Conversation(上一个录音里的)18.doc

Conversation（上一个录音里的）My brother Mike has just done a course at the green park camping school.Really! What made him decide to do that？Well for one thing ,some boys in his class decided todo it and they dared him to go with them.You mean he didnt really want to go?I think he wanted to go but I think he was also a little frightened. Of course,now that hes done it, hes very pleased with himself and hes always talking about it .So he enjoyed it,didnt he?Not exactly.i think hes enjoying the feeling of having done it more than he enjoyed actually doing it!What sort of things did he do?Oh, all sort of open-air activities:hiking,camping.one thinghe had to do was to capsize a canoe and then right it again without getting out. He said the water was very cold but that he hardly noticed it at the time.Why not?He was too busy righting the canoe!That doesnt sound very comfortable at this time of the year.Thats what I said when he told me . on another occasion he had to spend a day and a night by himself in the open country.Was he frightened?He was at first ,apparently ,but then he got used to it.It seems to me that the course did him a lot of good .i expect its made him more self-reliant.Thats what he says and now he wants me to go ! 18Would you proceed the sport section please ?Sure, if you give me the class find out and load new sectionConversation oneHello Mark have you ever played crickey?No,never ,have you, John?No but I once watched a game at the crickey club,Did you enjoy it?No ,not much,though everybody else seemed to ,I found it very slow,nothing much seemed to happen, perhaps that was because I didnt really understand what was going on.It is big like baseball isnt it.Well ,not really ,in baseball there is only one man with a bat but in cricket there are two.Both at the same time?No,they take turns.they each stand at one end of the pitch in front of some sticks called “stumps”or the “wicket”.A member of the other team ,the “bowler”,throws the ball at the stumps.The batsman tries to protect the wicket and hit the ball as far as he can.What happens when he hits the ball?The batsman run to change positions. Thats called a “run”.they do it as many times as they can.What does the other team do?One of them runs after the ball and throws it at the wicket.if he hits it while the batsmen are still running,one of them is out.That sounds a little like baseball.Not really.I thiink baseball is more sxciting.Yes ,so do I.Conversation TWOExcuse me ,are you going to buy concert tickets?Yes ,I am, so are all these people infront of me Have you been here long.About 45 minutes, Ive moved forward a total of about 3 feet in that time.You are kidding.Not at all, there was a couple up ahead of me who got so disgusted and they finally gave up and left. Theysaid theyd been waiting for more than an hour.Terrific does anyone know whats causing the delay?If so ,no one has let us know .it could be that there arent enough people selling tickets this afternoon. Or maybe their computer is down .im sure the concert hasnt been cancelled.I just hope they dont run out of tickets before I get up there.That reslly would be annoying,wouldnt it?I guess I should have come before lunch ,or has it been like this all day?Apparently it has .in fact ,before I came I tried calling to charge my tickets over the phone,just to avoid this long wait. But they are not taking phone orders ,or checks,or credit cards.its cash or nothing, and you have to come in person.Well,there are two more hours before the tickets office closes.tickets for a good concert are worth waiting for .so I think Ill justmake myself comfortable.Passage oneDo you remember the time when people were a little nicer and gentler with each other? I certainly do. And I feel that much of the world has somehow gotten away from that. Too often I see people rushing into elevators without giving those inside a chance out first, or never saying “Thank you” when others hold the door open for them. We get lazy. And in our laziness, we think that something like a simple “Thank you” doesnt really matter. But it can matter very much. The fact that no matter how nicely we dress, or how beautifully we decorate our home, we cant be truly elegant without good manners because elegance and good manners always go hand in hand. In fact, I think of the good manners as a sort of hidden beauty secret. Havent you noticed that the kindest, most generous people seem to keep getting prettier? Its funny how that happens. But it does. To take the long-lost art of saying “Thank you” is just like wearing a little makeup or making sure your hair is neat. Getting into the habit of saying “Thank you” can make you feel better about yourself. Good manners add to your image while an angry face makes the best dressed person look ugly.Passage twoDuring World War , Great Britain and the United States tried to deal with the problem of an international agreement on money. The two countries tried to set up a formal system that everyone would use to exchange money between countries. The system they set up is usually called the Breton Woods System. The system got this name from the town in New Hampshire in the United States where the international agreement was signed. The Breton Woods Agreement was signed in 1944. When it was signed, it seemed to be a good system. The Breton Woods Agreement had two main parts. The first part concerned exchange rates. The countries promised not to change their exchange rates too often. This was a very important part of the agreement. It helped to stabilize the international finance system. The second part of the Breton Woods Agreement concerned a currency fund. The fund was supposed to help countries that needed currency. All the countries contributed some of their currency to the fund. They could borrow the necessary currency from the fund. This helped all of the member countries to do business with each other. This second part of the agreement was called the International Monetary Fund (IMF).Passage ThreeMore than 700 years ago, the Prince of Wales had a very big and brave dog, Gilbert. One day the Prince wanted to go hunting with his men. He told his dog to stay at home and look after his baby son. The baby was in a wooden cradle, which was like a small bed. When the Prince came back from hunting, Gilbert ran out to meet his master. Then the Prince saw blood on Gilberts jaws and head. “What have you done?” The Prince said. He rushed into his home and looked for his baby son. The cradle was lying on its side on the floor. The clothes were torn and there was blood on them. “So you killed my son!” The Prince said angrily. “You unfaithful dog!” He took out his sword and killed the dog. Just as Gilbert was dying, he managed to bark for a moment. Then the Prince heard a baby call to the dog.The Prince ran out of the house and saw his son lying on the ground unhurt. Near him was a dead wolf. Then the Prince knew that Gilbert had defended the baby and killed the wolf. The Prince ran back into the house but he was too late. Gilbert was dead. The Prince was very sad indeed. Tears ran down his face when he realized he had killed his faithful friend. After this, the Prince never smiled again. Every morning at dawn, he walked up the mountain so that he could stand by the dogs grave for a few minutes.PassageCats are creatures of habit. They like to go to sleep about the same time everyday and for a certain length of time. They seem to have a natural clock inside them that tells them when to sle