中級(jí)口語(LRC)-英語聽力中級(jí)口語3a
Oral Workshop Discussion Lesson17-19 ;
Lesson 17 ;
Juvenile Delinquency Text A ;
Jennifer got off the bus from the university ;
and began walking towards the flat she shared with two other students. ;
On her way she had to buy some food ;
and stopped in one of the shops in the street.It was run by an Asian family, ;
and although the prices there were a little higher than in the big supermarket ;
further down the street,she did a lot of her shopping there. ;
The vegetables were fresher ;
and they had various things she couldn't get elsewhere. ;
Mr Patel,the owner of the shop,was checking through a list, ;
but smiled,as he always did,when he saw her come in. ;
She picked up a wire basket and walked towards the back of the shop, ;
where the rice was kept.The shop was divided by three long aisles, ;
with rows of shelves crammed with all sorts of things. ;
Except for her and Mr Patel,there were only two other people there. ;
They were two teenage boys, ;
and they were standing at the end of one of the aisles. ;
She glanced at them as she passed. They were both wearing long, ;
old-fashioned overcoats and they looked rather ridiculous in them ;
because the coats were too big. ;
But such things were popular with some teenagers at the time. ;
"Watch out,stupid," she heard one of them whisper to the other. ;
She walked on to the next aisle and found the rice she was looking for. ;
Then she heard something else. ;
It sounded like a tin dropping on the floor. ;
She peered through a gap in the shelf ;
and caught a glimpse of one of the boys bending down. ;
She saw him pick up a tin of food. ;
But instead of putting it in the shopping basket, ;
he dropped it into the inside pocket of his long overcoat. ;
Jennifer glanced back down the aisle. ;
She could see Mr Patel at the cash till,still checking through his list. ;
Then she looked through the gap in the shelf again. ;
The boys still had their backs to her. ;
"Come on,let's get out of here," she heard one of them say. ;
At the same time, she saw one of them put another tin in his overcoat pocket. ;
They moved away from her. ;
She could no longer see what they were doing or hear what they were saying. ;
When she got to the till,the two boys were in front of her. ;
She watched them pay for the few things they had in the basket. ;
They had both buttoned their coats and fastened them with their belts. ;
Mr Patel did not seem suspicious at all. ;
He even smiled at them as they were about to leave. ;
Jennifer opened her mouth to say something. ;
Text B ;
The only crime I have ever been connected with was unsuccessful. ;
One summer night I went to bed. ;
Leaving my bedroom door open because it was very hot. ;
During the night I was woken up by the sound of a match being struck. ;
For a moment I thought it must be the friend I lived with, ;
but then I remembered he was away. ;
I felt certain there was someone in the room. ;
I saw the outline of a man standing near the door. ;
I was almost certain the man was a burglar. ;
Without thinking what I was doing, ;
I shouted loudly and jumped out of bed to catch the man. ;
As I ran across the garden, ;
I suddenly realized I was doing something very foolish. ;
The burglar I was chasing might be carrying a knife. ;
I went straight back into the house and locked all the doors to protect myself. ;
This was a very small crime which did not succeed, ;
but crime is a serious problem in Britain. ;
One sort of crime which particularly worries people is juvenile delinquency ;
--that is,crimes committed by young people. ;
For some years, juvenile delinquency has been increasing. ;
There are two main sorts of juvenile crime:stealing and violence. ;
Most people do not understand why young people commit these crimes. ;
There are,I think, a large number of different reasons. ;
These crimes are not usually committed by people who are poor or in need. ;
Young people often dislike and resent the adult world. ;
They will do things to show that they are rebels. ;
Also in Britain today it is easier for young people to commit crimes ;
because they have more freedom to go where they like ;
and more money to do what they like. ;
There are two other possible causes which are worth mentioning. ;
More and more people in Britain live in large towns. ;
In a large town no one knows who anyone else is or where they live. ;
But in the village I come from crimes are rare ;
because everybody knows everyone else. ;
Although it is difficult to explain,I hink the last cause is very important. ;
Perhaps there is something wrong with our society ;
which encourages violence and crime. ;
It is a fact that all the time ;
children are exposed to films and reports about crime and violence. ;
Many people do not agree that this influences young people, ;
but I think that young people are ;
very much influenced by the society they grow up in. ;
I feel that the fault may be as much with our whole society ;
as with these young people. ;
Additional Information ;
It's just before school starts,when they check the pupils for guns. ;
By now,the 1,600 students at Chester High School in ;
Philadelphia have got used to it. ;
One by one,they go through a metal detector gate, ;
like the ones at an airport,at the main entrance to their school. ;
