《现代大学英语听力2》听力原文及答案Unit--1

Task 1News Item 1The 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 2The merce 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 monly defined as at least six months where the economy shrinks.News Item 3A 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 4And we go straight to Wall Street where share prices closed higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up nearly 1 percent or 89 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 2News Item 1China has launched a manned space flight, being 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 Marguez 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 2China'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 3Negotiators 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 panies to make public all the substances they use to make cigarettes.In addition, tobacco panies 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 secondhand smoke, that is, smoke from other people's tobacco.Task 4Thank you. And thank you for asking me to share in your weekly address to the American people.Britain and America have so much in mon: language, values, belief in family and munity, in a real sense of national pride. We share many problems, too. And it has been clear from our discussions thatwe 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 5Each year, the Nobel mittee 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 munity life during and after war.Experts say women are usually not as involved in the peace process as men are. However, their work to reestablish normal munity 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 rebuild Rwanda after the mass killings in 1994. She died in a plane crash last year.Task 6News Item 1Brazil'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 2In 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 7Announcer: ... 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 TwoAnnouncer: 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 pletely 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 tosome 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 8News Item 1The 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 e 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 2Wele 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 mits 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 3A major international conference on climate change is to open in Moscow shortly with Russia ing 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 e 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 climatechange and it had been thought he might use the opportunity to announce that his government was finally prepared to sign up to Kyoto, but ments 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 pressure 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 9The United Nations General Assembly will hold a special session on children beginning September 19th. The meeting will bring together government leaders, child activists, non-governmental 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 UN 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 bee an important part of their munities. The session will also examine progress made since the 1990 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 munity, 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. 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 es into the world, the hopes and dreams of the human race are reborn.Task 10The 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 results 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 1Task 1【答案】A.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, w hat a great splash that would be!”Task 2【答案】A.1) people were much busier2) colder than England; minus thirty degrees; last longer3) much more mountainous; much higher and much more rocky; more beautiful4) tend to be more crowded5) the houses; smallerB.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) TC.1) eight people form a square; on each side of the square2) what they should do; makes it into a song; sings it3) don’t have much time to think4) 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 towatch 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 forma square, with a man and a woman on each side of the square. That’s why it’s ca lledsquare dancing. Then there’s a man who tells the dancers what they should do. Heusually 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 upthese 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 peopledressed 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", a time to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of spring.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 touse up these things before Lent began.5) When winter ended in Czech, the children made a straw man called "Smrt", which was a figure 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) TB.Advantages DisadvantagesLots of servants to do the work Terrible life for servantsbeautiful clothes to wear very uncomfortable clotheslots of tea parties boring and formal tea parties — often no menbeing invitedlife being slower much more illnessplenty of time to talk to each other children left with servants all dayvery poor educationno 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 hadto 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) aB.1) family unit; process; change; used to be; the extended; the nuclear2) job patterns; progressed; agricultural; industrial; forced; job opportunities; split up3) traditional; family; expanded; other living arrangementsC.1) mother, father, children, and some other relatives, such as grandparents, living in the same house or nearby2)only the parents and the children3)previously married men and women marry again and combine the children from formermarriages 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) bB.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 alltheir relatives and their parents, and they'll get married in a church, with the bridewearing white, the traditional white. Then they'll go off and have a booze-up with theirrelatives and friends and a jolly good time will be had by all. Otherwise you can getmarried in a registry office, which means you turn up with your bride-to-be orbridegroom-to-be with two witnesses only. The ceremony takes about five minutes, Isuppose. 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 togetherwithout any prospect of marriage at all. I think this probably is... is true of London andthe other big cities than elsewhere, because after all people in London are living in a bigplace where home ties are obviously less restrictive. They can do more or less as theyplease 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 betterwhen they do get married and it might be suggested that divorce would be less likelybetween 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 anythingelse, and, you know, we just go together very well because we respect each other'sfreedom 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 waitanother 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 2Task 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) FB.1) d 2) c 3) cC.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 rainfallin 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 steamsII.A.1. concrete, iron, steel2. take in the heat during the day and throw off heat into the air at nightB. Warmer winters, car engines; electrical applianceⅢ.A. air pollution may stop sunlight from reaching the earthB.1. Ice near the North and South poles to melt2. 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. Peopleliving in these cities would have to move to higher land.Task 4【答案】A.1) b 2) cB. night, delight; morning, warning; gray, way, red, headC.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.OrEvening 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 weare safest — pulling into shore or staying on the water. Since I have heard oneis safe in a car when lightning strikes I wonder if the raft floating on the wateris 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 lightningstorm. 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 andcan deliver as much as 100,000 amps of current. In comparison, a toaster usesabout 10 amps of current. If lightning strikes the water near you, it will have notrouble 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 agood target for lightning.Task 6【答案】A.1) F 2) T 3) F 4) T 5) F 6) TB.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 for ce. 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) bB.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 EuropeFor todaySoutheast England---26 degrees Celsius by mid-afternoonSouthern Scotland---Maximum temperatures of around 21 degreesBrighton---15 hours of lovely sunshine。

