学术综合英语听力材料

新编研究生英语系列教材

学术综合英语Comprehensive Academic English For Graduates

听力材料

罗立胜

上海外语教育出版社

目录

Unit 1 Presenting a Speech (1)

Road Building (1)

The Mississippi River in America (1)

Unit 2 Energy Conservation (2)

An Eyewitness to Changes in China (2)

Talk with ―Harry Potter‖ –Daniel Radcliffe Answers Questions form Fans (4)

Unit 3 Traffic (5)

Driving While on a Cell Phone Worse Than Driving While Drunk (5)

Quake Kills at Least 300 on Indonesian Island (6)

Unit 4 Social Behavior (7)

The Men’s Movement: What Does It Mean to Be a Man? (7)

Husbands and Wives: a Caller form Northbridge (8)

Unit 5 Population (9)

Suicide on Campus (9)

China vs. India (11)

Unit 6 A City in China (12)

What Does the Future Hold for Marriage? (12)

Should Teacher Have the Power to Search for Knives? (12)

Unit 7 Dishonoring the Honor System (13)

Opening Speech for the UK’s First Disabled People’s Parliament (13)

Opening Speech for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games (14)

Unit 8 PEI Energy Framework (15)

Nuclear Power Plants (15)

Should There Be More Nuclear Power Plants in the US? (15)

Unit 1 Presenting a Speech

Road Building

Good morning, ev eryone. Today I'l l be talking about the relationship between r oa d building and the development of the American economy during the 18th century. About 300 years ago, the United States' econ omy was growing rapidly, mainly becau se of a booming trade in two important ag ricultural products: grain and cotton.

Grain output in the eastern part of America increased quickly at th at time due to the rapidly growing population an d the large number of immigrants from Europe. As a result, the demand for grain almost dou bled. For this reason, the trade in grain first developed in this part of the country. At the same time, th e road system was gradually built up in order to transport the grain from the rural areas to various cities. The road building clearly helped develop the econ omy quickly in these areas an d in th e cities as well.

During the same period, farmers in the South could get a large amount of laborers from Africa, an d they started to grow cotton. As the cotton output increased, the farmers needed to sell it in oth er places. As a result, many roads were built to link the rural areas to th e cities.

At first, this trade of grain and cotton took place along the coast, or near rivers an d lakes. It took place there because it was easy and ch eap to transport goods from one place to anoth er. Before 1700, it was very ex pensive to move the goods by road. So, farmers h ad to rely mainly on rivers to move their crops to markets.

At th at time, th ere was only one continuous road th at existed in the US. It ran from north to south along country roads, which were linked tog ether to make on e long road. Within a short time, the first east-to-west roads were built. They were called turnpikes. Private companies built th ese roads an d collected fees from all vehicles that traveled on th em.

Eventually, because of the booming trade of grain and cotton, a network of roadways was completed that connected some major cities and towns. Although traveling was still costly for farmers, they soon preferred to mov e their crops to cities and other areas on roadways rather than by boat because it was faster and more convenient.

So h ere we can see a rather clear picture of road building in th e United States an d its impact on economic development during that period.

The Mississippi River in America

Good afternoon. Today we’re going to talk about the Mississippi River. The Mississippi Riversouth across the continental interior, collecting the waters of its major tributaries, down to the Gulf of Mexico. The Mighty Mississippi, as it is affectionately known, flows a total distance about 4,000 kilometers from its source. With its tributaries, the Mississippi drains all or part of 31 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces.

As everyone knows, in the past the river was the most important way of transporting goods from the North to the South, or from the South to the North in the United States.

The Mississippi River is also a river that can sometimes get out of control and cause serious flooding in summer. Nowadays engineers use four different methods to control the floodwaters of the river. These four ways are: flood ways,dams, levees and reservoirs. I'll discuss each of these here.

Floodways are the first way of controlling the floodwaters of the Mississippi River. Floodways are empty channels ready to hold water from the river. When the Mississippi River is too high, the floodways are opened and some of the water can flow into the floodways. There are several floodways along the lower Mississippi River, which help prevent flooding effectively.

The second way of controlling the floodwaters of the Mississippi River is with dams. Dams are walls that are built across a river to control the water. There are more than 30 dams on the Mississippi River. Dams control the water by holding the water behind them until a decision is made to release it.

Levees are a third way of controlling the floodwaters of the Mississippi River. Levees are earthen walls built alongside a river. They hold the water in the river and keep it from covering the land beside the river. There are more than 2,000 miles of levees along the Mississippi River.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, several reservoirs were built along the Mississippi River to harness the water. They have two functions. One is to hold water, and the other is to generate electricity through hydroelectric power stations. Since the 20th century, no huge flood has broken out of the Mississippi River.

Unit 2 Energy Conservation

An Eyewitness to Changes in China

(Y: Y ang Rui, anchor of Dialogue, CCTV-9

R: Sidney Rittenberg, president of Rittenberg Associates, Incorporated. )

Y: Mr. Rittenberg, you are a successful businessman and also a big name to the Chinese due to your close association with the first generation of the PRC leaders. How do you look at the impact that that experience has had on your current perception of China's reform and development?