The beeper alarm is constantly going off, ;
indicating some metal object in the pupil's pockets. ;
Mostly,it is a key, or coins. ;
Such searches-in some schools a regular routine,in others,a spot check ;
-are part of the attempt of school authorities in the United States ;
to keep students from bringing into the classroom their knives, ;
revolvers and machine-guns. The metal detector checks ;
have already become commonplace in schools in Philadelphia, ;
Detroit,and New York. ;
A school in Fairfax, on the outskirts of Washington,D.C.,will soon begin them. ;
School administrators decided that something finally had to be done ;
after the various shootouts ;
and discoveries of weapons in schools around the country ;
had made headlines for weeks running. ;
On January 26,at Woodrow Wilson School in Washington ;
a teenager shot and wounded four others in a fight ;
over a place to sit in the school cafeteria. ;
On February 9, teachers confiscated a semi-automatic pistol ;
from two 13-year-old at a school in the Washington suburb of Silver Spring ;
after they had threatened other students with the weapon. ;
Six days later,a student at Kramer High School in Washington ;
threatened a schoolmate with a sawedoff shotgun. Asked why he did it, ;
the youngster said the other had "stared so stupidly" at him. ;
The list of such incidents goes on and on,and in some cases they are fatal. ;
According to the California-based "National School Safety Centre" ;
(NSSC) in a recent report, ;
there were 360,000 violent incidents in American schools in 1986, ;
the last year for which statistics are available. ;
The incidents ranged from fist fights to shootouts, ;
and 70,000 weapons were confiscated, including1,700 pistols and rifles. ;
Since then,says Ronald Stephens,the director of NSSC, ;
the number of incidents involving guns in schools has risen considerably. ;
Teachers and security experts have a hard time explaining ;
why teenagers want to bring lethal weapons with them to school. ;
"Some want to impress their schoolmates, "believes Stephens. ;
"They feel that a gun is a symbol of power and control. ;
Others have a feeling that they need weapons to protect themselves. ;
"School authorities see the rise in weapons and violence above all ;
as being connected to drugs in American high schools. ;
Armed youth gangs divide up the drug trade turf among themselves. ;
According to the NSSC, ;
the older gang members use the younger newcomers as "weapons depots." ;
Lyn Siper of the National Crime Prevention Council in Washington ;
believes that youths during their puberty lean towards ;
fighting out their conflicts instead of talking about them. ;
Such drugs as cocainge and crack add to their emotional isturbance. ;
Siper and Stephens agree that the general level of ;
violence on the streets of big American cities, ;
and the unimpeded access to guns,play a role. ;
America's citizens possess a total of 120 million firearms. ;
Many of the revolvers and rifles which authorities conficated n the schools ;
had been legally acquired and registered by the students' parents. ;
Lesson 18 ;
How to Keep Fit Text A ;
Ten years ago I used to be very fit. ;
I cycled to work and I got a lot of exercise at the weekends. ;
I used to play tennis a lot and go for long walks. ;
In those days I didn't earn very much.I had a job in an office. ;
It wasn't a very good job ;
but I had a lot of time to do the things I enjoyed doing. ;
Then,about eight years ago,I got a much better job. The pay was better. ;
But the hours were a lot longer,too. ;
I bought a car and drove to work every day.I began to take people out to lunch. ;
"Expense account" lunches.And I began to put on weight, too. ;
I stopped playing tennis and going for long walks at the weekend ;
because I just didn't have any time for things like that any more. ;
There's a lot of stress in a job like mine. ;
Perhaps that's why I started drinking more than I used to. ;
For example,I used to have only half a glass of whisky when I got home, ;
then I started filling the glass to the top. ;
Then I had another glass,and then another.I started smoking a lot,too. ;
I never used to smoke at all.Two months ago I had a heart attack. ;
At first I just couldn't believe it. "I'm too young," I said. ;
Luckily it wasn't very serious. ;
I was in hospital a few days and they did a lot of tests. ;
The doctor advised me to stop smoking and to eat less. ;
He told me to do a lot of other things, too. ;
But I don't see how I can do some of them and keep my job. ;
For example,he advised me to work less,and get more exercise. ;
But I just haven't any time! My job takes everything out of me! ;
Sometimes I wonder if I should get another job. ;
Perhaps I could do something like I used to do. ;
But if I do that,I won't earn as much. I have a family to support. ;
I have to think of them,too.I just don't know what I should do. ;
What do you think? ;
Text B ;
Here is one person who really believes in keeping fit. ;
Her name is Mrs Laura Taylor. ;
She is 45 but looks at least 10 years younger.Let's listen to her story. ;
It all started about two years ago. In those days things were very different. ;
I was overweight. I used to smoke a lot--about 30 cigarettes a day. ;
