現代大學英語聽力2Unit9

1、Task 11) 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 hav

2、e 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 ha

3、ppiness, for this is the most joyous day in her entire life.Man: Why does the groom wear black?Task 2Catherine: 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'

4、;s talking, or what they're talking about, there seems to be a rhythm to the language. And it's rounded; there are no sharp, jagged edges to the language, so it's very pleasing to the ear.Chris: I think the accent I really like is the Dane speaking English. They sound awful when they spe

5、ak Danish, but when they speak English there's a beautiful, low, sensitive, very soft quality about it.Donald: I like the way they bring their French pronunciation into English. They can't pronounce "h"s and they can't pronounce "th" properly. And I think that actuall

6、y sounds very nice. Also I like the rhythm they bring French rhythms into English nice, steady rhythms and I like that too. It's just it, it. whenever I hear a French person speaking English it sounds more gentle and more lyrical.Lesley: I think the most attractive foreign accents for me are Med

7、iterranean 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 E

8、uropean 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 3The spelling and meaning of wor

9、ds 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 wordlonje, a slab of ham. We may alsoget our word from a form oflump, may

10、be a lump of bread, but whether lunch comes from hamor 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 bee n a race of gia nts called Tita

11、 ns. The Tita ns fought with ano ther group of gods called Olympia ns, and the Olympia ns won. Atlas was a Tita n. He was puni shed for fight ing by hav ing to sta nd at the western edge of the world, hold ing the sky on his head and han ds, so that it would not fall on the world and smash anything.

12、After the ancient Greek religion died out, the idea of Atlas changed. From holding up the sky with his head and han ds, he came to be thought of as holdi ng the world on his shoulders. Mercator, a mapmaker of the sixtee nth cen tury, used a picture of Atlas on the cover of a book of maps, so a book

13、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

14、say them with so little thought that we forget this. When we say good morning, good evening, good ni ght, and so on, what we are really say ing is, "I hope you will have a good morning (or evening, or ni ght)."DAISY The daisy has a little golden eye, like a tiny sun. Perhaps this is the re

15、ason the English people n amed it day's eye, or perhaps they chose the n ame because the En glish 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 En glish poet Chaucer said:The daisy, or else the eye of the day,T

16、he quee n, and prettiest flower of all.Task 4Mathew: Chris, why is it that there are so many differe nt Ian guages, and that in Europe certa inly if you travel more than a hundred miles, you're likely to find people speaking a completely differe nt Ian guage to your own.Chris: Well, it's tru

17、e to say that there are hundreds and hundreds of different Ianguages. It's perhaps. however, more in teresti ng and more in formative to say that there are several differe nt groups of Ian guages. Most Europea n Ian guages, with the excepti on of I think Finnish and Basque and Hun garia n, I bel

18、ieve, bel ong to the In do-Europea n group of Ian guages. I'm not so very sure myself of the actual details of the history of these Ian guages, but you can be very sure that most of these Ian guages, say, Lat in and Greek and our own Ian guage and Germa n and French and all the others, are conne

19、cted. The reason why you can travel from one village to another in Switzerla nd and from one area to ano ther in En gla nd and find differe nt dialects, if not differe nt Ian guages spoke n, is that several hun dred years ago com muni cati on was by word of mouth. Word of mouth mea nt that people ha

20、d to move; if people were to move they n eeded roads and there were no roads.Mathew: Do you see any cha nee for a uni versal la nguage like Espera nto?Chris: Not for an artificial Ianguage, no. I suppose the Roman Catholic Church used Latin, but Latin had a particular religious basis and this is pro

21、bably why it was therefore chosen. I don't see very much cha nee for Espera nto; I think it's an awfully good idea but I don't believe that la nguage works like that. I thi nk people will probably work towards the most convenient Ian guage to use.They will not set out to lear n a new Ian

22、 guage. It seems to me that we, either En glish, Russia n or Chin ese, perhaps Japa nese, will be the Ian guages of the future. My bet's on En glish.Mathew: Maggie, why do you think it is that so few En glish people speak a sec ond Ian guage? Maggie: I thi nk whe n you lear n a Ian guage at scho

23、ol, it tends to be rather a dead occupati on, and it's very difficult to stimulate any interest among school children. But when you actually go to the country and you spend, say a month when in an exchange visit when you're a schoolgirl, or a schoolboy, the n you sudde nly become more in ter

