Unit1----Part B--The Hospital Window
Jack and Ben, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. Jack, whose bed was next to the room's only window, was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour each afternoon to help drain the fluid from his lungs. But Ben had to spend all day and night flat on his bed. To kill time the two men began to talk. They talked for hours about their wives, families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, and where they had been on vacation. As days went by, a deep friendship began to develop between them.
Every afternoon when Jack could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to Ben all the things he could see outside the window. And Ben began to live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the world outside.
The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Young lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees beautified the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance.
As Jack described all this in exquisite detail, Ben would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scenes.
One warm afternoon Jack described a parade passing by. Although Ben couldn't hear the band -- he could see it in his mind's eye as Jack portrayed it with descriptive words.
Days and weeks passed. One morning the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths only to find the lifeless body of Jack, who had died peacefully in his sleep. She was saddened and called the hospital attendants to take the body away.
Ben was heart broken. Life without Jack was even more unbearable. How he longed to hear Jack's voice and his melodious descriptions of the outside world! As he looked at the window, an idea suddenly occurred to him. Perhaps he could see for himself what it was like outside. As soon as it seemed appropriate, Ben asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch, and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.
Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look at the world outside. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it for himself! He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall!
'What could have compelled my roommate to describe such wonderful things outside this window?' Ben asked the nurse when she returned.
'Perhaps he just wanted to encourage you to live on,' she said. 'You know, he was blind and could not even see the wall.'
Questions: 1. What does the story mainly tell us?
2. Which of the following adjectives can best describe Jack?
3. What did Jack describe to Ben according to the story?
Part C--Additional Listening--Short Conversations
Conversation 1:
M: How do you like your roommate, Debby?
W: Ever since we met on the first day of college, we've been inseparable.
Q: What do you know about Debby and her roommate?
Conversation 2:
M: Have you heard from Linda lately? You two were so intimate in college.
W: Well, honestly, I haven't heard from her as much as I used to since she moved to the east coast two months ago. But I'm sure the friendship between us is as strong as it was before.
Q: What can you infer from the woman’s response?
Conversation 3:
W: Do you keep in touch with your old friends back home now that you don't see them regularly?
M: Frankly, after I moved to this city, I'm out of touch with most of them except a few close ones.
Q: What does the man mean?
Conversation 4:
W: It's polite to call a friend before we visit, isn't it?
M: You're right. People usually don't like surprise visits. But close friends often drop in on each other.
Q: What does the man mean?
Conversation 5:
M: Cathy, it seems that you and Sally do almost everything together.
W: That's true. You see, we were born on the same day. We both majored in fashion designing. And we even have the same love for using bright-colored material in our designs. Isn't it amazing!
Q: What can we learn from the conversation?
Unit 2----Part B--Embarrassing Experiences (Part One)
Interviewer: Rob, you went to Brazil, didn't you?
Rob: Yes, I did.
Interviewer: So, what happened?
Rob: Well, I went into this meeting and there were about, er... seven or eight people in there and I just said 'Hello' to everybody and sat down. Apparently, what I should have done is to go round the room shaking hands with everyone individually. Well, you know, it's silly of me because I found out later it upset everyone. I mean, I think they felt I was taking them for granted.
Kate: Well, I know that because when I was in France the first time, I finished a meeting , with 'Goodbye, everyone!' to all the people in the room. There were about half a dozen people there but I was in a hurry to leave, so I just said that and left. Well, I later found out that what I should have done is shake hands with everyone in the group before leaving. Now, apparently, it's the polite thing to do.
Interviewer: Well, people shake hands in different ways, don't they?
Rob: Oh, yes, that's right, they do. See, normally I shake hands quite gently when I meet someone. So when I went to the US for the first time, I think people there thought my weak handshake was a sign of weakness. Apparently, people there tend to shake hands quite firmly.
Kate: Oh, gosh, you know, that reminds me: on my first trip to Germany, it was a long time ago, I was introduced to the boss in the company when he passed us in the corridor. Well, I wasn't prepared, and I mean, I had my left hand in my pocket. And when we shook hands I realized my left hand was still in my pocket. Well, that was, you know, very bad manners and I was quite embarrassed.
Interviewer: And how about using first names? Have you made any mistakes there?
Rob: Oh, yes, I have! When I first went to Italy I thought it was OK to use everyone's first name so as to seem friendly. And I later discovered that in business you shouldn't use someone's first name unless you are invited to. Oh, and you should always use their title as well.
Kate: Hm, yeah, well, when I met people in Russia, you know, they seemed to be puzzled when I shook hands with them and said 'How do you do?' Well, what they do when they greet a stranger is to say their own names, so I had that all wrong!
Rob: Oh, yes, I agree with that. Remembering names is very important.
Interviewer: Shall we take a break? When we come back we'll move on to our next topic.
Kate & Rob: OK.
Questions: 1. What is the conversation mainly about?
2. Who might be the people Rob and Kate met in various countries?
3. What can we infer about Kate and Rob from the conversation?
4. Which countries has Kate visited, according to the conversation?
5. Which countries has Rob visited, according to the conversation?
6. What is the main message that the speakers want to tell us?
Part C--Additional Listening--American Parties
As you would imagine, Americans move about a great deal at parties. At small gatherings they may sit down, but as soon as there are more people than chairs in a room - a little before this point - you will see first one and then another make some excuse to get to his feet to fetch a drink or greet a friend or open a window until soon everyone is standing, moving around, chatting with one group and then another. Sitting becomes static beyond a certain point. We expect people to move about and be \"self-starters\". It is quite normal for Americans to introduce themselves; they will drift around a room , stopping to talk wherever they like, introducing themselves and their companions. If this happens, you are expected to reply by giving your name and introducing the person with you; then at least the men generally shake hands. Sometimes the women do so as well, but often they merely nod and smile. A man usually shakes a woman's hand only if she extends it. Otherwise he too just nods and greets her.
Statements: 1. We can't imagine that Americans do not like big parties and they prefer going around at parties.
2. At small parties they may sit down, but as more people come, they would stand up and move about.
3. The reason why Americans like to stand is that they like the free atmosphere of the party.
4. The meaning of \"self-starters\" is that Americans help themselves to drinks during the parties.
5. Americans are more open-minded than British people according to the passage.
6. If a woman doesn't extend her hand to a man at the party, he should not shakes hands with the woman.
7. The passage shows a unique aspect of American culture.
Unit 3----Part B--Birthday Celebrations Around the World
Chairman: Welcome to this special birthday edition of One World. Yes, folks, we've been on the air for exactly one year now, and we thought it would be a nice idea to have a special program dedicated to birthday celebrations around the world. With us in the studio tonight we have Shaheen Hag and Pat Cane, who have a weekly column on birthdays in the Toronto Daily Star.
Shaheen: Good evening.
Pat: Good evening.
Chairman: Shaheen, perhaps we could begin with you. How are birthdays celebrated in India?
Shaheen: Well, perhaps we're all assuming that everyone in the world celebrates their birthday. This just isn't the case. Low-income families in India, for instance, simply can't afford any festivities. And most Muslims don't celebrate their birthdays.
Pat: I think Shaheen has raised an interesting point here. The Christian church, too,
was actively against celebrating birthdays, and in any case most people, until a couple of hundred years ago, couldn't even read and wouldn't have even been able to spot their birthday on a calendar anyway.
Shaheen: Of course some Muslims do celebrate their birthdays. In Egypt, Turkey and Indonesia, for example, the rich people invite friends and families around. But not in small villages.
Chairman: Here in England your twenty-first used to be the big one. But now it seems to have moved to eighteen. Is that true?
Pat: Yes, in most parts of the West eighteen is now the most important birthday. In Finland, for example, eighteen is the age when you can vote, you know, or buy wines, drive a car and so on. But in Japan I think you have to wait till you're twenty before you can smoke or drink.
Shaheen: I know in Senegal, which is another Muslim country, girls get to vote at sixteen and boys at eighteen. And in Bangladesh, girls at eighteen and boys at twenty-one.
Chairman: That's interesting. I mean is it typical that around the world girls are considered to be more mature than boys?
Shaheen: Yes, I think so, and there are some countries, particularly in South America, which have a big party only for girls. In Mexico and Argentina, for example, they have enormous parties for 15-year-old girls.
Pat: You know in Norway they have a great party for anyone who's not married by the time they're thirty. It's kind of embarrassing. I mean you get pepper thrown at you.
Chairman: Pepper? Why pepper?
Pat: I'm not really sure.
