每天一課英語口語365 Unit 194-207
[00:00.00]194 Reader's Card
[00:04.65]Librarian: Good morning. How do you do? You have come to exchange books, I suppose.
[00:11.10]Subscriber: Yes, I have. Could you recommend something in-teresting?
[00:15.62]Librarian: Of course, I can, but wouldn't you like to look through the catalogue yourself?
[00:20.87]Subscriber: I rely on your choice.
[00:23.22]You have already suggested to me quite a number of interesting books, which I have read with the greatest interest.
[00:31.16]Librarian: To tell you the truth, I have forgotten your special interest.
[00:35.97]There are so many subscribers in our Ii-brary, it is difficult to remember the taste of each.
[00:43.00]Subscriber: In fact, I am interested in everything: fiction, biogra-phy, history, travel books.
[00:50.52]Librarian: If you care for fiction, here are some of the latest novels on the counter.
[00:56.16]I have read most of them, and after you have chosen a writer and title,
[01:01.83]I can tell you what it's all about.
[01:04.21]By the way, do you like short stories?
[01:07.79]If so, I can recommend to you a col-lection of short stories by John Cheever.
[01:14.42]Subscriber: I think I'll choose that book right away.
[01:17.82]Librarian: And which is the second book? You have a right to take two books home, you know.
[01:23.67]Subscriber: It strikes me that this novel "A Silver Dish" by Saw Bellow is what I should like to take.
[01:31.01]Librarian: And perfectly right you are in deciding upon that book. It's very much in demand.
[01:38.06]Subscriber: Well, let me have it then. I think these two books are just the thing for me.
[01:43.71]Librarian: You are welcome to them.
[01:45.90]Please fill in this slip and I shall write down the books on your reader' s card.
[01:51.23]Subscriber: Thank you very much for your kind advice.
[01:54.57]Now I've got something to read for at least a fortnight.
[01:59.43]195 A Problem in College Education
[02:05.91]In American Indian culture one of the surest indications of impending disaster was the tribe's decision that,
[02:14.95]in order to sur-vive, it was necessary to eat the seed corn--
[02:19.86]in the full knowl-edge that this doomed the crop of the following year.
[02:24.61]We face a similar situation in U.S. education in mathemat-ics, physical science, and engineering.
[02:34.04]To remain competitive in the international marketplace,
[02:38.12]U.S. industries have recognized that they must attract the brightest, most dedicated young people available,
[02:46.48]and beginning industrial salaries have risen rapidly to bring this about.
[02:52.43]Colleges and universities can no longer com-pete, and there is a growing question about our ability, in the 1990's,
[03:02.94]to supply young people in these areas for either industry or education.
[03:11.40]196 TOEFL
[03:15.21]TOEFL is a short way of saying Test of English as a Foreign Language.
[03:21.77]It measures a person's ability to understand, read and write English.
[03:28.07]TOEFL does not measure how well you speak English, however.
[03:33.00]The Test of Spoken English does. It is about a twenty minutes test that involves speaking English.
[03:40.87]Many American universities will advise you to take this test if you plan to at-tend a graduate school.
[03:48.44]Some universities also will tell you to take yet another test, the Test of Written English.
[03:55.89]It is a 30 minutes test in which you are asked to write in English about some-thing.
[04:02.39]The test measures your ability to organize information and to express ideas in correcting English.
[04:10.41]Professors of English as a Foreign language work with foreign students who come to the United States to study English.
[04:18.98]They say many foreign students do not know how much writing they must do every week at an American university.
[04:27.23]And they do not know how much they are expected to talk in class.
[04:32.07]They say foreign students must do well in writing and speaking English,
[04:37.34]or their studies in the United States will be extremely difficult.
[04:43.19]197 The University I Prefer
[04:48.99]Every one of us wants to go to a good university for further study.
[04:54.82]As far as a good university is concerned, different people have different ideas.
[05:00.72]In my opinion, a good university, first of all, should have good professors.
[05:07.30]The more professors it has, the better it is.
[05:11.64]Second, a good university should have better facili-ties with beautiful environment for the students.
[05:20.00]As can be seen from the table, university A is located in a seaside town near the city.
[05:28.88]It is convenient for the students who study in such a university.
[05:33.95]On weekends they may either go downtown for the things they want to buy or go to the seaside for holidays.
