the year 79 A.D. the volcano Vesuvius erupted. A Roman writer, Pliny, was near Vesuvius at the time. Many years later he wrote a letter to a friend about it.
\"... My mother and I were at my uncle's house in Misenum. On August 24th, after lunch, my mother said to my uncle, 'Look at that cloud! Look at the shape!' It came from one of the
mountains. It was like a giant umbrella, white in some places, black in others. My uncle was very interested in the cloud. He wanted to take a boat and go close to the mountain. He invited me, but
I said no. I wanted to study. Then a message came from one of his friends whose house was at the
foot of Vesuvius. She wanted to leave, but she hadn't got a boat, so my uncle immediately went to
her. But the sea near Vesuvius was full of stones from the volcano. My uncle spent the night at Stabiae, south of Pompeii. The next morning, suddenly, he died by the sea. I was 17 at the time...\"
Most people left Pompeii on that day. But 2,000 didn't — and they all died. Between 3 and 5 meters of stone and ash fell on the city. It was dark for two days: Then the sun came back, but no one could see Pompeii.
1,700 years later people found the ancient city of Pompeii. So now you can visit Pompeii
and see a city from the past. It's not very different from our cities today. There were lots of shops for clothes and shoes, and all kinds of food. The city was also full of workshops. People made many things like tables, chairs and pots. There were hotels, restaurants and bars for all the summer
visitors. There were theaters too. Life was good in ancient Pompeii — before August 24th 79! Task 10 【答案】
How did New York become America‟s largest city; geography; history; economics 1) northeast; heavily; seaports 2) raw materials; finished goods
3) 1815; the ports; the central regions of the country 4) the best solution; 1825
5) were cut to about one-tenth of what they had been; the leading city of the coast 6) the railroads; tied; even more closely
7) Exports; imports; were eager to; as a result; receiving people from European countries; homes; goods; services; labor 【原文】
In the 18th century New York was smaller than Philadelphia and Boston. Today it is the largest city in America. How can the change in its size and importance be explained？ To answer this question we must consider certain facts about geography, history, and
economics. Together these three will explain the huge growth of America's most famous city.
The map of the Northeast shows that four of the most heavily populated areas in this region
are around seaports. At these points materials from across the sea enter the United States, and the
product of the land are sent there for export across the sea.
Economists know that places where transportation lines meet are good places for making raw materials into finished goods. That is why seaports often have cities nearby. But cities like New York needed more than their geographical location in order to become great industrial centers. Their development did not happen simply by chance.
About 1815, when many Americans from the east coast had already moved toward the west, trade routes from the ports to the central regions of the country began to be a serious
problem． The slow wagons of that time， drawn by horses or oxen, were too expensive for moving
heavy freight very far. Americans had long admired Europe's canals. In New York State a canal seemed the best solution to the transportation problem. From the eastern end of Lake Erie all the
way across the state to the Hudson River there is a long strip of low land. Here the Erie Canal was constructed. After several years of work it was completed in 1825.
The canal produced an immediate effect. Freight costs were cut to about one-tenth of what they had been. New York City, which had been smaller than Philadelphia and Boston, quickly
became the leading city of the coast. In the years that followed, transportation routes on the Great
Lakes were joined to routes on the Mississippi River. Then New York City became the end point of a great inland shipping system that extended from the Atlantic Ocean far up the western branches of the Mississippi.
The coming of the railroads made canal shipping less important， but it tied New York even more closely to the central regions of the country. It was easier for people in the central states to ship their goods to New York for export overseas.
Exports from New York were greater than imports. Consequently, shipping companies were eager to fill their ships with passengers on the return trip from Europe. Passengers could come from Europe very cheaply as a result.
Thus New York became the greatest port for receiving people from European countries.
Many of these people remained in the city. Others stayed in New York for a few weeks, months, or
years, and then moved to other parts of the United States. For these great number of new Americans New York had to provide homes, goods, and services. Their labor helped the city be come great. Task 11 【原文】
London is one of the biggest cities in the world. It has a population of over 8 million. Some people like it very much because there is a lot to do there and it is very interesting. There are hundreds of cinemas, theatres, museums and restaurants there. But other people don't like it because there is so much traffic and noise everywhere.
Brighton is a medium-sized town with a population of around 300,000. It is on the coast,
about 50 miles from London. Of course it isn't as interesting as London, but the air is a lot cleaner
and better. There are a few factories, but not many. It isn't very easy to find a good job there. But there are a lot of hotels and language schools in the town, and in the summer the town is full of tourists. Unit 13 Task 1
【答案】
1) He was wearing rubber boots and a dirty jacket. He needed a hair cut badly and was unshaven. 2) Because it was hard for him to believe such a man could afford to buy sixteen expensive cars. 3) He asked the young man to leave.
4) He went to a showroom on the other side of the street and asked for sixteen cars. 5) He took a bundle of bank notes out of his pocket and paid for the cars in cash.
6) He explained that the cars were for himself and his fifteen colleagues. He and his colleagues worked on a Norwegian fishing-boat. They had all earned a lot of money that season, and they want to buy cars.
【原文】
A young man went to a car showroom. He was wearing rubber boots and a dirty jacket. He needed a hair cut badly and was unshaven. The young man looked at an expensive car carefully and then turned to speak to the salesman. “How much does this car cost?” he said.
“One thousand two hundred and eighteen pounds,” the salesman said. “I‟ll have sixteen of them,” the young man said.
The salesman smiled. He found it hard to be polite. “You are joking, of course,” he said. “I‟m afraid we can‟t help you. This car is not for sale.”
The salesman showed his customer to the door, and the young man left the shop without a word. He went to a showroom on the other side of the street and asked for sixteen cars. The second salesman was polite and helpful. The young man took a bundle of bank notes out of his pocket and paid for the cars in cash. He explained that the cars were for himself and his fifteen colleagues. He said that he and his colleagues worked on a Norwegian fishing-boat. “We have all earned a lot of money this season.” The man said, “and we want to buy cars.” Naturally, the second salesman was delighted. Task 2 【答案】 A.
1) It is Victorian brass.
2) The stallholder says it's worth twenty quid. 3) The stallholder is asking fifteen for it. 4) It means “pound”.
5) He says that Lucy must be joking, and he paid more than that for it himself. B.
1) Fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, and twelve fifty. 2) Ten, eleven, twelve and twelve fifty. 【原文】
Lucy: Excuse me.
Stallholder: Yes, Miss?
Lucy: How much do you want for this plate?
Stallholder: Let me see. Oh, yes.., that's a lovely example of Victorian brass. It's worth twenty quid.
Lucy: Twenty pounds! Oh, that's too much for me. It's a pity. It's really nice. Stallholder: Ah, I said it's worth twenty quid. I'm only asking fifteen for it. Lucy: Fifteen pounds? Lucy: Excuse me.
Stallholder: Yes, Miss?
Lucy: How much do you want for this plate?
Stallholder: Let me see. Oh, yes.., that's a lovely example of Victorian brass. It's worth twenty quid.
Lucy: Twenty pounds! Oh, that's too much for me. It's a pity. It's really nice. Stallholder: Ah, I said it's worth twenty quid. I'm only asking fifteen for it. Lucy: Fifteen pounds?
Stallholder: Yes. It's a real bargain.
