英语口语教程(高级) UNIT 1

[00:01.00]Oral workshop ---Argument;

[00:49.31]Oral Functions Bank;

[00:53.20]1. How to agree    strongly with an    opinion;

[00:59.39]I couldn't agree more! That's absolutely true!;

[01:06.17]Absolutely! I take your point. I'd go along with you there.;

[01:15.06]I'm with you on that That's just what I was thinking.;

[01:23.20]That's exactly what I think. That's a good point.;

[01:30.74]That's just how I see it. That's exactly my opinion.;

[01:39.18]2. How to half agree    with an opinion;

[01:46.57]Yes, perhaps. Well, yes. Yes, in a way. Mmm, possibly.;

[01:59.23]Yes, I agree up to a point. Well, you've got a point there.;

[02:07.97]There's something in that, I suppose. I guess you could be right.;

[02:16.41]Yes, I suppose so. That's worth thinking about.;

[02:24.70]3.How to disagree   politely with an   opinion;

[02:31.19]I am not so sure really. Do you think so? Well, it depends.;

[02:40.98]I'm not so certain. Well, I don't know. Well, I'm not so sure about that.;

[02:51.99]Mmm, I'm not really sure you're right. I'm inclined to disagree with that.;

[03:01.33]No,I don't think so really.;

[03:05.71]4. How to disagree    strongly with    an opinion;

[03:12.64]I disagree. I disagree with you entirely.;

[03:18.97]I'm afraid I don't agree. I'm afraid you are wrong there.;

[03:27.86]I really can't agree I wouldn't accept that for one minute.;

[03:36.91]You can't really mean that. I wouldn't go along with you there.;

[03:45.80]You can't be serious You must be joking.;

[03:53.19]Note that you need to he very polite w- hen disagreeing with someone in English,;

[04:00.27]even someone you know quite well.;

[04:03.44]With someone you know very well, you can disagree more directly.;

[04:09.92]5.How to present   both sides of an   argument;

[04:16.55]on the one hand.., on the other hand...;

[04:23.03]Although it's true to say that.., it's also true to say that...;

[04:31.93]lesson 1;

[04:36.00]Does Television Play a Positive or Negative Role in the Modern Society?;

[04:43.84]Text;

[04:46.70]Do the Advantages of Television Outweigh the Disadvantages?;

[04:53.03]Television is now playing a very important part in our life.;

[05:00.01]But television,like other things, has both advantages and disadvantages.;

[05:07.70]Do the former out- weigh the latter?;

[05:11.77]In the first place,;

[05:14.44]television is not only a convenient source of entertainment,;

[05:19.11]but also a comparat- ively cheap one.;

[05:22.93]For a family of four for example,;

[05:27.20]it is more conveni- ent as well as cheaper to sit comfortably at home,;

[05:32.37]with almost unlimit- ed entertainment available,;

[05:36.24]than to go out in search of amusement elsewhere.;

[05:40.77]They do not have to pay for expensive seats at the theatre the cinema,;

[05:47.80]or the opera,only to discover, perhaps, that the show is disappointing.;

[05:54.68]All they have to do is press a button, and they can see plays, films,;

[06:02.47]operas, and shows of every kind,;

[06:06.29]not to mention poli- tical discussions and the latest exci- ting football match.;

[06:12.77]Some people,however, maintain that this is precisely where the danger lies.;

[06:20.96]The television viewer takes no initiatives.;

[06:26.04]He makes no choice and exercises no judgment.;

[06:31.56]He is completely passive and has everything presented to him;

[06:37.39]without any effort on his part.;

[06:40.81]Television, it is often said, keeps one informed about current events,;

[06:48.60]allows one to follow the latest develop- ments in science and polities,;

[06:53.92]and offers an end- less series of pro- grammes;

[06:58.09]which are both instructive and entertaining.;

[07:01.86]The most distant countries and the strangest customs;

[07:07.09]are brought right into one's sitting- room.;

[07:10.45]It could be argued that the radio perf- orms this service just as well;;

[07:17.54]but on television everything is much more living, much more real.;

[07:24.62]Yet here again,there is a danger.;

[07:28.39]We get so used to looking at it, so dependent on its flickering pictures,;

[07:34.72]that it begins to dominate our lives.;

[07:38.24]There are many other arguments for and against television.;