现代大学英语听力原文及答案u n i tRevised by Hanlin on 10 January 2021Unit 7Task 1【答案】A.1) In a mental asylum.2) He was a member of a committee which went there to show concern for the pertinents there.3) They were cants behaving like humans.4) He was injured in a bus accident and became mentally ill.5) He spent the rest of his life in comfort.B.painter, birds, animals, cats, wide, published, encouragement, A year or two, The Illustrated London News, cats' Christmas party, a hundred and fifty, world famous【原文】Dan Rider, a bookseller who loved good causes, was a member of a committee that visited mental asylums. On one visit he noticed a patient, a quiet little man, drawing cats. Rider looked at the drawings and gasped."Good lord, man," he exclaimed. "You draw like Louis Wain!""I am Louis Wain," said the artist.Most people today have never heard of Louis Wain. But, when Rider found him in 1925, he was a household name."He made the cat his own. He invented a cat style, a cat society, a whole cat world," said H. G. Wells in a broadcast appeal a month or two later. "British cats that do not look and live like Louis Wain cats are ashamed of themselves."Before Louis Wain began drawing them, cats were keptstrictly in the kitchen if they were kept at all. They were useful for catching mice and perhaps for keeping the maidservant company. Anyone else who felt affection for cats usually kept quiet about it. If a man admitted that he liked cats, he would be laughed at. The dog was the only domestic animal that could be called a friend.Louis Wain studied art as a youth and became quite a successful newspaper and magazine artist. He specialized in birds and animals, including dogs, but never drew a cat till his wife was dying. They had not been married long, and during her illness a black-and-white cat called Peter used to sit on her bed. To amuse his wife, Louis Wain used to sketch andcaricature the cat while he sat by her bedside. She urged himto show these-drawings to editors, fie was unconvinced, but wanted to humour her.The first editor he approached shared his lack of enthusiasm. "Whoever would want to see a picture of a cat" he asked, and Louis Wain put the drawings away. A year or two later he showed them to the editor of The Illustrated London News, whosuggested a picture of a cats' Christmas party across two full pages. Using his old sketches of Peter, Louis Wain produced a picture containing about a hundred and fifty cats, each one different from the rest. It took him a few days to draw, and it made him world famous.For the next twenty-eight years he drew nothing but cats. He filled his house with them, and sketched them in all their moods. There was nothing subtle about his work. Its humoursimply lay in showing cats performing human activities; they followed every new fashion from sea bathing to motoring. He was recognized, somewhat flatteringly, as the leading authority on the feline species. He became President of the National CatClub and was eagerly sought after as a judge at cat shows.Louis Wain's career ended abruptly in 1914, when he was seriously injured in a bus accident and became mentally ill. Finally, he was certified insane and put in an asylum for paupers.After Dan Rider found him, appeals were launched and exhibitions of his work arranged, and he spent the rest of his life in comfort. He continued to draw cats, but they became increasingly strange as his mental illness progressed. Psychiatrists found them more fascinating than anything he had done when he was sane.Task 2【答案】A.1) Because he was always trying new things and new ways ofdoing things just like a young painter.2) It didn’t look like her.3) It was the only picture she knew that showed her as shereally was.4) People from the poorer parts of Paris, who were thin, hungry, tired, and sick.B. 1) F 2) T 3) F 4) TC. 1881, 1973, Malaga, Spain, ninety-one yearsD. fifteen, nineteen, twenty-three, colors, darker, change,soft-colored, strange, shape, human face and figure,strange【原文】Pablo Picasso was born in 1881. So probably you arewondering why we call him "the youngest painter in the world". When he died in 1973, he was ninety-one years old. But even at that age, he was still painting like a young painter.For that reason, we have called him the "youngest" painter. Young people are always trying new things and new ways of doing things. They welcome new ideas. They are restless and are never satisfied. They seek perfection. Older people often fear change. They know what they can do best, riley prefer to repeat their successes, rather than risk failure. They have found their own place in life and don't like to leave it. We know what toexpect from them.When he was over ninety, this great Spanish painter still lived his life like a young man. He was still looking for new ideas and for new ways to use his artistic materials.Picasso's figures sometimes face two ways at once, with the eyes and nose in strange places. Sometimes they are out ofshape or broken. Even the colors are not natural. The title of the picture tells us it is a person, but it may look more likea machine.At such times Picasso was trying to paint what he saw withhis mind as well as with his eyes. He put in the side of theface as well as the front. He painted the naked body and the clothes on it at the same time. He painted in his own way. He never thought about other people's opinions.Most painters discover a style of painting that suits them and keep to it, especially if people like their pictures. Asthe artist grows older his pictures may change, but not very much. But Picasso was like a man who had not yet found his own style. He was still looking for a way to express his ownrestless spirit.The first thing one noticed about him was the look in his large, wide-open eyes. Gertrude Stein, a famous American writer who knew him when he was young, mentioned this hungry look, and one can still see it in pictures of him today. Picasso painteda picture of her in 1906, and the story is an interesting one.According to Gertrude Stein, she visited the painter's studio eighty or ninety times while he painted her picture. While Picasso painted they talked about everything in the world that interested them. Then one day Picasso wiped out the painted head though he had worked on it for so long. "When I look at you I can't see you any more!" he remarked.Picasso went away for the summer. When he returned, he went at once to the picture left in the comer of his studio. Quickly he finished the face from memory. He could see the woman's face more clearly in his mind than he could see it when she sat in the studio in front of him.When people complained to him that the painting of Miss Stein didn't look like her, Picasso would reply, "Too bad.She'll have to look like the picture." But thirty years later, Gertrude Stein said that Picasso's painting of her was the only picture she knew that showed her as she really wasPicasso was born in Malaga, Spain, a pleasant, quiet town. His father was a painter and art teacher who gave his son his first lessons in drawing.Young Pablo did badly at school. He was lazy and didn't listen to what the teachers were saying. He had confidence in himself from the beginning. But it was soon clear that the boy was an artist and deserved the best training he could get. Not even his earliest drawings look like the work of a child.One can say that Picasso was born to be a painter. He won a prize for his painting when he was only fifteen. He studied art in several cities in Spain. But there was no one to teach him all he wanted to know. When he was nineteen he visited Paris.Paris was then the center of the world for artists. Most painters