大学体验英语听说教程 第四册17

　　Unit 17 Blasted McDonald’s!

Vocabulary Task

Script and Answers

1. A: You asked the homeless boy to eat yesterday, didn’t you?

B: Yes, he began to lick his chops at the sight of the food.

A: Oh, poor boy! He must have been very hungry.

B: You are right. He ate like nobody’s business and he told me he hadn’t eaten for two days.

2. A: I’d like to invite Jim to eat with us this weekend.

B: I think you’d better not.

A: Why?

B: You haven’t been here very long. Everyone knows he never offers to buy anything but always takes the lion’s share and eats till his great satisfaction.

3. A: Hi, Sue! Here is a box of chocolate for you!

B: Thank you. I love chocolate. I can eat half a box at one sitting.

A: Half a box? You really get a sweet tooth.

B: I do. I always work up an appetite at the sight of the sweet things.

4. A: I am so hungry. What about you, Nancy?

B: Me, too. Well, it’s time to satisfy the inner man. .

A: How about dining on French food?

B: Excellent! Let’s go.

5. A: Oh, my Goodness!

B: What’s the matter?

A: Jane disposed of all the salad and ice-cream I prepared for dinner.

B: She may look delicate and ladylike, but give her a chicken and she can really pack it away.

Listening Task

2. Listening Activity

1) First Listening

Answers

1. A British study of how diet affects the health of new mothers and their babies produced the surprise finding that vegetarian 1 women are more likely to have girls.

2. In the sample group of vegetarians 2 there were 81.5 boys born for every 100 girls.

3. The study also found that vegetarian mothers were less likely to smoke during pregnancy--10 percent did so, compared with 20 percent of meat-eaters.

2) Second Listening

Answers

1. Altogether 5 942 pregnant women were involved in the study when they were booked in Nottingham’s City Hospital during 2001. According to the researchers, vegetarian mothers were defined as pregnant women who avoided meat and fish. Nearly five percent were vegetarian among them, a total of more than 250 women.

2. To further test their surprise findings, they increased the sample number to what scientists call a “statistically significant” level. The study was extended for a further six months so that the sex of more babies could be looked at. The results, covering around 150 more vegetarian women, were “just about exactly the same”.

3. In an article outlining their findings in the British journal, Hudson suggested a further study could be carried out to investigate whether the diet of fathers affects the sex of children.

Script

Vegetarian mothers have more girls

A British study of how diet affects the health of new mothers and their babies produced the surprise finding that vegetarian women are more likely to have girls, one of the report’s authors said yesterday.

In what is thought to be the first study of its kind, researchers at Nottingham University in central England found significant differences in the sex of babies born to vegetarian and meat and fish-eating women.

“We were very surprised. This was something we were never looking to find,” Pauline Hudson, one of the report’s authors said.

“We were examining the health conditions in vegetarian and non-vegetarian mothers, looking at things like hemoglobin levels, which show how much iron the mother has in her blood, and birth weights.” Altogether 5 942 pregnant women were involved in the study when they were booked in Nottingham’s City Hospital during 2001. According to the researchers, vegetarian mothers were defined as pregnant women who avoided meat and fish. Nearly five percent were vegetarian among them, a total of more than 250 women.

“The birth ratio in Britain is that for every 106 boys born there are 100 girls, that’s pretty constant,” said Hudson. In our sample group of vegetarians there were 81.5 boys born for every 100 girls.” To further test their surprise findings, they increased the sample number to what scientists call a “Statistically significant” level. The study was extended for a further six months so that the sex of more babies could be looked at. The results, covering around 150 more vegetarian women, were “just about exactly the same.” The study also found that vegetarian mothers were less likely to smoke during pregnancy--10 percent did so, compared with 20 percent of meat-eaters.

These differences were attributed to the likelihood that a vegetarian and health-conscious lifestyle tends to go together, and that some extreme vegetarian mothers choose to avoid bottled milk containing dairy products.

Previous studies have shown that diets high in some metal elements like calcium 3 and magnesium 4 will produce more male births, but there is no evidence that a vegetarian diet is low in these elements. In an article outlining their findings in the British journal, Hudson suggested a further study could be carried out to investigate whether the diet of fathers affects the sex of children.

Real World Listening

1. Predict

Answers

□ None of the above.

2. Get the Main Ideas

Answers

Question 1:

□ They are convenient.

□ They must be doing something right.

□ They localize the flavor in some other countries in order to cater 5 for the people there.

□ You know exactly what you are going to get every time you go there.

Question 2:

□ Everywhere you turn there is another blasted McDonald’s.

□ There’re over 8 000 McDonald’s restaurants in the US alone. By the year 2020, everyone will eat at McDonald’s every day!

□ The average McDonald’s franchise 6 rakes in over $1 million a year.

□ One in every seven American millionaires got their start at McDonald’s.

Script and Answers to Self-study

Hundred billion burgers

Lucy: Do you make hamburgers at home?

Eliza: Frankly 7 speaking, I (1) am tired of hearing about hamburgers.

Lucy: Oh, (2) I’m starving. Hey, there is a McDonald’s up ahead.

Eliza: There’s always a McDonald’s up ahead. (3) Everywhere you turn there is another blasted McDonald’s.

Lucy: (4) What’s wrong with that? Hey, they are convenient.

Eliza: They’re too convenient! Anything would be convenient if it could be found on every street corner. I’m (5) just plain sick of seeing the “Golden Arches” everywhere I turn.

Lucy: I like McDonald’s.

Eliza: I’m sick of McDonald’s. Did you know that there are over (6) 8 000 McDonald’s restaurants in the US alone and over 11 000 franchises 8 worldwide? (7) By the year 2020, everyone will eat at McDonald’s every day!

Lucy: They’re definitely everywhere. But they must be doing something right; they’ve sold over 100 billion burgers. They are even in Japan. Did you know they even (8) put special Japanese sauces on some of their burgers in Japan?

Eliza: Whatever, I just don’t think their food is all that great.

Lucy: But at least (9) their product is consistent; you know exactly what you are gonna get every time you go there.

Eliza: Did you know that their mascot 9, Ronald McDonald is now (10) recognized by 96 percent of all American schoolchildren? They are the largest minimum-wage employer in America and own more (11) real estate than any other company on earth.

Lucy: I heard that a person working at a McDonald’s in Moscow makes more than (12) the average Russian doctor does.

Eliza: That’s disgusting! The average McDonald’s franchise rakes in (13) over $1 million a year. They say that one in every seven American millionaires (14) got their start at McDonald’s.

Lucy: All this food trivia is making me hungry. Let’s hurry and find a fast food place.

Eliza: Okay. What do you feel like eating?

Lucy: I’ve got this (15) intense craving 10 for a Big Mac.

Eliza: I just lost my appetite.