R: I feel in my heart that what I’m doing today is a continuation of what I was trying to do in the that is, I had this ambition, this dream, from the time that I began studying Chinese at Stanford University in 1943，I had this dream of working to build bridges between Chinese people and American people, and to help them understand each other and cooperate together. And I tried to do that in the past, working in China in Mao’s day. And that's exactly what I'm trying to do today. I really think that what I'm doing today is more effective than what I was able to do in the past.

Y: At that time many foreigners came to China, but you were among the very few who got

close to the Communist Party of China.

R: You know, it’s quite obvious to me that the only reason that the Communist Party of China was able to win in the final stages of the Civil War is because of their extremely close relations with the people. The Chinese people that came to know them, trusted them and considered them their representatives. This small peasant army led by Mao Zedong had no tanks, no big guns, no planes, and was greatly outnumbered by the opposition, which was the most powerful armed force in Asia after the Second World War. And yet in only three and a half years, the Nationalists were completely defeated and driven off to the island province of Taiwan. Why? Because the ties that the Communists had with the Chines e people were unbreakable. They had their trust. They had their confidence and support. And that was something that the Nationalists were not able to get.

You know, the Revolutionary Army was a poor army, even in terms of the food they got. The soldiers had grass sandals that they made themselves along the march. But what made them do it? The fact that they had a vision. They believed that they were fighting for their land, for their family to have their own farmland, and for a fa ir government that would listen to the people and do what they needed. So this is the only explanation I can think of for why they were able to win.

Y: In the Long March you just talked about, the Communist army had to overcome extreme difficulties. But in the new Long March of modernization today, we are also facing difficulties, though very different. What’s your view of this new Long March? R: I agree with calling this a new Long March, only the barriers are very different. Those barriers were certainly very grim and threatening. Some of these barriers look very good and inviting but actually they are not. I mean, in the days before and during the Long March, the leaders had the task of studying the Chinese reality and getting everybody that they could influence to study reality and from it to derive a set of policies, practical strategies to guide everybody. So people had a shared vision and dream. They were motivated by this common dream to work together. And I think, during the current Long March of modernization, China would need to do the same thing, to gradually study Chinese reality and develop a set of strategies, a common vision and a set of values that most people will share. And then you'll find that you don't have a problem of disconnection between the central government and local governments, or a problem of a big gap between city and country life.

Y: Still, people are wondering in this country why we were able to live with poverty but have problems living with the new wealth.

R: Again it’s the lack of a practical, down-to-earth, realistic vision that everyone shares, in my opinion. I remember after the ―Great Leap Forward‖when there was a famine, many, many people in Beijing, including government workers, professors in schools, their faces were swollen because people weren’t getting enough food. But nobody admitted that it was because of malnutrition. No one said, ―It’s because we don’t have enough food.‖You know, I personally don’t think that, for most people, they were motivated just for a distant future dream of Communism. It was because of what the new government had actually already done for the people: workers got their eight hours

a day, farmers got their own land for the first time, the public health campaigns, etc.

These things raised the standards of living, especially during the first five or six years from 1949 to 1955. Tremendous social changes made people feel, "This is my government, they represent my interests, they bring me real benefits.‖

Y: What lessons do you think we should draw from the Cultural Revolution?

R: Well, I think the Cultural Revolution pointed out one fact, which actually was articulated by Deng Xiaoping in his interview after the Cultural Revolution with an American correspondent. He said that any government that doesn’t succeed in making life better for most people in China year by year is not going to succeed. And I think that was the lesson that was taught: it’s not enough just to have growth of the economy, you’ve got to make people feel that you represent their interests and you are working for them.

Y: Besides making people’s life better, there is another core idea of Deng Xiaoping’s theory, that is, the emancipation of people’s mind.

R: I think the emancipation of the followed the Cultural Revolution is equally important to the development of the market economy in China today. But compared to the economic reform, I think the emancipation of the mind hasn’t gone far enough. There’s still the shadow of the old feudalistic habits of governments and individuals in their thinking and in their relationships. When I say a common vision, I don't mean a political code that everyone recites. I mean a feeling that we are working together to build a common society that’s more or less represented by the eight lines that were raised by President Hu Jintao, the moral code.

Talk with “Harry Potter”–Daniel Radcliffe Answers Questions form

Fans

Q: How does it feel to work with the same group of actors and actresses again?

A: It always feels good working with Emma, Rupert, Tom and Matthew. We have become very good friends and as this is now the third film we have made together our relationships just get stronger.

Q: Are you going to work on any more Harry Potter films?

A: At the moment I am working on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and I will certainly make Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. After that? Who knows?

Q：I really want to know how you manage to do everything you do.

A: I manage to fit in a lot of things thanks to the brilliant organization on the film set, by my tutors who receive a lot of support from my school, and also because I have great friends who I see regularly. I can keep up to date with everything that is going on at my old school via e-mail or text messaging.

Q: Rupert seems to do other movies besides Harry Potter. I wonder if you or Emma has plans to do other movies besides Harry Potter?

A: As I film practically every day on the movie, it is pretty impossible to fit in other films between times. However, last year I was able to appear as the ―surprise guest‖in The Play That I Wrote in the West End directed by Kenneth Branagh. It was great fun and the first time I had been on stage!

