英语口语教程(高级) UNIT 15

[00:01.00]Lesson 15;

[00:01.30]5.Smoking is associated with coronary heart disease.;

[00:05.75]Nowadays this disease accounts for a high percentage of deaths annually.;

[00:12.14]Cigarette smokers are much more likely to die from a heart attack;

[00:17.67]than non-smokers.;

[00:20.14]Smoking injures blood vessels,;

[00:24.16]speeds up hardening of the arteries and increases the work of the heart.;

[00:30.38]It is one of the factors contributing to high blood pressure:;

[00:36.41]What little we've mentioned above;

[00:39.55]is sufficient to show that smoking is extremely harmful to health.;

[00:45.44]Most people throughout the world have come to realize the danger.;

[00:51.87]Nowadays;

[00:53.74]some governments are taking practical measures against smoking.;

[00:58.96]We sincerely advise those who have formed the smoking habit to stop;

[01:05.32]and those who haven't yet started not to.;

[01:09.61]It is both for your own sake and for the sake of the next generation.;

[01:16.57]A recent survey report;

[01:19.45]says that children exposed to parental cigarette smoke;

[01:23.60]may be put at a higher risk of developing lung disease;

[01:27.88]later in their lives.;

[01:30.56]Passive exposure to smoke;

[01:33.50]may also interfere with normal lung growth in young children.;

[01:38.86]There is a strong association between parental smoking;

[01:43.88]and children's pulmonary function.;

[01:47.22]Children who recorded the weakest lung function;

[01:51.98]were found to be smokers themselves;

[01:54.79]and to have parents or brothers and sisters who smoked.;

[01:59.81]So let us join together;

[02:02.75]to launch a mass movement to break this harmful smoking habit,;

[02:07.44]and build ourselves up, healthy and strong,;

[02:11.65]to work hard for the four modernizations.;

[02:15.60]6.Call to Stop   Offering   Cigarettes;

[02:21.29]To the Chinese,who claim to have invented rules of etiquette,;

[02:28.19]offering cigarettes is a way of being hospitable to guests.;

[02:34.41]When somebody calls, first of all,;

[02:38.63]the host would offer him a cigarette and a cup of tea.;

[02:43.65]In the countryside, hospitable old men,;

[02:48.60]often allow visiting guests to share the long-stemmed Chinese pipe;

[02:54.36]which they themselves are smoking.;

[02:57.64]At wedding ceremonies,;

[03:00.72]brides Would offer cigarettes to all guests;

[03:04.67]who came to express their congratulations;

[03:07.88]and light the cigarettes for each of them one after another.;

[03:13.17]All these were originally aimed at displaying the Chinese hospitality;

[03:19.79]and respect towards the guests.;

[03:22.61]But in recent years,;

[03:25.35]the old tradition has been used as a means to nurse good relations.;

[03:32.11]Even those who never smoke have brand- name cigarettes in their pockets.;

[03:39.14]Whenever they have to seek somebody's favour,;

[03:42.89]they first offer him a cigarette,;

[03:46.10]If the other party turns it down,he is being impolite.;

[03:51.39]If he accepts it he has to do something, for courtesy demands a favour in return.;

[04:00.76]Tobacco contains harmful substances.;

[04:05.71]So offering cigarettes to somebody is equal to doing harm to him.;

[04:12.00]But neither people who offer cigarettes;

[04:15.42]nor those who take them fully realize it.;

[04:20.57]It is even more unhealthy for the host;

[04:24.32]to pass the long- stemmed Chinese pipe or water pipe;

[04:28.34]to the visitor after smoking it beforehand.;

[04:32.28]Once I paid a visit to a relative who had just returned from abroad.;

[04:39.65]He was smoking but did not produce one for me.;

[04:44.47]Instead,he placed the cigarette packet on the table and told me:;

[04:50.63]"Cigarettes produce carbon monoxide and nicotine.;

[04:55.18]But if you don't mind this,take it yourself.";

[05:00.40]His way of offering cigarettes was unique but worth learning.;

[05:06.76]Many people throughout the world are attempting to quit smoking.;

[05:12.91]But to give up the practice,firstly I think,;

[05:17.33]we had better change the traditional method of entertaining guests.;

[05:23.29]Not to offer cigarettes does not mean one is inhospitable;

[05:29.18]The cigarette packet is on the table.;

