每天一課英語口語365 Unit 250-263
[00:00.00]250 Housing Problem
[00:03.74]In the United States, many people only lived in large, two-and three-story homes.
[00:09.53]Today, many people would like to live in such houses but most people can't.
[00:14.55]They don't have enough money to buy them or even to make the first payment.
[00:18.78]So many people rent from month to month.
[00:21.84]But some Americans really want to live in a house of their own.
[00:25.44]So they build their own homes.
[00:27.61]They buy a house that is situated in an area where hous-es are cheaper.
[00:31.95]It is better to reside in a bad part of town, they think,
[00:35.89]than not to live in a house at all or they buy an old house and redesign it.
[00:40.88]Then they decorate it with old style furniture.
[00:44.62]Sometimes they can make an old house look more beautiful than a new one.
[00:48.88]Usually, it is not difficult for people to find an old home to buy.
[00:53.63]Many older people decide that they don't need a big home after their children leave.
[00:58.91]So they sell their house and move into a comfortable apartment.
[01:02.62]But when people move into a house they sometimes have problems.
[01:06.51]Home owners have to do their own maintenance.
[01:09.25]For example if the roof leaks one can not ask the landlord to fix it.
[01:14.08]On the other hand,
[01:15.89]people can re-design their home in any way they want without having to be afraid of being thrown out by the landlord.
[01:22.31]251 Native Americans and Immigrants
[01:28.71]Beth: These are great pictures! Now what's this? You took this picture, didn't you?
[01:35.58]Rob: Uh-huh. That's the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
[01:39.13]Beth: These are all of San Francisco, aren't they?
[01:41.83]Rob: Yes, and so are these.
[01:44.02]All: Hi, Rob. Hi, Beth. What are you looking at?
[01:47.76]Beth: These are photos of the west coast trip.
[01:50.55]Ali: Really? Where is this? You didn't go to China, did you?
[01:55.72]Rob: That's not China. It's Chinatown in San Francisco!
[01:59.77]Beth: San Francisco has a very large Chinese population.
[02:03.66]All: What about this picture? Did you go to Mexico?
[02:07.40]Rob: No, no, Ali. we didn't visit Mexico either.
[02:10.69]That's a pic-ture of Olvera Street, a Mexican market in Los Angeles.
[02:15.42]Ali: The United States really has lots of ethnic communities, doesn't it?
[02:20.51]Beth: Yes, it does. The United States is a country of immi-grants.
[02:24.95]Rob: That's right.
[02:25.68]During spring break, we're planning to go to the southwest to visit some Native American communi-ties.
[02:32.35]All: Native American? You mean Indian, don't you?
[02:36.42]Beth: Yea. Today people say Native American because they didn't come from other countries.
[02:42.22]All: I'd love to visit some of their communities. Could I go with you?
[02:46.90]Beth: Sure,
[02:49.93]252 American Foods
[02:53.98]Food is an indispensable part of our life.
[02:57.76]Different from the ancient times to stuff our stomach is not all the role that food plays.
[03:04.11]In civilized society, the idea about food covers more things.
[03:08.94]In the eyes of Americans, food must be good in taste, color, flavor, shape and texture;
[03:15.74]besides it must be clean, fresh and safe.
[03:19.16]Food must be well-packaged and well labeled, too.
[03:23.05]However, the excellent, affluent and low-priced foods also bring problems.
[03:28.43]Because Americans have consumed too much meat and animal fat, they are suffering over-weight.
[03:34.91]In addition,
[03:36.24]the over abundance of cholesterol in their diet can easily lead to heart disease and high blood pressure.
[03:42.62]Nowadays, in order to solve these problems imitation foods have come into being.
[03:48.23]They are very popular in the U.S. not only because they are low in cholesterol,
[03:53.40]fat and calories and resemble the tastes and flavors of the real foods,
[03:57.98]but because they cost about 25% less than the real ones.
[04:03.67]253 America A Dreamland for People
[04:09.73]The United States is a unique nation in that it absorbs thou-sands of immigrants every year.
[04:16.05]People immigrate here from all parts of the world--from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin Ameri-ca.
[04:22.69]They have different reasons for migrating to this country.
[04:26.27]Some leave their countries due to political oppression and reli-gious persecution,
[04:31.18]some come to America to explore business opportunities,
[04:35.15]some of them can't find jobs in their native lands, and some arrive here in search of advanced education.