Shaheen: So does that mean that on your 29th birthday you can start thinking 'God I better get married'?
Pat: Well, I'm not sure how seriously they take it.
Chairman: In England we have quite big parties for your fortieth, fiftieth, sixtieth and so on.
Pat: Well, in Japan your eighty-eighth is considered.
Chairman: Eighty-eighth?
Pat: ... to be the luckiest birthday. Eight is a very lucky number in Japan.
Questions: 1. What is One World? 2. What is the topic of the program?
3. What do Shaheen Hag and Pat Cane do?
4. Why don't some people in India celebrate their birthdays?
5. According to Pat, when did people around the world begin to celebrate their
birthdays?
6. Why is the eighteenth birthday so important in Finland?
7. Why can girls in some countries get to vote at an earlier age than boys?
8. Which of the countries mentioned in the text are Muslim countries?
Part C--Additional Listening--One World One Minute
One World One Minute is a unique film project that invites participants in every country around the globe to record, simultaneously, one minute of their lives, one minute of our world. Sponsors of this project have chosen 12:48 GMT, September 11th 2002 as the one minute to record. At that moment exactly a year earlier began the terrorist attacks that led to the deaths of more than 2,000 people from over 60 countries. For many this will be a time of remembrance and reflection. And for others this will be an appropriate time for international communication, cooperation and sharing. It will offer them an opportunity to share a moment of their world and their life with others, an opportunity to both talk to and listen to the world, to join with others around the globe and create a truly unique record and experience. This is the idea behind the project One World One Minute.
Participants are free to choose what and how to record their One Minute. Some may want to take photographs, some paint or draw pictures, while others may want to write something and record their readings. The material can be submitted to the project organizers in Scotland via e-mail or post within 6 weeks of September 11th. All the material will then be made into a feature-length film, which will capture that One Minute
of our existence.
The film will explore the rich diversity that is both humanity and our world. It will allow a voice to all people regardless of nationality, religion, race, political viewpoint, gender or age. The rich diversity that is Humanity shall be there for all to see.
Participants will not only be kept informed of the progress of the film and the release process but will be invited to actively participate through newsletters and discussion forums.
When the film is finished, it will be shown in every country of the world, both in cinemas and on TV. Contributors will be invited to attend the premiere of the film in their respective countries and will receive a full screen credit on the finished production.
Statements: 1. One World One Minute is a project sponsored by some filmmakers in Hollywood.
2. The purpose of the project is to record how people of the world mourn the death of those who lost their lives in New York's World Trade Center.
3. Participants may come from different races or nations, have different religious beliefs, and maintain opposite political viewpoints.
4. Participants are invited to record one minute of their lives on any given day.
5. Participants are encouraged to make short video films to record an important event in their lives.
6. The project will offer people from various parts of the world an opportunity to share a moment of their life with others.
7. The organizers believe that humanity is represented by the colorful variety of people's life all over the world.
8. Participants are required to submit what they have recorded to organizers by e-mail not later than September 11, 2002.
9. All the material submitted by the participants will be made into a feature-length film and shown on TV and in cinemas throughout the world.
10. The film will become a powerful means to unite people all over the world in the war against terrorism.
Unit4----Part B--How to Use an OHP
M: I want to use the overhead projector for my presentation. Could you show me how to use it?
W: OK, let me show you. Just watch what I do. I... I'll talk you through the procedure.
M: Thanks.
W: Right, well. First of all, you put the OHP on the table here, about 2 meters from the wall or the screen. Er...do you have a screen?
M: Er...no. I thought I'd just use the wall.
W: Oh, er...well, a screen's better, but I suppose this wall will be all right. It is sort of white. Anyway, let's try it. So, the next thing you have to do is press these buttons in and lift this part up until it snaps into place.
M: I see.
W: And then turn it round so the head is facing towards the screen, I mean the wall, and now we can plug it in.
M: Right, and you switch it on?
W: Yeah. Then I press the switch here on the front...
M: Right.
W: There! And the light should come on.
M: Right, OK.
W: Yeah, there we are. So, you just place your transparency here on the glass.
M: OK, there, oh!
W: Oh, no! No, the other way up.
M: Oh yes, of course.
W: That's right, yeah. And to raise or lower the image you move this flap up or down... There, that's better.
M: Right, OK.
W: And finally, to focus the image you turn this wheel to make it sharp. There we are, that's not too bad.
M: Oh, that's great, yeah. OK, thanks.
W: Oh, one more thing: whatever you do, don't keep switching it on and off. I'm going to switch it off now. Now, when you use it in your presentation, you should leave it switched on, with a piece of paper over the glass.
M: Right, I...er... I don't understand why you have to leave it on.
W: Well, the reason why you have to do that is that you don't want the bulb to fail. The bulb fails easily if the machine is on and off frequently. If it does, you'll have to replace the bulb, which will be very hot and you may not have a spare anyway. So that's about it. Any questions?
M: Erm...no, that seems all very clear. Thank you very much.
W: You're welcome. Oh, and I really do think you need to get a screen, by the way. The picture would be much brighter than on that wall, you know.
M: Oh, OK. Well, I'll ask Jim if he's got one.
W: Oh, good idea! And make sure he shows you how to put it up!
M: I will. Thanks again.
Part C--Additional Listening--How to Send an E-mail
M: I would like to send an e-mail to a friend of mine. Could you tell me how to do it?
W: Certainly. First, you choose the e-mail program on your computer and click New Message.
M: All right.
W: OK? Well, then you start typing the name of the recipient. The program remembers the name and completes the e-mail address. Well, if not, you look up the name in the address book or contact list. OK? Well, if you want other people to get copies of the same message, you send them 'CCs', which are copies of the message. OK? Then you press Return on the keyboard and then you type the subject of the message. Now, there's no need to put the date because that goes in automatically when you send the message, together with the time. OK?
M: Oh, yeah.
W: Well, then you press Return again and start writing the message. Now, if you make a mistake, you just press Backspace to delete the previous letter or word and then type it again correctly.
M: I see.
W: Now, when you've finished, you read the whole message through to make sure it looks right and contains the right information. Now, if you decide you want to change sentences around, you can copy sentences and paste them in other places.
M: And...er...er...how about spelling and punctuation, er...that can be corrected automatically, can't it?
W: Well, yes and no. You can run your spell checker and that may bring up some mis-typings and things like that. But it definitely won't catch them all, so you must read it through to check your spelling, too. And check your punctuation at the same time. Now if you notice a misspelt word, or if you want to change a word or something like that, double-click on the word and type the new word over it.
M: Fine. That's easy.
W: Hmm. And then it's ready to send. You just click on Send and it'll go off immediately. And the other person will find your message in their Inbox when they next go online to get their messages.
M: Right. Well, that sounds much easier than handwriting a message and faxing it.
W: Sure it does.
Questions: 1. Where does the computer store the e-mail addresses of your friends?
2. What does \"CCs\" stand for? When do you use \"CCs\"?
3. What can you do if you want to change sentences around?
4. What can you do if you want the computer to check mis-typings?
5. What do you do if you want to change a word?
Unit5----Part B--How Our Memory Works
Try to imagine a life without a memory. It would be impossible. You couldn't use a language, because you wouldn't remember the words. You couldn't understand a film, because you need to hold the first part of the story in your mind in order to understand the later parts. You wouldn't be able to recognize anyone - even members of your own family. You would live in a permanent present. You would have no past and you wouldn't be able to imagine a future.
Human beings have amazing memories. Apart from all our personal memories about our own lives, we can recall between 20,000 and 100,000 words in our own language as well as possibly thousands more in a foreign language. We have all sorts of information about different subjects such as history, science, and geography, and we have complex skills such as driving a car or playing a musical instrument. All these things and countless others depend on our memory.
How well you remember things depends on many different factors. Firstly, some people naturally have better memories than others, in just the same way as some people are taller than others, or have different color eyes. Some top chess players, for example,
can remember every move of every game that they have ever seen or played.
Secondly, research shows that different things are stored in different parts of the brain. Ideas, words, and numbers are stored in the left-hand side, while the right-hand side remembers images, sounds, and smells. In most people one side of the brain is more developed than the other, and this may explain why some people can remember people's faces easily, but can't remember their names.
Thirdly, we all remember exciting, frightening, or dramatic events more easily. This is because these experiences produce chemicals such as adrenaline, which boost your memory. They say that anyone who is old enough to remember knows exactly where they were on Tuesday, September 11, 2001, when radio and TV programs around the world were interrupted with the shocking news that the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York were hit.
