常春藤生活英语【23】生态足迹

How often do you eat meat? Do you recycle? Do you drive a car? Depending upon your answers, you may have a big or small ecological footprint. An ecological what? Of course we all have footprints. We leave them in the mud or after stepping in a puddle

常春藤生活英语【25】钓鱼趣事　Going Fishing

Last Sunday, I went fishing with my father. Once we got to the dock, we started preparing everything we needed. However, putting worms on the fish hooks was the last thing that I wanted to do. I thought worms were disgusting so I asked my father to d

常春藤生活英语【26】Barcodes　条形码的起源

In 1948, the Drexel Institute of Technology in America got a call from a local storeowner asking for help. He wanted the school to invent a machine that would help keep track of inventory as well as speed up the checkout process. Drexel asked two of

常春藤生活英语【18】Tie Me Up　领带的起源

Finding the perfect gift for dear old dad can be difficult. You don't want to get him anything too old-fashioned, and you don't want to waste your money buying something that's too young or hip. As a result, you end up getting him a tie. When he unwr

常春藤生活英语【34】Megacities—Taipei超级城市─

Legend has it that Taipei City began with just one immigrant nearly 200 years ago. On a dry lakebed, this man cleared some trees and bushes and built a farm. Soon, Taipei was rapidly growing in every direction. In 1949, two million people moved to Ta

常春藤生活英语【33】Squizzy the Black Squirrel松鼠史

A seven-year-old African-American girl, Marsha, was told by her teacher to make a new friend each day. Marsha wondered how she could do this because she saw the same kids in class every single day. She felt like she was already friends with everyone

常春藤生活英语【32】Workplace Safety职场安全

Wendy and Leo are at work. Leo: The restaurant is really busy today. We need more French fries. They're in the freezer. Wendy: I'll get themwoohaaaa! Leo: Oh my gosh! Are you all right? What happened? Wendy: I slipped. Why is there water on the floor

常春藤生活英语【31】给我冰淇淋

On a hot summer day, there is nothing more delicious than ice cream. It is refreshing, tasty, and can help cool you down. There are many different flavors to choose from and ice cream is something that almost everyone loves. But where did ice cream c

常春藤生活英语【30】In Hot Water 水深火热

Dialogue A Laura: How was work today? Ben: It was awful. I was very stressed. Laura: Why? What happened? Ben: My boss was a bit hot under the collar. Laura: Why? Ben: He doesn't think the new product I designed will sell like hot cakes. Laura: You're

常春藤生活英语【29】空中浩劫4

A passenger told a flight attendant that she smelled something funny. Another one asked a different flight attendant if something was wrong. Suddenly, smoke began to fill a 747 jet carrying 263 passengers. There was no real sign of fire but everyone

常春藤生活英语【24】动物们，我把身体变小了

In the jungles and deserts of Africa, people can take safaris and see wild animals in their natural habitat. This month, National Geographic Channel takes a safari in a place a lot closer to homea backyard garden. Nigel Marven leads his crew on this

常春藤生活英语【8】New Orleans 纽奥良

Destination: New Orleans 前进纽奥良 Dialogue A Karen is greeting Martin. Karen： Welcome to New Orleans! Martin： Thanks, I've come to experience Mardi Gras. Karen： Well, you're in the right place. Martin： I can't wait to see people in cos

常春藤生活英语【11】Good Karma for Penny　种善因得

We might forget the things we do, but that doesn't mean they forget us. If you believe in karma, then you believe everything a person does is a cause. Some day their actions will return as an effect. Whether it is a good deed or a mean trick, every a

常春藤生活英语【9】YouTube　一夕成名

YouTube 一夕成名 If you want to share movies with the world, you don't need to be a famous movie star. With YouTube, anyone can make their own videos and put them on the Internet. Three friends founded the website http://www.youtube.com in Februa

常春藤生活英语【43】A New Number One首富换人当

People love to keep track of who the world's richest person is. If you ask, almost anyone will say it is Bill Gates. After all, that has been the answer for over a decade. However, according to a Mexican business reporter, Carlos Slim Hel's US$67.8 b

常春藤生活英语【54】House Hunting　购屋大作战

House Hunting 购屋大作战 Dialogue A Zoe and Burt are looking for a new house. Zoe:Look! I found some great houses in the newspaper we can visit. Burt:OK. I'll look at them later. Zoe:You agreed that we would move to a bigger house, but it seems

常春藤生活英语【50】Inside: The Emperor's Treasure　

Taiwan's National Palace Museum has been a place of wonder since it was built. Inside, it houses the treasure of the Chinese emperors. This collection of more than 600,000 objects is said to be the most important in Chinese history. Now, National Geo

常春藤生活英语【51】Marry Me!　求婚记

It was Valentine's Day, and Jenny and her boyfriend were hanging out in the night market. Every year they did the same thing. Even so, Jenny really enjoyed being together with her boyfriend. At first, it seemed like just an ordinary date. Jenny and h

常春藤生活英语【40】Employment Traps　职场陷阱

Dialogue A Seth and Fran are meeting for lunch. Fran: Congratulations on the new job. Seth: Thanks! I'm really excited about it. Fran: What are you going to be doing? Seth: I'll be working in sales. The hours are flexible and they say I can earn a lo

常春藤生活英语【41】Pedaling to Health踏向健康

One of the most famous bike makers in the world is Taiwan's own Giant. When Giant started in 1972 in Taichung, it only produced bikes for bigger companies like Schwinn. In 1986, Giant decided to compete in the high-end bikes business because the mark