Unit 1 Starting outListening inPassage 1Interviewer Can you tell me something about the Ivy League? You're a professor at Harvard, is that right?Professor That's right, yes.Interviewer Tell me how many universities are there? How many institutions?Professor In total there are eight institutions: There's Harvard, Yale, Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton, and the University of Pennsylvania.Interviewer Ah, OK. And what's the sporting ... I believe there's some link with sports.Professor There certainly is, yes. Originally the Ivy League referred to the sports teams from the universities which competed against each other, especially in football, basketball and ice hockey.Now sometimes these universities, institutions, chose their students on the basis of their skills at these particular sports. But in the last 50 years, Ivy League schools have accepted a wider range of students because it wasn't possible to be both world-famous for research and also top class in sport.Interviewer And what about their academic importance? I gather they're academically very, very important, they're very well-known.Professor Absolutely at the top. They're near or at the top of the USA colleges and university rankings.And they're almost always in the top one per cent of the world's academic institutions for financial resources.Interviewer And what does it mean socially to go to an Ivy League university?Professor Certainly if you've been to one of these institutions, you are presumed or assumed to be at the top end of the scale. The Ivy League institutions have a reputation for social elitism, many of the students are rich, intellectual, white Anglo-Saxon, protestants. Not all of them of course, but quitea lot of them.Interviewer And do you know ... why's it called the Ivy League, what's the origin of the name? Professor There are a number of stories, derivations, but possibly it's based on four universities, and IV, the letters IV, that's the Roman numeral for four. Another more likely story is that ivy plants, which are symbolic of the age of the universities, you know, would be grown at the walls of these universities, these institutions, they cover the walls of the buildings. The term was created by a sports journalist, I think in the 1930s.Interviewer Right, OK. And which is the oldest university?Professor The oldest goes back to the 17th century, that's Harvard which was founded in 1636. And the youngest of the institutions is Cornell which was founded in 1865.Interviewer And which has the largest number of undergraduates?Professor Cornell has the largest number, about 13,000, 13,500 undergraduates. The institution with the smallest number is Dartmouth College with a little over 4,000.Interviewer And what about the acceptance rate? Is it hard to get into?Professor That ranges from about seven per cent to 20 per cent.Interviewer And any famous alumni? Famous old boys?Professor Hundreds! Hundreds of them. But I suppose worldwide, the two that would be definitely known all over the world would certainly be George Bush who went to Yale, and John F Kennedy, President Kennedy, who was at Harvard.Interviewer Thank you.Passage2Andy Did you see the film on television last night?Jane No, I was out. What was it?Andy A Beautiful Mind. It's about John Forbes Nash, the mathematician who won the Nobel Prize. Jane I've heard about that film, yes. He's played by Russell Crowe, isn't he? I like Russell Crowe, he's great.Andy That's the one, yes.Jane What's it about?Andy Well, the story begins in the early years of Nash's life at Princeton University as a graduate student.Jane That's one of the Ivy League schools, isn't it?Andy Yes, it's all set in New England, lovely old buildings, beautiful autumn colours. It's lovely to look at. Anyway, Nash meets his roommate Charles, a literature student, who soon becomes his best friend. Nash admits to Charles that he is better with numbers than people, and the main thing he's looking for is a truly original idea for his thesis paper.Jane So he's not interested in having fun?Andy Well, yes, but he's not very good with people or successful with women, that's all. But, you know, it's one of these bad experiences with people which ultimately inspires his brilliant work in mathematics.Jane No good at relationships, so he becomes a genius at maths?Andy That's about right, yes. So when he finishes his studies at Princeton, he accepts a job at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Five years later, he meets Alicia, a student who he falls in love with and eventually marries.Jane Ah! At last, the love interest!Andy Yes, but wait a moment. Nash believes that he's been asked to work by William Parcher for the US Department of Defense