现代大学英语听力2Unit-9

...

Task1

Man:IhadthegirlsrunningincircleswhenIwasincollege.Woman:Ineverknewyouwerethecampushero.

Man:Iwasn't.Iwasthewomen'strackcoach.

2)Instructor:Mr.Jenkins,whyareyoulate?

Student:IguessbecausetheclassstartedbeforeIgothere.

3)Woman:Doctor,youhavetocomeimmediately—mybabyswallowedsomecamerafilm!

Doctor:Justcalmyourself,nothingwilldevelop.

4)Customer:Waiter,thiswateriscloudy.

Waiter:Thewater'sokay,madam.It'sjustthattheglassisalittledirty.

Woman:Thebridewearswhiteonherweddingdayasasymbolofhappiness,forthisisthemostjoyousdayinherentirelife.

Man:Whydoesthegroomwearblack?

Task2

Catherine:IthinkfirstlyIfindtheFrenchlanguage,verymelodictolistento.

It's

very

easyonthe

ear,

andit

almost

soundspoetic.

Nomatter

whatkind

of

mood

theindividualisin,

who'stalking,orwhatthey'retalkingabout,thereseems

to

bearhythmtothelanguage.Andit'srounded;therearenosharp,jaggededgesto

thelanguage,soit'sverypleasingtotheear.

Chris:IthinktheaccentIreallylikeistheDanespeakingEnglish.Theysound

awfulwhenthey

speak

Danish,

butwhenthey

speakEnglish

there's

abeautiful,

low,

sensitive,verysoftqualityaboutit.

Donald:

I

like

the

waythey

bring

their

French

pronunciation

intoEnglish.

Theycan't

pronounce"h"sandtheycan'tpronounce"th"properly.AndIthinkthatactually

soundsverynice.

Also

Ilike

the

rhythmtheybring

French

rhythms

into

English—nice,

steadyrhythmsandIlikethattoo.It'sjustit,it...wheneverIhearaFrench

personspeakingEnglishitsoundsmoregentleandmorelyrical.

Lesley:

I

think

themostattractive

foreign

accents

formeareMediterranean

accents

because

they,

if

youlike,

import

their

ownculture

into

the

English

accent

andgive

it

alot

oflife

that

sometimes,

that

kind

of—the

gestures

andeverything

that

the

Englishpeopledon'thave,soyougetabeautifulmixtureoftheseriousNorthern

EuropeanandtheSouthernEuropeantogether.

Susan:I

like

the

Swedishaccent

becauseit,

it

makesmesmile

andthe

wayit's

spoken

is

sosing-songy

that

youcan't

help

but

smile

whenother

people

actually

speakit.

Anditalwaysmakesyouwanttotryandputtheaccentonyourself.

Task3

Thespellingandmeaningofwordsareveryinteresting.Butwhat'smoreinteresting

isthehistoryofaword,orwhereitcamefrom.Let'sexaminesomeofthewordsandseehowtheygotintoourlanguage.

LUNCHLunchperhapscomesfromanoldSpanishwordlonje,aslabofham.Wemay

1/8

...

alsogetourwordfromaformoflump,maybealumpofbread,butwhetherlunchcomesfromhamorbread,itmeantahunkofsomethingtoeat.

ATLASAnatlasisastrongman,andalsoabookofmaps.ThestoryofthiswordbeginsalongtimeagoinGreece.TheancientGreeksbelievedthattheirgodshadoncebeenaraceofgiantscalledTitans.TheTitansfoughtwithanothergroupofgodscalledOlympians,andtheOlympianswon.AtlaswasaTitan.Hewaspunishedforfightingbyhavingtostandatthewesternedgeoftheworld,holdingtheskyonhisheadandhands,sothatitwouldnotfallontheworldandsmashanything.

AftertheancientGreek

religiondiedout,theideaofAtlas

changed.Fromholding

uptheskywithhisheadandhands,hecametobethoughtofasholdingtheworld

onhisshoulders.Mercator,amapmakerof

thesixteenthcentury,useda

pictureof

Atlasonthecoverofabookofmaps,soabookofmapscametobecalledanatlas.

Thewordhasstill

another

meaning.

Thetopboneof

theneckis

called

atlas

because

itsupportsthehead.