Fourthly, the context in which you learn something can affect how well you remember it. Tests on divers, for example, showed that when they learned things underwater, they could also remember those things best when they were underwater.
Lastly, the more often you recall a memory the more likely you are to remember it. If you don't use it, you'll lose it. A telephone number that you dial frequently will stay in your memory easily, but you will probably have to write down one that you use only now and again.
Questions: 1. What does the passage mainly tell us? 2. What can be inferred from the passage?
3. Which of the following is stated to be true? dramatic, or frightening events better?
4. Why can we remember exciting,
Part C--Additional Listenings
Techniques to Help Us Remember Better
We all have problems remembering things, but there are some techniques that you can use to help you remember.
First of all, remember the names and jobs of the people and where they come from. Here, the best thing is to imagine images of the people and the names that you want to remember. And you should try to think of funny images as they are easier to remember. For example, we have Tom the student from Australia. Well, for Tom you might imagine a tomato. Then Australia has a shape a bit like a dog. Now let's imagine it's a very clever dog and is studying. So imagine Tom's face as a tomato and he's with a dog and the dog is reading a book. So now we have a picture of Tom the student from Australia.
Now let's take the numbers. The best thing to do here is to break a large number up into smaller numbers and then think of things that the numbers remind you of, such as a birthday, a particular year, the number of a house. Or with a number like 747 you might think of a jumbo jet -- a Boeing 747.
With the directions, the best thing is to imagine yourself following the directions. Create a picture in your mind of yourself going down the street. Count the turnings 1, 2, ... Then turn left. Now imagine going past a supermarket and a cinema and so on.
When you have to remember lists of words, try to build them into a story. So with our words we might start with, 'The sun was shining, so I went for a walk. I saw a horse wearing trousers. It was kicking some bananas over a television. The bananas landed in a bag.' And so on. Again the funnier the story, the better.
Try some of these techniques and you'll be amazed at what you can remember.
Questions: 1. How many techniques are mentioned in the talk?
2. Why should we imagine a dog in order to remember that Tom is from Australia?
3. What should we do to remember a large number?
4. How can we remember the directions to a certain place?
5. How can we remember lists of words?
Unit6----Part B--The Embarrassment of Riches
The meaning of wealth today is usually defined as the amount of money and material goods that one has accumulated and the ability to purchase more goods at an ever-increasing rate. A wealthy person possesses so much money that it would be difficult for him to spend it all in his lifetime without being wasteful and extravagant.
Speaking from a strictly practical point of view, the trouble with wealth is not that it arouses envy in the hearts of others but that it weighs very heavily upon the resources of its owner. Those who have never tasted luxury imagine that a new Porsche, a Picasso in
the drawing room, an apartment in the Trump Tower, will bring them ease and happiness. If that were true, owners of the Porsches, Picassos, and Trumps of the world would all be happy souls. One glance at history tells you they are not.
The problem is not simply that owning goods feeds upon itself, generating desires to possess more and to outdo other owners in a competitive madness. It's that goods themselves are an endless responsibility. They must be not only paid for but also stored, insured, and publicly admired. All of those cost not just money but personal freedom. As James Boswell, the famous British biographer, once wrote in his diary, \"If a man with a fortune cannot make himself easier and freer than those who are not, he gains nothing. Nothing except glittering baggage that must be attended to.\"
In some Oriental countries poverty has never been such a disgrace as it is in the \"get-rich-quick\" zone. Wise men from these lands often remark on the tyranny of goods. According to an old Persian proverb, \"The larger a man's roof, the more snow it collects.\" And in his discussion of \"Houses\comfort to a \"stealthy thing that enters the house a guest, and then becomes a host, and then a master.\"
The same sentiment is also expressed here in America by the great philosopher Ralph Emerson, who scorns the acquisitiveness of his day with the famous line \"Things are in the saddle, and ride mankind.\"
Questions: 1. Which of the following best defines the meaning of wealth today?
2. Why does the speaker mention a Porsche, a Picasso, and an apartment in the Trump Tower?
3. What would owning expensive goods do to wealthy people?
4. What does the speaker mean by \"owning goods feeds upon itself\"?
5. Which of the following views would the speaker most probably agree with?
6. What is the main idea of the passage?
PartC--Additional Listening--Perspectives
One day a father took his young son on a trip to the country with the purpose of showing him how poor people can be. They spent a day and a night on the farm of a very poor family. When they got back from their trip to their fine house the father asked his son, \"How was the trip?\"
\"Very good, Dad!\" answered the son.
\"Did you see how poor people can be?\" the father asked.
\"Yeah!\"
\"And what did you learn?\" the father asked, thinking he had fulfilled his purpose.
To his astonishment, the son answered, \"I saw that we have a dog at home, and they have four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of the garden, they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lamps in the garden, they have the stars. Our patio reaches to the front yard, but they have a whole horizon.\"
When the little boy finished, his father was speechless.
Then his son added, \"Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are!\"
Isn't it true that whether you are rich or poor depends on the way you look at things? If you have love, friends, family, health, good humor and a positive attitude toward life, you've got everything! You can't buy any of those things. You can have all the material possessions you can imagine, provisions for the future, etc., but if you are poor of spirit, you have nothing.
Questions: 1. What was the father's purpose for the trip?
2. Why did the son thank his father?
3. Why do the father and son have such different views on poverty and wealth?
4. According to the story, what kind of people are poor?
5. Which of the following can be inferred from the story?
Unit7----Part B--Last Gasp for Smokers
It was a normal day and in their New York office, Ken and his colleagues stopped for their coffee break. But while his colleagues were able to sit at their desks and drink their coffee, Ken had to go outside. He couldn't stay inside, because he wanted to smoke. If the smokers of the Big Apple want to enjoy a cigarette, the authorities have decided they must go out into the street or up onto the rooftops.
Throughout the United States, the number of places where people are allowed to smoke has gradually dwindled. First it was banned on trains, buses, and planes, then in public places such as theaters and airports. Now you can't smoke in any workplace. Nonsmokers are definitely winning the battle. \"Why should we breathe their smoke?\" they say.
If they're lucky, smokers can still find some bars and restaurants or parks and recreation centers where they can light up a cigarette, but it may soon be banned there, too. In fact, smoking in parks and recreation centers is already banned in California. On August 9, 2001, Los Angeles City and County officials announced the implementation of a smoke-free park policy, officially designating smoke-free zones in all 375 parks and recreation centers in the city. And since January 1, 2002 all parks in California have become smoke-free to safeguard children from the harmful effects of secondhand tobacco smoke and dangerous tobacco waste. Anti-smoking groups even think that smoking ought to be banned in people's homes. Under new plans you won't be able to smoke in any house where there are more than ten visitors in a week, or where there are children.
In 1996, nicotine was classed as a drug, like cannabis, cocaine or heroin. And scientists all over the world agree that exposure to secondhand smoke poses a serious health risk and there is no safe level of exposure. It is especially dangerous for children because when they are exposed to tobacco smoke, they have much higher rates of lung diseases such as bronchitis and pneumonia and are also at greater risks of developing asthma.
In the country that gave tobacco to the world, smoking might one day be illegal. And then Ken will have to give up.
Questions: 1. What is the main idea of the passage you've heard?
2. What does the speaker think about banning smoking in public places?
3. Where is smoking not banned according to the passage?
4. Which of the following is true about nicotine?
5. What can be inferred from the sentence \"In the country that gave tobacco to the world, smoking might one day be illegal\"?
Part C--Making Smoking Socially Unacceptable
The World Health Organization has named May 31 as World No Tobacco Day. Marking the day this year, the WHO announced that there was a 33 percent growth in the Asian cigarette market from 1999 - 2000.
In Singapore, there has been an increase of smokers, which reflects the popularity of the addictive habit in Asia. Statistics show that seven Singaporeans die every day from smoking-related diseases in this country of 3.5 million people.
Now, smoking will become socially unacceptable under a campaign by Singapore's government to use family and social pressure to get smokers to kick the habit. The campaign, launched in April 2002, is the latest weapon employed by the state against the spreading smoking habit. \"Show them you care. Help them stop smoking,\" is the campaign's slogan, aimed at obtaining the help of loved ones to help smokers stop their nicotine habit. As part of its effort to discourage smoking, the government of Singapore
has been putting up advertisements in newspapers, on TV and the Internet, showing parents quitting smoking so as not to worry their children.
Questions: 1. Which of the following days is World No Tobacco Day?
