每天一课英语口语 UNIT 264-279

[00:00.00]264 Different Functions of Salt

[00:04.57]We do not know when man first began to use salt,

[00:08.72]but we do know that it has been used in many different ways throughout history.

[00:13.19]Historical evidence shows, for example, that people who lived over 3,000 years ago ate salted fish.

[00:20.74]Thousands of years ago in Egypt, salt was used to keep the dead from decay-ing.

[00:25.94]Stealing salt was considered a major crime during some pe-riods of history.

[00:31.16]In the 18th century, for instance, if a person was caught stealing salt, he could be put in jail.

[00:37.83]History records that about ten thousand people were put in jail during that centu-ry for stealing salt!

[00:44.90]About 150 years before, in the year 1553, taking more than one's share of salt was punishable as a crime.

[00:54.13]The offender's ear was cut off.

[00:56.69]Salt was an important item on the table of a king.

[01:00.29]It was traditionally placed in front of the king when he seated down to eat.

[01:04.86]Important guests in the king's table were seated near the salt.

[01:09.04]Less important guests were given seats farther away from it.

[01:13.59]265 The Development of Movies

[01:20.30]Today, I would like to talk about the early days of movie making in the late 19th and the early 20th centuries.

[01:28.66]Before the pioneering films of D. W, Griffith, film makers were limited by several misguided convention of the era.

[01:36.60]According to one, the camera was always fixed at a long distance, a position now known as the long shot.

[01:44.39]It was another convention that the posi-tion of the camera never changed in the middle of a scene.

[01:49.77]In last week's films, we saw how Griffith ignored both these limit-ing conventions

[01:55.62]and brought the camera closer to the actor.

[01:58.31]This shot now known as a full shot was considered revolutionary at the time,

[02:04.06]"For love of Gold" was the name of the film in which we saw the first use of the full shot.

[02:09.62]After progressing from the long shot to the full shot,

[02:13.62]the next logical step for Griffith was to bring in the camera still closer in what is now called the close-up.

[02:20.04]The close-up had been used before though only rarely and merely as a visual stunt as for example in Edwin S. Portar's

[02:29.00]"The Great Train Robbery" which was made in 1903.

[02:32.48]But not until 1908 in Griffith's movie called "After Many Years"

[02:37.62]was the dra- matic potential of the close-up first exploited.

[02:41.80]In the scene from "After Many Years" that we're about to see,

[02:45.62]pay special atten-tion to the close-up of Annie lee's worried face, as she awaits her husband's return.

[02:52.12]In 1908, this close-up shocked everyone in the Bio-Graph studio, 10ut Griffith had-no time for argument.

[03:00.17]He had another surprise, even more radical to offend.

[03:04.08]Immedi-ately following the close-up of Annie, Lee,

[03:07.45]This cutting from one scene to another without finishing either of them,

[03:11.87]brought a tor-rent of criticism of the experimenter.

[03:15.45]266 Trumpet and Its Ancestry

[03:22.16]Today's trumpet is one of the world's oldest instruments.

[03:26.26]It is the result of many centuries of development.

[03:29.45]Although it looks nothing like its ancestors, there are many similarities.

[03:34.33]All trum-pets are hollow tubes.

[03:36.66]They are all blown. And they all use the players' lips to produce the basic sound.

[03:42.43]The trumpet developed as players and makers worked to im-prove its design, size, shape, material,

[03:49.72]and method of construc-tion.

[03:51.97]They wanted to create an instrument that would produce a beautiful and attractive tone,

[03:56.88]enable the performer to play all the notes of the scale,

[04:00.56]extend the range higher and lower,

[04:03.04]make it possible to play more difficult music, and, in general, be easier to play well.

[04:09.00]The remarkable way in which the modern trumpet achieves these goals

[04:13.52]is a measure of the success of all those who struggled to perfect this glorious instrument.

[04:19.47]The trumpet is actually the leading member of an entire family of related instruments.

[04:24.93]There are trumpets of several differ-ent sizes, and in several different keys.

[04:29.87]There are cornets, bu-gles, flugelhorns,

[04:33.97]and a number of others that are all similar to the trumpet in the way they are made and played.

