[00:00.00]280 Stamp Collecting
[00:03.47]A: Hi, Mike! Long time no see. What's up?
[00:07.29]B: Hey, John! Fancy meeting you here. Keeping busy?
[00:11.94]A: A little bit. Well, someone told me you ve got bunches of good stamps, like a museum.
[00:18.05]B: "I do have a lot. I m interested in stamp collecting. I guess it's actually a part of my life.
[00:24.32]A: They cost a lot though. How can you afford?
[00:28.26]B: Sornetimes I do have hard time with them. Ive to save every penny. But it's worthy.
[00:34.69]And, when big days such as my birthday or Christmas come, most of my friends give me stamps as gifts.
[00:41.27]A: That' s good. Stamp collecting is also a long-term invest-ment.
[00:46.47]The price keeps going up. You can earn a lot by bring-ing them to the market.
[00:51.57]B: I'm afraid not. For me stamp collecting is merely a hobby, a personal fondness.
[00:57.99]I'd be sad if I'd ever have to sell them.
[01:01.02]A: I can imagine. Keeping a hobby is like having a friend, both enjoyable and rewarding.
[01:07.66]You get great pleasure by attending to them.
[01:10.53]B: I couldn t agree more!
[01:12.78]A: By the way, have you ever been to other countries?
[01:16.64]B: Not yet.
[01:18.13]A: Then how do those foreign stamps come from?
[01:21.01]B: Well, Ive some friends studying abroad. They send me some at times.
[01:25.68]A: I see. My friends travel a lot every year. If you like I could ask them to help you with that.
[01:33.73]B: That would be too good if it's not trouble for them.
[01:37.31]A: Not at all.
[01:38.90]B: Now I'm heading for the post-office.
[01:42.11]I heard a new set of stamps are for sale for the world cup. Would you like to go with me?
[01:47.78]A: I'd love to. But I've to meet my friend at 4 o'clock at the airport.
[01:53.55]He's coming back for vacation. Anyway, I'll call you later.
[01:58.44]B: AII right. Then see you soon.
[02:00.50]A: See you.
[02:01.60]281 Hangzhou Hangs out French Welcome
[02:08.47]Hangzhou, capital city of East China's Zhejiang province,
[02:13.56]is trying to spread information about its tourism resources
[02:17.61]in France in order to attract more travellers from that country.
[02:21.95]It is many French people's dream to travel in China, a country with a long history,
[02:27.77]exotic oriental culture and splendid scenery.
[02:31.85]Hangzhou indeed, is one of the must-see places.
[02:35.40]One of the country's major scenic and tourism cities.
[02:39.29]Hangzhou has always been seen as a kind of "heaven on the earth."
[02:43.94]The city has two national-level scenic areas--West Lake and the Fuchun river,
[02:51.02]Xin'an river and Thousand Island Lake Scenic Area;
[02:54.89]and two national-level nature reserves--Mount Tianmu and Qingliang Peak.
[03:01.24]In addition to being known for its splendid history, culture and scenery,
[03:06.20]Hangzhou is also known as "a land of rice and fish," "the hometown of tea and silk" and "a gourmet' s par-adise."
[03:14.80]Hangzhou's food has also long been a favorite among peo-ple from home and abroad,
[03:20.44]and one of the reasons why many tourists fall in love with the city.
[03:24.67]A number of restaurants such as Zhangshenji have been popular not only in Hangzhou,
[03:31.59]but also in Shanghai, Beijing and Nanjing.
[03:35.48]A new highlight is the theme parks that have been built in the city,
[03:39.95]including Song Dynasty Town
[03:42.62]built according to an ancient painting to show the prosperity of the Song Dynasty (960-1219),
[03:51.24]Hangzhou Amusement land and Future World.
[03:54.50]282 Guidelines for Traveling in the United States
[04:02.76]If you want to see the beautiful land of America, you can travel in a jet plane or by train.
[04:09.60]It takes you about five hours to fly over the continental United States from the east coast to the west coast;
[04:17.31]it takes more than two days to go by train from New York City to Los Angeles.
[04:21.90]As the highways and super-highways cross the country, it is better to make a trip in a car.
[04:27.99]But it is ex-pensive to own a car in any U.S. city.
[04:32.12]The most convenient public transportation of getting from place to place in a city is the bus.
[04:38.83]Passengers are required to have the exact change in hand as they board a bus or you may buy "tokens" in advance.
[04:46.30]In some cities bus and subway tokens can be used interchangeably.
[04:52.73]However, bus fare depends upon distance; the farther you travel, the higher the fare.
