英语口语教程(初级) UNIT 33-35

[00:00.00] Oral Workshop:    Reproduction    Lesson 33-35 ;

[00:12.11]   Lesson 33 ;

[00:14.45]    Text A  We Are Not Deaf! ;

[00:18.83]Jane and Lise have had lunch with Uncle David and Aunt Janet. ;

[00:24.62]The two old people are deaf and the girls are tired because they have had to shout. ;

[00:30.66]They both want to leave. ;

[00:33.38]LISE:We'll have to   leave soon,Aunt   Janet. ;

[00:36.74]AUNT JANET:Yes,of   course you can have   some tea,dear.I'll   go and make some. ;

[00:41.32]JANE:Oh no,Lise.Stop   her!You'd better   say it louder. ;

[00:45.79]LISE:WE'LL HAVE TO   LEAVE,AUNT JANET. ;

[00:49.30]UNCLE DAVID:You can't   leave yet.I want to   hear some more about   Canada. ;

[00:54.02]LISE:But I must go   back and look   after Malcolm. ;

[00:57.67]  Oh dear,they didn't   hear.I MUST GO BACK   AND LOOK AFTER   MALCOLM. ;

[01:04.05]AUNT JANET:Why,   what's the matter   with him? ;

[01:07.16]LISE:I told you,  aunt  JANET.HE  ISN'T WELL. ;

[01:11.69]AUNT JANET:But I   thought you said he   was in the hotel. ;

[01:15.00]  Where are you   staying? ;

[01:16.85]LISE:We're camping   ...WE'RE CAMPING. ;

[01:20.40]AUNT JANET:In this   weather?Well,I'm   not surprised   Malcolm isn't well. ;

[01:25.51]  Perhaps I ought to   come out and see   him. ;

[01:28.57]LISE (firmly):NO,   THAT'S NOT A GOOD   IDEA,AUNTIE.   HE'S ILL. ;

[01:33.59]UNCLE DAVID:What's   the matter with   him? ;

[01:35.78]LISE:He's got a   cold. JANE:He's got a   temperature. ;

[01:38.89]LISE:Oh,what's the   use?HE'S GOT A   COLD. ;

[01:42.84]UNCLE DAVID:All   right,all right,   we can hear.We're   not deaf! ;

[01:49.45]    Text B  The Stolen Smells ;

[01:54.81]Many years ago in another country there lived a poor student. ;

[02:00.70]He had very little money.He lived in a very small room over a restaurant. ;

[02:07.36]His room was at the back of the building over the kitchen. ;

[02:12.14]The restaurant owner was a very mean man. Nobody liked him. ;

[02:18.02]But he was a good cook and many people came to his restaurant. ;

[02:23.38]One day he was working quietly in his kitchen ;

[02:27.47]when he heard the poor student talking to his friend. ;

[02:31.99]"You must be very unhappy,"said his friend, "living in a poor room like this." ;

[02:38.47]"Oh no,"said the student,"I am busy with my studies ;

[02:42.99]and I'm not interested in my room." ;

[02:45.62]"But you only eat plain rice--you don't have money for anything tasty." ;

[02:51.27]"Yes,it's true,I eat only plain rice. ;

[02:55.45]But the delicious smells that come from the kitchen ;

[02:58.81]make the rice very tasty indeed."The restaurant owner was furious. ;

[03:05.19]This student was stealing the smells from his kitchen. ;

[03:09.42]He decided to take him to court.Everybody in the court laughed ;

[03:16.14]when the mean man accused the student of stealing his smells. ;

[03:20.56]But the judge took him seriously. ;

[03:24.07]"Every man should be able to complain to the court,"he said. ;

[03:28.89]When the restaurant owner told the judge everything,the judge said, ;

[03:34.19]"You are right.The student is guilty." The restaurant owner was delighted, ;

[03:39.94]but the poor student was very much afraid. What could he do? ;

[03:45.49]He had only a few coins in his pocket. ;

[03:48.84]The judge asked the student if he had any money. ;

[03:53.03]The student took 5 coins from his pocket ;

[03:56.83]and held them out to the judge in his right hand. ;

[04:00.52]"Let the coins fall into your left hand, "said the judge. ;

[04:05.15]The courtroom was very quiet.Everyone heard the tinkle of the coins ;

[04:10.89]as they fell into the student's left hand. ;

[04:13.81]"Well,"said the judge to the restaurant owner, ;

[04:17.46]"you've heard his money.You've been well paid for your smells." ;

[04:24.32]7.Read the following   passage once. ;

