旧托福听力PartC原文(95-04)

1

月：

演讲

1

：

I’m going to pass this piece of amber around so you can see this spider trapped inside it. It’s a good example of amber

-inclusion, one

of the inclusions that scientists are interested in these days. This particular piece is estimated to be about 20 million years old. Please

be extremely careful not to drop it. Amber shatters as easily as glass. One thing I really like about amber is its beautiful golden color.

Now, how does the spider get in there? Amber is really fossilized tree resin. Lots of chunks of amber contain insects like this one or

animal parts like feathers or even plants. Here is how it happens. The resin oozes out of the tree and the spider or leaf gets incased

in it. Over millions and millions of years, the resin hardens and fossilizes into the semiprecious stone you see here.

Ambers

can

be

found

in

many

different

places

around

the

world.

But

the

oldest

deposits

are

right

here

in

the

United

States,

in

Appalachian. It’s found in several other countries, too, though right now scientis

ts are most interested in amber coming from the

Domincian Republic. Because it has a great any inclusions, something like one insect inclusion for every one hundred pieces. One

possible explanation for this it that the climate is tropical and a greater variety of number of insects thrive in tropics than in other

places. What’s really interesting is the scientists are now able to recover DNA from these fossils and study the genetic mate

rial for

important clues to revolution.

演讲

2

：

Now we’ve been talking about

the revolutionary period in the United States history when the colonies wanted to separate from

England. I’d like to mention one point about the very famous episode from that period, a point I think is pretty relevant eve

n today.

I’m

sure

you

remember,

from

when

you

are

children,

the

story

of

Paul

Revere’s

famous

horseback

ride

to

the

Massachusetts

countryside. In that version, he single-

headily alerted the people that “the British were coming”. We have this image of us solitary

rider galloping along in the dark from one farm house to another. And of course the story emphasized the courage of one man,

made him a hero in our history books, right? But, that rather romantic version of the story is not what actually happened that night.

In

fact,

that

version

misses

the

most

important

point

entirely.

Paul

Revere

was

only

one

of

the

many

riders

helping

deliver

the

message

that

night.

Just

one

part

of

a

pre-arrange

plan,

that

was

thought

out

well

in

advance

in

preparation

for

just

such

an

emergency. I don’t mean to

diminish Revere’s role though. He was actually an important organizer and promoter of this group effort

for freedom. His mid-

night riders didn’t just go knocking on farm house doors. They also awaken the institutions of New England.

They went from town to town and engage the town leaders, the military commanders and volunteer groups, even church leaders,

people who would then continue to spread the word. My point is that Paul Revere and his political party understood, probably more

clearly than later generations ever have, that political institutions are there as a kind of medium for the will of people and also to

both build on and support individual action. They knew the success requires careful planning and organization. The way they went

about the work that night made a big difference in the history of this country.

演讲

3

：

Let me warn you against a mistake that historians of science often make. They sometimes assume that people in the past use the

same concepts as we do. There is a wonderful example that made news in the history of mathematics some while ago. It concerns

an ancient Mesopotamian tablet that has some calculations on it using square numbers. The calculations look an awful lot like the

calculations of the length of the sides of triangle. So that’s what many historians assume they were. But using square numbe

rs to do

this is a very sophisticated technique. If the Mesopotamians knew how to do it, as the historians started thinking that they did. Well,

then their math was incredibly advanced. Well, it turns out the idea of Mesopotamians use square numbers to calculate the length

of triangle’s sides is probably wrong. Why? Because we discovered that Mesopotamians didn’t know how to measure angles, which

is a crucial element in the whole process of triangle calculations. Apparently the Mesopotamians had a number of other uses for

square numbers. These other uses were important but they were not used with triangles. And so these tablets in all likelihood were

practice sheets, if you like, for doing simpler math exercises with square numbers. In all likelihood, it was the ancient Greeks who

first calculate the length of triangle’s sides using square numbers. And this was hundreds of years after the Mesopotamians.

0 3

年

10

月：

演讲

1

：

Today, we are going to talk about a special way some plants respond to being invaded by pests. These plants react by emitting a

chemical signal, which acts like a call for help. Let’s take corn plants for example. Sometimes, caterpillars chew on the cor

n leaves.

When the

caterpillar saliva mixes with the chew portion of

a leaf, the plant releases

a

chemical scream that attracts

wasps. The

wasps respond to the signal by flying to the chewed-on leaf, and laying their eggs in the caterpillars. The caterpillars die in the next

few days as the wasp offspring nourish themselves by feeding off them. Thus the corn plant prevents all its leaves from being eaten

by the caterpillars. This chemical scream is specific. It’s only released after the plant has detected the caterpillar saliva

. A plant that

is cut by any other means does not give off the same signal,

nor doesn’t undamaged plant. This also explains how a wasp can find a

caterpillar in a huge field of corn. Soybeans, cotton and probably many other plants use a similar type of defense against pests. By

enhancing this natural response in plants, researchers might reduce, or some day even eliminate, the need for chemical pesticide,

which

can

cause

ecological

damage.

For

example,

scientists

might

breed

plants

for

this

screaming

trait,

or

they

might

transplant

specific genes to increase the release of chemical signals.

演讲

2

：

Today, we are going to continue our discussion of Buddhism. In our last class, we talked about how it’s practiced. Today, I’d

like to

talk a little about early Buddhism, which we really don’t know much about. Well, what is known is that the teachings

of Buddhism

were

memorized,

and

passed

on

orally

for

centuries

by

its

followers.

Recently,

there

was

an

important

discovery

of

Buddhist

manuscripts that are believed to be the oldest ever found. They may be 2,100 years old. And there maybe as many as 20 of them.

It’s

expected

that

we

will

be

able

to

learn

from

them

about

the

spread

of

Buddhism

from

present

day

India

into

China,

and

throughout

Asia.

But

the

scrolls

themselves

have

presented

challenge

too.

They

were

very

fragile,

found

rolled

up

in

clay

pots.

Before they even could be looked at, they need to be dampened over night in fact, and then carefully flattened with tweezers. And

it’s not that anybody could just sit down and read them. The scrolls were written in a language that is really rare today. On

ly a few

people

are

proficient

at

it.

Considering

these

challenges,

it’s

easy

to

understand

why

it’s

taken

scholars

so

long

to

examine

the

scrolls.

演讲

3

：

About 200 years ago, the United States economy was growing quickly, mainly because a booming trade in grain and cotton. This

trade in grain and cotton went on near areas near or at the coast, or near navigable rivers. It took place there because it was so

expensive to transport goods over the roads that existed. They were muddy, narrow, and hard to travel on. At that time, don’t

forget

there was only one continuous road that existed in the US, and it was made up of north to south local country roads, linked together

to make one long road. Within a short time, the first east-to-west roads were built. They were called turnpikes. Private companies

built these roads, and collected fees from all vehicles that traveled on them. Eventually, a network of dirt, gravel or plank roadways

connected some major cities and towns. But even these turnpike roads were still very slow, and traveling on them was too costly for

farmers. They would’ve spent more money to move their crops than they got by selling them. So, we s

ee that even with some major

improvement in roadways, farmers still had to rely on rivers to move their crops to market.

