英语中级听力 Lesson 4 原文

Lesson 4

Announcer: And now over to Marsha Davenport for today's weather forecast. Marsha?

Weather reporter: Thanks, Peter. Well, as you can see from the weather map, there's varied weather

activity

across

the

United

States

and

Canada

today.

Let's

start

with

the

west

coast,

where

it's

raining from British Columbia down to northern California. The high in Seattle will be 50 degrees.

Southern

California

will

be

in

better

shape

today

—

they'll

have

sunny

skies

and

warmer

temperatures. We're looking for a high of 78 degrees in San Diego. The mid-west will be having

clear but windy weather. Oklahoma City will see a high of 65 and sunny skies, with very strong

winds.

Down

in

Houston

we're

looking

for

cloudy

skies

and

a

high

of

69.

Over

to

the

east

in

Miami we expect the thermometer to reach 64 degrees, but it'll be cloudy and quite windy. Up in

the northeast, it looks like winter just won't let go! New York City will be having another day of

heavy rains, high winds, and cold temperatures, with a high of only 35 degrees expected. Further

north in Montreal it's even colder

—

28 degrees, with snow flurries expected today. Over in Toronto

it's sunny but a cold 30 degrees.

And

that's

this

morning's

weather

forecast.

We'll

have

a

complete

weather

update

today

at

noon.

News anchor: Good evening. I'm Charles McKay, and this is the 5 o'clock evening news. The top

story this hour: The town of Delta has been declared a health hazard. The entire town of Delta was

closed down by government authorities yesterday, after testing confirmed that the town had been

poisoned by the dumping of toxic chemicals in town dumps. Suspicions were first aroused three

weeks

ago,

when

200

people

telephoned

the

hospital

complaining

of

headaches,

stomachaches,

faintness, and dizziness. An investigation revealed that

toxic wastes had leaked into the ground

and contaminated the water supply. People were being poisoned by their drinking water and by the

fruits and vegetables they were eating from their gardens. In fact, any contact they had with soil or

water was dangerous. Government authorities have ordered all residents to leave the area until the

chemical company responsible for the toxic waste can determine whether the town can be cleaned

up and made safe again.

And now here's Sarah Cooper with tonight's Consumer Report. Sarah?

Consumer reporter: Thank you Charles, and good evening. There was some good news for beer

drinkers today: A recent study of 17,000 Canadians shows that people who drink beer moderately

are healthier than people who drink other alcoholic beverages, such as wine or liquor. Researchers

say they don't yet know exactly why this is so. They found, however, that moderate beer drinkers

reported less illness and appeared to have a lower risk of death from heart disease. Good health

seemed to be connected to the amount of beer consumed and the regularity of drinking. People

who

drank

beer

one

or

more

times

a

day

reported

the

least

amount

of

illness.

Heavy

drinkers,

however

—

people who drank 35 or more pints of beer a week

—

reported more illness.

The war against cigarette smoking is heating up again. Legislation was introduced today that

would make it illegal to advertise cigarettes, cigars, or any other tobacco product in any form of

media.

That

means

ads

would

be

banned

from

newspapers,

magazines,

television,

radio,

and

billboards.

The

legislation

would

also

prevent

tobacco

manufacturers

from

sponsoring

sporting

events and from giving away free samples. This is the strongest anti-smoking legislation that has

been

introduced

to

date.

Cigarette

manufacturers

insist

that

the

legislation

would

be

useless.

In

fact,

they

claim

that

in

parts

of

the

country

where

advertising

has

already

been

prohibited,

cigarette smoking has actually increased.

That concludes the Consumer Report for tonight. Let's go over now to Jerry Ryan and find out

what's happening in the world of sports. Jerry?

Sports announcer: Thanks, Sarah, and good evening sports fans. It was an exciting day in world

soccer. Mexico defeated France 7 to 6, in a close game that offered spectators plenty of excitement.