[04:31.19]Underline the key words while reading and retell the story to your partner. ;

[04:37.95]   A Bad Student ;

[04:41.02]Peter's father wants to know how his son is getting along in school. ;

[04:47.10]One day he asks him: "Peter,how are you getting along in school? ;

[04:53.96]What seat do you have in the class? ;

[04:56.69]Does the teacher place you in seats according to your marks?" ;

[05:01.90]"Yes,father." "And what seat do you have?" ;

[05:06.23]"Number twenty-one." "And how many students are there in your class?" ;

[05:12.60]"Twenty-one,father." Several weeks pass. ;

[05:17.67]Peter,who is a bad student and studies very little, ;

[05:22.34]brings home the marks of his monthly examinations. ;

[05:26.72]"How are you getting along in school now, Peter?"asks his father. ;

[05:32.56]"Your marks do not seem to be very good." ;

[05:36.36]"I am getting along much better now, father. ;

[05:39.67]"What is your place in the class now?" "Number twenty now." ;

[05:45.31]"Good.Then you are one place ahead." "No,father. ;

[05:50.71]One of the students left the class.His family moved to another town." ;

[05:58.79]  Lesson 34 ;

[06:31.50]    Text A   Stage Fright ;

[06:35.54]Tom was sick with disappointment. ;

[06:38.65]The piano recital had turned out well,all except for his solo. ;

[06:43.96]He couldn't understand how it could have happened. ;

[06:47.22]He had practised for weeks that seemed like months. ;

[06:51.36]He had given up sports until after the recital ;

[06:54.96]because he wanted to make his parents proud of him. ;

[06:58.46]He spent all his time with the piano.His teacher had said he was gifted. ;

[07:04.74]It was true that he accepted music as another language, ;

[07:09.07]another way to talk to people. ;

[07:11.75]His grandparents,aunt, and uncle all came to hear him play, ;

[07:16.91]and he was anxious to show them that he was the best in the whole class. ;

[07:21.68]But,when he stood up to go to the piano, his knees felt weak. ;

[07:27.18]He looked into the audience and saw his family smiling back at him. ;

[07:32.34]His mouth went dry. His fingers began to tremble. ;

[07:37.11]The trembling became uncontrollable shaking ;

[07:40.27]as though he had caught a bad cold. He sat down at the piano. ;

[07:45.92]He took a deep breath. He played the first five bars of his music, ;

[07:51.37]then realized with horror that he had forgotten the rest. ;

[07:55.89]He started over, thinking that would help. It didn't. ;

[08:00.91]He stood up as if in slow motion and walked off the stage. He was a failure. ;

[08:07.87]The demon stage fright had left a brilliant musical career in ruins. ;

[08:14.24]    Text B   I Shall Never     Fly Again ;

[08:20.62]Tom Jackson and Charles Brown are talking about their summer holidays. ;

[08:27.29]TOM:Where are you   going for your   holidays,Charles? ;

[08:31.13]CHARLES:To Australia   I'm going to visit   my uncle in Brisbane   for three weeks. ;

[08:37.46]TOM:Good gracious!   You certainly are   lucky.How are you   going there? ;

[08:44.18]CHARLES:By air,of   course.It takes   over two weeks to   go by sea. ;

[08:49.43]TOM:I once went to   Singapore by air.It   was very exciting   --but never again. ;

[08:56.00]CHARLES:Why?Did you   feel frightened? ;

[08:59.26]TOM:For a short   time.One of the   engines caught   fire. ;

[09:03.94]CHARLES:What did   the pilot do? ;

[09:06.17]TOM:He put it out   and flew back to   the airport. ;

[09:09.97]  Then he asked the   people at the   airport where the   emergency runway was ;

[09:15.37]CHARLES:Did you   land safely? ;

[09:17.56]TOM:Yes,we did.But   I shall never fly   again. ;

[09:21.89]7.Read the following   passage once. ;

[09:27.01]Underline the key words while reading and retell the story to your partner. ;

[09:32.85]It was a dark day when we got our report cards. ;

[09:37.08]The sky was full of gray clouds and it was sprinkling rain. ;

[09:41.90]I was over to Clyde's house and Gloria and Kitty were there. ;

[09:46.57]Sam probably would have been there,too, ;

[09:49.88]only he had got a two-week job in the afternoons helping out at Freddie's. ;

[09:55.38]Actually he only did it ;

[09:58.20]so that his mother would let him be on the track team again. ;

[10:02.10]Sam and his mother had this little system going. ;