03

年

8

月：

演讲

1

：

In my opinion, Frank Lloyd Wright was the greatest American architect of the 20th century. People who know his designs well point

out that his roofs often leaked, his ceilings were too low, and his houses were uncomfortable. In my presentation, h

owever, I’ll be

focusing on the virtues of his designs. For what you see, it would be hard todispute that he manipulated space extremely well, some

of his smallest houses look gigantic,and he had great respect for the materials he used and also a tremendous skill for placing his

buildings in harmony with ’scare

er began when he was young. He was just a teenager when he helped build the chapel

on his family’s p

roperty in Wisconsin. And from there, he got hired as a draftsman by the project architect. So it was a very long

career. He did at 91, while his final major work, the Guggenheim Museum, was still being built

.Today, we’ll cover what we

consider

to be the two great periods of his career, Wright’s works b

efore the Tokyo Imperial Hotel completed in 1922 and everything after

Falling Water, a private residence in western Pennsylvania completed in 1936. The first period started around 1896, when he made a

dramatic shift from the classical tradition to the arts and crafts movement. Here, the emphasis was on order, consistency and unity

of design. Things were kept simple with minimal decoration. Natural forms were very important.

Let’s take a look at a slide of his

own dining room done in this style.

演讲

2

：

We are going to talk today about the moon, our moon. First of all, the

earth’s moon is unusual. Why? It’s larger than other moons or

satellites

in

the

solar

system,

in

relation

to

its

planet

that

is.

Its

diameter

is

more

than

a

quarter

that

of

the

earth.

And

if

you

compare the earth and the moon in terms of

substance, you find the moon isn’t much like the earth. For example, t

he earth has a

significant iron

core, but the moon contains very little heavy materials like iron. That’s

why its density is much lower than that of the

earth. Now, one time it was believed that the moon and the earth were formed at the same time from the same material. But then

wouldn’t the moon h

ave as much iron as the earth? Another theory is that the moon was formed elsewhere in the solar system, and

then it was captured, sort of the speak, by earth. But study shows that the young earth would not have had enough gravitational

force to stop a body the size of a moon from traveling through the solar system and pull it into orbit. The newest theory is called the

big

splash

theory.

Here,

the

new

young

earth

was

hit

by

another

big planet.

Most

of

the colliding

planet

entered

the

earth

and

became part of it. But the huge impact created a vapor that shed out into space and eventually condensed as the moon. Because

this material came mostly from the earth surface crust, not the iron core, the moon contains almost no iron. Well, as plausible as it

sounds, it’s only a theory, and we can’t be sure that this is what

really happened, that this is how the moon originated. Plenty of

research remains to be done.

演讲

3

：

In order to diagnose and treat abnormal behavior, we have to start with clear definitions of what’s meant by abnormal and nor

mal.

Criteria must be worked out for distinguishing one from the other in actual clinical cases. The word abnormal implies a deviation

from

some

clearly

defined

norm.

In

the

case

of

physical

illness,

the

boundary

lines

between

normality

and

pathology

are

often

clearly delineated by medical science, making it easier to diagnose. On the psychological level, however, we have no ideal model to

use as a base of comparison, nothing to help us distinguish mental health from mental disorder. The problem of defining abnormal

behavior

via

establishing

just

what

is

meant

by

normal

behavior

has

proved

extremely

difficult.

However,

as

chapter

5

outlines,

several criteria have been proposed. One norm described in detail in your text is personal adjustment. An individual who was able to

deal

with

problems

effectively

without

serious

anxiety

or

unhappiness

or

more

serious

symptoms

is

said

to

be

well

adjusted.

Personal adjustment as a norm has several serious limitations though. For

example, it makes no reference to the individual’s role in

the group. Ho

w’re we going to classify, for

example, the a typical politician or businessperson who engages in unethical practices.

Either might be successful, happy, and well-adjusted individual. Obviously, the welfare of the group, as well as that of the individual,

must be considered, which brings me to the next approach.

03

年

1

月：

演讲

1

：

Today,

I’d like to talk about some of the changes land can undergo, specifically desertification, that’s the process

through which land

becomes part of a desert. Now a desert is defined as a place that receives a certain maximum amount of rainfall. But you may

not

know that it usually takes more than just a lack of water to turn productive land into a desert. There are several specific human

activities that when combined with a lack of rainfall encourage desertification. For example,

over cultivation, growing more crops

than soil can support. The soil loses nutrients, so it needs either to be fertilized or to be left unused for at least a season. But if

neither of these things happen if the

se nutrients in the soil don’t

get replaced, the damaged soil stops producing. Another cause of

desertification is overgrazing.

That’s when the grasses and trees and shrubs of an area are expected to feed more animals than they

reasonably can. Too many animals eating in the same area will kill the vegetation. And because it’s the

roots of this vegetation that

hold much of the soil together, when too much of the vegetation dies, the soil erodes. But maybe the most ironic example of human

behavior that can lead to desertification is irrigation. It may seem to run counter to common senseto say that introducing water into

an area can cause it to become more like a desert. But there are plenty of bad irrigation practices that do just that. Bringing in too

much salty water and then not providing adequate drainage for it will fill the soil with salt, and turn the area into a desert.

演讲

2

：

I’ve mentioned how DNA have solved many mysteries in biology. And today I want to

talk about how it might relate to hypothesis

about the travels of the green turtle. Every winter some green turtles make a 2000 km journey from Brazil to Ascension Island in the

middle of Atlantic, where they mate and lay eggs. But the question is why do they travel so far to lay their eggs? One researcher

hypothesized that there are two parts to the explanation. One is natal homing, the instinct that drives green turtles to always return

to the beach

where

they

were hatched. The second part has to do

with

continental drift, the theory that

the positions of earth

continents have changed considerably overtime. Brazil and Ascension Island were once much closer together, and continental drift

drove them apart. But the turtles kept on going back to the island where they hatched. However another scientist questioned this

explanation

on

the

grounds

that

it

would

be

very

unlikely

that

conditions

would

allow

generations

of

turtles

over

hundreds

of

millions of years to keep going back to the same nesting ground every single year. So, what is the connection to DNA? Well, there are

groups of green turtles that nest in locations other than the Ascension Island. If green turtles always return to the place where they

were hatched, then the turtles

that have been going to the Ascension Island to nest would’ve been genetically isolated long enough

to

have

DNA

that

was

very

different

from

the

green

turtles

that

nest

elsewhere.

But

when

scientists

examined

DNA

from

these

turtles, their DNA wasn’t that different from the

DNA of the turtles that go to Ascension Island. Do you have a shock? Well, we still

don’t

know

the

answer

to

the

question

about

why

a

certain

group

of

turtles

go

to

Ascension

Island,

but

this

study

was

a

nice

example of the usefulness of DNA analysis to biology.

演讲

3

：

As I am sure you are aware, history is full of people who were so admired that over the centuries they become almost mythical

figures. George Washington is a good example. Everyone knows this story about his chopping down the cherry tree when he was

young

and

bravely

confessing

to

his

mischief

later.

