Practice One A lesson Learned Words You Need to Know
drastic hug allowance whipping
Exercise 1:Directions:Listen to the story and match the events in the following two columns.
The events in Colomn A always happened before those in Column B.
My parents were always telling me to raise my grades,
but they would never tell me how.
After getting one bad report card after another, I knew I had to do something drastic.
When my December card arrived with three Cs, two Ds, and an F, I was afraid to show it to my mother.
That's when I camp up with the brilliant idea of changing the F to an A.
It was really quite simple just to give the F another leg.
When I showed the card to my mother, she was very excited to see the one good grade.
She gave me a hug and a kiss and, most important of all, a bigger allowance.
Everyone was happy in my house until two nights later when the phone rang. My mother answered it, listened, and then looked at me with blood in her eyes.
She told me that there were some things much worse than failing, and that cheating was one of them.
I tried to argue. I said she was the one who had told me to change my grades.
That made her really angry, and she said that I knew that's not what she had meant.
Then she gave me a whipping and took away my allowance for a month.
Since then I have learned to make the grade, not change it on the card. (229 words)
Exercise 2:Directions:Listen to the story again and answer each of the following questions in no more than ten words.
1)According to the speaker, what did his parents fail to do?
2)What scores did the speaker have on his December card?
3)What did he do to the card?
4)What was the speaker's argument when his mother looked at him with an angry look?
5)What was the lesson learned after his trick had been exposed?
6)Who do you think called the speaker's mother?
Practice Two Talking About College Days
Words You Need to Know
waist air-conditioned demonstration
scary arrest ceremony skip
Exercise 1:Directions:Listen to the conversation and decide whether the following statements are true (T)or false (F).
The following is a conversation between one woman, Grace and two men, Martin and Curtis.
Grace:Martin, what do you remember most about our college days?
Martin:Oh, I remember most?
Grace:Curtis's hair... down to his waist.
Curtis: I remember how Grace looked. (Wha...)She always had a flower painted on her face, remember that?
Martin:Oh, yes.
Grace:Now wait. Let's not forget about Martin and his air-conditioned blue jeans.
I never saw anybody with more holes in their jeans than Martin.
Martin:They're a classic. I still have those blue jeans!
Grace: Still have them? I don't believe it. That's incredible!
Martin:And I still wear them, too.
Curtis:You know, I was just thinking about the most important thing that happened in college.
Martin:The most important thing? You mean, the time we got arrested?
Curtis:Umm.
Grace:Yeah.You know,that's my best memory.The peace demonstration.(Yeah)
You know, somehow getting arrested for something you believe in isn't... isn't scary at all.
Curtis:No, it isn't at all. But it did help that there were five hundred other students getting arrested along with us.
Martin:That's true
Curtis:That was a great day, though.
Grace:Hey, you all remember our last day of college?
Curtis:Graduation? What's to remember? None of us went to graduation.
Martin:Do you regret that... that after all these years you skipped out on the ceremony?
Grace:Not me. I don't think we missed anything that day.No.
Curtis:nothing at all. And that picnic that the three of us had by the stream, remember?
(That was great.)Drinking wine, playing guitar, singing. Oh, that was worth more to me than any graduation ceremony.
Martin:That was the best graduation ceremony there could have been.
Curtis:Mm-hmm.
1)Grace is very proud of her hair which is down to her waist.
2)All of them got arrested once, and that was not very terrifying.
3)They got arrested for something they believe in and were released because they gave up their belief.
4)None of them regret that they skipped out on the graduation ceremony.
5)Three main things have been mentioned in the conversation.
Exercise 2:Directions:Listen to the conversation again and fill in the table.
Exercise 3:Directions:Fill in the blank with the information you hear on the tape.
Practice Three The Informality in American classes
Word You Need to Know
informality
Exercise 1:Directions:Listen to the passage and give as many examples as you can about the informality in the American classroom. (There are six in the passage.)
When students from other countries come to the United States,
they are sometimes shocked at the informality in American college and university classes.
For example, American professors do not dress up and they generally call students by their first names.
Students can speak out in class, where they do not even need to raise their hands.
In addition, in many schools, students can drink coffee, tea, juice, or soft drinks during classes.
Foreign students can usually get used to these differences easily.