[10:05.75]He would do something good-doing and she'd let him do something that he wanted to. ;

[10:11.78]Clyde's report card was on the kitchen table ;

[10:15.82]and we all sat around it like it was some kind of a big important document. ;

[10:21.66]I had got a pretty good report card ;

[10:24.73]and had wanted to show it off but I knew it wasn't the time. ;

[10:29.79]Clyde pushed the card toward me and I read it. ;

[10:33.83]He had all satisfactor -y remarks on the side labeled Personal Traits and Behavior. ;

[10:40.45]He had also received B's in music and art appreciation. ;

[10:45.46]But everything else was either a C or a D except mathematics ;

[10:51.01]His mathematics mark was a big red F that had been circled. ;

[10:57.00]I don't know why they had to circle the F when it was the only red mark on the card. ;

[11:03.76]In the Teacher's Comments section someone had written that Clyde had ;

[11:09.02]"little ability to handle an academic program." ;

[11:12.86]"A little ability is better than none," I said.No one said anything ;

[11:20.07]so I figured it probably wasn't the right time to try tocheer Clyde up. ;

[11:25.27]I knew all about his switching from a commercial program to an academic program, ;

[11:31.85]but I really hadn't thought he'd have any trouble. ;

[11:35.84]"I saw the grede adviser today. ;

[11:39.10]He said I should switch back to the commercial program." ;

[11:42.80]Clyde looked like he'd start crying any minute. ;

[11:46.64]His eyes were red and his voice was shaky. ;

[11:50.73]"He said that I had to take mathematics over and if I failed again ;

[11:56.96]or failed another required subject I couldn't graduate. The way it is now ;

[12:03.53]I'm going to have to finish up in the summer because I switched over." ;

[12:08.20]"I think you can pass it if you really want to," Kitty said. ;

[12:13.02]Clyde's sister was so pretty I couldn't even look at her. ;

[12:17.89]If I did,I started feeling funny and couldn't talk right. ;

[12:23.73]Sometimes I daydreamed about marrying her. ;

[12:28.89]Just then Clyde's mother came in and he gave a quick look at Kitty. ;

[12:35.21]"Hi,young ladies and young gentlemen." ;

[12:38.38]Mrs.Jones was a kind of heavy woman but she was pretty,too. ;

[12:43.20]You could tell she was Kitty's mother if you looked close. ;

[12:47.53]She put her package down and started taking things out. ;

[12:52.35]"I heard you people talking when I first came in. ;

[12:56.48]By the way you hushed up I guess you don't want me to hear what you were talking about ;

[13:02.32]I'll be out of your way in a minute, ;

[13:05.10]soon as I put the frozen foods in the refrigerator." ;

[13:08.65]"I got my report card today,"Clyde said. ;

[13:12.59]His mother stopped taking the food out and turned toward us. ;

[13:17.22]Clyde pushed the report card about two inches toward her. ;

[13:22.08]She really didn't even have to look at the card to know that it was bad. ;

[13:26.61]She could have told that just by looking at Clyde. ;

[13:30.26]But she picked it up and looked at it a long time. ;

[13:34.69]First she looked at one side and then the other ;

[13:38.78]and then back at the first side again."What do they say around the school?"she asked, ;

[13:45.59]still looking at the card. ;

[13:48.17]"They said I should drop the academic course and go back to the other one." ;

[13:53.62]I could hardly hear Clyde,he spoke so low. ;

[13:58.20]"Well,what are you going to do,young man?" ;

[14:01.95]She looked up at Clyde and Clyde looked up at her ;

[14:05.84]and there were tears in his eyes and I almost started crying. ;

[14:10.51]I can't stand to see my friends cry."What are you going to do, Mr.Jones?" ;

[14:17.47]"I'm--I'm going to  keep the academic course,"Clyde said. ;

[14:23.89]"You think it's going to be any easier this time?" Mrs.Jones asked. ;

[14:28.96]"No." "Things ain't always easy.Lord knows that things ain't always easy." ;

[14:36.50]For a minute there was a faraway look in her eyes, ;

[14:40.83]but then her face turned into a big smile."You're just like your father,boy ;

[14:46.92]That man never would give up on anything he really wanted. ;

[14:51.34]Did 1 ever tell you the time he was trying to learn to play the trombone?" ;

[14:55.72]"No."Clyde still had tears in his eyes but he was smiling, too. ;

[15:02.10]Suddenly everybody was happy. ;

[15:04.92]It was like seeing a rainbow when it was still raining. ;