[05:32.86]If you cannot check your craving for one at the risk of your health, you may.;

[05:39.69]But you will have to bear the consequences yourself.;

[05:44.64]You had better also bear in mind;

[05:48.05]that while you are smoking and harming yourself,;

[05:51.87]you are also polluting the air and hurting others.;

[05:57.63]7. Smoking Is a Bad    Habit;

[06:04.12]Smoking is a bad habit.;

[06:07.93]Firstly, it ruins people's health.;

[06:12.28]Health experts have warned us for years;

[06:16.23]that smoking can lead to heart disease,;

[06:19.25]lung cancer and various respiratory ailments.;

[06:24.00]The World Health Organization says diseases linked to smoking;

[06:30.16]kill at least 2,500,000 people each year.;

[06:34.91]Research conducted in many countries;

[06:38.86]also indicates that pregnant women who smoke;

[06:42.61]run the risk of having deformed babies.;

[06:46.69]Besides,it has been proven beyond doubt that when a person smokes,;

[06:53.32]he subjects the people around him not only to great discomfort;

[06:58.94]but also to physical harm.;

[07:01.75]Secondly,smoking is extravagant.;

[07:05.97]Smokers,either wage-earners or those who live off their parents,;

[07:11.86]spend a large sum of money on cigarettes,;

[07:15.20]which cost them at least 10% of their expenses each month.;

[07:21.63]What's more,sensible women try to avoid marrying heavy smokers,;

[07:28.12]even though some of them appreciate the image of a handsome young man;

[07:33.41]with a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth.;

[07:37.96]A friend of mine,a heavy smoker,;

[07:41.71]has been seeking an ideal wife who will tolerate his extravagant;

[07:46.60]"hobby,but up to now he hasn't found one.;

[07:50.75]Thirdly,smoking has a bad impact on the psyche of the sneakers.;

[07:56.90]After realizing the bad effects of smoking,;

[08:01.05]many people try to give up smoking.;

[08:04.27]But no matter how hard they try,;

[08:07.48]some of them just can't resist the temptation to smoke again.;

[08:12.83]Gradually,;

[08:14.37]they lose confidence in themselves and get used to making excuses.;

[08:21.47]Lesson 16 Is Money the Most Important Thing, in Life?;

[08:30.04]Text;

[08:32.71]"The Only Thing People Are Interested in Today;

[08:37.73]Is Earning More Money.";

[08:40.41]Once upon a time there lived a beautiful young woman;

[08:45.16]and a handsome young man.;

[08:47.37]They were very poor, but as they were deeply in love,;

[08:52.39]they wanted to get married.;

[08:55.20]The young people's parents shook their heads.;

[08:59.29]"You can't get married yet," they said.;

[09:03.10]"Wait till you get a good job with good prospects.";

[09:08.06]So the young people waited until they found good jobs with good prospects;

[09:14.08]and they were able to get married.;

[09:17.22]They were still poor,of course.;

[09:20.30]They didn't have a house to live in or any furniture,but that didn't matter.;

[09:26.86]The young man had a good job with good prospects,;

[09:31.62]so large organizati -ons lent him the money he needed to buy a house,;

[09:37.44]some furniture,;

[09:38.91]all the latest electrical appliances and a car.;

[09:44.07]The couple lived happily ever after paying off debts;

[09:49.02]for the rest of their lives.;

[09:51.03]And so ends another modern romantic fable.;

[09:56.65]We live in a materialistic society;

[10:01.20]and are trained from our earliest years to be acquisitive.;

[10:05.89]Our possessions, "mine" and "yours", are clearly labeled from early childhood;

[10:14.39]When we grow old enough to earn a living,;

[10:18.54]it does not surprise us to discover that;

[10:21.62]success is measured in terms of the money you earn.;

[10:26.17]We spend the whole of our lives keeping up with our neighbours,;

[10:31.46]the Joneses.;

[10:33.20]If we buy a new television set,;

[10:36.61]Jones is bound to buy a bigger and better one.;

[10:41.09]If we buy a new car,;

[10:43.77]we can be sure that Jones will go one betters and get two new ears:;

[10:50.00]one for his wife and one for himself.;

[10:54.21]The most amusing thing about this game;

[10:57.96]is that the Joneses and all the neighbours;

[11:01.11]who are struggling frantically to keep up with them;

[11:04.52]are spending borrowed money kindly provided,;

