Unit 1
Strangers Part A Pre-listening Task
Facts and Opinions
Listen to the facts and opinions about Strangers twice and fill in the blanks with what you hear from the recording. Pay attention to sentence structures that you might find useful in your own discussion.
Facts and Opinions 1. The stranger looked at me skeptically for a few minutes and then drove away from the parking lot without a word. 2. Though she’s studied in a foreign language university for several years, she is a stranger to French. 3. The little boy felt strange amid so many foreign children. 4. It seems odd that John could afford a new BMW (宝马牌轿车), for he was laid off from his job a year ago. 5. She was very curious about the way he counted the votes after the election for school president. 6. My curiosity as well as anger rose as I watched him flip through the letters on my desk in his nosy (爱管闲事的) way. 7. It is quite indifferent to me whether you agree or disagree with the argument that men are born evil. 8. It’s queer indeed that a stranger offered me a cup of tea when I was thirsty on the train during the journey. 9. The new regulations imposed by the police are very unusual and it will take time to get used to them. 10. That newspaper is notorious for giving biased accounts. 11. The old lady always slept under the bed with her clothes on, and this eccentric habit of hers actually saved her life when an earthquake struck abruptly one night. 12. Too many people, especially young people, like to use screen names to chat online. 13. Though you can not tell how old your pal (伙伴) in an Internet room is, more often than not you can tell whether the chatter is a male or a female. 14. Talkative persons are dangerous, for they have no secrets about themselves and keep no secrets of others. 15. I like easy-going people and feel relaxed when talking to them. The monitor, for example, acts and thinks in one and the same way. 16. Speech is silver, but silence is gold. 17. Facial expressions are very important. We sometimes can tell from the way a stranger talks whether he or she is trustworthy or not. 18. Instant Messaging (即时信息), or “IM,” is a new phenomenon that has rapidly grown in popularity around the world in just a few years. Some experts now believe that IM may be one of the most popular computer applications ever. 19. IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, is a form of real-time Internet text messaging (chat). It is mainly designed for group communication in discussion forums, called channels, but also allows one-to-one communication via private message as well as chat and data transfers. As of May 2009, the top 100 IRC networks served more than half a million users at a time. 20. MSN is a collection of Internet sites and services provided by Microsoft. Microsoft used the MSN brand name to promote numerous popular Web-based services in the late 1990s, most 1
notably Hotmail and Messenger, before reorganizing many of them in 2005 under another brand name, Windows Live. Some of the MSN services affected by the rebranding included MSN Hotmail, which became Windows Live Hotmail; MSN Messenger, which became Windows Live Messenger; MSN Search, which became Live Search, now known as Bing. 21. Tencent QQ, generally referred to as QQ, is the most popular free instant messaging computer program in mainland China. It enables real-time communication between PCs, mobile phones and pagers. The number of simultaneous online QQ users exceeded 100 million on March 5, 2010. 22. Skype is a popular chatting program on the Internet. The Skype communications system is notable for its broad range of features, including free voice and video conferencing, its ability to use peer to peer technology (点对点网络技术) to overcome common firewall (防火墙) and network address translation problems.
Pair Work
One of you asks the first six questions and the other answers. Starting from Question 7, change roles. When you have finished, the teacher may want you to answer some questions in class.
1. Do you like to talk to strangers when you take a train home? Why? 2. What kind of topics do you usually like to talk about to strangers?
3. If you had to ask for directions when you got lost, whom would you go to for help? 4. What would you do if a stranger offered you a cup of tea when you were thirsty?
5. What would you do if a stranger offered you an umbrella when you were trapped in a phone
box during a storm?
6. Do you talk to strangers who sit beside you while you are having a meal in a dining hall? Why?
[Now switch roles.]
7. Do you trust strangers? Is the age difference between you and the stranger very important to
you?
8. If a stranger offered a drink to you on a train, what would you do?
9. If a male or female stranger of your age needed your help, would you help him or her? 10. What would you do if a stranger asked you for some money to make a telephone call?
11. What would you do if you saw a pretty girl of your age trapped under a tree during a storm and
you had only one umbrella?
12. Do you mind playing games such as table tennis or football with strangers on campus? Why?
Pair/Group Work
Additional questions for discussion
1. Do you often use Windows Live Messenger or QQ? Introduce the Instant Messaging program
that you have used. Describe its advantages and disadvantages.
2. Do you mind revealing your true identity while chatting with strangers on the Internet? If a
stranger introduces himself or herself, do you tend to trust him or her? Why or why not?
While chatting with strangers on the Internet, I usually would not reveal my true identity to strangers and few strangers would reveal their true identity to me, either. I think there are several reasons for this practice. First, there’s no need for me to reveal my true identity to strangers. Second, there’s no way to check what a stranger says on the Internet. Third, the main reason for me to chat on the Internet is to kill time, like writing some witty words to amuse others or getting some funny responses from others. That’s all. So there’s no reason for me to know or
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provide true identity in Internet chat rooms.
3. Do you chat with strangers on a train when going home during the vacation in order to kill time?
What kind of persons do you choose to talk to?
