新视野大学英语视听说 4 第二单元 MP3及文本
新视野大学英语视听说 4 第二单元 MP3及文本
Unit 2 Getting older, getting wiser?
Part 1
P: Hi. I’m really excited about the next few months. I’m DJing on the banks of the River Thames in the heart of London and I’m playing some beach parties. Today I’ve come to Covent Garden to find out how people feel about their lives. What are you looking forward to in the future?
Part 2
M1: Er, I’m looking forward to having a family: I don’t have a family right now. Er, I’m looking forward to buying a house – er, I actually live in the United States right now and I haven’t bought a house there, so I’m looking forward to that. And I guess I’m looking forward to um, more travel.
W1: Finding a job that I’m really passionate about.
M2: Er, near future, I’m looking forward to a holiday next year. I’m going to Vegas with a family that I haven’t been away with um, for about five or six years now.
W2: Getting a good job, and finishing university.
M3: Nothing really. I kind of enjoy my life at the moment. Um, I ... I live in Australia now, and I’ve got things the way we like them at home, and life’s good.
M4: Starting a new job next summer.
Part 3
P: Is there anything you aren’t looking forward to?
W1: No, no, there’s nothing I can think about that I’m not looking forward to in the future.
M2: The one thing that I’d have thought most people say is dying. Quite serious, but, other than
that, no – I kind of embrace life to the full; look forward to most things.
W3: Um, I have to say, the premise of getting older, and with getting older you have more
responsibilities, so that’s one thing I won’t ... I’m not looking forward to.
M1: Well, I’m not looking forward to retiring: Um, I like my job and I like working, and I think
I’ll be a little bored when I retire.
W2: It’s quite stressful looking for jobs and going to job interviews, so I do get nervous about that.
M3: Getting older. Your body’s starting to fall to bits. Not looking forward to that, but it’ll happen.
Part 4
P: People say that your schooldays are the best days of your life. Do you think that’s true?
W1: Absolutely. I do, yes, because you’re, the world is your oyster. You have so much hope, so many dreams, and you believe, you believe you can achieve anything. So yeah, definitely, I think so, yeah.
M3: No. Schooldays were hell on earth for me. It was (They were) the worst days of my life.
W2: Um, they’re quite stressful because you have exams, but I do think they’re fun: being able to be with your friends every day. So I do think that schooldays are ... are good days in your life.
M1: Looking back on it, I had a great time at school. I’m sure at the time it seemed a little difficult, um, you know, trying to fit in, but now when I look back on it, they were fun days and, you know, I ... I ... I look at them very fondly.
M4: For me, personally, my, er ... my schooldays were my favorite because I’ve still got friends from, going back 20-odd years.
W3: That’s when I’ve created most ... the most valuable relationships I have in my life.
M2: For most people, yes, but when I left school at 16, I was a fulltime footballer at Ipswich Town Football Club for two years. So, living away from home with friends and doing, kind of, the best thing I could do in my life, were the best two years of my life.
Listening
Scripts
Part 1
OK ... so ... I’ve got the date ... “Thursday, the 20th of May, 2004. Dear the future me, I hope this letter has found its way to you / me. As I write this, I am 16 in Year 11; and as I read it, I am 20. Wow! I will have changed so much. I can only guess what I will be like at 20. I envisage to myself at Oxford Uni, sitting ...” oh, this is embarrassing ... “sitting under a tree by the river in the
college grounds. I think I’ll be wearing something floaty and a bit indie, but I bet when I get this,
it’ll, it’ll be raining.”
“As I read this, I’ll have already remembered that I fancied Tom Squires ...” there you go, Tom ... I’m looking at him now. “I wonder if I’ll ever have the guts to tell him. ... I know, I’m a romantic. I hope that hasn’t changed. My plans for myself in the following years are to find a man, someone good-looking, romantic and intelligent, who, who shares my interests – or just Tom.
Either way, um, I hope I’ll have someone.” I don’t remember this, “... and then I think I’ll have three children with long brown hair and green eyes.”
