Listen this way听力教程第一册-2

Part Ⅰ Getting ready

Some telephone calls will not get through without the help of an operator, for example, a person-to-person call and a collect call which will be paid for by the person who receives it. Sometimes a long distance call and an overseas call will also be connected by an operator if it is not a direct call.

A  The following words and phrases will appear in this unit. All of them are related to the telephone and some are frequently used when giving and receiving phone calls. Listen carefully and study the definitions.

   1. person-to-person call: a telephone call made to one person in particular, and not needing to be paid for if he/she is not there and someone else answers

   2. collect call: a telephone call to be paid by the receiver

   3. go through: pass through

   4. operator: a person who works a telephone switchboard

   5. hang up: finish a telephone conversation by putting the receiver back

   6. information: the telephone service which provides telephone numbers to people who ask for them

   7. answering machine: a machine attached to a telephone which records messages when one is unable to answer the telephone

   8. exchange: a central office where connections are made between telephone lines so that people can talk to each other by telephone

   9. touch-tone telephone: a telephone that produces different sounds when its different numbered buttons are pushed

  10. IDD: International Direct Dialling

 

B  Here are some short conversations on the phone. Please listen and supply the missing words.

   1. Man:      Hello.

      Operator: I have a _________ call from Calvin Leon. Will you accept the _________?

      Man:      Sure. Put him _________.

  

   2. Operator: Operator.

      Woman:    Operator, I'm trying to call _________.

      Operator: That number is outside this. It's _________ for _________ minutes.

      Woman:    All right I'll put in the _________.

   3. Operator: Overseas Operator. Which country?

      Man:      Italy.

      Operator: Yes, _________.

      Man:      I'd like to _________ a call to Venice, Italy.

      Operator: For which _________ and _________?

      Man:      _________ at _________ a.m.

      Operator: What's your name and _________ number?

      Man:      Robert Smith _________. The number in Venice is _________.

      Operator: We'll call you when your call is _________ to go through.

   4. Woman:    Hello.

      Operator: Hello. I have a _________ call for Mr. Hawkins from Carey Jones.

      Woman:    There's no Hawkins here. What number are you dialling?

      Operator: I'm trying to _________ William Hawkins at _________.

      Woman:    That's our number, but you've made a _________.

      Operator: Sorry for _________ you.

 

Part Ⅱ Giving and receiving phone calls

Sometimes even when a telephone call goes through, the caller is still unable to speak to the person being called. Instead, the call might be answered by a machine. An answering machine answers calls with a tape recording 1, and many answering machines also allow the caller to record a message. It's more efficient to leave your name and telephone number than to waste your time calling again and again.

 

A  In this section you are going to hear several calls that are answered by machines. Listen to the recorded messages. Write down the reasons why each call is being answered by a machine instead of a person and the actions you decide to take. Write "W" for "wait on the line", "L" for "leave a message", and "C" for "call back later".

   Receiver           Reasons                  Actions

   Transit 2 Authority  all lines _____________  ______________

   Call for Action    are volunteers_________  ______________

   Charlie            person ________________  ______________ 

   Pioneer Travel     all agents ____________  ______________

   Steve              person ________________  ______________

 

   Message taking is one of the most useful skills in dealing 3 with telephone calls. A great deal of practice is needed in this respect.

B  You are going to hear some recorded phone calls. The first three calls are for Mr. Hamilton, and the last one is for Mr. Dobson.

   1 First listen to some names.

     Rebecca      Evans     Ted      Paola Andreotti

   2 Now listen to the calls. While listening for the first time, add more key words if you can in the left-hand column. After the second listening, complete the messages in the right-hand column with the help of the notes.

     Messages

     1. From: ____________________

        Message: He couldn't ____________, but there are plenty of ____________. You can ____________ any time.

 

     2. From: Mr.____________ of ____________ and Wheeler

        Message: There are a few _______ regarding the __________ that need__________. Contact him ____________________.

     3. From: ____________________

        Message: Remember your __________.

     4. From: __________ Andreotti from __________.

        Message: Call her at _______ before __________ to clear up a__________ about the __________ of product number __________ -the one for the __________.

 

part Ⅲ Oh, there's a phone.

If you want to get a telephone call through, you'll have to know the correct number. (Sometimes the Information Centre will help you if the number is not an unpublished one and you know the receiver's address.) If you are using a coin telephone, you'll have to have some coins at hand. But if the number you dialled is busy, all your effort will result in nothing.

A  You are going to hear a conversation in which one of the speakers tries several times to make a phone call but fails at last. The following vocabulary which is only acceptable in oral English is used in the conversation. Guess the meaning when you hear these words and expressions. While you listen, don't forget to add more key words in the notes column. They will be very helpful for the next section.

   1. wait a sec:

   2. wanna:

   3. a quarter.

   4. oh, boy:

   5. c'mon:

 

B  You are going to hear the conversation again. Answer the following question with the help of the notes.

   1. Where did the conversation take place?

      _________________________________________________________

   2. When did the conversation take place?

      _________________________________________________________

   3. How old are the speakers?

      _________________________________________________________

   4. What is their relationship?

      _________________________________________________________

   5. What did they plan to do?

      _________________________________________________________

   6. Why one of them had to make a phone call?

      _________________________________________________________

   7. Why couldn't the call get through the first two times?

      _________________________________________________________

   8. Why couldn't the call get through the third time?

      _________________________________________________________

   9. What is her attitude toward being on time for appointments?

      _________________________________________________________

 

C  Now try this: listen to a more authentic 4 version of the conversation and decide whether the statements after the conversation are True or False. Put a "T" or "F' in the brackets.