[07:44.22]The poor quality of its programmes is often criticized.;

[07:49.70]But it is undoubted- ly a great comfort to many lonely elderly  people.;

[07:56.68]And does it corrupt or instruct our children?;

[08:01.81]I think we must realize that televi- sion in itself is neither good nor bad;

[08:09.44]It is the uses to which it is put that determine its value to society.;

[08:16.83]Il.Read;

[08:21.00]Read the following passages. Underline the important view- points while reading;

[08:29.14]1. Why Watch    Television?;

[08:34.27]Matthew: Television is undoubtedly a great invention,;

[08:39.79]but one of the main criticisms of it;

[08:42.45]is that people just aren't selective enough.;

[08:45.77]Lesley, you've got a television;;

[08:48.74]how do you pick out the sorts of progr- ammes you want to watch?;

[08:53.11]Lesley:I try and  look at the  programmes that are  on;

[08:56.22]to decide which particular ones interest me,;

[08:59.79]rather than you turning it on at seven o'clock;

[09:02.96]and you leaving it on until half-past eleven when the programmes finish.;

[09:07.98]Matthew:Do you think  of television  though as a great  time-waster?;

[09:12.80]Lesley:Um ... I  think it can be a  time-waster;

[09:17.48]and it depends on how particular people are;

[09:20.29]about what they want to see... Mm,;

[09:23.64]it can just be a sort of total amuse- ment for someone and totally consuming;

[09:29.27]without really considering what it is they're watching.;

[09:32.62]Matthew:Aha, but how  do you prevent it  coming into your  life;

[09:36.75]and taking over your evenings and at the same time perhaps get ...;

[09:42.27]get out of the television some of the sort of best things ...;

[09:47.14]best programmes that...that undoubtedly are on television?;

[09:52.15]Lesley :Well, I  suppose one of the  problems is ...;

[09:55.70]will depend on what a person's life style is,;

[09:59.48]and that if he has other outside interests;

[10:02.56]which are equally important to him as television,;

[10:06.08]he will then, you know, mm ... be more careful about;

[10:10.35]which programmes he wants to watch;

[10:12.65]because he has time which he wants to use for other things.;

[10:16.50]Matthew: Do you  think though that  ...that in;

[10:19.97]...in a sense television has killed people's own er... sort of,;

[10:24.87]creativity or their ability to entertain themselves;

[10:29.01]because if they're bored all they do is just turn on the television?;

[10:33.77]Lesley:Yes, I think  that is a danger,;

[10:36.98]and I think that ... in fact is what is happening to a lot of people;

[10:41.77]who use it as their ...their main ... um field of amusement and ...;

[10:47.95]because they don't have other outside interests;

[10:51.24]and even when people come round they'll leave the television on and not be,;

[10:56.14]you know,particular- ly interested in talking to them,;

[11:00.18]you know the tele- vision will be the main thing in the room.;

[11:04.05]Matthew: Peter,have   you got a   television?;

[11:07.50]Peter:I have,in fact  I've got two  televisions.;

[11:12.07]Matthew: Do you   watch them a lot?;

[11:14.43]Peter: Er ...no !I  watch very seldom  er ...;

[11:19.24]In fact,I find that I watch television most when I'm most busy,;

[11:24.38]when I'm working hardest and I need some sort of passive way of relaxing,;

[11:29.56]something which requires nothing of me, then I watch television a lot.;

[11:34.70]When I've got more energy left...um ... in my own private time,;

[11:39.48]in my free time, then I find I do more different things.;

[11:43.98]I do things like um reading,or going out or working on any- thing ...my hobbies;

[11:51.65]Matthew:Do you think  though that people  can live a perfect-  ly happy life;

[11:56.86]if they haven't got a television?;

[11:59.18]Peter:Oh yes,I think  people who don't  have a television;

[12:03.49]or people who don't watch television can be expected to be more happy.;

[12:09.24]You can assume I think if they never watch television;

[12:13.60]they are happier people than the people who watch a lot of television,;

[12:18.00]because I think that television goes with the kind of life;

[12:21.91]which leaves you with nothing to spare, nothing left,;

[12:26.22]you have to he given potted, passive entertainment.;

[12:30.93]Matthew: But in that  case you . ..;

[12:33.54]you seem as though you're completely against television, is that true?;