Q: Have you found that people treat you and your new-found celebrity differently in foreign countries?

A: I am always completely overwhelmed by the reception I receive when I visit different countries. People are always extremely kind, warm and generous and I feel very privileged to have visited so many countries and seen some of the most amazing sights in the world.

Q: How does working with the new director (Alfonso Cuaron) compare with your experience with Chris Columbus?

A: First of all, I consider myself very lucky to have worked with two great directors on these films. Chris is, without doubt, the most energetic director I have ever met. He was amazing in keeping us motivated and in encouraging us every step of the way. Alfonso on the other hand directs in a more intense way. The scenes in this film are some of the most passionate and emotional I have ever worked on, and Alfonso’s style has been very helpful to me.

Q: Have you ever felt like you wanted to go back to your normal life, instead of being famous?

A: As far as I am concerned I am a normal person. I go back to school when I am not filming, I go out with my friends, I go to the cinema —all the normal things that teenagers do. There is an assumption that I cannot leave my house without being hounded — that is not the case. I am able to do many more things than people think I can.

Q: What did it feel like to talk to Dobby the computerized house elf? Is it hard to remember your lines?

A: I loved doing the Dobby scenes. I talked to an orange ball at the end of a stick. It was very detailed work because as he bounced around I had to ensure that my eyeline was in exactly the right position. It was demanding, but when I saw the end result I was really pleased.

Q: What are your favorite things to do during your time off?

A: I am absolutely obsessed with film and music. I am learning the bass guitar and it goes everywhere with me. Also, I have a portable DVD player, which travels with me with a large supply of films. These two things occupy most of my spare time.

Q: Are you a football (soccer) fan? If so, of what team?

A: I don’t really play football but I support Fulham as I live very close to the ground.

Unit 3 Traffic

Driving While on a Cell Phone Worse Than Driving While Drunk

21:44:27 EDT June 29, 2006

Thursday, June 29 —Maneuvering through traffic while talking on the phone increases the likelihood of an accident five-fold and is actually more dangerous than driving drunk, U.S. researchers report.

That finding held true whether the driver was holding a cell phone or using a hands-free device, the researchers noted.

―As a society, we have agreed on not tolerating the risk associated with drunk driving,‖said researcher Frank Drews, an assistant professor of psycho logy at the University of Utah. ―This study shows us that somebody who is conversing on a cell phone is exposing him or herself and others to a similar risk — cell phones actually are a higher risk,‖ he said.

His team’s report appears in the summer issue of the journal Human Factors.

In the study, 40 people followed a pace car along a prescribed course, using a driving simulator. Some people drove while talking on a cell phone, others navigated while drunk (meaning their blood-alcohol limit matched the legal limit of 0.08 percent), and others drove with no such distractions or impairments.

―We found an increased accident rate when people were conversing on the cell phone,‖Drews said. Drivers on cell phones were 5.36 times more likely to get in an accident than non-distracted drivers, the researchers found.

The phone users fared even worse than the inebriated, the Utah team found. There were three accidents among th ose talking on cell phon es — all of them involving a rear-en ding of the pace car. In contrast, there were n o accidents recorded among participants who were drunk, or the sober, cell-phone-free group.

The bottom line: Cell-phon e use was linked to ―a significant increase in the accident rate," Drews said.

He said there was a difference between the behaviors of drunk drivers and th ose who were talking on the ph one. Drunk drivers tended to be aggressive, while those talking on the ph one were more sluggish, Drews said.

In addition, the research ers found talking on the cell phone reduce reaction time by 9 percent in terms of braking an d 19 percent in terms of picking u p speed after braking. "This is significant, because it has an impact on traffic as a system,‖Drews said. ―If we have drivers who are taking a lot of time in accelerating once having slowed down, the overall flow of traffic is dramatically reduced,‖he said.

In response to safety concerns, some states have outlawed th e use of hand-h eld cell ph ones while driving. But that type of legislation may not be effective, becau se the Utah research ers found no difference in driver performance wheth er the driver was h olding the ph one or talking on a h ands- free model.

Quake Kills at Least 300 on Indonesian Island

Vice Presid en t Says up to 2,000 Coul d Be Dea d

(CNN) —A major earth quake struck off the west coast of In donesia late Mon day killing hundreds, but fears of another tsunami like those that devastated the region in late December h ave faded.

On Indonesia’s Nias Islan d at least 300 people died an d hundreds more were reported injured or trapped, said government spokesman Agus Men drova.

But international news agencies are reporting that between 1,000 an d 2,000 people may h ave been killed on Nias Island.

It is predicted an d it’s still a rough estimate — that th e number of the victims of dead may be between 1,000 and 2,000," Vice President Jusuf Kalla told the el-Shinta radio station, according to The Associated Press.

Between 500 and 1,000 homes were destroyed, and the island’s public market was ablaze, Mendrov a said.

Between 10,000 an d 15,000 people ran to hilltops for safety in case of a tsunami, Men drova said. Many of the doctors and nurses wh o n ormally would staff th e h ospital fled to higher ground.

―We h ave n ot heard of any tsunami hitting anywhere,‖ Jan Egeland, the U.N. emerg ency relief coordinator, told CNN from New York nearly six hours after the temblor struck.

