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Scripts for Unit One
Listening
Task 1
The
neighborhood
children
my
age
played
together:
either
active,
physical
games
outdoors
or
games
of dolls-and-house indoors. I, on the other hand,
spent much of my childhood alone.
I’
d
curl up in a
chair reading fairytales and myths, daydreaming,
writing poems or stories and drawing
pictures.
Sometimes
around
the
fourth
grade,
my
“
big
”
(often
critical,
judgmental)
Grandma,
who
’
d been
visiting us said to me,
“
Wha
t
’
s wrong with you? Why
don
’
t the other children
want to
play
with
you?
”
I
remember
being
startled
and
confused
by
her
question.
I’
d
never
been
particularly interested in playing with
the other children. It
hadn
’
t, till then, occurred
to me that
that was either odd or
something with me. Nor had it occurrred to me that
they didn
’
t
“
want to
play
with
”
me.
My
first
conscious
memory
of
feeling
different
was
in
the
fourth
grade.
At
the
wardrobe,
listening
to
classmates
joking,
chattering
and
laughing
with
each
other,
I
realized
I
hadn
’
t a clue
about what was so funny or of how to participate
in their easy chatter. They seemed
to
live
in
a
universe
about
which
I
knew
nothing
at
all.
I
tried
to
act
like
others
but
it
was
so
difficult. I felt
confused and disoriented. I turned back to my
inner world: reading books, writing
and
daydreaming. My inwardness grew me in ways that
continued to move me further away from
the world of my age peers. The easy
flow of casual social chat has remained forever
beyond my
reach and beyond my interest,
too.
Listening Task 2
The
greatest difficulty for me is that as a person of
mixed origin I am at home neither here nor
there. Wherever I am, I am regarded as
being foreign, either
“
white
”
or
“
blac
k”
. It happens to me
when I live in my
mother
’
s country of origin,
in Switzerland, and it happened to me when I was
living in
my
father
’
s country,
Ivory Coast. I would feel at home where
I could feel that people
accept me just the way I am! When you
are a small child you first do not feel that you
are different
from the others. But soon
the others will make you feel different
–
and children too can be
very
cruel in their behavior against
the
“
strange
child”
. Sometimes incredible
incidents happen. Some
time ago I was
riding my bike somewhere in a little place in
Switzarland nearby to where I live. A
car drove by, and the male driver
opened the window and yelled at me:
“
Scheiss
–
Neger
–
dirty
nigger!
”
I almost
froze. I felt helpless and unable to defend
myself. When I looked at the number
plate, I saw that it was a German
number plate. This means that the insulting person
himself was a
foreigner in this
country! How could he dare insult me like this? I
felt that I wanted to kill this
man.
When I recovered I was able to think about it more
clearly. These racist people are just stupid
and do not know anything about life.
Scripts for Unit Two
Listening Task 1
Everybody
cheats. Whether it
’
s the
taxi driver who tricks a visitor and takes hime
the long way
round, or the shop
assistant who doesn
’
t give
the correct change, or the police officer who
accepts
a bribe
–
everybody
’
s at it. Cheats in
the news include the scientist whose research was
based on
fake
data,
the
game
show
contestant
who
collaborated
with
a
friend
in
the
audience
to
win
a
million
pounds,
and
the
doctor
who
forged
his
qualifications
and
wasn
’
t
really
a
doctor
at
all.
Everybody
cheats; nobody
’
s playing the
game.
Is cheating acceptable, a natural
way of surviving and being successful? Or is it
something that
should be frowned on,
and young people discouraged from doing? If
it
’
s the latter, how can we
explain to children why so many bend
the rules?
Take sport for example. The
pinnacle of football, the World Cup, was rife with
cheating. Whether
pretending
to
be
hurt
or
denying
a
handball,
footballers
will
do
anything
for
a
free-kick
or
a
penalty
shot.
French
player
Henry
denied
cheating
to
win
the
free-kick
which
led
to
his
side
’
s
second goal in their 3-1 victory over
Spain. Whatever the nationality
there
’
s one common strategy:
the player rolls over holding his leg,
ankle or head seeming to be in great pain. As a
result a yellow
card or free-kick is
given for the foul and then, a few seconds later,
the player is up and about as if
nothing had happened!
Of
course
it
’
s
not
just
the
footballers.
In
1998
the
Tour
of
France,
the
world
’
s
greatest
cycling
event,
was
hit
by
a
drug-taking
scandal.
Forty
bottles
of
drugs
found
with
a
team
triggered
a
massive investigation that almost
caused the cycling tour to be abandoned. One rider
was banned
for nine months.
Listening Task 2
A climate
of mistrust surrounds everyone.