“Well, I’ll stop now even though I want to write everything I can down, but I’m running out of time. I hope I’m happy in 2008, and I hope this letter makes me feel good about who I was, or am, as I write this. Keep smiling, and while I can’t really say bye, but good luck for the future and keep dreaming. Don’t change too much, and be happy with who you are – I like who I am now more than any other time. Love, Laura.”
Part 2
It all seems very shallow looking back and reading what I thought I’d be doing or hoped I’d be doing. I think my 16-year-old self might have been disappointed with where I am, but because I as my 20-year-old self have sort of grown up and matured, I’m absolutely ecstatic with the way where I am, and it doesn’t have to be this perfect sitting-by-a-lake kind of image.
Viewing
Scripts
N = Narrator; B = Dr. Bradley Willcox
N: The remote island of Okinawa is home to one of the longest-living communities in the world.
In a population of only one million, there are 900 centenarians, a percentage that’s over four times higher than Britain and America. It’s a place where age has a different meaning ... where people like Mr. Miyagi can expect to live way beyond his 92nd year. Unaware of the latest diet or lifestyle fad, Mr. Miyagi has developed his own way of defying the aging process.
B: They’re not thinking about “Gee, if I do this, I’m not gonna live as long, if I ... I have one extra drink or if I eat this food or ...” – they’re not thinking about that at all. Most of them couldn’t care less what the scientists think. They just go about their business and live. They just happen to live a very long time.
N: The explanation for this extraordinary phenomenon begins in the most ordinary of places. Like every town in Okinawa, the fruit and vegetable shop in Ogimi lies at the heart of village life.
It’s here that Bradley and Craig believe the source of the Okinawa miracle can be traced. For the past 20 years, Bradley and Craig have been analyzing the life-enhancing Okinawan ingredients.
B: Got reds here in the tomatoes, the peppers. You’ve got green peppers here.
N: They’ve identified a number of crucial properties that guard the Okinawans from disease, from the antioxidant rich vegetables that protect against cell damage, to the high quantities of soya proteins. In Ogimi, 100-year-old Matsu is preparing a traditional Okinawan dish using all the vital ingredients. It’s only after the food is served that the most significant Okinawan tradition can be observed.
B: The Okinawans developed also cultural habits over the years that appear to have health protective properties. They have a saying called “harahachibu” – eat until you’re only 80 percent full.
N: In a typical day, Matsu only consumes around 1,200 calories, about 20 percent less than most people in Britain and America.
B: In the West we’re very much focused on getting more for our money, and one of the most popular things is all these all-you-can-eat restaurants. You go and you load up at the, at the er, the all-you-can-eat restaurant, and you, you walk away with this bloated feeling and you ... you may have got your money’s worth, but you probably didn’t get your, your health’s worth, because what you’re doing is just digging yourself into an early grave.
Speaking for communication
Role-play
Scripts
P = Presenter; V = Vince; J = Julia; D = Dan; Z = Zara
P: And up next, it’s time for Just Tell Me I’m Wrong. Today’s topic: How young is too young or, perhaps more accurately, how old is old enough? We’ve received hundreds of emails and text messages about the right age for a child to have a mobile phone, stay home alone, wear make-up, get their ears pierced, babysit for younger kids ... and we’ve got our first caller, Vince. Go ahead, Vince. You’re on.
V: Hi. My situation is that my nine-year-old kept asking me to get her a mobile, so I bought her one a few months ago. Then, last week, I got a bill for over two hundred pounds, so I warned her I’d take the phone away from her if it happened again.
P: So I gather your point is whether she’s too young to have a mobile?
V: Yeah, yeah, that’s right.
P: Er, surely it’s the parents’ responsibility to set some sort of guidelines ahead of time.
V: So what you’re saying is I should have given her some rules?
P: Basically, yes, when she first got the phone. OK, thanks Vince. Next caller is Julia. What’s your question, Julia?
J: About the mobile phone thing. I’ve got an eight-year-old, and I worry about him all the time if I can’t reach him. You know ... anything could happen ...
P: So in other words, you want him to have a mobile.
