英语口语教程(高级) UNIT 16

[00:01.00]Lesson 16;

[00:00.96]Read;

[00:01.87]5.Decent Beggars in   Shanghai;

[00:06.67]It was getting dark when the plane landed at Hongqiao Airport in Shanghai.;

[00:14.36]A woman stepped out into a driving rain.;

[00:19.52]"Madam,you must be from Beijing," a voice behind her said.;

[00:26.00]Taking luggage from the woman's hand, the man said,;

[00:30.85]"The weather in the south is unpleasant, and it rains all the time.;

[00:36.21]The rainy season is coming." He accompanied her out of the airport.;

[00:42.79]The woman thought she was lucky to meet such a warm- hearted young man.;

[00:49.06]At the bus stop,she thanked him.;

[00:52.60]"It's very kind of you.;

[00:54.93]I would be drenched through without your help ";

[00:58.67]She said quite a lot to express her gratitude.;

[01:02.72]However,to her surprise,;

[01:06.16]the man stood there smiling and showing no intention of leaving.;

[01:11.42]Glancing around,the woman noticed some passengers;

[01:15.97]getting off the same plane with her were tipping the people who helped them.;

[01:21.84]She got the hint, took out a five-yuan note and gave it to the man.;

[01:28.01]Saying "Thanks a lot", he went away.;

[01:32.87]The young man is just one of the estimated 500 "decent beggars",;

[01:39.64]a name Shanghai residents have given these people.;

[01:44.10]Often times,they will appear in groups in the railway station,;

[01:50.06]airport,hospitals, scenic spots.;

[01:54.72]Most of them are fashionably dressed, behave decently,;

[01:59.88]and speak in a gentle way.;

[02:03.11]They carefully observe their "customers",;

[02:06.35]and from their expression,;

[02:08.38]they try to figure out what their "customers" are thinking about.;

[02:12.93]They will show sympathy for a patient sent to the hospital,;

[02:17.58]with tears in their eyes.;

[02:20.11]They will flatter the "customer" until he or she is deeply moved;

[02:25.78]and gives them money in gratitude.;

[02:28.61]On May 1,a family went to a park.;

[02:33.67]Just as they entered a young couple with smiles on their faces came up.;

[02:39.64]The man talked first.;

[02:42.27]"Look!What a pleasant day!;

[02:45.20]It is very nice for the whole family to spend the holiday in the park, " he said.;

[02:51.07]The woman added,"We Shanghai people are often kept indoors by the rain.;

[02:58.15]It is too bad for children in particular.;

[03:01.79]On this fine day,it is quite good for your health to walk in the open.";

[03:07.56]Then they began to flatter the children,;

[03:10.80]saying they were so beautiful and would be promising in the future.;

[03:15.85]They predicated that the parents would enjoy a very happy life;

[03:20.71]with wealthy and devoted sons and daughters.;

[03:24.55]They did not stop talking until the mother gave them a 10-yuan note.;

[03:30.42]The mother did not feel sorry for giving the money.;

[03:34.57]She said that she had bought good fortune with the money.;

[03:39.33]Some people say it is this psychology;

[03:42.77]that the "decent beggars" cater to in making money.;

[03:47.72]6.Nobel Prizes;

[03:52.07]Once a year,at a special ceremony;

[03:56.63]a few distinguished people are awarded Nobel Prizes.;

[04:01.68]The founder of these prizes was Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833-1896),;

[04:11.70]a Swedish scientist.;

[04:13.93]Nobel discovered the explosive called dynamite.;

[04:18.88]This was much safer to use than earlier explosives.;

[04:23.54]He made a large fortune from this and other discoveri -es and inventions.;

[04:29.81]However,;

[04:31.22]it saddened him that his explosives were so widely used for warfare.;

[04:37.90]Nobel left most of his money to establish five prizes.;

[04:43.87]They are awarded for services to physics, chemistry,physiology or medicine,;

[04:51.25]literature, and peace.;

[04:54.29]It is considered a very great honour to win one of these prizes.;

[04:59.86]Lesson 17 Is Romantic Love the Most Important Condi -tion for Marriage?;

[05:09.16]Text Choosing a Spouse;

[05:14.22]If you are young and unmarried,;

[05:17.86]you must have in your mind the image of an ideal husband or wife.;

[05:23.73]Most young people like to indulge in fantasies,;

