[00:04.28]Lesson 45
[00:07.44]1.Dialogue
[00:10.89]Two friends,Kate and Li Qun,are talking about keeping fish.
[00:17.06]I saw a beautiful fish in the street market the other day.
[00:22.10]It was orange and blue.I'm thinking of buying some nest Sunday.
[00:28.06]Where would you keep them?
[00:31.11]In that round bowl over there.
[00:34.87]It's a bit small,isn't it?
[00:38.35]So are the fish!
[00:41.69]I think you should get a tank if you want to keep fish.
[00:46.13]Really?
[00:48.98]Yes.You should never keep fish in a small round bowl.
[00:54.33]They don't get enough air.
[00:57.57]I suggest we go shopping together and look for a nice tank.
[01:02.85]We need to find one about 30 centimetres (cm) by 30 by 50 cm.
[01:10.30]That might be quite expensive.
[01:13.95]Check the prices before you decide whether to buy one.
[01:18.52]And you ought to get a few large rocks to put in the tank.
[01:23.07]Fish love swimming round the rocks and through holes in them.
[01:27.90]Is there anything else that I ought to get?
[01:31.53]Yes,you need to get some underwater plants.
[01:35.97]For one thing they keep the water clean.
[01:39.92]Also they make the tank look much prettier.
[01:44.18]Lesson 46
[01:52.43]2.Reading comprehension
[01:56.58]ESCAPE FROM THE ZOO(1)
[02:00.74]"This is Radio Two.Here is the o'clock news.
[02:05.60]A young lion has escaped from Green Park Zoo in southeast London.
[02:11.66]In the hurricane last night a tree fell onto the cage
[02:17.01]where it was kept and in the morning it was found that the lion had escaped.
[02:23.18]It is about seventy-five centimetres tall.
[02:27.72]The manager of the zoo said that the young lion,
[02:32.19]which was born in the zoo and is now six months old,
[02:37.05]would probably not attack people.
[02:40.81]However,if it becomes hungry,it might be dangerous.
[02:45.85]Anyone who sees the lion is asked to telephone the zoo and the police."
[02:52.41]When she had finished listening to the news,Mrs Cousins turned off the radio.
[02:59.17]The hurricane last night had been a grear surprise,
[03:04.16]but fortunately the house had not been damaged and no trees had fallen near it.
[03:10.62]Her baby was sleeping in its basket.
[03:14.59]She wanted to cook some vegetables quickly for lunch before the baby woke up.
[03:20.75]So,as it was a nice sunny day,she carried her baby in its basket outside,
[03:28.40]put it on the table under the tree and went back inside.
[03:33.97]About half an hour passed.
[03:37.52]Mrs Cousins was making a lot of noise with the pans
[03:42.88]and did not hear anything unusual.
[03:46.82]Then she went to the window to see if everything was all right.
[03:51.86]She had the surprise of her life.
[03:55.70]Her neighbour's big dog had got into her garden,
[04:00.56]jumped onto the table and was looking at her baby.
[04:05.52]She was just about to open the window and shout at the dog to frighten it,
[04:11.59]when she stopped and stood quite still.
[04:16.26]This was not the neighbour's dog;it was paler and of a different shape.
[04:22.50]She was not so sure now that it was a dog.
[04:27.26]Slowly it turned its face and stared straight at Mrs Cousins.
[04:33.61]"Me?A dog?"it seemed to say with its strong body and sharp white teeth.
[04:40.74]"The lion!It must be the lion from the zoo!"
[04:45.20]Mrs Cousins was frightened.
[04:48.97]At that very moment the animal bent over the baby.
[04:54.32]Mrs Cousins held her breath,and her whole body went cold.
[05:00.49]The lion was smelling the face of the sleeping baby.
[05:05.53]Was it hungry?What was it going to do?
[05:10.10]Thoughts rushed through her head.
[05:13.86]How could she get the lion away from her baby?
[05:17.81]If she ran towards it,it might attack her.
[05:22.64]Worse still,it could even carry off the baby in its mouth.
[05:28.39]She looked around the kitchen for something to throw at the lion.
[05:33.43]Suddenly she had an idea.
[05:37.37]In the fridge there was a large leg of pork
[05:41.92]which she was planning to cook on Sunday.
[05:46.36]There was not a moment to lose.
[05:50.41]She picked up the leg of pork,went to the back door and opened it.
[05:56.86]The lion looked at her as she swung the pork in her hand
[06:02.03]so as to attract the lion's attention.
[06:06.29]"Here!Eat that!" she cried as she threw the leg of pork as far as she could
[06:13.34]onto the grass away from the table.
[06:17.39]The lion at once jumped off the table and ran to the meat.
[06:23.03]It picked it up in its mouth and carried it into the bushes.
[06:28.36]Mrs Cousins ran to the table,picked up her baby in her arms,
[06:34.32]ran inside and shut the door.
[06:38.47]Lesson 47
[06:46.94]1.Reading comprehension
[06:51.19]ESCAPE FROM THE ZOO(2)
[06:55.56]As soon as she got inside the kitchen,Mrs Cousins started to shake.
[07:02.43]For a moment she just stood there,unable to believe what had just happened.
[07:09.27]What should she do?Of course,she had to fetch help.
[07:14.91]Quickly she went to the telephone and called the police.
[07:20.27]"Yes,I am sure that it's a lion,"she said.
[07:24.73]"It's as big as a very large dog.
[07:28.86]It moves like a lion and it's eating some meat which I threw at it."
[07:34.50]She gave her address and put the phone down.
[07:39.15]What should she so next?She telephoned her neighbours.
[07:44.80]"This is Jo Cousins," she explained.
[07:48.74]"Please listen carefully.This is not a joke.
[07:53.13]The lion which escaped last night from the zoo is in my garden.
[07:58.69]It's not safe to go outside until it's caught.
[08:03.45]I'm ringing all my neighbours to warn them."
[08:07.29]Ten minutes later the police arrived.
[08:11.65]The lion could still be seen in the bushes eating the meat.
[08:17.11]"Are you going to catch it yourselves?"asked Mrs Cousins.
[08:22.39]"No,not us!" said one.
[08:26.04]"I thind we'll leave it to the experts."
[08:30.20]Before long,a truck stopped in front of her house.
[08:35.45]Two keepers from the zoo came into the house and looked into the garden.
[08:41.48]"She looks quiet enough,doesn't she?"said one of them.
[08:46.21]"But I think we'll give her a shot,just to be safe."
[08:50.68]He took a long plastic pipe and fitted somethig into ine end.
[08:56.53]Welking slowly across the grass he pointed the pipe at the lion and fired.
[09:03.40]The lion made a sudden angry noise and struggled to its feet.
[09:09.56]After a moment,it fell over and lay still.
[09:14.71]"We've just sent her to sleep," said the keeper.
[09:18.94]"It's easier to catch a sleeping lion than one that's awade."
[09:23.98]They put the lion in a strong cage and carried it to the truck.
[09:29.55]"What did you give her to eat?"the keeper asked Mrs Cousins.
[09:35.01]"A leg of pork."
[09:37.96]"She prefers beef.Still,you'll know next time,won't you?" |