英语口语教程(高级) UNIT 11

[00:01.00]Lesson 11 II. Read;
[00:01.86]6. Parents Go back to School to Teach Children Better;
[00:09.74]Having abandoned classes for more than 10 years,;
[00:15.09]many citizens in Beijing have returned to school;
[00:19.91]only because they have become parents.;
[00:23.92]They seek help to tackle a thorny problem:;
[00:28.89]the education of their "only child".;
[00:33.19]Some people call these children the "little emperors of China".;
[00:39.16]"Many parents, either doting on their children;
[00:43.65]or behaving badly towards them,;
[00:46.18]know little about home education and thus make errors," said Ding Rong,;
[00:53.01]a teacher from the Fourth Middle School of Beijing.;
[00:58.12]After a pupil was beaten to death by his mother last year;
[01:03.56]in North-west China's Qinghai Province,;
[01:07.10]a survey was made in a Beijing primary school.;
[01:12.06]Of the 36 parents surveyed,everybody knew of the incident;
[01:18.32]yet none were aware of any defects in their system of home education.;
[01:25.63]Surprisingly,some said they would follow suit;
[01:30.21]if their children failed to study properly.;
[01:34.37]"In this sense, parents' schools are badly needed,"said Zhen Yan,;
[01:41.82]deputy general- secretary of Beijing Research Association of Home Education,;
[01:49.46]which is in charge of more than 3,500 parents' schools in the city.;
[01:57.01]The purpose of the schools,she said, was to help parents;
[02:02.88]to establish a proper position for their children;
[02:06.70]in a family and society and treat them in a more enlightened way.;
[02:13.25]The schools provided a series of lectures on "how to educate your child properly";
[02:21.27]advice given by experts and "Fumu Bidu" ("How to become good parents";
[02:29.44]and a monthly magazine published in Beijing;
[02:33.59]with a circulation of 600,000.;
[02:37.99]"I never thought I would re-enter school," said Xiao Chengjun,;
[02:43.91]a 40-year-old woman worker,;
[02:46.77]"I was taken aback when I was first asked the question;
[02:51.65]'Do you really know your child?'";
[02:54.94]Jiang Bo,her 14-year-old son, was a second-year student;
[03:00.91]of Hujialou Middle School in Beijing's Chaoyang District.;
[03:06.21]Of six courses,he failed three of his first term exams.;
[03:12.76]Xiao got angry and beat him,but he showed no improvement.;
[03:19.49]It was not until she took courses in a parents' school;
[03:24.55]that she realized beating is pointless.;
[03:28.18]The following term, Jiang Bo succeeded in all his lessons;
[03:34.15]and helped teach his mother English.;
[03:38.26]"Children are easily affected,"said Ding Rong,;
[03:43.75]"the disharmony and often the disputes in a family;
[03:48.05]places the child in an awkward position.";
[03:51.97]Parents,who are the first teachers of their children,;
[03:56.89]need not only to instruct,but to be educated,;
[04:01.57]even by their children,said an expert.;
[04:05.77]One pupil complained in a composition that his father, a chain smoker,;
[04:13.41]always left the smell of smoke in the living room;
[04:17.09]and he could not do his homework there.;
[04:20.72]Another wrote that his father often played mahjong;
[04:25.64]and the noise kept him awake most of the night.;
[04:30.32]"It's the father's fault not to educate his son himself," is an old saying.;
[04:38.49]"But,it's also the father's fault;
[04:42.02]if he sets his son a bad example," said Zhen Yan.;
[04:47.90]Since China pursues the policy of "one child for one couple",;
[04:54.34]many parents are expecting too much from their children.;
[04:59.88]In Taoranting Primary School, Beijing's Xuanwu District,;
[05:06.67]423 parents,over 87 percent of the total surveyed,;
[05:13.92]wanted their children to become university students.;
[05:18.51]About half of them threatened to punish their children;
[05:23.43]if they did not pass their exams.;
[05:27.15]A parents' school set up by the First Experimental Primary School;
[05:33.46]suggested that parents allow their children;
[05:36.71]to take over some household duties on Sundays;
[05:41.05]to build up their sense of responsibility.;
[05:45.16]Some parents admitted they ignored;