went there sooner or later to study, to see pictures, and to make friends with other painters. Everything that was new and exciting in the world of painting happened there. When he was twenty-three, Picasso returned there to live, and lived in France for the rest of his life.He was already a fine painter. He painted scenes of town life—people in the streets and in restaurants, at horse races and bull fights. They were painted in bright colors and were lovely to look at.But life was not easy for him. For several years he painted people from the poorer parts of the city. He painted men and women who were thin, hungry, tired, and sick. His colors gotdarker. Most of these pictures were painted in blue, and showed very clearly what the artist saw and felt. The paintings ofthis "blue period" are full of pity and despair.Picasso did not have to wait long for success. As he began to sell his pictures and become recognized as a painter, his pictures took on a warmer look. At the same time he began to paint with more and more freedom. He began to see people and places as simple forms or shapes. He no longer tried to make his pictures true to life.The results at first seemed strange and not real. The pictures were difficult to understand. His style of painting was known as Cubism, from the shape of the cube. Many people did not like this new and sometimes frightening style. But what great paintings give us is a view of life through one man's eyes, and every man's view is different.Some of Picasso's paintings are rich, soft-colored, and beautiful. Others are strange with sharp, black outlines. But such paintings allow us to imagine things for ourselves. They can make our own view of the world sharper. For they force us to say to ourselves, "What makes him paint like that What does he see"Birds, places, and familiar objects play a part inPicasso's painting. But, when one thinks of him, one usually thinks of the way he painted the human face and figure. It is both beautiful and strange. Gertrude Stein wrote, "The head, the face, the human body--these are all that exist for Picasso. The souls of people do not interest him. The reality of life is in the head, the face, and the body."Task 3【答案】American Decorative Arts and Sculpture:colonial period, furniture, ceramics, ship modelsAmerican Art:The Far East, Islam, scroll painting, Buddhist sculpture, prints, the third millenniumEuropean Decorative Arts and Sculpture:Western, the fifth century, Medieval art, decorative arts, English silver, porcelain, the musical instrumentsPaintings:11th century, 20th century, impressionists, Spanish, Dutch Textiles and Costumes:high quality, a broad selection, weavings, laces, costumes, accessories【原文】Welcome to the Museum of Fine Arts. Boston has long been recognized as a leading center for the arts. One of the city's most important cultural resources is the Museum of Fine Arts, which houses collections of art from antiquity to the present day, many of them unsurpassed. Now let me introduce to you some of the collections here.The Museum's collections of American decorative arts and sculpture range from the colonial period to the present time, with major emphasis on pre-Civil War New England. Furniture, silver, glass, ceramics, and sculpture are on exhibition, as well as an important collection of ship models. Favorite among museum-goers are the collection of 18th-century American furniture, the period rooms, and the superb collection of silver.The Boston Museum's Asiatic collections are universally recognized as the most extensive assemblage to be found anywhere under one roof. Artistic traditions of the Far East, Islam, and India are represented by objects dating from the third millennium B.C. to the contemporary era. The collections of Japanese and Chinese art are especially noteworthy. The variety of strengths in the collection are reflected in such areas as Japanese prints, Chinese and Japanese scroll painting, Chinese ceramics, and a renowned collection of Buddhist sculpture.The Department of European Decorative Arts and Sculpture houses Western European works of art dating from the fifth century through 1900. Outstanding among these holdings are the collection of medieval art and the collection of French 18th-century decorative arts. Also of exceptional importance are the English silver collection, the 18th-century English and French porcelain, and the collection of musical instruments.The Museum has one of the world's foremost collections of paintings ranging from the 11th century to the early 20th century. This department is noted for French paintings from 1825 to 1900, especially works by the impressionists. The Museum's great collection of paintings by American artists includes more than 60 works by John Singleton Copley and 50 byGilbert Stuart. There is also a strong representation of paintings from Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands.The collection of textiles and costumes is ranked among the greatest in the world because of the high quality and rarity of individual pieces and because it has a broad selection of representative examples of weavings, embroideries, laces, printed fabrics, costumes, and costume accessories. The textile arts of both eastern and western cultures are included, dating from pre-Christian times to the present.Apart from what I have mentioned, the Museum has got much more to offer, for example, the collections of classical art, Egyptian and ancient Near Eastern art, and 20th-century art.I'll leave you to explore by yourselves and enjoy your time here.Task 4【答案】A.1) specialists, specialized settings, money, sharp division2) conventions, some societies and periods3) commodityB.1) Because they lacked opportunity: The necessary social, educational, and economic conditions to create art rarely existed for women in the past.2) Because the art of indigenous peoples did not share the same expressive methods or aims as Western art.C. 1) F 2) T【原文】The functions of the artist and artwork have varied widely during the past five thousand years. It our time, the artist is seen as an independent worker, dedicated to the expression of a unique subjective experience. Often the artist's role is that of the outsider, a critical or rebellious figure. He or she is a specialist who has usually undergone advanced training in a university department of art or theater, or a school with a particular focus, such as a music conservatory. In our societies, works of art are presented in specialized settings: theaters, concert halls, performance spaces, galleries, and museum. There is usually a sharp division between the artist and her or his audience of non-artists. We also associate works of art with money: art auctions in which paintings sell formillions of dollars, ticket sales to the ballet, or fundraising for the local symphony.In other societies and parts of our own society, now and in the past, the arts are closer to the lives of ordinary people. For the majority of their history, artists have expressed the dominant beliefs of a culture, rather than rebelling against them. In place of our emphasis on the development of a personal or original style, artists were trained to conform to the conventions of their art form. Nor have artists always been specialists; in some societies and periods, all members of a society participated in art. The modern Western economic mode, which treats art as a commodity for sale, is not universal. In societies such as that of the Navaho, the concept of selling or creating a salable version of a sand painting would be completely incomprehensible. Selling Navaho sand paintings created as part of a ritual would profane a sacred experience.Artists' identities are rarely known before the Renaissance, with the exception of the period of Classical Greece, when artists were highly regarded for their individual talents and styles. Among artists who were known, there were fewer women than men. In the twentieth century, many female artists in all the disciplines have been recognized. Their absence in prior centuries does not indicate lack of talent, but reflects lackof opportunity. The necessary social, educational, and economic conditions to create art rarely existed for women in the past.Artists of color have also been recognized in the West only recently. The reasons for this absence range from the simple--there were few Asians in America and Europe prior to the middle of the nineteenth century--to the complexities surrounding African Americans. The art of indigenous peoples, while far older than that of the West, did not share the same expressive methods or aims as Western art. Until recently, such art was ignored or dismissed in Western society by the dominant cultural gatekeepers.Task 5【答案】A.1) a) 2) c) 3) b)B.