I never got any exercise. I used to stay at home all day. ;
I never went out into the fresh air, except to do the shopping. ;
And even then I used to take the car. ;
One day I looked at myself in the mirror."My God," I thought. ;
"I look terrible!" I tried to touch my toes. ;
I couldn't do it. I found an old dress. ;
I couldn't put it on.It was too small. Or rather,I was too fat! ;
The next day I tried to jog a little. At first it was terrible. ;
I mean I just couldn't run. Not even a short distance. ;
And at first people used to laugh at me. ;
Why are you running? Are you in a hurry?" They shouted. ;
But now I've completely changed the way I live. ;
I've stopped eating meat and I've started eating far more fresh vegetables. ;
My husband and daughter have started that,too. ;
At first they didn't like the new food. But they've changed. ;
About six months ago I sold my car and bought a bike. ;
Recently I've started doing yoga exercises. ;
My husband often goes cycling with me now ;
and my daughter jogs with me in the evening. ;
They've both lost weight and are much healthier than they used to be,too. ;
Additional Information YOGA ;
Have you ever tried to hold your breath ;
for a long time and then let it out slowly? ;
This is one of the techniques of an anciet Indian discipl- ine known as Yoga. ;
For thousands of years, ;
people have used Yoga to help search for happiness and contentment. ;
Students of Yoga often study for as long as 20 years before becom- ing masters or Yogis. ;
They learn many different physical exercises. ;
These exercises are designed to put the students in good physical condition. ;
Then they can concentrate on deep religious thoughts ;
without worrying about physical discomforts. ;
Many Yoga exercises involve putting the body into difficult positions. ;
Some of them are very hard to learn. ;
Have you ever tried to fold your legs over one another? ;
This is one of the basic Yoga positions. ;
It is called the lotus position. ;
Most people find it difficult to stay in that position for even a few minutes. ;
But Yogis train themselves to remain in the lotus position for hours or even days ;
They are taught to overcome the physical discomforts of holding hese positions. ;
Other exercises and rules teach concentration. ;
Yogis feel this is the key to finding inner peace. ;
This kind of concentration is called meditation. ;
Yogis and many other people practice meditation. ;
They claim that it makes them feel relaxed and peaceful. ;
Some people say that it makes them feel better-just as good exercise does. ;
But other people claim ;
that it is a way of achieving a strong religious feeling. ;
These people say that meditation helps them feel much closer to God. ;
The word Yoga itself comes from an ancient Sanskrit word meaning"union". ;
What kind of union do you think the word refers to? ;
Why would people want to have this kind of experience? ;
Lesson 19 ;
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 group has just been recently raised. ;
Um...they will go to a primary school from the age of five until eleven...um, ;
and previously they used to take an eleven 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 system ;
where children aren't divided off at the age of eleven ;
and will go into a comprehensive system of schooling, ;
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 the system? ;
LESLEY:Well... mm, theoretically... ;
it's supposed to 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 secondary modern school ;
find themselves at the lower levels of the school. ;
MATTHEW: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 classes and... um, ;
it would be very nice if we could reduce that by at least half ;
instead of there being forty children 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 oneself,and I don't think it's um... ;
important for subjects o 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 do 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,History, Religious studies, Physics, ;
whatever I'm taking now which is "O" levels,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 school? 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 kind of a cross-section of... ;
er what life will be we... we leave school... Um... where we do drama... ;
a... we study ecology,sociology etcetera... Um,it's not "O" level, ;
we don't take an "O" level in it,it's just for er... experience. ;
MATTHEW:Jenet,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 not just taking place in a school building... ;
um it should be... part of your whole life. ;
Text B ;
In 1967,The Observer,one of Britain's leading Sunday newspapers, ;
organized a competition for secondary school-children; ;
they had to write about "The School that I'd Like".This meant,of course, ;
that they also had to say what was wrong with the schools they had. ;
David,15 But what is the main purpose of schools to educate young people ;
so that when they go out into the world they will be prepared for it? ;
But are they? We learn our Mathematics,English, Physics,etc. ;
but what do you learn about sex, marriage and things like this? ;
These are just as important but we don't learn very much about them. ;
Carol,17 Give us more variety! ;