[15:11.64]  Lesson 35 ;

[15:42.79]    Text A  A Proud Linguist ;

[15:47.41]Once upon a time there was an Austrian emperor ;

[15:51.89]who made it a rule to interview every one of his soldiers once a year. ;

[15:56.71]During the interviews he invariably asked three questions-- ;

[16:02.50]"How old are you?", "How long have you been in my army? ;

[16:07.27]"and" Are you satisfied with your pay and the food you get?"--in that order ;

[16:14.38]One year,the day before the imperial interviews, ;

[16:18.61]a Frenchman got himself enlisted in the Austrian army. ;

[16:22.60]Since he knew no German he was on tenterhooks. ;

[16:26.93]Now there was an old soldier in his unit who knew a little French ;

[16:31.61]and was anxious to help.In fact he knew just about enough French ;

[16:37.45]to be able to teach his young friend the shortest possible answers, ;

[16:41.54]in the proper order, to the imperial questions. ;

[16:45.48]The day arrived with all the sound and colour that befitted it. ;

[16:50.73]The Emperor in all his splendour was seated on the throne, ;

[16:56.04]his entourage attending respectfully in the background. ;

[17:01.15]The soldiers filed past him,each taking barely half a minute ;

[17:06.60]during which time the questions were asked ;

[17:09.91]and the answers reverently provided. ;

[17:13.32]When the Frenchman's turn came,far from being nervous he was sure of himself, ;

[17:19.84]having recited the answers,in the proper order, ;

[17:23.78]he did not know how many times.The Emperor looked at him long and hard ;

[17:30.30]and suddenly took it into his head ;

[17:33.61]that he had seen the young man somewhere before. ;

[17:37.36]He began,a little out of the usual order,with the second question: ;

[17:43.74]"How long have you been in my army?" ;

[17:46.85]"Twenty-one years," replied the Frenchman,not without some pride ;

[17:52.45]in his ability to learn a foreign language so quickly and so well. ;

[17:57.85]The monarch was surprised, ;

[18:00.28]for the young man did not look very much older than that, ;

[18:04.32]but he went on to ask:"Then how old are you?" "One day," came the answer. ;

[18:12.21]That was too much for the Emperor, who sat back and muttered:"Well,well. ;

[18:18.20]That beats me. It seems either you're mad or I am." ;

[18:23.69]Positive that that was the last of the imperial questions, ;

[18:28.32]the proud linguist stepped forward and with a smile said: "Both,your majesty." ;

[18:37.32]    Text B   What Am I Going     to Do? ;

[18:42.77]Mr Davidson is standing outside his house. ;

[18:47.25]He has forgotten to bring his key with him. ;

[18:50.90]Henry Black and John Field walk past and they say"Hello"to Mr Davidson. ;

[18:57.96]MR DAVIDSON:Hello,   boys.Can you help   me? ;

[19:01.02]I've forgotten my key and I can't get in . ;

[19:04.24]JOHN AND HENRY:  We'll try our best.  Mr Davidson. ;

[19:08.03]MR DAVIDSON:You're   both taller than   me,aren't you? ;

[19:10.86]JOHN:Yes,I'm over   five foot ten.I'm   the tallest of   the three of us. ;

[19:16.89]HENRY:But I'm almost   as tall as John. ;

[19:20.05]MR DAVIDSON:Can you   climb on John's   shoulders and   reach that window? ;

[19:24.68]HENRY:All right.What   shall I do now? ;

[19:29.20]MR DAVIDSON:Open   the window,please,   and climb through   it into the house. ;

[19:34.22]HENRY:Oh dear,I   can't move it.   It's fastened   inside. ;

[19:39.52]MR DAVIDSON:Can you   break the window? ;

[19:41.96]JOHN:Look!There's a   policeman!He's   coming towards   us. ;

[19:48.62]7.Read the following   passage once. ;

[19:54.71]Underline the key words while reading and retell the story to your partner. ;

[20:00.94]    Adventure     At Midnight ;

[20:04.69]Long ago there lived two brothers who were very poor. ;

[20:09.46]They lived in tiny huts at opposite sides of their large wheat field. ;

[20:15.30]At the end of each summer,when harvest time came, ;

[20:20.50]the brothers divided the grain they had grown into two equal parts. ;

[20:26.59]Some of it they took to be milled into flour,from which they baked bread. ;

[20:32.96]The rest was sold for money,with which they bought shoes, clothing,and tools. ;

[20:40.17]Although they toiled from sunup to sundown, ;

