Lesson 87 Part I

Lesson 87

Part Ⅰ Warming-up Exercises

WHAT in the News Lead?

Training Focus:

Identifying wh- words in the news lead: what

Directions: You are going to hear several news leads. Listen carefully. Focus your attention on what in each lead and write down what you hear in the given spaces.

Key:

1．At least 53 persons, most of them children, were killed Saturday in a bus accident in the central part of France.

2．An American man has established a new world record by crossing the Atlantic Ocean in the smallest boat.

3．Athletes from all over Asia hace ended their competition at the 9th Asian Games in New Delhi.

4．China says its economy is growing faster than expected because of the government's new economic program.

5．A private American group says trade between the United States and China is expected to increase by as much at 20%.

6．More than 200,000 British railway workers will go on strike throughout the country Monday.

7．The UN Ceneral Assembly has opened its 37th yearly session.

8．Japan's cabinet has approved a proposed budget plan for next year.

Lesson 87 Part Ⅱ News

Lesson 87

Part Ⅱ    News

Ex. Ⅰ

Directions: Study the sample summary of the news items carefully.

Ex. Ⅱ

Directions: Fill in the blanks with the information you get from the news.

Key: (see tapescript)

Tapescript:

News  (2'52")

Now the news in Special English with Kay Gallant.

Good morning. The Lebanese government says a conference on Lebanon's national unity will open Thursday at Beirut International Airport. Lebanese government officials say Foreign Minister Ali Sallen has asked the international peacekeeping force to provide security at the conference. All opposing groups in Lebanon have been invited to take part in the talks at Beirut Airport. But it is not clear if they all have agreed to the meeting place.

The United Nations

The Security Council has agreed to keep the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon for six more months. The Lebanese government had asked the Security Council to permit the UN force to remain. Troops from ten countries form the United Nations force in southern Lebanon. It is separate from the international peace-keeping force in Beirut.

Tokyo

Japanese news reports say Japan plans to lower import taxes by about 5% on more than 1,000 products. The Japanese cabinet is expected to approve the plan Friday. It will go into effect next April.

Beijing

Vice Premier Li Peng says he is hopeful that China and the United States can cooperate in developing nuclear energy. Mr Li said China is developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. He said China already has held talks with France on nuclear cooperation. And he said China is negotiating with Britain to buy equipment for a nuclear power center. The Chinese official made the statements to visiting members of the American Nuclear Society.

Here again, the major news at this hour. The Lebanese government says a conference on Lebanon's national unity will begin Thursday at Beirut International Airport. And Japanese news reports say Japan plans to lower import taxes by about 5% on morn than 1,000 products. That's the news in Special English, Kay Gallant reporting.

Lesson 87 Part Ⅲ Words And TheirStories ---- Dutch Treat

Lesson 87

Part Ⅲ  Words And Their Stories

---- Dutch Treat

Ex.Ⅰ

Directions: Explain the expressions with the information you get from the story.

Key: 1．Dutch treat: Everybody pays  for himself in a meal.

2．Dutch bargain: a one-sided exchange

3．Dutch courage: faint courage

4．to talk Dutch: to talk nonsense

5．Dutch uncle: a fierce person

Ex. Ⅱ

Directions: Answer the questions.

Key: (see tapescript)

Tapescript:

Words And Their Stories (4'46")

---- Dutch Treat

Now the Special English program“Words and Their Stories.”Today our story is about the expression “Dutch treat.”

The phrase “Dutch treat”can sometimes pull you out of an unpleasant, embarrassing situation. You may be among a group of four and have had an expensive dinner. Well, the waiter brings the check shortly after you have already offered to pay for the dinner. You look at the check and are shocked at the total cost. Whew! Slowly you pick it up, but the only other man in the group says,“Just a minute. Let me take it.”Of course, he doesn't mean it, and feels safe in making the offer because you have already agreed to pay it. You both struggle, weakly, to pick up the bill. You have a way out. You say,“Let's go Dutch,”or“Dutch treat.” And so you both find a way out of the hole you dug for yourselves.“Going Dutch,”or“Dutch treat”simply means that everybody pays for himself. Why Dutch? Your guess is as good as mine.

However, as is well known, the English and the Dutch fought bitterly in the 1600s for control of the seas. At the time the English settled in the New World, their hatred for the Dutch was intense and it was shown in the things they said about them. One such expression is a “Dutch bargain,”meaning a one-sided exchange ---- the Dutch giving too little and asking too much. The English used the name “Dutch”in many other unpleasant ways.“Dutch courage” was faint courage;“to talk Dutch,”“double Dutch”or“high Dutch”meant to talk nonsense. Time, of course, has cured the British of their hatred for the Dutch and they are the best of friends. But the hostile expressions remain in the language.

The Dutch were also given the reputation of being brutal in demanding obedience in the way they trained the young. This led to the use of the words,“Dutch uncle.” Even in ancient times an uncle was considered an unpleasant relative. In ancient Rome many feared the bite and fierceness of an uncle's tongue. They were often heard saying,“Don't play the uncle over me.”So that if you joined the word“Dutch”to “uncle,”you got an especially fierce master.

One often hears the phrase, “I will talk to him like a ‘Dutch uncle.’”And by using it you mean you will stand for no more nonsense and will let your son, or whoever he is, have the full fury of your anger and disapproval. The expression “Dutch uncle”is very old. More than one hundred years ago one writer said,“In some parts of America when a person is determined to give another a regular lecture, he will often be heard to sav,‘I will talk to him like a Dutch uncle.’”That is, he shall not escape this time!