J: And have it on at all times. But he doesn’t want one.
P: Fair enough. Let me ask you a question. When you were eight years old and there were no mobile phones, what did your mother do? I bet you were allowed to go out on your own. Isn’t
that an important part of growing up and developing a sense of independence and responsibility?
J: So what you’re getting at is that I’m being overprotective?
P: You could say that.
J: Yeah, but don’t you agree that the world used to be a safer place?
P: Surely that’s what every generation says. Anyway, thanks for your question, Julia. Let’s go to our next caller. Dan, you’re on.
D: Hi, my question’s also about technology.
P: OK. Go ahead.
D: Well, my son, Seth, he’s 12 and, up till recently, he was a normal 12-year-old, you know, he used to go out with his friends, play football with me, you know ... we had a great relationship.
P: So, Dan, from what you’re saying, I’m guessing he doesn’t want to spend so much time with you now, and you feel ...
D: Oh no, it’s not that. It’s just that he spends all his time on the computer now.
P: Isn’t that just normal nowadays?
D: It’s hard to say. Sometimes at the weekend he spends all day in his bedroom on the computer, on social networking sites or playing games. I don’t think it’s right. I mean for one thing, he never gets any exercise.
P: Don’t you think it’s just a stage he’s going through? I used to spend hours in my bedroom listening to music when I was that age.
D: You mean I should just relax and let him get on with it?
P: Yeah, he’ll grow out of it. And you can’t force him to go and play football if he doesn’t want to.
D: I guess not. Thanks.
P: OK, our next caller is Zara. You’re on.
Z: Um, I was wondering how you would deal with a 13-year-old wanting to get pierced ears?
P: Thirteen years old? Doesn’t she simply want to be like her friends? I imagine a lot of them have pierced ears.
Z: Well ... that’s it. I’m not talking about a she.
P: Oh, if I’ve got it right, you’re upset because your 13-year-old son wants to get his ears pierced.
Z: That’s right.
P: Ah ... so it’s because he’s a boy rather than his age?
Z: I suppose so.
P: Well, what’s he like socially? Does he have friends who’ve got their ears ...
Further practice in listening
Short conversations
Scripts
Conversation 1
W: So this is your last year in college. Have you ever thought about what you’d like to do after graduation?
M: Well, I really don’t know. The job market seems to be improving, so I may look for a job somewhere. But I am also interested in applying for graduate school.
Q: What are the two speakers talking about?
Conversation 2
M: Do you remember Linda we met a while ago at Susan’s birthday party?
W: Linda? Do you mean the lady who you said was a nurse in the community hospital before her retirement? Yeah, I remember. She looks very young for her age.
Q: What does the woman think of Linda?
Conversation 3
M: I wish I could retire tomorrow. Then I would not need to worry about work.
W: I don’t look forward to retirement. I’m afraid of getting old – my body will slow down, and my children will be away. I dread losing independence and living in loneliness.
Q: What makes the woman afraid of getting old?
Conversation 4
W: I consider my early 20s to be the prime time of my life. How about you?
M: I couldn’t agree with you more. That’s no doubt the golden period. You are young and energetic. You are free to pursue your passion. The best thing is that you have a wealth of opportunities to explore.
Q: What does the man like best about being in his early 20s?
Conversation 5
W: Hi, John. You are taking Law 201 this semester, right? How do you like it?
M: Yeah, it’s a great class. We’ve looked at several cases of age discrimination at work. Such cases are very interesting because they are rarely clear-cut and court decisions can be rather controversial.
Q: What does the man say about age discrimination cases?
Long conversation
Scripts
M: Nancy, time to make a birthday wish!
W: I wish ... hmm. OK! I want a high-paying job, a husband with a perfect face and body, and a big house ... with a swimming pool!
M: Wow, Nancy! Those are your three wishes?
W: Of course! If I have those three things, I’ll be happy!
M: Now, Nancy. Let me tell you my story, and you may see things differently.
W: “See things differently?” What do you mean, Uncle Charlie?