[05:43.43]But university B is not so ideal as university A.
[05:48.81]For uni-versity B, I suppose, the transportation is not convenient, for it is located in a mountain area;
[05:58.16]furthermore, it has far less professors than university A.
[06:03.47]If it were left to me to choose once again which of the two universities for further study,
[06:10.99]I would not hesitate a moment to prefer university A.
[06:15.90]This university, without doubt, would pro-vide me with good teachers,
[06:21.68]which is of vital help for my future career as well as for my study.
[06:27.84]198 It's Never Too Late for Success
[06:35.78]Some parents worry very much that their children will amount to nothing
[06:41.35]since they are given to daydreaming in deci-sion,
[06:45.71]and they show no promise of being a doctor, lawyer or manager.
[06:50.72]Meanwhile the teenagers themselves also despair of the future
[06:55.66]and the success for they are constantly scomed and blamed.
[06:59.55]But the truth is that many of the greater figures were practi-cally beatniks, when they were teenagers.
[07:07.02]Mozart never showed talent in any direction whatsoever during his formative years until
[07:13.32]he was 22 when he suddenly became fired with a great passion for music.
[07:19.85]Edison finally attracted worldwide attention for his great contribution
[07:25.78]although his teacher had tried to get him out of the class saying that his brain was addled.
[07:32.23]Therefore, it's never too late for success.
[07:36.54]Teenagers, how-ever disappointing and disappointed,
[07:41.32]have that one special ad-vantage over the greatest men-alive-time.
[07:46.52]They surely can ar-rive at the peak of their career in the near future
[07:52.14]as long as they avail themselves of valuable time
[07:56.19]and exert themselves to accom-plish their share of work carefully and persistently.
[08:04.75]199 The English Comer and Me
[08:12.33]I like the English comer for good reasons.
[08:16.22]I have learnt English for some ten years,
[08:19.54]but in the past when I spoke to my English teacher, I often made mistakes here and there.
[08:26.54]I wondered what would happen if I should run into a native speaker.
[08:31.66]The English comer is the ideal place for me to improve my spoken English.
[08:38.06]Anyway practice does make senses.
[08:41.98]With a fairly real situation created, I can now speak quite freely.
[08:48.22]In the future I hope I can and will conduct my lectures in English.
[08:54.70]Moreover, it offers a convenient place for me to make friends.
[09:00.29]At the English comer, people of different backgrounds are mixed up.
[09:05.49]Those who come are from all walks of life, of both sexes and of various age groups.
[09:13.35]Although we all speak English, our topics differ from one another:
[09:18.76]old people are fond of talking about their children and grandchildren,
[09:24.43]while young-sters like to say something about their dreams and ideals.
[09:30.33]In this way we can acquire other knowledge through English comer activities.
[09:36.31]When doctors are talking about diseases, we can learn something about medicine.
[09:42.48]Isn't the English comer a place acquiring other knowledge?
[09:47.89]200 College Life
[09:53.06]Usually we see two types of students: those who are active in school activities
[10:00.45]and those who spend more time on their stud-ies and do not take part in school activities.
[10:06.77]The students who are active in school activities say that it is impossible to keep their health
[10:14.14]unless they take enough physical recreation.
[10:17.33]They often cite the saying: "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."
[10:23.80]The students who do not take part in school activities have a different opinion.
[10:29.94]They argue that art is long but life is short,
[10:34.67]and that school life is still shorter;
[10:38.04]so they have to make the most of their limited school days to learn as much knowledge as they can
[10:45.02]so that they can be fully prepared to make contributions to the society after graduation.
[10:52.12]I prefer to be one of the first type because I think good health is important.
[10:58.78]Facts show that students who are in poor health are less energetic than these who are in good health.
[11:05.81]Healthy and strong students can absorb knowledge more readily.
[11:10.72]And a good way to keep us healthy and strong is to go in for ac-tivities.
[11:16.86]When we take part in them,
[11:19.26]not only our bodies are trained but also our minds are taken off our work or study for a while and get relaxed.
[11:27.83]As a result, we become more acute and vigorous and our studies can be improved.
[11:36.32]201 Cheating at Examinations
[11:41.91]Cheating at examinations is becoming a serious problem.
