Step by Step2000 Unit 12 Leisure Time

Unit 12 Leisure Time

Part I Warming up

A.

Key words:

composer be born die

Vocabulary:

composer a composer who writes music作曲家

ingenious 1 showing cleverness at making or inventing things有独创性的，具有创造才能的

renowned 2 well known to the general public or to a limited group of people for a particular quality, skill, invention, etc.有名的，有声誉的

celebrated 3 well-known, famous著名的

prominent of great importance, fame, etc.卓越的，突出的

You will hear the dates of birth and the dates of death of ten world famous composers. Listen carefully. Fill in the blanks with the dates you hear. Write as rapidly as you can. You may use short forms for the months. For example, Jan. for January; Feb. for February.

1. Johann Bach, a famous German composer, was born on _______and died on _______.

2. George Handel , a well-known German-born British composer,was born on________and died on______.

3. Wolfgang Mozart was a brilliant Austrian composer,who was born on_____and died on _______.

4. Ludwig Beethove,an ingenious German composer, was born on ______and died on _______.

5. As one of the outstanding Austrian composers,Franz Schubert was born on________and died on______.

6. Felix Mendelssohn ,another famous German composer, was born on________and died on______.

7. Poland also produced a well-known composer,Frederic Chopin, who was born on ____and died on _____.

8. Franz Liszt was a renowned Hungarian composer. He was born on __________ and died on______.

9. Johann Strauss,another celebrated Austrian composer, was born on __________ and died on______.

10. As the most prominent Russian composer,Peter Tchaikovsky was born on ______ and died on______.

B.

Key words:

play disc an account of travel

service talk pop music

Vocabulary:

pensioner 4 a person who is receiving an amount of money paid regularly, esp. by a government or company, to someone who can no longer earn (enough) money by working, esp. because of old age or illness养老金（抚恤金等）的人

disc disk; a record for playing on a record player唱片

interval 5 a period of time between events, activities, etc.时间间隔

tune 6 to set (a radio or television) to receive broadcasts from a particular station调音，调整，收听，拨收

Listen to a radio announcer describing the programs on tonight. Pay special attention to the time and the names of the programs. Complete the chart below.

还少一个表格弄不上去了

Tapescript:

And now here are some of the things you can listen to this evening here on Radio 2. Our Wednesday play is at nine and is called Old People Talking; it’s about a small group of old age pensioners 7 sitting in a social club remembering the past. Before that at 7:30 we have “My favorite discs” in which Jenny Lindley talks about the records that influenced her musical career. At 10:30 there is an account by James Farmer of his travels in the Middle East by bicycle and at 11:00 there’s a service from St. Paul’s. On Radio 3 the big event of the evening is the broadcast of La Traviata from the Albert Hall; it’s at 8:00 and it has Felicity Newcombe in the major role. The interval talk at 9:15 is Peter Morris remembering his adventures while fishing in Scotland. Radio 1 has as usual continuous pop music; from 6 to 8 it’s the “Tommy Brian Show” with interviews with live pop stars, from 10 till midnight it’s “Joe Newland with his friends.” So if you’re in for the evening or listening on the car radio there should be something for you; stay tuned 8.

Part II The New Star Wars movie

Key words:

Star Wars movie episode 9 filmmaker

fight computer technology

Vocabulary:

episode a single broadcast that is one of a continuous set telling a story一段情节

phantom 10 something that exists only in one’s imagination幻想

menace 11 a threat or danger威胁，危险

galaxy 12 any of the large groups of stars which make up the universe星系

series a group of things of the same kind or related in some way, coming one after another or in order连续，系列

warrior 13 a soldier or experienced fighting man, esp. in former times战士，勇士

critic a person who gives judgements about the good and bad qualities of comething, esp. art, music, films, etc.; esp. someone who does this as a job批评家，评论家

In this section you are going to hear a passage about one of the most popular movies in 1999 --- Star Wars. While listening, take down some notes. Then answer the following questions with the help of the notes you’ve taken.

1. What’s the title of the new Star Wars movie?

The Phantom Menace.

2. Who produced the movie?

The American filmmaker George Lucas.

3. What are all the Star Wars movies about?

They are all about the fight between good and evil.

4. What technology did the filmmaker use to create unusual creatures in this movie?

Computer technology.

5. What unusual things can one see in this film?

Beautiful underwater cities, space vehicles, armies of mechanical men and unusual natural wonders.

B.

Now listen again. This time pay special attention to the numbers in the passage and select the correct answer from the choices listed below.

Tapescript:

The movie that earned the most money in the United States last year was Star Wars --- Episode I: The Phantom Menace. It has earned more than 429 million dollars since it opened May 19th. It earned 28 million dollars during the first 24 hours it was shown.

The new Star Wars movie is the 4th one produced by American filmmaker George Lucas. He was responsible for the three earlier Star Wars movie in the 1970s and 80s. All the movies take place a long time ago in a galaxy far from earth. The stories are about the fight between good and evil.