Ⅰ. observant, a dog, Leather BarⅡ. Magnificent visual memory, essentialsⅢ. Rhythm, DustmenⅣ. everyday scenes, Her salty sense of humourC. 1) T 2) F 3) T 4) T【原文】Few artists can have made such an immediate impact on the public as Beryl Cook. At one moment she was completely unknown; at the next, so it seemed, almost everyone had heard of her. First, a few paintings appeared quietly in the window of a remote country antique shop. Then there were exhibitions in Plymouth, in Bristol, in London; an article in a colour supplement, a television programme, a series of greetings cards and a highly successful book. Her rise was all the more astonishing since she was completely untrained, and was already middle-aged by the time she began to paint.Faced with such a series of events, the temptation is to discuss Beryl's art in the context of naive art. This seems to me a mistake, for she is a highly sophisticated and original painter, whose work deserves to be taken on its own terms.What are those terms If one actually meets Beryl, one comes to understand them a little better. The pictures may seem extrovert, but she is not. For example, she is too shy to turn up at her own private viewings. Her pleasure is to stay in the background, observing.And what an observer Beryl Cook is! It so happens that I was present when the ideas for two of the paintings in the present collection germinated. One is a portrait of my dog, a French bulldog called Bertie. When Beryl came to see me for the first time, he jumped up the stairs ahead of her, wearing his winter coat which is made from an old scarf. A few days later his picture arrived in the post. The picture called Leather Bar had its beginnings the same evening. I took Beryl and her husband John to a pub. There was a fight, and we saw someone being thrown out by the bouncers.The point about these two incidents is that they both happened in a flash. No one was carrying camera; there was no opportunity to make sketches. But somehow the essentials of the scene registered themselves on Beryl, and she was able to record them later in an absolutely convincing and authoritative way.The fact is she has two very rare gifts, not one. She has a magnificent visual memory, and at same time she is able to rearrange and simplify what she sees until it makes acompletely convincing composition. Bertie's portrait, with its plump backside and bow legs, is more like Bertie thanreflection in a mirror—it catches the absolute essentials of his physique and personality.But these gifts are just the foundation of what Beryl Cook does. She has a very keen feeling for pictorial rhythm. The picture of Dustmen, for instance, has a whirling rhythm whichis emphasized by the movement of their large hands in red rubber gloves—these big hands are often a special feature of Beryl's pictures. The English artist she most closely resembles in this respect is Stanley Spencer.Details such as those I have described are, of course, just the kind of thing to appeal to a professional art critic. Important as they are, they would not in themselves account for the impact she has had on the public.Basically, I think this impact is due to two things. When Beryl paints an actual, everyday scene—and I confess these are the pictures I prefer—the smallest detail is immediately recognizable. Her people, for example, seem to fit into a kind of Beryl Cook stereotype, with their big heads and fat and round bodies. Yet they are in fact brilliantly accurate portraits. Walking round Plymouth with her, I am always recognizing people who have made an appearance in her work. Indeed, her vision is so powerful that one tends ever after to see the individual in the terms Beryl has chosen for him/her.The other reason for her success is almost too obvious to be worth mentioning—it is her marvelous sense of humour. My Fur Coat is a picture of a bowler-hatted gentleman who is being offered an unexpected treat. What makes the picture really memorable is the expression on the face of the man. The humour operates even in pictures which aren't obviously "funny". There is something very endearing, for instance, in the two road sweepers with Plymouth lighthouse looming behind them.A sense of humour may be a good reason for success with the public. It is also one which tends to devalue Beryl's work with professional art buffs. Her work contains too much life to be real art as they understand it.This seems to me nonsense, and dangerous nonsense at that. Beryl does what artists have traditionally done—she comments on the world as she perceives it. And the same time she rearranges what she sees to make a pattern of shapes andcolours on a flat surface—a pattern which is more than the sum of its individual parts because it has the mysterious power to enhance and excite our own responses to the visible.I suspect Beryl's paintings will be remembered and cherished long after most late 20th-century art is forgotten. What they bring us is a real sense of how ordinary life islived in our own time, a judgment which is the more authoritative for the humour and lightness of touch.Task 6【答案】A. objects, action or story, painted and composed, interestingB.Plate 1: symmetrical, more interesting designPlate 2: asymmetrical, shapes, colorsPlate 3: extends, the left side, pointC.Plate 4: c) d)Plate 5: a) b) d)Plate 6: a) b) d)【原文】The six pictures in your book are all what we call still life paintings—that is to say, they pictures of ordinary objects such as baskets of fruit, flowers, and old books. There is no “action”, there is no "story" being told in any of these paintings. Yet we find these paintings interesting because of the way they have been painted, and especially because of the way they have been composed.The picture in PLATE 1 was painted by the seventeenth-century Spanish master Zurbaran. How simply Zurbaran has arranged his objects, merely lining them up in a row across the table! By separating them into three groups, with the largest item in the center, he has made what we call a symmetrical arrangement. But it is a rather free kind of symmetry, for the objects on the left side are different in shape from those on the right. Furthermore, the pile of lemons looks heavier than the cup and saucer. Yet Zurbaran has balanced these two different groups in a very subtle way. For one thing, he has made one of the leaves point downward toward the rose on the saucer, and he has made, the oranges appear to tip slightly toward the right. But even by themselves, the cup and saucer, combined with the rose, are more varied in shape than the pileof lemons on the left. All in all, what Zurbarran has done isto balance the heavier mass of lemons with a more interesting design on the right.We find a completely different sort of balance in a stilllife by the seventeenth-century Dutch painter Pieter Claesz(see PLATE 2). Objects of several different sizes areapparently scattered at random on a table. Claesz has arranged them asymmetrically, that is, without attempting to make thetwo halves of the picture look alike. The tall glass tumbler,for instance, has been placed considerably off-center, weighing down the composition at the left. Yet Claesz has restored the balance of the picture by massing his most interesting shapesand liveliest colors well over to the right.PLATE 3, a still life by the American painter William M. Harnett, seems even more heavily weighted to one side, for here two thick books and an inkwell are counterbalanced merely by a few pieces of paper. But notice the angle at which Harnett has placed the yellow envelope: How it extends one side of the pyramid formed by the books and inkwell way over to the left edge of the picture, like a long cable tying down a ship to its pier. Both the newspaper and