book3 Unit 5听力答案与文本

Unit 5

Part Two

Listening I

Every culture has its own way of saying things, its own special expressions. These are the living speech of a people. The "soap" expressions in English are just one example.

Soap operas are radio and television plays about the problems and emotions in human

relationships. They are called soap operas because the first programs—years ago—were paid for by soap-making companies.

Like musical operas, soap operas are not about real people. And critics charge that they do not represent a balanced picture of real life. They note that almost everyone in a soap opera has a serious emotional problem, or is guilty of a crime. And there are several crises in every program. Yet, soap opera fans do not care about what the critics say. They love the programs and watch them every day.

Such loyalty has made soap operas very popular in the United States. In fact, a few programs are so popular that they have been produced with the same actors for many years.

Another expression that uses the word "soap" is "soap box".

There was a time when soap and other products were shipped in wooden boxes. The boxes were small, but strong. You could stand on one to see over the heads in a crowd or to be seen in a crowd. Soap boxes were a simple, easy way to make yourself taller if you wanted to give a public speech. Such soap box speeches usually were political and one-sided. The speakers shouted their ideas to anyone who walked by. Many talked for hours, refusing to get off their soap boxes.

Today, you don't need a wooden box to make a soap box speech. Anyone, anywhere, who talks endlessly about a cause, is said to be on a soap box.

Another quieter way to win support or gain influence is to "soft-soap" a person. This means to use praise or other kind words to get the person to do what you want.

Exercise 1

1. plays/ real people/ real life/ emotional problem/ loyalty/ popular

2. public speech / make themselves taller/ political one-sided

3. soft-soap/ praise/ kind

Exercise 2

1. F 2. F 3. T 4. T 5.T 6.T

Listening II

Interviewer: Do you think learners should aim to speak English with a native-speaker

pronunciation?

Interviewee: That's a difficult question to answer. I think the most important thing is to be

understood easily. For most learners, it's not necessary or desirable to speak like a native speaker. For some learners, for example, those who eventually want to teach English, or be interpreters perhaps, a native-speaker pronunciation is the ultimate goal. At least, that's what I think.

Interviewer: Children often do not want to speak English with a native-speaker pronunciation. Why not?

Interviewee: In general, children are splendid mimics and imitate strange sounds very easily and well. However, it is true that most children do not want to sound "English" when they are speaking English. This may be partly due to shyness but I think the main reason is that most children want to belong to a group—they dress alike, listen to the same music, share the same opinions and hobbies. Even if a child can speak English like a native speaker, he or she will usually choose not to—unless, of course, the rest of the group speaks with a native-speaker pronunciation too.

Interviewer: What is the main reason why adults find pronunciation difficult?

Interviewee: Numerous reasons have been offered for the difficulties which many adults find with pronunciation and, no doubt, there is some truth in all of these. It seems to be the case that children are better mimics than adults. But if an adult really wants to achieve a native-speaker pronunciation, then he or she can. It is NOT the student's own language that prevents him or her from achieving a native-speaker pronunciation in English. It is the fact that the adult student has a strong sense of national identity. In other words, he or she wants to be identified as a German or Brazilian speaking English. In my opinion, this sense of national identity is more important than other explanations, such as the greater anxiety of adults or the effect of their own language habits.

Exercise 1

1. C 2. A 3. D

Exercise 2

1. be understood easily 2. necessary/ desirable

3. splendid 4. prevents from achieving

5. anxiety / effect

Part Three More Listening

Practice One

Receptionist: English Language Center. May I help you?

Caller: Yes. I'm calling to find out more information about your program.

Receptionist: Well, first of all, the purpose of our program is to provide language-learning

opportunities for our part of the U.S. [Uh-huh.] For example, some students need to learn the basic functional language skills for their jobs. Others need intensive English so that they can enter a U.S. university.

Caller: Okay. I'm calling for a friend interested in attending a U.S. university.

Receptionist: We have a variety of courses that can help her, from basic communication courses to content-based classes such as computer literacy, intercultural communication, and business English.

Caller: Great. What are your application deadlines for the next semester?

Receptionist: Well, we ask applicants to apply at least two months before the semester begins.

[Uh-huh.] This gives us time to process the application and issue the student's I-20.

Caller: What is an I-20?

Receptionist: Oh, an I-20 is a form giving our permission for a student to study in our program. The student will have to take this form to the U.S. embassy in their home country to apply for the F-1 student visa.

Caller: I see. What's the tuition for a full-time student in your courses?

Receptionist: It's two thousand thirty dollars.

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