A Listening Course 2

Unit 6

Section One Tactics for Listening

• Part 1 Phonetics – stress, Intonation and Accent

American: W-e-ell, l just lo-o-ve rice and fish ...↗American: Well, as I was saying, I just love rice and fish and tomato s

auce. ↘American: And I suppose you want to know what drinks I like and so o

n ... Well, I guess I don't much care for whisky ...↗American: And I don't care for rum ... ↗American: And I don't like lemonade at all. ↘American: And my favorite music is my own ... ↗American: And Cat Stevens, I guess. ↘

Part 2 Listening and Note-taking Identifying Criminals (1)

• Can computers help the police to identify criminals (罪犯 )? Experts now think computers can make it easier for the police to find people they want to question.

• At present, the system most widely used by the British police is called Photofit  (警方根据证人描述的特征利用照片拼凑人像的方法 (等于 Photo-Fit)). Witnesses (目击者、证人 ) describe a suspect (嫌疑犯 ) and then a picture is built up like a jigsaw (拼图 ), using five different sets of features. These are: hair, eyes, nose, mouth and chin. This system can be very useful in finding criminals, but only in one case out of twenty. Quite often, almost half the time. In fact, Photofit pictures are misleading. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the picture may look nothing at all like the suspect. Secondly, the likeness may be so general that it is not at all helpful. And unfortunately, a bad likeness can lead to the arrest of an innocent (无罪的、无辜的 ) person.

• Witnesses‘ attitudes can influence their descriptions. In a recent experiment, a group of people was shown a picture of a man and told that he was a mass murderer. When asked to produce Photofit pictures of this man, they made pictures that showed a murderous-looking individual. But at the same time, a second group was shown the same picture and told that the same man was a lifeboat captain (救生艇 /船船长 ) who had received a medal for bravery. When the second group produced Photofit pictures, these showed a man who was handsome and well-groomed (干净整洁的 ).

Part 2 Listening and Note-taking Identifying Criminals (2)

• The police have another way of identifying criminals. Police records contain tens of thousands of photographs of people convicted of crimes (证明犯了罪 ). Witnesses can look through these in the hope of recognizing suspects; however, it has been discovered that a witness begins to forget the culprit‘s (犯人、罪犯 ) features after spending a long time looking through these photographs.

• A computer system called FRAME (Face Retrieval (检索 ) and Matching Equipment) combines the best features of both methods. All the photographs on record are put on the computer file. When a witness describes a suspect, the computer' searches the file for photographs that fit the description. The witness is then presented with a small number of photographs to look through.

• Of course, this system, as it exists at present, will only help to identify people whose photographs are already on police files. So now, experts have to work on the problem of getting accurate descriptions from witnesses. One thing they have discovered is that witnesses give better descriptions when they are encouraged to recall the scene of the crime. They do not need to go there; just imagining the scene works just as well.

Section Two Listening Comprehension

Passage The Loch Ness Monster (1)• One of the strangest and most fascinating things about Scotland* is the Lo

ch* Ness Monster (尼斯湖水怪 ), Some people believe in the monster‘s existence. Many do not! However, very important bodies of people (一大群人 ) do believe there is some truth in the famous monster story: experts from Britain’s Royal Air Force*(英国皇家空军 ), scientists from the Boston Academy of Applied Science*(波士顿应用科学研究院 ) and computer specialists from NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, U.S.A.美国国家航空航天局 /宇航局 ), to mention but a few!

• Loch Ness is an enormous lake in Northern Scotland. It is about twenty-four miles long and one mile wide, and has an approximate depth of 1,000 feet, which makes it very difficult for anybody to find and examine the highly elusive*(难找的；难以描述的 ) monster. In fact the first convincing reports of people seeing the monster date from only about six years before the beginning of the Second World War. Since then there have been other sightings, and photographs of the monster have been taken! Many of these photographs have later been recognized as fakes -- silly jokes played on an unsuspecting (不怀疑的、未猜想到的、毫不知情的 ) public!

Section Two Listening Comprehension

Passage The Loch Ness Monster (2)• However, other photographs have amazed the most searching scientific

minds. In fact, it seems certain that something (and probably several of them) does exist in the deep waters of Loch Ness. The most amazing photographs show a flipper (鳍状肢、鳍 )* -- the flipper perhaps of a very large animal (twenty or thirty feet long, it is imagined).

