英语口语教程(高级) UNIT 16

[00:01.00]Lesson 16;
[00:00.96]Read;
[00:01.87]5.Decent Beggars in   Shanghai;
[00:06.67]It was getting dark when the plane landed at Hongqiao Airport in Shanghai.;
[00:14.36]A woman stepped out into a driving rain.;
[00:19.52]"Madam,you must be from Beijing," a voice behind her said.;
[00:26.00]Taking luggage from the woman's hand, the man said,;
[00:30.85]"The weather in the south is unpleasant, and it rains all the time.;
[00:36.21]The rainy season is coming." He accompanied her out of the airport.;
[00:42.79]The woman thought she was lucky to meet such a warm- hearted young man.;
[00:49.06]At the bus stop,she thanked him.;
[00:52.60]"It's very kind of you.;
[00:54.93]I would be drenched through without your help ";
[00:58.67]She said quite a lot to express her gratitude.;
[01:02.72]However,to her surprise,;
[01:06.16]the man stood there smiling and showing no intention of leaving.;
[01:11.42]Glancing around,the woman noticed some passengers;
[01:15.97]getting off the same plane with her were tipping the people who helped them.;
[01:21.84]She got the hint, took out a five-yuan note and gave it to the man.;
[01:28.01]Saying "Thanks a lot", he went away.;
[01:32.87]The young man is just one of the estimated 500 "decent beggars",;
[01:39.64]a name Shanghai residents have given these people.;
[01:44.10]Often times,they will appear in groups in the railway station,;
[01:50.06]airport,hospitals, scenic spots.;
[01:54.72]Most of them are fashionably dressed, behave decently,;
[01:59.88]and speak in a gentle way.;
[02:03.11]They carefully observe their "customers",;
[02:06.35]and from their expression,;
[02:08.38]they try to figure out what their "customers" are thinking about.;
[02:12.93]They will show sympathy for a patient sent to the hospital,;
[02:17.58]with tears in their eyes.;
[02:20.11]They will flatter the "customer" until he or she is deeply moved;
[02:25.78]and gives them money in gratitude.;
[02:28.61]On May 1,a family went to a park.;
[02:33.67]Just as they entered a young couple with smiles on their faces came up.;
[02:39.64]The man talked first.;
[02:42.27]"Look!What a pleasant day!;
[02:45.20]It is very nice for the whole family to spend the holiday in the park, " he said.;
[02:51.07]The woman added,"We Shanghai people are often kept indoors by the rain.;
[02:58.15]It is too bad for children in particular.;
[03:01.79]On this fine day,it is quite good for your health to walk in the open.";
[03:07.56]Then they began to flatter the children,;
[03:10.80]saying they were so beautiful and would be promising in the future.;
[03:15.85]They predicated that the parents would enjoy a very happy life;
[03:20.71]with wealthy and devoted sons and daughters.;
[03:24.55]They did not stop talking until the mother gave them a 10-yuan note.;
[03:30.42]The mother did not feel sorry for giving the money.;
[03:34.57]She said that she had bought good fortune with the money.;
[03:39.33]Some people say it is this psychology;
[03:42.77]that the "decent beggars" cater to in making money.;
[03:47.72]6.Nobel Prizes;
[03:52.07]Once a year,at a special ceremony;
[03:56.63]a few distinguished people are awarded Nobel Prizes.;
[04:01.68]The founder of these prizes was Alfred Bernhard Nobel (1833-1896),;
[04:11.70]a Swedish scientist.;
[04:13.93]Nobel discovered the explosive called dynamite.;
[04:18.88]This was much safer to use than earlier explosives.;
[04:23.54]He made a large fortune from this and other discoveri -es and inventions.;
[04:29.81]However,;
[04:31.22]it saddened him that his explosives were so widely used for warfare.;
[04:37.90]Nobel left most of his money to establish five prizes.;
[04:43.87]They are awarded for services to physics, chemistry,physiology or medicine,;
[04:51.25]literature, and peace.;
[04:54.29]It is considered a very great honour to win one of these prizes.;
[04:59.86]Lesson 17 Is Romantic Love the Most Important Condi -tion for Marriage?;
[05:09.16]Text Choosing a Spouse;
[05:14.22]If you are young and unmarried,;
[05:17.86]you must have in your mind the image of an ideal husband or wife.;
[05:23.73]Most young people like to indulge in fantasies,;
[05:28.59]and your image may take the inform of a certain famous film star or pop singer.;
[05:35.47]But if you are of a practical turn of mind,;