on breaking Soviet codes. At one point he's chased by the Russians, and it's after this that he becomes mentally ill.Jane I think I've seen this in the trailer to the film.Andy So when he's put in a psychiatric hospital, he thinks the Soviets have captured him. He's given this painful treatment which affects his relationship with his wife. And his intellectual skills. So he stops taking the medicine.Jane It sounds quite hard to watch.Andy Well, it is, but it's well acted and directed, and so, you know, there's a-bit of distance between the audience and what's happening on film.Jane So what happens next?Andy Well, then his illness returns, so he and his wife decide to try and live with it. It all gets a bit complicated, because we're no longer sure if Charles, you know, his old friend, or even Parcher were real, or if they were just people that existed only in Nash's mind.Jane That sounds awful. He must have been so ill,Andy Actually, I'm kind of giving away the twist in the story. Anyway, later in his life, while he's using the library at Princeton again, he asks his rival Martin Hansen if he can start teaching again. And so the story ends when he goes on to win the Nobel Prize in Economics.Jane Well, it sounds like a great film.Andy Yes, you should see it sometime.Unit 3 Learning to thinkListening inPassage 1Interviewer With us today is Martin Downes, a carpenter, who's 51. A year ago, Martin had a stroke. But he's been lucky enough to make a full recovery from it. Can you tell us how it all began, Martin? Martin I'm very happy to - not that I remember much at all. I was at a customer's house, building a cupboard, and the next thing I knew, I woke up in hospital with people in white coats bending over me.Interviewer It must have been very frightening.Martin It was. But what was really frightening was that I couldn't speak. I couldn't say a word. And I couldn't understand much that people said to me.Interviewer How awful!Martin Yeah! I don't know what would have happened to me if I hadn't had my family. But they were there for me, they really were. I had something called aphasia, where the part of your brain gets damaged that affects your speech and language. But they started treatment for the condition almost immediately. This speech and language therapist came to see me every day for 12 weeks.They made me do all these exercises.Interviewer What kind of exercises?Martin I had to match words and pictures and say their names. You see, I'd also forgotten the names of a lot of things. She had this thing called a word board and I could point to words and phrases on it that I wanted to say. I had to repeat words up to 20 times - boy, it was hard, so hard. Interviewer Could you say anything to begin with?Martin I could say three words. "Hi", "Yes" and "No". That was all. And there were a lot of words I couldn't understand -1 had to learn their meanings all over again.Interviewer It must have been very frustrating.Martin It was, but I was determined to get better. I was in hospital for three and a half months. WhenI got home I got a special computer programme that I worked with every day. And slowly mylanguage came back to me. It was a struggle, a big struggle. I had to learn to read and write again too.Interviewer Why do you think that you were able to recover completely? It's not that common, is it? Martin I was lucky. I was given the right drug at the right time. And I had 12 weeks of therapy, five daysa week. That's very important, apparently.Interviewer And now that you're better how do you feel about your life?Martin What can I say? I'm just grateful to have my life back.Passage 2Interviewer In 1907 an Italian educator called Maria Montessori opened a school in Rome that taught young children using methods that were very different from traditional teaching. Today, the Montessori method, as it's known, is used in nursery schools in countries such as America, Canada, Britain and Germany. Recent research shows that children educated at a Montessori nursery do better later on at school than other children in all subjects. We asked two Montessori teachers,Claudia Rosella and Sarah Harrington, to explain what makes their nursery school different. Sarah... Sarah I think the first thing to say is that a Montessori classroom is very quiet, very clean. Everything stays in the same place. So the children are calm and quiet as a result.Interviewer So they're not encouraged to be noisy.Sarah No, definitely not...Interviewer Claudia?Claudia Yes, the classroom's very important. Another important principle is that children direct their own learning. They choose what they want to do.Interviewer So the teacher doesn't tell the child what to do?Sarah Not at all. While a child is