M: Here is what I once experienced in life. When I married, 32 years ago, we had a happy marriage, a beautiful house, two expensive cars, and $200,000 in the bank!
W: See, just like now!
M: Wait! I would suggest three different wishes!
W: Well ... What would you wish for? You’re older and wiser!
M: What happens if you lose your job, lose your house, and your husband becomes sick? I suggest these three wishes: patience, courage and love!
W: Patience, courage and love?
M: Yes! If you have patience and courage, you and your husband will have good jobs and a nice house. And if you have true love, you and your husband will be beautiful to each other no matter how old you become together.
W: This is good.
M: Within six years of our marriage, we had three beautiful children, but we lost our jobs, our house, all our money, and then I got really sick for nine years. But we didn’t lose anything truly valuable, because we always said: “Wherever the five of us are together, we are at home!”
And, little by little things did improve, and I finally got well. Patience, courage and love!
These are what make life full, strong and happy!
W: Hmm, I will remember. Patience, courage and love! Thanks, Uncle Charlie!
Q1: What are the two speakers talking about?
Q2: According to the man, why is true love important for a happy life?
Q3: What difficulties did the man experience in his life?
Q4: What is the man doing in the talk?
Passage 1
Scripts
If you think that you have to live up a remote mountain in order to live a long and healthy life, a religious community in Loma Linda, California, may prove you wrong. Its members are a group of Christians known as the Seventh-day Adventists. The Adventists enjoy a much higher life expectancy than average Californians. Adventist men can expect to live about seven years longer than other Californian men. Adventist women are likely to live around four years longer than other Californian women. The Adventists also act much younger than they are and see doctors much less than ordinary people.
So what’s the secret of the Adventists’ longevity? It is not all in their genes. Nor is their good health a mere accident. The Adventists live longer partly because they have a vegetable-based diet.
Around 35 percent of them are vegetarian, and around one half eat meat only rarely. Tobacco and alcohol consumptions are discouraged. So are rich or spicy foods, meat, and drinks containing caffeine. The Adventist diet is high in fruit and vegetables. It also includes plenty of whole grains,
nuts, seeds and beans, and water is the drink of choice.
The longevity of the Adventists is also related to their lifestyle and natural environment. They believe in having regular exercise, helping others, and maintaining strong social and familial ties.
They live in a mild climate with warm summers and cool winters. Interestingly, the air quality of Loma Linda, however, is not as good as in other longevity hot spots. This should give us all hope, as it suggests that we don’t have to have every single factor in place in order to achieve excellent health. Despite this, the Adventists’ good health certainly provides strong evidence that diet and
lifestyle choices have a great impact on health and longevity.
Q1: In what way are the Adventists different from ordinary people?
Q2: How much longer do Adventist women expect to live than other Californian women?
Q3: What is characteristic of the Adventists’ diet?
Q4: What is the main idea of the passage?
Passage 2
Scripts and answers
Of all the threats to human society, including war, disease and natural disaster, one outranks all others. It is the aging of the human population. The 1) proportion of people aged 60-plus around the world is 2) estimated to more than double in 2050. By 2047, for the first time in human history, the number of old people is projected to exceed that of children on the planet.
This change will 3) have profound impacts on human society. One problem concerns the ratio of the number of people of working age to the number of older people, which is known as the “4) potential support ratio”. This index has fallen from 12 in 1950 to 8 in 2013 and is expected to drop to 4 in 2050. Its decline means that the burden on the young, 5) economically and socially, will
rise accordingly. This is because older people rely on the young, not only for care and support but also for the economic productivity that ensures 6) pensions can be paid and health and social costs met.
A variety of issues in other areas such as family composition, the transfer of property, taxation and housing may 7) originate from the population “age-quake”, too. For instance, family ties have been weakened by increased mobility and rising divorce, and hence the demand for 8)
residential and nursing homes will increase since more older people will need to live in an institution or elder care center.
No matter what the future reality will be, the aging of the human population certainly 9) poses a challenge to policy makers, economists and health care specialists around the world. This suggests that the human society will need to 10) be transformed into a structure that has the ability and resources to address the diverse needs of older people.