[05:39.21]your "ideal"would be more down to earth,;
[05:42.95]and your "image" would be modeled after what you see around you.;
[05:48.52]Though images do not always coincide with realities (for after all,;
[05:55.80]an ideal is an ideal),;
[05:58.03]it is nevertheless an interesting subject for study,;
[06:02.68]for it tells us what the young people expect from the present society.;
[06:09.15]Dr.Li Yinhe of the Sociological Institute of Beijing University;
[06:16.34]has made a study of a certain amount of matrimonial advertisements ,;
[06:21.80]and he found that the present generation of China;
[06:26.05]put great emphasis on, in order of importance,;
[06:30.80](1)age,(2) height,;
[06:35.46](3)education as the three most important standards in choosing a spouse.;
[06:42.94]Next comes (4) character and temperament, (5)profession,;
[06:50.13](6)marital status and personal history (7)appearance and (8)health.;
[07:00.24]Such order of emphasis is peculiarly Chinese.;
[07:06.11]Other conditions such as religion, race and love,;
[07:11.37]so important to people of other nations;
[07:14.81]are completely missing in Dr.Li's list.;
[07:18.96]Many foreign scholars are also interested in the Chinese idea;
[07:24.83]of an ideal spouse and they just can't understand why;
[07:30.08]the Chinese men especially set so much store by "age";
[07:35.35]when they choose a spouse.;
[07:38.49]A man of over forty would want a woman under thirty;
[07:44.25]and a man of thirty would want his future spouse to be under twenty-five.;
[07:50.93]One possible explanation;
[07:53.76]is that youth is almost synonymous with beauty.;
[07:58.01]At least the two words young and beautiful always go together.;
[08:05.29]The Chinese people have not yet discovered mature beauty.;
[08:11.16]Height definitely is uniquely Chinese in playing such an important role;
[08:18.04]when people choose a spouse.;
[08:20.87]To be eligible a man has to be at least 1.70m. in height.;
[08:27.45]It is said that to a choosy girl,;
[08:31.29]any man under 1.70m. is considered a semi invalid !;
[08:37.67]So far no one has offered a satisfactory explanation;
[08:43.13]to such a strange phenomenon.;
[08:46.27]As to the third important condition, that of educational level,;
[08:52.34]people find it a puzzle too,;
[08:54.97]because in present day China education doesn't give you high social status,;
[09:01.34]nor does it bring you good pay.;
[09:04.68]Yet both sexes set a great store by it.;
[09:09.33]The thing to notice is that a man with a university education;
[09:15.00]is content to have a wife with senior middle school education;
[09:20.06]while a woman with a university education;
[09:23.90]would never consider a man with only a senior middle school education.;
[09:29.57]Her husband has to be at least a university graduate too,;
[09:35.43]preferably someone with a post-graduate degree.;
[09:39.89]What conclusion can we draw from all this?;
[09:43.63]I think that in seeking a husband or wife,;
[09:48.08]we Chinese have not yet freed ourselves;
[09:52.03]from our feudal tradition of arranged marriages.;
[09:55.97]Instead of having our marriages arranged by our parents,;
[10:01.03]we now arrange our own marriages.;
[10:04.57]In the old days;
[10:07.10]stress was put on equal social and economic status of the two families;
[10:13.17]which was considered a condition of a good match.;
[10:17.22]Now love marriages boil down to more or less the same thing ,;
[10:24.00]except that stress is no longer placed on the condition of the two families,;
[10:30.67]but on the two individuals themselves.;
[10:34.52]And conditions vary with the trend of the times.;
[10:38.87]Not so long ago it was Party membership that was all important.;
[10:44.84]A girl who was a Party member;
[10:47.87]would not be satisfied with a man who was only a League member;
[10:53.54]He had to be at least a Party;
[10:57.08]and preferably a Party member with a responsible position,;
[11:02.84]In essence we are still selling ourselves to the highest bidder.;
[11:08.41]To put it another way:;
[11:10.94]We are still trying to get the best bargain with what capital we have.;
[11:16.70]Is it so much different from the old mercenary marriage?;
[11:22.77]2.Read;
[11:26.31]Read the following passages.;
[11:29.96]Underline the important viewpoints while reading.;