Lucy: Oh, I'm sure it is, but I can't afford that!
Stallholder: Well, look.., just for you, I'll make it fourteen quid. I can't go any lower than that. Lucy: I'll give you ten.
Stallholder: Ten! Come on, love. You must be joking! I paid more than that for it myself. Fourteen. It's worth every penny.
Lucy: Well, perhaps I could give you eleven. Stallholder: Thirteen. That's my final offer. Lucy: Twelve.
Stallholder: Twelve fifty. Lucy: All right, twelve fifty.
Stallholder: There you are, love. You've got a real bargain there. Lucy: Yes, thank you very much. Task 3 【答案】 A.
1) make out 2) draw out 3) letters
4) ONLY; words
5) amount; numbers 6) last, signature B.
3, March, 2011; Cash; Twenty pounds only;￡ 20----00; signature 【原文】
Alex: Good morning. Cashier: Good morning.
Alex: I would…I would like to know how to make out this check? Cashier: Right. Em... Do you want to draw out some money? Alex: Yes. £200.
Cashier: £ 200. OK. Well, the first thing you need to do is write today's date in the top right-hand corner where you see the line, at the top you write just today's date...and the year. You must put the year in. And if you want to draw out money after it says PAY...can you see over on the left-hand side? Alex: The first...line?
Cashier: That's it. On the first line it says PAY and you write CASH afterwards. Alex: In letters?
Cashier: Yes. CASH, you write CASH, OK? Then below that, right below that, you have to write the amount of money you want. So just two hundred pounds and then you write ONLY at the end in words. Then at the end of that line where you can see the box, see over on the
right-hand side, you have to write the amount you want in numbers. And then below the box, the last thing you have to do in the bottom right-hand corner is just write your signature. Alex: Thank you very much. Cashier: Okay. Bye-bye then. Alex: Bye. Task 4
【答案】 A.
1) $7.56
2) $0.6 for 8 percent sales tax. 3) $8.16 4) $10.16 5) 2 bucks. B.
1) tube; $1.09; bars; $.85; tube; $1.39; bottle; $.79; box; $.99; $.29; stick; $.98; tube; $.; package; $.69
2) Here's your change
【原文】 Cashier: Next? Li: I'm next.
Cashier: Let's see now. You have one family-size tube of tooth paste: $1.09. Three bars of soap: $.85. A tube of shampoo: $1.39. A bottle of aspirin: $.79. One box of Kleenex: $.99. A comb: $.29. One stick of deodorant: $.98. A tube of shaving cream: $.. A package of razor blades: $.69. That's $7.56, and 8 percent sales tax. Total: $8.16. Li: Here's a 10-dollar bill.
Cashier: Got 16￠ , Mister?
Li: Just a minute. I'll look. Yes. Here you are, 16￠ .
Cashier: Thanks. Here's your change. Next, please. Please step up.
Li: Excuse me, Miss. You gave me $1 in change. My bill was $8.16 and I gave you a 10-dollar bill.
Cashier: Oh, yeah. Sorry, Mister. Here's your buck. Next, please. Task 5 【答案】 A
1) There are 10 denominations, namely $10,000; $5,000, $1,000; $500; $100; $50, $20, $10, $5 and $1.
2) They are the same size and the same green color.
3) The best bet is to forget the pictures and concentrate on the large numbers in all four comers on
the front and back.
4) There are five denominations of coins: $.01 or 1￠ ; $.05 or 5￠ ; $. 10 or 10￠ ; $.25 or 25￠ ;
and $.50 or 50￠ .
5) No, they aren‟t. Because a dime is smaller than either a nickel or a penny. B.
1) $1; $5; $10; $20
2) White House; Treasury Building; Lincoln Memorial; “ONE”; American insignia
3) cash; bucks; dough; bread; moolah; greenbacks; a dollar; a single; a buck; a bill; five dollars; a fiver; a five spot; five bucks; singles; a ten; ten bucks; ten spot
4) penny; cent; one cent; nickel; five cents; dime; ten cents; quarter; two bits; twenty-five cents; fifty-cent piece
5) change; small change; silver; silver 【原文】
The US government prints paper money in the following denominations: $10,000; $5,000; $1,000; $500; $100; $50; $20; $10; $5 and $1.
You, and almost everybody else, will never see some of these bills; twenties, tens, fives and ones are the most commonly used. You will find a picture of George Washington on the $1 bill, Abraham Lincoln on the $5, Alexander Hamilton on the $10 and Andrew Jackson on the $20.
There are also pictures on the back: the White House on the $20, the Treasury Building on the $10,
the Lincoln Memorial on the $5 and a big \"ONE\" and the American insignia on the $1. However, all paper bills are the same size and the same green color, so you have to look carefully before handing someone money and when receiving change. Your best bet is to forget the pictures and concentrate on the large numbers in all four comers of the front and back.
Money in general is referred to as: \"cash\
\"greenbacks\a five-dollar bill is \"five dollars\dollars. A ten-dollar bill might be \"a ten\
There are, of course, 100 cents in a dollar. Coins come in the following denominations: $.01 or 1￠ ; $.05 or 5￠ ; $. 10 or 10￠ ; $.25 or 25￠ ; and $.50 or 50￠ . They are referred respectively
to a penny, a cent, or one cent; a nickel or five cents; a dime or ten cents; a quarter, two bits or twenty-five cents; and a fifty-cent piece.
Coins are called \"change\
anymore. Coins are generally recognized by their size, but somebody \"goofed\" on the dime, which
is smaller than either a nickel or a penny. All the others are in size order. Task 6
【答案】
1) It means we don't carry most of our weekly or monthly wage around in our pockets, and we don't leave it at home where it might easily be stolen.
2) Because we don't want to travel around the city with hundreds of dollars in cash to pay these bills, nor do we want to waste the time and carfare.
3) The author recommends an account that is a savings and a checking account in one. 4) Because often commercial banks have many offices in a city or town.
5) You sign your name on the back of the check, mark it \"for deposit only\" and deposit the money in your account.
6) It is generally about $4 per month or 15￠ for every check you write.
7) You should have received in the mail all your bills, such as the rent, the gas and electricity, the phone, perhaps a doctor or dentist bill, etc.
8) You can use a small plastic card to tell the computer to transfer the same amount of money from
your savings to your checking account. 9) No, it doesn‟t.
10) The computer will oblige as long as you have the amount you're asking for in your account. 【原文】
We have a rule of thumb: \"Don't carry around any more cash than you can afford to have
stolen.\" This means we don't carry most of our weekly or monthly wage around in our pockets, and we don't leave it at home where it might easily be stolen.
Furthermore, we have to pay certain bills every month. We don't want to travel around the city with hundreds of dollars in cash to pay these bills, nor do we want to waste the time and carfare. So we need bank accounts. And so do you.
The kinds of savings and checking accounts available in the US are numerous and complex, but as you will have only a small amount of money to deal with each month, your choices are limited. Let us recommend to you an account that is both a savings and a checking account in one.
Though they are called by a wide variety of names — each bank gives its account a different name
— they all follow essentially the same pattern. We think that savings banks generally give slightly better deals to people like you with little money, but you should ask people in your area what's the
best, cheapest and most convenient. Often commercial banks have many, many more offices in a city or town, and that makes banking easier for you.
