初级英语听力 lesson 16

Mrs. Woodside: Well, Mrs. Long, how do you like it here?
Mrs. Long: Oh, since we had the house redecorated, it's much nicer to live in. But there are still a few things that bother us.
Mrs. Woodside: Oh, what sort of things?
Mrs. Long: Nothing to do with the house, really. It's just that our daughter, Jane, hasn't been ... uh ... well, she hasn't been sleeping well lately. I mean, she's had a few nightmares 1.
Mrs. Woodside: Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.
Mrs. Long: Uh, excuse me, Mrs. Woodside, but ... do you mind if I ask you something?
Mrs. Woodside: No, of course not. Go ahead.
Mrs. Long: What ... what do you know about ... the people who lived here before?
Mrs. Woodside: Not very much. Nobody has stayed here very long since ... well, since ... you know ...
Mrs. Long: Since? ... Since when?
Mrs. Woodside: Well, since those ... surely you must know about it?
Mrs. Long: No, I don't know. What are you talking about?
Mrs. Woodside: Those terrible murders that happened here more than twenty years ago?
Mrs. Long: Murders? What murders?
Mrs. Woodside: But I thought you knew! This house once belonged to a ... I really thought you knew ... to a man who's supposed to have murdered three or four women! Right here! In this house! Afterwards, he's supposed to have cut up their bodies ... right here ... in the kitchen.
Mrs. Long: What? Are you serious?
Mrs. Woodside: Oh, dear. I hope I haven't said anything to ... well, to upset you.
Mrs. Long: I can't believe it.
Mrs. Woodside: Neither could I. Not at first, at least. He seemed such a nice man.
Mrs. Long: Who?
Mrs. Woodside: Taplow. Gordon Taplow. He didn't seem like the kind of man who could do such things at all.
Mrs. Long: You mean you knew him?
Mrs. Woodside: Yes, of course I did. Not very well, but I used to see him in the street occasionally ... We said hello to each other. He was a very quiet man. You wouldn't have thought he could have hurt a mouse. Once, I remember, he invited me in for a cup of tea.
Mrs. Long: And what happened?
Mrs. Woodside: Nothing. I ... I never got round to it ... to coming in for a cup of tea. I was always too busy. I suppose it was a good thing, wasn't it?
Mrs. Long: What?
Mrs. Woodside: That I never came in for a cup of tea.
Bank Manager: Now, Miss Andrews, how much do you actually want to deposit 2 with us in your new account?
Helen Andrews: Well, it's just around two thousand pounds that I won on the premium 3 bonds.
Bank Manager: Right. I now need your full name and address.
Helen Andrews: Helen Andrews. 33 Bedford Road ...
Bank Manager: Helen Andrews. Would you please spell that?
Helen Andrews: A-N-D-R-E-W-S.
Bank Manager: Address?
Helen Andrews: 33 Bedford, that's B-E-D-F-O-R-D ...
Bank Manager: So 33 Bedford ...
Helen Andrews: Road, London E14.
Bank Manager: Right, er ... now do you want a deposit or a current account?
Helen Andrews: Well, I want to be able to take my money out at any time.
Bank Manager: I see. So you probably want a current account.
Helen Andrews: Well, if you say so. I've only had a post office savings 4 account until now.
Bank Manager: Well, with a current account you can ... have a cheque book, or you can come into the bank and take the money out as you like. Of course, there's no interest on a current account.
Helen Andrews: Not at all?
Bank Manager: No. If you put it into a seven day's deposit account, of course, you get interest, but in a current account, none.
Helen Andrews: Well, most people have current accounts, don't they?
Bank Manager: Well, they do if they've not got an awful lot of money and they need to use it regularly. Eh ... so that's probably the best thing for you.
Helen Andrews: Well, you'll give me a cheque book, won't you?
Bank Manager: I'll give you a cheque book immediately, yes, er ...
Helen Andrews: Do you need my signature?
Bank Manager: Ah yes, we'll need er ... two or three specimen 5 signatures ...
Helen Andrews: OK. And I will get a cheque card ... I mean one of those cards which I'm allowed to use for up to fifty pounds a day.
Bank Manager: Eh, eh, now we don't actually give a cheque card until you've had an account with us for six months.
Helen Andrews: Six months?
Bank Manager: Yes, we have to see how the accounts going, you see.
Helen Andrews: But that's crazy. I mean I used to work in a shop and we'd never accept cheques without a cheque card. I mean no one will accept my money.
Bank Manager: Well, er ... this is how we work, I'm afraid.
Helen Andrews: Well, I'll have to reconsider everything again, I think. I had no idea you were as strict as this ...
    If you ask someone, they'll say that the bank is where you can cash a cheque. But it's more than that and we have to tell people that in our advertisements. There are several things to think about. When do you start? I mean at what age. That is the first problem. I think you must start very young. So we said: 'Let's introduce the name of the bank to children and they will never forget it.' The next question is this: How do you attract the different age groups? My partner said 'Why don't we use a gimmick 6 for each age group? Give them something for nothing—money boxes for young children, T-shirts for teenagers, gold pens for young executives 8.' That always works. But what do you give to your best customer? That's another question. What about leather diaries, for example?
    Banks are very competitive 9. How do you think of something new? That's always a problem. We were one of the first banks to have drive-in banks and to open on Saturdays, but now many banks do. Of course, most banks now offer insurance and travel services, and all the usually standing 10 order and direct debit 11 services. The other thing about advertising 12 is where. Where do you put the ads—on television, of course, but which journals and newspapers? And when and how often? These are questions you have to ask yourself.
    Actress Virginia Darlington, who plays Judy in the TV soap opera Texas, got married yesterday surrounded by armed bodyguards 13 at the most luxurious 14 hotel in Texas, the Mansion 15. The 39-year-old star exchanged vows 16 with plastic surgeon Henry Jones under a bough 17 of ivy 18 and gardenias 19, wearing a wedding-dress designed by Britain's Saunders. Because this is the second time she has married a flautist marked the celebrations by playing 'Love is Wonderful the Second Time Around.'