[05:28.59]and your image may take the inform of a certain famous film star or pop singer.;

[05:35.47]But if you are of a practical turn of mind,;

[05:39.21]your "ideal"would be more down to earth,;

[05:42.95]and your "image" would be modeled after what you see around you.;

[05:48.52]Though images do not always coincide with realities (for after all,;

[05:55.80]an ideal is an ideal),;

[05:58.03]it is nevertheless an interesting subject for study,;

[06:02.68]for it tells us what the young people expect from the present society.;

[06:09.15]Dr.Li Yinhe of the Sociological Institute of Beijing University;

[06:16.34]has made a study of a certain amount of matrimonial advertisements ,;

[06:21.80]and he found that the present generation of China;

[06:26.05]put great emphasis on, in order of importance,;

[06:30.80](1)age,(2) height,;

[06:35.46](3)education as the three most important standards in choosing a spouse.;

[06:42.94]Next comes (4) character and temperament, (5)profession,;

[06:50.13](6)marital status and personal history (7)appearance and (8)health.;

[07:00.24]Such order of emphasis is peculiarly Chinese.;

[07:06.11]Other conditions such as religion, race and love,;

[07:11.37]so important to people of other nations;

[07:14.81]are completely missing in Dr.Li's list.;

[07:18.96]Many foreign scholars are also interested in the Chinese idea;

[07:24.83]of an ideal spouse and they just can't understand why;

[07:30.08]the Chinese men especially set so much store by "age";

[07:35.35]when they choose a spouse.;

[07:38.49]A man of over forty would want a woman under thirty;

[07:44.25]and a man of thirty would want his future spouse to be under twenty-five.;

[07:50.93]One possible explanation;

[07:53.76]is that youth is almost synonymous with beauty.;

[07:58.01]At least the two words young and beautiful always go together.;

[08:05.29]The Chinese people have not yet discovered mature beauty.;

[08:11.16]Height definitely is uniquely Chinese in playing such an important role;

[08:18.04]when people choose a spouse.;

[08:20.87]To be eligible a man has to be at least 1.70m. in height.;

[08:27.45]It is said that to a choosy girl,;

[08:31.29]any man under 1.70m. is considered a semi invalid !;

[08:37.67]So far no one has offered a satisfactory explanation;

[08:43.13]to such a strange phenomenon.;

[08:46.27]As to the third important condition, that of educational level,;

[08:52.34]people find it a puzzle too,;

[08:54.97]because in present day China education doesn't give you high social status,;

[09:01.34]nor does it bring you good pay.;

[09:04.68]Yet both sexes set a great store by it.;

[09:09.33]The thing to notice is that a man with a university education;

[09:15.00]is content to have a wife with senior middle school education;

[09:20.06]while a woman with a university education;

[09:23.90]would never consider a man with only a senior middle school education.;

[09:29.57]Her husband has to be at least a university graduate too,;

[09:35.43]preferably someone with a post-graduate degree.;

[09:39.89]What conclusion can we draw from all this?;

[09:43.63]I think that in seeking a husband or wife,;

[09:48.08]we Chinese have not yet freed ourselves;

[09:52.03]from our feudal tradition of arranged marriages.;

[09:55.97]Instead of having our marriages arranged by our parents,;

[10:01.03]we now arrange our own marriages.;

[10:04.57]In the old days;

[10:07.10]stress was put on equal social and economic status of the two families;

[10:13.17]which was considered a condition of a good match.;

[10:17.22]Now love marriages boil down to more or less the same thing ,;

[10:24.00]except that stress is no longer placed on the condition of the two families,;

[10:30.67]but on the two individuals themselves.;

[10:34.52]And conditions vary with the trend of the times.;

[10:38.87]Not so long ago it was Party membership that was all important.;

[10:44.84]A girl who was a Party member;

[10:47.87]would not be satisfied with a man who was only a League member;

[10:53.54]He had to be at least a Party;

[10:57.08]and preferably a Party member with a responsible position,;

[11:02.84]In essence we are still selling ourselves to the highest bidder.;

[11:08.41]To put it another way:;

[11:10.94]We are still trying to get the best bargain with what capital we have.;

[11:16.70]Is it so much different from the old mercenary marriage?;

[11:22.77]2.Read;

[11:26.31]Read the following passages.;

[11:29.96]Underline the important viewpoints while reading.;