How does all this work? You receive your monthly money from the Chinese government,
probably in the form of a check, a piece of paper with your name on it and the amount you are entitled to, say $420. You sign your name on the back of the check, mark it \"for deposit only\" and deposit the money in your account. Then you withdraw, say, $50 to pay for groceries, carfare and other daily expenses, \"spending money\" or \"pocket money\". The remaining $370 will earn about 5
percent interest from the day it is deposited until the day you take it out. In this way, your interest
on the savings account may be enough money to cover the cost of the account, generally about
$4
per month or 15￠ for every check you write.
By about the 10th of every month you should have received in the mail all your bills — the
rent, the gas and electricity, the phone, perhaps a doctor or dentist bill, etc. You sit down with your
check book and write a check to pay each person. Put each check in the proper envelope, which generally has a return envelope with it, stamp them and mail them. You add up the checks — let's
say it's $220, and go to your bank. With a small plastic card you can give a computer directions regarding your account: you can tell the computer to transfer $220 from your savings to your checking account. That $220 will no longer earn any interest; it will sit in your checking account until the landlord and the others take your checks and deposit them in their banks. Then, the proper amount will be deducted from your checking account and everybody will be happy. If your original $50 cash runs out, you can take your little plastic card and ask the computer to give you some cash. The computer will oblige as long as you have the amount you're asking for in your account. If you don't — computers are very smart! Task 7
【答案】 A. 1) F 2) F 3) T 4) F 5) T B.
1) The goods bought by hire purchase are, in almost every case, goods that will last — radio and television sets, washing machines, refrigerators, motor-cars and motor-cycles, and articles of furniture.
2) It helps newly-married couples with small incomes to furnish their homes; increases the demand for goods, and in this way helps trade and employment; and by hire purchase, families can spend less money, or perhaps no money, in useless or perhaps harmful ways, for example, on too much alcohol drink.
3) There is the danger that when trade is bad, hire purchase buying may end suddenly and make trade much worse, with, as a result, a great increase in unemployment. 【原文】
This system of buying goods became very common during the first half of the twentieth century. Today a large proportion of all the families in Great Britain buy furniture, household goods and cars by hire purchase. In the USA, the proportion is much higher than in Great Britain, and people there spend over 10 percent of their income on hire purchase installments.
The goods bought by hire purchase are, in almost every case, goods that will last — radio and television sets, washing machines, refrigerators, motor-cars and motor-cycles, and articles of furniture.
The price of an article bought in this way is always higher than the price that would be paid in cash. There is a charge for interest. The buyer pays a proportion, perhaps one quarter or one
third, of the price when the goods are delivered to him. He then makes regular payments, weekly or monthly, until the full price has been paid. The legal ownership of the goods remains with the seller until the final payment has been made.
Hire purchase has advantages and disadvantages. It helps newly married couples with small
incomes to furnish their homes. It increases the demand for goods, and in this way helps trade and
employment. If families are paying each month installments on such household goods as a
washing-machine and a car, they spend less money, or perhaps no money, in useless or perhaps harmful ways, for example, on too much alcohol.
There is, however, the danger that when trade is bad, hire purchase buying may end suddenly and make trade much worse, with, as a result, a great increase in unemployment. This is why, in some countries, the government controls hire purchase by fixing the proportion of the first payments and the installments. Task 8
【答案】 A.
Form B
CURRENT ACCOUNT FORM FULL NAME HELEN ANDREWS ADDRESS 33 BEDFORD ROAD LONDON E 14 AMOUNT & 2,000
CHECK BOOK YES□√ NO□
RATE OF INTEREST YES□ NO□√ B.
1) The money comes from the premium bonds
2) She has only had a post office savings account until now.
3) He thinks most people have current accounts if they have not got an awful lot of money and they need to use it regularly.
4) Because the bank doesn‟t give a cheque card until one has had an account with the bank for six
months.
5) The fact that no one would accept her checks without a check card makes her reconsider everything again. 【原文】
Bank Manager: Now, Miss Andrews, how much do you actually want to deposit with us in your new account?
Helen Andrews: Well, it's just around two thousand pounds that I won on the premium bonds. Bank Manager: Right. I now need your full name and address.
Helen Andrews: Helen Andrews. 33 Bedford Road ...Bank Manager: Helen Andrews: Would you please spell that?
Helen Andrews: A-N-D-R-E-W-S. Bank Manager: Address?
Helen Andrews: 33 Bedford, that's B-E-D-F-O--R-D ....
Bank Manager: So 33 Bedford ....Helen Andrews: Road, London El4.
Bank Manager: Right, er ... now do you want a deposit or a current account? Helen Andrews: Well, I want to be able to take my money out at any time. Bank Manager: I see. So you probably want a current account.
Helen Andrews: Well, if you say so. I've only had a post office savings account until now.
Bank Manager: Well, with a current account you can ... have a cheque book, or you can come into the bank and take the money out as you like.
Of course, there's no interest on a current account. Helen Andrews: Not at all?
Bank Manager: No. If you put it into a seven day's deposit account, of course, you get interest, but in a current account,none.
Helen Andrews: Well, most people have current accounts, don't they?
Bank Manager: Well, they do if they've not got an awful lot of money and they need to use it regularly.
Eh ... so that's probably the best thing for you.
Helen Andrews: Well, you'll give me a cheque book, won't you?
Bank Manager: I'll give you a cheque book immediately, yes, er...Helen Andrews: Do you need my signature?
Bank Manager: Ah yes, we'll need er ... two or three specimen signatures ...Helen Andrews: OK. And I will get a cheque card ...
I mean one of those cards which I'm allowed to use for up to fifty pounds a day.
Bank Manager: Eh, eh, now we don't actually give a cheque card until you've had an account with us for six months.
Helen Andrews: Six months?
Bank Manager: Yes, we have to see how the account's going, you see.
Helen Andrews: But that's crazy. I mean I used to work in a shop and we‟d never accept cheques without a cheque card, I mean no one will accept my money. Bank Manager: Well, er ... this is how we work, I'm afraid.
Helen Andrews: Well, I‟ll have to reconsider everything again, I think. I had no idea you were as strict as this ... Task 9 【答案】 A.
1) 100 pence 2) 12 pence 3) 1 penny
4) \"two shillings\" coin 5) one year 6) 1971 7) 1984
8) 1983; small B.
Since(year) Made of Largest Size Smallest Size NOTES &5
Paper &50 &5 &10
&20 1970 &50 1980 COINS 1/2p 50p
1/2p(before 1984) 1p/2p 1971 1p
5p 1971 10p 1971 20p
Copper/nickel 50p
Copper/nickel &1 1983 【原文】
The British have only had decimal currency for a very short time. In fact it was only
introduced in 1971. Before that, there were 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound. Now,
of course, there are 100 pence in a pound, and Britain is more like its European neighbours. Like other countries, Britain has both coins and notes. The common notes are five pounds
and ten pounds. The E20 note came out in 1970 and the E50 note has been around since 1981. There are several coins. The country stopped making the 1/2 pence in 1984. The l p (or one penny) is the smallest coin. Like the 2p it is made of copper. There are two types of 5p and two types of 10p. The 5p coins before 1971 have the words \"one shilling\" on them. The 10p coins before 1971 have the words \"two shillings\" on them. Both the one shilling coin and the 5p coin have the same value.