24、ested because you want to com muni cate with people whe n you're actually abroad, and it's not safe to rely on the fact that most people speak En glish whe n in foreig n coun tries. I thi nk En glish people traditi on ally thought that foreig ners always spoke En glish, and a lot of foreig n

25、ers do, but there are people that you meet in the street or you want to take a bus somewhere, the n you find that you n eed to speak the Ian guage and it's very unnerving to be in a situati on where you can't com muni cate with people whe n you do want to travel around.Mathew: Have you ever

26、gone abroad and lear nt a Ian guage in the coun try?Maggie: Yes, well when I was a secretary I went and lived in Geneva for two years. And I learnt French at school but I really did n't speak it at all. I knew it theoretically but I wasn't able to com muni cate with people. But I was in a si

27、tuati on where if I did n't speak Fren ch, the n I would not have bee n able to do my shopp ing and buy food, and so I picked the Ian guage up and I made friends with French people Swiss French people, and I found that if I wan ted to com muni cate with all the people that I met, then I had to l

28、earn French, and I think it's the best method of learning because you're in the situation. It's very hard at times you can sit through dinner parties and not un dersta nd what. what's going on and you think everybody thinks you're stupid because you can't com muni cate with t

29、hem, but it's the hard way but I think it's the best way to learn.Mathew: Elfriede, you come from Austria and yet you've been living in England now for the last three years. Has hav ing to lear n and speak ano ther Ian guage created great problems?Elfriede: At the begi nning yes, it was

30、rather difficult for me to get the right job. After you've lived here for one or two years you get to know the system and the n that's quite good. You know how to use libraries and you get to know where to call in emergencies. You get to know.trying to get a radio and understand the radio an

31、d all the programmes they have and when they're on and the little stories.Mathew: What about En glish humour on the radio?Elfriede: I think that takes a very, very long time to un dersta nd and, I'm sorry to say that I have n't man aged yet to un dersta nd it completely, but I find it ve

32、ry in teresti ng to speak other Ian guages because English people have different. have a different mentality, and have a very different character and a different temperament and it is fascinating for me to talk to them, and also for myself to be able to express myself in a differe nt Ian guage and t

33、o com muni cate with them.Task 5Number 1Fiona: Okay, Deek, I'm off now. Okay. Everythi ng'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 does n't usually, but.Deek: What if she does?Fiona: Well, yes. Don't worry a

34、bout 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 somethi ng?Fiona: Yes, anything like that. Yes. Then she should just go back to sleep aga in quite happily. Deek: Oka

35、y.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 the n?Deek: Right the n. Bye.Fiona: Bye-bye.Number 2Lesley: Ah. it's such a lovely day. It reminds me of last week, does n't it, dear?Fiona: Oh don't! I mean th

36、at was just so fan tastic, that holiday!Lesley: I love that city, you know.Fiona: I do too. Really, it's got someth ing about it, a certa in 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 expe nsi

37、ve.Fiona: Mm, yes.Lesley: I mean, really I bought nothing at all. I just ate and ate and dra nk and drank.Fio na: I know. Was n't that lovely?Lesley: Yes. I like listening to the people talking and sitting outside drinking wine and.Fiona: Yes. Could you un dersta nd what they were say ing? Whe n

38、 they were speak ing quickly, I mea n.Lesley: Well, it is difficult, of course. And then I liked that tower, too.Fiona: You liked that tower? rm 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,

39、you went right up, did n't you? Mm, yes. I know I did n't.Lesley: Of course you did n't.Fiona: I remember that day. We were n't together.Lesley: No, that's right. Mm. You went dow n by the river, did n't you?Fiona: Right. Oh, walking along the river and all the couples Yes. a

40、nd it's so romantic. Is it true? and the pain ti ngs 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 aga in n ext year, don't you?Fiona: I do, yes. Mm. If only just to sample som

41、e more of the wine.Lesley: It'd be lovely, would n't it?Fiona: Yes.Number 3Mary: rm so pleased. What about you the n?Jane: Well, he said he wan ted to have ano ther 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 ju

42、st sometimes goes away Well, can't. someth ing like that.Mary: Well, can't they give you anything for it?Jane: Well, no, they did n't say they could. Really? No, just got to be patie nt and wait for it to go away.Mary: Well, that seems a bit stupid, does n't it?Jane: Yes, it does.Mar

