[00:-1.00]part 1 WARMING UP
[00:-2.00]Oh,there you are.Now then,did you have a good flight?
[00:-3.00]Sure,we flew all the way direct from Seattle to London.
[00:-4.00]You must be very tired.Did you sleep at all on the plane?
[00:-5.00]No,not really.I'm very tired.Could I use your bathroom?
[00:-6.00]Why,of course.You don't need to ask,Just make yourself at home.
[00:-7.00]Let me give you a clean towel?A towel?
[00:-8.00]Yes.here you are.The bathroom is upstairs.
[00:-9.00]It's the second door on the left.
[00:10.00]Thanks Nancy.If you'll excuse me now.
[00:11.00](after a while)Have you found it?
[00:12.00]Well,eh yes,I mean no.
[00:13.00]I mean,I found the bathroom,but I didn't find what I was looking for?
[00:14.00]What's the difference between British English and American English?
[00:15.00]Listen to the dialogue between a lady and a gentleman.
[00:16.00]Read it carefully and answer the following questions:
[00:17.00]1.What is the woman's name and what's the man's name?
[00:18.00]2.What is the nationality of the woman and the man?Why do you think so?
[00:19.00]3.Do you know what "smart" and "funny" mean in American English?
[00:20.00]4.Can you tell a story about a misunderstanding
[00:21.00]caused by the differece between British English and American English?
[00:22.00]Possible answers:1.The woman is Nancy.The man is Joe.
[00:23.00]The woman is from Britain while the man is from the United States of America
[00:24.00]One speaks British English and the other speaks American English.
[00:25.00]The man say:"Could I use your bathroom."
[00:26.00]What he means is "I want to go to WC.But that's not British English.
[00:27.00]British people say:"I want to go to the lavatory."or"I wnat to go to WC."
[00:28.00]In Britain if one mentions "a bathroom",it may have
[00:29.00]only a hath or a shower or a basin for you to wash,
[00:30.00]to take a bath or to have a shower.
[00:31.00]Only sometimes there may be a toilet in a British a bathroom.
[00:32.00]A toilet is also a water closet or WC.
[00:33.00]But the word "closet" may refer to a box
[00:34.00]with a lock in which you keep your clothes and school bags at school.
[00:35.00]In American English"go to the bathroom"often means to go to the lavatory or Wc
[00:36.00]So when Nancy hands Joe a clean towel,he is puzzled.
[00:37.00]Just look at the picture on page 8.
[00:38.00]he's wondering why Naney gives him a towel.
[00:39.00]he's asking himself:"What's the use of a towel now?"
[00:40.00]While he is thinking about a toilet or a WC--a water closet.
[00:41.00]That's why Joe says:"I didn't find what I was looking for!"
[00:42.00]What he was looking for
[00:43.00]is actually the toilet or the WC---the water closet,not the bath.
[00:44.00]3."smart" is used as an American slang.
[00:45.00]meaning "clever",
[00:46.00]Which appeared in the cloze of NMET2002:
[00:47.00]"because you are so goddamned educated,Doc.
[00:48.00]I knew you couldn't be very 55.d.smart.
[00:49.00]"smart bomb" is another American slang,a military slang;
[00:50.00]It's an extremely accurate missile guided
[00:51.00]by electronic means,as by reflected laser beam.
[00:52.00]A lot of smart bombs were used in the war against Saddam Hussein
[00:53.00]in iraq in April,2003.
[00:54.00]"funny" means tricky or deceptive in American English.
[00:55.00]For example,there's some funny business going on between them.
[00:56.00]They're doing illegal business against the law.
[00:57.00]4.During the Second World War,
[00:58.00]the British government urgently asked the Americans
[00:59.00]for some thousands of bushels of "corn" to feed liberated population.
[-1:00.00]The American government shipped what in America is "corn",
[-1:-1.00]but in Britain is "maize" or " Indian corn."
[-1:-2.00]They British really wanted wheat.
[-1:-3.00]This linguistic blunder cost a few million dollars to repair.
[-1:-4.00]So you see,"corn" means wheat in British English
[-1:-5.00]but it refers to "maise" and is called" "Indian corn" in American English.
[-1:-6.00]LISTENING
[-1:-7.00]The landlady asked Mr Brown:
[-1:-8.00]1.(to put his coat on a peg.)
[-1:-9.00]2.(to put his coat in the closet.)
[-1:10.00]3.(to take off his shoes.)
[-1:11.00]4.(to put his umbrella in the umbrella stand.)
[-1:12.00]5.(to lock the door if he comes home after midnight.)
[-1:13.00]6.(to be quiet after nine o'clock in the evening.)
[-1:14.00]7.not to shower after mine o'clock in the evening.
[-1:15.00]8.(not to smoke in the hathroom.)
[-1:16.00]9.(to walk the dog.)
[-1:17.00]10.(to turn down the radio.)
[-1:18.00]11.(to speak quietly on the phone.)
[-1:19.00]12.(to return the key of the front door.)
[-1:20.00]13.(to help her find a new tenant for the flat.)
[-1:21.00]speaking:
[-1:22.00]1 Karen,can you tell me how to pronounce "kilometre"?
[-1:23.00]Sure.British people say "kilometre" and Americans say "kilometre"?
[-1:24.00]Karen and Emily,is there anything that isn't clear to you?
[-1:25.00]Emily asked me a question but I already answered her.
[-1:26.00]What was her question?
[-1:27.00]She asked me how to pronounce "kilometre".
[-1:28.00]2 Harry,take these two pizzas to Mr Thompson on Broad Street Number 12.
[-1:29.00]Can you spell that name,please?
[-1:30.00]T-h-o-m-p-s-o-n.On Broad Street,Number 12.
[-1:31.00]Can you repeat the address,please?
[-1:32.00]Broad Street,Number 12. got it.
[-1:33.00]Take Dave's motorbike.Here are the keys.And hurry up!
[-1:34.00]Anything else?
[-1:35.00]Don't forget to buy me some ketchup on your way back.
[-1:36.00]SPEAKING
[-1:37.00]After doing the exercise on pages 9-10,
[-1:38.00]try to act out the two conversations about spelling differences
[-1:39.00]between British English and American English |