新视野大学英语视听说教程2 听力原文

Unit 1 Life is a learning curve

Listening to the world

Sharing Scripts

H = Hina; W1 = Woman 1, etc.; M1 = Man 1, etc.

Part 1

H: I have a full-time job but I like learning new things in my spare time. At the moment, I’m studying Spanish. I’m enjoying it but I’m finding it quite difficult. Today we’re asking people about learning new things.

Part 2

W1: I’m learning to speak another language, actually. I’m learning French. I’m also learning, er, to

drive.

W2: I’m learning to play golf at the moment. Um, my husband and my son play golf, and when we

go on holiday, I feel that I want to be able to play with them. W3: I’m learning to speak Spanish. W4: I am learning Arabic.

M1: Well, I’ve been learning to play the guitar for about 50 years now. And it’s a constant process,

so still learning bits, yes.

W5: I’m learning yoga at the moment, and I’m finding it quite hard.

M2: The courses I’m taking are, are training courses for leadership, er, negotiation, (and) evaluation. M3: I’m learning Swahili.

W6: At the moment, I’m learning to paint and draw in evening classes for adults. W7: I’m studying part-time after work.

M4: I’ve er, just learned how to er, do a lot of kayaking. W8: I am learning how to design a website at the moment.

W9: I’m in a choir so singing, I guess, is pretty much the only thing I’m doing at the moment. M5: At the moment, I’m taking up a new instrument. It’s a traditional instrument from Zimbabwe,

and it’s called the mbira. Er, let me show you.

Part 3

H: What’s the most difficult thing you’ve ever learned? M5: Patience, I think. W4: Arabic. M2: Courage.

W3: Learning a language is particularly difficult for myself (me), so probably learning the Spanish. W6: The most difficult thing I have ever learned is Mandarin Chinese. I did it in evening classes a

few years ago and I found it really, really difficult.

W5: Probably capoeira, which is a Brazilian dance, martial art, fight thing. It’s a combination of all

of these things. And yes, that was very difficult because there were lots of unusual body movements to learn. W1: Learning to drive was the most difficult thing.

M3: Well, I learned some Sanskrit, and that’s got um, nine cases, two more than Latin. It’s quite

difficult by most standards.

M4: I think I found French very hard at school.

W2: Um, I learned to play the trumpet at school. That was pretty difficult. Er ... and maybe learning

to drive. I hated learning to drive.

Listening Scripts

P = presenter; S = Sally

P: Hi. You’re listening to Ask the Expert and in today’s program we’re talking about languages and how to learn a language. Our expert today is Sally Parker, who is a teacher. Hi Sally. S: Hello.

P: Sally, our first question today is from Andy. He says, “I’ve just started learning English. My problem is that I’m too frightened to speak. My grammar is not very good, so I’m worried about saying the wrong thing.” Have you got any advice for Andy?

S: OK. Well, the first thing is I think Andy should practice speaking to himself. P: Speaking to himself? I’m not sure that’s a good idea.

S: I know it sounds silly, but talking to yourself in a foreign language is a really good way to practice. You don’t have to feel embarrassed, because nobody can hear you. You can talk to yourself about anything you like – what you had for breakfast, where you’re going for the weekend – anything. And the more you do it, the more you will get used to hearing your own voice and your pronunciation, so you won’t feel so frightened in the classroom. Andy should try it. P: Hm, I suppose so. Anything else? What about his grammar?

S: He has only just started learning English, so he is going to make lots of mistakes, but that’s not a problem. That’s how he’ll learn. Andy shouldn’t worry about making mistakes.

P: You’re right. So Andy, try talking to yourself, and don’t worry about making mistakes. Our next problem comes from Olivia in Brazil. She is worried about pronunciation. She says, “The problem is I can’t understand native speakers. They speak so fast and I can’t understand their pronunciation.” So Sally, any ideas for Olivia?

S: Well, first of all it’s a good idea for her to practice her listening skills. She should listen to

English as much as possible to get used to how it sounds. Listen to the news, listen to podcasts, (and) watch English television. P: OK – that’s a good idea.

S: And another thing she should do is to focus on listening and reading at the same time. If you listen to something on the Internet, you can often read the transcript. If you listen and read at the same time, it’ll help you see what the words sound like and how the words sound when a native speaker is talking.

P: Great. Thank you, Sally. Well, huh, I’m afraid that’s all we have time for today, but next week we’ll be …

Viewing Scripts

N = Narrator; I = Ian Deary; W1 = Woman 1, etc.; M1 = Man 1, etc.

N: Recent research into the history of IQ tests in Scotland suggests your IQ score might predict, to

an extent at least, your health and even your life expectancy. W1: You have 45 minutes to do the test, OK? M1: OK.

N: Bill and Davina are 79 years old. This is the second time they’ve done this test. The first time

was in 1932, when every 11-year-old in Scotland was put through an intelligence test. It’s the

only time this kind of mass testing has ever been done in the UK. The results were rediscovered recently in an Edinburgh basement. If you want to know how our intelligence changes as we get older, these results are a potential goldmine.

I: We brought hundreds of people back and we got them to sit the exact same test that they had sat

when they were aged 11. Now, these people are now 79 or 80 years old. We gave the same instructions. We gave the same test. And we gave the same time limit. M2: It was a little stickier than I thought it would be. M3: I walked through it quite happily, quite honestly.

W2: I felt I must have been very bright at 11 if I sat that exam and passed.

N: There were some intriguing results. Almost everyone had a better score at 80 than they did at 11.

But some had gone from being just averagely intelligent to a much higher level.