[04:58.32]Subways are by far quickest way to move around a city.
[05:02.39]There are a few warnings that should be observed.
[05:05.63]1. Save yourself trouble by buying tokens in quantity if you plan to use subways regularly.
[05:13.00]2. Stand near the token booth or with a group of decent-looking people while waiting for a train.
[05:20.78]3. Choose to sit in cars where there are other people rather than empty ones.
[05:27.78]4. Try to avoid rush hours if you can.
[05:31.55]5. Hold your purse firmly and consciously-don't let it dangle.
[05:38.16]We should carry wallets inside not just in hip pockets.
[05:42.62]283 Advantages of Travelling
[05:47.40]People enjoy taking trips. But what are the reasons they leave home?
[05:52.68]One reason is for education.
[05:55.55]People travel because they want to broaden their horizons to learn about other people and other places.
[06:01.61]They are curious about other cultures.
[06:04.51]When peo-ple are tourists, they get a quick look at different ways of living.
[06:09.37]Even a short look at another kind of lifestyle is an important les-son.
[06:14.23]On a trip people can learn directly by visiting museums and historic spots.
[06:20.45]What do a tourist learn who sees the art museum,
[06:24.34]visits the historical palaces and scenic spots in Paris and shops a-long the river Seine?
[06:30.22]He gets a vivid picture of real life one of the French people has.
[06:35.00]He learns about their attitudes: how they feel about business, beauty and history.
[06:41.03]What about the tourist who goes to Hongkong?
[06:44.51]Does he get the same information that he could get from a book?
[06:48.45]He might read that Hong Kong is so crowded that there is less than 200 square meters of space for each person.
[06:55.43]But seeing and feeling the lack of space will im-press him much more.
[07:00.52]He might read that there are nearly 200 vehicle for every kilometer of the roadway.
[07:06.14]But the sight of so many vehicle parked along the roadside will be a much more vivid lesson.
[07:12.88]The tourists to Hong kong will never forget the con-trasts-the straight vertical lines of the tall modem buildings
[07:20.27]and the modern lines of boats that people live in.
[07:23.22]284 When A Bear Is in Our Tent
[07:29.38]Our family is trying to decide where to go for our vacation this summer.
[07:35.08]Our son Tom wants to go to Yellow Stone Park a-gain to see the bears,
[07:39.73]we did that last summer, and what an ex-perience it was!
[07:44.17]When we got there we put up our tent and wenl to explore.
[07:48.19]As we returned, we heard our daughter Susie cry out and then we saw a bear enter our tent.
[07:55.32]Tom wanted his father to chase him away. His father said:
[07:59.90]"No, it's dangerous to chase a bear, and don't let him chase you."
[08:04.60]Susie said:"what shall we do? Maybe we ought to climb a tree."
[08:09.80]Tom said:"No, we've got to get him out there. He might go to sleep in our tent."
[08:15.93]"Maybe we could make him leave it by putting some honey out-side for him to eat."
[08:20.66]Susie suggested. Then I said: "How are you going to get the honey." "It's in the tent."
[08:27.35]We watched the bear enter the tent and heard him upset everything inside.
[08:32.44]"It's foolish for us to try to catch him." said my husband "Leave him alone and wait for him to come out."
[08:39.34]We waited but the bear stayed inside and we had to sleep in the car.
[08:45.74]285 Travelling
[08:52.25]Nowadays travelling during holidays has become a fashion in China with the development of economy.
[08:59.12]When the demands on food, clothes and some other necessaries of life become far beyond being satisfied,
[09:06.22]people have come to spend their extra money on travelling.
[09:09.46]Travelling has many advantages.
[09:12.59]Firstly, it provides oppor-tunities for people to taste strange food
[09:16.98]and to know alien cus-toms that they otherwise would not know.
[09:20.74]Secondly, through travelling,
[09:23.98]people can broaden their scope of knowledge espe-cially of geography and history.
[09:27.93]However, traveling also has some disadvantages.
[09:31.82]For example, perilous peaks and furious rapids may endanger travelers' lives.
[09:37.62]Accommodations and bad weather trouble travelers a lot.
[09:41.67]On the whole, I think travelling does more good than harm.
[09:46.32]These so-called disadvantages,can even be regarded as good conditions
[09:51.23]in which travelers can build up both physical strength and willpower.
[09:55.67]If both your finance and health permit,
[09:58.91]you might as well do some traveling from time to time,
[10:02.02]perhaps an exotic atmosphere and charming seenes can attract you so much that you even forget to return.