Still, Egeland said, th e earthquake itself was responsible for casu alties on islands close to the epicenter.

Dozens of aid officials met overnight in Sumatra to plan a course of action after daylight breaks in the region, Egeland said.

There was a report of heavy damage on Simeulue Island in In don esia, said Bernd Schell, head

of tsunami operations for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

Speaking from southern A ceh, Schell said ―heavy, heavy shaking‖ lasted about three minutes.

Based on the size of th e earthquake, the National Oceanic an d Atmospheric Administration initially urged residents within 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) of the epicenter to evacuate coastal regions.

But no tsunamis were reported along In donesia’s island coasts, while India, Malaysia and Thailand canceled tsunami warnings early Tuesday.

The qu ake’s magnitude was variously reported by monitoring agencies as 8.7 and 8.5. The U.S. Geological Survey reported th e former after initially putting the magnitude at 8.2; the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center reported the latter.

The main jolt was located near the coast of northern Sumatra, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) west northwest of Sibolga, and about 1,400 kilometers (880 miles) northwest of Jakarta, Indonesia’s capital. The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake was 30 kilometers (20 miles) deep.

The qu ake struck at 11:09 p.m. (04:09 p.m. GMT, 11:09 a.m. ET). It was felt in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore an d as far north as Bangkok, Thailand.

Unit 4 Social Behavior

The Men’s Movement: What Does It Mean to Be a Man?

As a result of the Women’s Movement, more women are working outside the home, and many men are playing a more active role in family life and are taking on some of the tasks involved in child care and housework. In addition to these changes inside the home, men are today entering occupations that used to be considered women’s jobs. More men are becoming nurses and teachers of young children. Other men are finding that they have more female colleagues an d bosses at work th an ev er before, and they are h aving to adapt to women’s styles of communication and manag ement, which can differ considerably from those of men. At work, as well as at h ome, many men today in modern North American society have to play very

different roles than their fathers did. They are, as a result, joining with oth er men in a countermovement called the Men’s Mov ement to seek to provide one an other with th e support they need to cope with the roles ex pected of men in today’s world.

Exactly what forms does the Men’s Movement take, an d what do men in the Men’s Mov ement hope to achieve by being active in the movement? To begin with, the Men’s Movement has no unified, monolithic philosophy. Although there are a number of unifying themes, there are also some interesting differences among the basic groups associated with the Men’s Movement. Several writers who write about the Men’s Movement have identified four basic grou ps of men active in the movement.

The first group is labeled the male feminists, an d these men work for women’s rights and equality between the sex es. Some of the men in this first group are vocal about blaming oth er men for much of the violence against women and for the inequality that exists between men and women in relationships and the job market. Not all members of the Men’s Mov ement, h owever, consider this first group of men to be an integral part of the Men’s Movement. To be sure, the other three groups focus more on men’s issues th an do the so-called male feminists.

The secon d orientation in th e Men’s Movement attracts men wh o join men’s support groups to meet regularly and give an d receive psychological su pport in dealing with problems created by the new roles th ey have to play at home and at work. These men are attempting to learn to better express their feelings and emotions, and to show sensitivity without being ashamed. A third grou p in the Men’s Mov ement consists of men wh o want to g et back the power th ey feel they h ave lost because of the advances made by women as a result of the Women’s Movement and feminist causes. They are male activists. Finally, there is an approach to th e movement called the mytho-poetic Men’s Movement. The men involved in this aspect of the Men’s Movement believe th at men should be initiated into manhood as men were initiated when people still lived in small tribes an d bands in more ancient cultures. This group initiates men using mythology, poetry (hen ce the name mytho-poetic), and other rituals, such as dancing, to ex plore and affirm the value of masculinity and masculine approach es to problem solving. Men who subscribe to this viewpoint worry that too much contact with women an d too little contact with other men has turned men into weaklings or wimps.

So, the Men’s Movement is very diverse. A man who wants to join the movement has many options of just how he will explore the question, ―Wh at does it mean to be a man in today’s world?‖Husbands and Wives: a Caller form Northbridge

J: And now some final calls for Shirley Sloan Fader and ―Wait a minute. You can’t have it all,‖ she says to working women. Hello.

M: Hi, Jerry.

J: Yes, sir.

M: Jerry, I’m calling from Northbridge, and Shirley, hi, h ow are you?

S: Hi.

M: This is just one of those days where all day I’ve been getting what I need. I turn on the radio after I’m done doing my housework, and I g ot what I n eeded in the last ten minutes I’ve listened. I will never, ever subject my wife to what she’s been doing since we’ve been married for the last eight years.

During the last year of our marriage, I was the sole worker. Sh e was home du e to, y ou know,

unemployment. Two weeks after she started a job, I was laid off. And I just can’t believe it— she would come home and do this an d then ―H oney, h oney— let me do it. Let me do it.‖ An d n ow I’m sitting in a little office that I had to create in my basement with — I just can’t believe all the things that sh e accomplished ev en when she was just home. It’s completely overwhelming.

J: How old are y ou?

M: I’m thirty-four. She’s thirty-six.

J: Children?

M: Two teenage girls.

J: Right.