In the first three Star Wars movies, George Lucas used computer technology to show things that has never been seen before on film. The computer made the impossible seem real. But that was not enough for George Lucas. He wanted to do things in a movie that computers could not yet do. So he waited until computer technology had progressed enough to make the fourth movie in the series.

Star Wars --- The Phantom Menace takes place about 30 years before the other three. It tells about the boy named Anakin Skywalker. It begins the story of how he grows up to become the evil and powerful warrior called Darth Vader. Star Wars --- The Phantom Menace includes many unusual creatures that are created with computers. George Lucas says more than 90% of the movie uses some kind of computer created effect. There are beautiful underwater cities, space vehicles, armies of mechanical men and unusual natural wonders.

Some movie critics did not like the new Star Wars movie. But one critic noted 14 that George Lucas used film and computers to try new effects and ideas. He said the movie is evidence that future filmmakers will be able to show just about anything they can imagine.

Part III The Man with the horn

Key words:

horn play music band jazz

Vocabulary:

cheer to shout in praise, approval, or support欢呼

band a group of musicians, esp. a group that play popular music乐队

A.

In this part you are going to hear a passage about Louis Satchmo Armstrong, one of the most famous jazz musicians in the United States. Listen carefully. Choose the correct answer to each question you hear on the tape.

B.

Now listen again. Fill in the blanks with the adjectives that describe Louis Armstrong’s music.

Tapescript:

The crowd cheered and cheered. The man with the horn waved and smiled his great, happy smile. “More! More!” cried the crowd. And Louis Satchmo Armstrong took his horn and began to play again. Here he was in England. Now a famous man, he was rich. He knew many important people. Whereever he went, people knew his name. They wanted to hear his music. As Louis played the sad, slow songs, he thought of his home in New Orleans. He lived there as a boy. How many years ago it was? It was a busy, exciting city. But Louis’s family was very poor. He went to work to help his mother. He also went to school. One of Louis’s teachers asked him to be in the school band. “This horn is yours until you leave our school,” his teacher said. Louis’s music was jazz and he loved it. He remembered all the music he heard. He didn’t learn to read music until he was a man. When he left school, he played in many bands. He loved his work and people loved him. They knew that he had a wonderful talent. Louis played in little towns and in big cities. Satchmo’s horn had as many sounds as ten horns --- sometimes slow and sweet; sometimes fast and hot, high and low. His music was always strong and exciting. “He does make wonderful music,” said the man who listened happily. “Yes,” said another man, “he makes that horn speak.” Then the music ended and the crowd cheered. Louis Armstrong spoke 15 with tears in his eyes, “I think, my friends, you can listen to as much jazz as I can play. I thought jazz was my music, but now I understand it is ours. Isn’t it beautiful how music brings us together!”

Questions:

1. Where was Louis from?

2. What kind of family was he born into?

3. Who knew Louis?

4. What music did he play?

5. When did he learn to read music?

6. What is Louis Armstrong most famous for?

7. What brings Louis and other people together?

8. What does the story “The man with the horn” mainly tell us?

Part IV Short talks on listening skills

Letting Things Go --- Speed and Vocabulary

Many English language learners believe that the greatest difficulty with listening comprehension is that the listener can’t control how quickly a speaker speaks. They feel that the utterances 16 disappear before they can sort them out, whereas 17 the words in a written text remain on the page where the reader can glance back at them or re-examine them thoroughly 18. This frequently means that students who are learning to listen can’t keep up. They are so busy working out the meaning of one part of what they hear that they miss the next part. Or they simply ignore a whole section because they fail to sort it out quickly enough. Either way, they fail.

Another difficulty is that the listener is not always in a position to get the speaker to repeat what has been said. And, of course, repeats can’t be asked for when listening to the radio or watching television.

Choice of vocabulary is in the hands of the speaker, not the listener, although in some circumstances it is possible to stop the speaker and ask for clarification. Sometimes, listeners can get the meaning of a word from its context 19. But very often, for people listening to a foreign language, an unknown word can be like a suddenly dropped barrier causing them to stop and think about the meaning of the word and thus making them miss the next part of the speech. In listening, it really is a case of “He who hesitates is lost!”

Indeed, determination to listen to what is coming, and letting things that have passed go rather than dwelling 21 upon them, often gives surprisingly good result. Speakers often say things more than once, or rephrase them, or another speaker echoes 22 what has been said. The listener who has not “stopped” to dwell 20 on a half-missed point get a second, or even third chance to fill the gap in the message he or she is receiving.

Students need to develop the skill of keeping up with the speaker (even being ahead of the speaker) even if this means letting parts which they have failed to sort out pass. Professor H. H. Stern 23 says that the good language learner is the one who “can tolerate vagueness and incompleteness 24 of knowledge.” This is especially true of good listeners.