People

greatly

admired

Washington’s

integrity.

And

so,

out

of

that,

this

story

evolved, even though no one knows for sure whether the incident ever occurred. Then there is the American Indian, Poke Hunters,

beloved by history for making peace between the English Colonies and the American Indians. The history of her life has also become

somewhat mythical. At the historical

society exhibit next week, we’

ll see many artistic works depicting the major events of her life.

And while we are there,

keeping in mind that much of what you’ll see in the paintings reflects

how much she was admired, but not

necessarily the fact of her life. For instance, one painting shows her saving the life of Jon Smith, an English Colonist, who had been

captured by her tribe. Smith, so the story goes, was about to be executed when twelve-years-old Poke Hunters lay her head on top

of his. Tells you a lot about her courage. But Jon Smith himself related this story only years after Poke Hunters had become famous,

which suggests that he may have embellish the truth a little bit, as many of the works that we’ll b

e seeing in next week may have

done. Something else to remember: paintings portrait her physical appearance in many different ways, but always flattering ways.

Yet only one picture of her was ever painted while she was living.

02

年

10

月：

演讲

1

：

A

lot

of

people

think

that

cultural

anthropology

is

just

about

studying

the

special

and

strange

aspects

of

a

society,

but

anthropologists

are

also

interested

in

the

aspects

of

life

that

seems

so

ordinary

that

the

people

in

the

society

think

they

’re

not

significant.

Let

me

give

you

an

example,

I

see

lots

of

T-

shirts

here

in

class

today,

but

you

probably

don’t

think

of

them

as

an

important part of your culture, but anthropologists could learn a lot about the culture of the United States just by studying the T

shirt. For one thing, T shirts are a mark of how casual clothing has become in America. No one’s quite sure where they came f

rom,

but the T shirt first became popular in this country as an under shirt for sailors in the 1940s. Then in the 1950s, it became a sign of

rebellion for teenagers to wear this white under shirt by itself, not under anything. By the 1960s and 70s, T shirts have become

accepted

as

part

of

the

uniform

of

use.

You

could

even

say

that

they

came

to

symbolize

that

generation’s

attitude

towards

informality and all things, including dress. Another aspect

that anthropologists

would find interesting is

that T shirts are

used to

express personal opinions. Look around this room, you know who likes watch TV show, who went where on vacation, who belongs

to what organizations on campus. All of these aspects of our culture are printed on your T shirts. OK, I want to stop for a minute and

ask

you

to

try

to

write

down

five

different

conclusions

you

could

reach

about

American

culture

from

just

the

T

shirts

in

this

classroom.

演讲

2

：

Finally there is one more element to business success that we haven’t talked about. I know what you think I’m going to say, l

uck and

you’re partially right. Good entrepreneurs know how to make their own luck and that means being in the right place at

the right

time with the right product. Let me give you a little example, early in this century, if you were a traveler by train or subway and you

happened to get a little thirsty in the station, where would you go for some water? There were no big soda machines at every corner

or even drinking fountains, yet there were thousands of thirsty travelers out there, well, what they did was drink water out of a little

tin cup that was passed from one thirsty commuter to the next. That’s right, everybody drank out

of the same cup, and you can bet

it didn’t get washed after every user. Will, that was the right time for the right product and there was a man who had it. Hi

s name

was Hugh Molar and his product was

the disposable paper cup. He came up with it just as the nation was becoming

concerned

about their health risks associated with the tin cups. Laws were passed outlying the things; reports were published showing just

what sort of germs could be passed around from sharing them. Mr. Molar rode that way to become the best known producer of one

of the most successful paper products of all time. He originally called his product health cups, but later changed the name,

so can

anyone guess what that name might be?

演讲

3

：

A

number

of

insects

rely

on

leaping

or

jumping

as

a

way

of

escaping

from

enemies.

Grosshoppers

probably

have

the

most

remarkable jumping ability of all these insects. If we think of it in human terms, a grosshopper’s high jump is like a human

jumping

over a five story building. Imagine that a person jumping over a five story building. We are going to take a look at the structure of

the grosshopper’s leg to see why it’s able to jump so well, but first I wanna talk about the sensory organ that tells grossho

ppers

when to jump in the first place. En, OK, a grosshopper has two sensory organs located at the end of its abdomen. Whenever these

organs sense a change in air pressure which might be produced by an enemy approaching, and impulses transmitted to the legs, this

first

impulse

deactivates

the

nerves

that

con

trol

normal

working

and

sets

the

grasshopper’s

jumping

muscles

into

a

sort

of

pre-

jumping position. Now at this point, if the sensory organs don’t detect additional air pressure changes, the jumping muscles

relax and a grosshopper goes back to its normal walking, but if the organs continue to sense danger, another set of impulses puts

the jumping muscles in motion. The distance of the jump is determined by just how many impulses are transmitted in the second set,

the more impulses the longer the jump. OK no

w let’s see why the grosshopper can jump so far. Open your books at the part about

the muscular structure of the grasshopper’s leg. I think it’s in chapter 9.

02

年

9

月：

演讲

1

：

Not long ago, some of you may have read about the team of mountain climbing scientists who helped to recalculate the elevation of

the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest. Of course the elevation of Mount Everest was determined many years ago using

traditional surveying methods. But these scientists wanted to make a more precise measurement, using a

new method that takes

advantage

of

recent

a

dvances

in

technology;

it’s

called

the

Global

Positioning

System.

The

Global

Positioning

System

us

es

24

satellites that circle the earth. Each of the satellites is constantly sending out signals, and each signal contains important information

that can be used to determine the longitude, latitude and elevation at any point on the earth’s surface. Well,

In order to use this

system to calculate Mount

Everest’s elevation, scientists need to put a special receiver on its summit to receive signals from the

satellites.

The

problem

with

this

was

that

in

the

past,

the

receivers

were

much

too

heavy

for

climbers

to

carry.

But

now

these

receivers have been reduced to about the size and weight of a hand- held telephone, so climbers were able to take the receiver to

the

top

of

the

Everest,

and

from

there,

to

access

the

satellite

system

signals

that

would

allow

them

to

determine

the

precise

elevation. And it turns out that the famous peak is actually a few feet higher than was previously thought.

演讲

2

：

Human populations near the equator have evolved dark skin over many generations because of exposure to the fiercest rays of the

sun. A similar phenomenon has also occurred in other parts of the animal kingdom. The African grass mouse is a good example.

Most mice are nocturnal, but the African grass mouse is active during daylight hours. This means that it spends its days searching for

food in the semi-

dry bush in scrubby habitats of eastern and southern Africa. Its furry stripe’s like a chipmunk’s, which helps it blend

in with its environment. Because it spends a lot of time in the intense tropical sun, the grass mouse has also evolved two separate

safeguards against the sun’s ultraviolet radiation. First, like the population of humans in this region of the world, the ski

n of the grass

mouse contains lots of melanin, or dark pigment. Second and quite unusual, this mouse has a layer of melanin-pigmented tissue

between its skull and skin. This unique cap provides an extra measure of protection for the grass mouse and three other types of

African mouse, like rodents that are active during the day. The only other species scientists has identified with the same sort of skull

adaptation is the white tent-making bat of the Central American tropics. Although these bats sleep during the day, they do so curled

up with their head exposed to the sun.

