全國英語等級考試教材第三級Unit02

[00:00.00] CHAPTER 2 HOME AND FAMILY [00:14.00]Unit 2 Home and Family [00:20.77]Conversations [00:25.63]Wang Fang shows a photo of her family to Dianna. [00:32.18]How many members are these in your family? [00:36.62]There are five.Look at the photo. [00:41.67]The old couple sitting in the middle are my parents. [00:46.94]Oh,your parents!They smile so happily. [00:52.22]You're right.My mother was an English teacher in a middle school, [00:58.67]and my father was a doctor,now both of them are retired from work. [01:05.93]Your fluent English must be inherited from your mother,I think. [01:11.78]Maybe.When I was little,she liked to teach me English. [01:17.66]A wise mother!Who is the man on the left? [01:23.83]He's my elder brother. [01:27.59]He looks so handsome and energetic.What is he doing now? [01:33.47]He works in a big company in Shanghai as a manager. [01:39.32]Who is the girl on the right?Is that you? [01:44.88]No,that's my younger sister.She is studying in Los Angeles. [01:51.93]So the girl next to her must be you. [01:56.79]Yes,you're right. [02:00.76]You are still as lovely as you were. [02:05.44]Thank you,by the way,I'd like to see my parents this weekend. [02:12.49]Would you like to go with me?My mother is preparing my favorite dishes. [02:18.97]Have a taste,OK? [02:22.63]Oh,I'd love to.I'll be gald to meet your parents. [02:28.51]It seems you really have a happy family. [02:32.87]Mary's Daisy and brother-in-law are to travel to Europe, [02:41.33]now Daisy is talking to Mary. [02:45.69]Mary,come here,I will tell you a secret,OK? [02:50.97]OK! [02:54.21]We are going to Europe together.Can you remember what dad has said? [03:01.58]Travelling around the world,living life. [03:06.85]Let me give his necklace to you...to wear until I get back, [03:13.10]well,so you will not forget me. [03:17.85]Before we come back,what are you going to do? [03:23.42]To cry. [03:27.07]Oh,no,my poor little sister! [03:32.43]OK.Will you think of me in your travelling? [03:38.07]Sure.I promise to send you a postcard every day till I return. [03:45.31]That's great!I'll be waiting for you at home. [03:50.77]Kate and her brother Bill are talking about their cousin Nancy [03:59.02]and her husband Steve. [04:02.99]Kate,Nancy and Steve are breaking up. [04:08.14]It's really shame.I've heard that quarrel, [04:14.51]but they've always made up afterward. [04:18.87]Things are not working out this time.They are getting a separation soon. [04:25.53]What is going to happen to our nephew,little Jack? [04:30.81]Nancy is going to take him. [04:35.17]The cost of living is so high. [04:39.61]It will be very difficult for her to take the respon sibility. [04:45.57]She had better think the whole thing over. [04:50.25]She seems to have made up her mind. [04:54.90]She said she would rather be a single parent [04:59.26]than make do with an unhappy marriage. [05:04.22]Well,I hope her parents will be able to talk her out of it. [05:10.28]Passage Enjoy the Round [05:15.25]My old man was the original silver Lining Guy. [05:20.99]As a teenager I called him Opi the Mystic [05:26.84]because of his crazy optimism and his imperturbable ability to see any crisis as\ [05:35.80]"an opportunity for growth". [05:40.06]For 30 years my father had been senior representative [05:45.34]for one of the world's largest firms. [05:49.99]To Opti,hard work was a form of a play because work involved solving problems. [05:57.96]This life view fit the philosophy of his favorite game-golf. [06:04.20]He first put a club in my hand when I was ten. [06:09.35]I was in such a rush to be good [06:13.47]that he would urge me to"relax and enjoy the round. [06:19.53]The game ends far too soon."I didn't have a clue what he meant. [06:26.01]Eventually when I grew up, [06:30.16]golf became much more than a game between Dad and I. [06:35.42]It acted as a means of seeing who this funny, [06:40.14]oddball philosopher really was,and who I needed to become. [06:46.52]Dad was pushing 80.But he always laughed off my concerns. [06:53.07]Now the cancer came back.He had a month,two at most,he said, [06:59.53]and merely asked me to save my strength for the golf course. [07:04.78]We played a course near the English village of Freckleton. [07:10.73]During World War II [07:14.29]my father had served in an army on the outskirts of the village. [07:20.03]A local told us,"There was quite a memorial service because of the bember." [07:27.11]I glanced at Dad."Do you know the bomber?" [07:32.15]His complexion had turned pale."Yes.Come with me." [07:38.53]I followed him to a burying ground at the rear of a church. [07:44.40]"How did these folks die?"I