2. What did the WHO announce on World No Tobacco Day?
3. Why did the speaker cite Singapore as an example?
4. What can be inferred from this passage?
Unit 8----Part B--A Terrible Disease
The phone rang and it was my husband Jack asking me to take some lunch to his office. As I drove off, I noticed a new shopping center. Strange I hadn't noticed it before. Near his office I also saw a fire station I didn't recognize.
'When did they build that new shopping center?' I asked Jack. 'And I'm glad to see that new fire station. It'll give a good landmark.'
'Diana, they've been there for ages,' Jack scolded.
Bewildered, I became angry and, starting up the engine, began to pull away. Then I braked. Where was the exit? Suddenly, nothing was familiar. I realized I had no idea how to get home. I had to stop again and again to ask for directions. Eventually, I got home. A 30-minute drive had taken me four hours.
Two months later, at the office where I worked as a legal researcher, a smart young man approached me.
'Hi, Diana. Good to see you,' he said, smiling.
I hesitated, then smiled with resignation. 'Please forgive me, it's one of those days. I simply can't bring your name to mind.'
'Diana, I'm your cousin Richard,' he said very slowly.
After that, I was constantly making mistakes and kept forgetting my way around the building. In the end, I made the painful decision to resign from work. I also started pretending to be a tourist when I got lost because residents tend to give much better directions to visitors.
Desperate to discover what was wrong with me, I made an appointment with a neurologist. After various tests he told me I had Alzheimer's disease. I felt numb. I'd hoped to find I was worrying about nothing, but now my worst fears were confirmed. And I was only 53!
When I told Jack and my three grown-up children about my disease, their reaction was quiet but supportive. 'Stop worrying,' Jack said. 'We'll take good care of you.'
That night, I was looking through some papers belonging to my mother, who'd died of cancer years before, when I saw her maps. They were hand-drawn and covered every place my mother went, including my house. As I examined them, I remembered Mother's other eccentric habits. She wouldn't drive out of her neighborhood or at night. One day,
she hadn't even recognized me. Could she have had Alzheimer's, too, without anyone realizing?
Now at 57, on good days I'm filled with hope and determination, but on bad days I have the worst sense of being alone. I've started a support group for other sufferers, for I know it's essential to have contact with people who are walking through the same maze.
Jack's coping well. While he still dreams of waking up to find all this has been a horrible nightmare, he's assured me that I can depend on him. When we married he didn't know 'for better or worse' included Alzheimer's. But neither did I.
Questions: 1. What does the story mainly tell us?
2. Which of the following is one of the symptoms of the speaker's disease?
3. What can we learn from the story?
4. What do you know about the speaker from the story?
5. What can be inferred about the speaker's mother?
Part C--Old Age's Problems and Opportunities
Old age in the United States presents many problems and opportunities. As a result of improved medical services , people live longer than they used to. This increase in longevity creates a wide range of social needs. The medical specialty of gerontology (老年医学) has opened up new research areas and careers related to the elderly.
Because of changes in the family structure from extended to nuclear, the elderly have to create existences apart from basically small family units. This situation is complicated by the fact that many of their friends may have died and their children may have moved away.
The elderly must set up a new life. Often, the elderly must rely on a fixed income - Social Security and pensions - and gradually diminished savings. While some live with their children, many more live by themselves, with a friend or in a nursing home.
However, the increasing proportion of elderly people in society has given them a new political power. They have formed organizations to voice their own needs and concerns to local state and federal agencies. Lobbying(游说)for such issues as increased Social Security benefits, better health care, income tax benefits and rent controls has brought to the public an increased awareness of the determination of the elderly to assert their ability to deal effectively with their own lives.
Unit 9----Part B--Life Goes On
The city of Ypres in Belgium has been invaded 19 times, most famously in World War I. Some time ago I went with two friends to visit the battlefields and cemeteries there, and particularly to see the tomb of my uncle who was killed in the war at the age of 20.
Michael, our silver-haired guide, took us first to a British cemetery, just outside the town. I stared at the lines of gravestones, neatly planted with herbs and flowers, the low surrounding walls blooming with wisteria. Michael pointed out my uncle's grave to me.
I walked hesitantly toward it, wondering what I would feel. And suddenly there it
was, and there were hundreds of others. Nothing could have prepared me for the realization that in this area alone about 250,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers were killed. There are 75 British cemeteries, of which we visited just a few.
Next, Michael took us to a place on the other side of the city. The names of 55,000 missing soldiers are engraved on its walls. We stared in awe. \"More than half a million horses and mules were lost, and fifteen tons of unexploded ammunition are still collected each year from the fields,\" Michael told us.
Some way on we came to the largest British cemetery in the world. Some headstones have words of love or gratitude: \"He died that we might live,\" \"Gone from our sight but not from our hearts.\"
\"I'd like you to visit a German cemetery before finishing,\" Michael said. The cemetery is in wooded land. But there are no headstones, only slabs in the grass. There are no flowers, either. The whole place is dark and dank.
With some relief we returned to the car. After some time, we drew up at a gate. Here, hidden from the road, lies the Pool of Peace. \"It was created by an explosion so loud it was heard in Downing Street,\" said Michael. We looked at the still water reflecting the trees surrounding it. There is hardly a sound.
By the time we returned to Ypres, it was evening. The city was preparing for the annual Festival of the Cats, which dates from medieval times. Soon there would be dancing in the square.
Questions: 1. What did the speaker especially want to see during his visit to Ypres?
2. Who was Michael?
3. Which of the following is true about the British cemetery the speaker first visited?
4. About how many British and Commonwealth soldiers died in the battles of Ypres?
5. About how many tons of unexploded ammunition are still collected from the fields each year?
6. Why did the speaker and his friends feel somewhat relieved when they returned to the car after visiting the German cemetery?
Part C--Fly the Unfriendly Sky
Because World War I had been fought mainly in the trenches, many military experts of the 1920s believed that future wars would also happen there. An exception was U.S. army officer Billy Mitchell, who advocated the use of air power from the year he learned to fly in 1916 to the end of his life.
During World War I Mitchell proved himself to be a highly effective air commander. He was the first American airman to fly over enemy lines, and throughout the war he was regularly in the air.
After the war, Mitchell openly advocated the creation of a separate air force. He claimed that the airplane had made the battleship obsolete. His argument for air power, at the end of the First World War, was so unpopular that he fought for three years for the mere chance to show its effectiveness. He got the chance in 1921, when his superiors let
him drop bombs on a captured German battleship to see what damage his novel approach might be able to cause.
Mitchell said airborne bombs would sink the ship. The military, for the most part, thought he was nuts. Secretary of War Newton Baker, showing masculine bravery rather than care and wisdom, said, \"I'm willing to stand on the bridge of a battleship while that fool tries to hit it from the air.\" His navy counterpart, Secretary Josephus Daniels, was more direct. As he believed that Mitchell's dream of air power was little more than a boyish fantasy, he said, \"Good God! This man should be writing dime novels.\" They allowed the experiment, anyway, probably to expose the airman's madness to the newspapers. Within moments, the German battleship was foam on the water.
However, the success of the test failed to convince his superiors. His open criticism of them led to his transfer to a minor post and a reversion in rank. Mitchell did not stop fighting. In September 1925, when the navy's ship Shenandoah was lost in a storm, he made a statement to the press, accusing the War and Navy Department of incompetence, criminal negligence and almost treasonable administration of national defense. For his bold remarks, he was, as he expected, immediately court-marshaled and was convicted in December that year of insubordination and sentenced to five years' suspension from rank and pay.
Billy Mitchell died in 1936. Five years later, on December 7, 1941, the U.S. battleship Arizona was sent to the bottom of the sea by Japanese bombers. Over 1,200 American servicemen died aboard that vessel, proving \"crazy\" Billy's theory under wartime conditions. Many of his ideas were adopted by the American Air Force in World War II. In 1946 the American Congress authorized a special medal in his honor, which was presented to his son two years later by the Chief of Staff of the newly established
independent Air Force.
Questions: 1. Who was Billy Mitchell?
2. What did Mitchell advocate?
3. How did most people in the military respond to Mitchell's theory?
4. What happened to the German battleship in Mitchell's experiment?
5. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
6. What was the result of Mitchell's bold criticism of his superiors?
7. Why does the speaker mention the sinking of the U.S. battleship Arizona?
8. Which of the following best describes Billy Mitchell?
Unit10----Part B--A Victim of Drugs
Margaret frowned as she shook the can of deodorant. It was almost empty but she'd only had it a week -- surely she couldn't have used it all?
