新视野大学英语视听说教程第三册听力原文unit6

M: I didn't, I swear. Ads showing diseased lungs kept me from starting again. Believe me, I'll never again be a slave to smoking.

Q: Why didn't the man go back to smoking?\"

M: What's that noise? It's really loud! Sounds like gunshots!

W: It's the local \"\"youth\"\" throwing firecrackers. Don't go out. They're likely to throw one at you or put one through the letterbox if you bother them. Q: What may the young people do?\"

M: I wish I had left my wallet at home. But I'm sure I put it in my back pocket.

W: Oh no, it's so easy for a pickpocket to take it from there. You should put your money in your breast pocket.

Q: What should the man do, according to the conversation?\"

M: I hate that subway station. Whenever you come out, you're always plagued by beggars.

W: I know, but the kids really get to me. I can't help but feel sorry for them. They look so miserable.

Q: What do the man and woman think about the young beggars?\"

M: The bank called me today; they wanted to know if I spent 3,000 dollars in a furniture shop this morning! Of course I didn't!

W: Someone must've made a copy of your credit card. It's easily done. You'll have to cancel it at once and get a new one. Hopefully, the bank will cover the damage. Q: What does the woman recommend the man to do?\"

How to Solve Unemployment Problems

Alan: I have a meeting with my accountant tomorrow morning. She's preparing my income tax return, and I need to go over some of the receipts with her.

Pamela: Income tax return! Don't you think the government just squanders our hard-earned tax money on some unnecessary projects?

Alan: Sure, sometimes they do, but we are living pretty well and, to be honest, I don't mind paying taxes. If I'm paying income tax, it means I'm earning money. I'd rather be earning money than living on charity.

Pamela: If the poor would just get jobs, our taxes would be much lower.

Alan: Most people would rather work than receive charity, but the situation is complex: sometimes there are no jobs that they are trained for.

Pamela: Then they should take the needed training -- upgrade their skills and knowledge to become more employable.

Alan: Training and upgrading cost money. Some government tax dollars are directed to programs

that help the poor get jobs.

Pamela: But even when jobs are available, some of the unemployed don't want to work. They would rather have a handout.

Alan: It's partly a matter of education. Some people have to be educated to realize how much fuller their life would be if they were not dependent on charity.

Pamela: I think the government should attack unemployment by reducing the tax rate. That would put more money into people's pockets, then they would spend more, and the spending would create more jobs for the poor.

Alan: Many people would agree with you.\"

Alan's accountant is preparing his income tax return, so he needs to go over some of the receipts with her. Pamela complains that the government just squanders people's hard-earned tax money on some unnecessary projects . But Alan does not mind paying taxes , saying it means he is earning money, which is better than living on charity. Pamela insists that if the poor would just get jobs, taxes would be much lower . Alan disagrees, saying most people would rather work than receive charity , but sometimes there are no jobs that they are trained for . But Pamela asserts that the jobless people should take the needed training to upgrade their skills and knowledge to become more employable . Alan believes that some of the government tax dollars are already directed to training and upgrading programs that help the poor to get jobs . When Pamela says some of the unemployed don't want to work, preferring to have handouts , Alan points out that some people have to be educated to realize how much fuller their life would be if they were not dependent on charity. Pamela is, however, more down-to-earth, thinking the government should attack unemployment by reducing the tax rate . That would give people more money; then, they would spend more, which would create more jobs for the poor.

A Professional Gambler

In a bar a guy told the bartender, \"\"I'm a professional gambler; I've made lots of money from gambling.\"\"

The bartender answered, \"\"I can hardly believe it. Your odds are fifty-fifty at best, right?\"\"

\"\"Well, I only bet on sure things,\"\" said the guy.

\"\"Like what?\"\" asked the bartender.

\"\"Well, for example, I'll bet you fifty dollars that I can bite my right eye,\"\" he said.

The bartender thought about it. \"\"Okay,\"\" he said.

So, the guy pulled out his false right eye and bit it. \"\"Ah, you screwed me,\"\" said the bartender, and paid the guy fifty dollars.

\"\"I'll give you another chance. I'll bet you another fifty dollars that I can bite my left eye,\"\" said

the stranger.

The bartender thought it over again and said, \"\"Well, I can see you're not blind. I'll take that bet.\"\"

So, the guy pulled out his false teeth and bit his left eye. And the bartender had to pay him another fifty dollars.

Then the guy went to the back room to play cards with some of the locals. After many hours of drinking and card playing, he stumbled up to the bartender and said, \"\"Bartender, I'll give you one last chance. I'll bet you 500 dollars that I can dump tomato juice into that whiskey bottle three foot away without spilling a drop.\"\"

The bartender thought the guy must be drunk now. \"\"Okay, you're on,\"\" he said.

The guy began dumping tomato juice all over the bartender, but not a drop fell into the whiskey bottle.

The bartender was overjoyed. Laughing, the bartender said, \"\"Hey, pal, you owe me five hundred dollars!\"\"

The guy said, \"\"That's okay. I just bet the guys in the card room 1,000 bucks each, that I could dump tomato juice all over you but still make you laugh!\"\"\" The bartender did not believe that the guy could make a lot of money out of gambling.

1.

Fighting Teen Smoking

The percentage of teens who smoked cigarettes dropped to 28% in 2003, according to a report by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That was down from 36% in 1999 as measured by the Youth Risk Behavior Survey. It's a triumph for many people across the nation who worked tirelessly to reverse the climb in teen smoking rates during the 1990s.

An equal accomplishment may be the discovery of what works to influence teens' motivation and behavior. Success has come in communities with a comprehensive program to fight tobacco use by teens. The best school health classes won't have much effect on teens who already smoke. Many of them need professional help before they can quit. Another interesting finding is that nearly all first use of tobacco occurs before high school graduation. So if adolescents don't start smoking by age 18, odds are they never will. For those who do experiment with cigarettes, new research shows teens can get hooked on nicotine more quickly than adults and by extremely low levels of tobacco.

