College English Listening and Speaking Course 4 - Unit 8听力原文(完整版).doc

College English Listening and Speaking Course 4 Listening Text (NEW)Unit 8 AgingPart A Pre-listening TaskAdditional questions for discussion1. What are the common ailments of the elderly?It is common for old people to suffer from one or several chronic illnesses (慢性病). I guess many of these illnesses are related to a decline in their physical and mental abilities. Take my grandparents for example. My maternal grandfather (外祖父) has high blood pressure, and my grandmother has diabetes (糖尿病). When I visited my grandparents last time, I noticed that they sometimes complained about pains in their back or legs, and they seemed to have a hard time remembering new telephone numbers. 2. What are the secrets of a long life?As far as I know, there are quite a few dos and donts. Lets name a few on the do side first. Have a balanced diet with fresh vegetables, fruits, grains, meats and milk; drink a cup of red wine every day; have regular, moderate exercise; have adequate sleep; get regular medical check-ups and have any problem taken care of early; maintain an optimistic (乐观的) view on things; and keep a healthy lifestyle. On the dont side: dont smoke or drink; dont eat too much fat or salt; dont have too much stress; dont shut yourself up from the outside world; dont refuse to use your brain, and etc. In addition to the above, a little bit of good luck wont hurt. Then, you will live happily to be 100 years old.Part B Listening TasksA Terrible DiseaseThe phone rang and it was my husband Jack asking me to take some lunch to his office. As I drove off, I noticed a new shopping center. Strange I hadnt noticed it before. Near his office I also saw a fire station I didnt recognize. When did they build that new shopping center? I asked Jack. And Im glad to see that new fire station. Itll give a good landmark. Diana, theyve been there for ages, Jack scolded. Bewildered, I became angry and, starting up the engine, began to pull away. Then I braked. Where was the exit? Suddenly, nothing was familiar. I realized I had no idea how to get home. I had to stop again and again to ask for directions. Eventually, I got home. A 30-minute drive had taken me four hours. Two months later, at the office where I worked as a legal researcher, a smart young man approached me. Hi, Diana. Good to see you, he said, smiling. I hesitated, then smiled with resignation. Please forgive me, its one of those days. I simply cant bring your name to mind. Diana, Im your cousin Richard, he said very slowly. After that, I was constantly making mistakes and kept forgetting my way around the building. In the end, I made the painful decision to resign from work. I also started pretending to be a tourist when I got lost because residents tend to give much better directions to visitors. Desperate to discover what was wrong with me, I made an appointment with a neurologist. After various tests he told me I had Alzheimers disease. I felt numb. Id hoped to find I was worrying about nothing, but now my worst fears were confirmed. And I was only 53! When I told Jack and my three grown-up children about my disease, their reaction was quiet but supportive. Stop worrying, Jack said. Well take good care of you. That night, I was looking through some papers belonging to my mother, whod died of cancer years before, when I saw her maps. They were hand-drawn and covered every place my mother went, including my house. As I examined them, I remembered Mothers other eccentric habits. She wouldnt drive out of her neighborhood or at night. One day, she hadnt even recognized me. Could she have had Alzheimers, too, without anyone realizing? Now at 57, on good days Im filled with hope and determination, but on bad days I have the worst sense of being alone. Ive started a support group for other sufferers, for I know its essential to have contact with people who are walking through the same maze. Jacks coping well. While he still dreams of waking up to find all this has been a horrible nightmare, hes assured me that I can depend on him. When we married he didnt know for better or worse included Alzheimers. But neither did I.Questions:1. What does the story mainly tell us?2. Which of the following is one of the symptoms of the speakers disease?3. What can we learn from the story?4. What do you know about the speaker from the story?5. What can be inferred about the speakers mother?Speaking Tasks I: Reflections:Life can sometimes be very cruel. At 53, the woman in the story seemed to have everything she could wish for - a good job, a caring husband and three grown-up children. But just when everything seemed so good, she spotted the first signs of a terrible disease, Alzheimers. She failed to recognize buildings that were familiar to her before and even forgot how to get home from her husbands workplace. A thirty-minute drive took her four hours. And