每天一课英语口语 UNIT 250-263

[00:00.00]250 Housing Problem

[00:03.74]In the United States, many people only lived in large, two-and three-story homes.

[00:09.53]Today, many people would like to live in such houses but most people can't.

[00:14.55]They don't have enough money to buy them or even to make the first payment.

[00:18.78]So many people rent from month to month.

[00:21.84]But some Americans really want to live in a house of their own.

[00:25.44]So they build their own homes.

[00:27.61]They buy a house that is situated 1 in an area where hous-es are cheaper.

[00:31.95]It is better to reside in a bad part of town, they think,

[00:35.89]than not to live in a house at all or they buy an old house and redesign it.

[00:40.88]Then they decorate it with old style furniture.

[00:44.62]Sometimes they can make an old house look more beautiful than a new one.

[00:48.88]Usually, it is not difficult for people to find an old home to buy.

[00:53.63]Many older people decide that they don't need a big home after their children leave.

[00:58.91]So they sell their house and move into a comfortable apartment.

[01:02.62]But when people move into a house they sometimes have problems.

[01:06.51]Home owners have to do their own maintenance.

[01:09.25]For example if the roof leaks one can not ask the landlord to fix it.

[01:14.08]On the other hand,

[01:15.89]people can re-design their home in any way they want without having to be afraid of being thrown out by the landlord.

[01:22.31]251 Native Americans and Immigrants

[01:28.71]Beth: These are great pictures! Now what's this? You took this picture, didn't you?

[01:35.58]Rob: Uh-huh. That's the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

[01:39.13]Beth: These are all of San Francisco, aren't they?

[01:41.83]Rob: Yes, and so are these.

[01:44.02]All:  Hi, Rob. Hi, Beth. What are you looking at?

[01:47.76]Beth: These are photos of the west coast trip.

[01:50.55]Ali:  Really? Where is this? You didn't go to China, did you?

[01:55.72]Rob: That's not China. It's Chinatown in San Francisco!

[01:59.77]Beth: San Francisco has a very large Chinese population.

[02:03.66]All:  What about this picture? Did you go to Mexico?

[02:07.40]Rob: No, no, Ali. we didn't visit Mexico either.

[02:10.69]That's a pic-ture of Olvera Street, a Mexican market in Los Angeles.

[02:15.42]Ali:  The United States really has lots of ethnic 2 communities, doesn't it?

[02:20.51]Beth: Yes, it does. The United States is a country of immi-grants.

[02:24.95]Rob: That's right.

[02:25.68]During spring break, we're planning to go to the southwest to visit some Native American communi-ties.

[02:32.35]All:  Native American? You mean Indian, don't you?

[02:36.42]Beth: Yea. Today people say Native American because they didn't come from other countries.

[02:42.22]All: I'd love to visit some of their communities. Could I go with you?

[02:46.90]Beth: Sure,

[02:49.93]252 American Foods

[02:53.98]Food is an indispensable part of our life.

[02:57.76]Different from the ancient times to stuff our stomach is not all the role that food plays.

[03:04.11]In civilized 3 society, the idea about food covers more things.

[03:08.94]In the eyes of Americans, food must be good in taste, color, flavor, shape and texture 4;

[03:15.74]besides it must be clean, fresh and safe.

[03:19.16]Food must be well-packaged and well labeled, too.

[03:23.05]However, the excellent, affluent 5 and low-priced foods also bring problems.

[03:28.43]Because Americans have consumed too much meat and animal fat, they are suffering over-weight.

[03:34.91]In addition,

[03:36.24]the over abundance of cholesterol 6 in their diet can easily lead to heart disease and high blood pressure.

[03:42.62]Nowadays, in order to solve these problems imitation foods have come into being.

[03:48.23]They are very popular in the U.S. not only because they are low in cholesterol,

[03:53.40]fat and calories and resemble the tastes and flavors of the real foods,

[03:57.98]but because they cost about 25% less than the real ones.

[04:03.67]253 America A Dreamland for People

[04:09.73]The United States is a unique nation in that it absorbs thou-sands of immigrants every year.

[04:16.05]People immigrate 7 here from all parts of the world--from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin Ameri-ca.

[04:22.69]They have different reasons for migrating to this country.

[04:26.27]Some leave their countries due to political oppression and reli-gious persecution 8,

[04:31.18]some come to America to explore business opportunities,

[04:35.15]some of them can't find jobs in their native lands, and some arrive here in search of advanced education.

