英语口语教程(高级) UNIT 11

[00:01.00]Lesson 12  II Read Genial climate,with all the year mild and springlike.;
[00:06.52]The average annual temperature is 19.3 degrees Centigrade.;
[00:13.50]As a result,the province is a "kingdom of fauna and flora",;
[00:19.75]with a variety of rare animals and birds,;
[00:23.76]such as elephants, snub-nosed monkeys and peacocks,;
[00:29.42]and tens of thousands of varieties of plants.;
[00:34.30]Rich local or special products.;
[00:38.54]They include fine tobacco,tea,ham, medicinal herbs,;
[00:46.25]marble handicraft articles and the Yunnan baiyao,;
[00:51.73]a medicine for haemorrhaging and wounds.;
[00:56.02]Folk customs. Inhabited by 24 minorities,;
[01:02.45]Yunnan has many national folk customs,festivals,;
[01:07.15]traditions,dances, costumes and houses that are of great interest.;
[01:15.36]For instance,the water splashing festival in April,;
[01:20.56]with dragon boat regatta,of the Dai people in Xishuangbanna;
[01:26.12]and the torch festival in July,;
[01:29.09]of a few minorities including the Yis, Bais and Sanis,;
[01:35.02]are two of the most famous annual celebrations.;
[01:39.86]With such a variety of things to see in Yunnan,;
[01:44.51]tourist parties with special purposes have been organized.;
[01:49.71]For instance, there are parties to see the azalea blooms;
[01:54.50]of all types in various places; mountain climbing;;
[02:00.06]the folk customs of the minorities;;
[02:03.85]or walking tours through scenic routes.;
[02:07.86]However,according to the deputy director of Kunming tourism bureau,;
[02:14.02]Peng Shaoxi,there are hindrances to Yunnan's tourism.;
[02:19.22]Woefully inadequate transportation facilities.;
[02:23.97]Foreign tourists often find it hard to get into Yunnan,;
[02:28.85]while those who are leaving;
[02:31.13]are often stranded at Kunming's airport for lack of flights.;
[02:36.24]It often takes 10 days to finish a trip in Xishuangbanna,;
[02:41.40]too long for most tourists.;
[02:44.77]5. Good Impression about China Editor :;
[02:53.39]Last May,my wife and I visited Beijing, the capital of your beautiful country,;
[03:01.42]and attended the Fourth World Conference;
[03:05.07]on Continuing Engineering Education.;
[03:08.54]We received a warm welcome everywhere we went.;
[03:13.15]Combining business and pleasure,we visited many areas of the city;
[03:19.58]and met quite a few citizens from all walks of life.;
[03:24.82]From our visit,we know that China is a great country;;
[03:30.71]we know that the Chinese people are warm and friendly;;
[03:36.32]we know that Beijing is much safer than most American cities.;
[03:42.57]We have told all our friends about our wonderful experiences.;
[03:48.41]In a few years,we hope to return to China and teach for a semester.;
[03:55.53]Unfortunately,the American people do not see your country as we did.;
[04:02.51]Our television media does not convey the warm hospitality of the people.;
[04:09.17]Our newspapers do not report the steady modernization of the past 10 years;
[04:17.15]nor do they mention the continuing increase in the standard of living.;
[04:23.31]Sad to say,the American public thinks of China as it was 40 years ago.;
[04:32.29]The solution to my country's mistaken impressions about China is simple,;
[04:39.00]but it will take time:continue our open door relations;;
[04:44.98]continue our economic trade;;
[04:47.90]most especially, encourage Americans;
[04:51.50]to visit China and experience her friendship and charm!;
[04:56.75]Christopher J.Smith Westville USA;
[05:02.18]6.Fond Memories of a Trip to India;
[05:08.47]At least twice I thought about giving up my trip;
[05:13.31]to attend a conference on counseling in India last month.;
[05:18.46]The first time was when it seemed I could never,ever get my visa to India.;
[05:25.76]The second time was after I had the visa and went to buy my plane ticket.;
[05:33.47]There I learned the ticket I had booked;
[05:37.21]was not available because of a computer error.;
[05:41.91]But I persevered and I am glad,;
[05:46.02]because the trip turned out to be nice;
[05:48.80]although it was too short for me to see much of India.;
[05:53.68]From the moment we landed at Bombay airport,;
[05:58.20]we three women from Beijing;
[06:00.80]were surrounded by the differences in language,people,;