M: Lucky us. And it’s a h andful. And then, of course, after y ou’re laid off an d everything goes from bad to worse — the washing machine breaks. The dryer’s fine, so I only have to waste an hour going to the laundromat to wash an d th en come back and dry, an d you kn ow it’s just one thing after another. And I tell her about how my day went after she comes home, and she says, ―Hon ey, remember when the washer broke before, when you were working?‖ And it’s a real trip, and I really underestimated — I don’t kn ow if underestimated is the word — I really took for granted all the things that were done around h ere and —

J: Are you working yourself now?

M: No, this is just it. Two weeks after she got a job, I was laid off, and now I’m home, an d I don’t kn ow h ow she g ot it all done wh en she was working. She was working and doing the hou sework an d th e laundry an d doing this and taking the kids h ere an d taking the kids th ere, and it just nev er ev er en ds.

S: Right. And that’s why they are so stressed. An d that’s why so many people have answered Jerry’s qu estions saying th eir sex life is n onexistent or we won’t ask you.

M: Well, it is right now.

S: Because most men have no idea of how much there is to do, and th e women up to now have been afraid — they don’t want to rock the boat. Th ey think it’s going to be a hassle, but th ey hav en’t felt entitled, and the more they understan d th at their job is doing for th eir man, th ey will feel more entitled.

For example, a man who is laid off, as y ou are, has the time — when th ere’s an other paych eck coming in — h e has the time to look for an appropriate job. When a man is th e sole support and he has to put the bread on the table this week, he h as to take any kind of job he could possibly get, an d so her paycheck saves him from that — nicer things. When men come h ome now and tell their wives about their day, the woman is out there in the world, too. Sh e really can understand.

They are more teammates. The marriage has more support going when they are both supporting the family and both taking care of it.

Unit 5 Population

Suicide on Campus

Anchor: Good morning, everybody. I’m expecting all of you to gather here for the half-hour Early Show. Today, parents and students alike are constantly reminded of the

problems like drug and alcohol abuse, and unsafe sex on college campuses. But relatively few are warned about suicide. And suicide is second only to accidents as a leading cause of death among college students.

Our Early Show correspondent Tracy Smith reports on this very real danger that often goes undiscussed. Hello, Tracy.

Tracy Smith: Hi, Teresa. I know that today’s topic — campus suicides — is obviously weightier than the others we have talked about before. But we can not give up eating for fear of choking. It is high time we looked at the issue face to face. A study by the American College Health Association showed that 15 percent of students meet the criteria for clinical depression. Although it’s a topic cloaked in stigma and shame, more colleges and universities are choosing to confront it, rather than wait until it’s too late. They have begun to look seriously into the reasons and seek solutions to the problem and actively intervene. Now let’s watch a short film and get some hint of a young college guy's tragedy.

Tracy Smith: Nathan Eisert, 20, took his own life in his college dorm two years ago.

In a cemetery on the outskirts of Louisville, Kentucky, you’ll find the message Tell them, Momma, a life’s too much to lose" on his small headstone.

Jan Ulrich (Nathan’s mother): The message is for Nathan’s friends. I want them to sec that message, because I think it’s from Nathan, you know, I really do. I think Nathan sent that message for me to pass along. And when they come to the gravesite, i t's what I want th em to walk away with.

Tracy Smith: Always a lover of basketball, the 6-foot 5-inch player secured a spot on the Western Kentucky team as a walk-on.

Stephen Ulrich (Nathan’s stepfather): Every time the team got ahead in the g ame, y ou'd hear the guys in the crowd an d every body chanting, ―Nath an, Nathan ..."

Tracy Smith: But early in the second season, Nathan injured his foot. He lost his place on the team but never told his family.

Stephen Ulrich: W e'r e not realizing that becau se he couldn’t play, because h e wasn’t achieving, in his mind that he wasn't measuring up. So all of a sudden, he’s sinking. Right before everybody’s eyes, h e's sinking, and we don’t even see him sinking.

Tracy Smith: Nathan hit rock bottom. And when h e didn’t sh ow u p for a family event, his father went looking for him.

Jan Ulrich: Then the phone rang; it was Nathan’s dad. Ulrich said, ―Where are y ou?‖ As soon as I heard this, I replied, ―Uh-oh ... Don’t tell me wh at y ou’re g onna tell me. I... Don’t tell me.‖ That’s when he told me, ―H e's dead. He sh ot himself.‖

Tracy Smith: How did things go so horribly wrong, so quickly? Jan an d Stephen say they didn’t recognize the signs an d th at Nath an never asked for help.

Anch or: Today we h ave invited to our studio Mr. Phil Satow and Mrs. Donna Satow, wh o became ex perts on the topic after their son, Jed, a stu dent at Arizona State University, committed suicide in 1998.

Phil Satow: A major problem is that a large number of students are away from home for the first time in their life and that can be traumatic. There are so many pressures that they’re facing: peer pressures, ex pectations of parents of high grades, high unemployment. Young people don’t want to disappoint, so there’s a whole series of things that happen specifically at that time.

Donna Satow: Some of th em are also having trou ble han dling th eir romance. Su dden breakup of

a relationship can hurt one to such a fatal extent.