doing an activity we observe them. Then we work with the child for a short time and then leave them to work on their own.Interviewer That sounds excellent. And what about your equipment? It's often made of wood, isn't it? Sarah Yes, and a piece of equipment is often designed for one activity only.Claudia Right. It's so that the child can see if they're getting something right or wrong. Interviewer So they don't need the teacher so much"?Sarah That's right. Another Montessori principle is the importance of physical activity. Children learn by doing, so when they're learning to read, for example, the letters are made of sandpaper so that children can feel the shape of the letter.Interviewer Do you think there are disadvantages with Montessori methods?Claudia Yes, there are. Maria Montessori didn't understand how important it is for children to use their imagination. If she was alive today, she would recognize that. But still, the fact is, her methods are very successful.Unit 4 Person to personListening inPassage 1John Are you packed?Mike Yup. Everything's there.John Sure you've packed your mobile?Mike I'll look again, John ... yes.John Well, we've got another ten minutes before we need to leave, so we might as well relax. You know someone told me an amazing story yesterday about these Australians who got completely lost in some national park.Mike And don't tell me, they used their mobile to get help?John That's right!Mike So what happened?John Well, it was this guy with his son and niece -I think she was about 14 - and they were hiking in this really rugged country and they got completely lost - no idea where they were at all.Mike That's not going to happen to us.John No, it isn't. Anyway, the guy had his mobile and he phoned the emergency services — it wasn't dark yet - and they sent out a search party, but they couldn't find them. And then -this is the interesting bit - the guy sent photos of the place where they were.Mike I'd have thought of that.John Yes, well it's pretty obvious, really. And in the photos there were mountains in the background, and the staff at the emergency service centre were able to identify exactly which mountains they were. And they used the photos to pinpoint their location, you know, to get the exact location. Mike How did they do that?John They used mapping software.Mike Right.John Anyway, by then it had got dark and really freezing. So they slept behind this ridge and covered themselves with leaves. And you know what the young girl said afterwards? She said, "It was quite fun."Mike Really, wasn't she frightened?John I don't think so.Mike So - is there a happy ending?John Yes, well they sent out helicopters as soon as it was daylight and the helicopter hovered over the area, and the man kept talking to them till they were able to pinpoint his location. And when they finally found them they were only 400 metres away from where they'd expected them to be. Mike Amazing!John And that's because they'd moved 400 metres away from where they'd taken their photos because the ground was too rough to sleep on.Mike Incredible!John And the moral of the story is-Mike Always take your mobile phone with you when you go hiking.John And take one that has a camera.Mike Hey, I think we should go, John.John Yes, OK. You think we're going to get lost?Mike No chance, mate!Passage2Social networking - it's the 21st century way of having fun - online. And if you're under 40, you probably use a social networking site - maybe when you should be working. It's well-known that -. office workers spend up to two hours a day on a site, exchanging messages and photos. And do students ever do anything else? Different social networking sites are used by different age groups.For people in their 20s, the most popular site is Facebook, the online phenomenon started by an American student in 2004. It's taken only four years to make Facebook a huge success - and the website's made its founder, Mark Zuckerberg, a very rich man indeed.What's extraordinary about Zuckerburg is that he started Facebook when he was only 18. He was a student at Harvard, one of America's top universities, when he launched the Facebook website, working from his college room. In only two weeks, more than two-thirds of his college had signed up and in a year, thousands of colleges were using it. Today, Facebook has millions of users. More than half of them visit the site at least once a day.So what makes Facebook so special? Like other networking sites, you create a profile with photos, you list your interests, you exchange messages and join groups of friends. But where Facebook is different is that it gives you a privacy that you just don't get on other sites. Unlike other sites, you have a lot of