演讲

3

：

We are going to start today talking about congressional aides, that is, the people who work for our congressional representatives,

both in Washington and in the representatives’ local districts. It used to be that members of Congress had a relatively small

staff of

people working for them,

and role of these people wasn’t of primary importance. But now, there are thousands of congressional

aides, and they’ve profoundly affected the way the whole government works. Congressional aides work in two different location

s:

one, in the congressional

representative’s local offices, the districts from which they were elected, and two, in Washington. Staff in

local offices help members of Congress stay in touch with citizens in their districts. These citizens can bring problems in, in person, or

by mail or phone.

This

personal

connection

between

the

aids

and

local

people

can

be

helpful,

when

the

next

election

comes

around.

People

remember the help they get from the office of their local congressional representative. But as you know members of the Congress

have

to

spend

most

of

their

time

in

Washington

taking

care

of

their

legislative

duties.

Over

6000

new

laws

are

introduced

in

Congress each session. Without help, representatives would have trouble keeping up with proposed laws that directly affect their

d

istricts,

so

that’s

why

congressional

aides

play

their

major

role

in

Washington:

they

keep

their

bosses

informed

about

pendin

g

legislation, organizing hearings, and just keep their local congressional representatives up-to-

date, and informed on what’s goin

g on

in

other

parts

of

Congress.

Now,

another

thing

congressional

aides

do

is

to

help

develop

ideas

for

laws

that

their

bosses

can

eventually propose to Congress, this can be called the staff’s entrepreneurial function, a bit like a business executive tryi

ng to find

out what product is most popular. Congressional aides promote or encourage laws they think will be popular with the public. Y

ou’ve

also got other employees that work for the whole Congress, not just for individual members. We’ll talk about these

people next.

02

< br>年

8

月：

演讲

1

：

It is common knowledge that

music can have a powerful effect on our emotions. In fact, since the 1930s, music therapists have

relied

on

music

to

soothe

patients

and

help

control

pain.

Now

psychologists

are

confirming

that

music

can

also

help

relieve

depression and improve concentration. For instance, in a recent study, 15 surgeons were given some highly stressed math problems

to solve. They were divided into three groups: one group worked in silence, and in another, the surgeons listened to music of their

choice on headphones; the third listened to classic music chosen by the researchers. The results of the study may surprise you. The

doctors who got to choose their music experienced less stress and scored better than the others. One possible explanation is that

listening to music you like stimulates the Alfa-wave in the brain, increases the heart rate and expands ship breathing. That helps to

reduce

stress

and

sharpen

concentration.

Other

research

suggests

a

second

relationship

between

the

music

and

the

brain:

by

examining

the

blood

of

students

after

they

listening

to

a

variety

of

classic

music

selections,

the

researchers

found

that

some

students showed a large increase in endorphin, a natural pain reliever, this supports what music therapists have known for years:

music can help rejuvenate or soothe the patient.

演讲

2

：

One important thing about art movements is that their popularity can be affected by social conditions, which are themselves often

affected by historical events. As an example, look at what happened in the United States early in the 20th century, around the time

of the Great Depression, the art movement known as the Regionalism had begun in the United States even before the depression

occurred. But it really flourished in the 1930s, during the depression years. Why? Well, many artists who had been living in big cities

were forced by the economic crisis to leave those big cities and move back to their small towns in rural America. And some of these

artists

came

to

truly

emb

race

the

life

in

small

towns

and

to

eject

city

life

in

so

called

“sophisticated

society”.

These

artists

or

specifically certain painters really built regionalist movement. They created scenes of every day life in small towns or farming areas.

And their style was not all neutral, really big glorified or romanticized country life, showing it stable, wholesome, and embodying

important American traditions. And this style became very popular, in part because of the economic conditions of the time. You see,

the

Depression

had

caused

many

Americans

to

begin

to

doubt

their

society.

But

regionalist

artists

painted

scenes

that

glorified

American values, scenes that many Americans could easily identify with. So the movement helped strengthen people’s faith in t

heir

country, faith that had weakened as a result of the depression. But in the 1940s, before and after the Second World War, American

culture began to take on a much more international spirit, and Regionalism, with its focus on small town life, well, it lost

a lot of

popularity, as American society changed once again.

演讲

3

：

Hallo, everybody, I am here today, because I visited caves all over North America. Since you are going to study cave formations, Dr.

Bow asked me to come an share some of my experiences with you. In addition to describing some technical aspects of the caves, I

would convey the sense of adventure that cavers share. Recently, I visited the La Chagire cave in New Mexico, my dream has always

been to discover a new passage way. I had a chance here, because La Changire is so large that discoveries are frequently made there.

The

cave

itself

was

to

even

discovered

until

1986.

However,

people

in

that

area

had

figured

that

there

must

be

a

cave

nearby,

because of the strong wind that blew from behind the rock that covered the entrance. Enormous amounts of air enter and exit the

cave in order to maintain balance of the pressure with the side air. When I climbed into the cave, I had to fight 45 mile per hour

winds. After all that effort, I had to be extra careful maintaining my energy level. People who are tired tend to be careless, and may

be more concerned about getting out of the

cave than taking care of

it. There are formations in La Chagire that look like ocean

waves, Christmas trees and other stuff no one has ever seen before. Caves are usually created by carbonic acid that trickles down

from above, but this cave was sculpted out by very powerful sulfuric acid that rose up from below.

02

年

5

月：

演讲

1

：

Good evenings, ladies and gentleman, my name is Ellis Brown. As you know we hold a series of events during the school year on

various cultural topics, I am happy there is such a large crowd of both students and professors at this, the second of our time out

pretty art presentations this year. I think almost every s

eat is taken. Tonight we’re lucky to have as our guest, a man of considerable

fame in the world of music. He began to play the piano at age 5. By the time he was 10, he was already composing and playing his

own pieces. He is a graduate of a famous art school in New York City. Our guest has spent the last 45 years of his very successful

career touring the world playing concert. We are fortunate that he consented to come and share some of his experiences with us.

He has had many adventures along the way. Locked instruments, missed connections, no hotel room, locked concert hall and so on.

He has played for all of the most well-known conductors, not only in north America, but all over the world. The title of his talk is the

concert tour- forty years on four continents. Please join me and welcome Mr. Daniel Robertson, one of the foremost pianist of our

day.

演讲

2

：

Let’s turn our focus now to advertising. We all know what an advertisement is. It’s essentially a message that announces some

thing

for sale. Now there’s an important precondition that must exist before you have advertising , and that’s a large supply of consumer

goods,

that

is

things

to

sell.