However, two examples of American informality are very difficult for some foreign students to understand.
First, students sometimes call their teachers by their first names. Instead of calling a teacher Mr Smith or Professor Johnson,
they call them Tom or Barbara. In some countries, it is not possible for students to "first-name" their teachers.
Second, American students sometimes criticize the ideas of their teachers.
They might also give their teachers suggestions about changing something in the class.
In many countries, students cannot openly criticize their teachers or classes.
Thus, some foreign students feel shocked, embarrassed, and uncomfortable in American classrooms.
They have two choices. One, they can imitate the behavior of the American students.
But in this case, they might feel uncomfortable and disrespectful.
Two, they can continue to follow the customs from their home countries.
But in this case, the American teachers and students might think that the foreign students are too formal or too quite.
What is the solution to this problem? There is no easy answer.
However, time will help to solve the problem, because foreign students will become accustomed to the new behavior. (269 words)
Exercise 2:Directions:Listen to the passage again and complete the following diagram.
Exercise 3:Directions:Listen to the passage for the third time and decide which is the best answer to each of the questions.
1)What is NOT the feeling of foreign students in American classrooms?
2)What is Professor Edward Johnson sometimes called by his students?
3)What is American students' attitude toward their teachers?
4)How would a foreign student feel if he tried to imitate the behavior of American students
5)How can this problem be solved according to the passage?
Lesson Two School Education
Practice One Course Study Words You Need to Know
correspondence secretarial shorthand
accounting bookkeeping
Exercise 1:Directions:Listen to the passage and answer the following questions briefly.
Man:So you were studying for, let me see, how long, four years altogether?
Can you tell me a little about that course?
Woman:Well, it was a very difficult... a very tough course.
I did English for the whole four years, of course, so at the end, well, I was quite good.
And Business Correspondence, which I did in the second year and third year, was really just English too.
And I did just one year of French, in the fourth year, but I learned to meet people, or answer the telephone.
The there was three years of Secretarial Practice, starting in the second year,
and three years of Shorthand-that started from the beginning but even at the end of the third year,I wasn't very good at it.
And, well, I suppose the other subjects just fitted around that;
Accounting in year three and four, Economics in the first and second and Bookkeeping in the thi... no, no, second year, before we started Accounting. (165 words)
1)What does the woman think of her course?
2)What does she think of her English at the end?
3)How about her French? How do you know?
4)How about her shorthand?
Exercise 2:Directions:Listen to the passage again .
While you are listening, put a tick ( )in the table to indicate when she studied each subject.
Exercise 3:Directions:Listen to the passage for the third time and answer the following questions briefly.
1)What job do you think the woman is qualified for? Why do you think so?
2)Why do you think the man wants to know what the woman studied?
Practice Two Who Wins?
Words You Need to Know
convention counterpart snicker squeeze
rival yell outdone lookout
Exercise 1:Directions:Listen to the tape and write down the sentences you hear.
1.Here comes the conductor.
2.Two groups of students boarded a train.
3.One of the engineers knocked on the math majors' door.
4.The math students boarded the returning train with only one ticket.
5.The conductor took the single ticket that was passed under the door.
Exercise 2 Directions:Listen to the passage and put the sentences in Exercise 1 in the right order according to the tape.
Two groups of students-math and engineering majors-boarded a train that was headed for a technical convention.
Each of the math majors had a ticket, but their engineering counterparts had only one ticket between them.
The math majors were snickering at this when an engineering student shouted, "Here comes the conductor?"
With that, all the engineering majors squeezed into a bathroom.
The puzzled math students watched as the conductor collected their tickets, then knocked on the bathroom door and said, "Ticket please."
The conductor took the single ticket that was passed under the door and left.
Not to be outdone, the math students boarded the returning train with only one ticket,
and again they laughed because this time their rivals had no ticket at all.
When the engineering lookout yelled, "Conductor coming?" all the engineers crowded into one bathroom, while the math majors piled into another.
Then, before the conductor entered the car, one of the engineers came out of his bathroom and knocked on the math majors' door
"Ticket please," he said. (174 words)
Exercise 3:Directions:Listen to the passage again and find the near-synonyms of the following words from the passage.
