unit2听力答案及录音稿

VII Listening Exercises

Y ou are going to hear a short speech on our aging society.

A. 1. Listen carefully. All the words and phrases in Column A will appear in the listening

material. Guess their meanings and match them with their definitions in Column B.

Column A Column B

1) numerous A. very happy or excited

2) preface B. expectation

3) prospect C. cut off completely

4) traumatic D. vocabulary

5) limb E. very upsetting or difficult

6) severed F. a part of the body, like an arm or leg

7) lexicon G. introduce or begin

8) bode well for H. many

9) elated I. throw away, dispose of

10) discard J. be a good sign for the future for

2. Complete the following sentences with proper forms of the words or phrase in

1) The manager

negotiations as they couldn’t agree on any of the important issues.

9) Many artificial

10) These early sales figures the success of the book.

B. Listen again. Complete the statements and answer the questions.

1. Statements

is a group of living together or

with one another for

of a family is and to

4) divide families into two general types: the family and the

include

2. Questions

Script

Moderator:

There is no definition of a “normal” family. Broadly speaking, the family is a group of people related by blood or law, living together for a common purpose. That purpose is usually to provide shelter and food, and to bring up children.

There are many different views on family life. Some people could not do without the support and love of their families. Others say it is the source of most of our problems and anxieties. Whatever the truth is, the family is definitely a powerful symbol. Turn on the television or open a magazine and you will see advertisements with happy, balanced families. Politicians often try to win votes by standing for “family values”: respect for parental authority, stability in marriage, chastity and care for the elderly.

Sociologists divide families into two general types: the nuclear family and the extended family. The nuclear family usually consists of two parents and one or two c hildren while the extended family may include three or more generations living together. Conflicts among generations in extended families sometimes can be extremely penetrating. How to take care of the older generation has become a very knotty problem.

Ladies and Gentleman, it gives me great pleasure to introduce our guest speaker today, Dr. Howard Miller. Dr. Miller, Professor of Sociology at Washington University, has written numerous articles and books on the problems facing older Americans in our graying society for the past 15 years. Dr. Miller.

Dr. Miller:

Thank you for that introduction. Today, I’d like to preface my remarks with a story from my own life, which I feel highlights our common concerns that bring us here together. Several years ago when my grandparents were well into their eighties, they were faced with the reality of no longer being able to adequately care for themselves. My grandfather spoke of his greatest fear, that of leaving the only home they had known for the past 60 years. Fighting back the tears, he spoke proudly of the fact that he had built their home from the ground up, and that he had pounded every nail and laid every brick in the process. The prospect of having to sell their home and give up their independence, and move into a retirement home was an extremely traumatic experience for them. It was, in my grandfather’s own words, like having a limb severed off. He was quite emphatic