Unit 17 Famous Women

Listening text in the students’ book

In the dialogue, L=Lucy, A=Alice

L: Hi, Alice, what are you doing?

A: I am looking at some old school photographs.

L: Can I have a look? When was this photo taken?

A: That photo was taken more than seven years ago.

L: Who’s that smart girl?

A: That’s Lily. At first I didn’t like her because I thought that she was too serious. She always had high marks for maths. One day, I found out that she was very friendly and helpful. Then we became good friends.

L: What has become of her?

A: I heard she went back to Sichuan and now she is a teacher in a small town.

L: Who were the other girls you used to be friends with?

A: Er…Rose,Jane and Sandra. Rose used to be quite fat. She used to sing very well. Everybody liked her because she was loyal and honest. I see her quite often. We are still the best of friends. She’s married and has a lovely daughter.

L: Hm. I think you told me about her and the fights she used to have with other girls. Who’s that girl over there? Isn’t she the girl that Rose hated? Weren’t they always fighting?

A: That girl? No, you’ve got it all mixed up! Sandra and Lily were like fire and water. This here is Jane. She and Rose could get along alright. Jane has always been quiet, warm and kind. I always thought she wanted to become a painter, just what you would expect from such a gentle person. But now she works in a department store in Dalian.

L: I see. And who is the pretty girl there?

A: Now that is Sandra. She has changed a lot. It isn’t true to say that she was lazy as a student, but she did not do too much if she could help it. She was also always in trouble. But now she was strong and hardworking woman. She has her own company, together with a friend of hers.

Listening text in the workbook

Every year since 1994, the Women’s World Summit makes the announcement of the winners of the Prize for Women’s Creativity in Countryside Life. Each year about 30 women from all parts of the world are given the award. Little by Little the world is recognizing the important role of women in many fields of development, such as the production of food and care of environment. Women in the countryside get this award, and the prize money of $500, when their ideas or work have helped to make a better life in their villages.

Mrs Victoria Adetona is 54 years old and lives in Nigeria, Africa. She comes from a very poor family. For more than 15 years, she worked for the Women and Development group in her village Through her work, other women in the village could get loans to start small businesses. In this way, Mrs Adetona helps to make the life better for the poorest women in her village. The organization that she set up has helped more than 1,000 people. Today, many of these people are now farmers who can take care of their families and send their children to school.

Over the past 10 years, more than 25 Chinese women have received the award. One of them is Mrs Zeng Guanglan from Da Zhuang in Qinghai Province. Through her work she help other women in her village to change traditional ways of thinking. She started to organize cultural activities on International Women’s Day. At first, few women came but over time women enjoyed meeting together. Zeng helped them to plant potatoes and raise sheep. She gave new-born sheep to poor villagers, so they started making more money. Zeng also taught the villagers about the need to take care of the environment by planting trees on the hills around the village. In 2002, she was chosen to be one of the village leaders. No other women in the village had ever been chosen for that position before.

Unit 18 New Zealand

listening text in the students’ book

Dolphin Island is a small country that lies about 1,500 kilometres off the coast of Japan, in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. From the beaches in the north, to the rocks on the coast in the south, the island is less than a hundred kilometres long, and from the west coast to the east coast the island is nowhere more than 80 kilometres wide. Seven small islands, some of them only large rocks, lying off the eastern coast, also belong to Dolphin Island. Winfield, the capital city, lies on the southwestern coast.

The highest mountain on Dolphin Island, Mount Ashton in the west, is a dead volcano. It is part of a range of mountains, running from north to south along the western coast. The beaches in the north and on the eastern coast are covered with fine white sand. Dolphin Island has a mild sea climate. Most of the land can be used as farmland. The south of the island is covered with foresets.

Dolphin Island has only four cities: The town of Ashton Creek lies in the north, Winfield in the southwest, Turpike in the centre and Epsom on the eastern coast, about forty kilometres from Ashton. A railway line connects these cities. There is a small river that runs from the foot of the Mount Ashton, through the northern town into the ocean. Dolphin Island is popular with tourists both from East Asia and the United States. Most of them stay in the seaside town of Ashton Creek, where many hotels have been built over the past five years. Most of the people on the island make a living from farming. In the summer months, some people get a nice, extra income out of tourism, while in winter fishing is also important.