Practice Three Overseas Students in the UK
Words You Need to Know
administrative Leeds Manchester
Exercise 1:Directions:Listen to the passage and answer the following questions briefly.
In 1980-1981 there was a total of 108,610 students from all other countries studying in the UK.
They were mainly from the Commonwealth group of countries, the countries belonging to the European Economic Community-otherwise known as the EEC or Common Market and other foreign countries.
Just under one-third of all students who came to the UK in 1980 studied at a university,
either as an undergraduate or as a postgraduate: altogether there were 31,496 students.
Just over one-third of these students studied at five English universities.
Most were at London University where there were 6,778.
Then came Leeds University where there were 1,220, while 1,130 were at Manchester University.
At Oxford University there were 1,101 students, and finally, at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology,
known as UMIST, there were 1,035.
Finally, the three most popular subject areas studied at university by undergraduate and postgraduate students combined were firstly,
engineering and technology, studied by 9,552 students;
this was followed by social, administrative and business studies, studied by 6,951 students;
and finally, science subjects, studied by 6,253. (176 words)
1)Where did the foreign students mainly come from?
2)Totally, how many university students were from foreign countries in the UK in 1980-1981?
3)What is the percentage of all foreign students who studied at 5 English universities in 1980?
4)What is the original form of UMIST?
Exercise 2:Directions:Listen to the first part of the passage again and complete the table with the information you get from the recording.
Exercise 3:Directions:Listen to the second part of the passage again and complete the table with the information you get from the recording.
Practice Four Education Britain
Words You Need to Know
comprehensive certificate professional occupation
Exercise 1:Directions:Listen to the passage and decide whether the following statements are true (T)or false (F).
In Britain, most of the control over the organization of education is in the hands of local, not central, government.
The result is that the system can vary from area to area.
All children, however, have to go to school at the age of five and stay there until they reach the school leaving age, which is sixteen.
Children start their education in a primary school, where they usually stay until they are eleven.
They then move on to a comprehensive school. In some areas, however, they go to a middle school at about the age of ten, and then move to a comprehensive school when they are thirteen.
Middle schools are larger than primary schools, but smaller than comprehensives.
They aim to prepare students for the larger, more formal comprehensive schools.
In a few areas, children are still selected according to their ability.
They have to take an exam at the age of eleven, called the eleven-plus.
Those who pass go to a grammar school; those who fail go to a secondary modern school.
Most children take examinations when they are sixteen. At the moment, there are two types of exams-"O" (ordinary)levels, and CSEs (Certificate of Secondary Education).
Most children leave school after these exams, but the more successful students stay on and take two or three "A" (advanced)level exams when they are eighteen
If they do well in these, they may go to university or into a professional occupation. (243 words)
1)The local government has the control over the organization of education.
2)Children can leave school at the age of 16.
3)Middle schools are the largest among the schools.
4)All children in Britain are selected according to their ability.
5)Most children take examinations at 16.
6)Those who do well in "A" level exams can go to university.
Exercise 2:Directions:Listen to the passage again and fill in each blank with the information you get from the recording.
Quiz One
Part A:Directions:In this part you will hear eight short conversations between two speakers.
At the end of each conversation, you will hear a question about what was said.
Listen carefully and decide which of the four choices is the best answer to the question you have heard.
1.M:Did you go to the big sales at Spencer's yesterday?
W:I had to visit my aunt in the hospital.
Q:What does the woman mean?
2.W:How long did you have for the English exam?
M:We were allowed one hour and a half, but I finished in less than half the time.
Q:How much time did the student probably spend on the exam?
3.W:Hello, 371-5525.
M:Hello, this is John Smith calling from Chicago. May I speak to Mr Smith, please?
Q:What kind of call is it?
4.M:That's $7.25 on the meter and one dollar extra for the suitcase.
W:Ok, here's $10. Keep the change.
Q:How much is the tip?
5.M:Can you please tell me where I'd find gym shoes?
W:Yes, they'd be in the sportswear department at the back of the store.
Q:What is the man doing?
6.W:Tom, I was told that your wallet was lost.
M:Mine wasn't, but Mike told me Bill's was.
Q:Whose wallet was lost?
7.W:Why are you so late? I've been waiting for more than an hour.
M:I'm terribly sorry, I overslept and missed the bus.