[04:41.42]People are ready to take any risk to be able to enter the United States.

[04:46.56]Of course, most of the immigrants meet with a lot of frustration 9 and disillusion 10 before they are successful.

[04:53.72]Still, to every immi-grate, America stands for freedom and opportunity.

[04:59.15]Isn't it won-derful that a nation with so comparatively short a history

[05:03.93]should become such a dreamland for people all over the world?

[05:07.93]254 A World of Automobiles 11

[05:14.15]The United States is full of automobiles.

[05:17.47]There are still fami-lies without cars, but some families have two or even more.

[05:22.69]However, cars are used for more than pleasure.

[05:26.22]They are a nec-essary part of life.

[05:28.75]Cars are used for business.

[05:31.23]They are driven to offices and factories by workers.

[05:34.63]When salesmen are sent to different parts of the city they have to drive in order to carry their products.

[05:41.16]Farm-ers have to drive into the city in order to get supplies.

[05:45.42]Sometimes small children must be driven to school.

[05:49.13]In some cities school buses are used only when children live more than a mile from the school.

[05:55.45]When the children are too young to walk that far, their mothers take turns driving them to school.

[06:01.27]One mother drives on Mondays, taking her own children and neighbors' children as well.

[06:07.15]Another mother drives on Tuesdays, another on Wednesdays, and so on.

[06:12.30]This is called forming a car pool.

[06:14.94]Men also form car pools, with three or four men taking turns driving to the place where they all work.

[06:21.73]More car pools should be formed in order to put fewer auto-mobiles on the road and to use less gasoline.

[06:29.72]Parking is a great problem, and so is the traffic in and around cities.

[06:34.27]Too many cars are being driven.

[06:36.59]Something will have to be done about the use of cars.

[06:40.88]255 American Kaleidoscope

[06:46.18]Social life in America varies tremendously from office to of-fice.

[06:51.30]Big corporations may have clubs, sports teams, trips, dance classes,

[06:56.47]or other employee activities which you can join or not as you like,

[07:01.15]while small companies usually can't afford these activities.

[07:04.93]In general people go to lunch with each other by invitation when they feel like it.

[07:11.05]Usually people of higher ranks would in-vite those of lower ranks rather than the other way around,

[07:17.34]but lines are not closely drawn 12.

[07:19.28]Except for special occasions every-one pays for himself or herself

[07:24.76]regardless of whether or not an in-vitation is offered.

[07:28.18]It is quite acceptable for men and women colleagues, single or married, to go out together for lunch.

[07:35.05]This may be the extent to which your office friends will invite you.

[07:39.21]Although in general Americans readily take people home with them,

[07:43.15]they often do not want to mix business and social life.

[07:46.68]If this is the case in your place of work, you will have to seek friendship through other channels.

[07:52.79]256 American Education

[07:58.56]New-comers to the United States are often surprised by the schools.

[08:03.94]American schools are sometimes so different from the schools they have known in other parts of the world.

[08:09.95]American education is based on the idea that children need to learn to think for themselves.

[08:16.25]The school should be the place where they learn to do this.

[08:19.46]In schools, children learn the "three R's".

[08:23.22]Reading, Writ-ing and Arithmetic.

[08:25.52]They study history and Government which are often called social studies, and many other subjects.

[08:32.05]They al-so learn how to be independent, how to make their own judg-ment,

[08:36.78]and how to develop their own abilities and interests.

[08:39.89]The American teacher

[08:41.90]does not want the children in her class to sit with their hands folded quietly and to say nothing.

[08:47.57]She wants them to listen carefully, to ask questions, to answer

questions,

[08:52.74]and to give their own opinions.

[08:55.14]She knows that what the children learn from books is important.

[08:58.72]She also knows that it is necessary for them to know how to use this learning for their growth and development.

[09:05.28]During the open school week, parents have a chance to see how American education works.

[09:11.97]257 American Education System

[09:18.21]In the United States, boys and girls start school when they are five years old.

[09:23.12]In some states they must stay in school until they are sixteen.

[09:27.01]Most students are seventeen or eighteen years old when they leave secondary school.

[09:32.13]Another name for sec-ondary school is high school.

[09:35.40]Most children go to public elementary and secondary schools.

[09:40.13]The parents of public pupils do not have to pay directly for their children's education

[09:45.12]because tax money supports the public schools.