Listening text in the workbook

Lily is a Chinese student who now studies at Auckland University. Listen to the niterview in which she is asked about her experiences and her life in New Zealand. In the dialogue, I=Interviewer; L=Lily

I: Why did you come to New Zealand?

L: My dream was to go to England. However, New Zealand is also an English-speaking country. I was told that kiwis are very friendly and honest. My parents also liked the idea my going to New Zealand. It’s safer here. Life is easier than in cities such as London or New York. It’s also cheaper.

I: What was your first impression of Auckland?

L: When I first arrived here, two years ago, I thought “wow! This place is so beautiful.” Just imagine, if you look around and most of what you see is the most beautiful blue and the most beautiful green, the ocean and the hills, that you’ve ever seen.

I: And how do you feel about Auckland now?

L: During the three months, I felt quite lonely. Auckland has a population of about 1.3 million, so when you come from China, you feel it’s a very small city.

I: Wasn’t it easy to make friends with other Chinese students?

L: I met some of them, and of course also made some friends. But my teachers told me I’d better make friends with other international students or kiwis. I’d have more fun, and it would be better for my English.

I: So what do you do after school?

L: Everyone who first comes to New Zealand will feel that life is very boring here. You have to discover the way kiwis enjoy their life.

I: How’s that?

L: Kiwis look for fun that is close to nature. They go with friends, hiking in the mountains, or looking for all kinds of fun in and around the water: sailing, diving or swimming in the ocean or building a fire on the beach.

Unit 19 modern agriculture

Listening text in the students' book

Farming and nature are like two flowers on the same tree. When farming goes against nature, all kinds of environmental problems are the result. In ancient times, when people began using the land, farming was not as it is today. Early farmers moved around the country. They burnt a part of the forest and used this land for one or two years. When they could no longer grow crops on the land they moved on and repeated this somewhere else. Agriculture in this way destroys nature and results in floods and droughts. Some people in South America still practise this kind of farming.

Over the past 20 or 25 years, farmers have recognized some old truths, already known to ancient Chinese farmers. Farming should not go against nature. If the soil is too poor, chemical can help improve it and grow better crops, but this may damage or destroy land surrounding the farms. Instead, farmers should look for other methods. In the early 16th century, brothers Tan and Xiao Zao of Jiangsu Province cheaply bought fields along lakes nobody wanted because they were too wet. They built dikes around the fields turning the fields into fish ponds and they became fish farmers. They also planted fruit trees on the dikes and kept chickens and ducks. They were very successful farmers.

Listening text in the workbook

Helen talks about her job.

Hello, my name's Helen and I live on the west coast of Canada. I work on a fish farm.

Right now I am feeding the fish, which are kept in cages in the sea. The cages are tied to the rocks on the bottom of the sea. It can get very windy here. Twice a day I put the fish food in the boat and go out to the cages. The fish are always hungry!

When the fish have grown into the right size, we pull the cages out of the water. The fish are killed and cleaned. Our fish farm is a long way from the nearest market. So we either freeze the fish or smoke them. We don't salt any fish here. Some fish farms do, but we don't.

Three of us work here and there's always a lot to do. Inside that building over there we have tanks for young fish. We produce all our own fish from eggs. The fish start to grow in fresh water. Then, when they are bigger they go into the sea, which is salty, of course.

There's always a lot of work to do: feeding the fish, cleaning the tank, getting eggs out of the best of the large fish, harvesting the fish, cleaning them and smoking them. We burn our own wood and that way we get a very good strong smoke. It's more work, but we get higher prices for our smoked fish.

Unit 20 Humour

Listening text in the students' book

In the dialogue, D=Granddaughter, G=Grandmother

D: Grandmother. How did you meet grandfather?

G: Oh well, that's quite a funny story. In fact, we met several times. You see, I met grandfather in England, where we lived before we came to Australia. We only lived about eight kilometers from each other. Your grandfather was a minister in the church, there village away.