Give us the chance to visit factories more frequently,to talk with miners, ;
dustmen,doctors, lawyers,jail-birds and drug addicts, too. ;
Give us the chance to visit remand homes and prisons. ;
We want to know more about life and less about books. ;
Robin,16 What a bore school is nowadays, ;
the same as it has been for hundreds of years. ;
What we get is the same old thing: teacher,outdated textbooks, ;
and a class fed up to the teeth with the teacher and the school. ;
What we need is one great change in the educational system of the country. ;
Children do not want to be taught at,but want to find things for themselves. ;
If a child is interested in the way a rabbit's heart works, ;
let him and find out,by cutting one up. ;
Irena,15 Homework should not be given. Many of us would rather spend another ;
hour at school than two hours at home doing an hour's homework, ;
where we are constant- ly being distracted by elevision and such things. ;
Sidney,15,The first step must surely be to aise teachers' salaries ;
by at least fifty percent ;
so as to attract first-class people to the profession. ;
And the only means of doing this is by offering salaries ;
equal to their responsibility ;
in shaping the hopes of tomorrow ;
and competitive with those offered by industry. ;
Christopher,16 The discipline and life of the school would be ;
based on freedom for the pupil. ;
So freedom and a minimum of control would be important and the pupils, ;
male and female, would be treated as adults ;
and allowed to see if they can live together n a community like intelligent people. ;
Given this responsibility and freedom, ;
the pupils obviously would not always be well-behaved and sensible, ;
but they would,I believe,grow up to be mature and intelligent adults ;
who are socially and in all other ways,useful to the community. ;
Margaret,14 ...all this (i.e. freedom in schools) ;
suggests that the school would always be chaotic, ;
which give all the pupils an insight into what life,after school,is like:chaos ;
Additional Information ;
I am beginning to feel the pressure of work. ;
None of the courses are as simple as they appear to be. ;
There are a lot of reference books to consult and you can consider yourself ;
lucky if you manage to get half of them from the library. ;
Most copies seem to be permanently lent out. ;
The reading rooms are always crowded ;
and you have to get there early in order to find a place. ;
The biggest headache is our dormitory. ;
Though there are desks for us to work at,nobody ever works there. ;
For one thing,the room is so crowded that there is little elbow room, ;
and it so dark that we need the electric light even in day time. ;
The worst is the human element- ;
there are always those who don't want to ;
work and won't let others work either. ;
They either chat, sing,play the guitar or listen to tapes. ;
How I miss my little cubicle of a room at home! ;
Perhaps it's only a reaction against my early excitement, ;
but anyway I am often overcome by low spirits. ;
Sometimes I even think am wasting my time here and wish I had not come here at all. ;
But of course I know they are only passing moods caused by my disillusionment. ;
I find some of the teachers just hopeless and totally irresponsible. ;
All they are interested in is to earn some extra money by moonlighting. ;
In one way they are to be sympathized with because they ;
do need the extra money what with their low salaries and the rising prices. ;
But surely they shouldn't let us suffer as a result. ;
My biggest disappointment is in my fellow students. ;
Of course I am referring only to some and perhaps they are only a minority. ;
They are a far cry from my old image of college students. ;
They dress and behave no better than the hooligans we often see in the streets. ;
I really don't know how they managed to get into the university, ;
for they don't seem to be interested in their studies at all. ;
All they care for is to have a good time, ;
as though to enter university is an end in itself. ;
They hold dances every Saturday evening ;
or play cards in the dormitories deep into the night,drinking and moking heavily. ;
What's more they always jump the queue ;
in the dining halls and quarrel with anyone who tries to stop them. ;
Once they even came to blows. What a disgrace! ;
But despite all this,colleges life is opening up for me a new vista that ;
brings as much excitement as enlightenment. ;
Here we can talk about anything under the sun. ;
I had always thought myself well-read and my classmates at school had looked ;
up to me for my wide "general knowledge." ;
But now I've come to realize how ignorant I really am. ;
Just from casual conversations and informal discussions. ;
I've learnt more about the world and society in the past two months ;
than what I learned from all the formal classes at school. ;
Also I found many extra-curricula lectures ;
by guest speakers most stimulating. ;
One in particular inspired me very much, ;
a lecture on symphonic usic by a young conductor from the Central Conservatory ;
Before,music used to be merely a collection f beautiful sounds to me. ;
But now I am constantly discovering new and ;
hidden meaning behind all these sounds. ;
One thing I am sure: college life is and will be a most ;