[09:48.30]If a child attends a private school, his parents pay for the child's education.

[09:53.66]Today, about half of the high school graduates go to college and universities

[09:58.88]that receive tax money from the government.

[10:01.26]A student at a state university does not have to pay very much if his parents live in that state.

[10:07.66]Private colleges and universities are ex-pensive, however,

[10:12.36]almost half of the college students in the U-nited States work while they are studying.

[10:16.70]When a student's family is not rich, he has to earn money for part of his college expenses.

[10:23.46]258 Advertising 13 In America

[10:28.77]On my arrival in America,

[10:31.30]the one thing I noticed more than anything else was the tremendous amount of advertising that went on-on the radio,

[10:37.39]on television, on billboards 14 and sign-posts, and in magazines.

[10:43.47]In the last three years, I have become accustomed to this fact in America life,

[10:48.78]for I believe that it is a creative and necessary part of an industrial society.

[10:54.08]I, too, want to improve my life-style and to buy better products, so I look to advertising to show me how to do it.

[11:01.94]Deciding what to believe in advertising, however, isn't easy.

[11:06.59]It seems to me that a person must purchase things with a lot of care.

[11:10.96]As a consumer, I want to get the best for my money, but I really have to understand the techniques of advertising.

[11:18.53]Otherwise, manufacturers will be able to sell me anything, no matter what its quality may be.

[11:25.19]More and more people are becoming conscious, like me, of the ways in which advertising can affect them.

[11:32.24]The creative aspects of commercials, for instance, often cover up defects or problems in products.

[11:39.14]I have learned this well, since I have made purchases and lost money because the items were of poor quality.

[11:46.61]The future of advertising most likely will involve a much greater degree of public participation 15.

[11:53.38]I intend to become in-volved in consumer groups that want to protect people from mis-leading advertising.

[12:00.43]But I also want to see Americans keep their high standards of living in the process.

[12:05.68]In the future, if con-sumers like me really care about the quality of something as well as the quality,

[12:12.45]maybe advertisers will begin to care more about what they are going to sell.

[12:16.86]259 Schools and Education

[12:22.58]Life in the twentieth century demands preparation.

[12:27.39]Today all individuals in a country must have adequate schooling 16 to prepare them for their work as well

[12:33.11]as for their responsibilities as citizens.

[12:35.96]With this in mind, national leaders everywhere are placing more emphasis on the education of the young.

[12:42.36]In the United States, govemment officials, parents and teachers are working hard to give the children--

[12:49.07]tomorrow's de-cision makers--the best preparation available.

[12:53.28]There is no national school policy in the United States.

[12:57.06]Each of the fifty states makes its own rules and regulations of its school

[13:01.71]but there are many similarities among the fifty school systems.

[13:05.53]Public schools in all states are supported by taxes paid by the cit-izens of the individual state.

[13:12.56]In most states the children are re-quired to attend school until they reach the age of sixteen.

[13:18.67]When they become six years old, children begin elementary school.

[13:23.89]After six years in elementary school, they go into junior high school and remain there for three years.

[13:30.42]The last three years of their public school education are spent in senior high school,

[13:35.83]from which they graduate at the age of eighteen.

[13:38.76]A great number of high school graduates continue their edu-cation

[13:43.48]in one of the many colleges or universities in the country.

[13:46.80]After four years, they receive a bachelor's degree.

[13:50.77]Some continue studying for a master's degree and perhaps a doctor's degree.

[13:56.08]260 Perspective on American University

[14:03.28]Normally a student must attend a certain number of courses in order to graduate,

[14:09.06]and each course which he attends gives him a credit which he may count towards a degree.

[14:14.96]In many American universities

[14:17.81]the total work for a degree consists of thir-ty-six courses each lasting 17 for one semester.

[14:24.16]A typical course consists of three classes per week for fifteen weeks;

[14:29.46]while attend-ing a university a student will probably attend four or five courses during each semester.

[14:36.43]Normally a student would expect to take four years attending two semesters each year.

[14:42.23]It is possible to spread the period of work for the degree over a longer period.

[14:47.90]It is also possible for a student to move between one university and another during his degree course,

[14:54.51]though this is not in fact done as a regular practice.

[14:58.22]For every course that he follows a student is given a grade,

[15:02.61]which is recorded, and the record is available for the student to show to prospective 18 employers.