[04:39.30]The trumpet family is much more than a group of related in-struments that can stir one with their sound,

[04:46.20]or narrow tubes of metal capable of producing a variety Of musical sounds.

[04:51.37]It is a link to many different periods of history and to people of many cultures.

[04:57.27]From the use of trumpets in ancient religious cere-monies to the part they play in modern rock bands,

[05:03.60]the trumpet family of instruments has much to tell about civilization and its development.

[05:10.23]267 Clinking Glasses

[05:14.04]With clinks of glasses, cheers and toasts, the banquet reached its climax.

[05:20.03]There are two explanations regarding the ori-gin of clinking glasses.

[05:24.26]The first one dates the custom from the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.

[05:29.64]English sympa-thizers with the exiled Stuart royal family

[05:34.24]drank secret toast to the family by passing their glasses over finger bowls.

[05:38.89]By doing so they meant that even though the words of toast went to the monarch in power,

[05:44.22]their hearts were with the one "over the wa-ter".

[05:47.40]When finger bowls were banished from English tables to discourage the practice,

[05:52.03]the Stuart Champions passed their glass-es stealthily over each other or clinked them together gently.

[05:58.32]The second and also the most convincing explanation

[06:02.40]is that the custom is survivor of an ancient "mutual trust" ceremony.

[06:06.71]In the days of frequent occurrence of poisoning, even among friends,

[06:11.51]drinkers would pour a little of wine into each other's glasses, to ensure that neither had poisoned the drink.

[06:18.12]Today drinkers still touch the rims 1out try not to splash their wine over for there is no longer mutual suspicion.

[06:25.70]They clink glasses for the sake of friendship and enjoyment.

[06:30.11]268 The Honeymoon

[06:35.76]A popular belief is that honeymoon originated in Germany or Scandinavia.

[06:41.24]It is supposed to have been the month, or "moon",

[06:44.24]following the marriage when the bride and groom would retreat to a secluded spot

[06:49.08]and partake of the honeyed wine called mead.

[06:52.16]But the idea of a honeymoon, or honeymonth, is a fairly recent one.

[06:57.38]The first printed reference to the term honey-moon does not appear until 1546,

[07:03.58]and honeymonth doesn't come in until a century and a half after that.

[07:08.12]It is not until the early 1800s that honeymoon is found referring to the journey

[07:13.97]that the couple take after their wedding.

[07:16.38]However, the term in its o-riginal meaning refers not to the period of a month,

[07:21.97]but to the changeable nature of the moon itself, the newly married are in the "honey",

[07:27.82]or full phase of their love, which likes the moon, is bound some day to wane.

[07:33.28]The nineteenth-century practice, a-mong the upper classes,

[07:37.69]of taking a journey after the wedding re-defines the honeymoon concept,

[07:42.16]and soon it is accepted widely and becomes popular throughout the world.

[07:47.91]269 First Cooked Food

[07:54.20]The first man who cooked his food, instead of eating it raw,

[07:58.82]lived so long ago that we have no idea who he was or where he lived.

[08:03.55]We do know, however, that for thousands of years, food was always eaten cold and raw.

[08:10.00]Perhaps the first cooked food was heated accidentally by a forest fire.

[08:14.89]No doubt, when people first tasted food that had been cooked, they found it tasted bet-ter.

[08:21.26]However even after this discovery,

[08:24.40]cooked food must have remained a rare thing until man learned how to make and control fire.

[08:30.28]Early people who lived in hot regions could depend on the heat of the sun to cook their food.

[08:36.81]For example, in the desert ar-eas of the southwestern United States,

[08:41.90]the Indians cooked their food by placing it on a flat stone in the hot sun.

[08:46.55]They cooked pieces of meat and thin cakes of com in this fashion.

[08:52.30]270 Development of Glass

[08:57.81]What do you think of when you see the word "glass"?

[09:01.10]Most of us probably think first of a substance that is easily broken and

is used for window panes, and bottles.

[09:08.60]But great changes have taken place in the manufacturing of glass,

[09:12.88]and it can now be made as hard as steel or as soft as silk,  as light as aluminum or as heavy as iron.

[09:21.21]Glass now exists in various types.