her situation worsened quickly. Once she even failed to recognize her cousin. Work, too, became difficult as she constantly made mistakes and had trouble finding her way around her office building. Eventually she made the painful decision to quit her job. The heaviest blow came when results of medical tests announced that she had the incurable disease of Alzheimers. Her worst fears were confirmed. However, far from burying herself in tears and self-pity, she took a positive attitude toward her illness. She learned to live with the disease. Her family, too, were supportive. Her husband and children promised to take good care of her. She also got strength from her deceased mother. Looking through some of her mothers things, she came upon evidence that her mother, too, might have suffered from Alzheimers without their realizing it. The carefully drawn maps indicated how difficult it must have been for her mother to find her way around. Her positive attitude probably helped to slow down the worsening of her disease. Four years after she was diagnosed with the disease, she was not only coping well but was also able to help other patients suffering from the same disease. II. Debating - Topic: Arguments for or against mercy killingPerspectives: 1. From the perspective of the dying mans son (for)My father was diagnosed as having a tumor in his brain a year ago. Last June a neurosurgeon removed the tumor but to try to kill any remaining tumor cells, my father has to undergo radiotherapy and chemotherapy alternatively for twelve weeks. The treatment made him sick and he lost all appetite for food. And he has to be fed through a tube let down into his nose. Two months ago, his situation worsened even more. Tumor cells were found in his bones, which caused great pain to him and seriously impaired his ability to move. All day and night he can only lie on his back, unable even to turn. Seeing him in this condition breaks my heart. He used to be such an energetic person, always busy working and never idle for a moment. But now his illness has reduced him to a motionless being. In his waking moments, he begs me to stop the treatment and let him die in dignity. I know the pain is killing him. As medicine has proved useless in his case, I think mercy killing may be the only way to end my fathers suffering. It is meaningless to prolong his life when there is no chance of recovery.2. From the perspective of a doctor (against)I dont think I can say yes to the request of the patients son. The patient in this case is indeed suffering from great pain, but we cant say that there is no chance for him to recover. The science of medicine is advancing very fast and new drugs to treat cancer are being developed almost daily. If we do our best to preserve his life, we may be able to save his life after all. I think a doctors duty is above all to preserve a patients life, not to terminate it. A doctor can never state that his patient has no chance of recovery, no matter how bad the situation may seem. There have been many cases in which a patient miraculously survives a serious condition. Medical records have shown that people may suddenly awake from a coma that has lasted months or even years. Human life may be less fragile than we realize. And human life is too precious for us to terminate it. As for mercy killing, I think it is much more an ethical issue than a medical one. It is not for the doctor to decide whether to preserve or terminate a human beings life. There must be laws that we can act in accordance with. Besides, mercy killing, if not properly administered, may expose sick people to all kinds of danger. So according to the present law, Im afraid no doctor in our country would agree to practice mercy killing on the young mans father. C:Old Ages Problems and Opportunities Old age in the United States presents many problems and opportunities. As a result of improved medical services , people live longer than they used to. This increase in longevity creates a wide range of social needs. The medical specialty of gerontology (老年医学) has opened up new research areas and careers related to the elderly. Because of changes in the family structure from extended to nuclear, the elderly have to create existences apart from basically small family units. This situation is complicated by the fact that many of their friends may have died and their children may have moved away. The elderly must set up a new life. Often, the elderly must rely on a fixed income - Social Security and pensions - and gradually diminished savings. While some live with their children, many more live by themselves, with a friend or in a nursing home. However, the increasing proportion of elderly people in society has given them a new political power. They have formed organizations to voice their own needs and concerns to local state and federal agencies. Lobbying(游说)for such issues as increased Social