You

see

in

a

place

where

the

demand

for

a

product

is

greater

than

the

supply,

there’s

no

need

to

advertise. Now the earliest forms of advertising going back many hundreds of years with a simple sign over shop doors that told you

whether

the

shop

was

a

bakery,

a

butcher

shop

or

what

have

you.

Then

with

the

advent

of

the

printing,

advertising

increased

substantially. As for product like coffee, tea and chocolate appeared in newspapers and other periodicals, as well as on the sides of

building. In the American colonies, advertising and communication media like newspapers and pamphlets became a major factor in

marketing goods and services. By modern standard, these early advertisements were quite small and subdued, not as splashy, whole

page spread of today. Still some of them appeared on the front pages of newspapers probably because the news often consisted of

less refresh reports from distant Europe while the news were current and local. Advertising really came and do it so and became an

essential part of doing business during the industrial revolution. Suddenly there was a much greater supply of things to sell. And as

we

said earlier, that is the driving force behind advertising. People’s attention had to be drawn to the new product. Let’s take

a look

at some of the advertisements from that time.

演讲

3

：

We know then that in the United States it’s the job of congress to review proposed new laws which we call bills, and perhaps

to

modify these bills and then vote on them. But even if the bill passes in congress it still doesn’t become a law until the p

resident had

a chance to review it too. And if it’s not to the president liking, the bill can be vetoed or killed in either of two ways. O

ne is by a veto

message.

The

president

has

ten

days

to

veto

the

bill

by

returning

it

to

congress

along

with

a

message

explaining

why

it’s

being

rejected. This keeps the bill from becoming a law unless overwhelming majorities of both houses of congress vote to override

the

president’s veto, something they rarely do. Often law makers simply revise the vetoed bill and pass i

t again. This time in a form that

the president less likely to objective and thus less likely to want to veto. The other way the president can kill a bill is by pocket veto.

Here is what happens. If the president doesn’t sign the bill within ten days and

congress drew in during that time, then the bill will

not become law. Notice that it’s only at the end of an entire session of congress that the pocket veto can be used, not just

whenever

congress takes the shorter break, say for a summer vacation. After a pocket veto, that particular bill is dead. If the law makers in

congress want to push the matter in their next session, they will have to start all over with a brand-new version the bill.

02

年

1

月：

演讲

1

：

This is our last meeting before the campers arrive tom

orrow. I’ll give you the activi

ty schedules later. But, now I want to answer a

question

one

of

you

asked

me

yesterday

about

campers

with

asthma.

Let

me

explain

a

little

about

the

disease.

First

of

all,

it

’s

chronical and very common. 20 million people in the United States alone have it. It affects the bronchial tubes that are the airways

of the lungs. During normal breathing, air is drawn in through the mouth and nose, and eventually makes its way into the bronchial

tubes. The asthma patient’s bronchial tub

es are very sensitive, and easily irritated by exercises or strength, exposure to allergy or

pollution, or breathing in cold air, cigarettes smoke. When asthmatic suffers an attack, the airway path was constricted, making it

difficult for the person from breathing normally. If a camper in your group has even a mild asthma, you would be informed and given

further instruction about what to do in case of an attack. But don’t worry. Some of

our campers might have a mild case, but they

always bring their medicin

es with them and we never have a problem. Are there any other questions? Ok, then let’s talk about the

schedule for tomorrow.

演讲

2

：

Today most astronomers accept the notion that groups of stars that make up the universe are all moving farther and farther away

from each other but until fairly recently this idea of an expanding

universe was not a theory most European scholars believed in

since

ancient

times

and

up

to

about

the

17th

century

most

of

these

scholars

thought

the

size

of

the

universe

have

remained

unchanged since the moment of its creation or perhaps forever, with all the stars remaining more or less in place in relation to each

other but that was challenged in the late 17th century by Izic

Newton’s idea of gravity as a force of attraction, which con

tradicted

the idea of a university that is static, unchanging. If gravity causes all the stars out there in space to attract each other as Newton

said,

then

they

could

remain

essentially

motionless.

Sooner

or

later

all

the

stars

will

fall

toward

each

other

well,

scientists

then

propose a new

model, taking Newton’s theory into account, they didn’t want to abandon the ide

a of motionless stars, but for this

model to work, so the stars won’t fall in each

other, they had to modify Ne

wton’s law of gravity, so the

y theorize that for distance as

large as those between stars, the gravitational force repels rather attracts. As you might guess, this other contradictions. But this is

prettily

resolved

in

the

past

centuries

by

currently

accepted

theory,

which

says

the

un

iverse

is

continuously

expanding.

You’ll

be

reading about all that as your homework tonight.

演讲

3

：

On Monday we talked about insects, and how they gather food. Today I’d like to talk about the common garden spider and how it

captures its prey with the round net- like structure it first produced almost 200 million years ago. I mean, of course a spider web.

What’s interesting is why such a delicate structure isn’t ripped a part. When a fast

-flying insect crashes into it, and compared with

the spider, these insects can be huge and really heavy. In fact capturing a large insect in a spider web could be compared to capture

an airplane in a fishing net. So, how can the web absorb such a shock without breaking? Is it just because the silk-like thread is made

of so strong? well, experts analyze spider webs using a computer program ,one designed for crash testing cars and they found the

structure of the web, the way of threads connected together helps balance the strength and tensions caused by the impact and

spread them all across the web this saves the web from being destroyed and by the way, suggests some creative new ideas that

human might use in designing buildings. The big surprise, though, is the role of air resistance in cushioning the shock of collision.

The computer model showed that dragging a tiny thread from a spider web through the air is a lot like pulling a heavy rope through

water.

And

since

air

resistance

acts

on

many

threads

all

across

the

web

,its

amazing

effect

that

multiplies

many

times.

And

this

definitely helps the web survive the impact.

01

年

10

月：

演讲听写训练

1

：

In the 18th century French economists protested the excessive regulation of business by the government. Their motto was laisser

faire. Laisser faire means “ let the people do as they choose”. In the economic sense, this meant that while the government s

hould

be

responsible

for

things

like

maintaining

peace

and

protecting

property

rights,

it

should

not

interfere

with

private

business.

It

shouldn’t create regulations that might hinder business growth, nor should it be responsible for providing subsidies to help.

In other

words, governments should take a hands-off approach to business.

For a while in the United States, laisser faire was a popular doctrine. But things quickly changed. After the Civil War, politicians rarely

opposed the governments generous support of business owners. They were only too glad to support government land grants and

loans

to

railroad

owners

for

example.

Their

regulations

kept

tariffs

high

and

that

helped

protect

American

industrialists

against

foreign competition. Ironically in the late 19th century, a lot of people believed that the laisser faire policy was responsible for the

countries industrial growth. It was generally assumed that because business owners did not have a lot of external restrictions placed

on them by the government, they could pursue their own interests, and this was what made them so successful. But in fact, many of

these individuals would not have been able to meet their objectives if not for government support.

演讲听写训练

2< /p>

：

Let’s

begin

today

by

discussing

enzymes.

Enzymes

are

what

make

many

of

the

body’s

biochemical

reactions

possible.

