每天一课英语口语 UNIT 293-307

[00:00.00]293  My Life
[00:04.28]I'll still be working, but things would be different.
[00:07.60]With any luck, I'll be earning more money.
[00:10.61]But the most important thing will be the job itself and how interesting it is.
[00:15.15]I mean I hope I'll be able to choose the kind of job I do and who I work for.
[00:20.61]Of course, I'd like to have more money and more authority than I have now.
[00:25.26]But I don' t think they are the only thing in life.
[00:28.37]What I really want is to be more independent than I am now, to have more control over my own life,
[00:35.50]perhaps to open a small restaurant, or write a book,  or do something like that,
[00:40.91]I am not sure if I ever have children or even if I want to get mar-ried.
[00:46.18]It all depends, of course.
[00:48.77]If I meet the right person, any-thing could happen.
[00:52.01]But I won't feel that my life is empty and meaningless
[00:55.30]if I still live alone for 10 years or even 20 years from now.
[00:59.48]Not at all. My mother was always saying "there is nothing like a good relationship".
[01:05.12]But I am not so sure there is nothing worse than a really bad one either.
[01:09.96]294 Human Beings' Friends
[01:16.09]Many kinds of animals are endangered by human beings
[01:20.07]The United States government's list of endangered species in cludes alligators, tigers, grizzly bears,
[01:28.16]some kinds of whales and over three dozen species of butterflies.
[01:32.63]What has led to the scarcity of these animals, which may become extinct without vi-tal protection?
[01:39.50]One important factor is that many animals have been widely hunted and killed for food or for their beautiful skins.
[01:47.62]In accor-dance with the Endangered Species Act, it is illegal in the United States to hunt,
[01:53.95]sell, or collect endangered species.
[01:56.79]Thus, an ex-pensive fur coat made from a tiger killed in Asia
[02:01.55]cannot be legally sold to a wealthy matron in New York or San Francisco.
[02:07.03]Some predators, which kill useful, more common animals,
[02:10.95]are threatened by ranchers who are concerned that predators will carry off chickens and young sheep,
[02:16.91]and use this fear to justify trapping or killing them.
[02:20.93]The butterfly is an accidental victim of man's effort to con-trol his environment.
[02:26.52]For a long time collectors have searched for unusual specimens for their colorful butterfly collections;
[02:33.50]now, there is an additional, more serious threat--
[02:37.28]widespread use of dangerous pesticides which farmers apply to their crops to control harmful insects.
[02:44.31]With various animals being killed for food, for decoration, and for the protection of domesticated-animals,
[02:52.54]or dying because of unfortunate contact with human environments, it is not sur-prising that some are becoming scarce,
[03:00.14]that the number of species on the endangered list is growing every year.
[03:05.03]Man is dis-covering that his world includes the other animals in it,
[03:09.36]and one can only hope this discovery is not coming too slowly or too.late.
[03:15.89]295 An Interesting Insect
[03:22.37]Bees are flying insects that are found all over the world.
[03:26.99]There are over twelve thousand different species of bees,
[03:30.26]but on-ly two thousand of these occur in north America.
[03:33.42]Bees can be divided into two groups according to their liv-ing styles.
[03:38.41]Solitary bees live alone.
[03:40.60]On the other hand, social bees, like ants, live in groups.
[03:45.41]Only about six hundred species are of this social category.
[03:49.41]Social bees are interesting because in their "society" there are different classes of bees.
[03:55.65]Each class performs a different task.
[03:58.05]Queen bees lay eggs. Workers are underdeveloped females.
[04:03.15]They work in the hive but never reproduce.
[04:05.71]Males do not work; their only task is to mate with the queen.
[04:09.97]Solitary bees occur as males and females.
[04:14.20]Every female makes a nest in the ground where she will lay her eggs.
[04:18.30]The nest consists of many cells.
[04:21.25]After an egg is laid and put in a cell, the female also adds some pollen and honey for food.
[04:27.34]Then she seals the cell.
[04:29.74]The females then go elsewhere to build a new nest or die.
[04:33.48]When the eggs hatch, the larvae will feed on the pollen and honey which the female left for them.
[04:41.26]296 Dogs--Our Faithful
[04:46.35]Most dog owners feel that their dogs are their best friends.
[04:50.95]Almost everyone likes dogs because they try hard to please their owners.
[04:55.68]One of my favorite stories is about a dog who wanted his owner to please him.
[05:01.04]One of my friends has a large German shepherd named Jack.
[05:05.53]These dogs are often very intelligent.
[05:08.69]Every Sunday after-noon, my friend takes Jack for a walk in the park.
[05:13.50]Jack likes these long walks very much.
[05:16.58]One Sunday afternoon, a young man came to visit my friend.
[05:21.12]He stayed a long time, and he talked and talked.
