Listen this way听力教程第三册-3

Unit 3   El Nino? La Nina?

Part Ⅰ  Getting ready

Wherever you go, one of the things that you care most about is the weather. Do you need an umbrella or should you wear an overcoat? You may, of course, read the newspaper for the information. Most of the time, however, you get a weather report by listening to the radio or just dialing a phone number.

A  The following words and phrase will appear in this unit. Listen carefully and study the definitions.

   1. alleviate 1: make something less

   2. almanac: a publication containing statistical 2 information, meteorological data, and other useful facts

   3. devastate 3: destroy completely

   4. cyclic: happening in cycles

   5. oceanographer: a person who studies the body of science dealing 4 with the ocean

   6. depletive: reducing the amount of something that is available to be used

   7. ripple 5: little waves on the surface of water caused by the wind or an object dropping into the water

   8. the coastguard: a body of men employed to keep watch on coasts

   9. lens: a curved piece of transparent 6 substance, usually glass, used in optical devices

   10. microfilm: a film bearing a miniature photographic copy of printed or graphic 7 matter

B  Listen to the weather report. Fill in the information.

   Places    Weather conditions  Temperatures

   Berlin    Mostly cloudy       ____________

   Brussels    __________________  __________________ 

   London    Mostly cloudy       __________________

   Paris    __________________  __________________ 

   Rome            Periods of clouds   __________________

                   and sunshine        __________________ 

   Vienna    Cloudy              __________________ 

   Athens    __________________  __________________ 

   Belgrade    Mostly cloudy       __________________ 

   Istanbul    Partly sunny        __________________

   Kiev     __________________  __________________

   Moscow    Snowy        __________________

   Prague    Snow flurries       __________________ 

   Washington D.C. Expecting snow      __________________ 

C  Now try this: listen to a more authentic 8 version of the report.

As we are going towards the end of the 1990s, people are looking forward to the new century. Will there be any changes? Maybe you are interested in some of the issues that we'll be facing.

D  Listen to the following news report. Complete the chart. Trend to be watched next century

   When we listen to the weather forecasts, we often come across some terms related with the weather. For example, what is a cyclone 9? What is a hurricane? Are they the same? Here is the explanation.

E  Listen to the explanation. Complete the information in the chart.

   Name         Place                    Time

   Ocean storm Northern part of world;  Late summer or autumn

                near equator                     

   Cyclone _______________________        -         

             ___ in the Indian Ocean 

   ___________  Western Pacific Ocean or       -     

                China Sea 

   Hurricane ___________ and Atlantic       - 

         Ocean 

Part Ⅱ El Nino

El Nino was originally recognized by fishermen off the coast of South America as the appearance of unusually warm water in the Pacific Ocean occurring near the beginmng of the year. El Nino means The Little Boy or Christ Child in Spanish. This name was used for the tendency of the phenomenon to arrive around Christmas.

A  Listen to the report. Complete the outline of El Nino.

   Outline

  Ⅰ. General information on El Nino

      A. nature

         a cyclic ______________ that affects the ___________

      B. frequency and length

         1. normally showing up about __________, in four year cycles

         2. lasting 10 about ______________

      C. evidence

         1. bringing ______________ to parts of the earth

         2. some regions becoming ______________; others _____________

      D. time

         beginning with ______________ pulling cold water away from south America's west coast to around the equator

   Ⅱ. Impacts around the world

       A. impacts on the weather

          1. ____________________________

          2. flooding

       B. hard on fishing industry

   Ⅲ. Difficulty of prediction

B  Now try this: listen to a more authentic version of the report. Write a summary about El Nino. Use the outline you have completed as cues.

   El Nino is __________ that affects the global climate. It normally shows up ______________________________ and it lasts about 12 to 18 months. As it brings warmer weather to parts of the earth, some regions become ________ than usual while others __________.

   El Nino usually begins with the decline of winds pulling ____________________ to around the equator. This allows warm water in the western Pacific Ocean to ___________. At the same time, the clouds and the rain over the warm water ___________.  

   El Nino's can change __________________. It can cause ___________ as well as ___________. They are also hard ____________, causing fish stocks ___________.

   However, El Nino is hard to predict because ________________________ depends on how winds affect the "Calvin wave" that has moved across the Pacific.

Part Ⅲ  Lick Observatory 11

An observatory is a place or building, especially a domed 12 structure, equipped and used for making observations of astronomical 13 or other natural phenomena 14. Have you ever been to such kind of place? In California, U.S.A., there is a very famous one.

 

A  Listen to the material. Guess the meaning of following words and phrases. Match column A with column B.

