新世纪大学英语视听说听力原文单元

U N I T1O u r E a r t h Track 4-1-2& 4-1-3

Blake: What are you working on, Mary?

Mary: I'm finishing my paper. It's due tomorrow, Blake.

Blake: What's the topic?

Mary: It's about Greenland.

Blake: Greenland. Hmmm . . . that's part of Canada, right?

Mary: I think you need to study your world geography, Blake.

Blake: Well, isn't it near Canada?

Mary: Yes, it's off the coast of northeast Canada, but it's part of Denmark.

Blake: Oh, I didn't know that. Well, what's your paper about exactly?

Mary: In my paper, I answer the question "Is Greenland really green?" In other words, is Greenland covered by a lot of plants and trees?

Blake: Is it?

Mary: What do you think?

Blake: Let's see . . . Greenland is in the Arctic Circle-way up north. It's cold, . . . so "Is Greenland really green?" I'd answer "probably not."

Mary: You'd be correct. It's too cold there. In the north, a lot of the ground is frozen. The summers are short, so only the surface thaws.

Blake: That sounds tough.

Mary: It's hard for the construction industry. It's not easy to build in Greenland.

Blake: It sounds so harsh. Why would anyone want to go there?

Mary: There are big mountain ranges on the coasts. They're great for hiking and outdoor sports. And there are lots of animals there. You can sometimes see whales swimming in the harbors.

Blake: That sounds cool! OK,so if it's not really a "green" place, why was it named "Greenland"?

Mary: The first settlers wanted to attract other people. They gave it an attractive name.

4-1-4&4-1-5

Jay: Come in here, Elise. You should see this show!

Elise: What is it?

Jay: It's called "The Titanic of the Sky". It's about the Hindenburg, a great engineering feat.

Elise: The Hindenburg . . .

Jay: You know, that giant zeppelin that crashed in 1934.Thirty-five people died.

Elise: Oh yeah, I remember now. It was flying from Germany to the United States. It crashed as it was landing.

Jay: Right. It's so funny looking, don't you think? It doesn't look anything like the airplanes we have today. Elise: That's true. Why would people ride in a zeppelin anyway? It seems so dangerous.

Jay: Well, some people called the Hindenburg "man's greatest achievement in flight."They thought it was safe, I guess.

Elise: Who rode in it anyway?

Jay: Mostly wealthy people. It accommodated between 30 and 40 passengers and crew. One person said it was like a "flying hotel."

Elise: It sounds pretty great.

Jay: Yeah, and it was fast. That's why people rode it. They wanted to get to their destination faster.

Elise: Why didn't they just take a jet plane?

Jay: Elise! You know they didn't have jets back then. Look, in 1934 it took five days to travel from Germany