大学体验英语自主学习系统6级答案13-14

Unit 13 Hold on or give up

Vocabulary Task

Script and Answers

1. A: My Mom just signed up my little sister for the city basketball league. Now she thinks she is really hot.

B: How old is she?

A: She’s only ten, but she really has the hops.

B: My little brother has played in that league for two years and made the grade. You should see him shoot the ball. He’ll take his shots from downtown and get nothing but net.

2. A: How are college athletes chosen?

B: Scouts go to high schools around the country, select the best athletes, and offer them full scholarships. These kids live apart from other students and train, train and train.

A: What happens if their results are less than impressive?

B: Their scholarships are withdrawn, they either find the money to pay their own tuition or they go home.

3. A: Can you fully comprehend what being the No.1 pick in the NBA means to you?

B: This is now a new start in my basketball life. This is a new league for me to play for, so it will be a challenge for me.

A: What will you contribute to the team?

B: First of all, I will rebound for the Rockets. Then basically, I will play defense for the team. I will also show in the offense all the skills I can now do.

4. A: I know you’re a movie buff, so here is a little bit of movie trivia for you: What movie is the top-grossing film of all time?

B: Oh, that’s easy. “Jurassic Park” It’s the only film that has grossed over a billion dollars in history.

A: Then, what actress has the most nominations for an academy award?

B: Katharine Hepburn. She was nominated 12 times and won 3 times.

5. A: I haven’t seen Phil for centuries. I know he is a couch potato. In his free time, he just sits around and watches television.

B: So do I. Actually, watching TV helps me unwind after a long day of work.

A: But it’s easy for you to put on weight.

B: I know.



Listening Task

2. Listening Activity

1) First Listening

Answers

□ He was not strong enough to handle the physical play around the net.

□ His first games in the NBA were less than impressive because he left the floor early for foul trouble.

□ He would never score more than 20 points in a single game.



2) Second Listening

Answers

1. Yao Ming said, “This is the most pressure I’ve ever faced in my life, but it’s something I have to deal with.”

2. Yes, he made it.

3. He scored 20 points in a game against last year’s world champion LA Lakers, and 30 points against the Dallas Mavericks.



Script

Yao Ming makes the grade

With the first overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft, the Houston Rockets selected Chinese center Yao Ming. He becomes the first-ever number one pick to come from an international basketball league.

Even before he was chosen as the NBA’s number one draft pick by the Houston Rockets, Yao Ming faced intense media pressure and many critics. Many doubted whether the Chinese superst

ar would be able to make it in the NBA. Some thought he was not strong enough to handle the physical play around the net. Former NBA all-star Charles Barkley said that he would kiss a TV announcer’s behind if Yao ever scored more than 20 points in a single game.

“This is the most pressure I’ve ever faced in my life, but it’s something I have to deal with,” said Yao.

Before coming to the NBA, the 2.26 meter-tall and 134 kg center was the dominant player in the Chinese Basketball Association. As a 17-year-old rookie, he averaged 10.0 points and 8.3 rebounds during the 1997-1998 season. Yao has played against elite international talent since being named to the Chinese National Team at age 18. At the 2001 Asian Basketball Championship for men, Yao averaged 13.4 points on 724 shots with 10.1 rebounds and 2.8 blocked shots, helping the Chinese national team win the title, and was voted to the All-star team at the 2002 World Championship.

For a man his size, Yao is surprisingly agile. He is also an excellent shooter and passes well. But his first games in the NBA were less than impressive, with Yao leaving the floor early because of foul trouble.

But after he scored 20 points in a game against last year’s world champion LA Lakers, then 30 points against the Dallas Mavericks, his critics were silenced and Barkley was forced to kiss a donkey on TV. With performances like these, it seems like Yao Ming is just starting to feel comfortable in the NBA.

Among the first overall selection in NBA history, Yao stands as the tallest and second-heaviest players ever. Upon entering the NBA, Yao will become the third Chinese player in NBA history, following fellow Chinese National Team members Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer.





Real World Listening

1. Predict

Answer

□ Billy argued with his father and insisted on cultivating his interest in ballet.



1. Get the Main Ideas

Answers

F Billy isn’t supposed to practice ballet because he is the son of a coal miner.

F Billy inherited his innate gift for music and dancing from his mother who encourages him to attend the ballet class.

F Mrs. Wilkinson is Billy’s secret ballet coach.

T Billy fears that other boys would regard him as a sissy or poof because he practices ballet.