the quill pen also point to this side of the painting, away from the heavy mass at the right,thus helping to balance the whole composition.Now turn to a still life by one of Harnett's contemporaries, the great French painter Paul Cezanne (see PLATE 4). Here the composition is even more daringly asymmetrical, for the climaxof the entire picture is the heavy gray jug in the upper fight comer. Notice that Cezanne has arranged most of the fruit onthe table, as well as a fold in the background drapery, so that they appear to move upward toward this jug. Yet he has balanced the composition by placing a bright yellow lemon at the leftand by tipping the table down toward the lower left corner.Our next still life (see PLATE 5), by the famous Dutchartist Vincent van Gogh, seems hardly "still" at all. As weview this scene from almost directly above, the composition seems to radiate in all directions, almost like an explosion. Notice that Van Gogh has painted the tablecloth with short,thick strokes which seem to shoot out from the very center ofthe picture.Finally, let us look at a painting by Henri Matisse (see PLATE 6). Here we see a number of still life objects, but notable to support them. Matisse presents each form by itself, in a world of its own, rather than as part of a group of objectsin a realistic situation. But he makes us feel that all these forms belong together in his picture simply by the way he has related them to one another in their shapes and colors.Task 7【原文】Frank Lloyd Wright did not call himself an artist. Hecalled himself an architect. But the buildings he designed were works of art. He looked at the ugly square buildings around him, and he did not like what he saw. He wondered why people built ugly homes, when they could have beautiful ones.Frank Lloyd Wright lived from 1869 to 1959. When he was young, there were no courses in architecture, so he went towork in an architect's office in order to learn how to design buildings. Soon he was designing buildings that were beautiful.He also wanted to make his buildings fit into the land around them. One of the houses he designed is on top of a high hill. Other people built tall, square houses on hills, butWright did not want to lose the beauty of the hill. He builtthe house low and wide.Now other architects know how to design buildings to fitinto the landscape. Frank Lloyd Wright showed them how to do it.。

Unit 1Task 1【答案】A.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, w hat a great splash that would be!”Task 2【答案】A.1) people were much busier2) colder than England; minus thirty degrees; last longer3) much more mountainous; much higher and much more rocky; more beautiful4) tend to be more crowded5) the houses; smallerB.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 in the 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 ofthe 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) TC.1) eight people form a square; on each side of the square2) what they should do; makes it into a song; sings it3) don’t have much time to think4) 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, somethingborrowed, and something blue” to bring good luck.4)Because they could not eat meat, eggs or dairy products during Lent, so theytried 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 thechurch 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", a time to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of spring.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", which was a figure 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) TB.【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 longgloves 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) aB.1) family unit; process; change; used to be; the extended; the nuclear2) job patterns; progressed; agricultural; industrial; forced; job opportunities; split up3) traditional; family; expanded; other living arrangementsC.1) mother, father, children, and some other relatives, such as grandparents, living in the same house or nearby2)only the parents and the children3)previously married men and women marry again and combine the children from formermarriages into a new family【原文】The American family unit is in the process of change. There used to be mainly two types offamilies: 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.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 thearts 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) bB.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 ina registry office, which means you turn up with your bride-to-be orbridegroom-to-be with two witnesses only. The ceremony takes about fiveminutes, 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 tiesare obviously less restrictive. They can do more or less as they please andI 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, ina strange sort of way, make marriage stronger, because after all the peoplewill 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 2Task 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) FB.1) d 2) c 3) cC.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】the country; Trees, grass, lakes and steamsII.A.1. concrete, iron, steel2. take in the heat during the day and throw off heat into the air at nightB. Warmer winters, car engines; electrical applianceⅢ.A. air pollution may stop sunlight from reaching the earthB.1. Ice near the North and South poles to melt2. 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, andsteel. 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) cB. night, delight; morning, warning; gray, way, red, headC.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.OrEvening 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 thesetimes on where we are safest —pulling into shore or staying on thewater. Since I have heard one is safe in a car when lightning strikesI wonder if the raft floating on the water is insulated, and thereforethe 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 waterduring a lightning storm. If your raft is made of rubber, you mightfeel that you're .well insulated, but don't kid yourself. Typicallightning flashes travel 10 to 15 kilometers and can deliver as muchas 100,000 amps of current. In comparison, a toaster uses about 10amps of current. If lightning strikes the water near you, it willhave no trouble traveling through a few extra centimeters of rubber. Meteorologist B: So, if you're on the water and a thunderstorm approaches, get tothe shore and seek shelter on land. Try a building or car. If neitheris available, look for a cave, cliff, wall, or a group of trees. Nevertake shelter under an isolated tree-it's also a good target forlightning.Task 6【答案】A.1) F 2) T 3) F 4) T 5) F 6) TB.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 ofrotating 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) bB.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 EuropeFor todaySoutheast England---26 degrees Celsius by mid-afternoonSouthern Scotland---Maximum temperatures of around 21 degreesBrighton---15 hours of lovely sunshineMidlands---23 degrees Celsius by early afternoonNorthwest of Scotland---Light showers around middayFor the weekendSpain---34 degrees CelsiusGreece---32 degrees CelsiusFrance---Cloudy with rain, maximum temperatures of 22 degreesNorthern Ireland---Heavy rain, 17 degrees CelsiusMost 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。