[06:05.36]food,scenes and even traffic--;
[06:09.42]one drives on the right side of the road in China;
[06:13.66]but on the left side in India.;
[06:17.17]It was a completely strange place,but I felt easy and safe.;
[06:24.61]The Indians we met were so friendly;
[06:28.62]that when each of the participants to the conference;
[06:32.27]was invited to say one thing about the meeting,;
[06:35.97]I said,;
[06:37.61]"I am glad to have this chance to know you beautiful Indian women;
[06:42.72]and handsome Indian men.";
[06:45.73]I would not forget the guard;
[06:48.41]at the exit of the international airport in Bombay;
[06:52.37]who kindly insisted that we wait in seats;
[06:55.92]usually reserved for the guards;
[06:58.78]because the people who were supposed to meet us;
[07:02.11]failed to show up as expected.;
[07:05.53]And when I wanted to make a phone call;
[07:08.68]to get somebody to pick us up and could get no coins anywhere,;
[07:14.11]another guard took me to a phone reserved for airport staff.;
[07:19.79]It could be a very frustrating experience;
[07:23.96]to miss one's flight;
[07:25.74]and arrive at the destination eight hours later than planned,;
[07:30.44]which is what happened to us after the conference.;
[07:34.77]But it turned out somehow not as frustrating as it might have been.;
[07:40.97]We were at the Coimbatore airport;
[07:44.31]on our way back to Bombay after the conference,;
[07:48.14]and we were to leave for home from Bombay the next evening.;
[07:53.02]We were told that we could not take the 10 a.m. flight as we had planned;
[07:59.00]because our tickets had not been confirmed properly;
[08:03.24]and there were no seats available.;
[08:06.16]But we were told that we could be in Bombay that evening;
[08:10.58]if we took a flight to a nearby airport in Bangalore;
[08:15.05]and go from there to Bombay.;
[08:18.20]We were killing time by measuring the airport's modest waiting room;
[08:24.31]when an airport officer stopped in front of us,;
[08:28.14]introduced himself, as the officer on duty at the airport,;
[08:33.53]and assured us that there would be no problem,;
[08:37.04]that things would be straightened out for us,;
[08:40.14]and everything would be all right.;
[08:43.38]In half an hour we had our new tickets in our hands.;
[08:48.90]Yet,before long,we were called to the ticket counter;
[08:54.79]and informed that we would not be able to catch our connection flight;
[08:59.58]at the Bangalore airport;
[09:01.81]because the flight from Coimbatore would be one hour late.;
[09:07.51]And we would have to take the next flight leaving Bangalore;
[09:12.03]and arriving in Bombay at 8 p.m.;
[09:16.18]One hour later, when I was thinking how unlucky we were that day,;
[09:22.71]we were lining up for the security check.;
[09:26.54]A young woman in airport uniform approached us and said,;
[09:32.33]"We are so sorry that we failed to arrange your morning flight.;
[09:36.94]We did try,but...";
[09:39.68]You don't hear such words very often;
[09:42.96]when you are upset by travel problems in China,;
[09:46.61]even when you are the victims of the travel service's mistakes.;
[09:51.99]Her words swept away my bitter feelings;
[09:55.73]at having to spend the whole day at airports;
[09:59.11]while we might have been exploring Bombay for the afternoon.;
[10:04.04]And that was one of the several moments;
[10:07.18]when I could not help but fall in love with the Indian people.;
[10:12.29]I fell in love with them earlier when a taxi driver, a quiet old man,;
[10:19.23]followed me and gave me his drinking water to wash my mouth;
[10:24.25]when I got sick halfway to the conference place.;
[10:28.03]I fell in love with them;
[10:30.36]when the children at the school close to conference building passed by;
[10:35.56]and greeted us with "hello" and "morning" with smiles and a little shyness.;
[10:42.90]I fell in love with them when the college students in Bombay,;
[10:48.01]sitting on steps at the gate,waved to us cheerfully across the street.;
[10:54.45]Yes,I would love to visit India again.;
[10:59.19]I want to see the protected forests and the flowers blooming everywhere;
[11:05.07]and the charming, elegant women in colourful Saris again,;
[11:10.23]and of course, the India Airlines staff members,too.;
[11:15.61]And I want to see no beggars along the streets,;