[11:08.81]at a suitable rate of  interest, of course,by  friendly banks,;

[11:13.82]insurance companies, etc.;

[11:17.84]It is not only in affluent societies;

[11:21.66]that people are obsessed with the idea of making more money.;

[11:26.68]Consumer goods are desirable everywhere;

[11:30.89]and modern industry deliberately sets out to create new markets;

[11:36.78]Gone are the days when industrial goods were made to last forever.;

[11:43.21]The wheels of industry must be kept turning.;

[11:48.30]"Built-in obsolescence' provides the means:;

[11:52.98]goods are made to be discarded.;

[11:56.46]Cars get tinnier and tinnier.;

[11:59.88]You no sooner acquire this year's model;

[12:03.36]than you are thinking about its replacement.;

[12:07.31]This materialistic outlook has seriously influenced education.;

[12:14.27]Fewer and fewer young people these days acquire knowledge;

[12:19.29]only for its own sake.;

[12:21.83]Every course of studies must lead somewhere: i.e.;

[12:27.45]to a bigger wage packet.;

[12:30.13]The demand for skilled personnel far exceeds the supply;

[12:35.22]and big companies compete with each other;

[12:38.50]to recruit students before they have completed their studies.;

[12:43.18]Tempting salaries and "fringe benefits" are offered to them.;

[12:49.27]Recruiting tactics of this kind have led to the "brain drain"  ,;

[12:54.09]the process by which highly skilled people offer their services;

[12:58.78]to the highest bidder.;

[13:00.72]The wealthier nations deprive their poorer neighbours;

[13:04.67]of their most able citizens.;

[13:07.35]While Mammon is worshipped as never before,;

[13:11.76]the rich get richer and the poor,poorer.;

[13:16.65]II．Read;

[13:20.13]Read the following passages.;

[13:23.28]Underline the important viewpoints while reading.;

[13:28.70]1.Wealth Led to   Disaster;

[13:34.39]In all American history,;

[13:37.47]there is no story stranger than that of John A.Sutter.;

[13:43.69]We have read about the early history of San Francisco.;

[13:48.85]When the independence of California was declared in 1846,;

[13:55.27]San Francisco was a small town of some 800 inhabitants.;

[14:01.23]Then,in 1848,gold was discovered on land not far away.;

[14:09.73]This land was owned by John A.Sutter.;

[14:14.61]Immediately,there was a vast movement of people,;

[14:19.37]not only from the United States but from other parts of the world,;

[14:24.79]toward San Francisco and the gold fields.;

[14:29.88]This was the famous Gold Rush of 1849.;

[14:35.36]San Francisco grew to three times its size in just a few weeks.;

[14:42.06]Within a year it had a population of over 25,000 people.;

[14:48.75]Previously a quiet, pleasant town,;

[14:53.17]San Francisco was changed almost overnight;

[14:56.99]into a rough and crowded city,;

[15:00.06]full of all  kinds of adventurers and other strange characters.;

[15:06.15]The same factors that operated to change San Francisco;

[15:11.38]also changed the life of John A.Sutter in an equally extreme form;

[15:18.94]John A.Sutter was a citizen  of Switzerland.;

[15:23.96]He had come, penniless,in the spirit of adventure to the United States;

[15:30.32]He Lived and worked for a time in Pennsylvania;

[15:35.07]and finally settled in California in 1839,;

[15:39.96]when still a young man of thirty-six.;

[15:44.17]He obtained the rights from the Mexican government;

[15:48.06]to a large track of land in the present area of Sacramento,;

[15:53.08]some seventy miles north of San Francisco on the Sacramento River.;

[15:59.23]Here Sutter established his own private colony.;

[16:04.59]This colony he named New Helvetia.;

[16:09.34]Sutter was an intelligent, well-educated man.;

[16:14.70]He built a fort, inside which he established a large trading post.;

[16:21.39]He planted great numbers of fruit trees;

[16:24.94]along the banks of the Sacramento- to River,;

[16:27.95]as well as hundreds of acres of wheat.;

[16:31.83]He became a very rich man by providing most of the ships that;

[16:36.99]came to the harbor of San Francisco with supplies;

[16:41.34]both for their own use and for export.;

[16:44.75]Sutter had thousands of cattle and horses on his many acres.;

[16:50.97]Five hundred men, mostly Mexicans and Indians,worked regularly for him.;