GOOD-BYEGood-bye

isablessing;originallyitwas

Godbewithye,andinthe

courseoftimeitbecameoneword.Manyofourgreetingsaregoodwishes,butwe

saythemwithsolittle

thoughtthat

weforget

this.

Whenwesay

good

morning,

good

evening,good

night,

andsoon,what

wearereally

saying

is,

"Ihopeyouwill

have

agoodmorning(orevening,ornight)."

DAISY

The

daisy

hasalittlegoldeneye,likeatinysun.Perhapsthisisthe

reason

the

English

people

nameditday's

eye,

orperhapsthey

chosethenamebecause

theEnglish

daisy

closes

atnight.

TheEnglish

lovedtheir

daisies,

which

werepink

andred,aswellaswhite.Sixhundredyearsorsoago,theEnglishpoetChaucer

said:

Thedaisy,orelsetheeyeoftheday,

Thequeen,andprettiestflowerofall.

Task4

Mathew:Chris,whyisitthattherearesomanydifferentlanguages,andthatin

Europecertainly

if

youtravelmorethanahundredmiles,

you're

likely

tofind

people

speakingacompletelydifferentlanguagetoyourown.

Chris:Well,it'struetosaythattherearehundredsandhundredsofdifferent

languages.It'sperhaps...however,moreinterestingandmoreinformativetosay

that

thereare

several

different

groupsoflanguages.

MostEuropean

languages,

with

the

exception

ofI

thinkFinnish

andBasqueandHungarian,I

believe,

belong

tothe

Indo-European

groupof

languages.

I'mnotsoverysure

myself

ofthe

actualdetails

ofthehistoryoftheselanguages,butyoucanbeverysurethatmostofthese

2/8

...

languages,say,LatinandGreekandourownlanguageandGermanandFrenchandall

the

others,

are

connected.

Thereason

whyyoucantravel

from

onevillage

to

another

in

Switzerland

andfrom

onearea

to

another

in

England

andfind

different

dialects,

if

not

different

languages

spoken,

is

that

several

hundred

years

agocommunication

wasbywordofmouth.Wordofmouthmeantthatpeoplehadtomove;ifpeoplewere

tomovetheyneededroadsandtherewerenoroads.

Mathew:DoyouseeanychanceforauniversallanguagelikeEsperanto?

Chris:

Not

for

anartificial

language,

no.Isuppose

theRomanCatholic

Churchused

Latin,butLatinhadaparticularreligiousbasisandthisisprobablywhyitwas

therefore

chosen.

I

don't

seevery

muchchancefor

Esperanto;

I

think

it's

anawfully

goodideabutIdon'tbelievethatlanguageworkslikethat.Ithinkpeoplewill

probablyworktowardsthemostconvenientlanguagetouse.Theywillnotsetout

to

learnanewlanguage.

It

seemsto

methat

we,either

English,

Russian

or

Chinese,

perhapsJapanese,willbethelanguagesofthefuture.Mybet'sonEnglish.

Mathew:Maggie,whydoyouthinkitisthatsofewEnglishpeoplespeakasecond

language?

Maggie:Ithinkwhenyoulearnalanguageatschool,ittendstoberatheradead

occupation,

andit's

verydifficult

to

stimulate

anyinterest

amongschool

children.

Butwhenyouactually

goto

thecountry

andyouspend,

sayamonthwhenin

anexchange

visitwhenyou'reaschoolgirl,oraschoolboy,thenyousuddenlybecomemore

interested

becauseyouwanttocommunicate

with

people

whenyou're

actually

abroad,

andit's

not

safe

torely

onthe

fact

thatmostpeople

speak

English

whenin

foreign

countries.

I

think

English

people

traditionally

thought

that

foreignersalways

spoke

English,

andalot

offoreigners

do,

but

there

are

peoplethat

youmeetin

the

street

oryouwanttotake

abussomewhere,then

youfind

that

youneedto

speakthe

language

andit's

very

unnerving

to

bein

asituation

where

youcan't

communicate

with

people

whenyoudowanttotravelaround.

Mathew:Haveyouevergoneabroadandlearntalanguageinthecountry?

Maggie:Yes,wellwhenIwasasecretaryIwentandlivedinGenevafortwoyears.

AndIlearntFrenchatschoolbutIreallydidn'tspeakitatall.Iknewit

theoretically

but

I

wasn't

abletocommunicatewithpeople.