    The Football Association Secretary Mr. John Gamer says he's delighted with the decision to lift the worldwide ban on English soccer clubs. As a result of serious incidents of hooliganism in European and international matches, football's international ruling body FIFA decided 20 last June that English teams should not be allowed to play outside Britain. FIFA announced its new decision to lift the worldwide ban this morning, but the ban on European matches still stands. Now, the Football Association Secretary says it's up to the English fans to improve themselves and if they do behave the ban could be lifted in as short a time as twelve months.

    A group of twelve women are working hard to become the first all-female crew to sail around the world. At the moment the crew are busy trying to raise the three hundred and fifty thousand pounds needed to buy and equip a sixty-two foot yacht 21 to make the record attempt. As part of their fund-raising the crew have been repainting the famous boat Gipsy Moth 22 4, on show at Greenwich, which has raised one thousand two hundred and fifty pounds from the British Yachting Association. The crew are also busy training to get ship-shape for their round-the-world sailing race which starts in September. The crew skipper says she doesn't think the fact the crew are all women will lessen 23 their chances of winning.

—Well, it's got two big wheels one behind the other, and there's a kind of metal frame between the wheels that holds them together. And there's a little seat above the back wheel that you can sit on, and above the front wheel there's a sort of metal bar that sticks out on both sides. And you sit on the seat you see, and you put your hands on this metal bar thing—and the whole thing moves forwards—it's amazing.
—What makes it move forward, then?
—Ah well, in the middle you see, between the two wheels, there are these other bits of metal and you can put your feet on these and turn them round and that makes the wheels go round.
—Hang on—if it's only got two wheels why doesn't the whole thing fall over?
—Well, you see, um, well I'm not sure actually ...
Speaker A: Well, to be honest, I'm not sure what I would have done. I mean, it would have depended on various things.
Interviewer: On what, for instance?
Speaker A: Well, on ... hmm ... on how valuable the things the boys stole were. The text doesn't ... it doesn't say whether they had just stolen a tin of peas or something like that. So, I can't really say ... except well, ... I think I would have told the shopkeeper if they had stolen something really valuable. Otherwise, I suppose I would have just ... I don't know ... minded my own business, I suppose.
Speaker B: Well, I think it's quite clear what I should have done. The boys had broken the law. You can't allow that sort of thing to go on, can you? After all, it affects all of us. If you let boys or anybody else get away with theft, they'll just go on stealing! So, I think the woman should have told—what's his name? —the shopkeeper.
Interviewer: Mr. Patel.
Speaker B: Patel. She should have told him and if necessary she should have held the boys while he got the police, or she should have gone for the police herself.
Interviewer: So you're saying that that's what you would have done?
Speaker B: Exactly. If I had been in that situation, that's exactly what I would have done. At least ... at least, that's what I ought to have done. That's what I hope I would have done.
Fred: A funny thing happened to me the other night.
Man: Oh, yes? What happened, Fred?
Fred: Well, you know I usually go out for a walk every night just after dark. Well, I was out the other night taking my usual walk and I heard a funny noise coming out of the building site down the road, you know, the one where they dug a big hole lately. Going to make it into an underground garage, I believe.
Man: Yes, I know it, go on.
Fred: Well, as I said, I heard this funny noise and I thought perhaps there was a kid down there, you know how kids go playing on building sites. But as I got nearer I could tell it wasn't a kid, it sounded more like an animal. I thought it must be some dog or cat that had got itself trapped or something.
Man: So, what did you do?
Fred: Well, I went down there to investigate. I climbed down, ruined my trousers because of all the mud. You see it had been raining heavily for three or four days.
Man: Yeah.
Fred: Well, when I got down there I found the hole was full of water and the water was full of frogs.
Man: Frogs?
Fred: Yes. You know, those green things that jump up and down and go croak 24 croak. So I thought 'What are they going to do when the bulldozers come to work tomorrow?' So I climbed back out, went home and got some plastic bags, big ones, like you use for the rubbish.
Man: What for?
Fred: I'll tell you. I went back and started collecting the frogs and putting them into the plastic bags. I thought I'd take them to the pond in the park. They'd be happy there.
Man: I suppose they would.
Fred: Next thing I know there are sirens 25 screaming and bright lights everywhere.
Man: What was going on then?
Fred: It was the police. Two cars full of police with flashlights and dogs. Somebody had reported seeing me going into the building site and thought I was a burglar 26.
Man: Well, what happened?
Fred: They put me in one of the cars and took me down to the Station.
Man: Why didn't you tell them what you were doing?
Fred: I tried to in the car, but they just told me I would have to talk to the inspector 27 on duty. Luckily I still had one of the bags on me full of frogs. A couple of them got out while the inspector was questioning me and you can imagine what it was like trying to catch them.
Man: So what happened in the end?
Fred: Oh, the inspector turned out to be a bit of an animal lover himself and he sent the two cars back to the building site and told his men to help me collect all the frogs. We did that and then they drove me home and I invited them all in for a cup of tea and we all had a good laugh.
Man: Well, I never. If you wrote that in a book they'd say you made it up.
    A newspaper has a complex hierarchy 28. The easiest way to show this is in the form of a chart.
