II. Basic Listening Practice
1. Script
M: I?m beside myself with joy. I?m so lucky. Guess what? I?ve won a lit of money in the
lottery. W: Yeah? Well, you do know that money is the root of all evil, right? Q: What does the woman mean?
2. Script
W: Mary was furious. Her son wrecked up her car. M: He shouldn?t have driven a car without a driver?s license. He?s still taking driving lesson. Q: What do we know about Mary?s son?
3. Script
M: Susan, I hear you?re going to marry that guy. Some people think you?ll regret it. W: Is that so? Only time tell. Q: What does the woman imply?
4. Script
M: Mary, I just want to say how sorry I was to learn of your mother?s passing. I know how close you two were? W: Thank you. It was so sudden. I?M still in a state of shock I don?t know what to do. Q: Which of following is true?
5. Script
W: I get furious at work when my opinions aren?t considered just because I?m a woman. M: You should air your view more emphatically and demand that your vice be heard. Q: What is the woman complaining about?
Keys: 1.C 2.B 3. D 4.A 5.D
III. Listening In
Task 1: Soft answers turn away wrath.
Mary: Dam! You?re spilled red wine on me. My new dress is ruined. John: I? m terrible sorry! What can I do to help? Here?s some water to wash it off. Mary: Stop splashing water on me! Oh, this is so embarrassing! I?m a mess. John: Well, you do look a little upset. Please don?t blow up. Don?t lose your cool. Mary: Hmm, you?ve got the nerve talking like that! Who shouldn?t fly off the handle? This dress cost a fortune. John: You look really cute when you?re mad. I kid you not. Some people do look attractive when they are in a rage. Mary: This is very expensive dress. I saved for months to buy it, and now it?s ruined. Look at this stain! John: Accidents do happen. Give me your dress, and I?ll take it to the cleaners. Mary: Sure! You want me to take it off right here in public and give it to you? I don?t even know you! John: This might be a really goof time to get acquainted. I?m John Owen. Mary: Mmm, at least you?re polite. I guess I really shouldn?t have flared up. After all, it was an accident. I?m Mary Harvey. John: Come on. I?ll take you home. You can change your clothes, and I?ll get the dress cleaned for you. Mary: Now you?re talking. Thanks. You?re a real gentleman. John: You?d better believe it. I?m glad to see that you?ve cooled down. Feel look a bite to eat afterward? I?m starving. Mary: Ok. You?re pretty good. I?m not nearly as mad. If you can get this stain out, I?ll be very happy. John: I?ll try my best. But if I can?t get the stain out, please don?t let your happiness turn to wrath.
1. Which of the following would be the best title for the dialog? 2. Why does the woman get angry? 3. What does the man say to please the woman when she looks angry?
4. Why does the woman say the man is a real gentleman? 5. What is the man?s final proposal?
Keys: 1D 2.A 3.C 4.B 5.C
Task 2: Big John is coming! Script
A bar owner in the Old West has just hired a timid bartender. This (S1) owner of the establishment is giving his new hire some instructions on (S2) running the place. He tells the timid man, “If you ever hear that Big John is coming to town, (S3) drop everything and run for the hills! He?s the biggest, nastiest (S4) outlaw who?s ever lived!” A few weeks pass (S5) uneventfully. But one afternoon, a local cowhand comes running through town (S6) yelling, “Big John is coming! Run for your (S7) lives!” When the bartender leaves the bar to start running, he is knocked to the ground by several townspeople rushing out of town. (S8) As he?s picking himself up, he sees a large man, almost seven feet tall. He?s muscular, and is growing as he approaches the bar. He steps up to the door, orders the poor barkeep inside, and demands, “I want a beer NOW!” He strikes his heavy fist on the bar, splitting it in half. (S9) The bartender nervously hands the big man a beer, hands shaking. He takes the beer, bites the top of the bottle off, and downs the beer in one gulp. As the terrified bartender hides behind the bar, the big man gets up to leave, “Do you want another beer?” the bartender asks in a trembling voice. “Dang it, I don?t have time!” the big man yells, (S10) “I got to get out of town! Don?t you hear Big John is coming?”