In the
field of business, Enron,
America
’
s seventh largest
company, could serve as an unfortunate
example. Its collapse in 2001 caused
thousands of people to lose their jobs and life
savings. The
company
had
fooled
investors
into
believing
it
was
healthier
than
it
really
was.
One
boss
now
faces the rest of life
in prison.
Meanwhile
companies
around
the
world
are
losing
billions
of
dollars
to
the
counterfeit
trade.
From cut-price CDs
and DVDs to sportswear and cosmetics, cheap fake
products are everywhere.
It has become
socially acceptable to buy fake Gucci bags and
illegal copies of films. If parents are
doing this, their children will follow.
So
perhaps
it
’
s
not
surprising
that
around
the
world
more
pupils
than
ever
are
caught
cheating
during exams. In one case keys to exam
papers were put up for sale on the Internet. In
another,
widespread cheating took place
by pupils using their mobile phones to receive
texted answers. In a
third case, pupils
admitted to candidate substitution. They blame the
pressure put on them to do
well
in
exams.
It
doesn
’
t
help
that
their
role
models
are
also
cheats.
Surely
we
can
’
t
complain
when
we
’
re setting such a bad
example.
Unit 3 Lifestyle
Listening task 1
When
she
has
young
children,
a
stay-
at-home
mom
has
two
jobs.
Her
house
and
her
kids.
A
stay-at-
home mom is expected to do all the house cleaning.
She is expected to always be the one
to
get
up
in
the
middle
of
the
night,
do
the
school
things
–
room-mother,
baker,
coordinator,
chauffeur
and
carpooler,
etc.
often,
a
stay-at-
home
mom
is
expected
to
take
over
“
daddy-
type
”
chores such
as lawn-mowing and taking cars for repair. Imagine
sitting in a repair shop with two
squirmy toddlers! The worst thing is
that the stay-at-home mom is made to feel guilty
for saying
“
no
”
.
The reason the stay-at-home mom does not get her
nails done or have a spa day is she feels
guilty for spending family money on
herself.
Gosh, you all have such hectic
lives.
I’
m dizzy just
hearing your daily activities. I guess I have it
nice. I have no schedule at all! I get
up whn I want. I work my business when I want. I
shop when
I want to. I wash my hair
when I bathe or I don
’
t wash
my hair. When I go to work all I have to do
is open up my office door in my house
and
I’
m at work already. No
traffic to deal with and there
can be
10 feet of snow on the ground and I
wouldn
’
t have to walk an
inch of it because my house
connects
directly to my warehouse! If I get up and
don
’
t feel like working I
don
’
t.
Listening task 2
I took my
first drink and smoked my first marijuana
cigarette when I was 12 years old. In high
school, I used all kinds of drugs.
After high school until I was 21, I did a lot of
binge drinking.
When I was 31, I
started using crack cocaine.
That
’
s when the real
problems began.
I was addicted to
alcohol and cocaine, and my life was a wreck. I
tried to quit a number of times. I
moved to Mexico and gave up cocaine. I
still drank and smoked marijuana, but for the time
I lived
there,
I
was
off
cocaine.
I
thought
that
that
time
off
cocaine
would
completely
cure
me
of
any
desire for it, but when I got back in
town two years later, I started using it again
only five days
later. Every part of my
life was messed up.
I remember my
oldest son being embarrassed to be
seen
with me. He would pass me on the street with his
friends but he wouldn
’
t even
speak to me.
The bottom came for me
when I was finally evicted from my apartment. I
lost my car, my home
and
my
sons.
I
looked
in
the
mirror
that
day,
and
I
couldn
’
t
look
myself
in
the
eyes.
The
next
morning, I showed up at
the treatment center. The first few days of detox
and treatment were hard,
but I was
convinced that I needed help, so I stayed.
I’
ve been clean now for five
years, and I have
a new life.
Unit Four Family
Listening
Task One
The traditional American
family is a
“
nuclear
family
”
. A nuclear family
refers to a husband and
wife and their
children. The average American family
today has two or three children.
In some
cultures, people
live close to their extended family. Several
generations may even live together. In
America, only in a few cases does more
than one household live under one roof.
American
values
are
valued
in
the
home.
Many
homes
are
run
like
a
democracy.
Each
family
member can have a say. A sense of
equality often exists in Amercan homes. Husbands
and wives
often share household chores.
Often parents give children freedom to make their
own decisions.
Preschoolers choose what
clothes to wear or which toys to buy. Young adults
generally make their
own choices about
what career to pursue and whom to marry.
Families
in
America,
like
those
in
every
culture,
face
many
problems.
Social
pressures
are
breaking apart more and
more American homes. Over half of US marriages now
end in divorce.
