英语口语学习材料

英语口语练习材料

Doctor: Good morning. How are you?

Patient: I'm very worried; doctor.

Doctor: Oh? What are you worried about?

Patient: I'm afraid that I'm very ill.

Doctor: I'm sorry to hear that. Why do you think so?

Patient: Because I feel tired all the time, even when I wake up in the morning.

I find

it very difficult to do any work. 1 have no appetite. My wife cooks me

delicious meals but I can only eat a little.

Doctor: How do you sleep?

Patient: Very badly, doctor.

Doctor: Do you find it difficult to get to sleep, or do you wake up early?

Fatient: Both, doctor. I never get to sleep until 2 o'clock and I always wake at

5.

Doctor: Are you worried about anything?

Patient: Well , yes , I am. I'm worried about my work. I've just taken a new job.

I earn a lot of money but it's difficult work. I'm always afraid of making

a mistake.

Doctor: I see. Please take off your shirt and lie down on the couch.

Patient: Yes , doctor.(The Doctor examines the patient )

Doctor: Well , there's nothing very much wrong with you , I'm glad to say. You're

working too hard and worrying too much. Do you take much exercise?

Patient: No,

doctor.

I

never

have

enough

time

for

exercise.

I

start

work

very

early

in

the morning and finish late in the evening. Then I can't get to

you give me some medicine to help me to sleep?

Doctor: I can, but I'm not going to. You don't need medicine. You need advice.

Don't work so hard. Too much work is bad. for you. Don't worry about your

work. It's silly to worry. Take regular exercise.

Patient: But I may lose my job , doctor ! It's hard to get a job like mine.

Doctor: Then get an easier one , even if you earn less money.

Which would you rather have, health or wealth?

Patient: You' re right , doctor. It's more important to be healthy than wealthy.

I'll

change my job. I'm grateful for your advice.

Doctor: Come

and

see

me

again

in

a

month's

time.

I

think

you'll

be

a

different

man

!

I

sometimes

wonder

what

my

mind

is

like

inside,

often

I

fancy

that

it

is

like

this.

I feel as if my mind goes round and round like the earth and if my lessons make me

think hard it

begins to spin.

In my other class it was getting

all

stodgy

and

still

and lumpy and rusty. I feel as if there is a ball in my mind and it is divided into

pieces -each piece stands for a different mood.

The ball turns every now and then and that's what makes me change moods. I have my

learning

mood,

my

goodlooks

mood,

my

happy

mood,

my

loose-end

mood

and

my

grumpy

mood,

my

miserable

mood,

my

thoughtful

mood

and

my

planning

mood.

At

the

moment

I

am

writing

this

I

am

in

my

thoughtful

I

am

in

my

thoughtful

mood

I

think

out

my

maths

and

plan

stories

and

poems.

When

my

kitten

is

in

her

thoughtful

mood

she

thinks

shall

I pounce or not, and shall I go to sleep or not. This sort of thing goes on in my

own mind, too. It is very hard for me to put my thoughts into words.

Why Go to School?

Text A

MATTHEW: Lesley, you're a teacher. How does the English school system work?

LESLEY: Um, well, first of all most children start school at the age of five and

they

can't leave school until the age of sixteen , which is just , you know , the age

the age of five until eleven. . . um, and previously they used to take an e~even

plus examination which would then determine whether they would go to a grammar

school or alternatively a secondary modern school. But now we have a... a new

systen where children aren't divided off at the age of eleven and will go into

a

comprehensive system ofschooling, and. . . will do the things that they're best

able to do at certain ages and if they want to take the exams they are able to

at. . . at the age of sixteen.

MATTHEW: Do you think that's a . . . an improvement to th system?

LESLEY: Well,... mm, theoretically... it's supposed t be much better because it

gives. . .

it stops separating children off at the age of eleven and gives them a

better chance, and in fact what usually happens is that those children who

wouldn't. . . er who would have gone to a grammar school tend to be at the

top end of the comprehensive system, and those that would have gone to

secondarymodern school find themselves at the lower levels of the school.

MAT'THEW: Do you think that the present school system is an efficient way of

educating children?

LESLEY Mm.

.

.

well

if

you

,

if

you

accept

that

,

you

know

,

there

have

to

be

schools,

it seems to work fairly efficiently. Of course one of our great problems in

England is that we have very large cl'asses and. . . um, it would be very nice

in a class, there are only twenty. . . mm and so that each child gets more

individual

attention

so

that

their

own

particular

needs

just

aren't

passed

over.

MATTHEW Do you think the. . . the subjects that er. . . children study today are

adapted to present-day society?

LESLEY It

would

be

very

good

if...

er,

more

children

at

school

had

the

opportunity

of

learning about the society they live in... in economic terms and in social

terms , so that they are much more aware of the problems that we face today.

But I also think that education isn't only something that has to be. . . has

to be relevant. . . um, I think education can be just a. .. a gradual

extension of one self , and I don't think it's um. . . importarit for

subjects to be seen only in terms of how useful they are when you leave

school. . . but how much you enjoy them and how much they mean to you.

MATTHEW David, what would you do in an average day at school?

DAVID Um... it mainly consists of English and Maths, which takes up a lot of the

lesson time and then. . . um. . . like on Mondays , for example. . .er,

we would do ...er, I don't know, Maths, English, Art, History and then

Tuesdays would be some more English, probably ... um, His tory , Reiigious

studies , Physics , whatever taking now which is `O' level , which is... is

nine subjects in all.

MATTHEW I

see,

so

you

can

choose.

.

.

the

subject

you

want

to

take

for

'O'

level...

You don't have to take. . . every subject in the schdol?

DAVID No,.... no, no.