control over what users can see about you. As a result, one-third of Facebook users give out their mobile numbers - they know it's safe to do so.But you still need to be careful about what you think is safe to show people. One reason is that more and more employers are using Facebook to check out potential employees. Is the person you've just interviewed as good as he seems? Facebook can provide the answer. If a 26-year-old man says on Facebook that he's been travelling round the world for the last three years, and in his interview he said he'd been working in an office - well, he probably won't get the job.Unit 5 All you need is loveListening inPassage 1Interviewer So - tell us about how you first met.Amy How we first met... Oh, it wasn't very romantic.David I thought it was very romantic.Interviewer Why don't you begin at the beginning?Amy Good idea. Well, I was 22 and I'd just left uni and I went on holiday to the French Alps with a girlfriend. And someone invited us to go climbing. But my friend got ill so I went without her. There was this group of about eight guys and two girls.David There were four girls.Amy Alright! Well, anyway, no one had told me that the mountain we were going to climb was - vertical - and that we were climbing with ropes! I was terrified, absolutely terrified, I just really hadn't expected it.David She was terrified! I noticed her immediately. She looked so scared -she was wearing this great hat — but she was white as a sheet.Amy Oh, I don't know about that, but I remember I was shaking all over. David came over and started talking to me and telling me how safe it was with the ropes. And he was so sweet, you know I thinkI fell in love with him right then.David Yeah, it was the same with me ... We roped up and I made sure I stayed next to her ... I kept talking to her and encouraging her.Amy It really helped. I think I would have fallen off the mountain if you hadn't done that.David Rubbish! You were perfectly safe. Anyway, we got to the summit — it was a kind of flat area - and Amy just collapsed - she couldn't stand up!Amy It's true, I couldn't. I felt -1 was just - everyone ignored me except David - everyone.David Quite a few people came to talk to you.Amy They didn't!David They did!Amy Well, you talked to me, and that's all that mattered.David Thank you!Amy So -David So we climbed back down the mountain.Amy which was just as bad -David and we headed for the nearest village and we both had huge pizzas.Amy I didn't eat a thing! I was still feeling too sick.David You did, you know.Amy You know, you have a terrible memory sometimes.David So do you! ... To cut a long story short, we got married six months later and went on a three-week honeymoon to Barbados.Amy Two weeks!David And we've lived happily ever after.Passage2Presenter And now let's move on to online dating, a way of meeting a potential partner that's becoming more and more popular. James O'Hanlan and Claire Goodall are two online dating experts who are going to give all you listeners advice about how to use online dating safely and successfully. James ...James OK. The first thing to say is, don't be nervous. A lot of people are and it's very understandable.But there's no need to be, provided you follow the rules, which we're going to tell you right now.Isn't that right, Claire?Claire Absolutely.James So, let's begin at the beginning. When you join an online dating site, the first thing you do is give some basic information about yourself. Now, don't be tempted to lie - about your age, for example. If you want a good relationship, you need to be honest. If you're not, you'll get found out and that could be painful.Claire Another thing - it's a good idea to use a photo, you'll get many more replies than if you don't. James But use a recent photo, not one that was taken ten years ago!Claire Let's move on to the next stage. You've had some responses响应and chosen one or two people you'd like to chat with. Now, the most important advice here is, don't give out any personal information until you're 100 per cent sure you're that happy to do so. That includes your real name, your phone numbers, your workplace address and your email address. Use the email facility设备at the website and only give out your email address when you feel completely safe.James And email for as long as you want, it's a great way of getting to know a person. Then, the next stage is to talk on the phone. Now that's very revealing, because you'll hear the person's voice, and also because people have to be spontaneous on the phone - they can't think about what they're going to say for half a day, unlike emails.Claire Then, if you're feeling really comfortable, agree to meet. But always choose a public place. Don't go