The first few times it happened she thought she was getting mixed up. She asked the kids if they'd used it but they said no. So she thought it must have evaporated.
Over the next few months, her 15-year-old daughter Lisa's jewelry began to disappear and so did any loose change. She was worried but she couldn't believe it when
her two elder sons blamed their 13-year-old brother Paul for that. Then Paul's school wrote to say he was disruptive and was playing truant. Margaret and her husband tried to talk to him but he just wouldn't listen.
One night Paul was caught breaking into the school and he was expelled. Margaret asked him what was the matter but he just shrugged. During the summer things went downhill. He was always out with a gang of older boys. If she tried to keep him in he'd climb out of a window. She had no control over him. She knew something was wrong but it never occurred to her that he was taking drugs.
One day Margaret got a call from the police -- Paul and a group of older boys had broken into a house. He was found guilty and sent to a remand center for 28 days. But it didn't help. When he came out he was caught stealing car radios and was sent to another remand center for two months.
Soon after he came out, Margaret found cigarette papers in Paul's pockets. Fearing the worst she confronted him. \"What's this for?\" she asked.
\"Cannabis,\" he replied. \"Everybody smokes it.\"
Margaret was horrified. Then everything clicked into place and she realized Paul had been behaving oddly because of the drugs.
But the worst was yet to come. He was soon found stealing money at home. Margaret reported him to the police to give him a fright, and the police kept him in cells overnight. That night Paul asked for a doctor, complaining of stomach pains. When Margaret went to visit him, she was told that Paul was suffering from heroin withdrawal.
Margaret could hardly believe her ears. Cannabis seemed bad enough, but heroin was much worse. She began to read all she could on drug abuse. She learnt about aerosol-sniffing and realized Paul had been getting high on her deodorant. He'd started on aerosols, moved to cannabis and then to heroin. And he was only 15.
When Paul was released, he continued to steal to pay for drugs. Then his downward spiral halted when a sympathetic judge gave him six months' probation and ordered him to attend a drug rehabilitation center.
Paul seemed to be doing well for a while. He was put on a heroin substitute. The stealing stopped as his drugs were now prescribed.
But several years later, Paul, who was high on drugs again, was arrested again for stealing. Two weeks before his 21st birthday, he became so ill with heroin withdrawal that he was moved to hospital.
When Margaret and her husband went to see him he didn't seem like his normal self. He was agitated. \"You've been the best mother in the world,\" he said to Margaret. Then he shook his dad's hand.
The next morning Paul died.
Margaret was so angry that the drugs had won. She said, \"Drug addiction is a disease and it beat him. The only winners are the drug dealers who get rich on the suffering of ordinary families like ours.\"
Questions: 1. How old was Paul when he first started to get high on a drug-like
substance?
2. Which substance did Paul first start to use?
3. How did Margaret get to know that Paul was taking drugs?
4. Why did Margaret report Paul to the police when she found him stealing money at home?
5. Which of the following can be inferred from the text?
6. What was the cause of Paul's death?
Part C--Interview with an Internet Addiction Counselor
Interviewer: Welcome to this edition of Talk of the Nation. I'm Jenny Butler. We're talking this hour about how and why people might become addicted to things other than drugs. Our high-tech society offers new high-tech addictions like video games, online chat rooms, etc. Dr. James at Maryland University has put together a support group for students who find themselves addicted to the Internet. He joins me now from his office in College Park.
James: Thank you very much for inviting me.
Interviewer: Is Internet addiction a relatively new thing?
James: Well, some people have been involved with the Internet for years and may
have been addicted for a while. It's certainly growing on college campuses.
Interviewer: How does it present itself?
James: Well, some of them have issues like relationship problems, or problems maintaining their grades because they are spending so much time on the Net.
Interviewer: But I think the computer is a very positive thing. I myself have a strong urge to go surfing on the Net whenever I have time. How do I know when my impulse to go online will turn me into an Internet addict?
James: Uh... I'm not sure the exact amount of time is really the issue, but I think if it begins to affect other areas of your life, such as your work or school performance or your relationships with other people. One of the problems with the Internet, especially the chat rooms, is that people start developing relationships over the Net and they are very different from relationships that you have on a face-to-face basis, and you start losing some of the skills that make relationships successful. So that's a warning signal. But I think a real important thing is to examine what's going on with you when you are not on the Net. If you are beginning to feel anxious or depressed or empty or lonely and you know you really look forward to those times when you can be online to be connected with other people in that way, then, I think, a serious issue is starting to happen.
Interviewer: What if you start giving up other things, like going out for a walk... is that a symptom?
James: Well, people have to make choices every day about the different activities that they're going to do. I think it's helpful to have some sort of balance in your life. If you can,
spend some time on the Internet and then take a walk at a different time of the day. In fact, one of the things that we suggest in the group is to somehow break the pattern. Go out and take a walk, and then come back before you get back online.
Interviewer: So that's how we can avoid Internet addiction. Thank you very much, Dr. James.
James: Thank you.
Questions: 1. What is the name of the program? edition?
2. What is the topic of this
3. What are the harmful effects of Internet addiction? signals that show you are starting to get addicted? Internet addiction according to Dr. James?
4. What are the warming
5. How to avoid the
Unit 11----Part B--Home-schooling on a World Cruise
I've never believed that the only way to get an education is to sit at a desk with four walls around you. The world is our classroom and our home, a 41-foot sailing boat, takes us there. My husband and I dreamed of sailing around the world before our daughters were even born. Their arrivals only increased our desire to live the cruising lifestyle, a way of life that has given us the opportunity for lots of quality and quantity family time. Educating our two daughters while living afloat on our sailing boat has added a wonderful new dimension to our lives.
We started out years ago with a kindergarten correspondence course for our
daughter Kate. It's what most cruising families use, but as Kate zoomed through the entire year's course in a matter of two months, we realized that a pre-packaged school was not what she needed. Kate's gifted mind needed to be challenged, excited, sent into orbit. We devised our own curriculum for the rest of the year.
Choosing courses of study for Kate was great fun. We looked at where we would be sailing to during the school year, or where we would be stopping to work, and all sorts of topics of interest presented themselves. For example, while cruising down the East Coast to Florida, we chose space exploration for a unit of study. Our studies included both fictional and non-fictional reading, experiments and writing assignments. The finale was watching a shuttle launch and visiting the Kennedy Space Center museums.
We do miss out on a few things that most home-schooled children are able to take advantage of and which would perhaps make our academic life easier. Our home afloat is small. School is held on a small dining table and it's difficult to leave artwork, science experiments or projects 'until later'. We also have limited room for school books and so those we have must be chosen carefully. Perhaps the thing we miss the most when traveling is not always having access to a library. We hope to upgrade our notebook computer to one with CD-ROM soon. Imagine having resources like encyclopaedias and atlases all in a small enough format to fit on the boat!
But the advantages of our floating school far outweigh any disadvantages. Part of the reason we cruise is for the wonderful opportunities to learn about the world around us. Hands-on learning experiences we get from hiking through a rain forest, snorkeling over a coral reef, visiting historic ruins, shopping in foreign markets or participating in local festivals are an important part of our schooling.
Statements: 1. The speaker and her husband adopted home-schooling for their daughter Kate because they lived on a sailing boat.
2. The cruising lifestyle had been the dream of the couple before the daughters were born.
3. As Kate was very intelligent, she needed a more challenging curriculum than children of her age.
4. There were plenty of books but no encyclopedias and atlases on their boat.
5. The couple chose space exploration for Kate to study because they would like to visit the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
6. Kate's experience is typical of most home-schooled children.
7. Kate had learned many things which students at school would have no access to.
8. It can be inferred that Kate had a random course of study that depended on where the family would be sailing to.
9. It can be inferred from the text that Kate's education was unsystematic but interesting.
10. It can be concluded that combining sailing around the world with studying is a very effective way to home-school
Part C--The Fun They Had
\"Today Tommy found a real book!\" Margie wrote in her diary on the page headed May 17, 2155.
It was a very old book. Margie's grandfather once said that there was a time when all stories were printed on paper.
They turned the pages, which were yellow and delicate, and it was awfully funny to read words that stood still instead of moving about the way they were supposed to -- on a screen, you know.