[09:24.72]There is one type that is so sensitive to light that like photographic film,

[09:29.73]it will record pic-tures and designs.

[09:32.16]Another type of glass turns dark in the bright sunlight, then becomes clear again when the sunlight decreases.

[09:39.74]There is an old saying, "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones," meaning, of course,

[09:46.48]that such people would have stone thrown back at them and their houses would be destroyed.

[09:51.96]But now it is safe to live in a glass house because glass can be made that is practically unbreakable.

[09:58.65]It is so strong that it is now being used to build bridges.

[10:04.42]271 Language Families

[10:09.36]There are over 3000 languages that are used throughout the world today.

[10:14.19]Almost all of these languages belong to a much smaller number of language families.

[10:19.49]All of the languages within a language family are related, and all of them have a similar his-tory.

[10:25.50]Therefore, the grammar, vocabulary, and sounds of related languages are similar.

[10:31.72]In addition, the way of thinking and the style of talking among related languages are also similar.

[10:38.64]Even though there are over 3000 languages that are used to-day, there are only about 20 or 30 major language families.

[10:47.65]Each of these large families include many individual languages.

[10:52.28]The language that we are using now is English, and English is, of course, a member of a large language family.

[11:00.58]English is a member of the Indo-European language family.

[11:04.82]The Indo-Euro-pean language family includes most of the languages that are spo-ken throughout Europe,

[11:10.96]languages such as English, French, and Greek.

[11:14.82]Of course, nowadays many Indo-European languages are spoken in other parts of the world.

[11:21.48]For instance, Spanish which is an Indo-European language,

[11:25.92]is spoken throughout South and Central America, but originally ~was spoken only in Europe.

[11:32.95]272 The Development Of Beer

[11:38.38]Beer is nearly as old as recorded history.

[11:42.01]Man is believed to have started making beer at about the same time he learned to make bread.

[11:47.66]Archaeological evidence indicates that beer was produced in Mesopotamia around 6,000 B.C.

[11:55.00]In the earliest known civilization, ancient Sumer in the near East,

[12:00.33]about 40 percent of the grain crop went to make beer

[12:03.83]and it was apparent-ly also used for currency by the local noblemen.

[12:08.37]Beer, bread, o-nions probably formed the basic diet of the ancient Egyptian peo-ple

[12:14.54]and some of their beer had an alcoholic content of up to twelve percent.

[12:19.03]The Greeks carried the art of making beer from Egypt into Europe,

[12:23.76]and the Romans learned about drinking beer during their conquest of Greece.

[12:28.36]Beer-making rapidly took hold in northern and western Europe

[12:32.27]where grape-growing was im-practical because of the weather.

[12:37.03]273 Who Dropped the Rrst Seed

[12:42.64]Men sometimes say: "We are better and cleverer than wom-en, women never invent things we do.

[12:50.06]"It is true that men have invented a lot of useful things: the alphabet, machines, rockets and guns, too.

[12:58.27]But scientists now agree that women invented one very important thing.

[13:03.36]It has changed history.

[13:05.35]They invented agriculture.

[13:07.46]Before the invention of agriculture men wen hunters.

[13:11.82]They went out every day.

[13:13.73]Sometimes they killed ani reals--sometimes animals killed them.

[13:18.28]Life was difficult and dan-gerous.

[13:20.81]Women had to go out every day too.

[13:23.45]They collected roots, fruit and grasses.

[13:26.37]Then one day, more than 10,000 years ago, a woman dropped some grass seeds.

[13:32.67]She dropped them near her home in the Middle East.

[13:35.31]They grew and the first wheat was born.

[13:38.55]The idea grew too. Women planted roots and fruit trees.

[13:43.51]Then they could stay at home and look after the children and the animals. Women like baby animals.

[13:50.09]Scientists think that women kept the first domestic animals: dogs, cows, sheep and goats.

[13:57.36]That idea grew, too.

[13:59.18]Then their husbands did not have to go hunting for meat.

[14:02.97]They stayed at home.

[14:04.54]They, built villages and cities.

[14:06.94]Civilization began.

[14:08.82]Men began civilization after women invented agriculture.

