中级英语听力lesson 14

Here is a summary of the news.
No general election yet says the Prime Minister.
Five people die in an earthquake in central Italy.
And ￡1/4 million is stolen from a security van.
    In a speech in the city of London last night, the Prime Minister announced that there will be no general election in the near future. Talk of a quick election was pure speculation 1, she said. A general election would be held when it was in the best interests of the nation to do so.
    In central Italy, several small towns and villages are still cut off by avalanches 2 following the earthquake during the night which killed five people. It was central Italy's strongest earthquake for several years and hundreds of people have been made homeless. In Rome, as well as in Florence, Naples and Perugia, gas pipes were broken, windows shattered and electric cables thrown onto the streets.
    Thieves got away with almost ￡1/4 million after a security van was ambushed 3 in central London early this morning. The security van was rammed 4 by a lorry as it was taking a short cut through a narrow street off Piccadilly. Three masked men then threatened the driver and his assistant with shotguns and forced one of them to unlock the van. The thieves made their escape in a car parked nearby. This car was later found abandoned in south London. The driver of the van and his assistant were badly shaken but not seriously hurt.
    The flight recorder of the DC10 airliner 5 which crashed in the Antarctic a fortnight ago has shown that the plane was flying normally just before impact. All two hundred and fifty-seven people on board the aircraft died when it hit the side of a volcano. The investigation 6 into what happened is still going on.
    Voting is taking place today in the Euro-Constituency of London SouthWest. This by election for the European Parliament is being held because of the death of the previous member, Mr. Harold Friend. At the last election Mr. Friend had a majority of 17,000 over his nearest opponent.
    Talks on a formula for ending the strike at Independent Television get under way in London this afternoon. Looking forward to the meeting, the General Secretary of the Association of Cinematograph, Television and Allied 7 Technicians, Mr. Albert Tapper, said it was taking place on the basis of new proposals from the companies. He hoped it would lead to a basis for negotiations 8 but he refused to speculate on the chances of success.
    Fifteen people are to appear in court in Manchester today, following disturbances 9 on a train bringing football supporters back from matches in London. Eye witnesses report that the trouble began when groups of rival supporters whose teams had both been playing London clubs began to insult each other. After fighting had broken out police boarded the train just outside Manchester and arrests were made. British Rail have announced that they are considering withdrawing all soccer specials operating from Manchester.

Interviewer: Tell me Mrs. Clark, how did you come to be a bearded lady?

Mrs. Clark: Well, it all began when I started growing a beard.

Interviewer: Mm ... and when was that exactly?
Mrs. Clark: Just after my fourth birthday, I believe.
Interviewer: Really? As early as that? Didn't you see a doctor?
Mrs. Clark: Oh, yes, my parents took me to dozens of specialists.
Interviewer: And what did they have to say?
Mrs. Clark: They just told me to shave.
Interviewer: That's all the advice they could give? So you started shaving?
Mrs. Clark: Well, I was too young to be allowed to use a razor, and electric razors weren't even thought of in those days, so my dad used to shave me once a week before going to church on Sundays.
Interviewer: And when did you stop shaving?
Mrs. Clark: Oh, that would have been when I was around fifteen. You see it was growing at an enormous rate, something like five inches a day, I mean you could almost see it growing, and it was so thick. I mean a razor or scissors were no use.
Interviewer: So you ... let it grow?
Mrs. Clark: Well, it was taking so much time trying to keep it down and I was just wasting my time fighting a losing battle. So I thought ... I'll just let it grow ... and that's when I came to work in the circus. I was spotted 10 by a talent scout 11.
Interviewer: Do you ... ever cut your beard now?
Mrs. Clark: Oh, yes every week I chop off a few feet. I have to cut it or I fall over it if I don't remember to wrap it around my waist.
Interviewer: (Laughs) What about the circus? How did you find it at first, being stared at all day?
Mrs. Clark: Well, I must admit it was a bit unnerving at first ... what with people gaping 12 at you as though you were a goldfish in a bowl. I used to feel like saying. 'It's all right, dear, it's not that unusual, you know. It's only a bit of extra hair. It's not another head or something.' But you get used to the pointing and laughing in the end. Don't hardly notice it any more. Even the jokes don't upset me now. It's a bit boring in fact, after thirty years, just sitting here all day being stared at. But still there's always the breaks. and then the Ten-Foot Woman and the Midget from next door come in for a cup of tea and a chat, that passes the time nicely.
Interviewer: Would you say there were any advantages to having a fifteen-foot long beard?
Mrs. Clark: Well, my husband says it keeps his toes warm on cold nights.