• From these photos British specialist in animal life, Sir Peter Scott, who is also an artist, has constructed this picture of what he believes the monster might look like.

• But where did the monster come from? Did it mysteriously climb out of a prehistoric (史前的 ) world beneath the earth‘s crust*? Did it originally swim into the lake from the sea? Before the Ice Age (冰河世纪、冰河时代 ), Loch Ness opened into the sea. Was the young monster's egg frozen into the ice of the Ice Age? And somehow did the monster come alive again when the ice went away? We just do not know! Can we ever find the answers to all the questions surrounding the legend* of the Loch Ness Monster, do you think?

Part 3 News News Item 1

US Secretary of State (美国国务卿 ) Hillary Clinton has said that the US is keen to broaden and deepen its ties with Asia. Speaking to the BBC ahead of an Asian tour, Mrs. Clinton said North Korea’s nuclear plans, the economic crisis and climate change would top the agenda (议程 ). Her week-long tour will take in Japan, China, South Korea and Indonesia. The stops reflect the diversity of ties the US has in the region. Going to Asia signals that the US is not just a transatlantic (横跨大西洋的 ) power but also a transpacific (横跨太平洋的 ) power. She also stressed that the US was keen to work more collaboratively with China. Mrs. Clinton said there were real opportunities to develop a good relationship with Beijing on issues such as climate change and clean energy. It is the first time in 60 years that a secretary of state has made Asia the destination of a first trip in office.

Part 3 NewsNews Item 2

• A new round of six-nation talks (six-party talks 六方会谈 ) on North Korea's nuclear program will be held next week in Beijing.

• The talks involving China, Russia, Japan, the United States, and North and South Korea have been scheduled for June 23-26. Working group (工作小组 /事务委员会 ) talks set for June 21-22 will lay the groundwork for (为…奠定基础 ) discussions later in the week.

• Beijing has already hosted two rounds of the so-called six-party talks, but both have made little headway (前进、进步 ) into resolving the standoff*(僵局 ).

• China hopes all sides will deepen their discussions based on previously reached agreements, including to resolve the crisis peacefully through dialogue and reaching the final goal of a nuclear free Korean Peninsula (朝鲜半岛 ).

• The United States and its key Asian allies (同盟国 ), South Korea and Japan, have been pushing Pyongyang(平壤 ) to abandon its nuclear program (放弃核计划 ) since the extent of the program became known in December 2002.

Part 3 NewsNews Item 3

At a major security forum (论坛 ), Vice President Joe Biden said the new US administration (美国政府 ) was determined to (be determined to 下定决心… ) strike a new tone in its relations around the world. It also wanted to press the “reset button”(复位按钮、重新启动键 ) in ties with Russia after a “dangerous drift (漂流、偏离 )” in recent years, and was open to talks with Iran. But while the US was ready to do more, it would expect more from its partners. The new US vice president also warned no strategy in Afghanistan (阿富汗 ) could succeed without Pakistan (巴基斯坦 ). He said that the deteriorating situation (日趋恶化的局势 ) in the region was a security threat for all countries, not just the US. Mr Biden’s wide-ranging speech to international leaders and security experts in Munich (慕尼黑 ) set out (阐述、提出 ) foreign policy directions for the Obama administration and also covered climate change and the global economic crisis.

Section Three Oral Work Mark Twain was thought by many knowledgeable observers to smoke th

e worst cigars in the world. “They bring their own cigars when they come to my house,” he once rem

arked. “They betray （露出…迹象、泄露秘密、背叛） an unmanly terror when I offer them a cigar; they tell lies and hurry away to meet engagements which they have not made when they are threatened with the hospitalities*(热情好客、殷勤 /hostility) of my box." Twain, felt unhappy, conducted an experiment.

He invited twelve personal friends to supper one night. One of them was as notorious* for costly and elegant cigars as Mark Twain was for cheap and devilish* ones. Before that day Mark Twain called at (拜访、访问 ) his house and when no one was looking borrowed a handful of his cigars which cost him forty cents apiece and bore (带有…标记或特征 ) red-and-gold labels in sign of their nobility (noble).