[14:15.14]274 From Cave to House

[14:20.71]When men began to live on this earth a long time ago, they had no proper place to live in.

[14:26.27]In order to get away from the heat of the sun, to keep themselves warm and dry,

[14:32.05]they found caves which gave them some kind of protection.

[14:35.34]Some of these early men built shelters up in trees to get free from animals.

[14:40.88]They led difficult lives and had to move about from place to place in search of wood.

[14:46.94]Much later on their lives began to change.

[14:50.28]They learnt how to keep animals in herds.

[14:53.15]Because they had to move their herds of animals from place to place in search of grasslands,

[14:58.80]they had to build shelters which were easily carried out.

[15:02.56]Animal skins were hung over pieces of wood which provided them with some

form of temporary home.

[15:09.56]These could be removed easily and carried along wherever they drove their herds of animals.

[15:15.70]When they finally learnt the art of farming,

[15:18.99]they started clearing forests and planting crops which provided them with fruits, vegetables and grain.

[15:25.26]When this happened they had to think about building more permanent shelters.

[15:30.48]Rough houses were built at first with wood and they even used grass as roofs.

[15:36.31]This went on for a long time.

[15:38.79]Gradually they began to make improvements to their homes.

[15:42.86]Today houses of all kinds are built.

[15:45.79]They are strong, permanent and can last a long time.

[15:49.45]275 How did Handshake Originate?

[15:56.42]Today it seems perfectly natural for us to shake hands when we greet someone or say goodbye.

[16:02.40]But like so many things that we do without thinking, such action at the time probably sym-bolized something.

[16:10.21]For example, in primitive life the hand was probably a sym-bol of power and strength.

[16:15.62]The hand was used to fight enemies, kill animals, and make spears and implements.

[16:21.11]So when the hand was extended to someone, it could have represented good will,

[16:26.23]since it showed that the person was not armed or ready to fight.

[16:30.43]We know that the hand was an important symbol in early religion, probably as a mark of power.

[16:37.67]The Greeks prayed to their gods with raised hands.

[16:40.93]Presenting the hands palm to palm was at one time the way an inferior person paid respect to a su-perior one.

[16:48.33]Among the Arabs, it was customary at one time to kiss the hand of a superior.

[16:54.36]Later on, polite Arabs began to resist the ef-forts of people to kiss their hands

[17:00.08]and sometimes they would end up clasping hands as each tried to prevent the other from show-ing

[17:05.31]this mark of "inferiority".

[17:07.68]The early Greeks held out the right hand when they wished to indicate friendship to a stranger.

[17:13.80]So we can see that the hand, and what was done with it, was full of meaning to people down through the ages.

[17:21.37]And while we shake hands without thinking,

[17:24.09]we are really carrying on a custom that has been handed down to us from ancient times.

[17:29.08]276 Inviting a Foreign Teacher to Dinner

[17:36.03]Li Ming:   Good morning, Dr Green. May I come in?

[17:40.36]Dr. Green: Good morning, Mr. Li. Of course. How can I beof help?

[17:44.25]Li Ming:  Well, it's not about school, Dr. Green.

[17:47.70]It's just that I wanted to have a few people over for a dinner party to celebrate finishing my dissertation.

[17:53.37]And I'd like to invite you especially as you are my supervi-sor.

[17:57.55]Would you be able to come this weekend, on Saturday?

[18:01.10]Dr. Green-I'd be delighted to, Mr Li. Saturday, did you say? But at what time?

[18:07.11]Li Ming:  At five p.m. Saturday. Is that all right for you and your wife, Mrs. Green?

[18:12.78]Dr. Green: I'll have to check with Linda, but I'm pretty sure it'll be all right for me.

[18:18.06]Li Ming: Good. If you could come around at four or four thir-ty,

[18:22.71]that would give us time to chat a while over a glass of wine before dinner.

[18:27.15]Dr. Green: That sounds fine. We'll be there around four.

[18:31.12]Li Ming:  That would be great! I'm pleasecl that you and your wife could be able to make it!

[18:36.32]Dr. Green: Will you start calling me Simon?

[18:39.22]Li Ming: Of course. Dr... I mean Simon--but it will take some time getting used to it.