More than one in four
American children are growing up in single-parent
homes. As a result, many
people believe
the American family is in trouble.
Even
so, there is stll reason for hope. Many
organizations are working hard to strengthen
families.
Americans almost unanimously
believe that the family is one of the most
important parts of life.
They realize
that problems in family life in recent years have
brought serious consequences. As a
result, more and more people are making
their family a priority. Many women are quitting
their
jobs
to
stay
home
with
their
children.
Families
are
going
on
vacations
and
outings
together.
Husbands and wives are making a
concentrated effort to keep their marriages solid.
The United Naitions has declared 1994
the
“
International Year of
Family
”
. Not just in
America,
but all over the world, people
recognize the importance of a strong family bond.
Listening Task Two
Women are
beginning to rise steadily to the top in the
workplace all over the developed world, but
in the US they are forging ahead. New
figures show that in almost a third of American
households
with a working wife, the
woman brings home more
money than her
husband.
They are gaining
more
college
degrees
and Masters
of Business
Administration
qualifications
than men
and
now
occupy
half
the
country
’
s
high-paying,
executive
administrative
and
managerial
occupations,
compared with 34 per cent 20 years ago.
The
trend
is
caused
by
two
main
factors,
experts
say
–
a
growing
acceptance
of
men
as
househusbands and mass redundancy of
male white-collar workers from the technology,
finance
and media industries in the
last three years.
The
University
of
Maryland
has
produced
a
report
that
shows
women
to
be
the
family
’
s
bread-earner-in-chief in 11 per cent of
all US marriages. And where bothe spouses work,
she now
brings in 60 per cent or more
of the family income in 30.4 per cent of the
households.
An economist at the
University of Wisconsin said that ambitious women
are increasingly looking
for
househusbands and leave men at the kitchen sink.
Unit Five Health and Diet
Listening Task 1
I had just
turned 40, and has spent most of my adult life
working as a public relations consultant
with little time to cook, let alone
learn how to cook. But a few years ago I made a
resolution to
start writing down the
recipes I had grown up with and posting them to my
website. I come from a
big family
–
six kids
–
and thought what a
terrific family project to document our family
recipes!
Both my mother and father are
excellent home cooks; mom raises us all, and dad
loves to eat well
and
enjoys
the
experimentation
of
trying
out
new
recipes.
I’
m
spending
a
lot
of
time
with
my
parents lately; we cook a meal and then
over dinner discuss the finer points of the proper
way to
prepare the dishes, and whether
or not a new recipe was worth the effort.
Many of the recipes are family recipes,
and many of them are those that we pick from
cookbooks,
magazines, and newspaper
clippings we
’
ve collected
over 30 years. But sometimes
it
’
s hard when
you
only
have
a
clipping.
The
recipes
shown
here
use mostly
whole
food
ingredients
and
only
occasionally a few
things from cans or prepared foods. We believe in
a varied, healthy diet, using
real
butter, real cream, eggs, and protein from meat,
fish, and cheese.
About me, my name is
Alice Bauer and I am a partner in a consulting
firm in the San Francisco
Bay Area. I
maintain several weblogs in addition to Simply
Recipes as part of alice..
Thanks so
much for visiting Simply Recipes!
Listening Task 2
One
of
my
most
favorite
breakfast
is
a
poached
egg
on
toast,
with
a
side
of
papaya
and
lime,
including some
prosciutto with the papaya. Papaya is filled with
enzymes that help digestion, and
is
even used to tenderize meat. The ingredients you
need include: 1 firm but ripe papaya, 2 ounces
of thinly sliced
prosciutto, and 1/2 lime, cut and sliced into a
few wedges. Now let
’
s go!
First, using a vegetable peeler, peel
away the outer skin of the papaya. Then cut the
papaya in half.
Using a metal spoon,
scoop out and discard the seeds. By the way, the
seeds are edible. They taste
peppery,
like
nasturtium
flowers,
and
can
be
used
in
salads.
Next,
slice
the
papaya
halves
into
wedges lengthwise. Arrange them on a
plate. Now what you need to do is to roll up thin
sheets of
prosciutto
and
place
them
between
the
papaya
wedges.
Remember
the
last
thing,
squeeze
fresh
limejuice over the
papaya and prosciutto.
If you would
like to serve the papaya as an appetizer, cut the
papaya into 1-inch pieces, sprinkle
on
some lime juice, wrap each piece with some
prosciutto, and secure with a tooth pick. It
serves
2-4.
Unit Six Travel
Listening Task 1
I was
spending my summer in a remote village in Ghana. I
got afflicted with
“
the
runny stomach
”
,