Other coins are the 20p, the SOP and the E 1 coin. The 20p and the 50p coins are made of copper and nickel. The El coin has been around since 1983 and the El note was discontinued in 1984, but people will continue to use it for some time. The coin is not very popular as it is very small. Task 10 【原文】
An old man died and left his son a lot of money. But the son was a foolish young man, and he quickly spent all the money, so that soon he had nothing left. Of course, when that happened, all his friends left him. When he was quite poor and alone, he went to see Nasreddin, who was a kind,
clever old man and often helped people when they had troubles.
“My money has finished and my friends have gone,” said the young man. “What will happen to me now?”
“Don‟t worry, young man,” answered Nasreddin. “Everything will soon be all right again. Wait and you will soon feel much happier.”
The young man was very glad. “Am I going to get rich again then?” he asked Nasreddin.
“No, I didn‟t mean that,” said the old man. “I meant that you would soon get used to being poor and to having no friends.” Unit 14 Task 1 【答案】 A. 1) a 2) c 3) b 4) a 5) b B.
1) animals; mice; rats; monkeys 2) mice 3) ongoing
4) healthy diet; amount 5) one; each day
【原文】
One way that scientists learn about man is by animals, such as mice, rats and monkeys. The
scientists in this laboratory are experimenting on mice. They are studying the relationship between
diet and health. At this time, over one hundred experiments are going on in this laboratory. In this experiment, the scientists are studying the relationship between the amount of food the mice eat and their health. The mice are in three groups. All three groups are receiving the same healthy died. But the amount of food that each group is receiving is different. The first group is eating one cup of food each day, the second is eating two cup and the third group of mice is eating three cups.
After three years, the healthiest group is the one that is only eating one cup of food each day. The mice in this group are thinner than normal mice. But they are more active. Most of the day, they are running, playing with one another, and using the equipment in their cages. Also they are living longer. Mice usually live for two years. Most of the mice in this group are still alive after three years.
The second group of mice is normal weight. They are healthy, too. They are active, but not as active as the thinner mice. But they only live about two years, not the three years or more of the thinner mice.
The last group of mice is receiving more food than the other two groups. Most of the day,
these mice are eating or sleeping. They‟re not very active. These mice are living longer than the scientists thought — about a year and a half. But they are not healthy. They‟re sick more often than the other two groups.
The experiment is still going on. The scientists hope to finish their studies in two years.
Task 2
【答案】 A.
1) People keep fish in a certain place just as they keep sheep and cattle. 2) By education.
3) Waste pollutes the sea, and plankton dies. Other sea animals that live on plankton cannot find enough food.
4) They needed to kill whales for their meat, their bones and the oil from their fat. But they have other materials now. B.
Scientists Ideas
Adams Brown Church
Start more fish farms on land
√ √
Stop fishing in certain parts of the Ocean
√ √
Only allow each country to catch a certain number of fish √ √ Stop killing whales √ √ √ C.
People on land' Large fish Smaller fish Zoo plankton Plant plankton
【原文】
Mike: Good morning, and welcome to Radio Time. For our monthly programme, Science Today, I've invited a group of scientists to the studio to talk about sea life — Professor Adams, Dr. Brown and Dr. Church. It's good to have you with us. Professor Adams, I've read in the papers that sea life is in danger. Is this true?
Adams: I'm afraid so, very true. As the world population grows, we need more food, so we catch more fish. We're overfishing the sea, and soon there won't BE any fish. Brown: The answer is to start more fish farms on land.
Church: I agree. We must keep fish, like we keep sheep and cattle.
Adams: Fish farms are a good idea, but I don't think they will solve the problem of overfishing the sea. We have to stop people fishing in certain parts of the ocean.
Church: Yes. We need international rules to protect fish, and all the countries of the world must agree to obey them.
Brown: We have rules now, and people don't obey them. I agree that we must stop fishing in certain parts of the ocean...
Adams: And we must only allow each country to catch a certain number of fish — but how do we make people obey these rules?
Church: I don't know. By education perhaps? Mike: You mean, teach people about sea life?
Church: Exactly. We must explain how everything depends on everything else. If people want to eat fish in the future, then they must stop killing so many fish now.
Brown: Waste is another problem. We're filling the oceans of the world with our rubbish. The sea
can no longer clean itself. It's not safe to swim near the beaches, and out at sea plankton is starting to die.
Adams: And without plant plankton for the zoo plankton, and zoo plankton for small fish and shellfish, the large fish can't find any food, and so it goes on.
Church: One reason why whales are disappearing is that they can't find enough food. Mike: Whales eat plankton, don't they?
Church: Yes. And some people still want to eat whale meat. In the past people needed to kill whales for their meat, their bones and the oil from their fat. But we have other materials now. People must stop killing whales.
Brown: I agree. We mustn't lose the largest sea mammal in the world.
Adams: Everyone must work to save the whale. It's a wonderful animal, and it has a right to life. Mike; And everyone must try to understand about sea life and protect it. Well, thank you for coming on the program me and I hope our listeners will remember what you said. Don't let our oceans die, and remember, no food for the fish means no fish for food! Task 3 【答案】 A. 1) b 2) a 3) b 4) c B.
1) Measure; Mix; Pour; Put on; Pack
2) late; sick; vacations; strike; 24 hours; 7 days; 365 days C.
1) A worker will program the robots. She/He will type the orders into a computer, telling the robots what ingredients to use, how long to mix them, and which labels to use. 2) A technician from the robot company will come within an hour to fix it. 3) No. 【原文】
Boss: Robots? Why are you talking about robots? We're a small company, we make cough syrup. We only have twenty workers. Robots are fine for large factories, not small ones like ours.
Assistant: Boss, small companies can use robots, too. They're great workers. Boss: I don't know. Talk to me about them ten years from now.
Assistant: Boss, listen, this is a simple operation here. We make 10 different kinds of cough syrup. But each operation only has 5 steps, so we'll only need 5 robots. One robot will measure the ingredients, and a second robot will mix them. A third robot will pour the syrup into the bottles. Then a fourth robot will put the labels on. The last robot will pack the bottles into boxes. Right now, we have 20 workers doing these jobs.
Boss: But each kind of syrup is different. How will these robots know what to do?
Assistant: We'll tell them. One worker will program the robots. She'll just type the orders into a computer, tell the robots what ingredients to use, how long to mix them, and which labels to use.
Boss: And what happens when one of the robots breaks down?
Assistant: They don't break down very often. And the robot company will have a technician here within an hour.
Boss: I just can't picture it. What will we have here? A quiet building with robots rolling around doing the work?
Assistant: That's it! And these robots are great workers. They'll never come to work late, they won't call in sick, they won't take vacations, they won't go on strike, and they'll work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Boss: I don't know. It sounds like a good idea, but I need time to think. What about the men and women who work here now? Most of them are good workers. They have families to support.
Assistant: Boss, that's the only problem. We won't need them anymore. Task 4
【答案】 A.
inventions; immediate; manufactured goods; growth; farms; grew up; coal; iron; pleasant; over-crowded B. Part 2 Factory A.
1. Long 2. Low B. common C. children Part 3
women and children A. 10 years old; mines
B. 10 working hours/day for women and for boys under 18 C. form unions C.
1) Socialists demanded complete changes in the system of Government and the way people earned their living.