   Column A

   1. eucalypus

   2. seismographic station

   3. dome  

   4. in motion

   5. real estate

   6. celestial 15

   7. nostalgia  

   8. trade-off  

 

   Column B

   ___ the exchange of one thing for another

   ___ an affectionate and slightly sad feeling that one has for the past

   ___ connecting with heaven

   ___ proper in the from of building and land

   ___ a round roof

   ___ happening already

   ___ a place where instruments are used to measure and record the vibration 16 of earthquakes

   ___  a kind of evergreen 17 tree

B  Listen again. Supply the missing inform telescope in it.

 Lick Observatory  

   Location       ______________________ from the outskirts 18

    of San Jose, California at the _______ of

    Mount Hamilton 

   Origin of     Getting its name from ___________________

   the name      

   Number of      ________________________________________  

   telescopes held   

       The largest telescope held by Lick Observatory

   Size                        _____________ reflecting lens; the

                               ____ largest telescope of its kind

   Time when it was completed  __________________________________

   Present function            Used for some______; mostly used as

                               _________ for teachers and visitors

C  Now try this: listen to a more authentic version of the material. Complete the chart by comparing the 19th century telescope with the modern ones. Then answer the questions.

 

                        19th century telescope    Telescopes connected

                                                   to electronic

                                                   imaging devices

   Way of observation Direct viewing with _____  Viewing celestial 

                        ____________; sitting out  objects on_______  

          _________________________  _________________

   Gains and losses     _____________ ; going out  Nice; __________; 

                 every now and then; keep-  divorced ________

                 ing track of ____________  from ____________ 

  

   Questions:

   1. Why does the speaker say that those telescopes are overlooking the world of computer age manufacturing?

      _________________________________________

      _________________________________________

   2. Why is Lick Observatory a memorial to the businessman from whom it got its name?

      _________________________________________

      _________________________________________

   3. What does Mr. Stone mean by saying "It's a trade-off?

      _________________________________________

      _________________________________________

Part Ⅳ  More about the topic: The National Climatic Data Center

Climate is a global phenomenon. To support man's insatiable quest to understand the entire climate system, data on a global scale must be archived, analyzed 19, and made available. The National Climatic Data Center, or NCDC, is the world's largest active archive of weather data.

A  Complete the outline according to what you hear about the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in U.S.A.

   Outline

   Ⅰ. General information about NCDC

       A. establishment

          formed in ________, as a record center for America's Department of Commerce

       B. ____________________

          in the southern city of Asheville, North Carolina

       C. equipment used to learn about the weather

          ________________________________________

   Ⅱ. Functions

       A. collecting weather records gathered by a number of weather observers and U.S. government agencies

       B. _________________________________________

       C. assisting in production of written records, weather maps and pictures

       D. producing _______________________________

       E. receiving

B  Now listen again. Focus on some specific information and answer the questions.

   1. Could you mention some of the weather observers and government agencies that provide weather records for the NCDC?

      _________________________________________

      _________________________________________

 

   2. Why do we say that some of the information held by the NCDC is very old?

      _________________________________________

      _________________________________________

   3. How can you get the written records, weather maps and pictures apart from asking the NCDC?

      _________________________________________

      _________________________________________

   4. Could you mention some of the publications produced by the NCDC?

      _________________________________________

      _________________________________________

   5. How many requests did the NCDC receive last year?

      _________________________________________

      _________________________________________

Part Ⅴ  Do you know ...?

La Nina is sometimes called El Viejo, anti-El Nino, or simply "a cold event" or "a cold episode". Global climate La Nina impacts tend to be opposite those of El Nino impacts.

 

Listen to the science report. Fill in the missing information.

         La Nina  

   Meaning of the language    ___________________________

   Time when it develops      Winds near ________________

                              ______ strengthen; cold air

                              forms near _____________ of

                              Peru & Ecuador

   Time when it is strongest  During ___________ in the

                              Northern part of the world  

   Duration                   Lasting ____________ years

   Evidence                   Low water temperatures in__

                              ___________________________

   Impacts                    As severe as _____________:

                              making some places ________

                              than normal and others ____

 

Part Ⅵ  Reminder of key points in this unit

    Verb & Verb Phrase  Noun & Noun Phrase  Other

   Part Ⅰ take its grip       snow flurry    tremendous

    alleviate        almanac            potentially

                 climate zone 

                 cyclone 

                 hurricane 

   Part Ⅱ devastate           oceanographer       cyclic 

                               radar               in a row

                               ripple              unseasonably

                                                   depletive

   Part Ⅲ divorce from        observatory         in motion celestial

                               Silicon Valley      

                               eucalyptus tree

                               seismographic station

                               dome

                               real estate

                               lens

                               nostalgia

                               trade-off

   Part Ⅳ assist              data                 climatic

                               headquarters

                               coastguard

                               weather observer

                               observation

                               microfilm

                               observation station  atmospheric

   Part Ⅴ                     Peru

                               Ecuador