Actually

biochemical reactions can take place without them, but at much lower rates. In fact an enzyme may cause a reaction to proceed

billions of times faster than it would otherwise.

Before I go on to the biochemical specifics of how this works, let me provide a figurative example. I think it will help illustrate the

power of enzymes more clearly. Now, suppose you got a bag and you put a bunch of locks in it, just small padlocks. Then you put in

all the keys that go with the locks. And you closed the bag and shook it hard. No matter how long you shook, chances are very small

that any key would get inserted in any of the locks. But if you took them all out of the bag and this time used your hands to insert

the keys in the locks, you could combine them much quicker.

Enzymes act like your hands, quickly allowing chemical reactions that would otherwise take much longer. Now, there are 2 reasons

that enzymes are so effective

at enabling biochemical reactions. First, enzymes greatly reduce the amount of energy required to

start the reactions, and with less energy needed the reactions can proceed a lot faster than they could without the enzyme. The

second reason is that only a small amount of an enzyme is needed to enable the bi

ochemical reaction. That’s because the chemical

structure of the enzyme itself does not become altered as if enables the reaction. So a single enzyme can be used to start the same

biochemical reaction over and over again.

演讲听写训练

3

：

Today

I’d

like

to

talk

a

bout

the

sculptor

Henry

Moore,

in

particular

the

ideas

his

work

is based

on,

and

also

how

he

viewed

the

medium

of

sculpture.

Moore

said

that

to

appreciate

sculpture

a

person

needs

to

respond

to

form

in

all

of

it’s

3

dimensions.

H

e

believed that this is more difficult than responding to art that is done on a flat surface, a surface such as canvas that has only 2

dimensions.

For example, when you’re looking at a painting you don’t have to walk around it. You don’t relate to form and shape in the sa

me way

you do when looking at sculpture, Moore paid great attention to shapes in nature such as that of bones and shells and stones. He

thought that if you could appreciate the shape of something simple, like a stone that you could go on to appreciate more complex

fo

rms. He noticed that many of the stones he picked up had holes in them. One distinctive feature of Moore’s sculpture is his u

se of

holes or opening to emphasize that he is indeed working in a 3 dimensional medium. He believed that the shape of a hole itself

could have as much meaning as that of a solid mass, and could even help create a sense of mass or volume.

Moore was also interested in representing the human figure, which he sculpted in such materials as bronze, stone, and wood. His

sculptures of humans contained one person as in the work Reclining Figure or several people as in the sculpture Family Group.

99

年

10

月：

演讲听写训练

1

I’m glad to see so many of you here. We’ve become really alarmed over the health center by the number of students we are seei

ng,

who

are

experiencing

hearing

loss.

First

I

want

to

go

over

some

basics

about

hearing,

then

we

can

take

a

look

at

our

school

environment and see if we can figure out some ways to protect hearing. The leading cause of preventable hearing loss is excessive

noise. Too much moderate noise for a long time, or some types of intense noise for even a short time can damage hearing. Loudness

is measured in units called decibels. One decibel is the lowest sound that the average person can hear. Sounds up to 80 decibels

ge

nerally

aren’t

harmful,

that’s

noise

like

traffic

on

a

busy

street.

But

anything

louder

than

80

decibels,

esp.

with

continuou

s

exposure, may eventually hurt your hearing. Once you’re up to around 140 decibels, that’s like a jet plane taking off, then y

ou might

even feel pain in your ears. And pains are sure sign that your hearing is at risk. Even one exposure to a really loud noise at close

range can cause hearing loss. So what you need to do is limit your exposure to harmful levels. If you pass along this

hand-out, we

can take a look at the decibel level of some common campus sounds. Notice how loud those horns are that people take to football

games. They are really dangerous if blown right behind you. Now, let’s try to genera

te a list of damaging noises.

演讲听写训练

2

Continuing our survey of the 19th century, let’s take a look now at Harriet Beecher Stowe. Now Stowe is best known for her no

vel

Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a book that details the harshness of plantation life in the south. The book was extremely popular in

the United

States as well as in other countries. Ironically though, for the attention given to Uncle Tom’s Cabin, it is far from Stowe’s

best work.

She did write one other novel about life in the south. But much of her best work has nothing to do with the south at all. In fact,

Stowe’s best writing is about village life in the New England states in the 19th century. In recording the customs of the vil

lages she

wrote about, Stowe claimed that her purpose was to reflect the images as realistically as possible. She usually succeeded, for her

settings were often described actually and in detail. In this sense, she was an important forerunner to the realistic movement that

became popular later in the 19th century. She was one of the first writers to use local dialect for her characters when they spoke.

And she did this for thirty years before Mark Twain popularized the use of local dialect. It makes sense that Stowe would write about

New England life, since she was born in Connecticut. As a young woman there, she worked as a teacher. The teaching job helped

lead to her first published work, a geography book for children. Later, when she was married, her writing helped to support her

family financially. Throughout her life, she wrote poems, travel books, biographic

al sketches and children’s books

as well as novels

for adults.

演讲听写训练

3

Where did the term Piggy Bank come from? Today the simple piggy bank is seen everywhere as the symbol of saving and frugality,

for putting away funds for a rainy day, or building a nest egg for life’s sudden money needs, such as paying college exp

enses, buying

a home, or financing retirement. But why a pig? Dogs bury bones for a rainy day. Why not a dog shaped bank for coins? Squirrels are

well known hoarders too and we talk about squirreling away valuables. Why not a bank in the shape of a squirrel? Well nevertheless,

for 300 years, children’s banks have been imitation pigs with slots in the back. Charles Bernardy, the author of Extraordinar

y Origins

of Everyday Things, tells how the symbol came about by coincidence. According to Bernardy, during the middle ages, mined metal

was scarce and expensive, therefore was rarely used in the manufacture of household utensils. The type of orange clay, known

of

pygg, spelt p-y-g-g, was more abundant and economical throughout western Europe. It was used in making dishes, cups, pots and

jars. And so these earthenware items were referred to as pygg. Frugal people saved cash in kitchen pots and jars. Although a pygg jar

was not originally shaped like a pig, the name persisted. However by the 18th century, pygg, p-y-g-g jar became pig, p-i-g jar or pig

bank. Potters had simply begun to cast the bank in the shape of its common name. In the United States, the popular piggy bank has

always been a symbol of saving money.

99

年

8

月：

演讲听写训练

1

To get us started this semester, I'm going to spend the first two classes giving you background lectures about some basic cinematic

concepts. Once you are a little more familiar with basic film terminology, we will be ready to look at the history of movies

in the

United States. You will b

e expected to attend showings of films on Tuesday evening at 7 o’clock at Jennings Auditorium, that’s our

lab. Then during our Wednesday seminar, we will discuss in depth the movie we saw the night before. We’re not covering silent

films in this course. We

will begin with the first talking motion picture, The Jazz Singer, released in 1927. The next week we’ll be

looking at The Gold Digger of 1933, a piece that is very representative of the escapist trend in films released during the Depression.