ButI

wasin

asituation

whereifIdidn'tspeakFrench,thenIwouldnothavebeenabletodomyshopping

andbuyfood,andsoIpickedthelanguageupandImadefriendswithFrench

people—SwissFrenchpeople,andIfoundthatifIwantedtocommunicatewithall

thepeoplethatImet,thenIhadto

learnFrench,andI

thinkit'sthe

best

method

oflearningbecauseyou'reinthesituation.It'sveryhardattimes

—youcansit

throughdinnerpartiesandnotunderstandwhat...what'sgoingonandyouthink

everybodythinksyou'restupidbecauseyoucan'tcommunicatewiththem,butit's

thehardwaybutIthinkit'sthebestwaytolearn.

Mathew:Elfriede,youcomefromAustriaandyetyou'vebeenlivinginEnglandnow

forthelastthreeyears.Hashavingtolearnandspeakanotherlanguagecreated

greatproblems?

Elfriede:

At

the

beginning

yes,

it

wasrather

difficult

for

meto

get

the

right

job.

Afteryou'velivedhereforoneortwoyearsyougettoknowthesystemandthen

3/8

...

that'squitegood.Youknowhowtouselibrariesandyougettoknowwheretocall

inemergencies.Yougettoknow...tryingtogetaradioandunderstandtheradio

andalltheprogrammestheyhaveandwhenthey'reonandthelittlestories.

Mathew:WhataboutEnglishhumourontheradio?

Elfriede:Ithinkthattakesavery,verylongtimetounderstandand,I'msorry

tosaythatIhaven'tmanagedyettounderstanditcompletely,butIfinditvery

interesting

tospeakother

languages

becauseEnglish

peoplehavedifferent...

have

adifferent

mentality,

andhave

averydifferent

character

andadifferent

temperamentanditisfascinatingformetotalktothem,andalsoformyselftobeabletoexpressmyselfinadifferentlanguageandtocommunicatewiththem.

Task5

Number1

Fiona:Okay,Deek,I'moffnow.[Okay.]Everything'sokay,isit?

Deek:Yes,Ithinkso.Theonlythingis...isshelikelytowakeup?

Fiona:No,Idon'tthinkso.Shedoesn'tusually,but...

Deek:Whatifshedoes?

Fiona:Well,yes.Don'tworryaboutit.Herdummy'sbythebed,soifyoujustpickherup,giveherthedummy,giveheralittlebitofacuddle;[Yes.]singtoherifyoulike.

Deek:ShallIreadherastoryorsomething?

Fiona:Yes,anythinglikethat.[Yes.]Thensheshouldjustgobacktosleepagainquitehappily.

Deek:Okay.

Fiona:Oh!AndI'veleftstuffforyouinthefridge.There'ssomesaladandcoldchickenandsomebeeraswell.Okaythen?

Deek:Rightthen.Bye.

Fiona:Bye-bye.

Number2

Lesley:Ah...it'ssuchalovelyday.Itremindsmeoflastweek,doesn'tit,dear?

Fiona:Ohdon't!Imeanthatwasjustsofantastic,thatholiday!

Lesley:Ilovethatcity,youknow.

Fiona:Idotoo.Really,it'sgotsomethingaboutit,acertainsortofcharm...

Lesley:Mm,andallthatwineandgoodfood.

Fiona:Andsocheap.Right,Imean,comparedtohere...

Lesley:Yes,althoughtheshopsareexpensive.

Fiona:Mm,yes.

Lesley:Imean,reallyIboughtnothingatall.Ijustateandateanddrankanddrank.

Fiona:Iknow.Wasn'tthatlovely?

Lesley:Yes.Ilikelisteningtothepeopletalkingandsittingoutsidedrinking

wineand...

Fiona:Yes.Couldyouunderstandwhattheyweresaying?Whentheywerespeakingquickly,Imean.

4/8

...

Lesley:Well,itisdifficult,ofcourse.AndthenIlikedthattower,too.

Fiona:Youlikedthattower?I'mnotsureaboutit,really.[No!]It'sveryunusual,rightinthecentreofthecity.

Lesley:True,butthere’salovelyviewfromthetop.