[11:34.20]1.Husband and Wife   by Arrangement;
[11:40.48]Yoshio and Hiromi Tanaka are a young Japanese couple living in the USA;
[11:48.17]while he studies electrical engineering.;
[11:51.91]They clearly love each other very deeply,but, says Yoshio,;
[11:58.08]"We didn't marry for love in the Western sense.;
[12:02.03]We got married in the time-honoured Japanese way.;
[12:06.78]Our parents arranged our marriage through a matchmaker.;
[12:12.14]In Japan we believe that marriage is som -ething that affects the whole family,;
[12:19.12]not just the young couple concerned.;
[12:22.77]So we think it is very important to match people;
[12:27.32]according to their social background, education and so on.;
[12:32.68]Matchmakers are usually middle-aged women;
[12:37.43]who keep lists of suitable young peop -le with information about their families;
[12:43.10]education and interests.;
[12:46.54]When our parents thought it was time for us to get married;
[12:51.60]they went to a local matchmaker and asked her for some suggestions.;
[12:58.07]We discussed the details and looked at the photos she sent,;
[13:04.04]and then our parents asked her to arrange a 'marriage interview';
[13:09.00]for the two of us.";
[13:11.63]A Japanese marriage interview is held in a public place,;
[13:17.09]such as a hotel or restaurant,and is attended by the boy and the girl,;
[13:23.47]their parents and the matchmaker.;
[13:27.01]Information about the couple and their families;
[13:31.66]is exchanged over a cup of tea or a meal.;
[13:36.21]Then the boy and the girl are left alone for a short time;
[13:41.07]to get to know each other.;
[13:43.40]When they return home they have to tell the matchmaker;
[13:48.25]whether they want to meet again or not.;
[13:51.08]If both of them want another meeting,the matchmaker arranges it,;
[13:57.05]and after that they can decide whether to carry on the courtship themselves;
[14:03.63]Here Hiromi said with a gentle smile,"Not so long ago,;
[14:10.71]the girl could never refuse to go out again with a boy who liked her,;
[14:16.28]but now she can.;
[14:18.40]I thought Yoshio was really rather nice, so I didn't refuse.";
[14:24.77]Yoshio continued:;
[14:27.61]"When our parents realized we were serious about each other,;
[14:32.26]they started to make arrangements for our wedding。;
[14:36.00]My family paid the 'Yuino' money to Hiromi's.;
[14:40.76]This is money to help pay for the wedding ceremony;
[14:44.40]and for setting up house afterwards.;
[14:47.74]We also gave her family a beautiful ornament;
[14:52.09]to put in the best room of their house,;
[14:54.92]so everyone knew that Hiromi was going to marry.;
[14:59.07]Six months after our first meeting we were married.;
[15:04.13]A traditional Japanese wedding is a wonderful ceremony,;
[15:09.39]and our traditional custom of arranged marriages has given me a wonderful wife.;
[15:16.87]2.Husband and Wife   by Airmail;
[15:23.96]"You must be mad," his friends said,;
[15:27.90]as thirty-year-old John Briggs of Hatfield;
[15:32.15]left London Airport to fly to Brazil.;
[15:35.89]John was going half-way round the world;
[15:39.84]to meet a girl he'd never seen but hoped to marry.;
[15:44.70]The trip was costing him three months' pay-;
[15:49.25]-in fact he'd had to borrow from his father;
[15:52.89]and an aunt to buy his ticket-;
[15:55.93]-and he had no idea whether the pretty dark-haired girl;
[16:00.58]he only knew from photographs and letters would even like him.;
[16:06.04]"I  had a good life as a bachelor," says John,four years later,;
[16:13.02]his arm round his wife and their two lovely children,;
[16:17.47]"but I felt something was missing.;
[16:20.51]I had a good job,my own house and plenty of friends.;
[16:25.16]I had plenty of girlfriends too,;
[16:28.80]but somehow no one ever seemed quite the right girl for me.;
[16:34.37]Then one day I was looking through a magazine during my lunch hour;
[16:39.93]when a photograph of a pretty girl caught my eye.;
[16:43.78]It was part of an advertisement for a World Penfriends Circle.;
[16:49.65]I decided to write off to them immediately.;
[16:53.49]All my friends had a good laugh,I remember.";
[16:58.24]John received the names of four girls, two from Japan, one from Finland,;
[17:05.73]and one from Brazil, and wrote to all of them,;
[17:09.88]enclosing a photograph of himself.;