[11:19.54]no slums alongside the beautiful beach in Bombay,;
[11:24.60]no school-age boys serving at the tables in the restaurants,;
[11:29.75]to hear no new stories about young wives who are burnt to death;
[11:35.41]because the dowry from their parents;
[11:38.01]failed to satisfy the husbands' families.;
[11:41.75]And I hope India will see more Chinese visitors in the near future;
[11:47.27]and China see more Indian visitors,too.;
[11:52.02]Lesson 13 Work to Live or Live to Work?;
[12:00.37]Text What Does Work Mean to People?;
[12:06.75]A group of people from different walks of life are being interviewed;
[12:12.96]about what role work plays in their lives.;
[12:17.20]Their attitudes, as we can see, vary.;
[12:22.58]Interviewer: Mr.Fisher,you are an accountant;
[12:27.32]and earn a good enough salary to enable you to live comfortably.;
[12:32.62]What does your work mean to you?;
[12:35.77]Mr.Fisher:I regard   it as a means   to an end.;
[12:39.92]Basically I'm a family man,;
[12:42.84]and as long as I have a job;
[12:44.93]which enables me to earn enough money to live well,I'm happy.;
[12:49.91]I find a comfortable life compensates;
[12:53.37]for the fact that I have a routine life;
[12:56.02]and three weeks holiday per year.;
[12:58.94]Interviewer:So in fact,you don't really mind what you do for a living?;
[13:04.41]Mr.Fisher:I didn't say that.;
[13:06.42]I wouldn't want to be a manual worker, for instance.;
[13:10.21]I enjoy my profession up to a point,;
[13:13.99]but it certainly doesn't rule my life.;
[13:17.19]As soon as I get home I forget about the office.;
[13:21.93]I suppose you could say I work to live.;
[13:25.81]Interviewer: Miss Burnes --;
[13:27.77]as a school teacher in a working class area of London,;
[13:32.74]how do you feel about Mr.Fisher's attitude towards his work?;
[13:38.40]Miss Burnes: Personally, I couldn't work to live.;
[13:43.14]I must enjoy whatever I do - even if the salary is low-;
[13:49.08]otherwise I feel it isn't worth doing.;
[13:53.68]Mr.Fisher:Of course Miss Burnes,;
[13:56.83]you do have long holidays which must be a great compensation.;
[14:02.08]Also,you aren't married;
[14:04.77]and therefore have no family responsibilities...;
[14:08.83]Miss Burnes:Being single has nothing to do with it!;
[14:12.43]Even if I were married;
[14:14.89]I'd still have to have a fulfilling profession.;
[14:19.50]Interviewer: In other words, Miss Burnes,;
[14:22.56]work plays one of the most important roles in your life?;
[14:27.26]Miss Burnes: Definitely!;
[14:29.54]It gives me the mental satisfactions I need and a role in society.;
[14:36.52]Contrary to Mr.Fisher,I can say that I live to work.;
[14:42.95]Interviewer: Of course,Mr.Fisher is employed by a company;
[14:48.52]and Miss Burnes by a school;
[14:51.34]and therefore both have a certain amount of guaranteed security.;
[14:57.37]Mr.Evans' "history" is unusual.;
[15:01.93]At the age of forty he gave up a good job in industry;
[15:07.81]to do what he had always wanted to do;
[15:11.37]-- become a journalist and photographer.;
[15:15.11]He's self-employ and does freelance work.;
[15:19.99]Mr.Evans,do you have any regrets?;
[15:24.51]Mr.Evans:Yes--one.;
[15:26.70]That is that I didn't resign from my other job when I was younger!;
[15:32.36]Interviewer:What made you leave the business world?;
[15:35.50]Mr.Evans:Well -- although I had a good salary;
[15:39.15]and a job which involved a lot of travelling abroad,;
[15:42.62]I always felt I was in the wrong job.;
[15:46.27]I felt tense all the time and I suddenly realized that,;
[15:52.20]in spite of security and what seemed to my friends to be an exciting job,;
[15:58.09]I'd stopped enjoying simple but important things...;
[16:03.19]Mr.Fisher:Don't you consider your choice rather selfish?;
[16:07.16]What about your wife and family?;
[16:10.17]Evans:They're delighted.;
[16:11.95]They see the change in me--find me more relaxed,;
[16:15.92]and therefore my relationship with my wife and family has improved,;
[16:21.03]because I'm not frustrated any more.;
[16:23.81]It's because I'm doing what I want to do.;
[16:27.01]Interviewer: Do you work as hard as before?;
[16:29.79]Mr.Evans: Yes -- even harder.;
[16:32.16]But I'm self-disciplined;
[16:34.08]and I find that working hard for a few hours;