Billy

1. Nothing is wrong with ballet.

2. It’s perfectly normal.

3. It’s not for poofs.

4. Some ballet dancers are as fit as athletes.



Father

1. Ballet is for girls, not for lads.

2. Lads do football, or boxing, or wrestling.

3. Ballet is frigging.



Script and Answers to Self-study



Billy Elliot

11-year-old boy Billy Elliot is the son of a (1) coal miner who is fond of boxing. Though he has an (2) innate gift for music and dancing, which perhaps he (3) inherited from his dead mother, his father Mr. Elliot makes him learn boxing at the school club to carry on the family tradition. The ballet coach, Mrs. Wilkinson, discovers that Billy

has both the ideal (4) physical condition and a natural talent for dancing and encourages Billy to practice ballet. Billy joins in the ballet class and practices once a week using the time for boxing training, but he (5) keeps it a secret from his father and other boys fearing that they would regard him as a sissy or poof. Having found out what Billy is doing, the angry father bans his practise despite Billy’s (6) protest.

Father: Ballet?

Billy: What’s wrong with ballet?

Father: What’s wrong with ballet?

Billy: It’s perfectly normal.

Father: “Perfectly normal?”

Nanny: I used to go to ballet.

Billy: See?

Father: Aye, for your nanny. For girls, not for lads, Billy. Lads do football, or ... boxing, or ... wrestling. Not (7) frigging ballet.

Billy: What lads do wrestling?

Father: (8) Don’t start.

Billy: I don’t see what’s wrong with it.

Father: You know exactly what’s wrong with it.

Billy: No, I don’t.

Father: Yes, you do.

Billy: No, I don’t.

Father: Yes, you bloody well do. Who do you think I am? You know quite nicely.

Billy: What? What are you trying to say, Dad?

Father: You’re (9) asking for a hiding, son.

Billy: I’m not, honest.

Father: You are, Billy.

Billy: It’s not just for poofs, Dad. Some ballet dancers are (10) as fit as athletes. What about that Wayne Sleep? He was a ballet dancer.

Father: Wayne Sleep?

Billy: Aye.

Father: Listen, son, from now on you can forget about the ballet. You can forget about the boxing as well. I’m (11) busting my ass for those 50 pences, and you’re -- No, from now on you stay here, you look after your nanny. Got it? (Silence from Billy) Good.

Nanny: They used to say I could’ve been a professional dancer, with some training.

Father: Will you shut up? (Nanny is silent)

Billy: I hate you! You’re a bastard.




Unit 14

Vocabulary Task

Script and Answers

1. A: Hi, Liz, I heard you’ve just moved into a new apartment. How do you like it?

B: Oh, wonderful. It’s very spacious.

A: Congratulations! But look at mine, there is no room to swing a cat in it.

B: Anyway, it is better than covering yourself with the moon. I bet you will get your ideal house sooner or later.

2. A: Here we are, John. It’s my crash pad in this city.

B: It looks cozy and comfortable.

A: Yes, it is an old house but it has a touch of class.

B: Good, I think we will have a good dream tonight after the long journey.

3. A: Rose, how do you like the house?

B: I had my eyes on it since I first saw it.

A: I like it too. So let’s take it.

B: Oh, it’s so wonderful. We shall have a roof over our heads.

4. A: I visited Steve last week. He is now living in a jerry-built cabin only with a lousy mattress and a shaky table in it.

B: Oh, really? What’s wrong with him?

A: He couldn’t pay his mortgage.

B: Poor Steve, let’s do something to help him.

5. A: Goodness, Joe, your h

ouse has taken on a new look.

B: The room decorations have been jazzed up recently.

A: No wonder everything looks so bright and shiny.

B: Thank you. Why not sit down and have a cup of coffee?

Listening Task

2. Listening Activity

1) First Listening

Answers

1. However, some students are not very realistic in their expectations of homestay experiences. When describing their dream homestay, they talk about their homestay “mums” attending to their needs because they pay good money to be looked after. They also expect their homestay family to be pleasant and happy all the time so they need never feel unhappy and lonely.

2. A homestay is not like staying in a hotel or hostel, where service workers are paid to be courteous and cheerful in order to make guests feel at home. Although students pay for their board and lodging, it is wrong to expect the homestay family to serve guests the same way hostels and hotels do. Homestay hosts provide this service for social or cultural reasons rather than to make money.

2) Second Listening

Answers

1. In a homestay family, an international student is a member of the family, not a customer who is "king” or always right. You can’t order room service or throw wet towels and dirty clothes around.

2. As a homestay guest, you need to be independent and to develop your own interests rather than depend on your hosts to keep you happy and entertained.

3. You can’t always expect your homestay family to be on their best behavior all the time.

4. One last piece of advice: Don’t talk negatively about your homestay family to your college mates or friends.

Script

Just as at your own home

The concept of a homestay experience has become popular recently, especially among international students and working people researching into the practices of host countries.