[11:34.20]1.Husband and Wife   by Arrangement;

[11:40.48]Yoshio and Hiromi Tanaka are a young Japanese couple living in the USA;

[11:48.17]while he studies electrical engineering.;

[11:51.91]They clearly love each other very deeply,but, says Yoshio,;

[11:58.08]"We didn't marry for love in the Western sense.;

[12:02.03]We got married in the time-honoured Japanese way.;

[12:06.78]Our parents arranged our marriage through a matchmaker.;

[12:12.14]In Japan we believe that marriage is som -ething that affects the whole family,;

[12:19.12]not just the young couple concerned.;

[12:22.77]So we think it is very important to match people;

[12:27.32]according to their social background, education and so on.;

[12:32.68]Matchmakers are usually middle-aged women;

[12:37.43]who keep lists of suitable young peop -le with information about their families;

[12:43.10]education and interests.;

[12:46.54]When our parents thought it was time for us to get married;

[12:51.60]they went to a local matchmaker and asked her for some suggestions.;

[12:58.07]We discussed the details and looked at the photos she sent,;

[13:04.04]and then our parents asked her to arrange a 'marriage interview';

[13:09.00]for the two of us.";

[13:11.63]A Japanese marriage interview is held in a public place,;

[13:17.09]such as a hotel or restaurant,and is attended by the boy and the girl,;

[13:23.47]their parents and the matchmaker.;

[13:27.01]Information about the couple and their families;

[13:31.66]is exchanged over a cup of tea or a meal.;

[13:36.21]Then the boy and the girl are left alone for a short time;

[13:41.07]to get to know each other.;

[13:43.40]When they return home they have to tell the matchmaker;

[13:48.25]whether they want to meet again or not.;

[13:51.08]If both of them want another meeting,the matchmaker arranges it,;

[13:57.05]and after that they can decide whether to carry on the courtship themselves;

[14:03.63]Here Hiromi said with a gentle smile,"Not so long ago,;

[14:10.71]the girl could never refuse to go out again with a boy who liked her,;

[14:16.28]but now she can.;

[14:18.40]I thought Yoshio was really rather nice, so I didn't refuse.";

[14:24.77]Yoshio continued:;

[14:27.61]"When our parents realized we were serious about each other,;

[14:32.26]they started to make arrangements for our wedding。;

[14:36.00]My family paid the 'Yuino' money to Hiromi's.;

[14:40.76]This is money to help pay for the wedding ceremony;

[14:44.40]and for setting up house afterwards.;

[14:47.74]We also gave her family a beautiful ornament;

[14:52.09]to put in the best room of their house,;

[14:54.92]so everyone knew that Hiromi was going to marry.;

[14:59.07]Six months after our first meeting we were married.;

[15:04.13]A traditional Japanese wedding is a wonderful ceremony,;

[15:09.39]and our traditional custom of arranged marriages has given me a wonderful wife.;

[15:16.87]2.Husband and Wife   by Airmail;

[15:23.96]"You must be mad," his friends said,;

[15:27.90]as thirty-year-old John Briggs of Hatfield;

[15:32.15]left London Airport to fly to Brazil.;

[15:35.89]John was going half-way round the world;

[15:39.84]to meet a girl he'd never seen but hoped to marry.;

[15:44.70]The trip was costing him three months' pay-;

[15:49.25]-in fact he'd had to borrow from his father;

[15:52.89]and an aunt to buy his ticket-;

[15:55.93]-and he had no idea whether the pretty dark-haired girl;

[16:00.58]he only knew from photographs and letters would even like him.;

[16:06.04]"I  had a good life as a bachelor," says John,four years later,;

[16:13.02]his arm round his wife and their two lovely children,;

[16:17.47]"but I felt something was missing.;

[16:20.51]I had a good job,my own house and plenty of friends.;

[16:25.16]I had plenty of girlfriends too,;

[16:28.80]but somehow no one ever seemed quite the right girl for me.;

[16:34.37]Then one day I was looking through a magazine during my lunch hour;

[16:39.93]when a photograph of a pretty girl caught my eye.;

[16:43.78]It was part of an advertisement for a World Penfriends Circle.;

[16:49.65]I decided to write off to them immediately.;

[16:53.49]All my friends had a good laugh,I remember.";

[16:58.24]John received the names of four girls, two from Japan, one from Finland,;