[05:24.68]Soon it was time for my friend to take Jack for his walk, but the visitor didn't leave.
[05:30.84]Jack became very worried about his walk in the park.
[05:34.52]He walked around the room several times and then sat down directly in front of the visitor and looked at him.
[05:41.24]But the visitor paid no attention.
[05:43.93]He continued talking. Finally, Jack couldn't stand it any longer.
[05:49.10]He went out of the room and came back a few minutes later.
[05:53.10]He sat down again in front of the visi-tor, but this time he held the man's hat in his mouth.
[05:59.47]German shepherds aren't the only intelligent dogs.
[06:03.42]Another intelligent dog is a Seeing Eye dog.
[06:06.86]This is a special dog which helps blind people walk along the streets and do many other things.
[06:12.95]We call these dogs Seeing Eye dogs because they are the "eyes" of the blind people and they help them to "see".
[06:20.55]Seeing Eye dogs generally go to special schools for several years to leam to help blind people.
[06:29.09]297 The Easter Bunny
[06:34.71]The hare or the rabbit is connected with Easter maybe be-cause of the animal's association with the moon.
[06:42.13]There are sev-eral points of ancient folklore to prove their resemblances:
[06:46.78]the an-imal is nocturnal; the female carries her young for one month;
[06:52.40]according to a most curious belief both the hare and moon have the power of changing their sex,
[06:58.51]since the new moon is mascu-line and the waning moon is feminine.
[07:02.66]Easter is in a sense a lu-nar holiday because its date depends on the moon.
[07:08.30]The Easter bunny also originated in pre-Christian fertility love.
[07:13.58]The hare and the rabbit were the most fertile animals our forefathers knew,
[07:18.49]so they selected them as a symbol of abundant new life in the spring season.
[07:23.59]Today American parents usually present their children Easter bunny toys
[07:28.81]and children enjoy eating Candy bunnies and listening to stories about the Easter bunny who supposedly brings
[07:35.89]Easter eggs in a family basket, for good children only.
[07:41.69]298 Keep Dogs for Companionship
[07:46.94]When you take a walk in any of the cities in the west, you often see lots of people walking dogs.
[07:54.02]It is still true that a dog is the most useful and faithful animal in the world,
[07:59.14]but the reasons why people keep a dog have changed.
[08:02.77]In the old days people used to train dogs to protect themselves against attacks by other beasts.
[08:09.38]And later they came to realize that a dog was not only useful for protection but willing to obey his master.
[08:17.03]For example, when people used dogs for hunting, the dogs would not eat what
was caught without permission.
[08:24.71]But now people in the city need not to protect themselves against attacks of animals.
[08:30.56]Why do they keep dogs, then?
[08:32.73]Some people keep dogs to protect themselves from robbery.
[08:36.57]But the most important reason is for companion-ship.
[08:40.28]For a child, a dog is his best friend when he has no friends to play with.
[08:45.58]For young couples, a dog is their child when they have no children.
[08:50.13]For old couples, a dog is also their child when their real children have grown up.
[08:56.27]So the main reason why peo-ple keep dogs has changed from protection to friendship.
[09:02.67]299 Unintelligent Snake
[09:10.45]Snakes may be found just about everywhere except the North Pole region and some islands in the South Pacific Ocean.
[09:17.61]Some snakes are in warm, dry desert, others live in green forest, field and wet land.
[09:24.09]Some never go far from water and are fine swimmers.
[09:27.85]Some live all their lives in the sea. Most snakes can swim.
[09:32.76]Because snakes are cold-blooded and depend on warm air for comfort and existence,
[09:39.03]the largest number of Snakes are found in the hottest parts of the earth.
[09:42.64]Even so, many snakes stay away from the direct rays of the sun when possible.
[09:48.80]In place where it freezes, snakes often hide themselves far under the ground or in caves and stay there until spring.
[09:56.92]Snakes are smart enough to stay alive.
[09:59.95]They are smart enough to find food and kill their enemies.
[10:03.48]But compared with other animals, they are believed to be below average in intelligence.
[10:09.25]300 Working Monkeys
[10:13.25]Along the coast of Kelantan in Malaysia, men and monkeys have been working partners for countless years.
[10:20.72]The monkeys help their owners by gathering nuts from coconut palms.
[10:25.45]The coconut monkey is the species called the pig-tailed macaque, "berok" in Malay.
[10:30.23]Most working monkeys have been captured in the jungle.
[10:35.98]When a few months old, they must be trained for their task.
[10:39.74]They learn how to twist a coconut tree, first while on the ground and then up in a tree.
[10:46.27]Next they learn the difference between ripe and unripe nuts, again first on the ground and then in a tree.
[10:54.08]In lessons that follow they climb high-er trees.