Fiona:Oh,youwentrightup,didn'tyou?[Mm,yes.]IknowIdidn't.

Lesley:Ofcourseyoudidn't.

Fiona:Irememberthatday.Weweren'ttogether.

Lesley:No,that'sright.[Mm.]Youwentdownbytheriver,didn'tyou?

Fiona:Right.Oh,walkingalongtheriverandallthecouples[Yes.]andit'sso

romantic...[Isittrue?]andthepaintingstoo...

Lesley:Theydohaveartistsdownbytheriver,dothey?[Yes.]Oh,howlovely!

Fiona:Oh,itreallyissuper.

Lesley:Yes.Oh,Ithinkweoughttogobackthereagainnextyear,don'tyou?

Fiona:Ido,yes.[Mm.]Ifonlyjusttosamplesomemoreofthewine.

Lesley:It'dbelovely,wouldn'tit?

Fiona:Yes.

Number3

Mary:I'msopleased.Whataboutyouthen?

Jane:Well,hesaidhewantedtohaveanotherlookatit.

Mary:Yes.Whataretheydoingaboutit?

Jane:Well,Idon'tthinkthey'regoingtodoanythingreally.Itjustsometimesgoesaway[Well,can't...]somethinglikethat.Mary:Well,can'ttheygiveyouanythingforit?

Jane:Well,no,theydidn'tsaytheycould.[Really?]No,justgottobepatientandwaitforittogoaway.

Mary:Well,thatseemsabitstupid,doesn'tit?

Jane:Yes,itdoes.

Mary:You'dhavethought...you'dhavethoughtthey'dhavethoughtofsomething.

Jane:Yes.Oohit'syourturn.

Mary:Yes.Certainly.

Jane:Goodluck!

Mary:Thankyou!

Task6

LearningtoSpeak

Itis,everyoneagrees,acolossaltaskthatthechildperformswhenhelearnsto

speak,andthefactthathedoessoinsoshortaperiodoftimechallengesexplanation.

Languagelearningbeginswithlistening.Individualchildrenvarygreatlyintheamountoflisteningtheydobeforetheystartspeaking.Mostchildrenwill"obey"

spokeninstructionssometimebeforetheycanspeak,thoughtheword"obey"ishardly

5/8

...

accurateasadescriptionoftheeageranddelightedcooperationusuallyshownby

thechild.Beforetheycanspeak,manychildrenwillalsoaskquestionsbygestureandbymakingquestioningnoises.

Anyattempttotracethedevelopmentfromthenoisesbabiesmaketotheirfirstspoken

wordsleadstoconsiderabledifficulties.Itisagreedthattheyenjoymakingnoises

andthatduringthefirstfewmonthsoneortwonoisessortthemselvesoutasparticularlyindicativeofdelight,distress,sociability,andsoon.Butsince

thesecannotbesaidtoshowthebaby'sintentiontocommunicate,theycanhardlyberegardedasearlyformsoflanguage.Itisagreed,too,thatfromaboutthreemonthstheyplaywithsoundsforenjoyment,andthatbysixmonthstheyareabletoaddnewsoundstotheirrepertoire.Thisself-imitationleadsontodeliberateimitationofsoundsmadeorwordsspokentothembyotherpeople.Theproblemthen

arisesastothepointatwhichonecansaythattheseimitationscanbeconsideredasspeech.

Itisaproblemweneednotgetourteethinto.Themeaningofaworddependson

whataparticularpersonmeansbyitinaparticularsituation;anditisclearthatwhatachildmeansbyawordwillchangeashegainsmoreexperienceoftheworld.

Thustheuse,atsaysevenmonths,of"mama"asagreetingforhismothercannotbedismissedasameaninglesssoundsimplybecausehealsousesitatothertimesforhisfather,hisdog,oranythingelsehelikes.

Playfulandapparentlymeaninglessimitationofwhatotherpeoplesaycontinues

afterthechildhasbeguntospeakforhimself.Idoubt,however,whetheranythingisgainedwhenparentscashinonthisabilityinanattempttoteachnewsounds.

Task7

Let'stalkaboutbodylanguage.Youalready"speak"itand"read"it.Bodylanguageisallofthesmallfacialexpressions,handgesturesandbodymovementsthatwe

make.Wemaynotrealizeit,buteachmovementandexpressionsayssomethingabout

ourfeelings.

