大学体验英语听说教程 第二册20

　　Unit 20 This just in…
Vocabulary Task
Answers
1. Teen pregnancy¹ is causing concern among doctors.
2. the mayor² will promote stricter gun laws to reduce crime.
3. Many modern families are single-parent households.
4. Experts say that crime among young people is caused by violence in movies.
5. Teachers say more money is needed for education.
6. A famous rock star is being treated for drug addiction³.
7. Children are under pressure to succeed at a young age.
8. The police are against lowering the drinking age.
Listening Task
1 First Listening
Answers
1. gun laws 3. drinking age
2. modern families 4. drug addiction
2 Second Listening
Answers
1. banning guns
2. having children without being married
3. the cause for lower numbers of drunk⁴ driving accidents
4. how to deal with drug addicts⁵
Script⁶
1. A: Oh, no, not again! Another high school shooting.
B: You’ve got to be kidding!
A: Nope. According to this article in the newspaper, five people were hurt. I think it’s about time we banned guns, don’t you?
B: Well, I’m for stricter laws, but if you ban guns, only criminals will have guns. Besides, the Constitution gives us the right to own them.
A: Yeah, but how many lives do we have to lose before we realize it’s not a good law?
2. A: Oh, my gosh, that Medusa is having another baby and she’s not even married.
B: Oh, grandma, you’re still living in the dark ages. What’s wrong with that? Lots of people are having kids without getting married.
A: Yes, well, it’s people like her that cause it. They make terrible role models for the younger generations.
B: I suppose you don’t agree with people living together before marriage, either!
A: I certainly don’t. people just don’t seem to have the family values they did when I was young.
3. A: This is good news. It says that the number of drunk driving accidents has gone down.
B: Good! Maybe they’ll lower the drinking age now.
A: You’re not serious, are you? I think the reason accidents have decreased is that they’ve raised the age limit.
B: Uuh-uh, no. I think it’s because of taxes on alcohol⁷. It’s gotten so expensive. No one can afford to drink anymore.
A: Yeah, that’s it.
4. A: My gosh! They want to spend my tax dollars on another drug treatment center!
B: I think that’s great! Our town really needs that.
A: What do you mean? If these people had jobs they wouldn’t be doing drugs.
B: Most of these people do have jobs, and good ones. Addiction is a disease⁸ that needs to be treated by professionals.
A: Whatever! I still think they should get a job!
Real World Listening
1 Predict
Answers
1. Parents are hurting their children by pushing them before they are ready.
2. Kids will not work hard without a little pressure (they will watch TV and play games if left alone).
3. Kids who can do what they want may develop abilities in that area.
2 Get the main ideas
Answers
Christina: Parents should not pressure their kids.
Eric: Kids need a little pressure to succeed.
Julia: Parents should encourage children to excel⁹ at something the children like.
Script
Teacher: So, what do you think about parents putting too much pressure on their kids? Should they pressure them? Let’s hear some of your opinions. Anybody? Christina?
Christina: I see lots of parents trying to teach their kids to read before they go to school. They should just let their kids play and have fun before they start school. If the kids don’t start reading or whatever early, they’ll feel bad, like they let down their parents. They’re only hurting their children by pushing them to learn before they’re ready.
Teacher: Good idea. Eric, how about you?
Eric: You know, parents want what’s best for their children. I mean, kids need their parents to make decisions for them at such a young age. Without a little push from their parents, kids just sit in front of their Tv sets or their computer games all day. So I think parents should pressure their kids a little, but be sensitive to their needs, too. I mean, they should let them play some of the time!
Teacher: Great idea. How about you, Julia?
Julia: Maybe If they just let the kids do some of what they want and then encourage them to get better at it…and excel at the things they like.
Teacher: All great ideas. Now let’s get into our groups and discuss this.
Her voice is very pleasing
It was difficult for her to accept the truth.
We had to pay a big proportion¹⁰ of our wages in tax.

1 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

2 mayor   

n.市长

参考例句：

• The new mayor said he would clean the city up.新市长说，他要整顿本市。
• The mayor hurried into his office,brushing off the reporters.市长赶快走进办公室，拒不接见记者。

3 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

4 drunk   

adj.醉酒的；(喻)陶醉的；n.酗酒者，醉汉

参考例句：

• People who drives when they are drunk should be heavily penalised.醉酒驾车的人应受重罚。
• She found him drunk when she came home at night.她晚上回家时，经常发现他醉醺醺的。

5 addicts   

有…瘾的人( addict的名词复数 )； 入迷的人

参考例句：

• a unit for rehabilitating drug addicts 帮助吸毒者恢复正常生活的机构
• There is counseling to help Internet addicts?even online. 有咨询机构帮助网络沉迷者。 来自超越目标英语 第3册

6 script   

n.剧本，广播稿；文字体系；笔迹，手迹

参考例句：

• It's easy to identify his script.他的笔迹容易辨认。
• The script is massaged into final form.这篇稿子经过修改已定稿。

7 alcohol   

n.酒精，乙醇；含酒精的饮料

参考例句：

• The law forbids shops to sell alcohol to minors.法律禁止商店向未成年者出售含酒精的饮料。
• The alcohol is industrial.这些酒精是供工业用的。

8 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

9 excel   

v.胜过，优于，杰出，善于，擅长于

参考例句：

• If your talent combines with diligence,you can excel in your pursuit.如果你把天赋与勤奋结合起来，你所追求的事业便会出类拔萃。
• He is working hard to excel his predecessors.他正努力超越他的前任。

10 proportion   

n.比率，比例；大小

参考例句：

• His head is out of proportion to the size of his body.他的头部与身体大小不成比例。
• The proportion of imports to exports is worrying the government.进口与出口的比例令政府担忧。