She said, \"Where did you find it?\"
\"In my house.\" He pointed without looking, because he was busy reading. \"In the attic.\"
\"What's it about?\"
\"School.\"
Margie was scornful. \"School? What's there to write about school? I hate school...why would anyone write about school?\"
Tommy looked at her with very superior eyes. \"Because it's not our kind of school, stupid. This is the old kind of school that they had hundreds and hundreds of years ago.\" He added loftily, pronouncing the word carefully, \"Centuries ago.\"
Margie was hurt. \"Well, I don't know what kind of school they had all that time ago.\" She read the book over his shoulder for a while, and then said, \"Anyway, they had a teacher.\"
\"Sure they had a teacher, but it wasn't a regular teacher. It was a man.\"
\"A man? How could a man be a teacher?\"
\"Well, he just told the boys and girls things and gave them homework and asked them questions.\"
\"A man isn't clever enough.\"
\"Sure he is. My father knows as much as my teacher.\"
\"He can't. A man can't know as much as a teacher.\"
\"He knows almost as much.\"
Margie wasn't prepared to dispute that. She said, \"I wouldn't want a strange man in my house to teach me.\"
Tommy screamed with laughter. \"You don't know much, Margie. The teachers didn't live in the house. They had a special building and all the kids went there.\"
\"And all the kids learned the same thing?\"
\"Sure, if they were the same age.\"
\"But my mother says a teacher has to be adjusted to fit the mind of each boy and girl it teaches and that each kid has to be taught differently.\"
\"Just the same, they didn't do it that way then. If you don't like it, you don't have to read the book.\"
\"I didn't say I didn't like it,\" Margie said quickly. She wanted to read about those funny schools.
They weren't even half finished when Margie's mother called, \"Margie! School!\"
Margie went into the schoolroom. It was right next to her bedroom, and the mechanical teacher was on and waiting for her.
The screen was lit up, and it said, \"Today's arithmetic lesson is on the addition of proper fractions. Please insert yesterday's homework in the proper slot.\"
Margie did so with a sigh. She was thinking about how the kids must have loved it in the old days. She was thinking about the fun they had.
Questions: 1. When did the story take place? 2. Who are Margie and Tommy?
3. Who does the word \"they\" refer to in the title The Fun They Had?
4. What did Tommy find one day? Why was it so special to Margie and Tommy?
5. Where and how do Tommy and Margie study?
6. Do Margie and Tommy have the same teacher? Why or why not?
7. How did Margie feel about the children in the book? kind of story?
8. What is the genre of this
Unit 12----Part B--Opinion Polls
Man: Do you know the thing that's always struck me as odd about opinion polls?
Woman: What's that?
Man: The percentages. Like recently there was a survey about what people thought about traffic, and petrol prices, and public car parks. In some car parks it now costs something like 5 pounds to park a car for half an hour.
Woman: Yeah, but I don't see what you're getting at.
Man: What I mean is the percentages in the results. So there might be 70% of people who complained about high petrol prices, and 60% who want to see the traffic reduced, and 65% who think car park charges are too high. Does that mean that there are 35% who actually think the charges are OK and would even be prepared to pay more, and another 30% who think petrol prices are OK? I mean that's absurd. I don't know anyone who doesn't think they're too high.
Woman: Well, actually I think we should pay more.
Man: Come on, you're joking.
Woman: No, seriously. I think we should pay more for petrol, even twice as much maybe, and certainly far more for inner city car parks.
Man: But why?
Woman: More taxes should be charged on petrol, I think, to discourage people from using cars, and a kind of graded charging system for car parks depending on how far they are from the city center.
Man: What do you mean?
Woman: Well, if you park your car quite far from the city center then you pay a nominal amount as a kind of reward for not polluting the city center. Well, the closer you get to the center, the more you are penalized. Prices in the center should be totally prohibitive. I mean with an efficient bus or tram service there's no excuse for using cars.
Man: Yeah, but you can't penalize people who don't use their car to go into town. I mean if you doubled the price of petrol, it would cost people a fortune to go anywhere, even on short trips, and especially on holidays.
Woman: Don't use your car then. Use a train.
Man: But what about lorries? I mean they use a lot of petrol to transport goods from one place to another.
Woman: So what's to stop these goods being transported by train or even via canal?
Man: Well, anyway, I still can't believe that 30% of those people who said car park charges were OK all think the same as you.
Woman: Well, maybe that's where you are wrong. Just think about what I've said and you'll realize that perhaps it's not so stupid as it sounds.
Questions: 1. what items are surveyed in the opinion poll mentioned in the conversation?
2. What does the man find absurd about the survey?
3. Which of the following best reflects the woman's view about car parking?
4. Which problem is the woman most concerned about according to the conversation?
5. Which of the following describes the man's attitude toward opinion polls?
Part C--How These Pollsters Do Those Polls
Voters can become weary of polls as a campaign winds down, and in public, candidates invariably declare that they ignore them -- at least, the candidates who are losing. But the fact is, pollsters are good and getting better.
Most election-eve polls in 1992 predicted the voting percentages eventually won by Clinton, Bush and Perot well within the sampling margin of error. Of some 300 such polls, none projected Bush or Perot as the winner.
Typically, these polls are generated by telephone interviews with 600 to 1,000 \"likely voters\numbers are selected as random digits by a phone-dialing computer.
Hypothetically, almost every person in America has an equal chance of being called since most households have phones. The samples may seem small, but the techniques used in polls are proven enough to be regularly accepted as evidence by the courts when election results are legally challenged. No sample is as accurate as interviewing 100 percent of the people in an election district, of course. A \"sampling error\" or \"margin of error\" accompanies every significant result. It is the largest possible difference that could exist between a random national sample and a poll that asked 200 million Americans the same questions. A 3 percent sampling error, for example, means that if a poll predicts that a candidate will get 45 percent of the vote, he may probably get 42 to 48 percent of the vote.
Often, after a random sample is collected, it's compared with US Census statistics to determine the degree of agreement before the poll is finalized. This can help polling professionals correct anomalies so that they can get clients that pay them the big bucks.
The \"exit polls\" that play a key part in election night drama in American homes are even more accurate than other forecasts because the specially trained interviewers are using respondents who are known voters.
Questions: 1. How is a typical election poll conducted in the US?
2. How large is the sample for a typical election poll?
3. If a poll shows a 50% support for a candidate with a 3% margin of error, what would be the probable percentage of support for him?
4. Why are \"exit polls\" especially accurate?
5. What is the passage mainly about?
Unit 13----Part B--Reality TV Around the Globe
Reality TV shows have taken the world by storm. 'Survivor', 'Big Brother' and other shows have drawn hundreds of millions of viewers to the screen.
It was in Europe that all this started. The first series of this kind of show was called 'Expedition: Robinson'. It was shown in Sweden in 1997, and was soon a hit. That show placed young people in faraway places to compete against each other. The finale of the show was watched by half the Swedish population, making it one of the most popular programs in the country's history. Its success alerted TV bosses around the world to the potential of watching ordinary people try hard to survive in the wilderness.
Officials at the Columbia Broadcasting System in the United States decided to produce their own version of the show. This is how 'Survivor' came into existence. They chose 16 Americans of different ages and races to live on a South Pacific island in May 2000. The contestants on the island had some real problems to tackle. One of them was food, as they had to find and cook their own food. Sometimes, they were even forced to catch and eat rats and worms.
Experts say that 'Survivor' is popular because television viewers like to watch people
in real situations where the final result is unknown. Viewers also like to watch other people's struggles and problems because it makes them feel better about their own lives.
'Big Brother' started in Holland. Nine volunteers took part in the show and were filmed 24 hours a day for 100 days. It became one of Holland's top-rated shows within a month, and drew 15 million viewers for its climax on New Year's Eve 1999. And its success prompted TV stations around the world to buy the idea.
Two months after the appearance of 'Survivor', the American version of 'Big Brother' was aired in the United States, involving ten participants who were filmed inside a house built on a California soundstage.
Winners of the two shows can walk away with a lot of money. 'Survivor's' prize was $1 million, whereas 'Big Brother' contestants could win $500,000, and 'Survivor' triumphed in the ratings.
Reality TV shows are also causing a big stir in France, Britain and many other countries. The French answer to 'Big Brother' is 'Loft Story', in which 11 contestants are locked up in an apartment in Paris. Protesters surrounded the apartment three times in one week. They complained that the show is sinking to new broadcasting lows. The protests, however, have fuelled public interest. And the show remains high in the ratings.
Britain started its reality shows later than some of its European and American counterparts. In fact, 'Survivor' was dreamed up by a Briton named Charlie Parsons, but the idea was not picked up in his home country until it had been a success in Scandinavia and America.
Questions: 1. Which of the following reality TV shows are mentioned in the passage?