Tracy Smith: Just like oth er services on campus, parents should encourag e their college kids to take advantage of counseling available there. It’s also a g ood idea for parents and classmates to kn ow some of th e warning signs for suicide. The Ulrichs hope th at by telling their story, th ey’ll en courage others, including administrators, parents and th e students themselves, to reach out.

Stephen Ulrich: Yes, th at’s right. It’s too late for us to sav e Nathan, but it’s not too late to save an other family and an other Nathan out there, because th ere’s an other kid out there that’s screaming for help.

Anch or: Thank you, Mr. Ulrich. Wh at you said is what our talk sh ow aims for. Than k y ou all so much for atten ding our show. Welcome y ou back at the same time next week. Good-bye.

China vs. India

Hello, everybody, in our previous classes we have talked about the great economic potential of the so-called BRIC, the four countries seeing the fastest GDP growth rates in the world. Today we will focus on two of them —China and India. Some experts have showed great interest in them. They even compare the rivalry between these two emerging Asian giants to the race between the hare and the tortoise. Who is likely to win, China or India?

Historically, there are a number of similarities between the two: ancient civilizations (the world’s leading and richest at one time); going down the league table in the second half of the second millennium; and starting their progress to modernity in the middle of the last century.

Until the early 1990s, GDP per capita in China and India was at comparable levels. But since China adopted wide-ranging economic reform one decade earlier than India, China’s GDP per capita is now 2.2 times higher than India’s.

China’s explosive growth has delivered new prosperity to millions of its citizens, whereas India’s advance has been more gradual. The average Chinese city dweller owns a television or two, does laundry with the help of a washing machine, and stays connected with a mobile phone. India, despite lacking China’s knack for producing cheap consumer goods, is rapidly playing catch-up.

In spite of all its advantages, China cannot overlook the competitive edge its rival has.

First, India is not only producing more young professionals, it is producing better qualified ones, as well. According to a survey of local recruiters, only 10 percent of China’s engineers have the skills necessary to work in a multinational corporation, compared to 25 percent of engineers in India.

Second, manufacturing is not a stable source of job growth. China has already shed 15 million manufacturing jobs in the past decade. By contrast, half of India’s economy is made up of service-sector companies, which is growing smarter.

Last but not least, China, with its aging population, is likely to see an end to the savings boom promoted by its one-child policy. India, however, is just entering its own demographic transition. Now the dependency ratio is declining as the birth rate and population growth rate fall. This should allow a substantial rise in India’s investment rate.

As these two countries are gaining a stronger position in the world market, what the

international community expects to see will no longer be the tortoise overtaking the hare, but the Chinese dragon and Indian tiger working together to bring peace and prosperity to the world.

Unit 6 A City in China

What Does the Future Hold for Marriage?

Wh at Does th e Future Hold for Marriage?

Eighty y ears ago, Arnold Bennett, Hilaire Belloc, Rebecca West and other luminaries predicted the future of marriage — did they g et it right? Despite its decline in popularity an d rising divorce rates, Bel Mooney argues against the loosening of matrimonial ties. But does marriage really have a future in the 21st century?

I’m Richard Right. My wife and I have recently celebrated our Sapphire Anniversary (45 years), with, hopefully, many years to come. We made a commitment to each other and, through thick and thin, have stuck by th at commitment. Today’s generation is always in a hurry and doesn’t see anything beyond th e next hurdle, so they give up if the wall ahead looks too high. We must en courage people in the belief that marriage is the best social institution ever invented, but we must be prepared to work at it. The gov ernment could h elp by reintroducing th e married person s’ allowance.

I feel very disappointed that so many men feel the way they appear to about marriage. To me marriage is sacred. I didn’t promise to love, care for and be with my husband until next week, or until another offer comes along. I promised to love him and be with him in sickness, health, riches or poverty for the rest of our lives. I meant it. I still mean it almost four years on. Things have not been easy, but I didn’t expect a bed of roses, or everything to be plain sailing. I have never expected someone else to support me in the style to which I would like to become accustomed. I expect to have to work hard for the things that we want. The notion that caring and sharing is somehow old-fashioned and out of tune with modern life, and living together is in any way compatible with the lifetime commitment of marriage is just wrong. Some of us do care, and some of us do commit to another and mean it.

Any man that praises the delights of marriage has never experienced the agony of divorce and the loss of his children. Marriage is very much for the benefit of women.

I don’t know about marriage but the future of the wedding industry is more than secure. My daughter is getting married this Sunday in a beautiful ceremony in Santa Barbara. We had to take a second mortgage on the house to pay for it. I am going to quit teaching school and become a wedding planner — she makes twice my salary!

Should T eacher Have the Power to Search for Knives?

Alan Johnson, the Education Secretary, wants teach ers to have the freedom to search all pupils for knives. It is h oped th e move would act as a deterrent to any children thinking of taking knives into

school. But sh ould it be left up to teachers — or should searching for dangerous weapons be the responsibility of the police? And would such a ruling infringe upon th e rights of innocent children?

As a retired teach er, if we needed to kn ow wh at was in a child’s pockets, we asked him or h er to sh ow us what was in them. This way we avoided any unnecessary tou ching of the child. The child was in almost all cases willing to comply with the requ est. However, th ese were junior children and su ch inquiries did not usually yield a weapon.