asked. [07:49.73]"They weren't folks.They were children.Four and five-year-olds. [07:56.08]Thirty-eight in all.One of our bombers crashed into the school." [08:02.14]He shut his eyes."God,what a sight!I rememeber pulling away pieces of the plane, [08:10.50]bricks and all these precious kies inside.." [08:15.65]I saw tears gathering in my father's eyes, [08:20.40]There was one girl who was always laughing. [08:25.08]I called her Lady Sunshine.A week after the crash, [08:31.14]I found a note on the base of bulletin board from her parents. [08:36.49]They wondered if anybody had taken a photograph of her. [08:41.64]I took them all the photos I had. [08:45.90]We sat in their front parlor and cried. [08:50.26]I've never experienced anything quited so sad." [08:55.69]"I'm surprised you never told me this story."I said. [09:01.34]"The war ended for me right here,"he said. [09:07.29]"I promised myself I would never speak about it again." [09:12.86]The night before,he had tole me that when he'd joined the Army he was a cocky guy. [09:20.22]Then"Something happened"and he realized" [09:25.50]the only thing life really promises us is pain. [09:31.06]It's up to to create the joy". [09:35.43]Opti the Mystic had been born in that bomber's wreckage. [09:41.20]That night,my prayer was simple: [09:46.16]I hoped that my own children would never know the pain my Dad had known, [09:52.22]but if they must,I hoped the pain would make them little Optis. [09:58.57]Dad died the following march. [10:02.93]I was on the course near Freckleton again. [10:07.48]My partners,who had been warned what was coming,watched solemnly. [10:14.63]I told them my old man had said golf was a game that made you smile. [10:20.38]"So please smile."As they smiled, [10:25.66]I scattered my father's cremated ashes into the bunker. [10:31.54]After the round,a boy passed me. [10:36.39]"Did you shoot a good one?"I asked. [10:40.94]"Not so good,sir." [10:44.41]"That's okay,"I said."Enjoy it.The game ends too soon." [10:50.97]"Right.Thanks." [10:54.81]He walked on and I walked on-and then I stopped. [11:00.45]I'd heard it-my father's voice. [11:05.10]Words and Expressions [11:09.67]original teenager optimism imperturbable [11:14.00]adj.獨創(chuàng)的,新穎的 n.十幾歲的青少年 n.樂觀的;樂觀主義 adj.沉著的;冷靜的 [11:18.32]ability crisis opportunity growth [11:22.10]n.能力;才干 n.危險;危險期 n.機會，時機 n.生長,發(fā)展,增長 [11:25.87]senior representative involve solve [11:29.89]adj.高級的,地位較高 n.代表 vt.包括,涉及 vt.解決,解答 [11:33.92]philosophy golf club urge [11:37.39]n.哲學 n.高爾夫球 n.棍棒,球棒 vt.催促,力勸 [11:40.87]relax clue eventually oddball [11:44.89]vi.放松,休息,變從容 n.線索 adv.最后 adj.古怪的 [11:48.91]laugh off concern cancer outskirts [11:52.99]一笑置之 n.關心,關注 n.癌;腫瘤 n.邊界,市郊 [11:57.06]local memorial bomber complexion [12:00.64]n.當?shù)鼐用?adj.紀念的 n.轟炸機 n.面色 [12:04.22]crash sunshine bulletin parlor [12:08.31]v.墜落,墜毀 n.陽光 n.公告;報告 n.客廳,會客室 [12:12.39]cocky guy wreckage prayer [12:16.08]adj.驕傲的,自大的 n.家伙,人 n...的殘骸 n.祈禱 [12:19.76]partner solemnly scatter cremate [12:23.73]n.搭檔 adv.嚴肅地,莊嚴地 vt.使分散,散播 vt.火葬,焚化 [12:27.70]bunker [12:29.28]n.沙坑,障礙洞 [12:30.86]Exercises [12:34.42]Section I Listening Comprehension [12:39.46]Listen to the record. [12:43.22]Answer each question by choosing A,B,C or D from the four possible choices. [12:52.36]A [12:55.42]1.What do you think I should bring for your father as a gift? [13:01.87]Why not get him a mobile phone? [13:06.10]2.Why don't you and your family come for supper in our house this Sunday? [13:13.23]We would havt to if we weren't already invited by my brother. [13:19.40]3.May I offer you one of my cigarettes? [13:24.96]No,thankls.I'm sitting here only [13:29.61]because all the seats in the nonsmoking section are occupied. [13:35.80]4.Look,here is an advertisement for an apartment with two bedrooms. [13:42.86]It's really near our campus. [13:47.11]What's the number? [13:50.88]I will find out whether it's available for immediate occupancy. [13:57.22]5.Did you notice that man with a fashionable wig was our uncle? [14:04.49]Oh,I didn't recognize him at all. [14:09.24]B [14:12.40]One hot night last July,when our new baby wouldn't or couldn't sleep, [14:20.34]I tried evertthing I could think of: [14:24.71]a warm bottle,songs,gentle rocking.Nothing would settle him. [14:32.18]Guessing that I had a long night ahead of me. [14:37.03]I brought a portable TV into his room, [14:42.39]figuring that watching the late movie was [14:46.83]as good a way was any to kill off the hours until dawn. [14:51.98]To my surprise,as soon as the TV lit up,the baby quieted right down, [14:59.92]his little eyes focused brightly on the tube. [15:05.17]Not to waste an opportunity for sleep, [15:09.92]I then tiptoed