unit2听力文本

Unit2

Part One Romance

Our love story is not your average love story. Although I was born in 1960 and my husband Joe was born in 1962, our story really began much earlier on a trip from Austria to Halifax in October 1947. That is a trip both our fathers took to find a new life in Canada. They did not know each other and could not recall ever meeting aboard the ship. Little could they have known that fate was taking a long journey, one that would unite their unborn children in 1992.

My father, upon his arrival in Canada, lived and worked in several different cities across the country before settling in Toronto. Joe’s father did the same but lived in Thunder Bay, Ont., for quite a few years before he moved his family to Toronto in 1968. Both our fathers were pen pals with the women they would eventually marry, bringing them to Canada from their respective homelands in 1958. They had three children each (Joe and myself being the middle children). What is also very interesting is the fact that Joe’s father and my father both worked in construction.

Fast-forward several decades: I was working for a large bank in downtown Toronto’s financial district. One day as I walked through an underground concourse, I passed a man in the hall and with just one glance something struck me about him. He seemed to have a brooding quality. Of average height, he had large broad shoulders and longish, wavy dark-brown hair, a short beard and great eyes. There was a certain aura about him. Knowing how many people worked in the district, I knew I wouldn’t see him any time soon. Several months later, I passed him in the concourse once again. He was walking with a woman I used to work with. Disappointed, I assumed he was dating her and that was it for me.

Several more months passed and I was now working in an area that was accessible only by a stairway. One day I was going down the stairs when I passed him going up. I could not believe my eyes! It was then that I realized: We worked for the same company! I was floored to say the least. I attempted to smile at him, but he was looking down.

I asked around and found out his name was Joe, which department he worked in and, most important, that he was not attached! Then, as I was debating whether to put my name in for our annual baseball team, I saw his name on the sign-up sheet. That made up my mind for me!

Our games were played on Centre Island, a short ferry ride from the Toronto shoreline on Lake Ontario, and our eyes locked while we were on the boat taking us there. Something inexplicable passed between us: We connected. Soon, we were cheering each other on as we played our game, and on the way back I worked up the courage to introduce myself. “Hi! My name is Rosemary. What do you do at the bank?”

Later, we ended up working side by side after he took a position in my department. Our relationship slowly progressed as we got to know each other. Living in fairly close proximity, we found ourselves taking the subway home together every day. Our friendship blossomed.

On Remembrance Day, 1993, Joe was out of the office on a course. He called to tell me how he felt about me. He said, “I can’t stop thinking about you, Rosemary. And I can’t sleep at night.” That day, and with those words, my life changed forever.

Because we were working together, I was apprehensive about dating him, but after several months of intensifying feelings, we could no longer hold off. We had been dating for eight months when he proposed on the first day of spring in 1994. We were married on May 6, 1995. It was the most perfect day and we had the best time ever! Although we were in our mid-30s, getting married for the first time, God has blessed us with two wonderful children. Life cannot be any better.

So, you see, fate already had things in store for us back in 1947. Some say that fate does not exist, that our lives are just random occurrences and coincidences. We beg to differ. A web was being woven even before we were born. That is fate!

Harry: Well, how about this way, I love you that you get cold when it’s seventy one 1)out, I love that it takes you an hour and a half to order a 2) , I love that you get a little crinkle 3) your nose when you’re looking at me like I’m nuts, I love that after I spen d a day with you I can still smell your perfume on my clothes and I love that you are the 4) person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And i t’s not because I’m l onely, and it’s not because it’s New York’s 5) . I came here tonight because