大学体验英语听说教程 第四册18

　　Vocabulary Task
Script and Answers
1. A: Oh, my gosh. Michael had another accident.
B: What happened?
A: Last night his car hydroplaned and rolled off the road. Fortunately he was wearing the seatbelt.
B: That was a close call.
2. A: My goodness! The number of overweight children has doubled in the last 20 years.
B: That’s no surprise. Don’t you see children are having too much junk food, more television and video games?
A: Yes, you are right. And they are not getting enough exercise.
B: This must have something to do with our economy and society in general.
3. A: Hey, do you know this? Women tend to have less success than men in quitting smoking.
B: You are not serious, are you?
A: This is the latest finding. What’s even worse is that women may suffer greater risks of smoking-related diseases than men do.
B: That’s downright depressing. Lots of people are shrugging this off and consider smoking in vogue¹.
4. A: Look at this. Each year, almost 1 million teenage girls become pregnant and more than half end in having births.
B: That’s incredible. They should be studying in school. Why don’t their parents prevent this?
A: Yes, their parents should be responsible. But many just seem so incapable².
B: It really gets me. Parents should learn to build strong and close relationships with their kids so as to exercise influence on their behavior.
5. A: Oh, no, another two people were killed in a suicide bombing attack!
B: My goodness! These people are crazy. Didn’t the two sides agreed to a ceasefire?
A: Yes, they did. Now look, there will be greater tension in the area.
B: Of course. But what indeed is it that could inspire so many suicide bombers³?
Listening Task
2. Listening Activity
1) First Listening
Answers
1. The speaker was reporting on a school shooting.
2. The speaker was a journalist new to her job.
3. The speaker was reporting something that happened in her city.
2) Second Listening
Answers
1. The casualties of the shooting were four dead and at least 10 more wounded.
2. The speaker stopped before she reached a student witness because she couldn’t stand having her recollect⁴ the shooting.
3. The speaker wept because her job conflicted with her emotion.
4. Finally she realized the value of her job.
Script
A journalist’s first journey
The bulletin announced there had been a shooting at a Jonesboro middle school. Four children were dead and at least 10 more wounded. I stared at the screen. “Jonesboro?” I thought. “I didn’t know there was another Jonesboro ... But it says ‘Arkansas’. That doesn’t make sense.”
Finally it began to sink in. Something has happened here. “What school?” I screamed at the television. I turned to our local station. Nothing, only some talk show about teen romances.
I rushed out the door, and made my way across town. Everything seemed fairly normal. People seemed to be going about their business as they always did in this quiet little city. But something hung in the air. I looked closer at the faces and saw masks of shock.
The next day I was sent to the school to report on the shooting. I found a student and walked to her, but about five feet away, I stopped dead in my tracks.
“Oh my God!” I thought. “I can’t do this! These are my own people. I can’t go up to her and ask how she felt seeing her classmates shot up, or how she felt seeing the blood of her best friend pool around her feet as it sought cracks in the concrete. And I can’t explain to her that I’m only asking because the rest of the world wants to read about it.”
I panicked. I wanted to scream to everyone to get the hell out of here. If they would all just go away, things would be okay, and we would realize that none of this really happened! I looked around wildly, expecting someone to slap me and curse me for even thinking about bothering that little girl. But no one noticed me. Everyone was still rushing back and forth⁵. I wondered what God was thinking as He watched this. A small-framed woman was to my right, walking in circles as she talked on a cell phone, “Beautiful, that’s beautiful! Go with it!” The arm not holding the phone was waving in the air like a politician pledging promises.
I turned toward the brick wall and wept. Feeling as if I had cleansed⁶ some of the horrible, greedy filth⁷ from my soul, I regrouped. I was here to tell a story, to document evils done to our children, to possibly find some shred⁸ of reason why two young boys felt so violent that they gunned down their classmates. I would do my best to help bring to light the forces that destroyed lives.
Hiding behind my camera, I wandered around the grounds and soon blended with the rest of the people, scurrying⁹ back and forth, intensely focused on the job at hand.
Real World Listening
1. Predict
Answer
□ Traffic lights were turned off.
2. Get the Main Ideas
Answers
1. Because she had a dog to take care of at home.
2. He had to walk down 86 flights of stairs.
3. No, it was just an extraordinary electrical blackout.
4. By pay phones.
5. No, he was relaxed because he said that it was interesting to see what happened to a city when there was no power.
Script and Answers to Self-study
Blackout
Broadcaster: Pedestrians¹⁰ swarmed¹¹ the streets of New York City Thursday afternoon as a blackout halted subways and buses, turned off traffic signals and flushed workers out of businesses where the air conditioning and elevators had suddenly stopped working. Throngs¹² of people, smiling and laughing for the most part, walked alongside cars across the bridges out of the city. Our cameras showed dozens of people in the back of a van, apparently¹³ hitching¹⁴ a ride. The people smiled and talked on cell phones as the van pulled away from an intersection¹⁵. Other people licked ice cream put at risk because of the lack of power for freezers on a day where the temperature topped 90 degrees. Our reporter talked to some of them.
Carol: I work in Jersey¹⁶ City and live in New York. I’m waiting for a ferry ride back home. This might be a mistake. But I have a dog, and there’s no way I’m staying in Jersey while my dog sweats to death.
James: I was on top of the Empire State Building when the power went out. We had to walk down 86 flights of stairs. I kept thinking about the Twin Towers and how I would get down. But everybody was calm. We want to see the lights tonight. We hope it doesn’t last too long.
Jessica: I’m scared. It’s that unknown “what’s going on” feeling. Everyone’s panicking. The city’s shutting down. People that would normally be inside are outside because they are baking in their buildings. The temperature is 91 degrees.
Rachel: I’ve done this before--this is just like Sept. 11th. I don’t know where I’m going tonight, but I can’t drive home. I ended up staying with a nice guy in Jersey City whose family took me in. I’m worried about my elderly mother. In times like this, you want to be with your family. I thought the chaos¹⁷ was caused by terrorism, but they say it’s nothing more than an extraordinary electrical blackout.
Cathy: There seems to be problems getting cell lines out. People walking by are asking, “You have a cell phone line?” and for the first time there are lines at pay phones here. But the streets are more crowded now than I’ve seen in a long time. There’s no air conditioning inside. It looks like a lot places have given up and closed up for the day.
Kevin: I don’t know what’s happened yet. It’s just interesting to see what happens to a city when they have no power. I’m going to hang out here for a while, and maybe the subway will start working again. Otherwise it’s a long walk home.