    At the top of the chart there are four major positions. These are the Executive 7 Editor, who talks to the unions and deals with legal and financial questions. Then there is the actual Editor of the paper and his deputy 29. The Editor makes decisions about what goes into the paper. The deputy has close contact with the House of Commons and the political content. Finally there is the Managing Editor, who sees that everything runs smoothly 30. Below this there are three Assistant Editors and the heads of the five departments. Each of the three Assistant Editors has a different responsibility. For example, one is responsible for design. The five departments are City News, which deals with financial matters, then the Home, Foreign, Sports and Features. Features are the special sections including films, books and the Woman's page. So on the second level there are three Assistant Editors and the five Department Heads. Also on this level is the Night Editor. He looks after the paper, especially the front page, in the afternoon and evening, preparing material for publication the next morning. Below the second level there are the reporters and specialists, who write the reports and articles, and the sub-editors, who check and prepare the copy for the printer. There is also full secretarial back-up.
    This lift is taking us to departures on the first floor.
    We are now in departures. Arrivals and departures are carefully separated, as you have seen. Just to the left here we find a 24-hour banking 31 service, and one of three skyshops on this floor—there are two in the departure lounge 32. And here, as you can see, you can buy newspapers, magazines, confectionery, souvenirs and books. If you will turn around now and look in front of you, you can see the seventy-two check-in desks, sixty-four of which are for British Airways 33. The airline desks, for enquiries, are next to the entrances on the far left and far right, and straight ahead is the entrance to the departure lounge and passport control. Shall we go airside?
    We have now cleared passport control and security, and you can see that security is very tight indeed. You are about to enter a departure lounge which is a quarter of a mile in length. But don't worry. There are moving walkways the length of the building, so you don't have to put on your hiking boots.
    Straight ahead of you is a painting by Brendan Neiland. As you can see it is a painting of Terminal 4 and it measures twenty feet by eight feet. On the other side of it are the airline information desks. Let's walk around to those. Now, if you face the windows you can see the duty-free shops. There is one on your left and one on your right. They have been decorated to a very high standard, to make you feel like you are shopping in London's most exclusive 34 shops. The duty-free shops sell the usual things but they also have outlets 35 for fine wines and quality cigars.
    If we turn to the right and walk along in front of the duty-free shops, we will come to a buffet 36 and bar opposite. You see, this one is called the Fourth Man Inn—all the bars, restaurants and cafeterias have names including the number four and many of them have jokey signboards like this one, to brighten up a traveller's day.
    If we turn left out of here and go back along the concourse, we come to the plan-ahead insurance desk, on the far side of the first duty-free shop, with public telephones alongside 37. Notice that here we can see what is going on outside, through the windows. Opposite the insurance desk, next to the other duty-free shop, is the international telephone bureau. Let's just go across there. Across from this duty-free shop is an area just like the one we have just seen, with a buffet, bar and skyshops, and now let's go along the moving walkway to the gates, shall we?
Mary Jones: Excuse me. Excuse me.
Man: Yes, madam?
Mary Jones: Can you help me. Please, look, I'm desperate. Are you responsible for lost property?
Man: Yes, I am.
Mary Jones: Well, I've got something to report.
Man: What is it you've lost?
Mary Jones: I've lost my handbag.
Man: Your handbag?
Mary Jones: Well, it's terrible. I don't know what to do.
Man: Where did you lose your handbag, madam?
Mary Jones: On the train, on the train. Look, we've got to stop the train.
Man: Which train?
Mary Jones: I've just come off the tube, this last train, in from Paddington.
Man: Yes, the last train tonight. There isn't another one.
Mary Jones: On the circle line, on the circle line.
Man: Yes, yes.
Mary Jones: Oh, it's terrible. We haven't got much time, I mean I have got so many valuable things in that bag.
Man: Will you ... will you please explain ...
Mary Jones: I was asleep on the train. I must have dropped off. I woke up, almost missed my station, so I rushed off the train and then I realized my handbag was still on it.
Man: Yes?
Mary Jones: By that time the doors were shut and it was too late.
Man: So your handbag is still on the train.
Mary Jones; It's on the train travelling ...
Man: Yes. All right. All right, just a moment. Now, can I have your name and address?
Mary Jones: Well, look the thing I've got to tell you is that there's money in that handbag.
Man: Yes, we realize this, madam. We need your name and address first.
Mary Jones: OK. My name's Mary Jones.
Man: Mary Jones. Address?
Mary Jones: 16 ...
Man: 16 ...
Mary Jones: Craven Road.
Man: Craven Road. That's C-R-A-V-E-N?
Mary Jones: Yes.
Man: Now, can you tell me exactly what was in the handbag?
Mary Jones: Well, there was money ...
Man: How much?
Mary Jones: Nearly thirty pounds. I had my driving licence ...
Man: So, thirty pounds, driving licence, yes ...
Mary Jones: I had my keys, and I had the office keys, they'll kill me when I go to work tomorrow, and I'd just been to the travel agent, I had my ticket to Athens ...
Man: Just ... just one moment. House and office keys, ticket to Athens.
Mary Jones: Yes, hurry please. You've got to phone the next station...
Man: Yes, all right, just a moment. Anything else?
Mary Jones: I had my season ticket.
Man: Your season ticket for travelling on the tube.
Mary Jones: And a very expensive bottle of perfume, and ... and ... and I had a ...
Man: Yes, well, I'll get the guard to look in ... the train ...
1. I borrow videos every week. I can watch cartoons or adventures at any time and I can watch them over and over again. I never watch children's programs on television any more.