Security benefits, better health care, income tax benefits and rent controls has brought to the public an increased awareness of the determination of the elderly to assert their ability to deal effectively with their own lives. Jokes 1. An old lady was being interviewed by the press after she had reached the age of 110.What do you think is the reason for your long life? they asked her.She thought for a while. Well, she said, I suppose its because I was born such a long time ago.2. I think grandma needs new glasses.What makes you say that, son?Shes been watching two pairs of fathers trousers going around in the washing machine - and thinks shes watching a wrestling match on TV.3. At a Weight Watchers meeting an elderly member, who recently joined the club, was disappointed because she had lost only a few pounds during her first week. She complained, A friend of mine, who was also on Weight Watchers, said shed lost ten pounds her first week. She said Id do the same.The leader, stressing the idea that slow weight loss is permanent weight loss, asked, Who is she to say? Is she a doctor?No, came the reply.Is she a nurse?No.Well, is she a nutritionist, a Weight Watchers leader? Anything?The new member thought a moment, then replied, I think shes a liar.Movie Time - AgingDespite the futility of it, theres a constant fight against the inevitability of aging. Tired and weakened skin is sewn and stapled for those obsessed about retaining their youth. But where will it lead? Will the great diversity of the family of man be eradicated in favour of a more universal, ageless model? And will that model conform to a standard measure of beauty?Perhaps in the future geneticists wont need to clone the human species if we already make clones of ourselves. Countless millions are spent every year on products that promise to eradicate lines and wrinkles. Cosmetics companies play on one of our oldest fears and offer the promise of eternal youth. But the biological clock ticks on remorselessly despite hundreds of remedies which suggest otherwise.Even the most beautiful grow old eventually. The final hope for those seeking immortality comes from the pages of science fiction. Cryonics is the ultimate in body obsession. Freezing the dead body with the aim of restoring its vitality at a future date is far from a proven route to ever-lasting life. The technology doesnt yet exist to bring it back to life again, but it is becoming an increasingly popular option for those so obsessed with their bodies they dont want to leave them, even in death. It is perhaps the most telling illustration of the 20th centurys greatest obsession: ourselves.Time to talkThis picture shows some aging problems old people face. Their skin wrinkles, hair turns grey, hands become bony, eyesight is failing, etc. They may lose the ability to walk and have to use the wheelchair. If unlucky, they may lose their husband or wife and live a lonely life. These problems, however, are unavoidable in the life process. So old people need more help, care and love from us.In this picture we see a woman in a white bathrobe. Her hair is wrapped up in a towel and her face is covered with some sort of green paste and her eyes are covered with two slices of cucumber. Whats she doing? Shes giving skin treatment to her face. This is a very fashionable practice among women in western countries, and its becoming popular in big cities in China, too. This treatment can delay the aging process of the skin.This picture shows the cover of a book - The Psychology of Aging. It is said that our world is becoming a world of elderly people. Because of the welfare of health care and social progress, more people are living longer lives, especially in the developed countries. However, aging problems arise. In addition to their physical problems, the elderly people may have mental problems as well, such as loneliness, depression and even despair. So its very important to help the elderly get rid of such problems so that they can live a better life in their old age.Part D Home ListeningA Walking MiracleOld age is often accompanied by various kinds of illnesses. When he woke up on a July morning in 2001, Robert Tools, 59, could hardly lift his head off his pillow. He had suffered from heart troubles since a decade ago, which was made worse by his diabetes. The six-foot-three-inch former librarian and teacher became so weak that his weight had dropped from more than 200 pounds to 140. Tools was too sick for a heart transplant. So he agreed to let two surgeons try something that had never been done before. That afternoon Tools became the first person ever to be implanted with a self-contained artificial heart. Eight days later, Tools left the hospital for the first time to take a stroll through a city park, with his artificial heart pumping blood through his body. The heart is powered by a battery implant that holds a 30-to-40 minute c