D: And when did he ask you to marry him?

G: Well, it was really funny. We were having dinner in a restaurant one evening, and we were talking about people getting married, and so on. As a minister in the church it was your grandfather's job to marry couples. We talked about all kinds of different people, sometimes families we both knew. We were having a very enjoyable conversation and laughed a lot. So I asked him, " And will you marry me?"

He went a little red in the face, and couldn't say anything for a few minutes. He looked rather surprised. Finally, he said, "Well, this is very sudden and unexpected!" I immediately realized that he had not understood me correctly. So I laughed and said "No! What I mean is, when I get married in church, will you be the minister who marries me and my husband?" He laughed, and seemed to feel much better after I had said that. We continued our dinner in much the same way as before. We had a very nice evening together.

However, as he later told me, our talk put an interesting idea into his head. He considered what I had said and realized that he had always loved me. He did not understand me because I asked him the question that he had wanted to ask me for some time. So, a few days later he came to visit me at home. It was then that he asked me to marry him. This time it was my turn to feel honoured. But I immediately accepted!

Listening text in the workbook

In the dialogue, I= Interviewer A = Mr Atkinson

I: Mr Atkinson, you are most famous for two comedies. In one of them you play a smart official in old England, while in the other you play a very silly man called Mr Beam. The first programme is very popular in England and Amrica, but not much in other countries. Why?

A: The program Blackadder in which I play the official in old England, is very interesting. That is the time of Shakespeare. It helps if you have some idea of English history when you watch it. And you need a good understanding of English because it's full of jokes and funny ways of saying things in English. Language is very important. If you are not English, I think it is sometimes quite difficult to follow. The Spanish don't like it so much.

I: But they like Mr Bean. Why is that?

A: Mr Bean is very popular worldwide. I don't know why that is. In Mr Bean hardly any words are spoken. But only leaving out the words does not make it an international success. You cannot say "Oh he is not saying anything, therefore the French will love it." But, for some reason the French, the Spanish, and the Canadians or whatever do like Mr Bean. They recognize something of themselves in him. Mr Bean is as popular around the world as he is in Britain. "I never thought I could make Germans laugh, but Mr Bean has done it. Even the Japanese find him funny."

I: Well, thank you for Mr Bean and thank you for talking with us.

A: My pleasure. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you.

Unit 21 Body Language

Listening text in the students' book

Part 1

Which of the following is a form of communication?

A Speaking to someone

B Standing in a corner at a party with your arms crossed.

C Avoiding eye contact with the salesman when you are buying something.

D All of the above

Speaking, of using language to communicate, is probably the best known form of communication. However, the body language used in answer B and the lack of eye contact in answer C can say as much or more as speech.

Let's take a closer look at answer B. You are at a party and see your friend Tom standing alone in a corner with his arms crossed. When you ask him if he is enjoying the party, he says, " Yes, I'm having a great time." Do you believe him? Probably not, because his body language is telling you later whether you think Tom liked the party, you might say " He said he enjoyed it, but it didn't look like it."

Now let's look at C. Imagine that you are a salesman at a store. You always greet your customers with a smile and then talk for a while. But what if one of your customers avoids making eye contact with you? Do you still speak to her? Probably not. By not looking at you, she has told you that she doesn't want to talk to you.

Part 2

Body language can help you decide whether a person is telling the truth or not. If a person covers his or her mouth with his or her hand, or if he or she puts his or her finger over his or her mouth, he or she may be lying. If the person you are talking to touches his or her ears or neck, this is also a sign that he or she may not be telling you the truth. How can you tell if the person you are talking to is interested in what you are saying? Watching his or her body language will give you a good idea. Someone who is interested will lean forward in their seat and will look at you when you are speaking. They may also nod their head to show that they are listening and agree with what you are saying.

Listening text in the workbook

Part 1

P: Hi, Mary.

M: HI, Pete.

P: Listen, Mary, I need your help. You know that girl I like/

M: The one you met at the picnic?