[17:13.62]The last to reply was Maria from Brazil,;
[17:18.17]but it was Maria who came to take first place in John's heart.;
[17:24.24]They wrote to each other for a year,;
[17:27.28]Maria in Portuguese and John in English- -all the letters had to be translated-;
[17:35.17]-and then one of Maria's uncles came to England on a business trip.;
[17:41.65]Maria had asked him to arrange a meeting with John;
[17:46.10]and report back to Brazil on what her English penfriend was really like.;
[17:52.27]The uncle said that John was "a fat little fellow without much hair",;
[17:59.45]but he must have said some nicer things too,;
[18:03.50]for Maria's parents wrote to John inviting him to visit their family.;
[18:09.87]John replied saying he'd love to.;
[18:13.51]A practical man, John started to get organized.;
[18:18.77]As soon as he had the money for his air ticket;
[18:22.52]he wrote to Maria asking her what her views on getting married were.;
[18:28.38]He also sent an engagement ring, and a Valentine card every day!;
[18:35.16]Maria wrote back to say they could decide;
[18:38.97]whether to get married or not once they met-;
[18:42.24]-but she started making a wedding dress of beautiful white silk,;
[18:47.10]just in case...;
[18:49.43]The day John was due to arrive Maria waited anxiously at the airport.;
[18:56.20]Suppose he didn't like her'?;
[18:59.14]But when his plane came in she didn't even recognize him!;
[19:04.40]Her uncle had to point him out.;
[19:07.84]"He was the man with the nicest smile," says Maria,;
[19:12.69]"and he was just the right height for me!";
[19:16.34]They both realized immediately.;
[19:19.27]that they were just right for each other in lots of other ways too.;
[19:24.94]Ten days later they were married;
[19:27.87]and Maria came to live in England with her husband-;
[19:31.82]-"the best thing that's ever come to me through the post" she says.;
[19:37.78]3.Husband, and Wife   for 45 pounds Each;
[19:45.37]Attractive Kay Knight is expecting her first baby in a few months' time.;
[19:52.76]She smiled happily at her husband Mike as she told us their story;
[19:59.23]"I woke up on my thirty-fifth birthday thinking,;
[20:03.58]'Help.I'm turning into a real old spinster schoolteacher.';
[20:09.15]All my friends seemed to be married with homes;
[20:12.55]and families of their own.;
[20:14.91]But where was I?I love job--don't get me wrong.;
[20:20.48]I've had a very Satisfying career,;
[20:24.02]but teaching other people's children isn't the same as bringing up your own;
[20:30.49]"She'll make a wonderful mother, said Mike.";
[20:33.93]I can't think why she wasn't snapped up years ago.;
[20:38.18]But I'm glad she wasn't,or I wouldn't have found her.";
[20:43.95]How did they find each other?;
[20:47.08]"Well," said Kay," as a young Woman I'd had a few boyfriends,;
[20:53.86]but never anything serious.;
[20:56.90]Then I realized I wasn't even meeting any men,;
[21:00.84]not unmarried ones anyway.;
[21:03.57]So I took a deep breath and wrote to a Marriage Bureau.;
[21:09.04]"Kay had to fill in a detailed form and then attend an interview.;
[21:15.21]"It was very thorough,";
[21:18.35]she said. "They really wanted to make sure;
[21:20.91]I was serious about wanting to get married,;
[21:24.11]and they took a lot of trouble to find out what kind of person I was;
[21:29.47]and the sort of man I thought I'd like to marry.;
[21:34.02]I was told I'd be given three introductions to suitable men;
[21:39.39]for a fee of 15 pounds.;
[21:42.73]If I married one of them,I'd have to pay another 30 pounds.;
[21:50.21]The first introduction was to another teacher,;
[21:54.77]which she didn't think was a good idea,but the second was to Mike.;
[22:01.14]Mike took up the story.;
[22:04.27]"I got married when I was a young man of 22,;
[22:08.93]but my wife was killed a year later in a car accident.;
[22:13.99]I was completely shattered.;
[22:17.22]I put all my energies into my work;
[22:21.07]and spent many year abroad with my firm.;
[22:25.12]Then I came back to England to work at Head Office.;
[22:29.67]and realized how empty my life had become.;
[22:34.02]I didn't just want to work;I wanted a wife and children.;
[22:40.39]I needed someone to make my house into a home.;
[22:45.45]I wasn't interested in young girls,;