[05:49.22]the physiological and psychological changes in their children;
[05:53.90]and thus treated them with beatings and scoldings.;
[05:58.82]A parent said, "After attending the class,;
[06:03.55]I know more about my child and she also understands me more.";
[06:10.47]Lesson 12 Is It Necessary to Develop Tourism?;
[06:18.50]Text;
[06:20.74]A Little Good Will Can Help People Understand Each Other;
[06:26.28]Today we had an American family,the Robinsons,for Sunday dinner.;
[06:33.68]The man is in China on a joint project with the department where Mum works.;
[06:40.94]They work in the same office and as Mum knows a little English;
[06:46.72]she often interpretes for him too,;
[06:49.88]so they got to know each other very well.;
[06:53.36]He had often expressed his wish of meeting her family,;
[06:58.38]but Mum hardly dared to invite him to our old slum of a place.;
[07:04.39]Now that we've moved to our new apartment;
[07:08.02]we have a more or less presentable place to entertain him and his family.;
[07:14.04]Granny was the only one who had any misgivings;
[07:18.44]about having "high-nosed foreigners" in our house.;
[07:23.36]They came about twelve--Mr. & Mrs. Robinson;
[07:28.56]and their two young daughters about Xiao Hong's age.;
[07:33.15]Mrs.Robinson gave Mum a bunch of fresh flowers,;
[07:38.59]bringing colour, freshness and their good will.;
[07:43.03]Mum did the introduction;
[07:45.90]and it was left to ourselves to get to know each other.;
[07:50.53]As was natural;
[07:52.82]Xiao Hong soon got on very well with the two girls Judy and Annie.;
[07:58.60]They all had a common love for Xiao Hong's little kitten;
[08:03.04]and they had endless fun with it.;
[08:06.53]Mrs.Robinson was much younger than her husband,;
[08:11.31]but she was friendly and kindly and knows a little Chinese.;
[08:16.89]There was a moment of embarrassment when Granny asked her age.;
[08:22.77]Mum was about to apologize when Mrs. Robinson laughed;
[08:27.64]and said it was quite all right,;
[08:30.31]that she had been here long enough to know it was the Chinese custom.;
[08:35.28]She quite blandly told us that she was thirty-two,;
[08:39.63]almost twenty years her husband's junior.;
[08:43.64]When they learned that Mum was almost ten years her senior,;
[08:48.70]they were genuinely surprised,for Mum does look quite young.;
[08:54.34]"No wonder you are so good and experienced at your work.;
[08:58.92]I had thought you were fresh from college!";
[09:01.84]Mr.Robinson said, perhaps a little flatteringly .;
[09:07.23]And of course they thoroughly enjoyed the dinner.;
[09:11.68]Like a perfect Chinese hostess Mum and especially Granny;
[09:17.79]kept stuffing them with food and urging them to eat and to drink,;
[09:23.19]apologizing all the time;
[09:26.00]that "it's all very meager and coarse fare";
[09:30.06]The Robinsons,on the other hand,;
[09:33.36]were loud in their praises and protestations.;
[09:37.70]"We used to hear about Chinese hospitality;
[09:41.53]and now we know what it's really like.;
[09:44.73]How can you describe such a lavish meal as meager and coarse?;
[09:50.89]Any hostess in the west would be proud of such a feast;
[09:56.38]instead of apologizing for it, "Mrs.Robinson said to Mum.;
[10:02.45]"And another thing we don't do in the West;
[10:06.22]is to urge the guests to eat and drink," Mr.Robinson added.;
[10:12.00]"With so much good things before me I certainly don't need any urging.;
[10:18.92]The problem is rather how to prevent myself from over-eating!;
[10:24.61]But back at home I often had to ask for a second helping;
[10:30.48]and my hostess would feel flattered that I should want more of her stuff.;
[10:35.93]Here you don't even give me a chance to ask for more!";
[10:40.41]We all burst out laughing at that.;
[10:43.95]When they rose to leave they thanked us profusely;
[10:48.72]not only for the excellent dinner, but for giving them such a nice time.;
[10:55.08]"Living in Friendship Hotel isn't really living in China.;
[11:01.00]Today we feel we are really in China.;
[11:05.49]We've learnt much more about the Chinese people;
[11:09.21]and Chinese way of life today;
[11:12.03]than half a year in the Friendship Hotel.;
[11:15.85]You must all come to visit us one day.;