43、y: You'd have thought. you'd have thought they'd have thought of someth ing.Jane: Yes. Ooh it's your tur n.Mary: Yes. Certai nly.Jane: Good luck!Mary: Tha nk you!Task 6Lear ning to SpeakIt is, every one agrees, a colossal task that the child performs whe n he lear ns to speak, and th

44、e fact that he does so in so short a period of time challenges explanation.Lan guage lear ning beg ins with liste ning. In dividual childre n vary greatly in the amount of liste ning they do before they start speak ing. Most childre n will "obey" spoke n in struct ions some time before the

45、y can speak, though the word "obey" is hardly accurate as a description of the eager and delighted cooperati on usually show n by the child. Before they can speak, many childre n will also ask questi ons by gesture and by making questi oning no ises.Any attempt to trace the developme nt fr

46、om the no ises babies make to their first spoke n words leads to considerable difficulties. It is agreed that they enjoy making noises and that during the first few mon ths one or two no ises sort themselves out as particularly in dicative of delight, distress, sociability, and so on. But since thes

47、e cannot be said to show the baby's intention to com muni cate, they can hardly be regarded as early forms of Ian guage. It is agreed, too, that from about three mon ths they play with sounds for enjoyme nt, and that by six mon ths they are able to add new sounds to their repertoire. This self-i

48、mitation leads on to deliberate imitation of sounds made or words spoke n to them by other people. The problem the n arises as to the point at which one can say that these imitati ons can be con sidered as speech.It is a problem we n eed not get our teeth in to. The meaning of a word depe nds on wha

49、t a particular pers on means by it in a particular situati on; and it is clear that what a child means by a word will cha nge as he gains more experie nee of the world. Thus the use, at say seve n mon ths, of"mama" as a greeti ng for his mother cannot be dismissed as a meanin gless sound s

50、imply 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 beg un to speak for himself. I doubt, however, whether anything is gained when pare nts cash in on this

51、ability in an attempt to teach new soun ds.Task 7Let's talk about body Ian guage. You already "speak" it and "read" it. Body Ian guage is all of the small facial expressi ons, hand gestures and body moveme nts that we make. We may not realize it, but each moveme nt and expres

52、si on says someth ing about our feeli ngs.In fact, we might say that body Ian guage is the clearest and most com mon way of com muni cat ing our feelings directly to others. We all know the more obvious body "statements": We wave our hands in greet ing, we shake han ds, pat each other on t

53、he back, we hug friends and kiss loved on es. We smile, we laugh, we wink and we frown, and sometimes we cry. All of these gestures are called non-verbal com muni cati on (non-verbal means we do not use words to "say" what we feel.)Normally, we don't thi nk very much about our body Ian

54、 guage. Our facial expressi ons and gestures are automatic and unconscious most of the time. But researchers tell us we might learn to understand each other a little better if we paid conscious attention to the hidden messages in body Ian guage. Let's con sider a few of the more obvious facial,

55、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 "say ing" thi ngs.For example, we speak of "wide-eyed wonder". If the eyes open wide, that may mean surprise, w

56、on der, exciteme nt or sometimes fear. And that is an importa nt thing to remember about body Ianguage one element alone does not tell us everything. We have to see gestures in comb in ati on. So wide eyes alone would not tell us whether the pers on was surprised, pleased or scared, but when we see

57、wide eyes, a little smile and a slight tilt of the head, we understand that the pers on is "won derfully pleased"."Sq uin ty" eyes, tight lips, and the head pushed forward probably suggest an ger or hostility.Half-closed eyes may suggest fatigue, boredom or in differe nee. But ad

58、d a lowered tilt of the head, a fluttering of the eyelids and a slight smile, and we get a coy and flirtatious message.Stran gely eno ugh, one of the eye features over which we have very little con trolthe size of ourpupils says someth ing about our in terest in a subject. If we like someth ing, our

59、 pupils get larger. Studies show that most men thi nk a woma n with large pupils is more "attractive" tha n the same woma n with small pupils. But the men aren't really con scious of the pupils. They just know theylike the "looks" better in the samples with large pupils. No w

60、on der eye make-up is so popular.Eyebrows are almost like signal flags: one brow up, one down suggests doubt, disbelief or un certa in ty. 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

61、 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. I n this, and in many of our other body gestures, we are close to the ani mals.The lower lip by itself can say little things. The "pout" is a fat lower lip pushed way out.