[20:45.03]six days a week,they hardly had enough to eat.In spite of this, ;

[20:51.41]they were happy because of their great love for one another. ;

[20:55.89]But one year,Simon, the younger brother, felt a great sadness. ;

[21:02.12]His wife said,"Tell me what is making you so blue? ;

[21:07.18]You no longer sing while you work,and the twinkle is gone from your eye." ;

[21:13.02]"You are right,dear wife.I am worried about my older brother,Ruben. ;

[21:20.12]He is alone in the world,with neither wife nor children. ;

[21:24.99]Who will care for him when he gets old and can no longer work? ;

[21:30.78]If only he had some money to save for his old age! ;

[21:35.31]It isn't fair that we share the harvest equally. ;

[21:39.54]But he is proud and will not accept gifts from me. ;

[21:43.63]What shall I do?" "Would you take food from your own children?" ;

[21:49.38]She asked in astonishment."There is nothing you can do,"she said. ;

[21:54.39]"So forget it."Simon knew that his wife was right, ;

[21:59.45]but he was determined to help Ruben,come what might. ;

[22:04.22]Meanwhile,Ruben was sitting under a tree,thinking deeply. ;

[22:09.77]When he noticed a bird on the way to its winter home,he said, ;

[22:15.41]"That bird and I are fortunate because we are free. ;

[22:20.23]Neither of us has a wife and children always needing to be fed. ;

[22:26.46]But my poor brother, Simon,is burdened with a family. ;

[22:31.13]"It isn't fair that we share the harvest equally. ;

[22:35.17]Surely he deserves more than I! ;

[22:38.53]But he is very proud and will not accept gifts from me. ;

[22:43.16]What can I do? In several days we'll take our harvest to town. ;

[22:49.53]If I don't think of a plan soon,it will be too late." ;

[22:53.91]That night,when the moon was high in the sky, ;

[22:57.95]Ruben went quietly to his barn where he filled a sack with wheat ;

[23:02.82]and put in on his shoulder. ;

[23:04.96]Then he crossed the empty field to his brother's hut ;

[23:09.49]and secretly placed his wheat with Simon's. ;

[23:12.70]"Ah,"he said when he had finished, "this is better. ;

[23:17.03]Now my dear younger brother will have more than I." ;

[23:21.56]Ruben went happily back to his hut ;

[23:25.16]and slept soundly for the first time in weeks. ;

[23:29.39]An hour later,Simon woke up with a start. He had dreamed of a marvelous plan. ;

[23:37.28]He crept out of bed, got dressed,and went to his barn. ;

[23:42.78]Filling a sack with wheat,walking across the field to Ruben's hut, ;

[23:48.03]and placing it there took very little time. ;

[23:51.83]Before long,he was back in bed,pulling up the covers. ;

[23:57.33]"Now I can sleep peacefully,"he thought, ;

[24:01.13]"because Ruben will have a little extra to save for his old age." ;

[24:06.53]The next morning Ruben and Simon were amazed.How could this be? ;

[24:12.71]Their piles were equal, ;

[24:15.00]yet each knew he had secretly given wheat to his brother. ;

[24:19.96]Something must have gone wrong. ;

[24:22.54]So that night Ruben waited until midnight, ;

[24:26.53]when he again took Simon some of his grain. ;

[24:30.38]"There!Now I am fully awake and I'm sure I put it on his pile. ;

[24:36.17]Tomorrow mine will be smaller and his larger,as it should be." ;

[24:41.72]A short time later, Simon did the same. ;

[24:45.81]He,too,was sure that all would be well this time.But when day dawned, ;

[24:52.28]each brother saw that this share was exactly half the harvest. ;

[24:57.68]Ruben and Simon were desperate. ;

[25:00.60]Tomorrow they were to go to town to sell their grain. ;

[25:04.59]Tonight was their last chance.Midnight came again. ;

[25:10.43]But this time Ruben and Simon chose the same moment to carry out ;

[25:15.45]their mission of brotherly love. ;

[25:17.64]Each placed a sack of wheat on his shoulders ;

[25:21.72]and began to walk across the field. Halfway across they met. ;

[25:27.95]"Ruben!What are you doing out so late at night?" ;

[25:32.34]cried Simon in dismay. He tried to hide his sack. ;

[25:36.96]Startled,Ruben dropped his bundle. ;

[25:40.71]Then he saw Simon's sack and they both began to laugh. ;

[25:45.86]When they finished laughing,they hugged each other tightly. ;

[25:50.73]Their hearts were full of love for each other and they were content. ;