[12:38.50]Peter:No, it's not.  I...I have a telev-  ision in fact, I  have two as I said,;

[12:45.16]but er I ... I ...I think there's a dilemma, a difficult situation.;

[12:51.95]Television in itself is very good;;

[12:55.74]a ... a lot of the information and a lot of the programmes;

[13:00.34]are very instructive;

[13:02.11]they introduce you to things you may never have thought of before;

[13:07.39]or never have heard about before.;

[13:10.07]But in watching, it makes you very passive;;

[13:13.88]you sit for hour after hour and you get very receptive;

[13:18.63]and very unquestion- ing;

[13:20.46]and it seems to me the important thing in life is to be active,;

[13:25.17]to ... to do things, to think things and to be as creative as possible,;

[13:31.44]and television prevents this.;

[13:34.69]2.Children and   Television;

[13:39.56]Housewife: What do I  think of television;

[13:44.84]Um, um, well, um, it keeps the family at home,;

[13:51.61]the kids don't go out at night so much now,;

[13:54.95]they come straight in from school most of them,they run in and straight,;

[13:59.81]well the television's on when they come in,;

[14:02.70]I watch it myself during the afternoon;

[14:05.77]Er, well it's company really and, er, well, then the kids come home,;

[14:12.42]they eat their tea, I have no trouble with them eating their tea;

[14:16.50]because they just ... well, they don't even look at what they eat,;

[14:20.92]they just sit down and, um, they eat it and they like the programmes and,;

[14:26.27]and it keeps them quiet while I'm cooking the tea for their dad;

[14:29.95]when he comes home an hour later and tea is ready when the news is on;

[14:34.06]when he comes in,;

[14:35.18]and,er and the news is on or perhaps the football match or something,;

[14:40.41]er, they have to be quiet then, they're not very interested in that themselves,;

[14:46.16]they like the cartoons and things but, er, yeah, well;

[14:50.93]I think television's great, er, we get on much better in the house now, um, well,;

[14:58.29]we've got things to talk about, um,you know, if I miss a programme,;

[15:03.02]er, if I'm cooking or something in the kitchen,;

[15:06.48]I miss a bit of what's going on, I mean I have the door open so I can hear,;

[15:12.32]but if I miss a bit then they will tell me,;

[15:15.85]and then perhaps later or perhaps the next day we'll have a chat about it,;

[15:20.94]you know. It gives us something to talk about really.;

[15:25.37]Um, I don't think it hurts the kids,;

[15:29.07]I don't think it's a problem, you know, like, er, it stops them,;

[15:33.68]makes their eyes go funny or something, I don't think it's a problem like that.;

[15:38.77]I don't think it's a problem at all.;

[15:41.40]They've...they've learned a lot from television,;

[15:44.74]I think, they're always piping up with questions;

[15:49.33]and learning a lot from the television.;

[15:52.55]3.Television Is   Doing Irreparable   Harm;

[15:58.94]"Yes, but what did we use to do before there was television?";

[16:05.19]How often we hear statements like this!;

[16:08.72]Television hasn't been with us all that long,;

[16:12.73]but we are already beginning to forget what the world was like without it.;

[16:18.74]Before we admitted the one-eyed monster into our homes,;

[16:24.02]we never found it difficult to occupy our spare time.;

[16:28.35]We used to enjoy civilised pleasures.;

[16:31.68]For instance, we used to have hobbies;

[16:35.07]we used to entertain our friends and be entertained by them,;

[16:39.72]we used to go outside for our amusements to theatres,;

[16:43.78]cinemas, restaurants and sporting events.;

[16:47.98]We even used to read books and listen to music and broadcast talks occasionally.;

[16:54.44]All that belongs to the past.;

[16:57.63]Now all our free time is regulated by the 'goggle box'.;

[17:03.39]We rush home or gulp down our meals to be in time for this or that programme.;

[17:09.73]We have even given up sitting at table and having a leisur- ely evening meal,;

[17:15.44]exchanging the news of the day.;

[17:18.21]A sandwich and a glass of beer will do--;

[17:21.97]anything,providing it doesn't interfere with the programme.;

[17:26.73]The monster demands and obtains absolute silence and attention.;

[17:33.05]If any member of the family dares to open his mouth during a programme,;