[22:48.89]but how could I find a mature,loving woman to share my life?;
[22:54.66]I think my sister and brother-in-law must have guessed how I was feeling.;
[23:00.93]They introduced me to a Charming older couple one evening.;
[23:05.99]After they'd gone home I remarked how well-suited they seemed;
[23:11.96]and my sister told me why--they'd met through a Marriage Bureau.;
[23:18.33]'You should give it a try,' she said. So I did.";
[23:23.49]Mike phoned a bureau the very next day;
[23:27.94]and went for an interview the following week.;
[23:31.28]He was given three names, including Kay's.;
[23:36.34]He wrote to her first;
[23:38.97]because he thought a school-teacher would probably like children.;
[23:43.22]Their first date was a disaster.;
[23:47.06]"We agreed to meet for a picnic and it poured with rain, " he told us.;
[23:52.93]"But we both saw the funny side of it,;
[23:55.66]and from then on everything went right.";
[23:59.50]Within a month of their first meeting he proposed and they got engaged.;
[24:06.69]The wedding took place a year ago.;
[24:10.33]"Speaking as a businessman," said Mike,;
[24:13.67]"this is the best deal I've ever made!";
[24:17.41]4.Dating Pattens in   the USA;
[24:23.48]In the traditional dating pattern in the United States,;
[24:28.03]much of the responsibility for a date falls to the young man.;
[24:33.50]In this pattern,;
[24:35.32]the young man must first call the girl he wishes to date on the telephone.;
[24:41.89]Usually,this call is made quite early in a week.;
[24:47.76]Most girls in traditional dating relationships;
[24:52.01]expect to get a telephone call from a young man by Wednesday.;
[24:57.57]Most dating occurs on weekends.;
[25:01.72]Many young people do not have to get up early for school or work;
[25:07.49]on Saturday and Sunday mornings,;
[25:10.32]so Friday nights and Saturday nights are popular nights for dates.;
[25:16.19]The young man must ask the girl for the date,;
[25:20.64]and suggest some things that they might do together.;
[25:25.19]It is usually up to the young man to pay for all of the evening's activities;
[25:32.38]There are many things to do on dates.;
[25:36.02]Many young people enjoy going to sports events,;
[25:40.27]such as football and baseball games.;
[25:43.46]These games may occur at a high school, college,;
[25:48.77]or in a large sports arena in a city.;
[25:52.96]A very popular place for young people to go on dates is the movies.;
[25:58.88]Almost everyone enjoys a good movie,;
[26:02.66]and almost every town has at least one movie theater.;
[26:08.08]Young people may also enjoy going to a night club or coffee house.;
[26:15.12]Here,they may listen to music and dance,;
[26:19.41]and perhaps meet some of their friends.;
[26:23.40]These are a few of the things young people do on dates in the United States;
[26:31.26]In some parts of the United States,;
[26:34.74]traditional dating relationships begin when young people are in high school.;
[26:40.97]In other places,;
[26:43.21]young people do not go out in couples until they are in college,;
[26:48.42]or in their early,.,twenties.;
[26:51.38]Some young men would rather go out with just one girl all of the time.;
[26:58.53]Every Saturday night a young man will go out with the same girl.;
[27:04.87]Many girls enjoy this kind of relationship also.;
[27:09.87]It gives both the boy and the girl;
[27:13.45]a chance to get to know one another quite well.;
[27:17.84]Sometimes,this may lead to marriage.;
[27:22.64]Other young people enjoy dating different individuals.;
[27:28.15]One week they may go out with one person, the next week with another.;
[27:34.90]They get to know many people this way,;
[27:42.76]and may not wish to have a serious relationship with just one person.;
[27:45.93]Many young people in the United States, especially college students,;
[27:51.85]do not go out on either of these traditional dates.;
[27:56.14]Instead,they go out on group dates.;
[28:00.74]In this kind of dating pattern,;
[28:04.01]small groups of young people go out together.;
[28:08.50]All of the people in the group are usually friends,;
[28:13.30]but some of the people in the group may not know each other.;
[28:18.40]No one young man is with any particular girl.;
[28:23.20]They are all together as part of the group.;
[28:27.19]This is very different from the traditional date.;