[11:19.48]Or better still, come and see us in the States one day.";
[11:25.31]Judy and Annie were reluctant to go.;
[11:29.66]They made Xiao Hong promise to visit them at Friendship Hotel,;
[11:34.77]telling her not to forget bringing the kitten with her!;
[11:39.21]They insisted on giving everyone of us a hug and a kiss,;
[11:44.56]which quite embarrassed me.;
[11:47.09]I think Granny was really touched when they kissed her.;
[11:51.63]All her misgivings had been dispelled.;
[11:55.49]It's surprising how a little good will on both sides;
[12:00.32]can break language and cultural barriers.;
[12:05.48]II.Read;
[12:09.30]Read the following passages.;
[12:12.74]Underline the important viewpoints while reading.;
[12:17.80]1. The Tourist Trade Contributes Absolutely Nothing;
[12:24.82]to Increasing Understanding between Nations!;
[12:29.69]The tourist trade is booming.;
[12:33.37]With all this coming and going,;
[12:36.33]you'd expect greater understanding;
[12:39.00]to develop between the nations of the world.;
[12:42.49]Not a bit of it! Superb Systems of communication by air,sea and land;
[12:50.99]make it possible for us to visit each other's countries at a moderate cost.;
[12:58.06]What was once the "grand tour",;
[13:01.31]reserved for only the very rich is now within everybody's grasp.;
[13:07.80]The package tour and chartered flights are not to be sneered at.;
[13:14.11]Modern travellers enjoy a level of comfort;
[13:18.74]which the lords and ladies on grand tours;
[13:22.51]in the old days couldn't have dreamed of.;
[13:26.48]But what's the sense of this mass exchange of populations;
[13:31.64]if the nations of the world remain basically ignorant of each other?;
[13:37.94]Many tourist organizations;
[13:41.28]are directly responsible for this state affairs.;
[13:45.54]They deliberately set out to protect their clients;
[13:50.07]from too much contact with the local population.;
[13:54.13]The modern tourist leads a cosseted, sheltered life.;
[13:59.53]He lives at international hotels,;
[14:02.97]where he eats his international food;
[14:06.17]and sips his international drink;
[14:08.84]while he gazes at the natives from a distance.;
[14:13.28]Conducted tours to places of interest are carefully censored.;
[14:19.68]The tourist is allowed to see;
[14:22.56]only what the organizers want him to see and no more.;
[14:27.80]A strict schedule makes it impossible for the tourist;
[14:32.39]to wander off on his own;and anyway, language is always a barrier,;
[14:39.31]so he is only too happy to be protected in this way.;
[14:44.38]At its very worst, this leads to a new and hideous kind of colonization.;
[14:52.59]The summer quarters of the inhabitants;
[14:56.03]of the cite universitair;
[14:58.47]are temporarily re-established on the island of Corfu.;
[15:03.96]Blackpool is recreated at Torremolinos;
[15:08.45]where the traveller goes not to eat paella,but fish and chips.;
[15:14.61]The sad thing about this situation;
[15:18.19]is that it leads to the persistence of national stereotypes.;
[15:23.49]We don't see the people of other nations as they really are,;
[15:28.31]but as we have been brought up to believe they are.;
[15:32.52]You can test this for yourself.;
[15:35.91]Take five nationalities,say, French,German,;
[15:41.26]English,American and Italian.;
[15:45.03]Now in your mind, match them with these five adjectives:;
[15:50.43]musical,amorous, cold,pedantic,naive.;
[15:57.21]Far from providing us with any insight;
[16:00.51]into the national characteristics of the people just mentioned,;
[16:04.71]these adjectives actually act as barriers.;
[16:09.63]So when you set out on your travels,;
[16:12.97]the only characteristics you notice;
[16:15.93]are those which confirm your preconceptions.;
[16:20.09]You come away with the highly unoriginal;
[16:24.05]and inaccurate impression;
[16:26.30]that,say,"Anglo- Saxons are hypocrites";
[16:31.07]or that "Latin peoples shout a lot".;
[16:35.27]You only have to make a few foreign friends;
[16:39.00]to understand how absurd and harmful national stereotypes are.;
[16:45.50]But how can you make foreign friends;
[16:48.50]when the tourist trade does its best to prevent you?;
