UNIT 8
Section One Tactics for Listening
Part 1 Spot Dictation
Corporate Social Responsibility（企业的社会责任）
Once upon a time, all- or almost all- businesses were (1) greedy and rapacious, sparing a thought for their (2) workers or the environment only in order to (3) work out how to exploit them. Then bosses found their (4) consciences, guided (or sometimes forced) by (5) customers or critics from the (6) non-profit world. They discovered the idea that companies should not exist only to make a profit but to (7) serve society. Thus corporate social responsibility (CSR) got its (8) start as a business fashion, and it is now hard to find a firm that has not (9) come up with an earnest (10) statement about its relations with the wider world.
CSR is closely linked with the principles of (11) Sustainable Development in proposing that enterprises should (12) be obliged to make decisions based not only on the financial factors but also on the social and environmental (13) consequences of their activities. Issues like environmental damage, improper treatment of workers and (14) faulty production leading to customers inconvenience or danger, (15) are highlighted in the media.
Some investors and investment fund managers have begun to （16） take account of a corporation’s policy in making （17） investment decisions. Some consumers have become increasingly sensitive to the CSR performance of the companies（18） from which they buy their goods and services. These trends （19） have contributed to
the pressure on companies to（20） operate in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable way.
Part 2 Listening for Gist
Small retailers across the United States are facing the same challenge:
competition from shopping malls （大型购物中心）and chain stores（连锁店）. But, in downtown Dickson, Tennessee, a group of retail merchants（零售商） have banded together （紧密团结起来） to win back（赢回） their customers who have been attracted to shopping areas （商业圈） in the neighboring big city.
Dickson is a typical small American city. It has quiet residential areas （居民区） and a nice little downtown that was once a thriving retail center. But according to David Hamilton, president of Dickson's Chamber of Commerce （商会）, highway construction over the past several years changed that. Being just 65 kilometers away from a big city like Nashville, Mr Hamilton says, presents another challenge to Dickson's downtown shopping area. \we're so close to Nashville, and because so many people work in Nashville, when they think about shopping, they think of going to Nashville malls.\
But small business owners in downtown Dickson didn't give up. Instead, they decided to fight back. More than 40 of them founded the Retail Merchants Association of Downtown Dickson. Members of the new association are committed to success; they pay monthly dues （月缴会费） and meet periodically to suggest and
discuss creative ways of attracting more shoppers to downtown. Mr. Williams says one idea is creating events modeled on the annual Christmas parade through the downtown area that attracts a large number of city residents. Free refreshments （茶点，小吃） and giveaways （免费样品）will be part of these regular events. Mr. Williams says the group is also planning to beautify the downtown area with plants and paint.
Though it might seem hard to compete with big chain stores, small retailers have an advantage. They have a personal approach in serving customers. Chamber of Commerce president David Hamilton agrees. He says retailers in his city serve customers well, and customers in return, should support them by shopping in their stores.
The downtown area is the heart of a city. And members of Dickson's new Retail Merchants Association are determined to work together to keep the heart beating - to revitalize（使。。恢复生气） downtown Dickson so it is once again a busy, welcoming place for people to come and shop.
Exercise
Directions: Listen to the passage and find its topic sentence.
The topic sentence is \， a group of retail merchants have banded together to win back their customers who have been attracted to shopping areas in the neighboring big city.\
Section Two Listening Comprehension
Part 1 Dialogue
Having Their Babies at Home
- What about ... um ... the number of mothers who are now choosing to have their babies at home. Is that a, a growing number in Australia?
- It's still a very very small proportion at the moment and therefore many, um, hospitals are thinking of actually introducing birthing centers, birthing units. We have one at our hospital at the moment, where the, the unit is set up as a bedroom and a kitchen and the woman can actually walk around in comfort and just pretend it's her own home.
- So it's like a home in the hospital?
- Yeah, it's like a little maisonette in the hospital and, er, it's so close by to the theatre and delivery suites （产房） that if anything should go wrong（出故障） and did go wrong they could be moved around quite quickly and safely. - Margaret, do you think it's safe to have a baby at home?
- There are risks involved, er, I personally would prefer not to have my baby at home. I mean it would be {well you're a midwife} ... I know it would be quite ideal but the risk of something going wrong and if I was to lose that baby I think that I would be quite devastated.
- Aren't there dangers in hospital because there are more people involved?
- There are dangers in hospital, I mean you, you wouldn't want to know that there is a particularly resistant staphylococcal infection（抗葡萄球菌感染） running around the
hospital and, er, that would be quite a risk. In some countries it's been proven that having the baby at home is as safe as having a baby in hospital. - Does it get a lot of encouragement having, er, a baby at home?
- I don't think so, no, it doesn't. I think ... um ... doctors and ... I think mainly doctors probably, I think they scare the women saying, well this might go wrong or that might go wrong at home so it's better for you to come into hospital.
Exercise
Directions: Listen to the dialogue and answer the following questions. 1. It's like a little maisonette, a home in the hospital.
2. Because it's still a very small proportion of mothers who are now choosing to have their babies at home at the moment and the birthing unit is set up as a bedroom and a kitchen and the woman can actually walk around in comfort and just pretend it's her own home.
3. Because it's so close by to the theatre and delivery suites that if anything should go wrong and did go wrong they could be moved around quite quickly and safely. 4. Something may go wrong during the delivery and that would be quite devastating. 5. There could be a particularly resistant staphylococcal infection running around the hospital.
Part2 Passage
Bridging Generations
施心远主编《听力教程》3 - （第2版）Unit - 8答案