2. Who are the performers in reality TV shows?
3. What is the essence of a reality TV show?
4. Which of the following is true about 'Survivor' and 'Big Brother' when shown in different countries?
5. What nationality is Charlie Parsons, who first got the idea of the reality TV show 'Survivor'?
6. What occurred to TV bosses around the globe after the success of the first series of 'Survivor'?
Part C--A Reality TV Show
Beginning February 28, 2002, on CBS, the world will watch the new series of the reality TV show 'Survivor'. Sixteen contestants will be stranded on the remote island of Nuku Hiva, a distant neighbor of Tahiti in the South Pacific. They will be forced to band together and carve out a new existence, using their collective wits to make surviving in their rugged and primitive environment a little easier. Day by day, the harsh elements and threatening indigenous animals will test the endurance of the Survivors. Each three days of life on the island will result in a one-hour 'Survivor' episode. The Survivors must form their own cooperative society, building shelter, gathering and cooking food, and participating in contests for rewards. Those who succeed in the day-to-day challenges will be rewarded with things to make life on the island more bearable. Those who fail
must do without.
The contestants are divided into two tribes, which will compete with each other to get food, supply or immunity. On the last day of each three-day cycle, the Survivors must attend a Tribal Council. At this meeting, each person votes secretly to send one fellow Survivor home. The person with the most votes must leave their tribe immediately. Week by week, one by one, people are voted off, until at the end of the final episode, only two Survivors remain. At that point, the seven most recently eliminated Survivors will return to form the final Tribal Council and decide who will be the Sole Survivor -- and win one million dollars!
There are two kinds of challenge facing the Survivors. One is a Reward Challenge, in which Survivors compete for luxuries, such as a phone call home or a hot shower. The second is an Immunity Challenge, in which Survivors compete for the most valuable prize: immunity from being voted off the island at a Tribal Council. The team winning an Immunity Challenge does not have to vote one of its own members out at the end of a three-day period, whereas the losing team does. Occasionally, the Reward and Immunity challenges are combined: winners receive both a reward and immunity.
Usually when it comes down to 10 Survivors, the two teams merge. The remaining Survivors will come to live together and compete as individuals, not as members of opposing teams. At that point, the challenges become person against person, and only the winning individual will receive a reward and / or immunity.
After being voted out, the Survivor will make one final comment to the TV cameras. Even though the Survivor is no longer part of the show, he or she is at least able to take a shower and to get a hot meal right away.
Unit 14----Part B--Unfair Exchange
The exchange rate between South Africa's currency, the rand, and many Western currencies is quite unfair. One rand will buy fewer than ten US cents. As a South African, when I'm in London my great fear is being left holding a restaurant bill. I find myself sitting bolt upright in bed just thinking about it.
I recently visited England, where I was brought up. I stayed with my sister and her husband, and one evening they suggested we eat out.
I knew that the cost of dining at the sort of restaurant they wanted to go to would, converted into rands, be something approximating the national debt of the Dominican Republic.
Obviously I would have to offer to pay. My brother-in-law would then, hopefully, make a counter-offer. Then the tricky part. One cannot capitulate too quickly and appear mean. On the other hand, one must not be too insistent.
Under normal circumstances, when it's my turn to pay for a serious dinner, I cannot for the life of me remain indifferent. I cannot keep my eyes away from that little piece of paper sticking out from the leather cover. Even though I try to concentrate on the conversation, my mind is on what I could have done with all the money I am about to pay for the dinner.
Halfway through the main course my brother-in-law suggested a second bottle of French claret. Aaaargh!
When, inevitably, the bill arrived, it was placed between us. We both ignored it. I was hoping my brother-in-law would snatch it. This would be a tactical advantage for me. My own upbringing precludes me from snatching just as it precludes me from turning my fork over to pick up peas.
The bill began to obsess me. It would be at least 200 pounds. In South Africa, this would allow me to dine out for a week.
I realized that if the bill were nearer to my brother-in-law, he would feel some obligation to pick it up. Perhaps by placing my elbows on the table, I could secretly nudge it closer to him. Maybe I should say, \"I'll handle this, if you don't mind,\" and then say assertively, \"Waiter! I trust you accept Central African waginkas? The present exchange rate is nine million to the pound.\"
My brother-in-law then made an unexpected move. He left the table.
I had no choice but to reach forward and, as casually as I could, unfold the bill. It was for 226 pounds.
My shoes fell off just like they do when a person is hit by a bus.
My sister said, \"Don't worry about the bill. The owner is a business partner of ours -- we eat here free.\"
If I'd known that, I would have ordered lobster.
Questions:1. Where did the story take place? 2. Is the speaker a native of South
Africa?
3. With whom did he dine out that evening? in London? Why?
4. What bothers him whenever he is
5. Why could he have ordered lobster that evening?
Part C--Chicken Delight
The main character of this story is known simply as the Chicken. How it came to our small backyard remains a mystery. Eating the creature was out of the question. So my wife and I decided to raise it.
Of course we knew nothing about raising chickens. For starters, we didn't know whether our chicken was male or female. Moreover, what do chickens eat?
A colleague put me in touch with a farmer, who told me that chickens eat just about anything.
The chicken took to its new surroundings easily. Its main social task was to integrate into the local cat society -- a group of about five strays we feed. One morning I looked out the window and saw four cats lined up at their food bowls, and, right in the middle, eating cat food with gusto, was the chicken. Occasionally it would push a cat aside to get a better position.
Although it was nice to know the chicken could eat anything, cat food didn't seem right. So I called my mother, who sent us a 12-kilo bag of scratch grains. The chicken
seemed to appreciate the feed.
Our care paid off. One morning, Nancy spied an egg on the patio. At the base of the pine tree, where the chicken slept, was a nest containing four more eggs. Soon we could count on five or six eggs a week.
After I wrote about the chicken in 'The New York Times', my mailbag was bursting with letters offering advice on the proper care and feeding of chickens. Disturbed that she did not have a name, fans wrote with all kinds of suggestions, Vivian, Henrietta, Henny Penny, to name but a few.
The media also jumped in. A national radio network quizzed me about the chicken for one of its weekend programs. \"My producer wants to know, could you hold the telephone up to the chicken so we can hear it?\" the interviewer asked. Unfortunately, I don't have a 30-meter cord on my telephone. The Associated Press sent a photographer to capture the chicken's many moods.
Then one morning I looked out my kitchen window, and my heart stopped. No chicken -- not in my pine tree or the tree next door. Nor was she pecking and scratching in any of the nearby yards. There were no signs of violence, only a single black feather near the back door.
She was definitely missing. But why?
Spring was in the air. Could she be looking for love? Or perhaps she was reacting badly to the burdens of celebrity. Or maybe she was simply looking for a place to lay her eggs in peace. Anyway, she left at the height of her popularity, well on her way to
becoming the most photographed, most talked about chicken of our time.
And I am left cherishing the memories.
Statements:1. One day someone gave a chicken to the speaker as a present.
2. Though the speaker is a city dweller, he knows how to raise chickens.
3. The speaker and his wife can be called animal lovers, because they adopted the chicken and five stray cats.
4. The speaker didn't live with his mother, and had to call his mother for the chicken feed.
5. The chicken turned out to be a female one and laid several eggs.
6. The chicken caught the public's attention because a photographer happened to take pictures of it.
7. The speaker sent an article about his adopted chicken to 'The New York Times'. After his article appeared in the newspaper, letters from readers flooded in.
Unit 15----Part B--Good News about the Environment
Scientists and environmentalists have constantly warned us of the worsening state of our environment. Their view can be summarized in the list below:
● Our resources are running out.
● The population is growing ever larger, leaving less and less for everyone to eat.
● The air and water are becoming ever more polluted.
● Large numbers of the planet's species are threatened with extinction.
Many people agree with such views. However, a Danish statistician named Bjorn Lomborg argues for an opposite point of view. In his opinion, the available evidence does not back up this list of environmental problems. He argues that there are no shortages of energy resources; that fewer people are starving today; that species are not disappearing at an alarming rate; and that growth is the solution to environmental problems like pollution and global warming.
Let us examine his views in more detail on two environmental issues.
Firstly, are Earth's energy resources running out? According to Lomborg, the mineral resources on which modern industry depends are not running out. He argues, for example, that known reserves of fossil fuels and most commercially important metals are now much larger than they were 30 years ago and that known oil reserves that could be extracted at reasonably competitive prices would keep the world economy running for 92 years at present consumption rates.