Q:Why was the man late?
8.W:John, did you pick up your clothes from the laundry today?
M:No! My brother stopped for them on his way home.
Q:What happened to the clothes?
Part B:Directions:in this part you will hear four short statements.
Each statement will be read just once.
Listen carefully and decide which of the four choices is the closest in meaning to the statement you heard.
9.The train was due at 11:15, but it has been delayed a quarter of an hour.
10.Jane found the trip from New York to California very tiring.
11.George likes the brown shirt better than the green one.
12.Mr Brown takes pictures for a living.
Part C:Directions:In this part you will hear three short passages.
Each passage will be read twice. After each passage you should pause the recorder and try to write down its main points in your own words.
Passage 1:When Jimmy was a boy, he always liked watches and clocks very much.
When he was eighteen years old, he went to the army, and after a year there, he began to learn to mend watches.
Passage 2:Mr Smith was a teacher at a school in a big city in northern England.
He usually went to France or Germany for a few weeks during his summer holidays,
and he spoke French and German quite well.
Passage 3:I am student at Washington University. I am very busy with my studies,
but I always find time to write several letters every week.
I like to receive mail, and you have to write letters if you want to hear from your friends.
Part D:Directions:In this part you will hear two passages.
Each passage will be read twice. At the end of each passage you will hear some questions.
After you hear a question, you should either decide which of the four choices is the best answer to the question you heard
or answer the question in your own words according to the passage.
The questions you should answer are also printed in your book,
but you should read them only after you hear them from the tape.
W1:Frankly, Sandra, I'm not very pleased with you.
I don't know-it's something about the way you approach your work, your attitude to it, that worries me.
W2:Oh really? How do you mean?
W1:Well, you don't seem to respond to me very well.
In fact I find that you're not easy to work with.
Yes, really Sandra, I find you rather difficult.
W2:I'm sorry you think that way.
W1:The point is-and I think I should be truthful with you,
I can't honestly recommend somebody for promotion who doesn't take an active interest in their work.
You can see that, can't you Sandra?
W2:Er... yes I can and I'm sorry. I thought I was doing my best.
W1:Maybe, but you don't seem to enjoy your work.
I mean, are you happy at LTV? Perhaps you need a change.
Have you ever thought about working somewhere else?
You know, a different sort of job.
W2:Well, no. It's not that. I like it here.
I like working for LTV. I think television is exciting.
It's just that my job, what I do, seems so boring, so repetitive.
I don't feel as if I'm getting anywhere.
W1:I see. Yes, I think I understand how you feel.
I'm glad you told me. But you've got to realize, Sandra, that we can't all do exciting work all the time.
W2:Yes, I know that.
W1:Look, this is what I think we'd better do.
Bill Fletcher who deals with audience reaction and research wants someone to help him on door-to-door interviews and so on.
We might be able to fit you in somewhere there. What do you think about that? (285 words)
Q13.What does Sandra think of her present job?
Q14.How can you describe the woman talking to Sandra?
Q15.What kind of job does Sandra probably like to do?
Q16.What job does the woman recommend Sandra to do?
Passage 2 Computers are causing a new revolution on university campuses today.
At this moment, students throughout North America are editing term papers on computers.
They are calculating statistics. They are writing reports.
They are designing new products-all on personal computers.
Today's computer revolution is a major force on campus.
In fact, students who don't own computers often feel that they are at a disadvantage.
In many cases, they have to borrow one or pay for time at a computer center.
Personal computers are very common, and throughout North America certain colleges and universities are now requiring students to buy their own.
Some educators don't like today's emphasis on computers.
They recognize the importance of computer literacy,
but they don't believe in doing everything by computer.
Most students prefer the computer, however.
As psychology student Kevin McFarley says, "Right now, I'm completing a project for a statistics class.
I don't mind calculating statistics manually. Without the computer, though, this project would take weeks to finish.
At this moment, the computer is doing some calculations that would take me two weeks to figure.
How can a human being compete with that?!" (189 words)
Q17.What is the attitude of some educators toward computers?
Q18.Which of the following can be taken as an example to show that the use of computers is emphasized?
Q19.What can be the best title for the passage?
Q20.What does Kevin McFarley say about computer calculation