口语是一种利用语言表达思想、进行口头交际的能力。《高等学校英语专业基础阶段英语教学大纲》要求加强培养及培训学生语言知识的转换能力。意思是学生通过读和听获得知识、信息和语言，经过思维，在原有知识及语言的基础上对所获得的内容和语言加工和重组，赋予新的内容，然后输出，从而完成交际的全过程。
《英语口语教程》（Oral Workshop）问世于20世纪90年代初，是由北京外国语大学吴祯福教授主持编写，也是目前我国英语教学界具有相当的影响力的一套教材，至今已经累计销售数百万册。这套优秀的教材哺育了一届又一届的英语学习者，为我们国家的改革开放培养了大量的英语专业人才，成为国内主要高等学校英语专业的指定口语教材。实践证明，这是一套非常富有生命力的教材。
Lesson 35 Never Give up the Hope of Living Text A In this recorded conversation with a friend, Alison Willson described her reactions to the news that she was going to die of cancer. The conversation...
Lesson 34 Isn't It Good to Speak a Foreign Language? Text A "You really are a lucky dog. " Many peole assume that admission into the Institute of Foreign Trade means not only a farewell to "unemployme...
Lesson 33 Thieves Beware : People See You Text A Each year car theft costs us about ￡300 million, and burglary sets us back by another ￡150 million. Yet the police reckon that one car in five is l...
Lesson 32 Do You Know Your Own Character? Text A THE OX You're a hard and conscientiou's worker if you were born in the year of the Ox and you set about everything in a methodical and determined manne...
Lesson 31 Thoughts on the Spring Festival Text A My first Spring Festival in north China was a bit of a shock. Where was the spring? There was snow on the ground and ice on the Summer Palace lake and...
Lesson 30 Who Did It? Text A Inspector Chester of Scotland Yard soon arrived on the scene of the crime. When the newspapermen saw him getting out of the car they immediately realised that matters were...
Lesson 29 The Voices of Time Text A Time talks. It speaks more plainly than words. Time communicates in many ways. Consider the different parts of the day, for example. The time of the day when someth...
Lesson 28 The Perfect Match Text A I walked into the office and shook hands with a smiling man named Mr Bleaucher. He was dressed very well, compared to me. He shuffled a pile of papers like they were...
Lesson 27 Is It an Ideal Career? Text A I am not an extreme feminist. I am not an extreme anything. However, I am a firm believer in equality and freedom. I think we are all entitled to the same right...
Lesson 26 There Are Two Sides to Everything Text A I had a most exasperating and frustrating experience with the hospital today: But Granny had it much worse. First she was the victim of an accident a...
Lesson 25 Don't They Feel Ashamed of Themselves? Text A We were at the terminus and as a bus had just left, there were only the two of us. "We're sure to get good seats," I thought to myself confident...
Lesson 24 Want to Kill Yourself ? Text A I wonder whether smoking is as harmful as doctors make us believe it to be? Some of the things they say are really hair-raising, and even if only half of what...
Lesson 23 All For a Son Text A The desire for a son and heir is common to all mankind. In our country, especially, to have as many male descendents as possible has always been regarded as the greatest...
Lesson 22 Tell Us About Your Hobbies Text A JOHN: What I like most, I suppose, is the fact that it's so unusual. I mean, when I tell people what I do,they just look at me usually as if I'm mad.Maybe I...
Lesson 21 Why Are They So Unlucky? Text A I wonder why so many shop-assistants are so foultempered? Inspite of so many "campaigns" to improve the services in the past years, we see no appreciable chan...