[04:41.42]People are ready to take any risk to be able to enter the United States.
[04:46.56]Of course, most of the immigrants meet with a lot of frustration and disillusion before they are successful.
[04:53.72]Still, to every immi-grate, America stands for freedom and opportunity.
[04:59.15]Isn't it won-derful that a nation with so comparatively short a history
[05:03.93]should become such a dreamland for people all over the world?
[05:07.93]254 A World of Automobiles
[05:14.15]The United States is full of automobiles.
[05:17.47]There are still fami-lies without cars, but some families have two or even more.
[05:22.69]However, cars are used for more than pleasure.
[05:26.22]They are a nec-essary part of life.
[05:28.75]Cars are used for business.
[05:31.23]They are driven to offices and factories by workers.
[05:34.63]When salesmen are sent to different parts of the city they have to drive in order to carry their products.
[05:41.16]Farm-ers have to drive into the city in order to get supplies.
[05:45.42]Sometimes small children must be driven to school.
[05:49.13]In some cities school buses are used only when children live more than a mile from the school.
[05:55.45]When the children are too young to walk that far, their mothers take turns driving them to school.
[06:01.27]One mother drives on Mondays, taking her own children and neighbors' children as well.
[06:07.15]Another mother drives on Tuesdays, another on Wednesdays, and so on.
[06:12.30]This is called forming a car pool.
[06:14.94]Men also form car pools, with three or four men taking turns driving to the place where they all work.
[06:21.73]More car pools should be formed in order to put fewer auto-mobiles on the road and to use less gasoline.
[06:29.72]Parking is a great problem, and so is the traffic in and around cities.
[06:34.27]Too many cars are being driven.
[06:36.59]Something will have to be done about the use of cars.
[06:40.88]255 American Kaleidoscope
[06:46.18]Social life in America varies tremendously from office to of-fice.
[06:51.30]Big corporations may have clubs, sports teams, trips, dance classes,
[06:56.47]or other employee activities which you can join or not as you like,
[07:01.15]while small companies usually can't afford these activities.
[07:04.93]In general people go to lunch with each other by invitation when they feel like it.
[07:11.05]Usually people of higher ranks would in-vite those of lower ranks rather than the other way around,
[07:17.34]but lines are not closely drawn.
[07:19.28]Except for special occasions every-one pays for himself or herself
[07:24.76]regardless of whether or not an in-vitation is offered.
[07:28.18]It is quite acceptable for men and women colleagues, single or married, to go out together for lunch.
[07:35.05]This may be the extent to which your office friends will invite you.
[07:39.21]Although in general Americans readily take people home with them,
[07:43.15]they often do not want to mix business and social life.
[07:46.68]If this is the case in your place of work, you will have to seek friendship through other channels.
[07:52.79]256 American Education
[07:58.56]New-comers to the United States are often surprised by the schools.
[08:03.94]American schools are sometimes so different from the schools they have known in other parts of the world.
[08:09.95]American education is based on the idea that children need to learn to think for themselves.
[08:16.25]The school should be the place where they learn to do this.
[08:19.46]In schools, children learn the "three R's".
[08:23.22]Reading, Writ-ing and Arithmetic.
[08:25.52]They study history and Government which are often called social studies, and many other subjects.
[08:32.05]They al-so learn how to be independent, how to make their own judg-ment,
[08:36.78]and how to develop their own abilities and interests.
[08:39.89]The American teacher
[08:41.90]does not want the children in her class to sit with their hands folded quietly and to say nothing.
[08:47.57]She wants them to listen carefully, to ask questions, to answer
questions,
[08:52.74]and to give their own opinions.
[08:55.14]She knows that what the children learn from books is important.
[08:58.72]She also knows that it is necessary for them to know how to use this learning for their growth and development.
[09:05.28]During the open school week, parents have a chance to see how American education works.
[09:11.97]257 American Education System
[09:18.21]In the United States, boys and girls start school when they are five years old.
[09:23.12]In some states they must stay in school until they are sixteen.
[09:27.01]Most students are seventeen or eighteen years old when they leave secondary school.
[09:32.13]Another name for sec-ondary school is high school.
[09:35.40]Most children go to public elementary and secondary schools.
[09:40.13]The parents of public pupils do not have to pay directly for their children's education
[09:45.12]because tax money supports the public schools.