[11:47.27]Some students are affected by the idea that money is everything and knowledge is of no use,
[11:54.63]which is prevalent in society.
[11:57.69]What they care, instead of studying hard, is earning money and pursu-ing comforts.
[12:05.47]So when the exam comes, they have to resort to cheating to earn a higher grade.
[12:12.06]To some extent, colleges or u-niversities themselves must bear the blame
[12:18.77]for their placing more emphasis on grades than on learning.
[12:23.68]Rigid grading system pro-motes cheating.
[12:26.95]Class attendance and performance are not im-portant so long you pass the final exam.
[12:34.44]All is well that ends well.
[12:37.71]Examinations are their only way to measure students' per-formance.
[12:43.12]Some measures should be taken to prevent cheating.
[12:47.45]Schools may help students realize their deceitful behavior--they are, in fact, cheating themselves.
[12:55.68]Those who still cheat, once found, should be severely punished.
[13:01.06]Besides, a student's class attendance and performance should be taken into consideration when he is graded.
[13:09.55]202 Learning English
[13:15.87]As we all know, English is the most widely used language in the world.
[13:21.88]It's important for us to study English well. But how?
[13:27.05]I like English as well as maths and physics.
[13:31.26]At the beginning of my English study, I spent a lot of time in memorizing the grammatical rules of English.
[13:39.07]I wasn't interested in listening or speaking.
[13:43.04]Many times the marks I got in English tests were not as good as those in my maths tests,
[13:50.49]so I decided to change my way of study.
[13:53.72]From then on, I have begun to pay attention to listening.
[13:59.24]In my spare time, I often listen to English tapes and watch some English programmes on TV,
[14:07.54]I try my best to grasp the main idea.
[14:12.22]Reading is an important step in learning English well.
[14:17.05]I read text books, and other reading materials.
[14:21.10]When I am free, I often read English magazines and newspapers.
[14:26.69]Although there are lots of new words,
[14:29.90]I often go through what I read without paying much attention to the new words or difficult sentences.
[14:36.77]In this way, I've improved my reading comprehension.
[14:41.11]How glad I am! The more I read, the more t understand; the more I under-stand, the more I read.
[14:51.82]Recently, I have also been trying to write.
[14:51.90]Though I often make mistakes, I am not discouraged.
[14:59.08]I'm determined to study English well. I'm sure I will know it well in the future.
[15:05.01]203 My First Day at College
[15:12.35]September 8, 1991 was my first day at college.
[15:18.15]Everything on campus appeared especially bright and fresh.
[15:23.25]Although thirteen years have passed,
[15:26.28]I can still remember that significant day clearly as if it had happened yesterday.
[15:32.65]In the morning I went through the registration procedures,
[15:36.80]got a school badge, a student card and the textbooks for the first semester.
[15:43.15]In the afternoon I attended the orientation program.
[15:48.09]While touring the campus we were told the history of the college in which we take pride.
[15:55.12]We visited the library with a beautifully decorated lobby.
[16:00.00]We were shown the physics department building and the classrooms where we were going to attend classes.
[16:07.34]When I lay on bed that night,
[16:10.24]I thought that at last I was re-ally a college student and my childhood dream had come true.
[16:17.82]At the same time, I felt the great responsibility on my shoulder.
[16:22.99]I was determined to make the most of my college days to receive education,
[16:29.44]to cultivate good behavior, to improve my health and to get rich knowledge so that I could serve my countrymen.
[16:39.45]204 A Good Teacher or Not
[16:45.69]A good teacher is many things to many people.
[16:49.82]In my own experience, the people I respect the most
[16:53.94]and think about the most are those who demanded the most discipline from their students.
[16:59.72]I miss one teacher in particular that I had in high school.
[17:04.78]I think she was a good teacher because she was a very strict per-son.
[17:10.24]I remember very vividly a sign over her classroom door, It was a simple sign that said:
[17:17.85]"Laboratory--in this room the first five letters of the word are emphasized, not the last seven."
[17:26.57]In other words, I guess, labor for her was more important than oratory, which means making speeches.
[17:35.63]She prepared her work very carefully and demanded us to do the same.
[17:41.59]We got lots of homework from her.
[17:44.44]Once she had broken her arm, everybody in the class thought that maybe the homework load would be reduced,
[17:52.82]but it continued just the same.