[17:38.95]he is quickly silenced.;

[17:41.69]Whole generations are growing up addi- cted to the telly.;

[17:46.76]Food is left uneaten homework undone and sleep is lost.;

[17:54.08]The telly is a universal pacifier.;

[17:58.25]It is now standard practice for mother to keep the children quiet;

[18:03.83]by putting them in the living-room and turning on the set.;

[18:08.17]It doesn't matter that the children will watch rubbishy commercials;

[18:13.13]or spectacles of sadism and violence --so long as they are quiet.;

[18:19.03]There is a limit to the amount of creat- ive talent available in the world.;

[18:25.55]Every day, televi- sion consumes vast quantities of creative work.;

[18:32.13]That is why most of the programmes are so bad:;

[18:36.83]it is impossible to keep pace with the demand;

[18:40.41]and maintain high standards as well.;

[18:43.99]When millions watch the same programmes, the whole world becomes a village,;

[18:50.80]and society is reduced to the conditions;

[18:55.49]which obtain in pre- literate communities;

[18:59.76]We become utterly dependent on the two most primitive media of communication:;

[19:07.40]pictures and the spoken word.;

[19:11.42]Television encoura- ges passive enjoyment.;

[19:16.25]We become content with second-hand experiences.;

[19:21.32]It is so easy to sit in our armchairs watching others working.;

[19:27.95]Little by little, television cuts us off from the real world.;

[19:33.80]We get so lazy,we choose to spend a fine day in semi-darkness,;

[19:40.17]glued to our sets, rather than go out into the world itself.;

[19:46.23]Television may be a splendid medium of communication,;

[19:51.36]but it prevents us from communicating with each other.;

[19:55.98]We only become aware how totally irrele- vant television is to real living;

[20:02.92]when we spend a holiday by the sea or in  the mountains,;

[20:07.33]far away from civilization.;

[20:10.33]In  quiet,natural surroundings,;

[20:13.95]we quickly discover how little we miss the hypnotic tyranny of King Telly.;

[20:20.87]4.Television Is   Good for People;

[20:26.91]TV may be a vital factor in holding a family together where there are,;

[20:33.11]for example, econom- ic problems and hus- band and wife seem at breaking point.;

[20:39.72]The dangerous influ- ence is surely no more;

[20:43.38]than what all of us are exposed to every day.., in advertis- ing, in the press.;

[20:50.27]Primary and seconda- ry education have improved out of all recognition;

[20:56.10]since the arrival of TV in the home and this is not only;

[21:00.70]because of programm- es designed for schools.;

[21:03.81]Through TV a child can extend his knowledge;

[21:08.31]and it provides vital food for his imagination.;

[21:12.98]5.Television Is to   Blame;

[21:18.42]TV passes on to chi- ldren the corrupting values of a corrupt society.;

[21:25.46]It's only a matter of time before we can give statistical evidence;

[21:30.90]of how many crimina- ls society has given birth to in front of the TV;

[21:36.47]on Saturday night.;

[21:38.22]You can blame TV for the fact;

[21:41.20]that children take longer to learn to read these days;

[21:45.20]and barely see the point any more of acquiring the skill.;

[21:50.34]In my opinion watch- ing TV should be strictly confined to treats.;

[21:58.08]Lesson 2 Are Pets Good for Mankind?;

[22:05.70]Text Pets Are Good for You;

[22:11.27]The basic meaning of "pet";

[22:14.49]is an animal we keep for emotional rather than economic reasons.;

[22:20.03]A pet animal is kept as a companion,;

[22:23.88]and we all need companions to keep us feeling happy.;

[22:28.39]But pets offer us more than mere companionship;;

[22:32.77]they invite us to love and be loved.;

[22:37.07]Many owners feel their pets under- stand them;

[22:41.97]for animals are quick to sense anger and sorrow.;

[22:46.17]Often a cat or dog can comfort us at times when human words don't help.;

[22:53.05]We feel loved,too,by the way pets depend on us for a home, for food and drink.;

[23:01.53]Dogs especially,look up to their owners,;

[23:05.79]which makes them feel important and needed.;

[23:09.81]A pet can be some- thing different to each member of the family,;

[23:15.03]another baby to the mother, a sister or brother to an only child,;

[23:20.88]a grandchild to the elderly,;