to someone's home.James A cafe or bar is the best choice.Claire And don't forget to tell a friend where you're going and what time you expect to be back. That's important.James Another good idea is to ask the same friend to call you during the meeting so that if you want to leave quickly you can say that something urgent's come up and you have to go.Claire That's everything! If you follow this advice you should be perfectly safe. And you may find the man -James ... or woman —Claire ... of your dreams!James & Claire Happy hunting!Unit 6 Shop fill you drop!Listening inPassage 1Speaker 1］Interviewer So, how are you enjoying yourself in St Petersburg? What's it like?Speaker 1 Oh, I think it is a very beautiful place.Interviewer What sort of... Is it good for shopping? What do you buy in St Petersburg?Speaker 1 Yes, there are things you should buy. Of course, vodka is very good here and the other thing very expensive is the caviar. It is beautiful. Then there are the dolls. What have do they say?Matrioshka dolls.Interviewer Matrioshka dolls. Those wooden dolls that go inside each other?Speaker 1 Yes, you take one out and open the top and there is another one. You take off the top and there is another. They get very very small inside. Very small.Interviewer OK.Speaker 1 And of course, the chess. Because they are very famous here in this part of the world to play the chess.Interviewer Yes. And what sort of shops are there? Where's it best to shop?Speaker 1 Oh, here there are very good department stores, where you can buy everything that you like, clothes and everything. And also, lots of small kiosks that are very unique独一无二的, owned by different shopkeepers, you know. And they are all over St Petersburg. Little kiosks and also markets that are very good. And there is a very good museum shop at the museum - at the Hermitage Museum.Interviewer And what are the opening hours?Speaker 1 At the museum?Interviewer Well, all shops, generally. What are the opening hours ... for shopping?Speaker 1 Yes. Usually, they open at around 10 o'clock in the morning and I think they are open to 7 o'clock at night; sometimes even longer, to 8 o'clock.Interviewer And how do you, how do you actually buy things? How do you pay for things? I think, there is a slightly different way of doing this in Russia.Speaker 1 Yes, you point to the thing that you want to buy, which is usually behind the counter or something like that; and then you go to a cash desk to pay. And then you have to go back to the counter and then you take the thing you have bought.Interviewer It sounds as though it's quite a long process.Speaker 1 It is very interesting.Speaker 2Interviewer So, how are you enjoying it in Cairo? What's, what's the shopping like?Speaker 2 Oh, it's fantastic. And the shopping is absolutely great. Um, you can get everything from fantastic little wooden boxes. You can get backgammon boards. You can get all kinds of leather stuff-sandals and so on. Oh, and the thing that they're really famous for here of course, is the water pipes that they call it a sheesha.Interviewer A sheesha. OK. That's the water pipe.Speaker 2 That's right, yes. Yes, they like the smoking here.Interviewer And where are the best places to shop?Speaker 2 Well, I think the best place actually here is to go, if you go to the mediaeval market. It's acommercial centre in the middle of Cairo and - er - they sell lots of fantastic souvenirs there. You can get spices, er, you can get gold and silver, and copper stuff, and - er - they also sell your fruit and veg.Interviewer Uh-huh. When does it open? When are the shops open?Speaker 2 Well, the hours are very good. They open very early in the morning. They stay open till about10 o'clock at night. You do have to remember, of course, that they take a very long lunch break. So,they are closed for this long time in the afternoon but they, you know, re-open and stay open until late. Oh, and the other thing you have to remember is that they - everything is closed on a Friday. Interviewer Right, and how do you pay for things? Do you have to bargain for, for goods? Speaker 2 Well, bargaining is absolutely a sport here. Uh, they, they do prefer cash always. I think some of the tourist shops will take credit cards but only in the tourist shops. When you start the, the bargaining, you've got to be, well, first of all, you've got to be definite and serious about what you're buying. But don't offer anything like the price that they're asking, the original price. You know, go in at about half the price of what they're asking you.Interviewer That's fascinating迷人的. Thanks very much. Thank you.Speaker 2 That's a great place.Speaker 3Interviewer So, how's your visit to Venice? Is it good?Speaker 3 