colourful and fruitful period in my whole life. ;
Lesson 17 ;
Juvenile Delinquency Text A ;
Jennifer got off the bus from the university ;
and began walking towards the flat she shared with two other students. ;
On her way she had to buy some food ;
and stopped in one of the shops in the street.It was run by an Asian family, ;
and although the prices there were a little higher than in the big supermarket ;
further down the street,she did a lot of her shopping there. ;
The vegetables were fresher ;
and they had various things she couldn't get elsewhere. ;
Mr Patel,the owner of the shop,was checking through a list, ;
but smiled,as he always did,when he saw her come in. ;
She picked up a wire basket and walked towards the back of the shop, ;
where the rice was kept.The shop was divided by three long aisles, ;
with rows of shelves crammed with all sorts of things. ;
Except for her and Mr Patel,there were only two other people there. ;
They were two teenage boys, ;
and they were standing at the end of one of the aisles. ;
She glanced at them as she passed. They were both wearing long, ;
old-fashioned overcoats and they looked rather ridiculous in them ;
because the coats were too big. ;
But such things were popular with some teenagers at the time. ;
"Watch out,stupid," she heard one of them whisper to the other. ;
She walked on to the next aisle and found the rice she was looking for. ;
Then she heard something else. ;
It sounded like a tin dropping on the floor. ;
She peered through a gap in the shelf ;
and caught a glimpse of one of the boys bending down. ;
She saw him pick up a tin of food. ;
But instead of putting it in the shopping basket, ;
he dropped it into the inside pocket of his long overcoat. ;
Jennifer glanced back down the aisle. ;
She could see Mr Patel at the cash till,still checking through his list. ;
Then she looked through the gap in the shelf again. ;
The boys still had their backs to her. ;
"Come on,let's get out of here," she heard one of them say. ;
At the same time, she saw one of them put another tin in his overcoat pocket. ;
They moved away from her. ;
She could no longer see what they were doing or hear what they were saying. ;
When she got to the till,the two boys were in front of her. ;
She watched them pay for the few things they had in the basket. ;
They had both buttoned their coats and fastened them with their belts. ;
Mr Patel did not seem suspicious at all. ;
He even smiled at them as they were about to leave. ;
Jennifer opened her mouth to say something. ;
Text B ;
The only crime I have ever been connected with was unsuccessful. ;
One summer night I went to bed. ;
Leaving my bedroom door open because it was very hot. ;
During the night I was woken up by the sound of a match being struck. ;
For a moment I thought it must be the friend I lived with, ;
but then I remembered he was away. ;
I felt certain there was someone in the room. ;
I saw the outline of a man standing near the door. ;
I was almost certain the man was a burglar. ;
Without thinking what I was doing, ;
I shouted loudly and jumped out of bed to catch the man. ;
As I ran across the garden, ;
I suddenly realized I was doing something very foolish. ;
The burglar I was chasing might be carrying a knife. ;
I went straight back into the house and locked all the doors to protect myself. ;
This was a very small crime which did not succeed, ;
but crime is a serious problem in Britain. ;
One sort of crime which particularly worries people is juvenile delinquency ;
--that is,crimes committed by young people. ;
For some years, juvenile delinquency has been increasing. ;
There are two main sorts of juvenile crime:stealing and violence. ;
Most people do not understand why young people commit these crimes. ;
There are,I think, a large number of different reasons. ;
These crimes are not usually committed by people who are poor or in need. ;
Young people often dislike and resent the adult world. ;
They will do things to show that they are rebels. ;
Also in Britain today it is easier for young people to commit crimes ;
because they have more freedom to go where they like ;
and more money to do what they like. ;
There are two other possible causes which are worth mentioning. ;
More and more people in Britain live in large towns. ;
In a large town no one knows who anyone else is or where they live. ;
But in the village I come from crimes are rare ;
because everybody knows everyone else. ;
Although it is difficult to explain,I hink the last cause is very important. ;
Perhaps there is something wrong with our society ;
which encourages violence and crime. ;
It is a fact that all the time ;
children are exposed to films and reports about crime and violence. ;
Many people do not agree that this influences young people, ;
but I think that young people are ;
very much influenced by the society they grow up in. ;
I feel that the fault may be as much with our whole society ;
as with these young people. ;
Additional Information ;
It's just before school starts,when they check the pupils for guns. ;
By now,the 1,600 students at Chester High School in ;
Philadelphia have got used to it. ;
One by one,they go through a metal detector gate, ;
like the ones at an airport,at the main entrance to their school. ;