[16:37.54]gives me time to play hard too. I have a more balanced life.;
[16:42.84]Miss Burnes:So in fact,you too have a routine life?;
[16:46.99]Mr.Evans:Of course! Everything becomes routine after a while.;
[16:51.28]But it's up to us to make that routine a creative experience -;
[16:56.57]Miss Burnes: Oh yes--I do agree!;
[16:58.99]Mr.Evans:And we mustn't forget;
[17:00.86]that "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy"...;
[17:06.79]II Read Read the following passages.;
[17:14.22]Underline the important viewpoints while reading.;
[17:19.20]1.Why Work?;
[17:24.03]Matthew:Michael,do you go out to work?;
[17:28.50]Michael: Not regularly, no.I...I used to;;
[17:33.61]I used to have a job in a publishing company,;
[17:36.90]but I decided it wasn't really what I wanted to do;
[17:40.91]and that what I wanted to do wouldn't earn me much money,;
[17:45.34]so I gave up working;
[17:47.39]and luckily I had a private income from my family;
[17:51.04]to support me and now I do the things I want to do.;
[17:56.06]Some of them get paid like lecturing and teaching,and others don't.;
[18:02.49]Matthew:What are the advantages;
[18:05.00]of not having to go to work from nine till five?;
[18:08.83]Michael: Ah there're.., there're two advantages really.;
[18:14.03]One is that if you feel tired you don't have to get up,;
[18:18.27]and the other is that you can spend your time;
[18:21.83]doing things you want to do;
[18:24.07]rather than being forced to do the same thing all the time.;
[18:29.63]Matthew: But surely that's in a sense very self-indulgent and very lucky;
[18:36.06]because most of us have to go out and earn our... our livings...um.;
[18:41.58]Do you feel justified in having this privileged position?;
[18:46.10]Michael:Yes,because I think I use it well.;
[18:50.16]I do things which I think are useful to people and the community;
[18:55.18]and which I enjoy doing.;
[18:58.23]Matthew:Joan,do you think that in order to lead a balanced life,;
[19:03.07]people need some form of work?;
[19:05.81]Joan:Yes,I do,but I think it's equally important;
[19:11.10]that their attitude to work...um should be positive.;
[19:16.21]If one is going to look on work as drudgery,;
[19:20.09]something that one does;
[19:22.05]so that one will enjoy one's leisure or whatever comes after it,then...;
[19:27.43]then I don't think there...there can be very much satisfaction in it.;
[19:33.54]But it seems to me that whatever work one is actually doing...er...;
[19:40.07]can become creative,;
[19:42.44]and I think that this is what we all need to feel;
[19:45.93]that we are creating something,;
[19:47.97]in the same way that even when er...;
[19:51.43]a mother cooks a meal,she is creating,in her own way,;
[19:56.82]something which... which is very necessary to her family.;
[20:02.47]2.What Is the Value   of Work?;
[20:09.00]Matthew:Chris,what do you think the value of work is?;
[20:15.02]Chris:Well,I think it...in our present -day society...um... for most people,;
[20:22.64]work has very little value at all um...;
[20:26.79]Most of us go out to work for about eight to nine hours of our Working day.;
[20:33.08]We do things which are either totally futile and totally useless;
[20:38.88]or have very little justification whatsoever,;
[20:42.80]and for most of us the only reason for working;
[20:46.81]is that we need to keel ourselves alive,;
[20:49.78]to pay for somewhere to live,to pay to feet our...our children.;
[20:56.49]Matthew:But surely people wouldn't know what to do;
[21:00.50]if they didn't have to go to work?;
[21:03.33]Chris:Well,again this raises the sort of...two main aspects of work...;
[21:10.44]That one,should we think of work only as...as a sort of breadwinning process;
[21:18.20]and this is very much the role it has in current society,;
[21:22.99]or should we take a much wider perspective on work and...;
[21:28.24]and think of all the possible sort of activities;
[21:32.25]that human beings could be doing during the day?;
[21:35.90]I think the sort of distinction um currently is between say,;
[21:42.42]someone who works in a car factory;
[21:45.25]and who produces cars which are just adding to pollution,;
[21:50.27]to over consumption of vital resources,;
[21:53.46]who is doing something which is... very harmful,;
[21:57.84]both to our environment and to, probably society.;