1 Vogue   

n.时髦，时尚；adj.流行的

参考例句：

• Flowery carpets became the vogue.花卉地毯变成了时髦货。
• Short hair came back into vogue about ten years ago.大约十年前短发又开始流行起来了。

2 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

3 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 recollect   

v.回忆，想起，记起，忆起，记得

参考例句：

• He tried to recollect things and drown himself in them.他极力回想过去的事情而沉浸于回忆之中。
• She could not recollect being there.她回想不起曾经到过那儿。

5 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

6 cleansed   

弄干净，清洗( cleanse的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The nurse cleansed the wound before stitching it. 护士先把伤口弄干净后才把它缝合。
• The notorious Hell Row was burned down in a fire, and much dirt was cleansed away. 臭名远场的阎王路已在一场大火中化为乌有，许多焦土灰烬被清除一空。

7 filth   

n.肮脏，污物，污秽；淫猥

参考例句：

• I don't know how you can read such filth.我不明白你怎么会去读这种淫秽下流的东西。
• The dialogue was all filth and innuendo.这段对话全是下流的言辞和影射。

8 shred   

v.撕成碎片，变成碎片；n.碎布条，细片，些少

参考例句：

• There is not a shred of truth in what he says.他说的全是骗人的鬼话。
• The food processor can shred all kinds of vegetables.这架食品加工机可将各种蔬菜切丝切条。

9 scurrying   

v.急匆匆地走( scurry的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• We could hear the mice scurrying about in the walls. 我们能听见老鼠在墙里乱跑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• We were scurrying about until the last minute before the party. 聚会开始前我们一直不停地忙忙碌碌。 来自辞典例句

10 pedestrians   

n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Several pedestrians had come to grief on the icy pavement. 几个行人在结冰的人行道上滑倒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Pedestrians keep to the sidewalk [footpath]! 行人走便道。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 swarmed   

密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• When the bell rang, the children swarmed out of the school. 铃声一响，孩子们蜂拥而出离开了学校。
• When the rain started the crowd swarmed back into the hotel. 雨一开始下，人群就蜂拥回了旅社。

12 throngs   

n.人群( throng的名词复数 )v.成群，挤满( throng的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She muscled through the throngs of people, frantically searching for David. 她使劲挤过人群，拼命寻找戴维。 来自辞典例句
• Our friends threaded their way slowly through the throngs upon the Bridge. 我们这两位朋友在桥上从人群中穿过，慢慢地往前走。 来自辞典例句

13 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

14 hitching   

搭乘； （免费）搭乘他人之车( hitch的现在分词 )； 搭便车； 攀上； 跃上

参考例句：

• The farmer yoked the oxen before hitching them to the wagon. 农夫在将牛套上大车之前先给它们套上轭。
• I saw an old man hitching along on his stick. 我看见一位老人拄着手杖蹒跚而行。

15 intersection   

n.交集，十字路口，交叉点；[计算机] 交集

参考例句：

• There is a stop sign at an intersection.在交叉路口处有停车标志。
• Bridges are used to avoid the intersection of a railway and a highway.桥用来避免铁路和公路直接交叉。

16 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

17 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。