Some of the

films we will be watching will probably be new to you, like Frank Capra’s Why We Fight. Others you might have already

seen on TV, like Rebel Without a Cause starring James Deane, or Stanley Cooper’s Doctor’s Strange Love. However, I hope you w

ill

see even familiar films with new eyes. In the last three weeks of the course, we will be watching films from the 1980s, and you will

choose one of them as the subject for an extensive written critique. We will talk more about the requirements of the critique later in

the semester.

演讲听写训练

2

Welcome to our aquarium. As we begin our tour, the first animal we will see today is the starfish. You probably have seen pictures of

the starfish, but in a few minutes you will see some live ones and learn a little about their structure and life cycle. First of all, starfish

are not really fish, they belong to the family of echinoderms which are spiny skinned sea animal, that is, their skin is covered with

thorny bumps. Most starfish have five arm-like extensions on their bodies. And so they look like a five-pointed star. But some other

kinds have as many as 40 or more arms. Starfish, like other members of the echinoderm family, have what’s called radial symme

try.

All that means is that the body part of these animals are arranged around the center, kind of like spokes of a wheel around a hub.

One

of

the

special

features

of

the

starfish

is

that

it

can

drop

off

arms

as

a defensive

reaction,

to

get

away

from

an

attacker,

for

example.

They

can

then

grow

new

arms

to

replace

the

old

ones.

Starfish

reproduce

by

releasing

eggs

into

the

sea.

These

eggs

develop into larvae, and can swim freely. These early forms, which are what larvae are, differ from adult starfish, because the larvae

have bilateral symmetry. That means that the two halves of the larvae look exactly the same, which makes them look a lot different

from the later form of the starfish. Eventually the larvae sink to the ocean bottom and change into the adult radial form. If

you don’t

have questions, we will go in now and see some of the creatures in person.

演讲听写训练

3

Last time we outlined how the Civil War finally got started. I want to talk today about the political management of the war on both

sides, the north under Abraham Lincoln, and the south under Jefferson Davis. An important task for both of these presidents was to

justify

for

their

citizens

just

why

the

war

was

necessary.

In

1861,

on

July

4th,

Lincoln

gave

his

first

major

speech

in

which

he

presented the northern reasons for the war. It was, he said, to preserve democracy. Lincoln suggested that this war was a noble

crusade

that

would

determine

the

future

of

democracy

throughout

the

world.

For

him,

the

issue

was

whether

or

not

this

government of the people, by the people could maintain its integrity, could it remain complete and survive its domestic foes? In

other words, could a few discontented individuals and by that he meant those who led the southern rebellion, could they arbitrarily

break up the government and put an end to free government on earth? The only way for the nation to survive was to crash the

rebellion. At the time, he was hopeful that the war wouldn’t last long, and the slave owners would be put down forever. But h

e

underestimated how difficult the war would be. It would be harder than any the Americans had thought before or since, largely

because

the

north

had

to

break

the

will

of

the

southern

people,

not

just

by

its

army.

But

Lincoln

rallied

northerners

to

a

deep

commitment to the cause. They came to perceive the war as a kind of democratic crusade against southern society.

< /p>

99

年

5

月：< /p>

演讲

1

：

Today,

we’re

going

to

take

a

look

at

the

development

of

the

skyscraper.

We’ll

start

with

some

buildings

in

Chicago.

One

of

th

e

circumstances that let Chicago to become home to some of the buildings now considered the prototypes for later skyscrapers was

this: in 1871, there was a great fire that destroyed much of the city. It was that tragic fire that cleared the way for a new kind of city

that used the new building techniques and new materials developed during the 1800’s. One of these new structures was

the Home

Insurance Building, completed in 1885. It was ten stories high. Now granted, that’s no higher than some of the early skyscrap

ers in

New York City. What makes Chicago’s Home Insurance Building important is that it had true skyscraper construction

with an internal

metal skeleton that carried the weight of the brick exterior. This metal-support system, along with the early development of the

elevator,

were

the

two

innovations

that

made

the

later

very

tall

industrial

buildings

possible.

Chicago’s

Reli

ance

Building

was

another

important

building

in

the

development

of

the

skyscraper.

It

showed

the

architects’

understanding

of

the

possibilities

of

metal-frame construction. By eliminating walls and opening up the sides as a glass box. It was the first expression of the skyscraper

as a glass-shelf framed in a metal grid.

演讲

2

：

It was an Italian inventor who

created the first

wireless device for sending out radio signals in 1895. But not until

the American

inventor Lee De Forest built the first amplifying vacuum tube in 1906 did we get the first radio as we know it. And the first actual

radio broadcast was made on Christmas Eve of 1906. That’s when someone working from an experimental station in Brand Rock,

Massachusetts, arranged the program of two short musical selections of poem and brief holiday greeting. The broadcast was heard

by

wireless

operators

on

ships

with

a

radio

through

several

hundred

miles.

The

following

year,

De

Forest

began

regular

radio

broadcasts in New York. These programs were similar to much of what we hear on the radio today in that De Forest played only

music. But because there was still no home radio receivers, De Forest’s audience consisted of only wireless operators on ship

s in

New

York

harbor.

There

is

no

doubt

that

radio

broadcasting

was

quite

a

novelty

in

those

days.

But

it

took

a

while

to

catch

on

commercially. Why? Hmm, for the simple fact that only a few people, in fact, only those who tinkered with wireless telegraphs as a

hobby owned receivers. It wasn’t until the 1920’s

that so

meone envisioned mass appeal for radio. This was radio pioneer, David

Sarnoff who predicted that one day there would be a radio receiver in every home.

演讲

3

：

The origin of earth’s moon, the largest moon in the solar system, is still something of a mystery.

There are some theories about its

origin, however. Now, keep in mind that a theory of the moon’s origin has to be consistent with two important facts. The firs

t fact is

that the earth contains a lot of iron, most of it has an iron core. But the moon contains practically no iron. The second fact is that,

other than the difference in iron content, the moon and earth are composed of essentially the same minerals, a similarity not shared

with any other planet or moon in our solar system. One of the earliest the

ories of the moon’s origin, I call it the Capture Theory,

proposes

that

the

moon

was

somehow

captured

by

earth’s

gravitational

force.

This

theory

is

improbable,

however,

because

it

assumes that the

moon and earth formed in different parts

of the solar syst

em. If this

were true, you would expect

the

moon’s

composition to be much different from earth’s composition, just as all the other planets in the solar system are so different

from

earth. A second theory of the moon’s origin is more promising. It is somet

imes referred to as the Mars Theory because according to

this theory, when earth was still molten, it was struck by a planet about the size of Mars. The impact caused the cores of the two

planets to melt together and chunks of earth’s crust to be thrown ou

t into space. These chunks came together to form the moon.

Now remember, earth’s crust is low in iron because the iron is in earth’s core but high in various other minerals. This then

accounts

for why there is little iron but lots of other minerals on the moon

99

年

1

月：

演讲听写训练

1

As you probably know, log structures are gaining popularity. They are no longer just the simple country homes that we think of as

the traditional log cabin. Some upscale homes now incorporate natural round logs in sealing beams and walls. People seem to think

that the rounded logs give their homes a cozy warm atmosphere. And even people who want to build a traditional log cabin on their

own can buy a kits

with precut logs that fit together like pieces of jigsaw puzzle. Before showing y

ou some slides of modern log houses, I’d like to give

you a little historical background on the subject.