[18:46.95]277 In a Beauty Salon

[18:52.67]L: I made an appointment for a perm at 4:30.

[18:56.64]O: Oh yes, Lucy. Please take a seat here.

[18:59.93]L: Thank you.

[19:01.00]O: Shall I trim a little and shampoo it before giving you a perma-nent?

[19:04.89]Your hair seems a little longer than usual.

[19:07.72]L: Yes, please.

[19:08.79]O: What kind of permanent would you like to have?

[19:11.69]L: What kinds do you have?

[19:13.52]O: We have quite a variety: regular cold perm, straight perm,pin curl and foam.

[19:20.33]L: Do you have any pictures of the latest hairstyles?

[19:23.76]O: Sure, we just got some pictures of the most up-to-date French coiffures.

[19:28.35]L: Good. You know, I've been wearing this hairstyle for so long that I want to change it this time.

[19:35.07]What hairstyle do you feel will look best on me?

[19:38.54]O: Do you like curly hair?

[19:40.21]L: I once tried a pin curl perm and it was too curly.

[19:44.44]O: Today you might as well try a foam permanent.

[19:47.81]L: Good. Set the wave a little looser than usual please.

[19:51.81]O: Yes, ma'am.

[19:53.53]L: How long will this perm take?

[19:55.47]O: About an hour.

[19:57.11]O: There we are. We've finished. How do you like it?

[20:01.50]L: My! I wouldn't know myself! You did a nice job.

[20:07.17]278 Dinner for Two

[20:12.55]Max Robert is a bachelor. He lives in a small flat in Lon-don.

[20:17.28]Max not only enjoys eating food, he enjoys preparing it as well.

[20:22.09]His favourite hobby is cooking. He has had so much prac-tice, that he has become an expert cook.

[20:29.04]His sister, Anne, called on him last Sunday evening.

[20:32.80]It was nearly dinner-time and Max was in the kitchen. He was wearing

an apron and preparing a meal.

[20:39.33]"You will stay to dinner, of course," Max said.

[20:43.40]"I'm starving!" Anne said. "Is there enough food for both of us?"

"I hope so." Max answered.

[20:50.06]Anne lifted the lid of saucepan. "Mn," she said. It smells delicious, what is it?

[20:57.14]"It's a Mexican dish" Max said "very special".

[21:01.30]"You'll be a good husband to some lucky woman", Anne remarked.

[21:05.48]"I don't know about that", Max answered, "But this dish ought to be good.

[21:10.65]I've been preparing it for five hours." "There's enough food here for ten people!"

[21:16.34]Anne said as she looked into the saucepan. "Are youexpecting company?"

[21:21.23]"No," Max replied, "I was going to eat it all myself".

[21:26.06]279 Going To the Cinema

[21:30.63]M: Do you feel like going to the cinema?

[21:34.13]W: Oh...yes... let's do that.

[21:37.14]M: WelI, what shall we go and see?

[21:39.51]W: WelI, I like all sorts of films. What do you like?

[21:42.86]M: WelI, I like all sorts of films really.

[21:45.89]My favorite sort of films are like Star Wars you know, films with the...

[21:51.50]the fantasy, the special effects through which you can escape into another world.

[21:56.34]Urn... I like mystery films too. Do you like mystery films?

[22:01.25]W: I quite like mystery films.

[22:03.28]Yes, but I don't like horror films because they really give me nightmares.

[22:08.33]M: Yes, I know I don't like horror films either. They're sort of stupid and unbelievable.

[22:14.20]I tell you, I do like... urn... crime films, you know,

[22:19.04]where you follow the detective and try to guess who the murderer is Like... like Agatha Christie stories,

[22:25.65]you know, where you wonder if they're going to get caught.

[22:28.83]You know, like a bank robbery or something like that.

[22:31.78]W: Haha I tell you what.., do you know there's a film with Robert Redford and Paul Newman in it.'?

[22:38.68]M: Oh, I hope not.

[22:39.99]W: Oh, don't you like them?

[22:42.18]M: WelI, I tend to prefer people like Clint Eastwood and...

[22:45.63]W: Oh, no! I'm not keen on them at all!