Well, it depends. If I travel alone, I would probably chat with strangers on a train, especially during a long journey. Of course, I chat with strangers in order to kill time and would pick persons of my age to talk to. I think people of the same generation usually share a lot in common and do not have a barrier in exchanging ideas or in understanding each other. The other type of persons I’d like to talk to is children. In my view, children are more sincere and less sophisticated than adults. Besides, they are easy to get along with. Part B I. Listening Tasks
Text 1
The Umbrella Man (Part One)
Word Bank café n. 咖啡馆 cool a. 冷漠的，冷淡的 distant a. 疏远的；冷淡的
Tapescript （woman’s voice）
The Umbrella Man (Part One)
I’m going to tell you about a funny thing that happened to my mother and me yesterday evening. Yesterday afternoon, my mother took me to London to see the dentist. After that, we went to a café. When we came out of the café, it was raining. “We must get a taxi,” my mother said. Lots of them came by, but they all had passengers inside them.
Just then a man came up to us. He was a small man and he was probably seventy or more. He said to my mother politely, “Excuse me.” He was under an umbrella which he held high over his head.
“Yes?” my mother said, very cool and distant.
“I wonder if I could ask a small favour of you,” he said. I saw my mother looking at him suspiciously. She is a suspicious person, my mother. The little man was saying, “I need some help.”
My mother was staring down at him along the full length of her nose. I wanted to say to her, “Oh mummy, he’s a very old man, and he’s polite, and he’s in some sort of trouble, so be nice to him.” But I didn’t say anything.
“I’ve never forgotten it before,” he said.
“You’ve never forgotten what?” my mother asked.
“My wallet,” he said. “I must’ve left it in my other jacket.” “Are you asking me to give you money?” my mother said.
“No, I’m offering you this umbrella to protect you and to keep, if you would give me a pound for my taxi fare just to get me home.”
“Why don’t you walk home?” my mother asked.
“Oh, I don’t think I could manage it. I’ve gone too far already.” The idea of getting an umbrella to shelter was very attractive.
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“It’s a lovely silk umbrella,” the little man said. “Why don’t you take it, madam? It cost me over twenty pounds, but that isn’t important because I want to get home.”
“I don’t think it’s quite right that I should take an umbrella from you worth twenty pounds. I think I’d better just give you the taxi fare.”
“No, no, no!” he cried. “I would never accept money from you like that! Take the umbrella, dear lady, and keep the rain off your shoulders.”
She took out a pound and gave it to the little man. He took it and gave her the umbrella. He said, “Thank you, madam, thank you.” Then he was gone.
Notes
1. This text is adapted from a story written by Roald Dahl, from the book Reward, authored by Simon Greenall.
2. …very cool and distant. …the mother’s tone remained very unemotional and kept the distance between them.
3. The differences between British English and American English
Well, it’s easy to say that British English is the form of English used in the United Kingdom. It includes all English dialects used within the United Kingdom. And American English is the form of English used in the United States. It includes all English dialects used within the United States. Yet, the major differences lie in pronunciation and vocabulary. Take vocabulary for an example:
Chinese equivalents Br. E. Am. E. pub bar 小酒馆 lift elevator 电梯 underground subway 地铁 taxi cab 的士 trousers pants 裤子 film movie 电影 luggage baggage 行李 biscuit cracker 饼干 flat apartment 公寓
Exercise 1
Listen to the recording and choose the best answer to each question you hear.
1. Why did the mother stay very cool and distant when she was offered an umbrella? a. Because it was not raining hard. b. Because there were several umbrellas available in the café. c. Because the old man behaved very suspiciously. d. Because the mother was a suspicious person.
2. What was the narrator's first reaction when the old man asked her mother for help? a. She was disgusted by his begging. b. She felt sympathy for him. c. She remained indifferent to what he said. d. She thought he was very suspicious.
3. What was the mother's first reaction when the old man asked a small favour of her? a. She thought he was a beggar. b. She didn’t think he was sincere enough. c. She thought he behaved very suspiciously. d. She believed he was playing his old trick.
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4. Why did the old man just ask for one pound for such an expensive silk umbrella? a. Because he needed that amount of money badly. b. Because the silk umbrella was a little worn out and worth just that amount. c. Because any person would not mind giving away that amount of money. d. Because he really wanted to help the mother and her daughter.
5. What made the mother change her mind and agree to give one pound for the silk umbrella? a. The expensive silk umbrella attracted her. b. The old man was really sincere and eager to get home. c. She thought it was really a good bargain and she just couldn’t refuse it. d. The old man was very tactful in persuading her to take the umbrella.
Exercise 2
Listen to the recording again and write down the names of the speakers before the following sentences. The first one is already done for you.
Who Are the Speakers?
1. daughter “Oh mummy, he’s a very old man, and he’s polite, and he’s in some sort of trouble,
so be nice to him.”
2. _______ “I’ve never forgotten it before.” 3. _______ “You’ve never forgotten what?”
4. _______ “My wallet. I must’ve left it in my other jacket.” 5. _______ “Are you asking me to give you money?”
6. _______ “No, I’m offering you this umbrella to protect you and to keep, if you would give me a
pound for my taxi fare just to get me home.”
7. _______ “Why don’t you walk home?”
8. _______ “Oh, I don’t think I could manage it. I’ve gone too far already.”
Key:
2. old man 3. mother 4. old man 5. mother 6. old man 7. mother 8. old man
Text 2
The Umbrella Man (Part Two)
Word Bank barman n. 酒吧间招待员 in one go 一下子，一口气 rack n. 架
Tapescript
The Umbrella Man (Part Two)
“Come under here and keep dry, darling,” my mother said. “Aren’t we lucky! I’ve never had a silk umbrella before.”
“Why were you so unpleasant to him?” I asked.
“I wanted to be sure he was a gentleman. I’m very pleased I was able to help him.”
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