202 Useful Exercises for IELTS Side2-07-AudioTrack07

　　Narrator: Exercise 4.3. Radio Item 7:
       With me today from the Home Office, is Mr. David Thorpe, who has agreed to answer recent criticism of the government's handling of the so-called 'immigration problem'. The face of Britain changed radically¹ during the latter part of the twentieth century. Since large-scale immigration of non-English-speaking persons to Britain beganin the 1950s, there have been few attempts by the government to calm people's fears of an invasion of foreignlanguages . Yet recent research by linguists² from a prominent university has revealed that in certain city areasEnglish is almost totally unspoken, and has called into question the value of bringing non-English-speakingimmigrants to this country in the future. Mr. Thorpe, why do. we have a problem with English within ethniccommmunities, and is there a real danger that the English language will lose its dominance in Britain?
Let me begin by saying that this whole issue of people ... what was it I read in the papers? ...
by the year 2050 the majority of people in the top 3 British cities would not be speaking English ... is a myth ...
er, complete nonsense. The research was, in fact, conducted by a group of academics whose work was, first of all,totally misrepresented by the press, and, secondly³, based on improbable statistical⁴ evidence supposedly linkinglanguage-learning difficulties to unemployment. The reverse is actually true, since ... without a job ... if you needto learn English, you can spend a greater amount of time studying in our English-language training programmes.
Newswoman: But the research points out that in certain poor areas of some large cities, English is already nolonger the most commonly spoken language. What's the government doing to rectify⁵ this situation?
Thorpe: What the research actually said was that it was taking longer for some new foreign residents inBritain to become proficient⁶ in English than in the past ...
Newswoman: ... because, they say, of a drop in funding for English-language training programmes ...
Thorpe: Not at all. The percentage of funding for English courses has significantly increased under thisgovernment. No, the reason some foreigners are taking longer to learn English is that overall there has been aslight upward age shift in new migrants to city areas. It is, of course, more difficult to learn a language when youare older.
Newswoman: So will English ever become a second language in Britain, the country of its origin?
Thorpe: Really! How can that happen when the total number of immigrants to this country is a mere⁷ 50,000a year? And that includes many who speak equally as well as you or I.
Newswoman: You or me ...
Thorpe: If not better! (laughs)Newswoman: Mr. Thorpe, thank you for your time. Enquiries for English language courses can be made bytelephoning this number now: 0171-389-4204. That number again ... 0171-389-4204.

1 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。

2 linguists   

n.通晓数国语言的人( linguist的名词复数 )；语言学家

参考例句：

• The linguists went to study tribal languages in the field. 语言学家们去实地研究部落语言了。 来自辞典例句
• The linguists' main interest has been to analyze and describe languages. 语言学家的主要兴趣一直在于分析并描述语言。 来自辞典例句

3 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

4 statistical   

adj.统计的，统计学的

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table.他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• They're making detailed statistical analysis.他们正在做具体的统计分析。

5 rectify   

v.订正，矫正，改正

参考例句：

• The matter will rectify itself in a few days.那件事过几天就会变好。
• You can rectify this fault if you insert a slash.插人一条斜线便可以纠正此错误。

6 proficient   

adj.熟练的，精通的；n.能手，专家

参考例句：

• She is proficient at swimming.她精通游泳。
• I think I'm quite proficient in both written and spoken English.我认为我在英语读写方面相当熟练。

7 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。