[16:53.14]Carried to an extreme,stereotypes can be positively dangerous.;
[17:00.01]Wild generalisations stir up racial hatred;
[17:05.41]and blind us to the basic fact--how trite it sounds!;
[17:10.28]--that all people are human.;
[17:13.25]We are all similar to each other and at the same time all unique.;
[17:20.07]2. Leaving with a Love of China;
[17:26.19]Very soon I will be leaving China.;
[17:30.58]I am well aware that three and a half years;
[17:34.79]is not enough time to "understand" China.;
[17:38.65]But I want to express my appreciation;
[17:42.33]for what has been a marvelous experience,;
[17:45.82]made even richer because I worked for the Coal Industry Ministry;
[17:51.31]at Shandong Mining College,first at Jinan,;
[17:55.81]and for the past 2,1/2 years at Tai'an.;
[18:00.22]Living on campus in the small city of Tai'an,;
[18:04.54]at the foot of Taishan,was a privilege,;
[18:08.90]it gave me a view of China;
[18:11.83]which can never be afforded to those who live in Beijing or Shanghai;
[18:17.11]or any large city.;
[18:19.36]After all,Beijing is not China,;
[18:23.68]any more than New York City is the United States.;
[18:28.79]Of course there have been hardships, frustrations and difficulties.;
[18:35.24]But that's life, anywhere.;
[18:38.89]The courtesy, consideration and friendliness;
[18:44.02]which have been extended to me, daily,are precious and lasting.;
[18:49.97]I have traveled over much of China.;
[18:53.71]Most of all,more than all the antiquities, battlefields,;
[19:00.09]scenery,coal mines,factories, temples,operas, and the rest,;
[19:08.68]it is the Chinese people who captured my heart --;
[19:13.19]sincere,warm, incredibly industrious, unsophisticated,;
[19:20.77]and capable of deeper,truer friendship;
[19:24.89]than most Westerners can even imagine.;
[19:28.44]I have been welcomed into the homes of-many Chinese.;
[19:33.38]I have friends from 3 to 83,peasants, workers,;
[19:39.62]professors, doctors,cooks, drivers.;
[19:45.43]I have known people as they suffer and struggle and laugh and weep;
[19:51.52]and argue and have fun -- like all human beings.;
[19:57.56]I have always tried not to "look through American eyes",;
[20:03.08]but to see Chinese as people.;
[20:06.97]I suggest to those shallow elitists;
[20:11.43]who can't live without their golf "exercise",;
[20:15.36]that they come to Tai'an;
[20:17.71]and carry 100 pounds of cement on a shoulder pole;
[20:21.93]up the 7,000 steps of Taishan.;
[20:25.39]Wonderful exercise, and you can earn 2 yuan a day.;
[20:31.34]Those who complain about transportation difficulties of any kind;
[20:37.00]can watch the lao taitai--the old ladies with bound feet --;
[20:42.56]who walk from their villages and make the arduous ascent of Taishan,;
[20:48.13]cheerful and spry.;
[20:50.86]Or ride a bus in any Chinese city at the rush hour,;
[20:55.66]as the Chinese must do every day.;
[20:58.83](Or any American city;or deal with a Manhattan cabbie. );
[21:04.53]And those who complain of the bureaucracy;
[21:08.09]should try going to the Social Security Administration in the US;
[21:13.22]when you are one of the poor and powerless.;
[21:17.15]I hope to come back to China some day.;
[21:21.13]But no matter what, I will never lose what I've been given here.;
[21:26.89]My thanks to all Chinese for showing me a new,;
[21:31.83]higher standard of strength of character and kindness.;
[21:36.63]And my thanks particularly to the people of Shandong Mining College;
[21:42.34]for their unlimited, unstinted loving care.;
[21:48.19]3.Yunnan Makes Efforts to Boost Tourism;
[21:56.39]Starting from scratch,tourism in Yunnan Province;
[22:01.86]has made progress by leaps and bounds in the last decade.;
[22:07.09]Only 1,284 foreign tourists went there in 1978,;
[22:16.11]the year when the provincial tourism bureau was established.;
[22:21.68]The figure rose to 121,300 in 1988 --;
[22:29.50]an average annual increase of 25.4 per cent,;
[22:35.11]said deputy bureau chief Miao Kuihe in an interview.;
[22:41.25]In the provincial capital of Kunming alone,there are 11 posh hotels,;
[22:48.21]with accommodations chiefly for foreign tourists,;
[22:52.57]and nine travel agencies that provide services for them.;