Teachers should not have to search children for knives as parents should ensure th ey do not leav e home with on e. Yes, teachers sh ould hav e the right to search children as an d when they see fit Howev er, given th e lack of respect for teachers that the last 30 years of educational ―experim entation‖has instilled into children and their parents, it is unfair to ex pect teachers to risk being attacked Any child they wish to search should first be given the opportunity to submit to the search voluntarily. If they refuse, th e child should be put into isolation an d th e police called to con duct the search. If th e child refuses to stay to be searched, there should be a presumption that they are guilty of the offence they are to be searched for an d prosecuted accordingly. And no whining apologists should be allowed to put forward ―mitigating circumstances.‖

Searching children for dangerous weapons sh ould be carried out by th e police. Teachers do not have the training to undertake su ch a task. However, they sh ould be given the right to search children (or call in the police) if they feel it necessary to protect others. People continue to abuse the argument of infringing on human rights; in these circumstances, as in so many oth ers, it is clearly only protecting the perpetrators, those people wh o carry dangerous weapons. This overly politically correct stance has led to th e death of many innocent people and is continuing to put many more lives in danger. Whatever h appen ed to pragmatism and doing our best to protect th e law-abiding innocent people of this country?

Of course teach ers should h ave th e right to search all p up ils--and not just for knives but when ever they See fit. I’m amazed th at this is n ot already the case. Pu pils’ civil liberties? Ju st anoth er ex ample of PC g one mad. An d in those sch ools where it’s too dangerou s for th e teach ers to do it the police should be available to be called in at short n otice to do it for them.

Unit 7 Dishonoring the Honor System Opening Speech for the UK’s First Disabled People’s Parliament

I am delighted an d h onoured to be here today to open the UK’s first Disabled People’s Parliament.

I would like to begin by th anking th e British Council of Disabled People for all your efforts in launching this important initiative and to thank y ou, the first members of the Parliament — disabled people who are passionate en ough about the situation of th e eight and a half million of us in this country — for committing yourselves to fighting in our name.

Let me start by saying that I think today is one of historic importan ce in th e emancipation of disabled people and our determination to seize control of our own lives. On 28 August 1963, before the Li ncoln Memorial in Washington, Martin Luther King gave his famous ―I Hav e a Dream‖ speech. Five years later he told u s he had seen the promised land an d th e next day he was assassinated. So

what was that dream?

In many ways it was modest enough. He didn’t call for rev olution. He wanted former slaves and sons of former slave owners to sit together at the table of broth erhood. He dreamt of freedom and justice. He said ―I have a dream th at my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judg ed by the colour of their skin but by the content of their ch aracter. I h ave a dream today!‖

If King were with us today and we asked him to speak on disability I think he might say th at he has another dream. A dream of a world in which disabled people are not judged by th e shape of our bodies, or in which people with learning disabilities are not to be turned away from hotels and restaurants because of preju dice. He might dream of a world in which the physical barriers to buildings, transport an d th e environment exist no longer, an d disabled people have the right to mobility an d movement. He might dream of a world in which we automatically support disabled people to live in the community, who sh ould no longer fear being shunted into residential homes ag ainst their wishes.

King had his dream. We can have ours and we can make our dream come true. This Parliament, which I am proud to open today, is one more step to achieving that dream.

Let’s live the dream. Than k y ou.

Opening Speech for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games G’day Sydney! G’day Australia!

Yes, the Olympic Games are back down under.

Tonight we are gathered together to celebrate the Games of the new millennium, the athletes’Games, a unique tradition that can trace its origins back Over 2,500 years to ancient Olympia. Welcome to the athletes of the world.

Welcome to 28 International Sports Federations and 199 National Olympic Committees.

Our gratitude must go to:

?The people an d gov ernment of Australia, New South Wales, Sydney and all other commu-nities involved, for their friendly welcome and hospitality;

?Sy dney 2000 for the excellent preparation of the Games;

?The Australian Olympic Committee for its dedication to Olympism;

?The th ousan ds of volunteers for their ex ceptional services —you h ave made the Games possible;

?The mass media for their contribution to presenting the Games to the world;

?Our partners and sponsors for their support an d th eir belief in the Olympic ideal;

?And also to all of you, sport-loving spectators here an d television viewers around the world. Finally, I would like to express our respect to all those who h ave made Australia wh at it is today — a great country, with special tribute to Aboriginal and Torres Straight Islan d people.

The Olympic Games are unique. They unify men and women of all origins and creeds. The contribution of sport to th e understan ding an d unity of our society is extraordinary. Sport and the Olympic Movement are also an essential part of education, which is the real wealth of any country in the world. Th e entire Olympic Mov ement would like to pay tribute to Greece, cradle of the Olympic ideal, whose tradition g oes back more than 25 centuries. We would also like to honour th e memory of the Fren chman Pierre de Cou bertin, founder of the modern Olympic Games.

To all the athletes of the world, g ood luck!

And I also would like to thank Dawn Fraser for being with me this evening!

I n ow have the hon our of inviting the Governor General of Australia to proclaim th e Games of the 2000 Olympiad in Sydney, th e first Games of the new millennium, open.