But other social reformers only wanted to achieve their goals by peaceful means, particularly by passing new laws.
2) The Consequences of the Industrial Revolution in Britain 【原文】 Part 1
The early inventions and discoveries which began the Industrial Revolution had important
consequences. One immediate result was the great increase in the quantity of manufactured goods
available. Another important result was the rapid growth of cities. Many country people left their farms to work in factories. Gradually, new towns grew up around these factories which were built near the sources of coal, iron and waterpower. Some of the great cities of England, such as Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham, started in this way.
The industrial towns were not pleasant places to live in. The workers' quarters were over-crowded and the people lived in the midst of filth and disease. Part 2
The Industrial Revolution also brought about what was later called the factory system.
Working conditions in factories were bad. The people had to work long hours for small wages. Accidents were common and the employer took no responsibility for them. The most unfortunate victims of the factory system were children. Children only four or five years old were employed in factories and mines. Part 3
Many influential people began to protest against the terrible conditions under which the
people lived and worked. Gradually, the English Parliament made new laws to protect workers, particularly women and children. In 1842, it was made illegal to employ women, and children under ten years old, to work in the mines. Another law was passed in 1847 allowing only ten hours
of work per day for women and for boys under eighteen years of age. After 1824, working men were also allowed to form unions to bargain peacefully with their employers for better working conditions and better wages. Strikes were, however, forbidden for many years. Part 4
As the factory system grew, a number of men criticized its evils. Some of these men
merely wanted new laws to protect the workers. Others, who were later known as Socialists or Communists, demanded complete changes in the system of Government and the way people earned their living. Task 5 【答案】 A. 1) T 2) T 3) F 4) T 5) F 6) F 7) T 8) T
【原文】
Miranda went to one side of the control room and touched a button. The door of the safety room slid open. Miranda went inside and closed the door. She had a plan of her own.
The large blue capsules were on the tray which had come out of the wall. Miranda picked up a capsule and opened it carefully. It was full of white powder. She emptied the white powder into
some water. Then she poured the liquid into an injection gun.
Miranda put the gun carefully into a pocket in her overalls. She now had a weapon of her own.
\"Garth will not think of searching me,\" Miranda said to herself. \"He doesn't know I have a different plan for the crystals.\"
Miranda went back to the control room. Omega was silently charging the power banks. The visual display showed the sleeping bodies of Garth and Varon.
\"When will the ship be ready to leave for Zeron?\" she asked Omega eagerly. \"In three and a half hour's time,\" was Omega's reply.
\"Keep watching Garth,\" Miranda ordered. \"But you can stop watching Varon. He is locked in his cabin. He cannot get out until I open the door.\" \"It will be done,\" Omega answered.
He pressed the button on the control panel. The picture of Varon disappeared and the picture of the sleeping body of Garth filled the screen.
Miranda went out into the corridor and walked the short distance to Varon's cabin. She
touched a button in the wall and the door opened immediately. Varon was lying asleep on the bunk.
Miranda looked down at him.
\"You're a fool,\" she thought. \"How can you lie there sleeping? Anyone who trusts Garth is a fool.\"
She shook Varon by the shoulder until he woke up.
\"What's wrong?\" he asked sleepily. \"Are we ready to leave?\"
\"Not yet,\" replied Miranda. \"I have come to talk to you. I want you to help me.\"
\"I am going to help you to get the Zeron crystals. What more help do you want?\" asked Varon.
\"You know very little about me and Garth,\" began Miranda.
\"I know enough,\" interrupted Varon. \"You are thieves. And you are murderers!\"
\"I am not a murderer,\" said Miranda. \"I helped Garth on Earth. But I did not kill the owner of this spaceship.\" Task 6
【答案】 A. 1) c 2) b 3) c B.
Speakers
Does she/he believe there is the monster in Loch Ness? Why or why not? Professor Ports No.
If there are any monsters there, why hasn't' any-one
caught one yet? Why aren't there any really clear photos of one?
Macadam Yes. He says he has seen it. Dr. Hunt
He didn't believe in the idea, but now he is not so sure.
He believes \"there may be something unusual in Loch Ness\".
He says, \"The underwater world is still full of mysteries.\" 【原文】
Potts: Now, Mr. Macadam, what makes you so sure that there is a monster in Loch Ness?
Macadam: I've seen it, Professor Potts! I've seen it with my own eyes, I tell you! I was there by Loch Ness very early one morning. I was standing by the edge of the lake. Suddenly I saw a pair of eyes in the water. They were looking at me. Then a head came up out of the water, and this thing began to swim towards me. I was really frightened, you know! I was holding a bottle in my hand at the time. I threw it at the monster. Then the
monster dived and swam away underwater. But I know you don't believe my story, do you, Professor Potts?
Potts: Well, I believe that you saw something. But are you certain that it was a monster? Could you see it clearly? Are you sure that it wasn't just some kind of animal or bird? You see, I don't believe in monsters. And I don't think there's anything strange or unusual in Loch Ness. If there are any monsters there, why hasn't anyone caught one yet? Why aren't there any really clear photos or films of one?
Macadam: Ah, well let me explain. Loch Ness is very deep, you know — more than 200 metres deep in some places. And the water's a dark brown colour. These monsters don't come to the surface of the lake very often. They live in deep water, near the bottom of the lake. You can't see much down there. So it's very hard to find these monsters. And it's harder to catch one. Dr. Hunt knows a lot about Loch Ness. You believe there's a monster there, don't you, Doctor?
Dr. Hunt: Well, actually, I used to think that the whole idea of \"Nessie\" was just a joke. But now I'm not so sure. Nowadays we know a lot about land animals, but the underwater world is still full of mysteries. I don't like the word \"monster\something unusual in Loch Ness. It may be a big animal. It may be a fish that scientists don't know about. It could even be a kind of dinosaur that didn't die 65 million years ago. Who knows? It's an exciting idea, but we can't be certain until we have some better pictures, or, best of all, until someone catches one of these things so that scientists can study it properly. Task 7 【答案】 A. 1) F 2) T
3) F 4) F 5) T B.
1) Dispute over the genetically modified crops.
2) Biotech foods come from material that has been genetically modified by scientists to resist in-sects or disease.
3) European consumers feared possible health risks of these new foods.
4) First the foods must be labeled clearly. Second, producers will have to trace GMOs at all stages of production.
5) Because the aid contained biotech grain, which Africans feared could be used as seed and thereby threaten future exports to the EU.
【原文】
The European Parliament on Wednesday passed two laws that could open the way for
European Union nations to lift an unofficial ban on genetically modified crops. This is a major trade issue with the United States, whose farmers claim the ban has cost almost $300 million a year in lost corn exports.
The new laws, expected to be adopted by EU governments before the end of the year,
would allow the distribution of genetically modified foods as long as they are clearly labeled. The rules would also force producers to trace genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, at all stages of production.
The new laws require the 15 nations of the EU to establish their own measures to prevent seeds from farms growing genetically modified crops from blowing into fields of conventional farms.
European consumers fear possible health risks from genetically modified products, but EU Health Commissioner David Byrne insists this is not a concern.