[22:58.28]There are also 10 arts and crafts stores in Kunming;
[23:03.56]with a variety of articles with exotic flavours,;
[23:07.82]including national costumes of the minorities.;
[23:12.18]In such a short time,tourism has asserted its role;
[23:17.78]in the socio-economic development of the province.;
[23:21.94]In Kunming,tourism has provided jobs for 12,000 people.;
[23:28.69]In the whole province 25,000 people work in tourist departments.;
[23:36.64]Tourism has helped to promote the catering trade,;
[23:41.47]transportation service and commerce of Kunming.;
[23:46.26]It has helped to accelerate the city construction and its embellishment.;
[23:52.63]Moreover,contact with tourists from a far;
[23:56.98]has widened the horizons of the locals,;
[24:00.33]deputy director of the municipal tourism bureau Peng Shaoxi said.;
[24:07.32]It has become a consensus of local authorities;
[24:12.40]that tourism is a vanguard industry;
[24:15.56]in opening the province to the outside world;;
[24:19.14]it is of strategic importance in economic development,;
[24:23.93]and it represents the orientation of urban construction.;
[24:29.01]In 1988,the provincial government listed tourism;
[24:34.65]as the sixth industry in importance in economic development;
[24:40.45]said deputy bureau chief Miao.;
[24:43.94]Now,29 of Yunnan's municipalities and counties are made open to foreigners,;
[24:51.89]a fact favourable to tourism.;
[24:55.62]Because of Yunnan's abundant tourist resources,;
[24:59.98]Miao envisions still brighter prospects for the tourism of the province.;
[25:06.82]It is estimated that by 1995,Yunnan will receive about 200, tourists annually;
[25:17.21]and by 2000,their number will rise to 320,000.;
[25:24.01]Hotels by then should have accommodation for 10,000 people,;
[25:31.19]To meet the needs of tourism,;
[25:34.58]appropriate measures are being taken in various aspects, Miao said.;
[25:41.62]In April 1988,a centre was set up;
[25:47.03]providing short-term professional training;
[25:50.62]for three to five months for employees in tourist departments.;
[25:56.94]All the big hotels have their own training section,;
[26:02.30]aiming at improved service.;
[26:05.46]Seven young employees have been sent to the United States;
[26:10.63]to learn management expertise.;
[26:13.88]Dozens of chefs are in Hong Kong to learn various styles of cuisine.;
[26:20.58]And some young employees are sent to college to learn foreign languages;
[26:27.09]as well as professional skills in tourism, Miao said.;
[26:33.51]4. Advantages of Yunnan to Develop Tourism;
[26:41.45]According to the publicity chief;
[26:45.19]of the provincial tourism bureau, Chen Keqin,;
[26:49.69]on the strength of its distinctive geographic and ethnic features,;
[26:55.38]Yunnan has the following advantages for the development of tourism :;
[27:01.75]A good number of scenic wonders.;
[27:05.77]They are roughly located in three areas.;
[27:10.13]First,those in the area centring around Kunming,;
[27:15.39]of which the Stone Forest is one.;
[27:18.98]The spectacular, jagged rocky formations;
[27:23.53]that rear their heads to the skies are winning world fame.;
[27:29.13]There are also karst caves in this area.;
[27:33.63]Second,those in west Yunnan with the two ancient cities Dali and Lijiang.;
[27:42.34]The Tiger-leaping Gorge of the Jinsha River deserves a mention.;
[27:48.66]It is 16 kilometres long.;
[27:52.25]The narrowest section of it is about 30 metres wide,;
[27:57.47]which,legend claims, tigers once leapt across.;
[28:03.40]From the surface of the river;
[28:05.75]to the top of the precipitous mountains on the two sides,;
[28:10.20]the height is 3,900 metres.;
[28:14.70]Within the 16-kilometre length of the gorge,;
[28:19.44]there are 18 risky rapids and in so short a distance,;
[28:25.32]the drop of the water is 210 metres,;
[28:29.92]averaging 14 metres for each kilometre.;
[28:34.18]The gorge resounds with the roaring;
[28:37.04]and dashing of huge waves of the racing water.;
[28:41.61]Third,Xishuangbanna Prefecture in south Yunnan.;
[28:47.32]With its lush tropical forests,;
[28:50.72]the area has many fascinating features;
[28:54.40]in both natural scenery and cultural life.;