Unit 3 Discovering your niche holiday
Listening to the world
Sharing
Scripts
P = Pasha; M1 = Man 1, etc.; W1 = Woman 1, etc.
Part 1
P: Hi. I enjoy doing a lot of different things in my free time. Most of them are to do with music: I
DJ both in London and internationally, and I try to go to concerts and festivals whenever I can.
How about you? How do you spend your free time?
Part 2
M1: My free time, when I have any, is playing golf. I ... I discovered golf eight years ago and I’m ... I’m addicted: Whenever I can, I’ll get out on a golf course.
W1: Photography; I like to watch films; um ... really into music.
W2: In my free time I’m an amateur opera singer and I also run an amateur opera company.
M2: I spend my free time shopping, cooking, uh, going to exhibitions, traveling, going to the theater.
W3: I exercise a lot: I spend a lot of time walking, running and boxing.
M3: I play football, I play table tennis, I go bowling. Um, I also do a radio show at my university.
W4: Well, during my free time I read, I, um, watch the news online, um, and watch TV series and go out with my friends.
W5: Er, I spend most of my free time with my friends and, just getting together and watching films, listening to music. I like to read a lot and I like to draw and make clothes.
Part 3
P: How would you spend your free time differently if you had more time or money or opportunity?
M1: I’d travel more. I’d take my children to see more things around the world. They’ve traveled a little bit, I’ve traveled quite a lot, but I’d like to take them to see some of the things that the world has to offer.
W5: If I had more free time, I think I’d be able to develop my own creativity.
M3: Finding, maybe, a bit more about my, er, my heritage. I ... I’m quite interested in that, and speaking to my parents about how they grew up and their parents and things like that.
W2: I would spend more time practicing music.
W3: If I had more time, I would travel more.
W4: If I had more free time, I’d see more of my friends and people that I don’t get to see enough.
And I’d probably relax and go to the park a lot.
Part 4
P: What are the benefits to society of giving people more downtime or more holidays?
W1: I think if you had more time off you’d be able to do, you’d be able to explore your mind a lot more and you ... people (would) become more educated, more intelligent and more aware of what’s going on in the world.
W5: If we all had more free time, I think we’d all be able to let ourselves be more creative, as opposed to just work, work, work all the time.
W4: I think that today when people don’t work from nine to five so much anymore, I think that more free time would do everyone a lot of good, um, as long as you have something to do with it, and you have, kind of, hobbies or friends to see.
W3: They would be less stressed, I believe, because I, I think that people are very, very stressed nowadays.
M2: I think society benefits from giving people more free time because it enables them to lead less stressed lives, reduces the pressures on them, and also increases interests, and I think that a society that has a broad range of interests, a broad range of things they like doing, is generally beneficial.
Listening
Scripts
K = Katie Derham; A = Alison Rice; C = Charlie Connolly
K: The buzzword de jour is “niche travel”. Rather than the usual beach flopout, we’re turning instead to a growing band of small tour operators offering Thai cooking weeks, trips to Sri Lanka for tea lovers, the ultimate trekking or trekkie experience or poignant visits to obscure battlefields. Well, I’m joined here in the studio by Alison Rice, who’s been a travel writer for
many years and Charlie Connolly, author and broadcaster, who among other things has traveled the globe in search of the legacy of Elvis Presley. Welcome to you both. Alison, let’s start by turning to you first. This definition of niche travel these days, what does it mean to you?
A: I think some people would say we’re just talking about activity holidays where, instead of just lying on a beach you follow a particular interest or hobby with like-minded people. Walking holidays, gardening, cookery, painting, yoga, bird-watching – you remember when bird-watching was just for geeks? There’s (There’re) masses of bir, bird-watching holidays.
Battlefields, music, theater festivals – these are all pegs around which we can build a holiday.
C: I do believe in going to a place for a reason and rather than just cos there’s a nice view or something. I’m a big believer in people. I think people make a place and the atmosphere of a place.