\"The purpose of this legislation is to inform consumers about the exact nature and
characteristics of the food, to enable them to make informed choices. The purpose of labeling is not to inform the consumer about the safety or lack of safety of a food. If a food is unsafe, it cannot be placed on the market at all.\"
The United States has filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization in an attempt to have the unofficial EU moratorium on so-called biotech foods lifted.
Washington has also said previously it is unhappy with the new labeling rules and other requirements, which it believes are too costly and restrictive.
Biotech foods come from material that has been genetically modified by scientists to resist in-sects or disease. Such foods have been widely grown in North America for years.
The EU imposed its unofficial moratorium on new biotech foods five years ago because of fears by European consumers about possible health risks.
The issue has worldwide implications. Last year, several African nations rejected US food
aid because it contained biotech grain, which Africans feared could be used as seed and thereby threaten future exports to the European Union. Task 8 【答案】 A.
1) b 2) a 3) b 4) c B.
1) It's the largest anywhere in the world.
2) They built two different types of power station side by side. They want to find which is the best system for harnessing the power of the sun.
3) Water is converted to steam to drive the turbines in the usual way. 4) The sun often disappears. C.
The First Power Station The Second Power Station Descriptions
There are 800 mirrors which reflect 95 percent of the sunlight. They are arranged in a circle around a tower and they focus the light onto a collecting surface at the top of the tower. The mirrors are
controlled by a series of computers, which adjust their positions so that they always face the sun. The collecting surface is heated to over 400 Centigrade. The water in concealed pipes is converted to steam and returns back down the tower to drive the turbines.
There are 2,500 mirrors
arranged on vast structures like football stands. Each mirror is individually controlled to track the sun. The light is reflected on a second set of parabolic mirrors which focus the light and its heat onto water pipes in a vacuum tube. The heated water is then converted to steam in the pipes and used to drive the turbines. Main differences 1) Mirrors:
a) The first power station uses fewer mirrors than the second.
b) In the first power station, mirrors are arranged in a circle round a tower, while in the second station they are arranged on stands and reflect the light onto a second set of parabolic mirrors. 2) Pipes:
The first power station uses concealed water pipes; the second uses pipes that are clearly visible in a vacuum tube. 【原文】
Japan is the land of the rising sun. And by the sea on one of the Japanese islands at the little
town of Neo, they're taking the national symbol seriously. The town now has its own power station,
and it's the largest anywhere in the world to be powered by the sun.
This massive installation is clear evidence of the Japanese commitment to solar power. And perhaps only they could have gone this far, to stage what's in effect a solar energy competition. There are, in fact, two totally different types of power station here, side by side, and each
one of them is capable of generating one megawatt of electricity. And although they began this year feeding electricity into the power network to supply about 2,000 local houses, this is basically
just one enormous experiment to find the best way of harnessing the sun.
The mirrors here are part of just one of the solar power stations, and each one is made of
specially treated glass which reflects 95 percent of the sunlight falling on them. They then focus that light up to the top of a central tower. Altogether, there are 800 of these mirrors arranged in a circle around the tower, and to make sure they're always reflecting the sunlight onto the collecting
surface at the top, a series of computers dotted amongst the mirrors adjusts their position so they
follow the movement of the sun across the sky.
As they heat the collecting surface to over 400~ Centigrade, water in concealed pipes is
converted to steam and returns back down the tower to drive a turbine and generator in the usual way.
But the obvious problem with solar energy is that the sun often disappears, even here where the site was carefully chosen because it's one of the sunniest spots in Japan. Completely overcast days are a write-off, but this station does cope very well with those days where there are some sunny spells, and that's because enough steam can be stored in these tanks to run the generators for
three hours. And they expect the station to be able to operate for more than 200 days a year. So much for system one. It's a Western design, but only the Japanese have completed a station this big. And it's only half of their experiment.
Beside it is the other entry in the competition, and this whole concept is completely
home-grown. It uses mirrors again--2,500 of them--arranged on vast structures rather like football
stands. Each of the stands faces south and every single mirror is individually controlled to track the sun across the sky. But this time there's no central tower.
Instead, the mirrors reflect the light onto a second set of parabolic mirrors facing them.
These focus the sunlight and its heat onto a water pipe clearly visible in its protective vacuum tube.
In the pipe the water is converted to steam and used to generate electricity as before.
It's a little early in the two-year test period to be certain yet which of the two designs is most
effective. But it does look as though between the autumn and the spring, when the sun's at an angle, this parabolic type is better. But in the summer, when the sun's overhead, that central tower
seems to have the advantage.
But when they have got the results of the tests, the next stage is to go on and build a power
station ten times bigger than either of these. Coming to the right conclusions about solar power is
even more important in Japan than it is in most countries. 75 percent of their energy comes from imported oil. They are determined to reduce that to 50 percent. And that will mean building a whole string of solar power stations throughout the country. Task 9 【原文】
The future will not determine itself. The future is determined by the actions of the present day.
Edward Cornish, the editor of The Futurist magazine published by the World Future Society, says:
The responsibility we have for the future begins when we recognize that we ourselves create
the future — that the future is not something imposed upon us by fate or other forces beyond our
control. We ourselves build the future both through what we do and what we do not do.
A novel way of teaching may change the way universities are run. An engineering teacher at the American University of Illinois has had great success without textbooks, without exams and without deadlines. His students won nine of the top ten engineering awards in a university competition.
The engineering professor, Ricardo Uribe, let his engineering students express themselves,
in-stead of telling them what to do. His students all focused on the problems that interested them,
not what their teacher told 'them. They worked their own hours, not hours set by the university. They did not have to sit tests, and they helped each other in open classes. Unit 15 Task 1 【原文】
The United Nations is the successor to the League of Nations, which existed between the
World Wars. The UN Charter was drafted at a conference in San Francisco in the final weeks of World War II, and was signed there on June 26, 1945. The UN officially came into existence on October 24, 1945.
The principal organs of the UN are the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council, Trusteeship Council, the International Court of Justice and the Secretariat. The General Assembly consists of all members of the United Nations. It meets in regular
session every autumn, at UN Headquarters in New York City. Occasionally it also meets in special session. Most of its powers are formally recommendatory, but it has final decision-making authority on membership matters and on the budget.
The Security Council consists of 15 members. Five are permanent members: China, France,
Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The General Assembly elects the other ten for
two-year terms. The permanent members have veto powers over non-procedural matters. The Security Council has primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Task 2
【答案】
A. 1) b 2) c 3) d 4) a B.
1) Genocide means the deliberate murder of a whole group or race of people. By the word, Alacon
implied many ordinary Cubans had become victims of the US embargo. Many people suffered or died, for they could not get imported food and medicine.
2) The US representative argued that the US embargo was a matter of bilateral trade policy and the
UN General Assembly had no right to adopt a resolution on this issue.