[22:02.63]um,to contrast his work with someone perhaps like a doctor,;
[22:08.20]who I think in any society;
[22:10.57]could be justified as doing a very valuable job;
[22:14.45]and one which incidentally,is...;
[22:18.10]is satisfying to the person who is doing it.;
[22:22.20]Matthew: What do you do?;
[22:24.44]Is your job just a breadwinning process;
[22:27.72]or do you get some satisfaction out of doing it?;
[22:31.92]Chris:Well,in the job I...I do-;
[22:36.07]I find that most of the satisfaction... is a mental one;;
[22:40.68]it's coming to grips with the problems of my subject;
[22:44.65]and with the problems of teaching in the University.;
[22:48.25]Clearly this is the type of satisfaction that most people;
[22:52.97]doing what we call in England "white -collar" jobs... um...;
[22:58.26]tend to look for and tend to appreciate in their jobs.;
[23:03.09]This is quite different from the sort of craftsman,;
[23:07.02]who is either working with his hands or with his skills on a machine,;
[23:12.81]or from people perhaps who are using artistic skills;
[23:17.56]which are of a quite different character.;
[23:20.61]Certainly it's becoming a phenomena;
[23:24.45]that people who do "white-collar" jobs during the day,;
[23:28.37]who work with their minds to some extent,;
[23:31.52]although many "white-collar" jobs now are becoming very mindless,;
[23:37.67]people who work on computers,people who...um...;
[23:42.42]are office clerks, um...bank employees,;
[23:46.43]these people have fairly soul-destroying jobs;
[23:50.27]which nevertheless don't involve much physical effort,;
[23:54.42]that they tend to come home and do "do-it-yourself" activities at home.;
[24:00.80]They make cupboards ...um...paint their houses,repair their cars...;
[24:06.41]which somehow provide the sort of physical job satisfaction.;
[24:10.93]...um...that they're denied in their working day.;
[24:15.63]3. The Worst Job;
[24:20.19]The worst job I ever had;
[24:23.43]was as a waitress at a rest stop on the New Jersey Turnpike;
[24:28.22]the summer I was 18.;
[24:30.64]Everyone who passed through the place wanted their food now,;
[24:36.02]and many of them seemed to think that tipping was a nice idea in theory;
[24:41.77]but not in practice.;
[24:44.37]The pace was manic, and I had to wear a hairnet and white oxfords.;
[24:50.85]Most of the time I arrived at work crying,and drove home crying.;
[24:57.69]The only good thing I can say about the experience;
[25:02.07]is that it left me with the most profound respect;
[25:05.86]for people who wait tables and with a pronounced tendency to overtip.;
[25:12.43]I had other jobs, before and after that one.;
[25:17.17]I stuffed jelly doughnuts at a bakery in a bad neighborhood;;
[25:22.10]I called people who were behind on their bills;
[25:25.93]and ordered them to pay up.;
[25:28.44]I was good at doughnuts and bad at threats.;
[25:32.91]After that I had jobs in the newspaper business only,;
[25:37.88]so I never felt that I had a bad job again.;
[25:41.76]I did not particularly care for working night rewrite on New Year's Eve,;
[25:47.87]but I imagine that makes me just about average.;
[25:52.66]4. What Do You Do, Daddy?;
[25:58.73]A young boy asks his father,"What do you do,Daddy?";
[26:04.84]Here is how the father might answer:;
[26:08.99]"I struggle with crowds,traffic jams and parking problems for about an hour.;
[26:16.43]I talk a great deal on the telephone to people I hardly know.;
[26:22.63]I dictate to a secretary and then proof-read what she types.;
[26:28.75]I have all sorts of meetings;
[26:31.89]with people I don't know very well or like very much.;
[26:36.55]I eat lunch in a big hurry and can't taste or remember what I've eaten.;
[26:43.48]I hurry,hurry, hurry.;
[26:46.26]I spend my time in very functional offices;
[26:50.41]with very functional furniture,;
[26:53.06]and I never look at the weather or sky or people passing by;
[26:58.86]I talk but I don't sing or dance or touch people.;
[27:04.28]I spend the last hour,all alone,;
[27:07.98]struggling with crowds,traffic and parking.";
[27:13.18]Now this same father might also answer:;
[27:18.15]"I am a lawyer. I help people and businesses to solve their problems.;
[27:24.63]I help everybody to know the rules that we all have to live by,;
[27:30.04]and to get along according to these rules.";