[10:57.92]Their last lesson is on jumping from one tree to another.
[11:01.89]No man can work as fast as a trained berok, and few men work so eagerly.
[11:10.46]301 Raising Dogs
[11:14.46]Maybe you have decided to raise a dog.
[11:17.09]Keep in mind that a clog is a living creature that will become attached to your home.
[11:22.61]With good care, a dog is a friend that will live with you for many years.
[11:27.02]Here are some suggestions on how to take care of dogs.
[11:31.10]Regular feedings are an important part of taking good care of a dog.
[11:35.48]How much and how often a dog should eat are deter-mined by the dog's age, size, health, and also activity level.
[11:43.32]There are a variety of high-quality commercial dog foods in the market.
[11:47.71]These prepared dog foods are intended to provide a dog with a balanced diet.
[11:52.62]They contain all the necessary nutrients a dog needs.
[11:55.78]What kind of home you need to prepare for your dog will depend on what kind of dog it is.
[12:01.50]Some dogs will spend most of their time outdoors.
[12:04.90]They will need to have some sort of dog-house that will keep them warm and dry.
[12:09.57]Dogs also need exercises.
[12:12.94]To exercise and play is an important part of a dog's development.
[12:17.23]Most dogs need to he walked daily for exercise.
[12:21.09]However, the pet owner must be careful to match the amount of exercise to the age and ability of the dog.
[12:28.23]Through play dogs become outgoing pets that are friendly in their interactions with people and other animals.
[12:35.51]Play not only helps develop a dog's personality, it can also help develop his work-ing skills.
[12:42.44]302 Spider
[12:47.58]You should not fear spiders because of their poison.
[12:51.47]Of all the spiders in North America,
[12:54.27]only one kind is very dangerous and most would not bite even if they were handled.
[12:59.52]They may prefer to run away or to drop to the ground.
[13:03.18]Even so, when a spider runs directly toward a person, it gives the impression that it is about to attack.
[13:10.88]Actually it cannot see the person in its way.
[13:14.20]The spider is too short-sighted to see things at a distance.
[13:18.46]It only wants to go where it won't be disturbed.
[13:21.41]In the United States one kind of spider is responsible for the frightening reputation of the rest.
[13:28.15]It is the Black Widow.
[13:30.16]It is so called because the fe-male, which is larger than the male, often eats her husband after making love.
[13:37.58]The Black Widow is found in all states but is most common in the south and the west.
[13:43.12]She constructs a loose,
[13:44.89]ir-regular web under a pile of rowans or near the foundation of buildings where she is seldom disturbed.
[13:52.57]She is not an attacking spider and many people have proved this by letting her crawl over their hands.
[13:58.97]When she bites, it is usually in self-defence.
[14:02.55]In spite of the stories you may have heard,
[14:05.71]it is rare for a person to be bitten by a Black Widow and even more unusual for the bite to prove fatal.
[14:12.48]But remember that-her poison is powerful and even though she is shy, she should be respected.
[14:21.44]303 The Image of Pigs
[14:26.17]Pigs have always had a bad press.
[14:29.80]Such expressions as "piggishness", "pig-headed', "buy a pig in a poke", "hog-wash hog-wild" and "hog-heaven',
[14:38.08]suggest how low their es-teem is, and several religions proscribe the animal entirely.
[14:44.24]Pigs have been around for 35 million years and the pig's brain is thought to be inferior
[14:50.64]only to those of primates and dol-phins.
[14:53.57]Because people and pigs have similar digestive,
[14:57.07]cardio-vascular and respiratory systems, they suffer from many of the same illness.
[15:02.66]Pigs are extensively used in medical laboratory ex-periments for the benefits of humans
[15:08.88]and they also supply some body substances and parts for humans.
[15:13.24]Pigs have served mankind mainly as food.
[15:17.08]Pigs can live from 12 to 15 years but are slaughtered at seven months.
[15:22.07]The se-lective breeding of pigs caused them to lose their natural immuni-ties
[15:27.03]and they must be given shots to ward off diseases.
[15:30.22]Pigs are relatively dear when given the opportunity, can be house-broken, are affectionate,
[15:37.17]and communicative, some peo-ple have adopted a pig as a pet and a few pigs have become fa-mous.
[15:43.67]Perhaps the pig is gaining a new respect--thanks to movie and TV antics of porky pig and Miss piggy.
[15:51.28]"Pigs are beautiful" is the motto of porcine pet owners and members in 22 states and five nations,
[15:58.04]and each is the booster of pet pigs.
[16:02.48]304 Boys Will be Boys
[16:06.66]On Saturday morning, the postman delivered a large parcel for Tommy.
[16:11.65]The parcel contained a birthday present and it had arrived just in time.
[16:16.74]Tommy looked at the stamps on the packet.