out of the room. [15:14.78]Leaving him to watch the actors celebrate John Bellushi's forty-birthday. [15:21.26]My wife and I heard no more of the baby that night, [15:26.22]and the next morning when I went into his room, [15:30.90]I found him still watching TV himself. [15:35.76]I found in my baby's behavior a metaphor for the new generation. [15:42.11]My wife and I had given him some books to examine, [15:47.67]but the merely spit upon them. [15:52.03]When we read to him,he didn't feel comfortable. [15:57.07]And so it is in the schools. [16:01.44]We find that our students don't read, [16:05.80]that they look down upon reading and scold those of us who teach it. [16:12.17]All they want to do is to watch TV. [16:16.82]After this experience with the baby,however,I have reached a conclusion: [16:24.27]let them watch it. [16:27.92]If television is that much more attractive to children than books, [16:33.99]why should we fight it? [16:37.64]Let them watch all they want. [16:41.48]Supplementary Reading [16:45.14]Working Woman [16:48.51]Today more and more married women are working outside the home. [16:55.46]For most of them the reason is obvious: [17:00.73]they must work if their families are to survive. [17:05.78]But what about those who don't really have to work? [17:11.13]Do the rewards justify their efforts? [17:16.41]The amswer is pretty clearly"yes". [17:21.68]The most obvious benefit to woman working outside the home is financial. [17:28.22]The rishing costs of living have forced many to work [17:33.78]simply to keep their families going. [17:38.22]And even in those families in which the wife has a choice, [17:44.18]the extra income may reduce the financial burden on her husband [17:49.92]in paying for college for the children, [17:54.29]remodeling their house,or taking a long-delayed vacation. [18:00.92]For young couples the benefit is not being able to temodel a house, [18:07.76]it's the possibility of buying one in the first place. [18:13.93]If the wife does not work,buying a house is simply out of the question. [18:21.58]Two other points need to be considered,too. [18:26.44]Even when the children have left the house, [18:30.99]the drop in family costs if often replaced by the cost of supporting aging parents. [18:39.06]And second,a job provides a wife additional security, [18:45.83]psychological as well as financial, [18:50.79]in case of the illness or death of her husband. [18:56.35]A second benefit,particularly for women in their late thirties or forties, [19:03.80]is the relief from the boredom of housework. [19:10.25]They want a change from the deadly routine of washing clothes, [19:15.92]making beds,cleaning the furniture,and the like. [19:21.98]Not all jobs are exciting,of course; [19:26.84]but they provide a change and a challenge, [19:31.28]particularly for those who feel their abilities [19:35.95]and skills have been wasted at home. [19:40.60]In addition,women who work often have more to contribute to conversation [19:47.97]with their husbands and friends. [19:52.02]And as their conversation becomes live-lier, [19:57.06]more interesting,they become more lively and interesting themselves. [20:04.19]But perhaps the most significant benefit of working is psychological. [20:11.06]Most women have spent their early married lives looking after their homes, [20:17.23]their children and husbands. [20:21.67]When their children are gone and the housework is reduced, [20:27.55]they often find themselves unable to cope with the extra time on their hands. [20:34.39]Working gives them something constructive to do outside the home. [20:40.06]Meeting new people on the job, [20:44.42]putting long-neglected skills to use, [20:49.18]competing successfully in the marketplace [20:54.74]-all of these experiences help to build their self-confidence; [21:00.70]they give a woman a sense of her won importance. [21:06.16]As she proves to herself that she can bring home the bacon as well as cook it. [21:13.10]she will open herself to new experiences and broaden her interests. [21:20.57]But some people may ask,"Won't all this make a wife less dependent on her husband?" [21:28.91]Yes,quite likely. [21:32.96]Some husbands want their wives dependent upon them for all their needs. [21:40.32]But a truly happy,successful marriage means freedom for each partner to grow [21:47.98]with in the bonds of a loving relationship. [21:53.02]For some husbands the change will be painful,but all growth involves pain. [22:00.59]And,in the long run,it's an acceptable price to pay for the personal growth [22:07.86]and sense of achievement his wife will gain.

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