Infact,wemightsaythatbodylanguageistheclearestandmostcommonwayofcommunicatingourfeelingsdirectlytoothers.Weallknowthemoreobviousbody"statements":Wewaveourhandsingreeting,weshakehands,pateachotheronthe

back,wehugfriendsandkisslovedones.Wesmile,welaugh,wewinkandwefrown,andsometimeswecry.Allofthesegesturesarecallednon-verbalcommunication(non-verbalmeanswedonotusewordsto"say"whatwefeel.)

Normally,wedon'tthinkverymuchaboutourbodylanguage.Ourfacialexpressionsandgesturesareautomaticandunconsciousmostofthetime.Butresearcherstell

uswemightlearntounderstandeachotheralittlebetterifwepaidconscious

6/8

...

attentiontothehiddenmessagesinbodylanguage.Let'sconsiderafewofthemoreobviousfacial,handandbodygestures.

Thehumanfaceiswonderfullyrichinitsabilitytoexpressfeelings.Theeyes,theeyebrows,thelipsandthefacialmusclesareallcapableof"saying"things.

Forexample,wespeakof"wide-eyedwonder".Iftheeyesopenwide,thatmaymean

surprise,wonder,excitementorsometimesfear.Andthatisanimportantthingto

rememberaboutbodylanguage—oneelementalonedoesnottelluseverything.Wehave

toseegesturesincombination.Sowideeyesalonewouldnottelluswhetherthe

personwassurprised,pleasedorscared,butwhenweseewideeyes,alittlesmile

andaslighttiltofthehead,weunderstandthatthepersonis"wonderfullypleased".

"Squinty"eyes,tightlips,andtheheadpushedforwardprobablysuggestangerorhostility.

Half-closedeyesmaysuggestfatigue,boredomorindifference.Butaddaloweredtiltofthehead,aflutteringoftheeyelidsandaslightsmile,andwegetacoyandflirtatiousmessage.

Strangelyenough,oneoftheeyefeaturesoverwhichwehaveverylittlecontrol—the

sizeofourpupils—sayssomethingaboutourinterestinasubject.Ifwelike

something,ourpupilsgetlarger.Studiesshowthatmostmenthinkawomanwithlarge

pupilsismore"attractive"thanthesamewomanwithsmallpupils.Butthemenaren't

reallyconsciousofthepupils.Theyjustknowtheylikethe"looks"betterinthesampleswithlargepupils.Nowondereyemake-upissopopular.

Eyebrowsarealmostlikedisbelieforuncertainty.andwegetafrownorscowl.

signalflags:onebrowup,onedownsuggestsdoubt,

Bothupmeanssurpriseormistrust.Squeezethemtogether

Thelipsshapenon-verbal

aswell

asverbal

messages.

Thesmileis

the

mostobvious,

buttry

baring

theteeth

just

ononeside

orpullthe

lipstightly

across

theteeth

andthesmilebecomesasnarlandathreat.Inthis,andinmanyofourotherbody

gestures,weareclosetotheanimals.

Thelower

lip

byitself

can

say

little

things.

The"pout"

is

afat

lower

lip

pushed

wayout.Itmeans"I'mnothappybecauseI'mnotgettingwhatIwant."Butifwe

tuckthelowerlipintoourmouthandbiteit,weareconveyinganxietyandfear.

Lickingthelipsisa"drymouth"gesturewhichusuallymeansstressoranxiety.

There

are

wholebookswritten

onhandgestures,

and,

in

fact,

handor

sign

language

hasoftenbeenhighlydeveloped,especiallyasanaidtothedeaf.Buttheroutinehandlanguage,suchaspointingwiththeindexfingertoaccusesomeone,orthe

7/8

...

clenchedfistbeatingintheairtothreatensomeone,arefamiliartousall.But

aclenchedfistheldclosetothebodyusuallymeanstensionoranxietywhiletheopenhands,palmsupmaymean"I'minnocent"or"giveme"or"forgiveme".

Bothhandsraisedupandfacingtheaudiencemeans"Igiveup"or"Isurrender".Buttiltthehandsandpalmdownandextendthearmanditmeans"Ibless"or"Igive".The"patonthehead"isakindofblessingorgestureofloveandgiving.

Weclaphandstoindicateapp