[17:55.30]She checked our work by stamping her name at the bottom of the papers to show that she had read them.
[18:02.65]I think sometimes teachers who demand the most are per-haps liked the least.
[18:09.36]But as time goes by, this discipline really seems to benefit the students.
[18:15.89]205 An Actor and a Teacher
[18:23.02]To be a good teacher, you need some of the gifts of a good actor:
[18:28.61]you must be able to hold the attention and interest of your audience;
[18:34.04]you must be a clear speaker, with a good, strong, pleasing voice;
[18:39.74]and you must be able to act what you are teach-ing, to make its meaning readily comprehensible.
[18:46.87]Watch a good teacher, and you will see that he does not act just motionless before his class:
[18:54.79]he stands the whole time he is teaching;
[18:58.26]he walks about, using his arms, hands and fingers to help him in his explanation.
[19:05.86]Listen to him, and you will hear the loudness,
[19:09.52]the quality and the musical rate of his voice always changing according to what he is talking about.
[19:17.25]The fact that a good teacher has some of the qualities of a good actor
[19:22.61]doesn't mean that be will indeed be able to act well on the stage,
[19:27.60]for there are very important differences between the teacher's work and the actor' s.
[19:33.47]The actor has to speak words which he has learnt by heart;
[19:38.17]he has to repeat exactly the same words each time he plays a certain part,
[19:44.13]even his movements and the ways in which he uses his voice are usually tried before-hand.
[19:51.08]What he has to do is to make all these carefully learnt words and actions seem natural on the stage.
[19:58.99]A good teacher works in quite a different way.
[20:02.52]His audience take an active part in his play: they ask and answer questions,
[20:08.97]obey orders, and if they don' t understand something, they say so.
[20:15.01]The teacher therefore has to suit his act to the needs of his audience, which is his class.
[20:22.17]He cannot learn his part by heart, but must invent it as he goes along.
[20:28.72]206 The Heavy Bags of School Children
[20:35.96]Have you noticed that the students' bags are growing heav-ier
[20:40.42]and heavier, including not only those of the middle-school children but also those of the primary-school children?
[20:49.62]What are inside these bags?
[20:52.41]In addition to textbooks,
[20:55.34]there are various kinds of reference books and exercise books bought both by the teachers and the parents.
[21:03.26]Each day the students usually spend two or more hours in doing their homework
[21:10.10]and their parents sometimes would give them some additional work to do.
[21:14.78]What a heavy burden the children are bearing!
[21:18.22]Wilt their study be improved by the "heavy bags" and homework?
[21:23.55]It is right that "Practice makes perfect". Yet there should be a limit.
[21:30.16]Too much pressure may lead to opposite ef-fects.
[21:34.08]One's energy and time are limited, especially young children, they need to play and amuse themselves.
[21:42.75]Furthermore, a good student should not only achieve good marks in academic subjects,
[21:49.31]but also have varied interests and abilities.
[21:53.10]Teachers and parents should encourage them to cultivate different interests besides their study.
[22:00.28]We all know that "All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."
[22:07.15]I hope that all the teachers and parents could understand the children
[22:12.11]and give them more free time to enjoy what their age endows them with.
[22:18.41]207 Education
[22:23.43]The prosperity of a nation depends on the development of e-ducation.
[22:29.17]Any development in science and technology,
[22:32.62]through-out the world is due to the development of education which brings up scientists and inventors.
[22:41.11]It is difficult to emphasize just how important the role of education is.
[22:47.25]There is no doubt that countries with undeveloped education will remain poor.
[22:53.49]Education is also vital to the development of an individual.
[22:58.90]Of all elements of success in our careers none is more important than education.
[23:05.90]It is not genius but the knowledge that makes the difference between success and failure.
[23:12.77]In fact most of the fa-mous people of our times spent many years studying.
[23:19.46]Can you hear any great men you admire who are not well educated?
[23:25.21]Some people however are still ignorant of the importance of education.
[23:31.16]Some parents, especially those in the countryside, think it unnecessary to send their children to school.
[23:39.23]Some par-ents have their children work for money at very young age.
[23:44.74]In view of this,
[23:46.65]compulsory education must be enforced
[23:50.18]to see to it that all young people will have the chance to have adequate edu-cation.