[16:20.06]"It's from Un-cle Bill," he shouted excitedly.
[16:23.17]Even though Uncle Bill was in America, he had not forgotten Tommy's birthday.
[16:28.29]Mother made Tommy promise not to open the parcel until the following day.
[16:33.75]"Your birthday's not till tomorrow," she said, "You should open it in the morning together with the other presents."
[16:40.70]The next day,
[16:42.24]father was just as excited as Tommy when they discovered that the parcel contained an electric train set.
[16:49.01]"Let's go upstairs and put it together," father said.
[16:52.58]Tommy remained with his father for about an hour but final-ly got bored with the train set
[16:58.78]and went into the living-room to see the rest of his presents.
[17:02.38]At lunch time. Tommy's mother came into the living-room.
[17:06.09]"Where's your father?" She asked, "I've been looking for him everywhere."
[17:10.79]"He's upstairs, Mum," Tommy-answered.
[17:14.06]"He put my train set together this morning and he's been playing with it ever since!"
[17:20.88]305 An Unsuccessful Delivery
[17:27.17]A couple of months ago, Mrs. Miller went to a department store to buy a few things for the house.
[17:33.75]She needed a set of cur-tains for the living room, two table lamps, a rug and several pillows.
[17:40.18]She asked them to deliver the things as soon as possi-ble,
[17:43.63]but they said that they were unable to send them before the end of the month.
[17:47.18]This meant that Mrs. Miller would have to wait at least 20 days for the delivery.
[17:52.64]After about three weeks Mrs. Miller received only the cur-tains and table lamps.
[17:58.78]She was a little disappointed when she didn't receive all the items she had bought,
[18:03.77]but nevertheless she was eager to see what the curtains and lamps looked like.
[18:08.39]She first opened the package with the curtains.
[18:11.94]She had ordered a lovely shade of light blue and instead they had sent her a horrible shade of purple.
[18:19.05]Well, you can just imagine how angry she was.
[18:22.52]Then she opened the boxes with the lamps.
[18:25.35]They were ex-actly what she had ordered, but one of the lampshades was dam-
aged.
[18:30.91]The next thing she did was to telephone them to com-plain.
[18:34.51]They promised to come to pick them up immediately, and also to replace them with the correct order.
[18:41.70]306 The Daily News
[18:46.01]Mr. Green went to the news agent's and bought his morn- ing newspaper.
[18:50.81]"Good morning, Joe," Mr Green said.
[18:53.84]"Good morning, Mr Green," Joe answered. "The Daily News?"
[18:58.05]"Yes, please," Mr Green said. "Is there any news today?"
[19:02.52]"No, there isn't any news today," Joe answered.
[19:06.17]"There was another murder yesterday. Some thieves robbed a bank.
[19:10.64]And some workmen went on strike at a factory."
[19:14.17]"Is that all, Joe?" Mr Green asked.
[19:17.49]"That's all, Mr Green. The same things happen every day.
[19:21.74]Only the names and addresses change."
[19:24.33]"Will it rain tomorrow, Joe?" Mr Green asked.
[19:28.25]"Yes, it will. Mr Green." Joe answered "The paper says' Rain Tomorrow'."
[19:34.10]"The weather doesn't change," Mr Green said.
[19:37.23]"You're right, Mr Green," Joe answered. "Rain yesterday, rain today, and rain tomorrow."
[19:44.71]Mr Green picked up his newspaper and looked at it.
[19:47.94]"Why do we read newspapers, Joe?" he asked.
[19:51.52]"It passes the time," Joe answered, "and it keeps me in business."
[19:57.82]307 A Pair of Glasses
[20:04.40]Last week I had my eye tested. "My wife thinks I need glasses." I explained to the opti-cian.
[20:11.22]"I know I don't need glasses. I can see very well."
[20:14.85]The optician tested my eyes. "You ought to wear glasses, sir," he said. "Come and choose a pair of frames."
[20:22.37]"I can see very well without glasses," I insisted, "but if you say I need them, I'll have to have them."
[20:29.69]The optician did not answer me. He showed me some frames.
[20:34.21]"Choose a pair of these," he said, "These frames are made of plastics, and these are made of metal.
[20:40.45]These are tor-toise-shell and are rather dear."
[20:43.95]"I'11 have the plastic ones," I said.
[20:46.85]"Do you think they suit you?" He asked and handed me a mirror.  I reached out for the mirror and missed.
[20:53.96]It crashed to the floor and broke into a thousand pieces.
[20:57.38]"I'm very sorry," I said and blushed.
[21:00.46]"It doesn't matter," the optician answered. "We lose a lot of mirrors like that."
[21:05.84]"Well," I said, "I certainly need glasses."
[21:09.76]"You certainly do," the optician answered with a smile. Your wife was right."