[15:08.77]All this imposes a constant pres-sure and strain of work,

[15:12.69]but in spite of this some students still find time for great activity in student affairs.

[15:19.04]Elections to positions in student organization arouse much enthusiasm.

[15:25.05]The effective work of maintaining discipline is usually performed by students who advise the academic authorities.

[15:33.12]Any student who is thought to have broken the rules, for example by cheating has to appear before a student court.

[15:40.72]With the enormous number of students, the operation of the system does involve a certain amount of ac-tivities.

[15:47.36]A student who has held one of these positions of authori-ty is much respected

[15:52.19]and it will be of benefit to him later in his career.

[15:56.40]261 English Writing

[16:01.10]Learners of English usually find that writing is the most diffi-cult skill they have to master.

[16:07.34]The majority of native speakers of English have to make an effort to write accurately 19

[16:12.28]and effectively even on those subjects which they know very well.

[16:16.56]The non-na-tive learner, then,

[16:18.91]is trying to do something that the average na-tive speaker often finds difficult himself.

[16:23.77]Students, however, often work out a sentence in their own language and then try to translate it in this way.

[16:31.29]The result is that very often the reader simply cannot understand what the student has written.

[16:37.49]The individual words, or odd phrases, may make sense but the sentence as a whole makes nonsense.

[16:44.36]The student should, therefore, always try to employ sentence patterns that he knows are correct English.

[16:50.94]Many students seem to think that simplicity 20 is suspect.

[16:55.30]It is, on the contrary, a quality which is much admired in English.

[16:59.64]Most readers understand that a difficult subject can only be writ-ten up "simply"

[17:04.81]if the writer understands it very well.

[17:07.11]A student should, therefore organize all his points very carefully before he starts to write.

[17:14.50]262 The Grading Procedure

[17:19.75]If there are no more questions about the text books or syl-labus,

[17:24.22]I'd like to briefly 21 explain the grading procedure I'll be us-ing in this course.

[17:28.87]50% of your grade will be based on the mid-term examination and the final exam.

[17:34.75]Both of these exams will be given during class time and each will be one hour's long.

[17:40.47]In a lecture class of this size it is impractical 22 and almost impossible to give make-up exams.

[17:47.39]So plan on being healthy and in class on those days.

[17:51.15]Otherwise, your final grade average may suffer.

[17:54.68]The semester is 15 weeks long and quizzes will be given every two weeks to make sure

[18:00.84]you're keeping up with what's going on in class.

[18:03.38]Quizzes will count as 15% of your grade and the daily homework will count as another 15%.

[18:10.72]Homework will be col-lected and graded by the teaching assistant in your laboratory ses-sions.

[18:16.28]So, 50% for exams, 15 for quizzes and 15 for homework.

[18:22.13]The remaining 20% of your grade will be based on class partici-pation,

[18:27.36]I'm obviously not in a position to judge this

[18:30.78]but I will ask your teaching assistants to evaluate how actively 23 you participate in their classes.

[18:37.13]Remember the purpose of the laboratory sections is to give you a chance to ask questions about the lecture

[18:43.94]and to discuss difficult points.

[18:47.58]263 Bows

[18:51.60]Bows and arrows are one of man's oldest weapons.

[18:54.76]They gave early man an effective weapon to kill his enemies.

[18:58.18]The or-dinary bow or short bow was used by nearly all early people.

[19:02.96]This bow had limited power and short range.

[19:06.46]However man overcome these faults by learning to track his target at close range.

[19:12.47]The long bow was mostly discovered when someone found out that a five-foot piece of wood

[19:18.27]made a better bow than a three-foot piece.

[19:21.43]Hundreds of thousands of these bows were made and used for three hundred years.

[19:26.16]However, not one is known to survive today.

[19:29.84]We believe that a force about one hun-dred pounds was needed to pull the string all the way back on the long bow.

[19:36.63]For a long time the bow was just a bent 24 stick and string.

[19:41.02]In fact more changes have taken place in the bow in the past twenty years than in the last seven centuries.

[19:48.60]Today's bow is forceful.

[19:51.34]It is as exact as a gun. In addi-tion, it requires little strength drawing the string.

[19:57.61]Modem bows also have precise aiming devices.

[20:01.21]In indoor contests, perfect scores from 40 yards are common.

[20:05.92]The invention of the bow it-self ranks with the discovery of fire and the wheel.

[20:11.38]It was a great step forward for man.