Task3: A View of Happiness
Script
Dr. Smith has proposed a reasonable, if perhaps somewhat oversimplifies, view of happiness. According to his theory, happiness might be described as a state if balance. And when human or certain animals achieve that balance, they rend to remain in that condition in order to repeat the happy feeling. To illustrate this, we may study two magnets. When their positive and negative poles meet, they are comfortably joined, and they remain there. In other words, they have attained a balance or state of happiness. If on the other hand, one of the poles is reversed, and positive pole is presses against
positive pole, there is resistance, instability, imbalance a state of unhappiness. Animals with some degree of intelligence seem to find happiness in reinforcement. Once they have gained one or more of their goals such as food, and water, they learn to repeat the actions that led to satisfaction of those goals. This repetition or reinforcement produces a state of balance or sense of happiness. According to this theory, only animals with a significant capacity to learn should be able to experience happiness. But in truth learning can take place through surprisingly simple short-term action such as scratching an itch, followed by pleasure, followed by more scratching, and so on. Thus learning can occur with almost no conscious thought. For human beings, blessed with the ability to reason, goals are not limited to the short-term satisfaction of needs. Indeed, there is a strong link between happiness and the fulfillment of long-term goals. Even if human strive for goals that are more complex and longer-term than the animals? goals, once those goals are gained, happiness is reinforced.
1. Why does the speaker mention “magnets”? 2. According to the passage, what may animals do after they have got food? 3. Which of the following is true according to the speaker? 4. What does the speaker say is special about the goals of human beings? 5. Which of the following best captures the main idea of the passage?
Keys: 1D 2.C3. B 4.D 5.A
VI.
Further Listening and Speaking
Task1: Reason and Emotion Script
Emotion is sometimes regarded as the opposite of reason; s is suggested by phrase such as” appeal to emotions rather than reason” and “don?t let your emotions take over”. Emotional reactions sometimes produce consequences or
thoughts which people may later regret or disagree with; but during an emotional state, they could not control their actions. Thus, it is generally believed that one of the most distinctive facts about human beings is a contradiction between emotion and reason. However, recent empirical studies do not suggest there is a clear distinction between reason and emotion. Indeed, anger or fear can often be thought of as an instinctive response to observed fact. The human mind possesses many possible reactions to the external world. Those reactions can lie on a continuum, with some of them involving the extreme of pure intellectual logic, which is often called “cold”, and others involving the extremes of pure emotion not related to logical agreement, which is called “the heat of passion”. The relation logic and emotion merits careful study. Passion, emotion, or feeling can reinforce an argument, event one based primarily on reason. This is especially true in religion or ideology, which frequently demands an all-or-nothing rejection or acceptance. In such areas of thought, human beings have to adopt a comprehensive view partly backed by empirical argument and partly by feeling and passion. Moreover, several researchers have suggested that typically there is no “pure” decision or thought; that is, no thought is based “purely”” on intellectual logic or “purely” on emotion—most decisions are founded on a mixture of both.
1. What results does the speaker may some from emotional reactions? 2. What is the popular belief about reason and emotion? 3. What does the speaker mean by “cold “? 4. According to the passage, what should people do in religious matters? 5. What is the speaker?s conclusion?
Keys: 1.A 2.B 3.C 4.C 5.D
Task 2: Depression
Script
Pat: You look depressed. Are you feeling blue? I?ve come to cheer you up. Ted: But there?s nothing that can cheer me up. I?m down in the dumps. Life?s miserable Pat: You have to try to get your mind off things.
Ted: But I can?t. I just feel there?s too much pressure on me sometimes! Pat: You can?t let things get you down. Learn to relax and stop worrying all the time. What?s your problem? Ted: I failed my last exam, and another exam is coming, I get bored. Pat: If I were you, I?d start working hard. If you work hard for a long time, you?re bound to get better grades. You see, “no pain, no gain”. Ted: It?s easier said than done! If I read for fifteen minutes, I get bored. Pat: You have to learn some self-discipline. But how can I stay cheerful all the time? Ted: Worse than that! If I read for half an hour, I get a headache. Then I start to worry about passing the next exam. Pat: It?s all in your mind. If you stay cheerful like me, everything will soon be OK. Ted: But how can I stay cheerful all the time? Pat: Try to look on the bright side of things. Ted: But what if there isn?t a bright side? Pat: You know the saying: Every cloud has a silver lining. It means there?re always tow sides to everything—both the dark and the bright sides. So, try to identify your strengths and bring then into full play. Ted: Oh, no! Your corny old sayings are making me even more depressed.
Keys: TFFTF