[10:10.14]286 Hobbies
[10:13.96]A hobby can be almost anything a person likes to do in his spare time.
[10:18.48]They watch birds, hunt animals, climb mountains, raise flowers, fish, ski, skate and swim.
[10:26.81]They paint pictures, go to concerts, collect everything from books to butterflies, and from shells to stamps.
[10:35.12]People take up hobbies because these activities offer enjoy-ment, friendship, knowledge and relaxation.
[10:42.69]Anyone, rich or poor, old or young, sick or well, can follow a satisfying hobby.
[10:50.01]Besides, hobbies can help a person's mental and physical health.
[10:54.60]Doctors have found that hobbies are valuable in helping patients recover from physical or mental illness.
[11:01.60]In early times, most people were too busy making a living to have many hobbies.
[11:07.87]But some persons did enjoy hobbies.
[11:10.43]The ancient Egyptians played games with balls made of wood, and some Greeks and Romans collected things.
[11:17.83]People today have more time than ever before for hobbies.
[11:21.95]Machines and automa-tion have reduced the amount of time they must spend on their jobs.
[11:27.23]Once a famous Canadian doctor wxpressed the value of hob-bies by saying
[11:33.08]"so let's take up a hobby and be really a happy man !"
[11:36.76]287 A Quiet Life
[11:41.78]When Mr. Finch retired, he bought a small cottage in a seaside village.
[11:47.74]The cottage was built in fifteen eighty-eight, but was in very good condition.
[11:52.83]Mr. Finch was looking forward to a quiet life, but in the summer holidays he got a shock.
[11:59.44]Hundreds of tourists came to the seaside village.
[12:03.15]Mr. Finch's cottage was the most interesting building in the village and many of the tourists came to see it.
[12:09.78]From morning till night there were tourists outside the cottage.
[12:13.99]They kept looking through windows and many of them even went into Mr. Finch's garden.
[12:19.66]This was too much for Mr. Finch.
[12:22.84]He decided to drive the unwelcomed visi-tors away, so he put a notice on the window.
[12:28.62]The notice said If you want to satisfy your curiosity, come in and look round.
[12:35.20]Price: ten pence. Mr. Finch was sure that the visitors would stop coming but he was wrong.
[12:42.51]The number of visitors increased and Mr. Finch spent every day showing them round his cottage.
[12:49.02]I came here to retire, not to work as a guide, he complained.
[12:54.30]In the end he sold the cottage and bought a small modem house.
[12:58.58]It is an uninteresting little place and no one wants to see it. But it is certainly quiet and peaceful!
[13:06.02]288 My Favorite Program
[13:11.69]With the living standards of people rising year by year,
[13:15.77]tele-vision is now playing a very important role in people's lives
[13:20.00]and TV programs have been an essential part of our environment.
[13:24.55]Of many TV programs, news broadcast, sports competition, talk shows are to my liking,
[13:31.99]and my favorite program is "Animal World", which is broadcasted on CCTV.
[13:38.05]In this program, a large quantity of animals are introduced.
[13:43.17]The variety of animals ranges from large to small, and from her-bivore to carnivore.
[13:49.70]There are animals swimming in the water, running on the land and flying in the sky.
[13:55.40]From this program I can also get to know something about the most precious animals in the world.
[14:01.80]For many years I have regarded "Animal World"
[14:05.40]as my fa-vorite TV program because it is both interesting and instructive.
[14:11.15]When the program is on TV,
[14:13.66]it is not only showing some Very beautiful pictures but also telling many new things and what the animals feed on,
[14:21.26]how the butterflies grow up and even how the ants share their work.
[14:25.75]I'm so impressed by this program that I can tell you many things about animals.
[14:31.45]I think it is hard to imagine a world without animals.
[14:36.80]289 Going to a Concert
[14:40.77]Xu Tao: I went to a concert last Saturday night, and I heard the symphony orchestra.
[14:46.47]They played beautifully and I liked them very much.
[14:50.15]Do you like classical music, Emily?
[14:52.55]Emily: Yes, I like it very much. And I also like pop music and Jazz.
[14:58.30]Xu Tao: How about you, Lin Qiang?
[15:01.20]Lin Qiang: I like classical music. And I do enjoy other kinds, such as pop music and pop songs.
[15:07.76]What's your fa-vorite classical music. Xu Tao?
[15:10.94]Xu Tao: "The Blue Danube" composed by Johann Strauss, Beethoven's symphony No. 5 and No, 9
[15:18.60]and Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" and "Romeo & Juliet."
[15:22.75]Emily: How about last Saturday's concert, Xu Tao?