Unit 8 PEI Energy Framework

Nuclear Power Plants

Anchorman:I’m Clare Flado. Welcome to this special broadcast on Science Friday from https://www.360docs.net/doc/c414948505.html,. Y ou’re listening to Talk of the Nation on Science Friday.

I’m Clare Flado. France gets about 70% of its electricity from nuclear power.

Here in the US, that number is less than a third of that. France has brought 58

nuclear plants online in the last 30 years. The US hasn’t ordered any new

plants here since the 1970s, following the Three Mile Island Accident. But

that may all be changing. President Bush has said he wants to see an

increased emphasis on nuclear power here in the US, including starting

construction on new plants by the end of the decade. But is the country ready

for nuclear power? Has the technology improved to the point where concerns

over issues such as safety and waste disposal can be addressed? Will the phrase

―Not in my backyard‖ strike fear in th e h eart of politicians? Is there a political will to

build new plants? On the other hand, ironically, we’re seeing environmentalists who

on ce were rigidly opposed to nuclear power. Some of them are n ow saying ―As

compared to global warming, nuclear energy poses much less threat. It’s really the

lesser of two evils, although this would be enough to reinvigorate the call to go

nuclear.‖ Wh at do y ou think? We 11 be telling you ... debating on the nuclear en ergy

proposal this hour.

Do you think we should consider revising nuclear energy policies in the United States?

Wh at do you think about it? Our number 1-800-989-8255.^ 1-800-989 TALK. Let

me introduce my guests.

Dave Modeen is the vice president of the nuclear division for th e Electric Power

Research Institute (EPRI). It’s based in Charlotte, North Carolina. He’s joining us

from our Washington stu dio. Welcome to Science Friday.

Dave: Thank you Clare.

Anchorman: And Arjun Makhijani is the president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER) from Takoma Park, Maryland. Welcome to our program.

Arjun:Thank you Clare.

Should There Be More Nuclear Power Plants in the US? Anchorman: Let’s talk ... with the two g entlemen about this. It appears inevitable, does it not, th at

the gov ernment is g oing ah ead, Dave, with the premature nuclear power?

Dave: Yes, I think very much so. And there’re a number of reasons that I can’t think of. It’s trying to address the greenhouse gas emissions, only one of the many factors that really

get th e Bush Administration to come out so strongly in favor of nuclear energy. Anchorman: In fact, I’m reading from a physics article, an d physicists today were talking about the US commerce’s 2005 energy bill has tax credits with $3.1 billion in it. An d it gives

something important, which is liability protection, which the nuclear industry lost

following the Three Mile. One of the things they couldn’t get was insurance following

that crash?

Dave: No, I don’t believe that’s correct. There’s been a (actor) in fact the industry’s self- insuring and a stru cture that the g overnment puts in place, that really has a model

sy stem, which essentially has no fault. The insurance h as to han dle cost from such

accidents. That’s been in place for the history of a commercial program. Anchorman: So why h aven’t there been nuclear power plants?

Dave: I think, quite frankly, until the beginning of th e 90s we did not operate th e pl an ts a s w ell as we do today. We’ve had a steady increase ip the efficiency and the effectiveness

today wh ere the fleet-wide av erage is 90%, efficiency. It’s the lowest cost based on

generation and by all metrics both the industry and the g overnment say it’s safer and

safer today than it has ever been.

Anchorman: Aijun, y our reaction?

Arjun: Yeah, well, first of all, I’m very glad in this sudden soft comer we sh ould do s om eth in g about global warming. Because I agree that it’s a gigantic and perhaps the most

important environmental problem humanity has ever faced.

In order to address to the level of France we need about seven or eight hundred nuclear

power plants here in the next 50 years, if you want 70% in this country, which might be

bigger than France with a much bigger electricity sector.

That’s about maybe two months, two or three every two months for the next 40 years.

Not in an achievable level. In regard to the energy bill, it’s very interesting that the

nuclear power industry, after half a century of government’s su pport, still wants

su bsidies. Wall Street has n o confiden ce in nuclear power and although a lot of people

are talking about it, n obody’s really ordered the reactor y et.

Anchorman: According to the physics article, the Nu clear Ch oice (Regulatory) Commission certifies the design of a new reactor, a Westinghouse reactor last December and I think

that orders may be forthcoming within the next two years.

Dave: Yeah, I think that orders may be forthcoming in the first 6. The extent of government su bsidies per reactor may be one to two billion a year a couple of years ago, the

congressional budget office h ad estimated th ere would be a high likelihood of loan

defaults. So you know, if th e government guarantees loans an d puts up maybe five,

10,12 billions dollars for the first six plants.

Anchorman: We’ll have six plants, but how far is that going to take us?

Arjun: Our growth in electricity requires 20-30 plants every year and if we hav e 6 plan ts i n 10 years, it’s really a few drops in the box es.

Anchorman: So y ou are agreeing that th ere are n ot en ough plants being ordered?

Arjun: No, I’m not agreeing, but I’m saying that nobody is lining up to really build a lot of

nuclear power plants. An d to say that nuclear power plants are going to be the an swer to

the electricity sector’s roles and to global warming is so far at least a fantasy land. Anchorman: Dave, y es.

Dave: I could offer a couple of perspectives ...