外研社必修五英语M1听力材料.doc

Interviewer:Hello, and welcome to todays edition of In the air. As you know every week on this programme we discuss an aspect of the way we live now, and todays topic is the language we speak English. So thats something which affects us all. The question is, whats going to happen to the way we speak English in the future? Are we all going to speak like Americans? Or will British English still exist? Later on were going to ask you to phone in and give your views on the subject, but first were going to speak to two young people, one American, and one British, who have spent time on an educational exchange in the others country because we thought perhaps they would have some interesting ideas on the subject.Interviewer:Id like to speak to our American guest first. Hi, Samantha, welcome to the show, and welcome to England!Samantha:Thanks!Interviewer:Where are you from?Samantha:Im from Albany, in New York State.Interviewer:When did you arrive in the UK?Samantha:Two months ago, in September, at the beginning of the school term.Interviewer:How did you get to hear about the exchange?Samantha:I saw an advertisement in my school magazine back in the states.Interviewer:Where are you attending school now?Samantha:In Leeds, in Yorkshire.Interviewer:And how are you getting on?Samantha:Im getting on just fine, now that I understand the local accent.Interviewer:So, it was difficult at first?Samantha:Yes, because I didnt get what people were saying for a couple of days. I think that was the biggest problem I had when I arrived.Interviewer:But then you got used to it?Samantha:Yes and now it seems quite normal. In fact, in some ways the accent here, in the north of England, reminds me of American English.Interviewer:How do you mean?Samantha:Well, like they say bath instead of bath, or Do you want to dance instead of dance, like they do in other parts of Britain.Interviewer:Whats been the most positive thing about the exchange so far?Samantha:Definitely the people, especially the other students in my class. Theyre really friendly.Interviewer:Is there anything else you like about living in Britain?Samantha:Lots of things, like the music scene in Leeds, for instance. I like Leeds because theres more going on here than back home in the states. The school has a creative music laboratory, which is really interesting.Interviewer:Ive got a question to ask you, Samantha, about the future of English. Do you think in the future everyone will speak American English?Samantha:No, why should they? Since English is spoken all over the world, I guess its only natural that there are lots of varieties.Interviewer:So do you think youll go home speaking with a north of England accent?Samantha:Oh no, I didnt mean that!Interviewer:Well now Id like to turn to our other guest, another exchange student, thats eighteen-year-old Callum Nightingale. Callum, you recently returned from the US. How long were you there?Callum:Ten months altogether.Interviewer:And where were you?Callum:I was in a fertile agricultural region, in a fairly small town in Mississippi.Interviewer:Thats quite a long way south, isnt it?Callum:Yes, it is.Interviewer:What was the most difficult problem you had?Callum:I reckon it was the climate; it was hot and humid for a lot of the time.Interviewer:How did you get on with American English?Callum:Well, I didnt really have any problems with the accent. It was easy to understand, they speak rather slowly.Interviewer:But did they understand you?Callum:Thats a good point. I think they did. As I was the only British person in the school they made a fuss of me. The girls all said my accent was cute.Interviewer:What was the best moment of your stay?Callum:I think it was the prom, thats the school dance at the end of the year.Interviewer:I want to ask you a couple of questions about American English. Did you find that a lot of words are different?Callum:Yes, especially at school they have grades, we have years, then the names of subjects are a bit different, like civics, which basically means law and government. And some sports are different football means American football, not soccer I actually played in the soccer team. Then the American word for maths is math, without the s that seems like a very small detail. But the first time I heard it, it sounded strange . but you get used to it. When I came home my mum said I had picked up an American accent, but its worn off now I think.Interviewer:Callum, do you think that in the future everybody will speak an American variety of English?Callum:Maybe yes