Oh, amazing. What a place. It's so unique!Interviewer Have you done any shopping? Is it a good place to shopping?Speaker 3 Yes, definitely. They're - you must go and see the glass factories on Murano. They're just something else. Quite expensive but you can get little bits of glass, really nice. Sheets of paper are really nice.Interviewer Yeah.Speaker 3 Also, lace is just... exquisite lace.Interviewer Yes.Speaker 3 Carnival masks, also. All hand-painted.Interviewer Yes, Carnival, yes. I've seen this.Speaker 3 Then, the shops are amazing.Interviewer And where's the best place to shop in Venice?Speaker 3 OK, well, the main shopping street is a street from St Mark's Square to the Academmia Bridge. That's the main bit But if you like food, you have to go to the market at the Rialto Bridge.That's just great food. There's not that many department stores.Interviewer No.Speaker 3 There's just not room for them on the island.Interviewer No. And what time do these shops open and close? What are the opening hours9 Speaker 3 Oh, they open in the morning at about 9 or 9.30. And then they close for lunch 12.30 or 1.They'll reopen again - in the winter, 3.30 to 7.30 and in the summer just a bit later - 4 to 8, say. Interviewer Right. And how do you pay? Can you use credit cards or do you have to use cash? Speaker 3 Well, you know, just use cash for the smaller items and they accept credit cards most places for the larger ones, but just make sure you get a receipt.Interviewer Yeah. And are the shops open all week or is there one day when they ...?Speaker 3 Yeah, oh, actually, Monday, they are traditionally closed.Interviewer Yeah, they are closed. Right. Thanks. Well. Sounds very interesting.Passage 2Speaker 1 Have you ever gone down to the local supermarket for some milk or bread and come out with far more than you intended打算to buy? Then you've fallen for the top ten tricks to separate you from your money. Here are the top ten tricks to make you shop.Speaker 2 Number ten. Trolley or basket? Make up your mind.Speaker 1 If you choose a basket, there'll be some heavy goods by the entrance to make you choosea trolley. If you choose a trolley, there's a chance you'll want to fill it up. Make up your mind whatyou want to buy before you go into the store.Speaker 2 Number nine. Watch out, there are vegetables about.Speaker 1 Supermarkets often put vegetables and fruit near the entrance, so that you fill your trolley with natural, healthy produce and feel good. The problem is, then you don't feel so bad about filling your trolley with unhealthy and expensive items.Speaker 2 Number eight. If you can't find it, just ask!Speaker 1 You'll notice that essential items like bread or milk are placed all over the store, so you'll spend more time looking for them. So if you can't find something, ask for help.Speaker 2 Number seven. Take a shopping list and stick to it!Speaker 1 Supermarkets often change shelves around, so that you're tempted to buy new products while you're looking for the things on your list. It's easier to resist temptation if you only put in your trolley what you planned to buy.Speaker 2 Number six. Beware of the checkout!Speaker 1 Supermarkets often place sweets and magazines at the checkout, because customers who are bored with waiting often add them to their basket or trolley.Speaker 2 Number five. Smells good? Don't believe it!Speaker 1 Many supermarkets pump the smell of freshly baked bread into the store through the air conditioning to make you feel hungry. If you eat before you go, you'll be less tempted to add cakes and snacks to your trolley.Speaker 2 Number four. How free is FREE?Speaker 1 "Buy one get one free" is a common way to make people think they're getting a bargain. But this kind of offer may not be as good as it sounds. Sometimes it's a way of getting rid of old stock. Speaker 2 Number three. Look up, look down.Speaker 1 Eye level is buy level, so don't choose the first product you see, because it's usually the most expensive. Look for similar products higher up or lower down the shelves.Speaker 2 Number two. Beware of loss leaders.Speaker 1 Large supermarkets often reduce the price of key items, such as a popular brand of cereals or the latest films on DVD. They're designed to bring people into the shop, because they believe everything will be cheaper.Speaker 2 And our number one top tip for supermarket shoppers. Stay at home and shop online. Speaker 1 Many large supermarkets allow you to shop from the comfort of your own home, and will even deliver it to your door. If you shop online, you'll avoid all those expensive supermarket tricks.And even if there's a delivery charge, it will cost less than going to the supermarket and doing your shopping yourself.。