   1. (   )  2. (   )   3. (   )   4. (   )   5. (   )

   6. (   )  7. (   )   8. (   )   9. (   )  10. (   )

 

Part Ⅳ More about the topic: Videophones Get the Call

Nowadays more and more mothers go out of their homes and become career women. More and more extended families are being replaced by nuclear families. Some new problems hence occur, such as how to make sure that kids behave at home, what to do with the lonely grandparents who cannot see their grandchildren often, etc. Brilliant scientists rose to the occasion: they invented videophones.

The following short passage is about videophones. Supply the missing words while listening.

 

   Videophones are now ________ in British Columbia, Canada. For about ________ month, you can ________ and ________ the other person at the end of the ________ line and even call home and use the video camera to ________ up on the kids or valuables.

   A subscriber 5 must have a touch-tone telephone, a standard telephone line and a ________ or ________ to connect to the device, which can pan, tilt 6 and zoom 7. If a VCR is ________, the videophone call can also be ________.

   But don't worry that the cameras will start rolling as soon as you ________ up your videophone. Both parties must decide to activate 8 the ________. So you can still make ________ at your ________ without them seeing.

   The videophone can also be activated 9 from outside the home for those who want to check whether they've been ________ or if the kids are ________. Subscribers dial home, punch in a security code and watch. The ________ videophone must be left on for this to happen.

   The device has been used by ________ care professionals to check up on patients, by grandparents who want to see their ________ and by companies for ________ job candidates.

   The videophone technology isn't all new. Videophones were around ________ years ago when German engineers set up ________ booths in Berlin and Leipzig. People could make calls for only ________ the cost of a ________ conversation. AT&T also introduced videophones at the ________ World Fair, but the idea never took off.

 

 

Part Ⅴ Memory test: How to Make an International Direct Dialling (IDD) Call

With the advent 10 of the programme-controlled telephone, you can now make an International Direct Dialling call without the help of an operator. That, of course, means greater convenience for the caller. But if you have never personally made an IDD call, you may ask: HOW TO BEGIN?

If you want to make an International Direct Dialling call, you have to know four things: the Access Code, the Country Code, the Area Code and the Local Telephone Number. For example, if you want to make an IDD call to a friend of yours in Sydney, Australia from Shanghai at 24661923, first you have to dial China's Access Code — 00, and then you dial Australia's Country Code — 61, after that Sydney's Area Code — 2, and at last the Local Telephone Number — 24661923. So the whole number will be 00612 24661923.

A  Now you are going to hear some Access, Country and Area Codes. Write down the numbers as quickly as possible.

   Country or Area  Access Code      Country Code      Area Code

   China     _______________  ________________  ________________    

   Beijing     _______________  ________________  ________________  

   USA      _______________  ________________  ________________ 

   Washington D.C.  _______________  ________________  ________________   

   United Kingdom   _______________  ________________  ________________   

   Manchester       _______________  ________________  ________________   

   Canada     _______________  ________________  ________________  

   Toronto     _______________  ________________  ________________  

   Australia     _______________  ________________  ________________  

   Melbourne     _______________  ________________  ________________  

   New Zealand     _______________  ________________  ________________  

   Wellington     _______________  ________________  ________________  

   Russia     _______________  ________________  ________________  

   Moscow     _______________  ________________  ________________  

   Japan     _______________  ________________  ________________  

   Tokyo     _______________  ________________  ________________  

   France     _______________  ________________  ________________  

   Paris     _______________  ________________  ________________  

   Germany     _______________  ________________  ________________  

   Berlin     _______________  ________________  ________________  

   Italy     _______________  ________________  ________________  

   Venice     _______________  ________________  ________________  

B  You are going to hear some instructions on making IDD calls. With the help of the above table, write down the whole telephone number as quickly as possible.

   1. ________________________________

   2. ________________________________

   3. ________________________________

   4. ________________________________

   5. ________________________________

Part Ⅵ Reminder 11 of key points in this unit

    Verb & Verb Phrase  Noun & Noun Phrase     Other

   Part Ⅰ connect        collect call       at the moment

    put... on        person-to-person call  overseas

    book a call        charge 

    go through        operator 

    disturb        zone 

   Part Ⅱ assist        answering machine      on duty

    specialise in       authority       regular

    stay on the line    information centre     immediately

    hang up        volunteer       just a minute

    regard        beep               urgent

    contact        detail 

    label        property 

    clear up        mix-up 

   Part Ⅲ deposit        Information       a million times

                        Directory Assistance   instead of

                        drive 

                        exchange 

                        a quarter 

   Part Ⅳ check up        extended family       available

    pan                nuclear family       standard

    tilt                videophone             behaving

    zoom                telephone line       at-home

    attach        video camera 

    tape                valuable 

    roll                subscriber 

    activate        touch-tone telephone 

    make face        in-law 

    punch        security code 

    interview        health care 

    professional 

    candidate 

   Part Ⅴ                     IDD (International Direct Dialling) 

                 the Access Code 

                 the Local Telephone Number