语音课倒数第二次的综合练习资料

选这篇文章也有我自己的个人喜好的因素,这是VOA Special English的新闻播报节目In The News里当时对Michael Jackson的报道。这篇文章也希望同学们仔细听每个细节,尤其是开始不久那里有一段电话录音,那是最真实的英语。我们一般学习英语的过程中是很难接触到真正的现实生活中的英语的。比如我们大多是从一些英语教学的录音里、电影、电视、收音机等等地方听到的模拟场景的声音,而我们在生活中遇到英语国家的人的时候,他们给我们说话时经常会不由自主地放慢语速,尽量吐字清楚并且使用简单的词汇及句型。所以这篇文章中的那段电话录音是个很好的材料。在那段录音中有这么一句"OK, OK. How old is he?",而实际上我们听到的是"OK, OK. How’di?"这是个很严重的略读现象,并且把is给全省没了,我们要说他发音错了都不为过。而实际上呢,电话另一头的人一点都没有迟疑,立刻回答"He’s uh, he’s 50 years old, sir."。所以各位同学,请放心大胆地把该省的音省掉,该连的音连起来,该弱读的音就弱读。咱们中国人可能听不明白,但只要你不是乱说的,英语为母语的国家的人们反而会感觉到听你的英语很亲切!

点这里下载音频

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
(MUSIC)
Fans around the world are remembering the man who called himself the King of Pop. Michael Jackson died Thursday in Los Angeles. This was the emergency call from the house where he was living.
CALLER: "We have a gentleman here that needs help and he’s not breathing. He’s not breathing and we’re trying to pump him but he’s not –”
OPERATOR: "OK, OK. How old is he?"
CALLER: "He’s fifty years old, sir."
OPERATOR: "Fifty, OK."
A personal doctor was with him at the house. 
Michael Jackson would have celebrated his fifty-first birthday in August. He was just days from launching what he hoped would be a comeback — a series of fifty concerts in London.
More than seven hundred fifty thousand tickets sold out within hours of going on sale in March. The shows were set to begin July thirteenth. There were questions, though, about whether his health could handle the extended tour.
And after he died there were more questions — this time about his use of painkillers. Medical examiners did an autopsy on Friday, but tests for drugs in the body normally take weeks.
Around the world, fans like this one reacted to news of his death.
WOMAN: "Somebody like Michael Jackson who’s done so much for the world and stuff, you think almost like he’s invincible."
(MUSIC)
"Thriller," his nineteen eighty-two album, earned a place in Guinness World Records as the best selling album of all time. It produced hits like "Beat It" and "Billie Jean."
(MUSIC)
Michael Jackson was born in Gary, Indiana, the seventh of nine children. He was five years old when he and his brothers began performing in the Jackson 5.
He was eleven when they had their first album — "Diana Ross Presents the Jackson 5" — in nineteen sixty-nine. Their album "ABC" followed less than a year later.
(MUSIC)
In nineteen seventy-one, Michael Jackson began his solo career. He went on to sell an estimated seven hundred fifty million albums. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — twice.
But as talented and successful as he was, he was also deeply troubled. His behavior and appearance grew increasingly strange. He was heavily in debt.
He was childlike. But in nineteen ninety-three, a thirteen-year-old boy accused him of child molestation. The case was settled out of court. Later, another accusation led to a criminal trial. But four years ago this month a jury cleared him of all charges.
Michael Jackson left his mark on popular culture. His music, his videos, his dance moves and moonwalking, the hand in a sequined white glove, the father of three was even married for a time to Elvis Presley’s daughter. Now, he leaves behind family, friends and fans to mourn his death. In a sad way he did make a comeback. His death has pushed sales of his music back to the top of the charts again.
And that’s IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by June Simms. I’m Steve Ember.

语音课第二次课的综合练习

如题。语音课第二次的综合练习是选自VOA Special English的Words And Their Stories节目。在教材里只是那篇文章的片断。这里我把全文及其音频发出来,供各位同学学习:

点击下载音频

下面是文本内容:

Words and Their Stories: Pulling a Fast One

Now, the VOA Special English program WORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

(MUSIC)

Today I will tell about expressions using numbers. Let us start with the number one. Numbers can be tricky. On the one hand, they are simply numbers. On the other hand, they have meanings. I for one use these expressions a lot.

Many people consider themselves number one, the most important person. They are always looking out for number one and taking care of number one. It is as if they are the one and only person on Earth. Some people however, are not so self-centered. My brother is such a person. It is true – no joke. I am not trying to pull a fast one on you.