K: What would your favorite niche holidays (be) if you’ve come across recently?
A: Oh, for me, it’s definitely singing. If you google “singing holidays”, you’ll find 416,000 entries. Whole choirs go on holiday now, or if you want to just join a choir, you can join a
holiday where you learn a piece, rehearse it through the holiday, sailing down the Nile, there is one in Malta next year where you’ll be singing the Messiah ... and then the holiday ends where you put on a concert for the locals.
C: There is a, a tour you can do of Chernobyl. Um, it’s, it’s a one day tour from Kiev and you get to view reactor number four from a hundred meters away, and you get to visit the dead town of Pripyat, which is, there are schoolbooks still in the school and posters up on the wall, and calendars. And they do say it’s a hundred percent safe if you’re tested for radiation levels when
you, when you go and when you come back.
K: Well, The Traveler’s Tree message board has been littered with postings on this subject. We’ve heard about fair-trade holidays in Cuba and southern India, Inca treks. One from a contributor called Portly, who thoroughly enjoyed the historical cruise on the Black Sea. But thank you also to Dilly Gaffe who said, “Never mind niche. Give me a five-star luxury hotel any time!”
Viewing
Scripts
P = Presenter; HC = Helen Child; AT = Andy Thomas; W = Woman; RO = Rebecca Over;
KE = Kyle Emert; DF = Dave Farris; NB = Nick Bryant; NBr = Nick Brans;
LR = Lucia Rushton; AW = Alan Woods; KS = Katie Siddals
P: At number 38 it’s husky sledding. I’ve come to Saariselkä in Finland for a test drive.
Absolutely beautiful here, the snow is just like ... it’s got little bits of crystal all over it and you can really take it in because the dogs are doing all the hard work.
HC: Just the sound of the snow and the dogs panting with all the silence around, I think that would be fantastic.
AT: Totally silent apart from the sound of the sleds and the dogs’ paws. Incredible.
W: Are you ready?
P: As I’ll ever be. This is much, much more exhilarating than just sitting in the sled. Actually,
having the dogs work for you and feeling like you’re in or out of control is definitely where it’s at Meet Rebecca Over, an estate buyer from Surrey, who like hundreds of you crazy people, wanted nothing more than to be strapped to the outside of a plane and take part in your very own wing-walking display. The craze started when World War One pilots would strap their poor girlfriends to the outside of their planes to entertain the crowds at air shows.
We sent Rebecca off to Rendcomb in Gloucestershire.
RO: I’m feeling excited, a little bit nervous, can’t wait, raring to go.
P: So buckled and braced, our daredevil is ready to go.
RO: The wind is really, really strong, and it’s really hard to do the waving. It’s been wonderful, an amazing day.
P: Still in America now and time to go west on the legendary Route 66: 2,400 miles, eight states, three time zones, one incredible journey.
KE: Once upon a time it was the kind of the thing to do.
P: The famous route from Chicago to Los Angeles was used by thousands of Americans attempting to flee the hard times of the Great Depression, and for many it’s remembered as the road to opportunity.
DF: I’d love to experience what they did – traveling over two and a half thousand miles, and experience that wonderful feeling of getting somewhere which is better.
P: Next up something you’ve let get as high as 17 on this list. You’re crazy; it’s bungee jumping.
NB: The feeling you get when you jump off, fall off, dive off, or whatever, is just awesome.
NBr: Just to fly like that and just sort of end up being stretched and bounced back up, great fun.
P: Throughout history they’ve intrigued mankind with tales of their mystical powers and super intelligence; their legendary curiosity and playfulness have enchanted us for generations.
Thousands and thousands of you have bombarded us with emails and calls to say the number
one thing to do before you die is to go swimming with dolphins.
LR: They’re absolutely amazing animals. They’re so gentle; they’re so, um, sensitive.
AW: Once you swim with them, you don’t want to ... you don’t want to leave them.
KS: A one-off, magical experience.
P: And it was incredible. It’s ... it’s amazing because, um, they’re so responsive and they have um, they feel fantastic, don’t you? You feel wonderful; you feel so lovely. And they, they’re so huge and so powerful and yet so playful and, I’m really, really lucky to be here with them.