Now the bad news: while the teen smoking rate is down to 28%, more than one in four teenagers still smoke. Public health leaders and parents are not ready to abandon a quarter of today's young people to the damaging effects of tobacco. Obviously, it is still too early to celebrate a complete victory. There is still much room for improvement.\" 1. What

percentage did the teen smoking rate drop by?

Battling Poverty

Today I'll be presenting a report on our findings on the condition of the world's population. It may be a surprise to you that half the people in the world live on less than two dollars a day, and one billion people live on less than one dollar a day.

I'm going to look at poverty and its relationship to population issues. We must work fast if we hope to reduce poverty by half, by the year 2015.

Our survey shows that the first step should be to improve health-care systems. In the world's poorest countries, people are expected to live just 49 years. One in ten children doesn't reach his or her first birthday. According to our study, poor health and poverty are linked. Women are affected most by poor health-care systems, especially pregnant women.

The second job we have to do, as many of you can guess, is to reduce birth rates. We have found that when given a choice, poor people in developing countries have fewer children than their parents did. A possible reason for this is probably that smaller families have fewer expenses and more chance of increasing their earnings and savings. Since the 1970s, developing countries with lower birth rates have had faster economic growth. They have had higher productivity, more savings and more investment. Obviously we must encourage family planning and lower birth rates.

Now, here is the third measure we must take: promote education in developing countries. Investing in education, especially for women, can reduce poverty. Educated women have more opportunities to work and a chance to live better. Moreover, they tend to send their children to good schools so that they can climb the social ladder.

Held Back Because I Speak Spanish

I was raised speaking English, but I also spoke Spanish at home. When I went to school for the first time, I was enrolled in ESL classes -- classes of English as a Second Language. I was also put in the Limited English Proficiency Program. In all these classes, I always got the highest grades. I was the best reader and speaker. There was no reason for me to be in any of those classes.

When my parents discovered that I was in those classes instead of in regular classes with other English-speaking students, they went to the school administration to complain about the discrimination. The school had nothing to say. My parents tried to get me out of the ESL classes, but the school fought very hard to keep me there. And then we found out why -- for every student the school had in the ESL and Limited English Proficiency Program, they would receive $400. This was pretty devastating. The school's only excuse for keeping me there was because I lived in a Spanish-speaking household, and that I was influenced by the way my parents spoke. My parents were outraged, but I remained in the ESL and Limited English Proficiency Program until I

was in the fifth grade.

Then my parents transferred me to another school where they had friends. The new school gave me an English proficiency test. I aced it. So I didn't have to attend those programs for non-native English speakers. I was finally on the right track and back at the head of the class. The first school I had attended would have never let me out of those programs or even let me take the test. I was too \"\"Spanish\"\" for them.\"

Drinking, Gambling and Golf

A man was walking in the city when he was accosted by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking bum, who asked him for a couple of dollars for dinner.

The man took out his wallet , extracted two dollars and asked, \"\"If I give you this money, will you take it and buy whiskey?\"\"

\"\"No, I stopped drinking years ago,\"\" the bum said.

\"\"Will you use it to gamble ?\"\"

\"\"I don't gamble. I need everything I can get just to stay alive .\"\"

\"\"Will you spend the money on green fees at a golf course ?\"\"

\"\"Are you nuts ? I haven't played golf for 20 years!\"\"

The man said, \"\"Well, I'm not going to give you two dollars.

Instead, I'm going to take you to my home for a terrific dinner cooked by my wife.\"\"

The bum was surprised,

Won't your wife be furious with you for doing that? I know I'm dirty, and I probably smell pretty bad.

The man replied, \"\"That's OK.

I just want her to see what a man looks like who's given up drinking, gambling, and golf.\"\"\"

Why buy lottery tickets?

Charles: Did you hear? Next week's lottery will be 28 million dollars! You got your ticket yet? Joan: I don't buy lottery tickets, and I don't gamble in other ways, either. Lottery tickets are just another way of taxing the poor.

Charles: What do you mean by that?

Joan: Many of the big spenders on lottery tickets are poor. They are spending money they can't afford to spend.

Charles: I just buy lottery tickets for fun. You know... the first prize is a huge amount, and if I won, it would be exciting.

Joan: But you don't need the money to enjoy life, so for you it's a game. But when the poor buy lottery tickets, it is often out of desperation.

Charles: If they can't afford it, they shouldn't buy the tickets.

Joan: But the thrill of a win, of something for nothing, is also addictive, and many people are addicted to gambling.

Charles: You must be right. Casinos are opening everywhere, and many people go on gambling holidays -- you can even take a gambling cruise.

Joan: Imagine being on an ocean cruise and spending all your time indoors bent over a card table or a roulette wheel.

Charles: Maybe there should be some programs to help people overcome their gambling addictions, something similar to Alcoholics Anonymous.

Joan: There's indeed an online program that can help. But nobody can force gamblers to join it. They must first want to be cured themselves.\"

Humanity is indivisible

Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations:

Peace must be sought above all because it is a condition for every member of the human family to live a life of dignity and security.

We have entered the third millennium through a gate of fire. If today, after the horror of 11 September, we see better and we see farther, we will realize that humanity is indivisible.

New threats make no distinction between races, nations, or regions. A new insecurity has entered every mind, regardless of wealth or status. A deeper awareness of the bonds that bind us all, in pain and in prosperity, has gripped young and old... because beneath the surface of states and nations, ideas and language, lies the fate of individual human beings in need. Answering their needs will be the mission of the United Nations in the century to come. Thank you very much.\"