First, you have to understand that my brother is one in a million. He is such a nice person. All his friends like him. They consider him one of the boys. Recently, my brother had a bad day at the office. It was just one of those days. Nothing went right. So he stopped at a local bar — a drinking place — after leaving work. My brother planned to have a glass of beer with his friends — a quick one – before he went home. But a quick one turned into one or two, and soon those became one too many.

As my brother was leaving, he ordered a last drink — one for the road. His friends became concerned. One by one, they asked him if he was able to drive home safely.

Now my brother is a wise and calm person. He is at one with himself. He recognizes when he has had too much alcohol to drink. So he accepted an offer for a ride home from a female friend.

At one time in the past, my brother had been in love with this woman. She is a great person — kind, thoughtful and intelligent — all good qualities rolled up into one. But sadly their relationship did not work. He always used to say "One of these days, I am going to marry this girl." But that never happened.

For one thing, she did not love him as much as he loved her. It was just one of those things. The situation was regrettable and my brother had to accept it. But even now, he considers her the one that got away.

However, they are still friends. And because my brother had been kind to her, she felt that one good turn deserves another. He was good to her and she wanted to help him in return. So she drove him home.

If my brother had driven home from the bar that night, his number would have been up. Something bad would have happened. Thankfully he made it home safely. And, he and the woman are back to square one. They are back to where they started – being friends.

(MUSIC)

This VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, was written by Jill Moss. I’m Faith Lapidus.

赵老师,您对全球化是怎样理解的?尤其是全球化对您自身的影响。

cheng

赵老师,想请教您一个问题,您对全球化是怎样理解的?尤其是全球化对您自身的影响。(能否从机遇和挑战的角度谈谈,呵呵,就算一个小采访吧!!)在这里,先谢谢您的回答。

     我认为全球化应该是人类社会发展的一个自然趋势。最近这一二十年来很多人都在讨论全球化,大多从政治、经济等方面来探讨。这些方面我的知识很有限,我就不赘述。我觉得也可以从语言或者说人类的沟通这个角度来认识全球化。我在讲课或者讲座的时候有时会提到,语言的自然演变过程:
    最初用不同的喊叫声来交流简单的信息–>用复杂的声音表达复杂的意思(口语)–>各种经验口口相传–>借助绳子、木楔等记录事件–>用复杂的符号记录复杂的意思(文字)–>由不同的民族间交流所需而对语言进行深入总结(语法、语音、语调等规则)–>随时随地与世界各地的人进行交流(互联网、人造卫星等等)……
    从上面这个过程来看,人与人之间的沟通越来越紧密,并且是越来越广泛了。到最后的阶段,我举互联网等现代科技产物为例,好像不属于语言,但它们也是为人们互相交流使用的。从这个角度来说也属于一类。
    这个过程我认为就是全球化的过程。也就是说,我认为全球化是人类社会发展从最初就已经开始了的一件事。

Globalization

    全球化的过程也就是人类社会的发展。因此在宏观上看比较清晰,但细化到个人身上那就各不相同了。比如全球化的一个负面效果——加剧贫富差距。这就使得不同出身的人所面临的现实意义上的机遇和挑战会有天壤之别。当然我指的是现实意义上的,如果从人生的角度来说,可能老天给每个人的机遇是平等的。
    对我来说,我是一个受益者。我虽然也属于八零后,但我的人生变化也挺多的。我是在点煤油灯、睡火炕的生活条件下一步步走过来的。我在小学接触了计算机,它对我的人生产生了很大的影响。为了学计算机,我从小学开始自学英语。通过它,我能在山沟里接触到来自全世界的信息。
    在我的成长过程中,我把自己跟童话大王郑渊洁的儿子郑亚旗不断对比。我通过看《童话大王》,从侧面关注他的成长。我觉得从机遇上来讲,他的机遇就比我好得多。我们都是在同一个时代开始接触计算机的,他当时可以拥有自己的电脑,而我要到处去蹭(同学家、电脑培训班、同学家长的单位里……);刚开始接触互联网的时候,他可以很方便地上网,我只能去10元钱一个小时的唯一一家电话线拨号上网的网吧……在这个过程中,与郑亚旗对比,我是没有任何机遇,只有巨大的挑战。但是跟我周围的人对比,我从一个乡下来到县城里的土包,渐渐变为某同学眼中比较前卫的人了。
    也正是有这样的经历,使得我在一进入大学的时候就知道接下来要干什么。到目前为止,只有我的第一份兼职老师的工作是自己找的,其余的都是被找的。当然现在也没有成就什么事业,所以还不敢说全球化给我个人带来了什么大的成就。但是我自己觉得我肯定会在这个过程中得到更多益处。