2. My wife likes the video because she doesn't speak any English. But I say, if she doesn't hear English, how can she learn it? She needs to learn English to meet people and make friends.

3. Videos are ruining the cinema, of course. Too many people copy films instead of buying or borrowing them. There are too many pirates 38. Of course, more people can see their favorite films now. Videos are obviously cheaper than the cinema, but they don't have the same effect, do they?

4. I watch the video every day while I knit—mostly old films, ice-skating and pop videos. I used to watch television all the time—news, talk shows, soap operas—anything that was on. Now I can choose what I watch and when I watch it.

5. A lot of educational videos are made with government money and video is used by a lot of schools now. Videos can be used at any time of the day and they can be stopped and replayed. When I was learning to be a teacher we were filmed and we could see our mistakes. Of course some teachers just put the video on and let it do the work, but it can be extremely valuable in the classroom.

6. I use the video for three things: I record programs when I'm not at home and I watch them when I have time. At work we use videos for training new employees, and I hire films at weekends and my friends come to watch. It makes quite a nice social evening.

Speaker A: Well, hunk is a verb. And it means to carry something, particularly something that's heavy and difficult to move. So you can say something like 'When I saw the men they were hunking the piano down the stairs.'
Speaker B: Actually, hunk is the cry made by an elephant, especially when it's angry, or it's trying to contact other elephants. The word sounds like the noise they make 'hunk, hunk.' So you can say, for example, 'The elephants are hunking a lot tonight.'
Speaker C: No, no, the truth is, hunk is a noun. And it means a piece of something, a big thick piece. So if you cut a thin piece of bread, that's not a hunk. When you tear off a thick piece of bread, that's a hunk. Today, for example, I had a big hunk of bread and cheese for my lunch.