I: Now, that’s what really drives our research. We’re interested in: Why have those people who’ve

gone (people gone) from IQ 100, at age 11, up to 110 or 120? What have they done right? What can be the recipe for successful aging? We’re finding that the person with more education, even though they had the same IQ in childhood, is doing slightly better in old age, on average. The person who had a more professional job, in old age, is doing slightly better on average than the person who had a manual job, despite the fact that they started at the same level. The people who smoked have got slightly less good mental ability than you would expect.

N: What’s even more remarkable is that the kids who had higher IQ scores at 11 are the very ones

still alive today. So it seems high IQ in childhood is good for survival.

Speaking for communication

Role-play Scripts

A: Ah, OK, so we need to think of the best ideas for taking tests. B: Yep.

A: Er, well, how about this one? It’s a good idea to study with friends at the same time each day. B: Mm, in my opinion, this is a really good idea. You can make it a regular part of your daily life. A: You mean like having breakfast at the same time, lunch at the same time, studying at the same time.

B: Yes. And also I think it helps when you study with friends. A: Yeah, I, I think it’s more motivating.

B: And you can actually talk to someone, not just look at books. I find that if I’m only reading my notes it’s easy to lose concentration. I start thinking about other things. But when you are talking to someone, it really helps you concentrate. So, yes, I agree with this one. A: OK. Another idea is not to eat too much before the exam. B: Oh, really?

A: Mm, when I eat a lot, I get sleepy.

B: Oh, I see. I think it depends. Because if you don’t eat enough, you start to feel hungry in the middle of the exam. A: Mm, that’s true.

B: And then you can’t concentrate. A: Yeah, that’s true.

B: So, I’m not sure about this advice, for me. As I said, I think it depends. I always try to eat a good meal before an exam. I’m so nervous that I never get sleepy. A: Hm. OK. What other ideas do you have?

B: Well, there’s one thing I always do before an exam. A: What’s that?

B: I go to bed early the night before. A: Right.

B: I always try to sleep for eight hours the night before the exam.

Further practice in listening

Short conversations Scripts

Conversation 1

W: It is the third time my paper has been rejected by journals because of language problems.

M: You know, there is a writing center on campus. I had never got a grade better than C for any of my term papers before they helped me out. Q: What can we learn from the conversation?

Conversation 2

M: You said you would choose Spanish as your second foreign language. Why did you finally choose French instead?

W: My grandfather speaks fluent French and he says that French is a language that any truly cultured person must know.

Q: Why does the woman choose to learn French?

Conversation 3

W: You seem to have no problem understanding native speakers now. How about Dr. Brown’s speech last night?

M: Excellent. But it was still too fast for me to follow, especially when Dr. Brown talked about those abstract theories.

Q: What did the man do last night?

Conversation 4

M: It seems to me that Melissa is in a bad mood today. What’s wrong with her?

W: Melissa forgot to bring her identification card yesterday and she was not allowed to enter the contest. You know she had prepared for the contest for months. Q: What made Melissa unhappy?

Conversation 5

W: I think my time at school is wasted because it is just studying books and doing tests.

M: But you also learn new ideas and new ways of thinking. And more importantly you meet people and develop your understanding of people at school. Q: What does the man think of the woman’s opinion?

Long conversation Scripts

M: Miranda, let’s speak about your performance in class. You’re not participating; you’re careless with your assignments and often hand them in late. You don’t want to be here, do you?

W: I’m sorry Dr. Smith. It’s just … I’ve got lots of things to do. I’m studying Web design and I’m a first-class player on our golf team. It’s hard to see why I need to take a Spanish language class! M: Well, I’m sorry you feel that way, but learning another language can improve your performance in all of your efforts. And it can be very useful sometimes, for instance, when you visit your father in Mexico.

W: Gosh! What do you mean, professor? Just because my father does business in Mexico I’m supposed to learn Spanish – on top of everything else I have to learn? It’s just too much! And if I don’t spend enough time on the golf course, I won’t remain a first-class player on the golf team. I still don’t see why I should learn a language that’s so hard for me. There are no verb tenses on the golf course or in Web design! M: Listen Miranda, I’ve known your father since we were students at university 20 years ago – and have known you since you were a little girl. Of course, there are no verb tenses in golf or Web design. But I am giving you good advice. Please listen. W: Yes, of course, you’re like my favorite uncle.

M: Your brain isn’t like a cup that has water flowing over its edge when it is full. Instead, it’s like a muscle. Learning Spanish exercises your brain in new ways, making it stronger. It will strengthen your critical thinking skills and creativity. W: Really?! Then I guess I can give it a try.

Passage 1 Scripts

I began learning Spanish when I was in high school, using a traditional academic method of studying

verbs, sentence structures, and grammar by using textbooks and not much else. I found it very easy to learn, but was frustrated with the slow pace and repetitive nature of all my Spanish classes. So I worked extra hard in my spare time and asked my teacher if I could skip a level by the end of the semester.

This was unsuccessful, however, because the school was not willing to test me or otherwise prove that I could be successful in the top level after skipping a level. This made things even more frustrating, as then I was stuck in a class where I already knew the material!

Then I went on to college where I then used the language extensively both in and out of the classroom. I studied Spanish literature, culture, and linguistics and very much enjoyed the cultural and linguistic elements, but found the in-depth study of literature a very unbalanced way to study Spanish.

I got a lot out of using my Spanish outside of the classroom, including a trip to Mexico with a church group, where I found myself acting as an interpreter. It was certainly challenging, but it was also a lot of fun.

I then also volunteered to be an interpreter in the community schools and also used my Spanish to teach English to some Spanish speakers. This is probably where I learned the most!

Q1: What do we know about the speaker’s Spanish learning experience in high school? Q2: What made the speaker feel frustrated while leaning Spanish in high school?