现代大学英语听力2Unit-9

Task11)Man:IhadthegirlsrunningincircleswhenIwasincollege.Woman:Ineverknewyouwerethecampushero.Man:Iwasn't.Iwasthewomen'strackcoach.2)Instructor:Mr.Jenkins,whyareyoulate?Student:IguessbecausetheclassstartedbeforeIgothere.3)Woman:Doctor,youhavetocomeimmediately—mybabyswallowedsomecamerafilm!Doctor:Justcalmyourself,nothingwilldevelop.4)Customer:Waiter,thiswateriscloudy.Waiter:Thewater'sokay,madam.It'sjustthattheglassisalittledirty.5)Woman:Thebridewearswhiteonherweddingdayasasymbolofhappiness,forthisisthemostjoyousdayinherentirelife.Man:Whydoesthegroomwearblack?Task2Catherine:IthinkfirstlyIfindtheFrenchlanguage,verymelodictolistento.It'sveryeasyontheear,anditalmostsoundspoetic.Nomatterwhatkindofmoodtheindividualisin,who'stalking,orwhatthey'retalkingabout,thereseemstobearhythmtothelanguage.Andit'srounded;therearenosharp,jaggededgestothelanguage,soit'sverypleasingtotheear.Chris:IthinktheaccentIreallylikeistheDanespeakingEnglish.TheysoundawfulwhentheyspeakDanish,butwhentheyspeakEnglishthere'sabeautiful,low,sensitive,verysoftqualityaboutit.Donald:IlikethewaytheybringtheirFrenchpronunciationintoEnglish.Theycan'tpronouncehsandtheycan'tpronouncethproperly.AndIthinkthatactuallysoundsverynice.AlsoIliketherhythmtheybringFrenchrhythmsintoEnglish—nice,steadyrhythmsandIlikethattoo.It'sjustit,it...wheneverIhearaFrenchpersonspeakingEnglishitsoundsmoregentleandmorelyrical.Lesley:IthinkthemostattractiveforeignaccentsformeareMediterraneanaccentsbecausethey,ifyoulike,importtheirowncultureintotheEnglishaccentandgiveitalotoflifethatsometimes,thatkindof—thegesturesandeverythingthattheEnglishpeopledon'thave,soyougetabeautifulmixtureoftheseriousNorthernEuropeanandtheSouthernEuropeantogether.Susan:IliketheSwedishaccentbecauseit,itmakesmesmileandthewayit'sspokenissosing-songythatyoucan'thelpbutsmilewhenotherpeopleactuallyspeakit.Anditalwaysmakesyouwanttotryandputtheaccentonyourself.Task3Thespellingandmeaningofwordsareveryinteresting.Butwhat'smoreinterestingisthehistoryofaword,orwhereitcamefrom.Let'sexaminesomeofthewordsandseehowtheygotintoourlanguage.LUNCHLunchperhapscomesfromanoldSpanishwordlonje,aslabofham.Wemayalsogetourwordfromaformoflump,maybealumpofbread,butwhetherlunchcomesfromhamorbread,itmeantahunkofsomethingtoeat.ATLASAnatlasisastrongman,andalsoabookofmaps.ThestoryofthiswordbeginsalongtimeagoinGreece.TheancientGreeksbelievedthattheirgodshadoncebeenaraceofgiantscalledTitans.TheTitansfoughtwithanothergroupofgodscalledOlympians,andtheOlympianswon.AtlaswasaTitan.Hewaspunishedforfightingbyhavingtostandatthewesternedgeoftheworld,holdingtheskyonhisheadandhands,sothatitwouldnotfallontheworldandsmashanything.AftertheancientGreekreligiondiedout,theideaofAtlaschanged.Fromholdinguptheskywithhisheadandhands,hecametobethoughtofasholdingtheworldonhisshoulders.Mercator,amapmakerofthesixteenthcentury,usedapictureofAtlasonthecoverofabookofmaps,soabookofmapscametobecalledanatlas.Thewordhasstillanothermeaning.Thetopboneoftheneckiscalledatlasbecauseitsupportsthehead.GOOD-BYEGood-byeisablessing;originallyitwasGodbewithye,andinthecourseoftimeitbecameoneword.Manyofourgreetingsaregoodwishes,butwesaythemwithsolittlethoughtthatweforgetthis.Whenwesaygoodmorning,goodevening,goodnight,andsoon,whatwearereallysayingis,Ihopeyouwillhaveagoodmorning(orevening,ornight).DAISYThedaisyhasalittlegoldeneye,likeatinysun.PerhapsthisisthereasontheEnglishpeoplenameditday'seye,orperhapstheychosethenamebecausetheEnglishdaisyclosesatnight.TheEnglishlovedtheirdaisies,whichwerepinkandred,aswellaswhite.Sixhundredyearsorsoago,theEnglishpoetChaucersaid:Thedaisy,orelsetheeyeoftheday,Thequeen,andprettiestflowerofall.Task4Mathew:Chris,whyisitthattherearesomanydifferentlanguages,andthatinEuropecertainlyifyoutravelmorethanahundredmiles,you'relikelytofindpeoplespeakingacompletelydifferentlanguagetoyourown.Chris:Well,it'struetosaythattherearehundredsandhundredsofdifferentlanguages.It'sperhaps...however,moreinterestingandmoreinformativetosaythatthereareseveraldifferentgroupsoflanguages.MostEuropeanlanguages,withtheexceptionofIthinkFinnishandBasqueandHungarian,Ibelieve,belongtotheIndo-Europeangroupoflanguages.I'mnotsoverysuremyselfoftheactualdetailsofthehistoryoftheselanguages,butyoucanbeverysurethatmostoftheselanguages,say,LatinandGreekandourownlanguageandGermanandFrenchandalltheothers,areconnected.ThereasonwhyyoucantravelfromonevillagetoanotherinSwitzerlandandfromoneareatoanotherinEnglandandfinddifferentdialects,ifnotdifferentlanguagesspoken,isthatseveralhundredyearsagocommunicationwasbywordofmouth.Wordofmouthmeantthatpeoplehadtomove;ifpeopleweretomovetheyneededroadsandtherewerenoroads.Mathew:DoyouseeanychanceforauniversallanguagelikeEsperanto?Chris:Notforanartificiallanguage,no.IsupposetheRomanCatholicChurchusedLatin,butLatinhadaparticularreligiousbasisandthisisprobablywhyitwasthereforechosen.Idon'tseeverymuchchanceforEsperanto;Ithinkit'sanawfullygoodideabutIdon'tbelievethatlanguageworkslikethat.Ithinkpeoplewillprobablyworktowardsthemostconvenientlanguagetouse.Theywillnotsetouttolearn