Unit 1 Social CustomsTask 1A1.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 andnewspapers.4.Because she had often read about them and seen photographs of them, who alllooked 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 hisopinion.BIf 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!Task 2A1. people were much busier2. colder than England; minus thirty degrees; last longer3. much more mountainous; much higher and much more rocky; more beautiful4. tend to be more crowded5. the houses; smallerB1.T2. T3. F4. F5. FTask 3A1.In the US, people usually dance just to enjoy themselves; they don’t invite otherpeople to watch them.ually eight people dance together.3.Because people form a square in dancing with a man and a woman on each side ofthe square.B1. F2. T3. F4. F5. TC1.eight people form a square; on each side of the square2.what they should do; makes it into a song; sings it3.don’t have much time to think4.old-fashioned clothesC1. eight people form a square; on each side of the square2. what they should do; makes it into a song; sings it3. don’t have much time to think4. old-fashioned clothesTask 41.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, somethingborrowed, and something blue” to bring good luck.4.Because they could not eat meat, eggs or dairy products during Lent, so they triedto 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 thechurch people dressed them up in flowers and ribbons.Task 5A1. F2. T3. F4. T5. F6. T7. TBLife in Victorian timesAdvantages:Lots of servants to do the work; beautiful clothes to wear; lots of tea parties; life being slower; plenty of time to talk to each other, play the piano or play cards together Disadvantages:Terrible life for servants; very uncomfortable clothes; boring and formal tea parties---often no men being invited; much more illness; children left with servants all day; very poor education; no freedom for womenLife todayAdvantages:Lots of machines to help with the housework; a much better life for children; more freedom for womenDisadvantages:People being always rushing, having no time to stop or enjoy themselves; too much time spent in front of the television, no talk to each otherTask 6A1. b2. a3. c4. aB1. family unit; process; change; used to be; the extended; the nuclear2. job patterns; progressed; agricultural; industrial; forced; job opportunities; split up3. traditional; family; expanded; other living arrangementsC1.mother, father, children, and some other relatives, such as grandparents, living inthe same house or nearby2.only the parents and the children3.previously married men and women marry again and combine the children fromformer marriages into a new familyTask 7A1. Both2. Men3. Both4. Women5. Men6. Men7. Women8. Women9. Women 10. Women 11. Men 12. WomenB1. c2. c3. a4. b5. c6. c7. cTask 8A1. a2. c3. b4. c5. c6. b7. c8. bB1.T2. T3. F4. F5. T6. F7. F8. F9. T 10.FTask 9Social 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 nobleman who had a very formal dinner party. When the food was served, one f 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 WeatherTask 11. b2. a3. dTask 2A1.T2. F3. FB1. d2. c3. cC1.climate2. reputation3. extraordinary4. unreliable5. dry6. wet7. clear8. dull 9. hot 10. cold 11. bad 12. mildTask 31.the country; Trees, grass, lakes and steams2.concrete; take in the heat during the day and throw off heat into the air at night;Warmer winters, car engines; electrical appliance3.air pollution may stop sunlight from reaching the earth; Ice near the North andSouth poles to melt; to be slowly flooded and people living in these cities to move to higher landTask 4A1. b2. cB1.night2. delight3. morning4. warning5. gray6. way7. red8. head C1. F2. T3. FTask 51. c2. b3. d4. c5. cTask 6A1. F2. T3. F4. T5. F6. TB1. incredible2. one minute3. one kilometer4. destroyed5. lifted up6. carried away7. killed8. injuredTask 7A1. b2. a3. bB1.For today: It has been nice weather during the day, but it is going to change atnight.2.For the weekend: Fine weather in southern Europe and not so nice in northernEuropeCFor todaySoutheast England---26 degrees Celsius by mid-afternoonSouthern Scotland---Maximum temperatures of around 21 degreesBrighton---15 hours of lovely sunshineMidlands---23 degrees Celsius by early afternoonNorthwest of Scotland---Light showers around middayFor the weekendSpain---34 degrees CelsiusGreece---32 degrees CelsiusFrance---Cloudy with rain, maximum temperatures of 22 degreesNorthern Ireland---Heavy rain, 17 degrees CelsiusMost of England---Cloudy but mainly dry with sunny periods, 23 degrees CelsiusTask 8Natural Phenomena Air Pressure Causes(Rise or Fall)Faraway objects are Fall The dust particles begin to settle to the more sharply focused. ground in thinner air and the air clears. Birds’ calls become Fall Instead of traveling upward and Sharper. outward into the atmosphere they arebent back to the earth and their rangeextended.Swamp doesn’t Rise The methane is trapped in the bottom smell very strong. of the swamp because of the thick air. Bird fly high. Rise Birds prefer to fly where the air is thedensest and they can get greater liftwith their wingsSmoke rise high in the air Rise Smoke rises with thicker air.Elderly people’s joints ache. Fall The gas in our bodies expands in lowerair pressure.Task 9AStatements 3, 6, 7 are true.Bf—c—a—d—b—eC1. F2. T3. F4. FD1. d2. bTask 10Undoubtedly, 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, temperatures may exceed 29 degrees Celsius in summer while plummeting to -16 degrees Celsius 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 northern Tibet is subzero and winter arrives in October until the following May or June. July or August are the best time to visit the area, enjoying warm temperatures, intense sunshine, beautiful scenery and festive events. May, June and September represent the tourist season in east Tibet. In winter, roads are blocked by heavy snow. Land slides and rock falls frequently occur, which will make travel difficult.Unit 3 Social IssuesTask 1A1.Stress on the job costs American companies as much as $150 billion a year inlower productivity, unnecessary employee sick leave, and higher medical costs. 2.The most stressful professions are those that involve danger and extreme pressureand those that carry a lot of responsibility without much control.3.The best way to deal with stress is through relaxation, but sometimes the onlyanswer is to fight back or walk away.B1. Three- quarters2. psychologists, doctors3. nervousness, anger, frequent illness, forgetfulness, mental problemsTask 2A1.give in so easily to hijackers’ demandsa)threaten to blow up a plane, commit some other outageb)hold out against this kind of blackmail, always have terrorists, Start executingterrorists automaticallyc)be prepared to face the consequences of evil2a)It’s the lesser of two evils. Terrorists have proven often enough that they reallymean business.b)Innocent lives, threatening the innocent will achieve its ends.B1.She implies that if the first speaker was one of the victims of terrorism, she wouldwant the government to give in to the demands so that she wouldn’t die.Task 3A1. thirty-five, natural light, a small window, hot, airless, very noisy2. Mexico3. ought to, shouldn’tB1.It is located in a narrow street with five-and six-storey buildings eight kilometersfrom downtown Los Angeles.2.This factory makes shirts and jeans3.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.Task 4AEvery year the British government publishes statistics about social trends. Their findings show definite patterns in the British way of life.1.marked differencesa)one hour more every day, three hours more every weekb) 1 percent, cleaning and ironing, keep household accounts, do repairs orimprovementsc)30 percent2.leisure activities, watching television, 20 hours a week, going for walks,Swimming, British womenB1.Unlike the other couples, Carla has always kept her won accounts and Adrian hasalways done his own housework. Neither of them like watching television very much and they both like swimming.Task 5ATopic: How a city in Japan solve the problem of garbage disposal.Supporting details: 160 million, every year, 10 percent, 10 percent, the rest, public cooperation1.garbage that can be easily burned, kitchen and garden trash2.electrical appliances, plastic tools, plastic toys3.are poisonous, cause pollution, batteries4.bottles and glass containers that can be recycled5.metal containers that can be recycled6.furniture and bicycledon different days, on request, fertilizer, to produce electricity, recycled, cleaned, repaired, resold cheaply, give awayB1.The garbage will be taken to a center that looks like a clean new office building orhospital. 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 usesome of these ideas and techniques to solve their own garbage disposal problems. Task 61.They were talking about Mrs. Carter.2.She was a tall, handsome woman who used to come into the shop at least twice aweek.