The beeper alarm is constantly going off, ;
indicating some metal object in the pupil's pockets. ;
Mostly,it is a key, or coins. ;
Such searches-in some schools a regular routine,in others,a spot check ;
-are part of the attempt of school authorities in the United States ;
to keep students from bringing into the classroom their knives, ;
revolvers and machine-guns. The metal detector checks ;
have already become commonplace in schools in Philadelphia, ;
Detroit,and New York. ;
A school in Fairfax, on the outskirts of Washington,D.C.,will soon begin them. ;
School administrators decided that something finally had to be done ;
after the various shootouts ;
and discoveries of weapons in schools around the country ;
had made headlines for weeks running. ;
On January 26,at Woodrow Wilson School in Washington ;
a teenager shot and wounded four others in a fight ;
over a place to sit in the school cafeteria. ;
On February 9, teachers confiscated a semi-automatic pistol ;
from two 13-year-old at a school in the Washington suburb of Silver Spring ;
after they had threatened other students with the weapon. ;
Six days later,a student at Kramer High School in Washington ;
threatened a schoolmate with a sawedoff shotgun. Asked why he did it, ;
the youngster said the other had "stared so stupidly" at him. ;
The list of such incidents goes on and on,and in some cases they are fatal. ;
According to the California-based "National School Safety Centre" ;
(NSSC) in a recent report, ;
there were 360,000 violent incidents in American schools in 1986, ;
the last year for which statistics are available. ;
The incidents ranged from fist fights to shootouts, ;
and 70,000 weapons were confiscated, including1,700 pistols and rifles. ;
Since then,says Ronald Stephens,the director of NSSC, ;
the number of incidents involving guns in schools has risen considerably. ;
Teachers and security experts have a hard time explaining ;
why teenagers want to bring lethal weapons with them to school. ;
"Some want to impress their schoolmates, "believes Stephens. ;
"They feel that a gun is a symbol of power and control. ;
Others have a feeling that they need weapons to protect themselves. ;
"School authorities see the rise in weapons and violence above all ;
as being connected to drugs in American high schools. ;
Armed youth gangs divide up the drug trade turf among themselves. ;
According to the NSSC, ;
the older gang members use the younger newcomers as "weapons depots." ;
Lyn Siper of the National Crime Prevention Council in Washington ;
believes that youths during their puberty lean towards ;
fighting out their conflicts instead of talking about them. ;
Such drugs as cocainge and crack add to their emotional isturbance. ;
Siper and Stephens agree that the general level of ;
violence on the streets of big American cities, ;
and the unimpeded access to guns,play a role. ;
America's citizens possess a total of 120 million firearms. ;
Many of the revolvers and rifles which authorities conficated n the schools ;
had been legally acquired and registered by the students' parents. ;
Lesson 18 ;
How to Keep Fit Text A ;
Ten years ago I used to be very fit. ;
I cycled to work and I got a lot of exercise at the weekends. ;
I used to play tennis a lot and go for long walks. ;
In those days I didn't earn very much.I had a job in an office. ;
It wasn't a very good job ;
but I had a lot of time to do the things I enjoyed doing. ;
Then,about eight years ago,I got a much better job. The pay was better. ;
But the hours were a lot longer,too. ;
I bought a car and drove to work every day.I began to take people out to lunch. ;
"Expense account" lunches.And I began to put on weight, too. ;
I stopped playing tennis and going for long walks at the weekend ;
because I just didn't have any time for things like that any more. ;
There's a lot of stress in a job like mine. ;
Perhaps that's why I started drinking more than I used to. ;
For example,I used to have only half a glass of whisky when I got home, ;
then I started filling the glass to the top. ;
Then I had another glass,and then another.I started smoking a lot,too. ;
I never used to smoke at all.Two months ago I had a heart attack. ;
At first I just couldn't believe it. "I'm too young," I said. ;
Luckily it wasn't very serious. ;
I was in hospital a few days and they did a lot of tests. ;
The doctor advised me to stop smoking and to eat less. ;
He told me to do a lot of other things, too. ;
But I don't see how I can do some of them and keep my job. ;
For example,he advised me to work less,and get more exercise. ;
But I just haven't any time! My job takes everything out of me! ;
Sometimes I wonder if I should get another job. ;
Perhaps I could do something like I used to do. ;
But if I do that,I won't earn as much. I have a family to support. ;
I have to think of them,too.I just don't know what I should do. ;
What do you think? ;
Text B ;
Here is one person who really believes in keeping fit. ;
Her name is Mrs Laura Taylor. ;
She is 45 but looks at least 10 years younger.Let's listen to her story. ;
It all started about two years ago. In those days things were very different. ;
I was overweight. I used to smoke a lot--about 30 cigarettes a day. ;
I never got any exercise. I used to stay at home all day. ;