MATTHEW What about games. . . er and drama and things like that?

DAVID We have about an hour and a half of games a week, and for about an hour a

week

we. . . do a. . . a thing known as er. . . social studies, which is

um... it's a kind of a cross-section of... er what life wili be after we

we leave school. . . Um. . . where we do drama. .. a . . . we study

ecology,sociology et cetera... Um, it's not 'O' level, we don't take an 'O'

level in it, it's just for er... expersence.

MATTHEW janet, do you... think that your daughters gain a tremendous amount from

their education?

JANET I think they. . . they gain a certain amount of um... necessary knowledge,

yes,but I wish it was broader. I wish that instead of being driven

towards passing exams that they had, certainly at this stage of adolescence' ,

the chance to really broaden their outlook' completely and not feel this

necessity to read towards passing an exam , to collecting a piece

of paper at the end of it.

MATTHEW Er. . . do you have any specific ways in which you think. . . time at

school could be improved?

JANET Yes , I think there could be a. . . a lot more encouragement in doing

things for their own sake, for getting the satisfaction out of them... um,

rather than this 'rat race' that everybody's forced into. . . um... for what

is achieved at the end. I think . . . a lot more should be done to encourage

people to get the value out of it themselves.

MATTHEW Do you think that er. . . education is just something that takes place

inside a school building , or is . it a. . . an activity which takes

place not only outside but right the way through your life?

JANET I think it starts the moment you're born, and . . . er... that it's going

on

all around you. It's notjust taking place in a school building. . .

um it should be. . . part of your whole life.

Why Are They So Unlucky?

Text A

I wonder why so many shop-assistants are so foultempered? Inspite of so many

to

improve

the

services

in

the

past

years,

we

see

no

appreciable

change

so

far.

If

Dad

and

Mum

are

to

be

believed,

the

services

used

to

be

quite

good

in

the

fifties.

But

then,

they

always

say

everything

used

to

be

good

in

the

fifties.

I

find

the older people grow, the more nostalgic they become.

Now

Granny

never

lets

a

day

go

by

without

remi-niscing

on

the

good

old

things

in

the

good

old

days

.

Once

when

she

saw

Xiao

Hong

and

me

eating

some

mooncakes

with

relish,

she

said

pityingly,

poor

children,

you

don't

know

what

real

mooncakes

taste

like.

The

worst

in

the

old

tasted

much

better

than

the

best

that

rnoney

can

buy

nowadays!

We burst out laughing, not taking her words seriously.

Now

to

come

back

to

the

bad

service

in

shops

and

department

stores.

People

often

say that when you buy something, you are spending money to buy rudeness and anger.

Today

I

saw

a

loing

exactly

that.

I

was

at

a

department

store

and

I

happened

to

witness

a

typical

quarrel.

I

was

next

to

a

counter

selling

tea

and

I

saw

an

elderly

man

come

up

and

ask

a

young

woman

was

busy

weighing

and

wrapping

tea

into

standard-sized

The woman glanced up to size him up. He was ordinarily dressed and spoke with

a provincial accent. obviously a man of no consequence. She went on with her work

and the man had to repeat his question. After another pause the woman snorted out:

her.

it's two hundred and sixty yuan. Is that CLEAR?

The man seemed to be stunried by her sudden outburst but he kept his temper and

asked

again.

you

have

some

thing

under

two

yuan'

a

Liang?

Obviously

she

was

makinj

things difficult

for

the old

man for

she

answered

as

rudely as be fore;

mean under two yuan? Anything from on cent to one yuan ninety-nine cents is under

two yuan.

find out there was a kind costing one yuan ninety-six a liang

me?

I

want

to

look

at

the

leaves

and

smell

the

flavoc

first.

can

look

,

smell , eat , drink or do whatever you like with it at home. Here I only sell tea.

If

you

want

to

buy

it,

buy

it.

If

you

can't

afford

it,

don't

come

here

to

waste

people's

time Obviously you don't know what is proper in Beijing !

in

Beijing

long

before

you

were

born,

and

I've

never

seen

anyone

as

rude

as

you

are.

Your job is to serve the customers , not to insult them. Now for the last time are

you going to show me the tea or not?

for the

last time I am telling

it

to

you. Either buy it or

get out

of here!

I know the likes of you-you want something good, and yet grudge the money you have

to spend on it!

head? It's on my shoulders. Take a good look if you want to.

The old man went away fuming.

Evening

News.

The

threat didn't seem to

frighten

the girl. At most she'll have to

make a self-criticism, which costs her nothing. Even if she should lose a month's

bonus, it is only a few yuan. But if she could be sacked, I bet she wouldn't dare

to be so rude and aggressive.

Text B

All the housewives who went to the new supermarket had one great ambition: to

be the lucky customer who did not have to pay for her shopping. For this was what

the notice just inside the entrance promised. It said;

of our customers gets free goods. This may be your lucky day !

For several weeks Mrs Edwards hoped , like many of her friends, to be the lucky

customer. Unlike her friends, she never gave up hope. The cupboards in her kitchen

were full of things which she did not need. In vain her husband tried to dissuade

suade her. She dreamed of the day when the manager of the supermarket

would

approach

her

and

say:

this

is

your

lucky

day.

Everything

in

your

basket

is free.

One Friday morning, after she had finished her shopping and had taken it to her

car,

she

found

that

she

had

forgotten

to

buy

any

tea.

She

dashed

back

to

the

supermarket,

got the tea

and

went

towards

the

cashdesk.

As

she

did

so,

she

saw

the

manager

of

the

supermarket

approaeh

her.

,

he

said,

holding

out

his

handzs,

want

to

congratutate

you!

You are our lucky customer and everything you have in your hasket is free!