He argues that although we consume an increasing amount of these resources, we've discovered even more. We have also become more efficient and less wasteful in extracting and exploiting them.
The story is the same for non-energy resources, says Lomborg. Despite an
astounding increase in production and consumption, the available reserves of the most important resources -- aluminum, iron, copper, and zinc -- have grown even more, and their prices have also declined over the past century.
Meanwhile, Lomborg says, the cost of both solar and wind energy has dropped by more than 90 per cent over the past 20 years, and within 50 years, solar energy will probably be available at competitive prices.
Turning to a second environmental issue, is pollution a serious problem facing mankind? Lomborg holds that pollution is no longer undermining our well-being because its burden has diminished dramatically in the developed world. Progress in dealing with air pollution in the developed world has been unequivocal and human health has benefited phenomenally from reductions in lead and particle concentration. He points out, for example, that the air in London is today cleaner than it has ever been since 1585.
However, Lomborg admits that air pollution has become worse in the developing world because of strong economic growth. But he argues that growth and the environment are not opposites. They complement each other. Without adequate protection of the environment, growth is undermined. But without growth, it is not possible to support environmental protection.
Lomborg is confident that when developing countries attain higher levels of income, they will opt for, and be able to afford, an ever-cleaner environment. According to Lomborg, things are generally getting better, and they are likely to continue to do so. No environmental catastrophe is likely to emerge.
If Lomborg is right, we humans will have little to worry about our environment for the time being. But can we rely on what he has to say?
Part C--Disappearing Species?
Assertions of the world's massive species extinction are repeated everywhere you look. It is commonly believed that between 20,000 and 100,000 species are lost every year. Yet they simply do not equate with the available evidence.
The theory of biodiversity loss equates the number of species to area: the more space there is, the more species can exist. A rule of thumb, which works well for islands, is that if the area is reduced by 90%, the number of species will be reduced by half.
Thus, as rainforests were cut at alarming rates, many people expected the number of species to fall by half globally within a generation or two.
In the United States, however, the primary eastern forests were reduced over two centuries to just one to two per cent of their original area. However, this resulted in the extinction of just one forest bird.
Brazil's Atlantic rainforest was almost entirely cleared in the 19th century, leaving only some 10 per cent scattered fragments. The rule of thumb would expect half of the species to be extinct. However, in 19 members of the Brazilian Society of Zoology could not find a single known animal species that could properly be declared as extinct. Indeed, an appreciable number of species considered extinct 20 years ago, including several birds and six kinds of butterflies, have been rediscovered more recently.
Species seem to be more resilient than expected. The UN Global Biodiversity Assessment estimates an extinction rate of 0.1 to one per cent over the next 50 years. That figure is certainly not trivial. But it is much smaller than the 10 to 100 per cent typically suggested in the media and elsewhere.
Questions:1. How many species are commonly believed to be lost every year?
2. According to the rule of thumb used to predict the rate of extinction, if a forest is reduced to 10% of its original size, how many of its species will become extinct?
3. How many species were lost because of the shrinking of the eastern forests in the US according to the text?
4. What point does the speaker want to make by giving the examples of the US eastern forests and Brazil's Atlantic rainforest?
5. What is the main argument of the passage?
Unit16----Part B—Hobbyist (By Fredric Brown)
'I heard a rumor,' Sangstrom said, 'to the effect that you...' He turned his head and looked about him to make absolutely sure that he and the druggist were alone in the tiny prescription pharmacy. The druggist was a gnome-like, gnarled little man who could have been any age from fifty to a hundred. They were alone, but Sangstrom dropped his voice just the same. '...to the effect that you have a completely undetectable poison.'
The druggist nodded. He came around the counter and locked the front door of the
shop, then walked toward a doorway behind the counter. 'I was about to take a coffee break,' he said. 'Come with me and have a cup.'
Sangstrom followed him around the counter and through the doorway to a back room ringed by shelves of bottles from floor to ceiling. The druggist plugged in an electric percolator, found two cups and put them on a table that had a chair on either side of it. He motioned Sangstrom to one of the chairs and took the other one himself.
'Now,' he said. 'Tell me. Whom do you want to kill, and why?'
'Does it matter?' Sangstrom asked. 'Isn't it enough that I pay for...'
The druggist interrupted him with an upraised hand.
'Yes, it matters. I must be convinced that you deserve what I can give you. Otherwise...' He shrugged.
'All right,' Sangstrom said. 'The whom is my wife. The why...' He started the long story. Before he had quite finished, the percolator had finished its task and the druggist briefly interrupted to get the coffee for them. Sangstrom finished his story.
The little druggist nodded. 'Yes, I occasionally dispense an undetectable poison. I do so freely; I do not charge for it, if I think the case is deserving. I have helped many murders.'
'Fine,' Sangstrom said. 'Please give it to me, then.'
The druggist smiled at him. 'I already have. By the time the coffee was ready, I had decided that you deserved it. It was, as I said, free. But there is a price to pay for the antidote.'
Sangstrom turned pale. But he had anticipated - not this, but the possibility of a double-cross or some form of blackmail. He pulled a pistol from his pocket.
The little druggist chuckled. 'You daren't use that. Can you find the antidote' -- he waved at the shelves -- 'among those thousands of bottles? Or would you find a faster, more powerful poison? Or if you think I'm bluffing, go ahead and shoot. You'll know the answer within three hours when the poison starts to work.
'How much for the antidote?' Sangstrom growled.
'Quite reasonable. A thousand dollars. After all, a man must live. Even if his hobby is preventing murders, there's no reason why he shouldn't make money out of it, is there?'
Sangstrom growled and put the pistol down, but within reach, and took out his wallet. Maybe after he had the antidote, he'd still use that pistol. He counted out a thousand dollars in hundred-dollar bills and put it on the table.
The druggist made no immediate move to pick it up. He said, 'And one other thing -- for your wife's safety and mine. You will write a confession of your intention -- your former intention, I trust -- to murder your wife. Then you will wait till I go out and mail it to a friend of mine on the homicide detail. He'll keep it as evidence in case you ever do decide to kill your wife. Or me, for that matter. When that is in the mail, it will be safe for me to return here and give you the antidote. I'll get you paper and pen...'
Part C--Who Killed Harry Squires?
At around 10:30 on the evening of 9 June millionaire businessman Harry Squires was murdered in his sitting room. His business partner, Julian Clayton, was wounded in the attack. There were three other people at the house at the time: Harry's wife, Martina, his sister, Belinda Ewers, and her husband, Craig.
According to their stories, at the time of the murder, Martina Squires was reading in the library. Belinda Ewers was upstairs in her bedroom. She wasn't feeling well and she had gone to bed early. Craig Ewers was in the garden. He was having a cigarette. Harry Squires wouldn't allow smoking inside the house. Harry Squires himself and Julian Clayton were discussing business in the sitting room. It was a warm evening and the French windows were open.
Suddenly a shot was fired. It was quickly followed by a second shot and a scream. Belinda Ewers arrived at the sitting room first. Harry Squires was already dead and Julian Clayton was lying on the floor. His hand was bleeding and he was holding a handkerchief around it. Soon afterwards Martina Squires arrived. While she and Belinda were helping Julian, Craig Ewers entered the sitting room through the French windows. He was holding a gun in his hand. The police were called.
Preliminary investigations showed that Harry Squires and Julian Clayton had almost certainly been shot with the gun that Mr. Ewers had brought in. The bullets had been fired from the direction of the garden. The only fingerprints on the gun were Mr. Ewers'.
It seemed an open-and-shut case, but later investigations revealed some interesting facts.
1. When Belinda Ewers went to the sitting room, she was fully dressed. Her bed had not been disturbed.
2. The gun belonged to Harry Squires. It had disappeared three days before the murder on the day that the Ewers had arrived.
3. Belinda arrived at the sitting room before Martina.
4. The light in the library was switched off.
5. The back door was open.
6. Mrs. Squires had soil on her shoes.
7. Nobody seemed unhappy about the murder. Harry Squires had been hated by everybody in the house and many other people, too.
8. Harry Squires and Julian Clayton were arguing in the sitting room. Their voices could be heard in the garden.
It seemed that everyone in the house had some motive to kill Harry Squires, but who is the murderer?
Questions:1. Who is Harry Squires and what happened to him?
2. Who is Julian Clayton and what was he doing when the murder occurred?
3. Who is Martina Squires and what was she doing when the murder occurred?
4. Who is Belinda Ewers and what was she doing at the time of the murder?
5. Who is Craig Ewers and what was he doing when the murder occurred?
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