[17:05.73]and one from Brazil, and wrote to all of them,;

[17:09.88]enclosing a photograph of himself.;

[17:13.62]The last to reply was Maria from Brazil,;

[17:18.17]but it was Maria who came to take first place in John's heart.;

[17:24.24]They wrote to each other for a year,;

[17:27.28]Maria in Portuguese and John in English- -all the letters had to be translated-;

[17:35.17]-and then one of Maria's uncles came to England on a business trip.;

[17:41.65]Maria had asked him to arrange a meeting with John;

[17:46.10]and report back to Brazil on what her English penfriend was really like.;

[17:52.27]The uncle said that John was "a fat little fellow without much hair",;

[17:59.45]but he must have said some nicer things too,;

[18:03.50]for Maria's parents wrote to John inviting him to visit their family.;

[18:09.87]John replied saying he'd love to.;

[18:13.51]A practical man, John started to get organized.;

[18:18.77]As soon as he had the money for his air ticket;

[18:22.52]he wrote to Maria asking her what her views on getting married were.;

[18:28.38]He also sent an engagement ring, and a Valentine card every day!;

[18:35.16]Maria wrote back to say they could decide;

[18:38.97]whether to get married or not once they met-;

[18:42.24]-but she started making a wedding dress of beautiful white silk,;

[18:47.10]just in case...;

[18:49.43]The day John was due to arrive Maria waited anxiously at the airport.;

[18:56.20]Suppose he didn't like her'?;

[18:59.14]But when his plane came in she didn't even recognize him!;

[19:04.40]Her uncle had to point him out.;

[19:07.84]"He was the man with the nicest smile," says Maria,;

[19:12.69]"and he was just the right height for me!";

[19:16.34]They both realized immediately.;

[19:19.27]that they were just right for each other in lots of other ways too.;

[19:24.94]Ten days later they were married;

[19:27.87]and Maria came to live in England with her husband-;

[19:31.82]-"the best thing that's ever come to me through the post" she says.;

[19:37.78]3.Husband, and Wife   for 45 pounds Each;

[19:45.37]Attractive Kay Knight is expecting her first baby in a few months' time.;

[19:52.76]She smiled happily at her husband Mike as she told us their story;

[19:59.23]"I woke up on my thirty-fifth birthday thinking,;

[20:03.58]'Help.I'm turning into a real old spinster schoolteacher.';

[20:09.15]All my friends seemed to be married with homes;

[20:12.55]and families of their own.;

[20:14.91]But where was I?I love job--don't get me wrong.;

[20:20.48]I've had a very Satisfying career,;

[20:24.02]but teaching other people's children isn't the same as bringing up your own;

[20:30.49]"She'll make a wonderful mother, said Mike.";

[20:33.93]I can't think why she wasn't snapped up years ago.;

[20:38.18]But I'm glad she wasn't,or I wouldn't have found her.";

[20:43.95]How did they find each other?;

[20:47.08]"Well," said Kay," as a young Woman I'd had a few boyfriends,;

[20:53.86]but never anything serious.;

[20:56.90]Then I realized I wasn't even meeting any men,;

[21:00.84]not unmarried ones anyway.;

[21:03.57]So I took a deep breath and wrote to a Marriage Bureau.;

[21:09.04]"Kay had to fill in a detailed form and then attend an interview.;

[21:15.21]"It was very thorough,";

[21:18.35]she said. "They really wanted to make sure;

[21:20.91]I was serious about wanting to get married,;

[21:24.11]and they took a lot of trouble to find out what kind of person I was;

[21:29.47]and the sort of man I thought I'd like to marry.;

[21:34.02]I was told I'd be given three introductions to suitable men;

[21:39.39]for a fee of 15 pounds.;

[21:42.73]If I married one of them,I'd have to pay another 30 pounds.;

[21:50.21]The first introduction was to another teacher,;

[21:54.77]which she didn't think was a good idea,but the second was to Mike.;

[22:01.14]Mike took up the story.;

[22:04.27]"I got married when I was a young man of 22,;

[22:08.93]but my wife was killed a year later in a car accident.;

[22:13.99]I was completely shattered.;

[22:17.22]I put all my energies into my work;

[22:21.07]and spent many year abroad with my firm.;

[22:25.12]Then I came back to England to work at Head Office.;

[22:29.67]and realized how empty my life had become.;

