UNIT 6
Section One Tactics for Listening Part 1 Spot Dictation
Wind and Spirit
We do notice the wind when it seems (1) cruel, when the trees turn away from it, and it (2) cuts into our hearts. \ temper bad\, said George Eliot. In Southern California, the Santa Ana is (4) associated with an increase in depression and domestic (5) violence.
Scientists have tried (6) without success to identify physiological reasons for these (7) reactions. Everyone agrees, however, that (8) dry winds like the Santa Ana, the mistral in France and the foehn* in Germany and Switzerland seem to have (9) negative effects on our mental and physical (10) well-being.
On windy days, playground fights, (11) suicides and heart failures are more (12) frequent. In Geneva, traffic accidents (13) increase when a wind called the bise* blows. At the (14) request of patients, some Swiss and German hospitals (15) postpone surgery during the foehn.
It is human to ask what is (16) behind the wind. It is easy to personify the wind as the (17) breath of God. The act of taking wind into our lungs is what (18) gives us life. The Jews, Arabs, Romans and Greeks all took their word for (19) spirit from the word for wind.
But our day-to-day lives are no longer (20 blown on the winds. We do not
identify wind with spirit anymore.
Part 2 Listening for Gist
A cat got on to a Scandinavian Airlines plane in Nairobi yesterday and cost the company about £10,000. One of the 66 passengers heard a strange \plane landed in Copenhagen. Mechanics arrived immediately and the airline company phoned for an animal ambulance. The mechanics found the cat after eight hours' work. It had got into the air-conditioning system in Nairobi. The plane was twelve hours late leaving for Tokyo, costing the company £10,000. The cat was quite well after its experience and was given a large bowl of milk and a plate of fish.
Exercise
Directions: Listen to the passage and find its topic sentence.
The topic sentence is \A cat got on to a Scandinavian Airlines plane in Nairobi yesterday and cost the company about £10.000.\
Section Two Listening Comprehension
Part 1 Dialogue
What a Coincidence!
Storyteller: Talking of coincidences, did I tell you about what happened to me and
Jeannie last holiday? Friend(s): No.
Storyteller: We went on holiday in the States and we went to Mexico. Well, we were driving down to Mexico City. We were going to spend a few days in Palm Beach ... see the sea, look up an old friend, you know. As we left there we stopped at a garage for a car check ... oil, the water, the tires, all that ... petrol. And the mechanics spotted something. They said that our fuel pump was not working properly and it was quite serious ... it would cost a lot of money ... well, we were very worried. Friend(s): Were you insured?
Storyteller: Well, no, we weren't and I didn't have that much money on me, you know. It was meant to be a cheap holiday. Well, just then, two men drove up and they said what's the problem? And, do you know? They were mechanics - it was such good luck. They looked at our car and they said, \nothing wrong with your car. Don't spend money on it. Just forget about it.\er, I thought ... I'll trust them, I think they're right. So, we drove on, we crossed the Mexican border and had a marvelous few days sightseeing there round Monterey. Friend(s):Oh, oh, brilliant ... jealous ...
Storyteller: And then we went on and on to Mexico City. We drove about forty kilometers and then we saw a car with the same US number plates as the other car we'd seen in Palm Beach. Friend(s): You're joking!
Storyteller: It was parked by the road, and the same two men who gave us the advice
about our car were stuck with their car. Friend(s): Oh, no!
Storyteller: So, we stopped and asked them what was wrong. And do you know? Their car had broken down for exactly the same reason: The fuel pump wasn't working! It was quite extraordinary. Exercise
Directions: Listen to the dialogue and decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F)
l. T 2.T 3.F 4.F 5.T 6.F 7.T 8.F
Part 2 Passage
Corporate Culture
1.How well the employee \job-search success and failure.
2.It guides how employees think, act, and feel.
3.The amount of time outside the office you're expected to spend with co-workers is part of the corporate culture.
4.The truth is that you will never really know the corporate culture until you have worked at the company for a number of months.
5.It should be a place where you can have a voice, be respected, and have opportunities for growth.
Why should jobseekers care about a potential employer's corporate culture? Aren't there more important factors to consider, such as the job itself, salary and bonuses, and fringe benefits(附加福利)? These factors are indeed important, but increasingly career experts are talking about the importance of employee-employer fit in terms of culture, with the idea that how well the employee \culture can make the difference between job-search success and failure.
What is corporate culture? At its most basic, it's described as the personality of an organization, or simply as \things are done around here\It guides how employees think, act, and feel. Corporate culture is a broad term(广义的术语) used to define the unique personality or character of a particular company or organization, and includes such elements as core values and beliefs, corporate ethics(企业伦理,公司道德), and rules of behavior. Corporate culture can be expressed in the company's mission statement(宗旨) and other communications, in the architectural style or interior decoration of offices, by what people wear to work, by how people address each other, and in the titles given to various employees.
How does a company's culture affect you? In many, many ways. For instance: ? The hours you work per day, per week, including options such as flextime and telecommuting.
? The work environment, including how employees interact, the degree of competition, and whether it's a fun or hostile environment - or something in-between.