[23:23.88]but for all of us pets provide pleasure and companionship.;

[23:29.07]It has even been suggested;

[23:31.58]that, tiny pets sho- uld be sent as comp- anions to astronauts on space ships,;

[23:37.30]to help reduce the stress and loneliness of space flights.;

[23:42.27]In this Plastic Age, when most of us live in large cities,;

[23:48.17]pets are particularly important for children.;

[23:52.05]A pet in the family keeps people in tou- ch with the more na- tural, animal world.;

[23:58.89]Seeing an animal give birth brings understanding;

[24:03.51]of the naturalness of childbirth,;

[24:06.24]and seeing a pet die helps a child to cope with sorrow.;

[24:11.58]Learning to care for a pet helps a child to grow up into a loving adult;

[24:17.93]who feels respon- sible towards those dependent on him.;

[24:22.08]Rightly we teach children to be good to their pets.;

[24:26.83]They should learn, too, that pets are good for us human beings.;

[24:33.60]II Read;

[24:37.72]Read the following passages. Underline the important viewp- oints while reading.;

[24:46.08]1.An Unmatchable Cat;

[24:51.79]I was sick that winter.;

[24:55.03]It was inconvenient because my big room was due to be whitewashed.;

[25:00.83]I was put in the little room at the end of the house.;

[25:06.11]The house,nearly but not quite on the top of the hill,;

[25:11.37]always seemed as if it might slide off into the corn fields below.;

[25:17.52]This tiny room had a door, always open, and windows, always open,;

[25:24.84]in spite of the windy cold of a July;

[25:28.67]whose skies were an unending light clear blue.;

[25:33.43]The sky,full of sunshine; the fields sunlit. But cold, very cold.;

[25:41.84]The cat, a bluish grey Persian, arrived purring on my bed,;

[25:47.62]and settled down to share my sickness, my food, my pillow, my sleep.;

[25:54.88]When I woke in the mornings my face turned to half- frozen sheets;;

[26:01.02]the outside of the fur blanket on the bed was cold;;

[26:06.30]the smell of fresh whitewash from next door was cold and clean;;

[26:11.97]the wind lifting and laying the dust outside the door was cold--;

[26:18.25]but in the curve of my arm, a light purring warmth, the cat, my friend.;

[26:25.90]At the back of the house a wooden tub was set into the earth,;

[26:31.29]outside the bathroom to catch the bathwater.;

[26:35.60]No pipes carrying water to taps on that farm;;

[26:40.32]water was fetched by ox-drawn cart when it was needed,;

[26:45.22]from the well about two miles away.;

[26:48.56]Through the months of the dry season the only water;

[26:53.01]for the garden was the dirty bathwater.;

[26:56.47]The cat fell into this tub when it was full of hot water.;

[27:01.39]She screamed,was pulled out into a cold wind, washed in permanganate,;

[27:07.80]for the tub was filthy, and held leaves and dust as well as soapy water,;

[27:14.52]was dried and put into my bed to warm. But she grew burning hot with fever.;

[27:21.99]She had pneumonia.We gave her what medicine we had in the house,;

[27:27.90]but that was before antibiotics, and so she died.;

[27:32.78]For a week she lay in my arm purring, purring, in a rough,;

[27:38.54]trembling little voice that became weaker,then was silent;;

[27:43.25]licked my hand, opened huge green eyes;

[27:47.41]when I called her name and begged her to live;;

[27:50.96]closed them,died,and was thrown into the deep old well--;

[27:56.20]over a hundred feet deep it was which had gone dry,;

[28:00.36]because the under- ground water streams had changed their course one year.;

[28:05.60]That was it. Never again.;

[28:08.98]And for years I matched cats in friends' houses,;

[28:13.27]cats in shops, cats on farms, cats in the street, cats on walls,cats in memory;

[28:21.29]with that gentle, blue-grey purring creature which for me was the cat,;

[28:27.50]the Cat,never to be replaced.;

[28:31.38]And besides,for some years my life did not include extras,;

[28:37.09]unnecessaries, ornaments.;

[28:40.49]Cats had no place in an existence spent always moving from place to place,;

[28:47.22]room to room.;

[28:49.00]A cat needs a place as much as it needs a person to make its own.;

[28:55.53]And so it was not until twenty-five years later my life had room for a cat.;