Log cabins were first built in the late 1600s along the Delaware river valley. The European immigrants who settled there brought

centuries’ old tradit

ions of working with logs. And in this heavily wooded area logs were the material in hand. Log cabins were the

most popular in the early 1800s with the settlers who were moving west. They provided the answer to the pioneer’s need for a

safe

and

sturdy

home

that

an

ordinary

family

could

build

quickly.

They

had

dirt

floors

and

sliding

boards

for

windows.

But

the

log

buildings that have probably had most influence on modern architects are those of the mountain retreats of wealthy New Yorkers.

These country hou

ses which were popular in the early 1900s typify what’s known as the Adoroundyx style. Now let’s loo

k at those

slides.

演讲听写训练

2

The old kind of road is a long lost trail between the Canadian province of Quebec and Maine in the northeast corner of the United

States. Yes it really was lost and finding it again was a complex process that involved state of our technology: how the location of the

roads was pinpointed was very interesting. And I’ll return to it as soon as I gave you a little background informati

on. The road was

begun in 1817, a few years before Maine even became a state. At the time Quebec was a major market for livestock, crops and fish.

So a road to Quebec was seen by officials in Maine as necessary for trade. For about 20 years the movement of people and goods

was mostly from Maine to Quebec, and then the trend reversed as thousands of Canadians immigrated to Maine to escape poor

crops, the lack of jobs and the threat of disease. I think it was a color epidemic. Besides its negative reasons major building projects

in Maine also made the state very attractive for the Canadians who needed work. I should stress though that immigration during

that period went in both directions. In fact the flow of people and goods went completely unhindered. There

wasn’t even a border

post

until

around

1850.

The

people

of

the

time

saw

Maine

and

Quebec

as

a

single

region

mainly

because

of

the

strong

French

influence which is still evident in Maine today. Eventually the road fell into disuse as a major railway was completed. Finally people

simply forgot about it and that’s how it came to be lost. This brings me b

ack to the original topic

演讲听写训练

3

OK,

in

the

last

class

we

talked

about

the

classification

of

trees

and

we

ended

up

with

a

basic

description

of

angiosperm.

You

remember that those are plants with true flowers and seeds that develop inside fruits. The common broad leaf trees we have on

campus fall into this category. But our pines don’t. Now I hope you all followed my advice and wore comfortable shoes because

as I

said today we are going to do a little field study. To get started let me describe a couple of broadleaf trees we have i

n front of us. I’m

sure you’ve all noticed that this big tree next to Brand Hall. It’s a black walnut that must be 80 feet tall. As a matter of

fact there is a

plaque identifying it is the tallest black walnut in the state. And from here we can see the beautiful archway of trees at the commons.

They

are

American

elms.

The

ones

along

the

commons

were

planted

when

the

college

was

founded

120

years

ago.

They

have

distinctive dark green leaves that look lopsided because the two sides of the leaf are unequal. I

want you to notice the elm right

outside

the

Jackson

Hall.

Some

of

the

leaves

have

withered

and

turned

yellow,

maybe

due

to

Dutch

elm

disease.

Only

a

few

branches seem affective so far but if this tree is sick it’ll have to be cut down. Well, let’s move on

and I’ll describe what we see as we

go.

9 8

年

10

月：

演讲听写训练

1

Before moving on to a new topic, I want to finish up our unit on a rag nit, by looking at what may seem a very unusual aspect of

spider

behavior

—

a

species

where

the

young

spiders

actually

consume

the

body

of

their

mother.

Unlike

most

other

spiders

this

species lays one and only one-clutch of forty eggs in a life time. The young spiders hatch in mid-spring or early summer inside a nest

of eucalyptus leaves. Their mother spends the warm summer months bringing home large insects, often ten times their weight for

meals. The catch is always significantly more than her young spiders can eat. So the mother fattens herself up on this extra prey, and

stores the nutrients in her extra unfertilized eggs. As th

e weather turns colder, there are fewer insect prey hunt. That’s when the

nutrients stored in those extra eggs begin to seep into the mother’s blood stream. So when there are no more insects to feed

to the

young spiders, they attach themselves to the mothe

r’s leg joints and draw nourishment by sucking the nutrient

-rich blood. After

several weeks, the mother is depleted of all nutrients and she dies. But then how do the young get nourishment? They start to feed

on one another. Now if you recall our discussio

n of Darwin, you’ll see the evolutionary value of this. Only the strongest spiders of the

clutch will survive this cannibalism. And the mother spider will ensure that her genes have an increased chance of survival through

future generations.

演讲听写训练

2

Movi

ng away from newspapers, let’s now focus on magazines. Now the first magazine was a little periodical called the Review, and

it

was started in London in 1704. It looked a lot like the newspapers of the time. But in terms of its content, it was much different.

Newspapers were concerned mainly with news events, but the Review focussed on important domestic issues of the day, as well as

the policies of the

government. Now in England at the time,

people could still be thrown in jail for publishing articles that were

critical of the king. And that’s what happened to Dannial Defoe. He was the outspoken founder of the Review. Defoe actually w

rote

the first issue of the review from prison. You see, he had been arrested because of his writings that criticized the policies of the

Church

of

England,

which

was

headed

by

the

king.

After

his

release,

Defoe

continued

to

produce

the

Review

and

the

magazine

started to appear on a more frequent schedule, about three times a week, it didn’t take long for other magazines to star

t popping up.

In 1709. a magazine called the Tattler began publication. This new magazine contained a mixture of news, poetry, political analysis,

and philosophical essays.

演讲听写训练

3

There is an art exhibition here on campus which ties well with discussion

s we’ve had about folk art. It’s an exhibition of wild life art

calendars from about a hundred years ago. Like most other folk art, the calendar pictures were not considered to be art in their own

day. People just thought of them as a way of decorating a practical object. In fact. the calendar pictures were originally printed as

advertising for various companies that made hunting or fishing products, like guns or fishing rods. The calendars were handed out

free to customers to thank them for their business. Most people just hung the calendars on their walls where the picture faded in

the

sun

and

then

tore

the

pictures

off

the

calendar

as

each

month

passed.

As

a

result,

collectors

today

place

a

lot

of

value

on

calendars that are complete and in good condition

. Even though the people who used the calendars didn’t regard them as art, the

original paintings the prints were made for were often of good quality. In fact, many famous wild life painters created calendar art at

some point in their lives. To them, it was a way of getting their work reproduced and shown around. One aspect of the exhibit that I

find very interesting is the way these pictures reflect changing attitudes toward wild life. The pictures in the exhibit often portray the

thrill and adventure of h

unting rather than any particular concern for wild life preservation. But most of today’s wild life art shows

animals in their natural surroundings without any humans in the scene. This modern wild life art appeals to large numbers of nature

lovers, even those who oppose the practice of hunting.

98