[16:58.87]He wrote his wife and three sons,whom he had left in Switzerland,;

[17:04.76]asking them to come and live with him and enjoy his great success.;

[17:11.32]Then in 1848, gold was discovered on Sutter's land.;

[17:17.81]He was building a saw mill,some distance from his fort.;

[17:22.84]Here,in a stream leading from the mill,;

[17:26.99]one of Sutter's workmen found some pieces of gold.;

[17:31.87]At first Sutler tried to keep the news quiet.;

[17:36.29]He had dreams of becoming even richer than he already was,;

[17:41.04]perhaps the richest man in the whole world;

[17:45.73]But,within a few weeks, the news about the gold leaked out.;

[17:52.02]Men descended upon Sutter's land from all directions.;

[17:57.58]Soon they were coming from all over the United States;

[18:02.13]and even from more distant places.;

[18:05.81]These people moved into the area like a great herd of animals.;

[18:11.70]They killed all of Surfer's cattle,;

[18:15.18]stole his farm produce and tools,;

[18:18.12]and tore down his buildings to obtain wood to build homes for themselves.;

[18:24.28]The city of Sacramento sprang up where Sutter's fort stood.;

[18:30.84]On the site of his saw mill grew up the present city of Coloma.;

[18:37.20]Far from becoming the richest man in the world,;

[18:41.15]as he had dreamed, Sutter was reduced to poverty.;

[18:45.90]He finally moved away from the area to a distant part of his land.;

[18:52.19]Here his family arrived to live with him.;

[18:56.54]He began to farm and,with his sons,;

[19:00.76]planted more fruit trees and new fields of wheat.;

[19:04.84]Again he was fairly successful.;

[19:08.73]In 1855 Sutter brought a suit in the Californian courts;

[19:14.95]against the 1,700 settlers,;

[19:18.03]who now occupied the lands he had previously owned.;

[19:23.12]He demanded $25 million from the state for the roads, canals,;

[19:29.74]and bridges that he himself had built but which the state had taken over.;

[19:36.70]He also asked for a percentage of all the gold mined on his property.;

[19:42.93]This suit was decided by the Californian courts in Sutler's favour.;

[19:49.69]Briefly,Gutter was again a rich and important man.;

[19:54.98]His dream of a private empire,with himself as king and ruler,returned.;

[20:02.41]But then the storm broke again.;

[20:06.22]When the judge's decistere was made public,10,000 people,;

[20:12.11]who were now established in the area;

[20:14.79]and thought they might lose their homes,descended upon the court.;

[20:20.35]They burned the courthouse and tried to hang the judge.;

[20:25.63]They destroyed more of Sutter's property.;

[20:29.78]Later,Sutter's home was set on fire and burned to the ground.;

[20:35.47]Sutter's oldest son killed himself; his second son was murdered.;

[20:42.17]Sutter was never able to recover from these last and final blows.;

[20:48.99]He went back east and,in the courts of Washington,;

[20:53.81]again brought a suit to recover what he claimed had been stolen from him.;

[20:59.90]He spent the last fifteen years of his life in this sad manner.;

[21:05.93]Tirelessly,he went from senator to congressman,;

[21:10.41]from one government office to another.;

[21:13.69]Friends tried to help him,and he received various honours;

[21:18.65]in recognition of his early work in California.;

[21:22.46]But delay followed delay,both in Congress and in the government courts.;

[21:29.02]The "General" as he came to be called,;

[21:33.10]died alone in a small Washington hotel room,a broken and bitter man.;

[21:40.60]2.What Did Qi Gong   Do with His Money?;

[21:46.76]Everyone knows how important money is in the world today.;

[21:52.72]But what did Qi Gong do with his hard- earned one and a half million yuan?;

[21:58.94]Mr Qi Gong,aged 79, is a well-known calligrapher in China.;

[22:06.64]He became famous the hard way.;

[22:10.52]Born in a poor family,;

[22:13.33]he did not have much schooling;

[22:15.94]until his talent attracted the attention of Professor Chen Yuan,;

[22:21.10]the president of Furen University.;

[22:24.64]For years Professor Chen took him under his personal care;

[22:30.13]and taught him literature and calligraphy.;

[22:34.08]Professor Chen thought highly of Qi Gong;

[22:38.23]and helped him to find jobs teaching at several institutions.;