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 evidencewas 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’tpunish 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. Theexcuses 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.Task 7ATopic: According to the urban planner, not all modern cities are alike. There seem to be two types of modern city.1. a single high-density center, skyscrapers, motorways, as far as you can see2.the low-density multi-center city, a large collection of a number of small centers,shopping centers, factories, businesses, skyscrapersB1.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 completelydisappear.Task 8A1.He thinks that this country’s problems all come from inflation, which is the resultof 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 orprotection. 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 theunderprivileged.B1.more and more money2. come from somewhere3. higher taxes and higherpricesTask 9A1.The problem is whether or not the inner city---the core of most urban areas---willmanage 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 beganto fall into disrepair. And many downtown areas existed for business only.4.The result was that urban centers declined even further and the suburbs expandedstill more.5.Because from the decision of the Taylors and many other young couples, we cansee 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.B1. F2. T3. F4. F5. T6. TC1.middle-class, tax money, neighborhoods2. Crime, public transportation3. housing construction costs, was allowed to, constructedTask 10A1. 54. 20. 1980, 70,0002. 30, 19803. a newspaper article, to research the market4. another few months, in April 1981, a 1,500 sq ft5. third, Canada, America, 20 percent, ￡1 million6. 20, 70, 3B1. F2. T3. F4. F5. TC1.He was deeply involved in the present job and rather enjoyed himself. He thoughtthe 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 was far more job satisfaction; and believed that he wasmaking money, rather than making money for other people.3.He’s about to diversify into commercial distribution of imported and domesticallyproduced wine and wines he’s producing himself.Task 11I 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. Thecompartment was full, but I was the only one standing. The people in the carriage turned their eyes away as they noticed me liking 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 kike my seat?”she asked. “You look rather ill.” That was the day on which I realized I was getting middle-aged.Unit 4 LiteratureTask 11.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 fromenough.3.They boys were so hungry that they could not bear it any more. They decidedthat 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 givenportion. 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 fora week Olive remained prisoner in the cellar.Task 2A1. F2. F3. TB1. d2. bTask 3AName: Lewis Carroll; Occupation: mathematics; Oxford UniversityLiterary works: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland; 1865;Through the Looking-Glass; 1871B1.These stories are about a dream world in which Alice meets strange creatures andhas interesting adventures.Task 41. the Greeks2. closed the gates of the city and stayed behind the walls3. the Greeks4. a huge wooden horse5. hide inside it6. the horse7. they stopped 8. hid their ships 9. Greek prisoner 10. the horse11. The Greek soldiers 12. the wooden horseTask 5A1. c2. aB1.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 somebrains and the Tinman wanted a heart. The Lion wanted to have courage.Task 6A1.civil war2. first; equality3. battlefields; bloodiest4. ordinaryB1. d2. cTask 7A1. A red, red rose that’s newly spring in June and the melody that’s sweetly played intune.2.He will love her till all the seas are dried and the rocks melt in the sun. his lovewill 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.BJune---tune I---dry sun---run while ---mileTask 81.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 drinkwater.4.Sixteen times.5.He killed sixteen lions.Task 91. a young prince who lived on land; rose to the surface of the sea and waited for theprince to come to her; never came2. a witch; changed her fish’s tail into a pair of human legs; she gave the witch hertongue3.the prince’s palace; her feet hurt terribly; didn’t love herTask 10A1. b2. c3. b4. a5. aB1. e2. b3. a4. d5. cTask 111.stuck a rock and began to break up; sank too; had survived2.he was tied very firmly by a large number of fine ropes; about forty little men shotat him with their arrows, which hurt like needles; the little men gave him all the bread, meat and wine they had3. 3. was seven feet by three feet, equipped with twenty-two wheels and pulled byfifteen hundred little horsesTask 12Aesop 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 EducationTask 1A1.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’tunderstand 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.B1.was; hated; stand; got out2. all their lives3. certain limits; age limitsTask 2AAge SchoolingFour Nursery SchoolFive The Infants’ SchoolSeven The Junior SchoolB1.He stayed there for a year.2.He has faint, but very pleasant memories of it. He had fun and playedgames---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 kindof secondary school they would get into.Task 3Apulsory; the ages of 5 and 16; state-funded; independent2.available; at a nursery school; in the nursery class at a primary school3.preparatory; primary; aged 5 to 134.enter the state education system; at the age of 5; secondary school5.7, 11, 13 or 16; gain admission at 11 or 13; the Common Entrance Examination6.one further year; Advanced Supplementary Examinations; Advanced LevelExaminations7.classroom; laboratory; work independently; undertake research for projects8.vocational; conventional9.secondary education; with A-levels; further; higherB1.GCSE stand for the General Certificate of Secondary Education. It is normallytake 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, whileothers are assessed entirely by examination.Task 4ATopic of This Discussion: Corporal PunishmentInterviewees Position onThis Topic Arguments/ReasonsFor/AgainstKate For It’s difficult to teach children these days, whenmany of them know they won’t get jobs. It’s hardto control the class if you can’t punish them. Somechildren need discipline.Rolf Against It always has been difficult to be a teacher. But youdon’t have to use violence. It’s impossible to teachstudents about nonviolence and being good citizenswhen you are violent yourself.Jane AgainstRaoul For Its’ impossible to teach the rest of the class of youhave one student who constantly misbehaves. It’sbad for the others.B1.. F2. FTask 5A1.Because the television program by that name can now be seen in many partsof the world.2.This program is very popular among children. Some educators object tocertain 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, thesupport by both government and private businesses, and the skillful use of avariety of TV tricks2) Perhaps an equally important reason is that mothers watch “Sesame Street”along with their children. This is partly because famous adult stars oftenappear on “Sesame Street”.3) The best reason for the success of the program may be that it makes everychild watching it feel able to learn. The child finds himself learning, and hewants to learn more.B1.six million; regularly; half; economic; racial; geographical2.fifty; Spanish; Portuguese; German; one hundred thousand; English; every twoweeks3.songs; stories; jokes; pictures; numbers; letters; human relationshipsTask 6A1.It is to have all public schools connected to the Internet computer system and havecomputers available for all students.2.Its web site provides information about the school, the teacher and their mailaddresses. It also lists student events and organizations.3.They learn numbers and letters. They also learn how to use the computers theywill need later in their education.B1.1994; 35%; Last year; 89%2.universities; colleges; urge; requireTask 7A1.spoken; written; saying poetry aloud; giving speeches; advanced degrees; field ofstudy; custom; candidates; doctor’s degree2.written; nineteenth; the great increase in population; the development of modernindustry; objective; personal opinions; memory of facts and details; range of knowledge; a fairer chance; easier; quicker; learning; 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.3.unsatisfactory; along withB1. bTask 8Americans 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 tan their high school counterparts over a lifetime.Unit 6 WorkTask 1A1.d—b---a---e---cB1. aTask 21. a2. b3. d4. cB1.T2. T3. FCwondered; 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!Task 3AHarry---Sailor Nora---Farmer(if she were a man)Robert---Civil engineer Peter---Racing driver or explorerB1. a2. b3. c . b 5. dTask 41.correspondents; columnist; may not need either; to go to places where events takeplace and write stories about them2.first; bigger; better; who will soon leave to work for other people3.working hours; free time; work long hours to begin withTask 5A1.acd2. abeB1.she is the wrong sex2. she wears the wrong clothesTask 6Former Jobs When Laid-off Why Laid-off1st man Car salesman Recently Low sales, due to the increaseof interest rates2nd man Worker at a vacuum 10 months ago Plant moved to Singapore where cleaner plant worker are paid much lessB1st speaker---bcd 2nd speaker---aeC1. F2. F。

