王强口语 第一册 long conversation 18.3

　　C:
John: Hi, Victor!
Victor: Hi there, John! What's new?
John: I was just about to watch this video dad got in the mail! It's an anthology of clips from TV shows in the 1950's!
Victor: Oh, wow! Ancient history!
(On the TV screen, the host is interviewing a professor.)
Host: Professor, do you foresee13 man going into space?
Professor: No. The radiation from the sun would kill them when they left the atmosphere and at a speed of 4,000 MPH, it'd take 99 years to reach Pluto¹!
John: Boy! They didn't have a clue then!
Victor: And the use of the word "man" was sexist!
Host: Say, son, you really can sing! How much do you earn driving a truck?
Interviewee: $16 a week, sir.
Host: $16 a week? How would you like to earn $50 a week?
Interviewee: $50 a week? Yes, sir!
John: Did people really earn that little then?
Victor: I guess so!
Host: Could you explain what all these circuit boards, relays and vacuum tubes are?
Interviewee: Certainly! This is a "Thinking Machine"! It stores data in its memory! How big is this contraption? It takes up three warehouses²!
John: Look, Victor! A primitive³ computer!
Victor: Oh, wow! It's humongous! Now, through miniaturization, you can carry all that in your hand!
John: In those days there was no coast-to-coast cable or satellites or even morning TV! They didn't have color TV or videotape. These were copied from films!
Victor: Wow! It's amazing what a totally different world it was! Everything's changed!
(John's Father walks in and talks to himself.)
John's Father: Today's young people have no respect for anything! They dress in sloppy⁴ clothing and dance to noise that they call music!

1 Pluto   

n.冥王星

参考例句：

• Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun.冥王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Pluto has an elliptic orbit.冥王星的轨道是椭圆形的。

2 warehouses   

仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。

3 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

4 sloppy   

adj.邋遢的，不整洁的

参考例句：

• If you do such sloppy work again,I promise I'll fail you.要是下次作业你再马马虎虎，我话说在头里，可要给你打不及格了。
• Mother constantly picked at him for being sloppy.母亲不断地批评他懒散。