However, some students are not very realistic in their expectations of homestay experiences. When describing their dream homestay, they talk about their homestay “mums” attending to their needs because they pay good money to be looked after. They also expect their homestay family to be pleasant and happy all the time so they need never feel unhappy and lonely.

A homestay is not like staying in a hotel or hostel, where service workers are paid to be courteous and cheerful in order to make guests feel at home. Although students pay for their board and lodging, it is wrong to expect the homestay family to serve guests the same way hostels and hotels do. Homestay hosts provide this service for social or cultural reasons rather than to make money.

In a homestay family, an international student is a member of the family, not a customer who is “king” or always right. You can’t order room service or throw wet towels and dirty clothes around. If you are a homestay student, you are expected to follow house rules, which might include taking care of your own room as well as tidying up after yourself in the

kitchen, bathroom or other rooms you might use.

As a homestay guest, you need to be independent and to develop your own interests rather than depend on your hosts to keep you happy and entertained. Your hosts have their own jobs and responsibilities and you must learn to be independent. You need to develop your own friends in the college or through social clubs. Burying yourself totally in books, with no time for a social life, is emotionally and mentally unhealthy and will make you homesick as well.

You can’t always expect your homestay family to be on their best behavior all the time. Just as in your own home, there might be misunderstandings, squabbles and stress. Homestay families might quarrel over money, children’s performance, too much work time and too little family time -- things your own family probably quarrels about. Problems might arise because of you. Perhaps you are doing something that annoys the family. But bear in mind that even if you are a perfect guest, your presence as a stranger in an intimate family setting is bound to cause some tensions. If it is something you can correct, do so and apologize. Know when your homestay dad and mum want some privacy to themselves and give them the space and time.

One last piece of advice: Don’t talk negatively about your homestay family to your college mates or friends. Negative talk puts you in a negative mood and implies that you do not value people. People are never perfect and need to be respected regardless of their shortcomings.

Real World Listening

1. Predict

Answer

□ They are hunting for an apartment near the university.

2. Get the Main Ideas

Answers

1. The old landlady is fairly friendly to them.

2. They are satisfied with the price offered by the landlady.

3. Both the room and the environment around are very convenient for them.

4. It is urgent for them to settle down.

Script and Answers to Self-study

Hunting for an apartment

(Olive and Bell are two foreign students in China. They are very discouraged because they’ve been looking for more than two weeks and have found no satisfactory place to live. As they walk, Bell spots a sign on a nice three-storied house that says: “ROOMS TO LET”. They go to the front door and ring the bell. An elderly woman answers.)

Woman: Hello, may I help you?

Bell: Yes. We’re (1) interested in seeing the rooms you have for rent.

Woman: Oh, how nice. I just (2) put up that sign this morning and you’re the first folks who have come along to see them.

Olive: How lucky we are!

Woman: Well, you better have a look first. They are just simple rooms. My children (3) used to live in them. They’re grown now and long gone, and my husband died early this year. The house is so quiet now I thought maybe I’d (4) take in a few boarders.

Bell: A nice, quiet house exactly what we’re looking for, Mrs. ... eh ...

Woman: Chen. My name is Chen Hui.

Olive: My name is Olive, Mrs. C

hen, and this is Bell. Weve recently come from Australia to be (5) graduate students at the university.

Woman: Oh, isn’t that lovely? Well, you seem like very nice young girls.

...

Woman: Well, here you are, ladies. Each room is 200 yuan a month if you think that’s O.K. I won’t (6) charge you anything for electricity and gas and you can use the kitchen as much as you like, (7) as long as you buy your own food. And you’ve got to do your own (8) washing up. I’m too old for that now.

Bell: That sounds just wonderful to us, Mrs. Chen. We’ll even cook you an Australian dinner (9) from time to time.

Woman: Oh, wouldn’t that be nice?

Olive: By the way, Mrs. Chen, is this place convenient for us students?

Woman: Sure. It’s only a fifteen-minute ride from the university. And there’s a supermarket and launderette and some grocery stores over there on the next block.

Bell: That’s great. I’ve (10) made up my mind.

Woman: Then when do you want to (11) move in, girls?

Olive: How about this afternoon?

Woman: Fine. I’ll be expecting you around two. And I’ll give you each a house key then. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to have the first two week’s rent (12) in advance, just to be safe if you know what I mean.

Olive: Of course, Mrs. Chen. We’ll bring it with us this afternoon.

Woman: I think I’m very lucky you nice boys came along.

Olive: I think we’re very lucky to have found you, Mrs. Chen. Goodbye.

Woman: See you later.