【原文】
News Item 1
The United Nations General Assembly has for the eighth year in a row overwhelmingly
endorsed a Cuban resolution calling for an end to the United States economic embargo against Havana. The vote was a record 155 countries in favor, with only the United States and Israel against. Opening the debate, the President of Cuba's National Assembly Ricardo Alacon said his government would file a lawsuit for 100 billion dollars in compensation for the damage caused by Washington's 40-year blockade. He did not say where the suit would be filed. News Item 2
The UN General Assembly Tuesday approved a resolution calling for an end of the US
economic embargo against Cuba. Correspondent Breck Ardery reports from the United Nations. It was the eighth straight year that the General Assembly's passed a resolution calling on the United States to lift its trade sanctions against Cuba, and as in past years, it was approved overwhelmingly. This year's vote was 155 to 2, with always the United States and Israel voting \"No\formerly this nation's ambassador to the United Nations, repeatedly referred to \"genocide\" in arguing in favor of the resolution. Mr. Alacon also said Cuba will file a 100-billion-dollar lawsuit against the United States because of the embargo, but he did not say where such a lawsuit would be filed. The United States representative Peter Burly said the US embargo against Cuba is a matter of bilateral trade policy, and has no place in the UN General Assembly. Task 3
【答案】
A.
1) T 2) F 3) T 4) F B.
1) Shelter for the Homeless 2) a set of stamps/six stamps 3) building homes
4) information; the UN; government; institutions; worldwide
【原文】
Narrator: Since 1946, when the United Nations General Assembly recommended that inter-national arrangements be set up to promote and coordinate research and the ex-change of information on housing, the United Nations has given increasing
attention to the subject of human settlements. This year, the United Nations observes the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless. In commemoration of the year, the UN Postal Administration has released a special stamp issue. I recently spoke with Gisela Grunewald, Chief of the Postal Administration, who described the set and explained its significance.
Grunewald: We issued six stamps in honor of the Intemational Year for Shelter for the Homeless, and these six stamps should really show the positive efforts that are being done around the world to help the homeless and to find shelter for them. So what we are showing on these six stamps are six different scenes that are aspects of building homes. You have surveying the terrain; you have putting windows in a house; you have the actual building of the walls and a number of steps in between, and the last stamp in this set actually shows one family that happily and proudly stands in front of its new home. So, as I said initially, we like to portray the positive side and the solutions that are proposed by the Organization when it is tackling a problem. Narrator: So, in a sense, it's a progression as seen from beginning to end.
Grunewald: That is right. We know that the subject is shelter for the homeless, so the homelessness as such is not shown but the solutions to the problem of the homelessness.
Narrator: And what is the impact of such a stamp issue? How can it really influence people's lives?
Grunewald: Well, one of the functions that United Nations stamps have is to inform the public about what the Organization is doing. So, the impact of these stamps will certainly be one of spreading information about the International Year. We have more than
100,000 collectors throughout the world who will receive these stamps and they will get the information about this International Year with our stamps. Also, all the stamps which are going to be used to mail out mail from the three UN offices in New York, Geneva and Vienna will again send out the message that this is the International Year for Shelter for the Homeless, and will show that the UN is working on this problem. As far as the homeless people themselves are concerned, I think the impact of the stamps will be, again, by way of sensitizing and informing people about the problem that this is something that has to be tackled by governments and by other institutions
and that it is a worldwide problem.
Task 4
【答案】 A.
News Items Participants Number of Demonstrators Place(s) Demands 1
demonstrators mainly longterm unemployed
tens of thousands Paris and several other cities
Protest the level of un- employment and call for higher welfare payments 2
Some rural interest groups e.g. farmers, agriculture workers, hunters and village dwellers
A quarter of a million Central London
Demand more government action to deal with the problems of the countryside B.
News Item 1 1) T 2) F
News Item 2 3) F 4) F
【原文】 News Item 1
Tens of thousands of demonstrators in France have been taking part in marches in Paris and
several other cities, protesting the level of unemployment and calling for higher welfare payments.
The march is a part of the campaign that began last year with the occupation of Welfare Offices by
the long-term unemployed. But as Steven Jasol, our Paris correspondent, explains, the marches may indicate that the protest movement is losing momentum. News Item 2
Here in Britain about a quarter of a million people have taken part in a march through
central London to demand more government action to deal with the problems of the countryside. A
number of rural interest groups have been taking part--farmers, agriculture workers, hunters and village dwellers: The movement grew out of opposition to a proposal to ban fox hunting, a traditional rural sport. But it expanded to take in a number of issues. Task 5
【答案】 A.
Number of Medals
Countries Gold Silver Bronze Total the US Russia China 39 32 28 25 28 16 33 28 15 97 88 59 B. 1) F 2) T 3) F 4) T 5) F 6) F
【原文】
The United States won only one of the 24 gold medals awarded here on the final day, but still led all nations after 16 days of sporting events with 39 gold, 25 silver and 33 bronze medals for a total of 97. It's the first time outside of home soil since 1968 that the USA has topped the Olympic
medals table. Russia was second with 32 gold, 28 silver and 28 bronze for a total of 88. China was
third with 59, including 28 gold, 16 silver and 15 bronze. In all, 80 nations won at least one medal. The United States won medals in 22 sports led by the swimmers with 33, and the track-and-field team with 20. The US men's basketball team of NBA stars beat the French in the gold medal
match on the final day 85 to 75, but the Americans know, after barely getting into the final with a 2-point win over Lithuania, the Olympic gold medal is no longer a guarantee. The final day of the Olympics was not without controversy: three athletes were disqualified by the IOC for positive drug tests; only one was a medalist, Armenian Arshed Danianian, who was stripped of his bronze in weight lifting. Task 6
【答案】 A.
1) A strategic partnership agreement.
2) It strengthens ties between the two countries in a variety of areas including security cooperation,
diplomatic activity at the UN and trade and finance. 3) A package of arms deals.
4) First, they have agreed to an accord that will allow India to buy more diamonds from Russia. Second, India will get some advanced nuclear technology from Russia for its nuclear power projects.
5) India hopes to reduce its dependence on imported oil. B.
1) tanks; fighter bombers; aircraft carrier 2) military hardware; three billion dollars 3) low; longstanding ties 4) importer; cutter; producer
【原文】
On the second day of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to New Delhi, India and Russia have signed a strategic partnership agreement. VOA's Jim Teeple reports the object of the agreement is to seek peace, and failing that, sell guns.
The strategic partnership agreement signed in New Delhi significantly strengthens ties
between New Delhi and Moscow in a variety of areas, including security cooperation, diplomatic activity at the United Nations and trade and finance. Officials close to the talks say discussions are
ongoing about a package of arms deals, which include T-90 tanks, Sukhoi fighter bombers and the acquisition of a Russian aircraft carrier for the Indian Navy. India buys more than 70 percent of its military hardware from Russia, and this year New Delhi increased its defense budget by an estimated three billion dollars. While arms deals will dominate the discussions, Indian officials also say they want to increase commercial trade with Russia. India's Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee says trade between the two countries is too low, considering their long-standing ties. Towards that end, Russia and India have agreed to an accord that will allow India, the world's largest importer and cutter of diamonds, to buy more diamonds from Russia, the world's largest producer. Indian officials are also eager to acquire — and Russia has reportedly agreed to supply — advanced nuclear technology to be used in the production of nuclear power for commercial purposes. India currently has 12 nuclear reactors and plans to build 16 more to lessen its
dependence on imported oil. Task 7 【答案】
high; downturn; investment; reforms; terrorism; slowdown; 7.3 percent; 8; similar; cars; houses; tours; internal; money; market; barriers; domestic
【原文】
China's government says its economy will continue growing briskly this year, even though
much of the rest of the world is in an economic downturn. Chinese officials say they will boost internal demand, encourage investment, and push reforms to help sustain growth. In a meeting with reporters, China's top economic planner says the world's \"complicated and volatile\"
economic problems could make growth more difficult for China. He says the war on terrorism and a slowdown in trade make it harder for China's manufacturers to export their goods. Speaking through a translator, Mr. Zeng says China's economy grew at about 7.3 percent
last year and will grow at a similar pace this year. \"Facing this situation, I think, some friends may ask, 'When the world economic situation is not very good, can China still maintain the last year's growth?' And I think, my answer is that we can continue to do so in the new year.\" China's growth rate slowed for much of the last year, but Mr. Zeng says he is \"full of confidence\" that China can continue the economic growth that has transformed much of the country.