Unit 9Task 1【答案】1) the campus hero; the women’s track coach2) the class started before I got here3) will develop4) cloudy; the glass is a little dirty5) 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 themost joyous day in her entire life.Man: Why does the groom wear black?Task 2【答案】Speakers Preferences Reasonslst speaker French Melodic; easy on the ear; poetic; a rhythm to thelanguage; rounded; no sharp, jagged edges; pleasing2nd speaker Dane speaking English Beautiful, low, sensitive, very soft quality3rd speaker French speaking English Nice pronunciation of "h" and "th"; very nice, steadyrhythms; gentle; lyrical4th speaker Mediterranean accents Mediterranean culture; gives English life; beautifulmixture of the serious Northern European and theSouthern European5th speaker Swedish accent Makes her smile; sing-songy; makes her want toimitate【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 pleasingto 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, verysoft 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 rhythmsand I like that too. It's just it, it... whenever I hear a French person speaking English itsounds 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) T2) T3) F4) T5) FB.1) b2) c3) a4) c5) c6) 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 peoplespeaking 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 thereare several different groups of languages er . .. Most European languages,with theexception of I think Finnish and er .. . Basque and . . . Hungarian I believe,belong tothe Indo-European group of languages, I'm not very sure myself of the . . . the actualdetails of the history of these languages, but you can be very sure that er ... most ofthese languages , say Latin and Greek nd our own language a and er . . . German ander ... French and ... all the others, are connected. The reason why you can travel fromone Willage to another in Switzerland and er . . . from one area to another in Englandand find different dialects, if not different languages spoken, is that um ... severalhundred years ago communication was by word of mouth. Word of mouth meant thatpeople had to move ; if people were to move they needed roads and there were noroads.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 usedLatin. but Latin had a ... a particular religious basis and this is probably why it wastherefore chosen. I don't see very much chance for Esperanto; I think it's an awfullygood idea but I don't believe that language works like that.I think people willprobably er .. . work towards the most convenient language to use.They will not setout to learn a new language. It seems to me that er ... either English,. Russian orChinese, perhaps Japanese, will be the language of the future er . . . My bet's onEnglish.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 youactually go to the country and spend say a month in . . . in an exchange visit whenyou're a schoolgirl, or a schoolboy um ... then you suddenly become more interestedbecause 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 . . . inforeign countries. Mm . . . I think English people traditionally thought that . . . thatforeigners always spoke English, and a lot of foreigners do, but there are people thatyou meet in the street or you want to take a bus somewhere, then you find that youneed to speak the language and'it's very unnerving to be in a situation where you can'tcommunicate 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, andI learnt French at school but I . . . I really didn't speak it at all. I knew it theoreticallybut 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'rein the situation. It's very hard at times —you can sit through dinner parties and notunderstand what ... what's going on and you think everybody thinks you're stupidbecause you can't communicate with them, but it's ... it's the hard way but I think it'sthe 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 greatproblems?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 thenthat's quite good. You know how to use libraries and oh .. . you get to know where toum... call in emergencies; um ... you get to know ... er ...trying to get a radio andunderstand the radio and all the . . . programmes they have . . . um and when they'reon 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 veryinteresting to speak other languages um ... because English people have differenter ...have a different mentality, and have a very different character and a differenttemperament and it is fascinating for me to talk to them um... and also for myself tobe 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 1Fiona: 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 2Lesley: 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 3Mary: 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) c2) a3) b4) cB.1) T2) F3) F4) T5) F6) T【原文】Learning to SpeakIt 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 language1. Brief introduction"statements"; non-verbal communication; small facial expressions, hand gestures and body movements that we make to express our feelings2.Detailed introductionour facial expressions and gestures are automatic and unconscious most of the time; we paid conscious attention to the hidden messages in body language; facial; body2.1 facial expressionsEyes, eyebrows, lips and facial muscles: capable of “saying” things.Eyes Suggestions NoteWide eyes Surprise, wonder, excitement orsometimes fear (possible) One element alone does not tell us everything. We have to see gesturesWide eyes, a little smile and a Wonderfully pleasedslight tilt of the head in combination.Anger or hostility"Squinty" eyes, tight lips, andthe head pushed forwardHalf-closed eyes Fatigue, boredom or indifference(possible)Half-closed eyes, a lowered tiltCoy and flirtatiousof the head, a fluttering of theeyelids and a slight smileThe size of our pupils Our interest in a subjectEyebrows Signal FlagsOne brow up, one down Doubt, disbelief or uncertaintyBoth up Surprise or mistrustSqueeze them together Frown or scowlLips Both Nonverbal and Verbal MessagesBaring the teeth just on one side or pullSnarl and threat (close to animals)the lips tightly across the teethThe "pout" "I'm not happy because I'm not getting what I want."Anxiety and fearTuck the lower lip into out mouth andbite itLicking the lips: a "dry mouth" gesture Stress or anxietyHand or sign language: highly developed, especially by the deaf.The Routine Hand Language MessagePointing with the index finger To accuse someoneThe clenched fist beating in the air To threaten someoneA clenched fist held close to the body Tension or anxietyThe 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 givingClap hands To show approval or call someone or getattentionbring our finger to our lips; scratch or rub our heads; slap our heads; take our head in both hands to sort of clear our minds3. ConclusionA 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 meanstension 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 8In 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 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 he 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 ?。