[22:34.02]I didn't just want to work;I wanted a wife and children.;

[22:40.39]I needed someone to make my house into a home.;

[22:45.45]I wasn't interested in young girls,;

[22:48.89]but how could I find a mature,loving woman to share my life?;

[22:54.66]I think my sister and brother-in-law must have guessed how I was feeling.;

[23:00.93]They introduced me to a Charming older couple one evening.;

[23:05.99]After they'd gone home I remarked how well-suited they seemed;

[23:11.96]and my sister told me why--they'd met through a Marriage Bureau.;

[23:18.33]'You should give it a try,' she said. So I did.";

[23:23.49]Mike phoned a bureau the very next day;

[23:27.94]and went for an interview the following week.;

[23:31.28]He was given three names, including Kay's.;

[23:36.34]He wrote to her first;

[23:38.97]because he thought a school-teacher would probably like children.;

[23:43.22]Their first date was a disaster.;

[23:47.06]"We agreed to meet for a picnic and it poured with rain, " he told us.;

[23:52.93]"But we both saw the funny side of it,;

[23:55.66]and from then on everything went right.";

[23:59.50]Within a month of their first meeting he proposed and they got engaged.;

[24:06.69]The wedding took place a year ago.;

[24:10.33]"Speaking as a businessman," said Mike,;

[24:13.67]"this is the best deal I've ever made!";

[24:17.41]4.Dating Pattens in   the USA;

[24:23.48]In the traditional dating pattern in the United States,;

[24:28.03]much of the responsibility for a date falls to the young man.;

[24:33.50]In this pattern,;

[24:35.32]the young man must first call the girl he wishes to date on the telephone.;

[24:41.89]Usually,this call is made quite early in a week.;

[24:47.76]Most girls in traditional dating relationships;

[24:52.01]expect to get a telephone call from a young man by Wednesday.;

[24:57.57]Most dating occurs on weekends.;

[25:01.72]Many young people do not have to get up early for school or work;

[25:07.49]on Saturday and Sunday mornings,;

[25:10.32]so Friday nights and Saturday nights are popular nights for dates.;

[25:16.19]The young man must ask the girl for the date,;

[25:20.64]and suggest some things that they might do together.;

[25:25.19]It is usually up to the young man to pay for all of the evening's activities;

[25:32.38]There are many things to do on dates.;

[25:36.02]Many young people enjoy going to sports events,;

[25:40.27]such as football and baseball games.;

[25:43.46]These games may occur at a high school, college,;

[25:48.77]or in a large sports arena in a city.;

[25:52.96]A very popular place for young people to go on dates is the movies.;

[25:58.88]Almost everyone enjoys a good movie,;

[26:02.66]and almost every town has at least one movie theater.;

[26:08.08]Young people may also enjoy going to a night club or coffee house.;

[26:15.12]Here,they may listen to music and dance,;

[26:19.41]and perhaps meet some of their friends.;

[26:23.40]These are a few of the things young people do on dates in the United States;

[26:31.26]In some parts of the United States,;

[26:34.74]traditional dating relationships begin when young people are in high school.;

[26:40.97]In other places,;

[26:43.21]young people do not go out in couples until they are in college,;

[26:48.42]or in their early,.,twenties.;

[26:51.38]Some young men would rather go out with just one girl all of the time.;

[26:58.53]Every Saturday night a young man will go out with the same girl.;

[27:04.87]Many girls enjoy this kind of relationship also.;

[27:09.87]It gives both the boy and the girl;

[27:13.45]a chance to get to know one another quite well.;

[27:17.84]Sometimes,this may lead to marriage.;

[27:22.64]Other young people enjoy dating different individuals.;

[27:28.15]One week they may go out with one person, the next week with another.;

[27:34.90]They get to know many people this way,;

[27:42.76]and may not wish to have a serious relationship with just one person.;

[27:45.93]Many young people in the United States, especially college students,;

[27:51.85]do not go out on either of these traditional dates.;

[27:56.14]Instead,they go out on group dates.;

[28:00.74]In this kind of dating pattern,;

[28:04.01]small groups of young people go out together.;

[28:08.50]All of the people in the group are usually friends,;

[28:13.30]but some of the people in the group may not know each other.;

[28:18.40]No one young man is with any particular girl.;

[28:23.20]They are all together as part of the group.;

[28:27.19]This is very different from the traditional date.;