[22:43.99]Years of hard work made Qi Gong an excellent teacher;

[22:49.68]and outstanding calligrapher and painter.;

[22:53.83]In memory of his teacher Professor Chen Yuan,;

[22:58.74]Qi Gong decided in 1991 to set up a foundation;

[23:04.73]to give awards to both teachers and students who excel in their work.;

[23:11.22]Qi Gong worked day after day at his desk;

[23:15.98]and produced more than 100 works of calligraphy,;

[23:20.21]which he sold for 1,830,000 yuan.;

[23:25.93]All this money went into the foundation which was named after his teacher.;

[23:32.05]He did not leave a penny for himself!;

[23:35.87]What do you think money means to Qi Gong?;

[23:40.63]3.Pop Stars Live   Like the Royalty;

[23:47.17]Pop stars today enjoy a style of living;

[23:51.80]which was once the prerogative only of Royalty.;

[23:55.88]Wherever they go, people turn out in their thousands to greet them.;

[24:02.28]The crowds go wild trying to catch a brief glimpse;

[24:07.46]of their smiling, colourfully-dressed idols.;

[24:12.50]The stars are transported in their chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royces,;

[24:18.90]private helicopters or executive aeroplanes.;

[24:23.80]They are surrounded by a permanent entourage of managers,;

[24:28.84]press-agents and bodyguards.;

[24:32.79]Photographs of them appear regularly in the press;

[24:37.42]and all their comings and goings are reported,for, like Royalty,;

[24:43.68]pop stars are news.;

[24:46.68]If they enjoy many of the privileges of Royalty,;

[24:51.31]they certainly share many of the inconveniences as well.;

[24:57.17]It is dangerous for them;

[24:59.48]"to make unscheduled appearances in public.;

[25:03.16]They must be constantly shielded from the adoring crowds;

[25:08.20]which idolize them.;

[25:10.24]They are no longer private,individuals, but public property.;

[25:16.10]The financial rewards they receive for,this sacrifice cannot be calculated;

[25:23.31]for their rates of pay are astronomical. And why not?;

[25:29.17]Society has always rewarded its top entertainers lavishly.;

[25:35.02]The great days of Hollywood have become legendary:;

[25:39.65]famous stars enjoyed fame,wealth and adulation on an unprecedented scale.;

[25:47.55]By today's standards;

[25:49.87]the excesses of Hollywood do not seem quite so spectacular.;

[25:55.72]A single gramophone record nowadays may earn much more in royalties;

[26:02.26]than the films of the past ever did.;

[26:06.07]The competition for the title "Top of the Pops" is fierce,;

[26:11.38]but the rewards are truly colossal.;

[26:16.15]4."Pop Stars   Certainly Earn   Their Money";

[26:22.01]It is only right that the stars should be paid in this way.;

[26:27.73]Don't the top men in industry earn enormous salaries for the services;

[26:33.26]they perform to their companies and their countries?;

[26:37.53]Pop stars earn vast sums in foreign currency-;

[26:42.16]-often more than large industrial concerns-and the tax-man;

[26:47.70]can only be grateful for their massive annual contributions to the exchequer.;

[26:53.46]So who would begrudge them their rewards?;

[26:57.41]It's all very well for people in humdrum jobs;

[27:02.45]to moan about the successes and rewards of others.;

[27:07.22]People who make envious remarks;

[27:10.89]should remember that the most famous stars;

[27:14.57]represent only the tip of the iceberg.;

[27:18.11]For every famous star,;

[27:20.84]there are hundreds of others struggling to earn a living.;

[27:25.47]A man working in a steady job;

[27:28.60]and looking forward to a pension at the end of it;

[27:32.55]has no right to expect very high rewards.;

[27:36.50]He has chosen security and peace of mind,;

[27:41.13]so there will always be a limit to what he can earn.;

[27:45.35]But a man Who attempts to' become a star is taking enormous risks.;

[27:51.89]He knows at the outset that only a handful of competitors;

[27:57.06]ever get to the very top.;

[27:59.78]He knows that years of concentrated effort;

[28:03.46]may be rewarded with complete failure.;

[28:06.73]But he knows, too, that the rewards for success are very high indeed:;

[28:13.40]they are the recompense for the huge risks involved;

[28:17.90]and if he achieves them,he has certainly earned them.;

[28:22.25]That's the essence of private enterprise!;