Speaking for communication
Role-play
Scripts
W = Woman; M = Man
W: Oh, you must have seen it.
M: No, I, I’ve never even heard of it. How’s (How does) it work?
W: Well, it sounds really stupid, but I’ll try to describe it. The way it works is that there are two
teams, with two celebs on each team.
M: Two what?
W: Celebs. Celebrities.
M: Oh, right.
W: So anyway, there’s a studio with a swimming pool and, at the end, about 20 meters from the
pool, there’s a wall, actually a giant wall covered by another “wall”, or maybe a sort of curtain.
M: Er, I don’t get it. A wall covered by a wall?
W: Yeah, but it’s really like a single wall.
M: OK.
W: And the two people from the first team stand at the edge of the pool facing the wall. Then what
happens is that the host says, “Bring on the wall!”
M: He does what?
W: He says, “Bring on the wall!” Like that, very dramatically. Then the wall starts moving quite
fast towards the two people.
M: ... who are in front of the pool.
W: Yeah and after a few seconds, the curtain lifts off the wall, and there’s a funny-shaped hole,
and they have to get through it.
M: They have to get through where?
W: Get through the hole.
M: Oh.
W: They have about five seconds to get themselves into the same position as the shape in the hole
so that it goes past them and they don’t get knocked into the pool.
M: Uh-huh.
W: Yeah, and that’s the best part because nobody knows what shape the hole will be until the last
moment. It could be anything person-shaped, and ....
M: What do you mean, person-shaped?
W: Well, maybe bent over or maybe with one foot in front of the other and one arm up at an angle,
like this.
M: So, what’s the point?
W: Well, basically the point is not to get knocked into the pool. If they don’t stand exactly in the
shape of the hole, the wall will knock them into the pool. The teams take it in turns to have a
go and the winning team is the one who gets through the most shapes.
M: Um, it sounds pretty stupid to me.
W: You sort of have to see it to get it. It’s incredibly popular.
Further practice in listening
Short conversations
Scripts
Conversation 1
W: I really need a holiday, so I’m going camping with some friends. What are you doing over the semester break?
M: I haven’t got any plans yet. I don’t really have enough money to fly home. I suppose I could
get a part-time job and earn some money, or maybe I could start studying for next semester.
Q: What is the woman going to do over the semester break?
Conversation 2
M: I heard that you quit your swimming lessons. But you have paid $120 for them.
W: Ah, it’s all these yoga sessions. I just couldn’t fit them all in. What’s more, I got the majority
of my fees back because I quit immediately after the first day.
Q: Why did the woman quit her swimming lessons?
Conversation 3
M: Shall we spend our weekend in Singapore? We can leave Friday afternoon so as to have dinner next to the river and enjoy fireworks at the shore!
W: I’d rather go on Saturday. My aunt will drop in on Friday evening. We haven’t seen each other for a couple of years.
Q: Why doesn’t the woman want to leave on Friday?
Conversation 4
M: What do I need to bring for our camping trip to the national park?
W: Well, we’ve bought the food and rented a van. It’s a camping vehicle with a fridge and cooking equipment. I think you will need a warm sweater or jacket for the evenings.
Q: What does the woman suggest the man bring for the camping trip to the park?
Conversation 5
M: Have you confirmed your booking at the hotel in Sydney? With only three days left before our trip, I hope everyone is as ready as I am!
W: Not yet. But I’d better call them before we start our vacation. During this time of year they always get quite busy.
Q: What will the woman probably do before the vacation?
Long conversation
Scripts
M: Rebecca, I just learned of an amazing park right here near our city!
W: Really? Is it a nature park or an entertainment park?
M: It’s a beautiful nature park, located 15 miles from our home.
W: What’s it called?
M: It is called Big Sky Park and has nice walking trails and camping sites!
W: Bill, this is perfect! We can have a vacation and still keep saving money to visit my family
sometime. But, can we get to Big Sky Park without a car?