I never went out into the fresh air, except to do the shopping. ;
And even then I used to take the car. ;
One day I looked at myself in the mirror."My God," I thought. ;
"I look terrible!" I tried to touch my toes. ;
I couldn't do it. I found an old dress. ;
I couldn't put it on.It was too small. Or rather,I was too fat! ;
The next day I tried to jog a little. At first it was terrible. ;
I mean I just couldn't run. Not even a short distance. ;
And at first people used to laugh at me. ;
Why are you running? Are you in a hurry?" They shouted. ;
But now I've completely changed the way I live. ;
I've stopped eating meat and I've started eating far more fresh vegetables. ;
My husband and daughter have started that,too. ;
At first they didn't like the new food. But they've changed. ;
About six months ago I sold my car and bought a bike. ;
Recently I've started doing yoga exercises. ;
My husband often goes cycling with me now ;
and my daughter jogs with me in the evening. ;
They've both lost weight and are much healthier than they used to be,too. ;
Additional Information YOGA ;
Have you ever tried to hold your breath ;
for a long time and then let it out slowly? ;
This is one of the techniques of an anciet Indian discipl- ine known as Yoga. ;
For thousands of years, ;
people have used Yoga to help search for happiness and contentment. ;
Students of Yoga often study for as long as 20 years before becom- ing masters or Yogis. ;
They learn many different physical exercises. ;
These exercises are designed to put the students in good physical condition. ;
Then they can concentrate on deep religious thoughts ;
without worrying about physical discomforts. ;
Many Yoga exercises involve putting the body into difficult positions. ;
Some of them are very hard to learn. ;
Have you ever tried to fold your legs over one another? ;
This is one of the basic Yoga positions. ;
It is called the lotus position. ;
Most people find it difficult to stay in that position for even a few minutes. ;
But Yogis train themselves to remain in the lotus position for hours or even days ;
They are taught to overcome the physical discomforts of holding hese positions. ;
Other exercises and rules teach concentration. ;
Yogis feel this is the key to finding inner peace. ;
This kind of concentration is called meditation. ;
Yogis and many other people practice meditation. ;
They claim that it makes them feel relaxed and peaceful. ;
Some people say that it makes them feel better-just as good exercise does. ;
But other people claim ;
that it is a way of achieving a strong religious feeling. ;
These people say that meditation helps them feel much closer to God. ;
The word Yoga itself comes from an ancient Sanskrit word meaning"union". ;
What kind of union do you think the word refers to? ;
Why would people want to have this kind of experience? ;
Lesson 19 ;
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 group has just been recently raised. ;
Um...they will go to a primary school from the age of five until eleven...um, ;
and previously they used to take an eleven 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 system ;
where children aren't divided off at the age of eleven ;
and will go into a comprehensive system of schooling, ;
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 the system? ;
LESLEY:Well... mm, theoretically... ;
it's supposed to 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 secondary modern school ;
find themselves at the lower levels of the school. ;
MATTHEW: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 classes and... um, ;
it would be very nice if we could reduce that by at least half ;
instead of there being forty children 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 oneself,and I don't think it's um... ;
important for subjects o 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 do 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,History, Religious studies, Physics, ;
whatever I'm taking now which is "O" levels,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 school? 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 kind of a cross-section of... ;
er what life will be we... we leave school... Um... where we do drama... ;
a... we study ecology,sociology etcetera... Um,it's not "O" level, ;
we don't take an "O" level in it,it's just for er... experience. ;
MATTHEW:Jenet,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 not just taking place in a school building... ;
um it should be... part of your whole life. ;
Text B ;
In 1967,The Observer,one of Britain's leading Sunday newspapers, ;
organized a competition for secondary school-children; ;
they had to write about "The School that I'd Like".This meant,of course, ;
that they also had to say what was wrong with the schools they had. ;
David,15 But what is the main purpose of schools to educate young people ;
so that when they go out into the world they will be prepared for it? ;
But are they? We learn our Mathematics,English, Physics,etc. ;
but what do you learn about sex, marriage and things like this? ;
These are just as important but we don't learn very much about them. ;
Carol,17 Give us more variety! ;
Give us the chance to visit factories more frequently,to talk with miners, ;