The

game

between

Canada

and

Argentina

ended

in

a

tie,

3

to

3.

And

in

a

game

that's

still

in

progress, Italy is leading Haiti 2 to 1, with 30 minutes left to go.

Tune in tonight at 11 for a complete sports update.

Reporter: Well here I am at the Brooklyn Academy of Dramatic Arts. I'm asking different students

here about their favourite forms of artistic entertainment. Pop or classical concerts? Art galleries

or the theatre? The ballet or the opera? The first person I'm going to talk to is Benny Gross. Benny

comes

from

New

York

and

he's

20

years

old

and

he's

studying

the

piano.

Benny,

hello

and

welcome to our programme.

Benny: Hi, thanks.

Reporter: So, first question Benny

—

have you ever been to an art gallery?

Benny: Yes, lots of times.

Reporter: And the ballet, have you ever been to the ballet?

Benny: Yes, a few times. It's all right, I quite like it.

Reporter: And what about classical concerts?

Benny: Yes, of course, many many times.

Reporter: Erm

—

next

—

ha ve you ever been to an exhibition, Benny?

Benny: Oh, yes

—

I love going to photographic exhibitions.

Reporter: Do you? Now, next question

—

what about a ... folk concert?

Benny: No, never. I think folk music is awful.

Reporter: Ok. And the opera? Have you ever been to the opera?

Benny: Yes. Two or three times. It's a little difficult but I quite like it.

Reporter: And a pop concert?

Benny: No, never.

Reporter: And finally

—

have you ever been to the theatre?

Benny: Yes, once or twice, but I didn't like it much.

Reporter: Ok Benny. Now the next thing is

—

which do you like best from this list of eight forms

of artistic entertainment?

Benny:

Well

I

like

going

to

classical

concerts

best

because

I'm

a

musician,

and

I

love

classical

music.

Reporter: Ok and what next?

Benny: Erm let's see

—

next, art galleries I think. And then, exhibitions.

Reporter: OK

—

art galleries, then exhibitions. Then? The theatre?

Benny: No, I don't think so, I don't really like the theatre.

Reporter: The ballet? The opera? Which do you prefer of those two?

Benny: The opera.

Reporter: So of the theatre and the ballet, which do you prefer?

Benny: Erm, the ballet I think because there's the music. I can always enjoy the music if I don't

always like the dancing.

Reporter: Right, well, thanks very much, Benny.

Benny: You're welcome.

Reporter: My next guest is Kimberley Martins. What are you studying here, Kimberley?

Kimberley: Modern dance. I want to be a professional dancer when I leave.

Reporter: OK, so here we go. First question

—

have you ever been to an art gallery?

Kimberley: Yes, lots of times.

Reporter: And have you ever been to the ballet? Stupid question I think.

Kimberley: Yes, a bit. Of course I have. I go almost every night if I can.

Reporter: And what about classical concerts?

Kimberley: Yes

—

there are classical concerts here a lot

—

the other students perform here and I go

to those when I can.

Reporter: What about exhibitions

—

have you ever

—

?

Kimberley: Oh yes, lots of times

—

I like exhibitions

—

exhibitions about famous people

—

dancers,

actors, you know

—

Reporter: Mmm. And what about a folk concert? Have you ever been to one of them?

Kimberley: No, I don't like folk music very much.

Reporter: What about the opera?

Kimberley: No, never. I don't really like opera. It's a bit too heavy for me.

Reporter: A pop concert?

Kimberley: Yes. I saw Madonna once. She was fantastic

—

she's a really great dancer.

Reporter: And have you ever been to the theatre?

Kimberley: Yes, I have.

Reporter: Right. Thank you Kimberley. My next question is

—

which do you like best of all? And I

think I know the answer.

Kimberley: Yes

—

ballet, of course. After that, exhibitions. And after that, art galleries.

Reporter: OK.

Kimberley: Erm, what's left. Can I see the list?