Paul: Anyone want another Coke or something?
James: I think we're all drinking Paul ... thanks just the same.
Darley: I was thinking ... What would you youngsters do without the youth centre? You'd be pretty lost, wouldn't you?
Paul: Huh! It's all right I suppose. But I'm telling you ... we don't need no bloody 13 youth club to find something to do. Me ... well ... I only come when there's a dance on. Them berks what come all the time ... well ... they need their heads examined. If I want to drink ... well there's the pub, isn't there.
Mrs. Brent: But how old are you Paul? Sixteen? You can't drink in pubs—it's illegal.
Paul: No barman's ever turned me out yet. Anyway ... thanks for the drink. What about a dance, Denise?
Denise: I don't mind.
Paul: Come on then.
Finchley: Er ... Would you care to dance, Mrs. Brent?
Mrs. Brent: Thank you ... but no. The music isn't of my generation. You know ... the generation gap. When I was young I'd never have dared speak as Paul just did. Especially with a clergyman present.
James: What sort of world do you think we live in Mrs. Brent? It's part of my job to know people ... and especially young people ... as they are.
Mrs. Brent: Please don't misunderstand me. I only thought it offensive. If my own son ...
James: Oh, I'm used to it. In a sense I feel it's a kind of compliment that ...
Darley: Compliment?
James: Don't get me wrong. Paul feels free to express himself with me just as he would with his friends. He accepts me as a kind of friend.
Finchley: And really the so-called generation gap is a myth you know. Teenagers aren't really so different. As a teacher I find them quite traditional in their attitudes.
Darley: But look at the way they dress ... and their hair!
James: You haven't got the point I think. Those things are quite superficial. I agree with Mr. Finchley ... Basically their attitudes are very similar to those of my generation.
Darley: So you approve of the kind of language we heard from Paul just now ...
James: Now I didn't say that. Anyway the concepts of 'approval' and 'disapproval 14' tend to over simplify matters. Every generation creates its ... its own special language ... just as it creates its own styles in clothes and music.
Mrs. Brent: It's just that ... er ... the styles and habits of today's teenagers are so ... well basically ... so unacceptable.
Finchley: You mean unacceptable to you.
Mrs. Brent: No ... I mean unacceptable to the rest of society.
Darley: When you come to think of it ... I mean I'm always on at my boy about his clothes ...

James: So you find them unacceptable too.
Darley: No ... just let me finish. I was about to say that in fact his clothes are very practical ... very simple.
Finchley: Anyway ... the generation gap is non-existent. I mean ... the idea of teenagers ... of a teenage generation that ... which has rejected the values of its parents for a sort of mixture of violence and lethargy ... well ... it's totally unrealistic.
Mrs. Brent: I do wish you had a teenage son or daughter of your own, Mr. Finchley.
Finchley: But I have more contact with them ...
Mrs. Brent: I'm not implying that you have no understanding of their problems.
Finchley: My contact with them ... as a teacher of English ... is close. You see we have regular discussions ... and they very often carry on after school and here at the youth centre. You'd find them interesting. You could come and sit in sometime if you like.
Darley: That'd be interesting.
Mrs. Brent: I'd be too embarrassed to say anything.
Finchley: I don't mean there's any need for you to take part in the discussion. Just listen. And you'd realize I think just how traditional their attitudes are.
James: For example?
Finchley: For example ... you probably wouldn't think so but the majority have ... a firm belief in marriage ... and in the family.
Darley: Those are things I've never talked about with my boy.
Finchley: And one very clear ... very notable thing is that they're always looking for opportunities to help others ...
Mrs. Brent: Well, Tony doesn't help much in the house ...
Finchley: ... to help others that is who really need help. Not just helping 15 with the washing-up, Mrs. Brent. Anyway ... another point that's come out of the discussions is that nearly all of them—about 90 per cent I should say—get on well with their parents.
Mrs. Brent: Oh but I ...
Finchley: Most disagreements seem to be over hair and general appearance.
James: And we've called those superficial.
Finchley: Exactly.
Darley: I like the idea of sitting in on a discussion. I'll take you up on that.
Finchley: Fine. And Mrs Brent. As you would find it embarrassing ...
Mrs. Brent: Well I ... I didn't really mean embarrassing. It's just that ... you know ...
Finchley: There's a book you ought to read ... published by The National Children's Bureau. It's called Britain's Sixteen-Year-Olds. I'll lend you my copy.
Mrs. Brent: That's very kind of you. Look, I'd better be going. From the way my son's dancing he'll be at it all night.
Darley: Have you got a car, Mrs. Brent?
Mrs. Brent: No. There's a bus.
Darley: Then please let me give you a lift.
Mrs. Brent: I wouldn't want to take you out of your way.
Darley: Not at all. Anyway ... we have to take an example from the youngsters, don't we? Helping those in need I mean ... Well ... we'll say good night ...

Voices: Good night.

1.       How was trade conducted, then, without money to pay for goods? The answer is by bartering 17. Bartering is the process by which trade takes place through the exchange of goods. Money is not used as payment. Instead, one good is traded for another good.

2. As trade became more common as a result of people's interdependence upon one another, it was necessary to develop or invent a more convenient method of payment. Consequently, a new form of exchange medium, money, was introduced into society.
3. Of course, the evolution from a total barter 16 society to one that was totally monetized did not occur overnight. In fact, today there are still societies that are not monetized, although they account for an insignificant 18 amount of world trade. In the interim 19 between a barter world and a monetized world, both systems operated together.
4. As I stated earlier, money has a specific value, but due to certain conditions, the money—or currency, as money is referred to—of some countries is more valuable than that of other countries.
5. It is difficult to give examples of barter deals because in most cases the terms of the contract are not disclosed. In some cases, we don't hear about barter transactions simply because they work so well. If one company has arranged a profitable exchange, it will be very quiet about it so that its competitors will not come in and try to make a better deal.
6. It is unlikely that the world will revert 20 to a totally barter-oriented existence, but until the economic disorder 21 that is present in today's world is remedied, bartering will probably become increasingly important as an exchange medium.