He says internal demand was up about 10 percent last year and urban incomes grew more
than 8 percent. Mr. Zeng also says foreign trade and foreign capital utilized both hit record highs for China. Mr. Zeng says this year China will encourage consumers to buy cars, build houses, go to school and take tours to boost internal demand. He says the government will further stimulate the economy by issuing bonds to raise money to bring paved roads, electricity and other services to poverty-stricken areas in China's West. Many economists have noted in the past that
government spending has been responsible for most of China's growth in the past few years. Mr. Zeng says China's new membership in the World Trade Organization will afford
exporters new access to other markets, and clear away tariff and other obstacles to China's market.
He says the result will be an increase in foreign and domestic investment in China, which will help growth, Twenty years of economic reform and opening up to the outside world have more than doubled the size of China's economy and greatly increased the incomes of urban residents. Scholars say continued economic growth is important because it is a key to social stability in China by absorbing some of the country's millions of unemployed workers. Task 8 【答案】 A.
Year Events
1831 Charles Darwin set out from Plymouth for a 5-year surveying expedition of the Southern Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
1945 Foreign Ministers from the former Allied nations agreed to divide Korea into two separate occupation zones and govern the nation for 5 years.
1968 The first manned mission to the moon/Apollo 8 returned safely to the earth after a 6-day journey. B.
1) invaluable; evolution; The Origin of the Species 2) biological evolution; natural selection 3) split; Soviet forces; Americans 4) manned spacecraft; orbit
【原文】
Well, today is Wednesday, December 27, and on this day in history in 1831, British naturalist
Charles Darwin set out from Plymouth, England, for a 5-year surveying expedition of the southern
Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Visiting such diverse places as Brazil, the Galapagos Islands and
New Zealand, Darwin acquired an intimate knowledge of the flora, fauna, wildlife and geology of many lands. The information proved invaluable in the development of his theory of evolution first put forth in his book The Origin of the Species. Darwin's theory of natural selection argues the species are the result of a gradual biological evolution of living organisms through natural selection.
On this day in 1945, in the aftermath of WWⅡ , foreign ministers from the former Allied
Nations of the United States, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain agreed to divide Korea into two separate occupation zones and govern the nation for five years. The country was split along the 38th Parallel with Soviet forces occupying the northern zone and Americans stationed to the South.
During WWⅡ , the Allies promised independence to Korea, and in 1948, self-rule was granted with the establishment of two separate regimes in North and South Korea.
On this day in 1968, the first manned mission to the moon returned safely to earth after a historic 6-day journey. Apollo 8, with astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr., and William Anders aboard, became the first manned spacecraft ever to enter an orbit around the moon. Task 9
【答案】
1) He was a suspect in connection with the \"I Love You\" computer virus that has damaged millions of computers worldwide.
2) They seized the telephone, computer magazines and wiring. 3) No.
4) A Swedish teenager who was a computer whiz. 【原文】
The Philippine authorities have arrested a suspect in connection with the \"I Love You\"
computer virus that's damaged millions of computers worldwide. Reomo Remonus was led away in handcuffs Monday following a raid in his Manila home. Criminal investigators seized the
telephone, computer magazines and wiring from the residence. Police say his live-in girlfriend has agreed to mm herself in by Tuesday. The two suspects have not been charged with any crimes. In Stockholm, Swedish authorities said Mr. Remonus was caught after a tip from a Swedish teenager,
who is a computer whiz. Task 10 【答案】 A. 1) d)
2) a) 3) c) 4) b) B. 1) c 2) b 3) d 4) a C.
1) fallen; criticise; sensitive; confidence 2) probe; question
3) independent; so; forward; principal; broadcaster; envied; cherished D.
1) After the Kelly affair, the chairman and director general of the BBC resigned. The British government has the right to appoint the new leaders for the BBC. Moreover, although the BBC is funded by the payments from people who have TVs, The government is beginning a charter review of the system. Thus some people fear the BBC could try to please the government because it relies on the renewal of the charter for its funding.
2) Alex Salmond questions the government's role in appointing senior executives for the BBC. He doubts whether the government can be impartial on this matter when the chairman and director general of the BBC resigned after the affair. Tony Blair says the BBC should be independent and impartial by questioning and probing the government in every proper way.
Tessa Jowell insists that the BBC be constitutionally independent and continue to be so. For her, what is the most important is that the BBC, as the major public service broadcaster, continues moving forward after the affair.
【原文】
The BBC now finds two seats empty at its most senior managerial level — those of its
chairman and its director general. Even though the resignations resulted from a conflict between the government and the corporation — it is now the government which will appoint a new BBC chairman. And it is that new chairman who will help appoint a new BBC director general. The Scottish National politician, Alex Salmond, is among those who question the government's role in filling the posts.
\"Who on earth under the current circumstances is going to trust the Prime Minister to appoint a chairman of the board of governors, who'll then appoint the next director general? Are we really
to believe with the two top men at the BBC fallen because basically they'd dared to criticise the government on a sensitive issue, then this is going to be an appointment that's going to inspire public confidence?\"
The BBC is funded by a fee paid by each household in the UK that has a television. The
government is just beginning a review of that system — as it does once every ten years. The charter review, as it's called. Some fear the BBC could go too far in trying to please the
government following the Kelly affair, because it relies upon the renewal of the charter for its funding.
Following its battle with the BBC, the government knows it must avoid any perception that
it's interfering with the corporation. In accepting the corporation's apology on Thursday, the Prime
Minister, Tony Blair, made reference to the broadcaster's impartiality. He said the BBC should probe and question the government in every proper way. His Culture Minister, Tessa Jowell, who is overseeing the review of the BBC's charter, says it's impossible for the government to threaten the corporation's independence.
\"The BBC is constitutionally independent and will continue to be so, and what is important now is that, in the wake of Gavin Davies's and Greg Dyke's resignations — honourable resignations — that the BBC moves forward and does so because it is the principal, most important, public service broadcaster in the country. It is envied around the world and it is cherished by the people of this country.\" Task 11
【原文】
Newspapers are one of the main sources from which we learn what is going on--in world
politics, science, local government, the arts, fashion, food, education and sports. The papers we choose show our interests and usually the politics which we believe in. There are nine national daily newspapers in Britain, of which five are tabloids and four are quality papers. Do these
newspapers realty serve the people they are written for? Many people question the objectivity of newspapers. How objective are they? We might be better able to judge if we understand how a newspaper is produced. Reporters, of course, are the source from which the facts must come, but
there are many other people who are involved in and influence newspapers.
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