M: Yes, easily. We just take the No. 32 bus that goes right to the park. The only problem will be
getting all of our camping stuff with us on the bus.
W: Well, I did just buy that new cart to help carry groceries home on the bus, plus we have your big backpack. Together, I think we will be fine. All of our camping equipment should easily fit on the bus.
M: Good. Good! I know we can make it a really special weekend. I have longed for a time when we could walk alone together in the quiet beauty of nature. I’m so, so happy to have this chance to be with you at the park.
W: I know me too! I know what I’ll do! I’ll pack all of our favorite food, and I’ll bake a small chocolate cake. Your favorite! Then we can drink tea and eat the chocolate cake around a campfire. I’m so happy you found Big Sky Park. I can’t wait, just two more days for the weekend to come!
M: I’m so happy as well. Big Sky Park will be wonderful. The fire, the dinner and spending time with you make me such a happy, happy man, Rebecca!
Q1: What makes Big Sky Park a nice vacation place for the couple?
Q2: How can the couple get all their camping stuff on the bus?
Q3: What will the woman probably do before their trip?
Q4: What does the couple long to do at the park?
Passage 1
Scripts
A new museum entirely dedicated to laziness has opened in the capital city of Colombia. But you have to hurry if you want to see the exhibits and find out about being lazy because the exhibition lasts only for one week. The unusual show displays a whole range of things such as sofas, beds and anything that makes you feel like taking a rest. There are also plenty of televisions for those visiting couch potatoes to watch as they move around relaxingly in the museum.
It is no coincidence but rather an intentional decision for the museum to have opened right after the holiday season. The idea is for people to think about laziness, and perhaps change their behavior and lifestyle throughout the rest of the year. It offers a practical experience to make us think about laziness in our high-speed, fast-paced societies.
The museum’s founder Marcela Arrieta said she wanted people to rethink about laziness and decide whether it really is a bad thing. She told the media that people today always think about laziness as an enemy of work. For example, they may feel guilty if they sleep late, or they may feel they are wasting time after taking a nap or having a holiday.
Ms. Arrieta may not be proposing that we should have a shorter working week, but she could have a point in that we do need more leisure time than our jobs allow us, and change our lifestyle to a type that is more relaxing. Besides, according to scientists, avoiding the pressure and stress of work can make us healthier and live longer. So, why not try out Ms. Arrieta’s advice for yourself,
slow down, and think about being lazy?
Q1: Why should visitors be hurried if they want to see the exhibits in the new museum in Colombia’s capital?
Q2: What are exhibited in the new museum?
Q3: What is the purpose of the exhibition?
Q4: What did the museum’s founder advise us to do?
Passage 2
Scripts and answers
A solution may be at hand for holidaymakers who are struggling to find quiet, out-of-the- way places to go. For those who really want to get away from the crowded and much-traveled 1)
resorts, they now find it possible because a new holiday destination has 2) sprung up – Antarctica.
However, this new hotspot, or freezing zone, might only be for those who are fabulously rich if a new policy gets under way. Tourism on Antarctica has been increasing 3) dramatically, from a few thousand people in 1985 to more than 40,000 in 2007. The growing numbers are 4) having an
adverse effect on the untouched environment of the South Pole. To 5) combat this, researchers from Holland’s Maastricht University have come up with a sensible solution: Limit the number of tourists allowed to visit and hawk the vacations to those who are determined to go and are willing to offer higher amounts of money than others for the trip.
Many environmental protection agencies agree that there is a need to protect the frozen 6) wilderness from the damage created by modern tourism. Antarctica is the last 7) unspoiled place on earth. It has a very delicate ecosystem that could be easily upset by 8) streams of tourists
landing in airplanes and using skimobiles. A difficulty exists because Antarctica is not a country and therefore has no government to pass laws or 9) guidelines to control the number of visitors.
The Maastricht University team’s proposal to 10) auction off a fixed number of tourist places seems a workable solution. It would limit the number of visitors and therefore contain the amount of environmental damage, and the money would be used to protect Antarctica’s future.