[09:48.30]If a child attends a private school, his parents pay for the child's education.
[09:53.66]Today, about half of the high school graduates go to college and universities
[09:58.88]that receive tax money from the government.
[10:01.26]A student at a state university does not have to pay very much if his parents live in that state.
[10:07.66]Private colleges and universities are ex-pensive, however,
[10:12.36]almost half of the college students in the U-nited States work while they are studying.
[10:16.70]When a student's family is not rich, he has to earn money for part of his college expenses.
[10:23.46]258 Advertising In America
[10:28.77]On my arrival in America,
[10:31.30]the one thing I noticed more than anything else was the tremendous amount of advertising that went on-on the radio,
[10:37.39]on television, on billboards and sign-posts, and in magazines.
[10:43.47]In the last three years, I have become accustomed to this fact in America life,
[10:48.78]for I believe that it is a creative and necessary part of an industrial society.
[10:54.08]I, too, want to improve my life-style and to buy better products, so I look to advertising to show me how to do it.
[11:01.94]Deciding what to believe in advertising, however, isn't easy.
[11:06.59]It seems to me that a person must purchase things with a lot of care.
[11:10.96]As a consumer, I want to get the best for my money, but I really have to understand the techniques of advertising.
[11:18.53]Otherwise, manufacturers will be able to sell me anything, no matter what its quality may be.
[11:25.19]More and more people are becoming conscious, like me, of the ways in which advertising can affect them.
[11:32.24]The creative aspects of commercials, for instance, often cover up defects or problems in products.
[11:39.14]I have learned this well, since I have made purchases and lost money because the items were of poor quality.
[11:46.61]The future of advertising most likely will involve a much greater degree of public participation.
[11:53.38]I intend to become in-volved in consumer groups that want to protect people from mis-leading advertising.
[12:00.43]But I also want to see Americans keep their high standards of living in the process.
[12:05.68]In the future, if con-sumers like me really care about the quality of something as well as the quality,
[12:12.45]maybe advertisers will begin to care more about what they are going to sell.
[12:16.86]259 Schools and Education
[12:22.58]Life in the twentieth century demands preparation.
[12:27.39]Today all individuals in a country must have adequate schooling to prepare them for their work as well
[12:33.11]as for their responsibilities as citizens.
[12:35.96]With this in mind, national leaders everywhere are placing more emphasis on the education of the young.
[12:42.36]In the United States, govemment officials, parents and teachers are working hard to give the children--
[12:49.07]tomorrow's de-cision makers--the best preparation available.
[12:53.28]There is no national school policy in the United States.
[12:57.06]Each of the fifty states makes its own rules and regulations of its school
[13:01.71]but there are many similarities among the fifty school systems.
[13:05.53]Public schools in all states are supported by taxes paid by the cit-izens of the individual state.
[13:12.56]In most states the children are re-quired to attend school until they reach the age of sixteen.
[13:18.67]When they become six years old, children begin elementary school.
[13:23.89]After six years in elementary school, they go into junior high school and remain there for three years.
[13:30.42]The last three years of their public school education are spent in senior high school,
[13:35.83]from which they graduate at the age of eighteen.
[13:38.76]A great number of high school graduates continue their edu-cation
[13:43.48]in one of the many colleges or universities in the country.
[13:46.80]After four years, they receive a bachelor's degree.
[13:50.77]Some continue studying for a master's degree and perhaps a doctor's degree.
[13:56.08]260 Perspective on American University
[14:03.28]Normally a student must attend a certain number of courses in order to graduate,
[14:09.06]and each course which he attends gives him a credit which he may count towards a degree.
[14:14.96]In many American universities
[14:17.81]the total work for a degree consists of thir-ty-six courses each lasting for one semester.
[14:24.16]A typical course consists of three classes per week for fifteen weeks;
[14:29.46]while attend-ing a university a student will probably attend four or five courses during each semester.
[14:36.43]Normally a student would expect to take four years attending two semesters each year.
[14:42.23]It is possible to spread the period of work for the degree over a longer period.
[14:47.90]It is also possible for a student to move between one university and another during his degree course,
[14:54.51]though this is not in fact done as a regular practice.
[14:58.22]For every course that he follows a student is given a grade,
[15:02.61]which is recorded, and the record is available for the student to show to prospective employers.