dustmen,doctors, lawyers,jail-birds and drug addicts, too. ;
Give us the chance to visit remand homes and prisons. ;
We want to know more about life and less about books. ;
Robin,16 What a bore school is nowadays, ;
the same as it has been for hundreds of years. ;
What we get is the same old thing: teacher,outdated textbooks, ;
and a class fed up to the teeth with the teacher and the school. ;
What we need is one great change in the educational system of the country. ;
Children do not want to be taught at,but want to find things for themselves. ;
If a child is interested in the way a rabbit's heart works, ;
let him and find out,by cutting one up. ;
Irena,15 Homework should not be given. Many of us would rather spend another ;
hour at school than two hours at home doing an hour's homework, ;
where we are constant- ly being distracted by elevision and such things. ;
Sidney,15,The first step must surely be to aise teachers' salaries ;
by at least fifty percent ;
so as to attract first-class people to the profession. ;
And the only means of doing this is by offering salaries ;
equal to their responsibility ;
in shaping the hopes of tomorrow ;
and competitive with those offered by industry. ;
Christopher,16 The discipline and life of the school would be ;
based on freedom for the pupil. ;
So freedom and a minimum of control would be important and the pupils, ;
male and female, would be treated as adults ;
and allowed to see if they can live together n a community like intelligent people. ;
Given this responsibility and freedom, ;
the pupils obviously would not always be well-behaved and sensible, ;
but they would,I believe,grow up to be mature and intelligent adults ;
who are socially and in all other ways,useful to the community. ;
Margaret,14 ...all this (i.e. freedom in schools) ;
suggests that the school would always be chaotic, ;
which give all the pupils an insight into what life,after school,is like:chaos ;
Additional Information ;
I am beginning to feel the pressure of work. ;
None of the courses are as simple as they appear to be. ;
There are a lot of reference books to consult and you can consider yourself ;
lucky if you manage to get half of them from the library. ;
Most copies seem to be permanently lent out. ;
The reading rooms are always crowded ;
and you have to get there early in order to find a place. ;
The biggest headache is our dormitory. ;
Though there are desks for us to work at,nobody ever works there. ;
For one thing,the room is so crowded that there is little elbow room, ;
and it so dark that we need the electric light even in day time. ;
The worst is the human element- ;
there are always those who don't want to ;
work and won't let others work either. ;
They either chat, sing,play the guitar or listen to tapes. ;
How I miss my little cubicle of a room at home! ;
Perhaps it's only a reaction against my early excitement, ;
but anyway I am often overcome by low spirits. ;
Sometimes I even think am wasting my time here and wish I had not come here at all. ;
But of course I know they are only passing moods caused by my disillusionment. ;
I find some of the teachers just hopeless and totally irresponsible. ;
All they are interested in is to earn some extra money by moonlighting. ;
In one way they are to be sympathized with because they ;
do need the extra money what with their low salaries and the rising prices. ;
But surely they shouldn't let us suffer as a result. ;
My biggest disappointment is in my fellow students. ;
Of course I am referring only to some and perhaps they are only a minority. ;
They are a far cry from my old image of college students. ;
They dress and behave no better than the hooligans we often see in the streets. ;
I really don't know how they managed to get into the university, ;
for they don't seem to be interested in their studies at all. ;
All they care for is to have a good time, ;
as though to enter university is an end in itself. ;
They hold dances every Saturday evening ;
or play cards in the dormitories deep into the night,drinking and moking heavily. ;
What's more they always jump the queue ;
in the dining halls and quarrel with anyone who tries to stop them. ;
Once they even came to blows. What a disgrace! ;
But despite all this,colleges life is opening up for me a new vista that ;
brings as much excitement as enlightenment. ;
Here we can talk about anything under the sun. ;
I had always thought myself well-read and my classmates at school had looked ;
up to me for my wide "general knowledge." ;
But now I've come to realize how ignorant I really am. ;
Just from casual conversations and informal discussions. ;
I've learnt more about the world and society in the past two months ;
than what I learned from all the formal classes at school. ;
Also I found many extra-curricula lectures ;
by guest speakers most stimulating. ;
One in particular inspired me very much, ;
a lecture on symphonic usic by a young conductor from the Central Conservatory ;
Before,music used to be merely a collection f beautiful sounds to me. ;
But now I am constantly discovering new and ;
hidden meaning behind all these sounds. ;
One thing I am sure: college life is and will be a most ;
colourful and fruitful period in my whole life. ;