[15:26.49]Xu Tao: Well, it was wonderful. It was presented by the provincial orchestra.
[15:32.18]I heard "The Blue Danube" and "Swan Lake" again. When the concert ended,
[15:35.94]all the audience stood up to give the orchestra a warm applause.
[15:41.71]And we couldn't tear ourselves away from the music hall.
[15:45.53]Lin Qiang: I heard there will be a concert this Friday evening in our cinema. Do you want to go, Emily?
[15:51.59]Emily: Yes, let's go.
[15:54.62]290 Arranging Time for a Film
[15:59.50]Li: Hi, Simon, are you doing anything special this coming weekend?
[16:04.65]Simon: No, what do you have in mind?
[16:07.31]Li: I heard there is a film in our university cinema this week-end.
[16:11.23]I wonder whether you'd like to go with me.
[16:13.82]Simon: Great! I'd like to go very much.
[16:16.35]You know, I have been lousy these days and I think I need some relaxation.
[16:21.53]What film are we going to see?
[16:23.51]Li: It's a Chinese film, The Last Emperor. Do you know the story?
[16:28.24]Simon: Yes. I've read this story. It is a long story of Pu Yi.
[16:32.73]But I haven't seen the film.
[16:34.95]Li: I'm sure you will enjoy it very much.
[16:37.22]You know, the main character is played by a famous Chinese film star Chen Daoming.
[16:43.47]Simon: Fine, l'II go. Let' s arrange a tirne to see the film.
[16:48.20]Li: There will be three shows, i.e. 5:30 Friday evening,
[16:53.08]8:30 Saturday morning and 5:30 Saturday evening. What time will be appropriate for you?
[16:59.56]Simon: How about 5:30 Friday evening.? I have another appoint-rnent with my friend on Saturday.
[17:05.93]Will you meet me at a quarter past five before the Guest House?
[17:09.98]Li: OK, I'll wait for you there and then.
[17:12.86]Simon: Thank you, see you later, Bye!
[17:15.52]Li: Bye!
[17:17.17]291 Fresh Ways to Spend Spring Festival
[17:23.59]Spring Festival is a traditional holiday on which Chinese people put great value
[17:29.89]and how to spend it has formed a fixed pattern since its birth: having family reunion, preparing delicious foods,
[17:38.35]letting off firecrackers, and enjoying entertainment of ev-ery kind.
[17:42.61]Yet, compared with these, these years' Spring Festi-vals have witnessed many changes in the ways people spent them.
[17:49.40]Since the reform and open to the outside world policy began to be implemented,
[17:55.17]people's pockets have been getting increas-ingly bulged with money,
[17:59.35]which enables them to choose different ways to spend the big holiday.
[18:03.27]More and more people are freed from the heavy burden of preparing foods,
[18:07.87]and tend to have their family reunion dinner at a restaurant, where they entertain them-selves singing and dancing.
[18:14.71]Often people choose to travel, en-joying the natural beauty of different places.
[18:19.86]Moreover, the pop-ularization of telephones in cities has made it a reality for
[18:26.10]more and more people to express greetings without having to leave home.
[18:30.36]And again, a newborn service for mailing and sending flowers is another scene during the festival.
[18:37.15]With the rapid economic growth in China,
[18:40.44]some other fresh ways will surely be created in order to make Spring Festival the most colorful holiday.
[18:48.83]292 The Two-day Weekend
[18:52.80]The Two-day weekend has done a lot of good to college students since it was carried out.
[18:58.76]First, students can have much more leisure time to relax themselves.
[19:03.85]Second, they have more chances to contact with the society by taking a part-time job or going sightseeing.
[19:11.53]Third, they can have enough time for them-selves to review the lessons
[19:16.23]and preview what they will learn next week so as to make their studies more efficient.
[19:21.35]And finally, they can set aside time for various activities such as taking optional courses,
[19:28.22]attending lectures, joining various clubs and doing sci-entific research.
[19:33.39]Every sword has two-blades. Problems do exist during the two day weekend on campus.
[19:40.16]Some students may spend most of the time playing cards, drinking, dating, sleeping,
[19:46.46]thus idling their time and leaving their homework undone.
[19:50.37]Hence the two-day weekend can only add to their laziness and bring nothing useful to them.
[19:56.67]As for me, I will make good use of the time to have a rest and develop my own hobbies,
[20:03.30]such as reading extensively, lis-tening to music and playing pingpang.
[20:08.24]Of course, I won't forget to finish both my reviewing and previewing the lessons before the new week begins. |