Then Mark Twain removed the labels and put the cigars into a box with his favorite brand on it. They took these cigars when offered at the end of the supper, and lit them and struggled with them -- in dreary* silence. Then they made excuses and filed out, treading* on one another's heels with indecent eagerness; and in the morning when Mark Twain went out to observe results the cigars lay all between the front door and the gate. All except one -- that one lay in the plate of the man who could stand only one or two whiffs*. He told Mark Twain afterward that someday Twain would get shot for giving people that kind of cigar to smoke.

Section Four Supplementary Exercises

Passage 1 “MegaSkills” for Children（ 1） MegaSkills is a program used in schools across the United States. This

program trains adults to help children develop the skills needed for what educators call lifelong learning. MegaSkills is based on the idea that parents and teachers can help children gain skills through normal, daily activities.

• Dorothy Rich created the program. She heads a nonprofit organization in Washington, DC, called the Home and School Institute.

• Mizz Rich identified eleven major skills that children need to succeed in life. She based them on information she gathered from educators and employers. She describes them as "inner engines of learning" for school and work.

• These MegaSkills include feeling able to do what is needed, and wanting to do it. Being willing to work hard and doing what is right are other MegaSkills. So are completing what you start, showing concern far others, and using good judgment. Dorothy Rich says children also need to learn how to solve problems, and how to work with a goal in mind.

• MegaSkills Education Online offers suggestions for activities to build these skills. For example, there are ideas about how parents can help children get organized in school. Parents can begin by helping a child plan a school project, like a science project.

Section Four Supplementary ExercisesPassage 1 "MegaSkills” for Children（ 2）

A parent can suggest that the child think about all the supplies needed for the project. What special supplies might the child need? The child can write down each step required for the project, then number the steps to help follow them.

• Other ideas offer ways to help younger children plan their time. MegaSkills Education Online suggests that parents and children list activities for a day when there is no school. For example, the family might plan to wake up at eight o'clock and eat breakfast by nine.

• As the day progresses, children can write down the time they start each activity on the list. At the end of the day, the family can see how close they came to following their plan.

• MegaSkills says this exercise is one way to reduce the time spent watching television. It can also increase the time children spend on schoolwork.

• There are other free suggestions and activities at the MegaSkills website.

Section Four Supplementary ExercisesPassage 2 Fossils（ 1）

• Fossil*, remains or traces of prehistoric plants and animals, buried and preserved in sedimentary* rock, or trapped in organic matter. Fossils representing most living groups have been discovered, as well as many fossils representing groups that are now extinct. Fossils range in age from 3.5-billion-year-old traces of microscopic cyanbacteria* (blue-green algae) to 10,000-year-old remains of animals preserved during the last Ice Age.

• Fossils are most commonly found in limestone, sandstone, and shale (sedimentary rock). Remains of organisms can also be found trapped in natural asphalt, amber, and ice. The hard, indigestible skeletons and shells of animals and the woody material of plants are usually preserved best. Fossils of organisms made of soft tissue that decays readily are more rare. Paleontologists* (scientists who study prehistoric life) use fossils to learn how life has changed and evolved throughout earth's history.

• Many factors can influence how fossils are preserved. Remains of an organism may be replaced by minerals, dissolved by an acidic solution to leave only their impression, or simply reduced to a more stable form. The fossilization of an organism depends on the chemistry of the environment and on the biochemical makeup of the organism. As a result, not all organisms in a community will be preserved.

Section Four Supplementary ExercisesPassage 2 Fossils（ 2）

• Plants are most commonly fossilized through carbonization. In this process, the mobile oils in the plant's organic matter are leached out* and the remaining matter is reduced to a carbon film.

• Plants have an inner structure of rigid organic walls that may be preserved in this manner, revealing the framework of the original cells. Animal soft tissue has a less rigid cellular structure and is rarely preserved through carbonization. Although paleontologists have found the carbonized skin of some ichthyosaurs*, marine reptiles from the Mesozoic* Era (240 to 65 million years before present), the microscopic structure of the skin was not preserved.

• Different types of fossils are found in different geological formations, depending on the prehistoric environment represented and the age of the rock. Older rocks are found on low, eroded continents near the edges of large oceans. Younger rocks are found more' commonly where there is active mountain building and volcanic activity. Old fossils are most commonly found where an old mountain range has eroded, such as in eastern North America and northern Europe, or where two old continents have collided, such as in Russia. Younger fossils are found at the ocean side of young mountains where an ocean plate is colliding with a continental plate, such as in western North and South America and in New Zealand.