P: Yes, that’s her. Her name is Jenny.Yesterday, we had lunch together and we talked for about twenty minutes.

M: That’s great!

P: Well, maybe. That’s what I want to ask you about. How do I know if she is interested in me?

M: Oh, I see. Well, you can look at a person’s body language. It can tell you a lot about what a person is thinking. For example, was she smiling when you talked to her?

P: Yes, yes, she smiled a lot, actually. And she made eye contact with me several times. That’s good, isn’t it?

M: Yes. Now, did she look down first and then look away?>

P: Yes, she did. Is that bad?

M: Mm, not always. But it’s not good. Did she play with her hair?

P: What do you mean?

A: Did she push her hair back, or throw her hair back off her shoulder?

P: Yes, I think she did.

Part 2

M: Tell me more about what she did. Did her hands touch her face?

P: No, she didn’t. She didn’t move about that much. She sat quite still and when we stood up she didn’t vary the way she stood.

M: Are you sure about that? That she didn’t move?

P: Yes. Why? Is it important?

M: It could be... Were there any other people there?

P: Yes, Jack and Tom were there, too.

M: I see. Did she talk to them?

P: Of course she did.

M: No, I mean, did she talk to them a lot or did she focus her attention on you?

P: Oh, on me. She talked to me most of the time. In fact, I think she only said a few words to Jack and Tom.

M: I see. Well, let’s see what we can learn from her body language.

Unit 22 A world of fun

Listening text in the student’s book

CM=Chairman. MJ=Mrs Johnson, MA=Mr Andersen

Part 1

CM: Welcome to our meeting. We are here to discuss the new theme park that will be built in our city. As you know, two companies, Lots of Fun Company and Merry Rides Limited want to build the park. Today, we’ll listen to representives from both companies and see if we can decide which one we’ll choose. Mrs Johnson, you represent Lots of Fun Company. Will you please tell us about your company’s idea?

MA: Thank you, Mr Chairman. I’d be happy to. Our company wants to build a park where people can have fun and learn at the same time. We would like to have three parts. First, there is the Lots of Fun Park, where we’ll have rides and entertainment. The second part will have museums and exhibitions where you can learn about the environment. The third part will be the Fun Learning Part 2

CM: Mr Anderson, you represent Merry Rides limited.We are happy to have you here today. Could you tell us about your park?

MA: Yes, Mr Chairman. We care very much about the people in the cities where we build our parks. We want to build a park here because we think that it would provide many new job for the people in your city. We want all the workers in the park to be local people. We also believe our park is important to the education in your city, because the park will teach visitors about life in the ocean. Your city is on the coast, and your biggest university is famous for its course about ocean life. To help your university and your city, the park will have lots of rides and attractions having something to do with water and the ocean. People will come here to have fun and to learn.

CM: Thank you, Mr Anderson. And thank you both for coming here today. We’ll think about what you’ve told us and try to make a good decision.

Listening text in the workbook

Ann is talking about Disneyland to her friend Steve, who is about to go there.

S=Steve, A=Ann

S: You’ve been to Disneyland, haven’t you, Ann?

A: That’s right. I went a year ago. It’s very big and great fun.

S: Can you tell me where to go and what to see? What are the best things?

A: Well sure that you go to the Tomorrow Land. You can spend a whole morning there. It’s very interesting and there’s a lot to see.

S: What about the Sleeping Beauty Castle? I hear you can get a wonderful view from the top of the tower. Is it true?

A: I didn’t find that very interesting because it happened to be cloudy when I was there. You can go to Adverture Land; that’s quite fun. It’s quite close to the Sleeping Beauty Castle.

S: What else is there to do?

A: There is bear country, but we didn’t go there; we didn’t have time. You can go to the Film Studios; they are quite interesting. And if you have time, go on the Mountain Train. That’s really exciting.

S: Did you buy anything?

A: Yes. You can buy different things from all over the world.

S: What did you get?

A: I bought a T-shirt, a necklace, a hat and some toys for my sister’s children and some presents for my friends. Of course, I don’t know what they will have on sale this year.

S: Thanks. That’s very helpful.