[15:08.77]All this imposes a constant pres-sure and strain of work,
[15:12.69]but in spite of this some students still find time for great activity in student affairs.
[15:19.04]Elections to positions in student organization arouse much enthusiasm.
[15:25.05]The effective work of maintaining discipline is usually performed by students who advise the academic authorities.
[15:33.12]Any student who is thought to have broken the rules, for example by cheating has to appear before a student court.
[15:40.72]With the enormous number of students, the operation of the system does involve a certain amount of ac-tivities.
[15:47.36]A student who has held one of these positions of authori-ty is much respected
[15:52.19]and it will be of benefit to him later in his career.
[15:56.40]261 English Writing
[16:01.10]Learners of English usually find that writing is the most diffi-cult skill they have to master.
[16:07.34]The majority of native speakers of English have to make an effort to write accurately
[16:12.28]and effectively even on those subjects which they know very well.
[16:16.56]The non-na-tive learner, then,
[16:18.91]is trying to do something that the average na-tive speaker often finds difficult himself.
[16:23.77]Students, however, often work out a sentence in their own language and then try to translate it in this way.
[16:31.29]The result is that very often the reader simply cannot understand what the student has written.
[16:37.49]The individual words, or odd phrases, may make sense but the sentence as a whole makes nonsense.
[16:44.36]The student should, therefore, always try to employ sentence patterns that he knows are correct English.
[16:50.94]Many students seem to think that simplicity is suspect.
[16:55.30]It is, on the contrary, a quality which is much admired in English.
[16:59.64]Most readers understand that a difficult subject can only be writ-ten up "simply"
[17:04.81]if the writer understands it very well.
[17:07.11]A student should, therefore organize all his points very carefully before he starts to write.
[17:14.50]262 The Grading Procedure
[17:19.75]If there are no more questions about the text books or syl-labus,
[17:24.22]I'd like to briefly explain the grading procedure I'll be us-ing in this course.
[17:28.87]50% of your grade will be based on the mid-term examination and the final exam.
[17:34.75]Both of these exams will be given during class time and each will be one hour's long.
[17:40.47]In a lecture class of this size it is impractical and almost impossible to give make-up exams.
[17:47.39]So plan on being healthy and in class on those days.
[17:51.15]Otherwise, your final grade average may suffer.
[17:54.68]The semester is 15 weeks long and quizzes will be given every two weeks to make sure
[18:00.84]you're keeping up with what's going on in class.
[18:03.38]Quizzes will count as 15% of your grade and the daily homework will count as another 15%.
[18:10.72]Homework will be col-lected and graded by the teaching assistant in your laboratory ses-sions.
[18:16.28]So, 50% for exams, 15 for quizzes and 15 for homework.
[18:22.13]The remaining 20% of your grade will be based on class partici-pation,
[18:27.36]I'm obviously not in a position to judge this
[18:30.78]but I will ask your teaching assistants to evaluate how actively you participate in their classes.
[18:37.13]Remember the purpose of the laboratory sections is to give you a chance to ask questions about the lecture
[18:43.94]and to discuss difficult points.
[18:47.58]263 Bows
[18:51.60]Bows and arrows are one of man's oldest weapons.
[18:54.76]They gave early man an effective weapon to kill his enemies.
[18:58.18]The or-dinary bow or short bow was used by nearly all early people.
[19:02.96]This bow had limited power and short range.
[19:06.46]However man overcome these faults by learning to track his target at close range.
[19:12.47]The long bow was mostly discovered when someone found out that a five-foot piece of wood
[19:18.27]made a better bow than a three-foot piece.
[19:21.43]Hundreds of thousands of these bows were made and used for three hundred years.
[19:26.16]However, not one is known to survive today.
[19:29.84]We believe that a force about one hun-dred pounds was needed to pull the string all the way back on the long bow.
[19:36.63]For a long time the bow was just a bent stick and string.
[19:41.02]In fact more changes have taken place in the bow in the past twenty years than in the last seven centuries.
[19:48.60]Today's bow is forceful.
[19:51.34]It is as exact as a gun. In addi-tion, it requires little strength drawing the string.
[19:57.61]Modem bows also have precise aiming devices.
[20:01.21]In indoor contests, perfect scores from 40 yards are common.
[20:05.92]The invention of the bow it-self ranks with the discovery of fire and the wheel.
[20:11.38]It was a great step forward for man.
