英语专业八级Mini Lecture 7

[00:27.42]Test Seven [00:27.96]SECTION A MINI-LECTURE [00:29.93]In this section, you will hear a mini-lecture. [00:33.21]You will hear the lecture ONCE ONLY. [00:35.94]While listening, take notes on the important points. [00:39.33]Your notes will not be marked, [00:41.52]but you will need them to complete a gap-filling task after the mini-lecture. [00:46.11]When the lecture is over, [00:47.98]you’ll be given two minutes to check your notes, [00:50.38]and another 10 minutes to complete the gap-filling task. [00:53.44]Now listen to the mini-lecture. [00:55.96]In today’s lecture, [00:58.14]I’ll talk about the American families from the following five aspects: [01:02.63]family structures, [01:04.19]the emphasis on individual freedoms, [01:06.70]the role of the child, [01:08.11]equality in the family, [01:09.75]and family values. [01:11.28]First, family structures. [01:13.58]What is the typical American family like? [01:16.86]If Americans are asked to name the members of their families, [01:20.80]family structure becomes clear. [01:22.98]Married American adults will name their husband or wife and their children, [01:27.58]if they have any, as their “immediate family”. [01:30.64]If they mention their father, mother, sisters, or brothers, [01:34.57]they will define them as separate units, [01:36.76]usually living in separate households. [01:39.17]Aunts, uncles, cousins, [01:41.28]and grandparents are considered “extended family.” [01:44.12]Traditionally, the American family has been a nuclear family, [01:48.61]consisting of a husband, wife and their children, [01:51.89]and living in a house or apartment. [01:54.07]Grandparents rarely live in the same home with their married sons or daughters, [01:58.89]and uncles and aunts almost never do. [02:01.73]Second, the emphasis on individual freedom. [02:05.59]Americans view the family as a group [02:08.54]whose primary purpose is to advance the happiness of individual members. [02:13.24]The result is that the needs of each individual [02:15.99]take priority in the life of the family. [02:18.71]In contrast to that of many other cultures, [02:21.78]the primary responsibility of the American family member [02:25.61]is not to advance the family as a group, [02:28.23]either socially or economically, [02:30.42]nor is it to bring honor to the family name. [02:33.48]This is partly because the United States is not an aristocratic society. [02:39.06]Family name and honor are less important than in aristocratic societies, [02:44.75]since equality of opportunity [02:47.15]regardless of birth is considered a basic American value. [02:51.20]Moreover, there is less emphasis on the family [02:54.81]as an economic unit because the American family is rarely self-supporting. [02:59.84]Relatively few families maintain self-supporting family farms [03:04.65]or businesses for more than one generation. [03:07.72]A farmer’s son, for example, [03:10.01]is very likely to go on to a college, [03:12.63]leave the family farm, [03:14.28]and take an entirely different job in a different location. [03:17.89]The American desire for freedom [03:20.84]from outside control clearly extends to the family. [03:24.23]Americans do not like to have controls [03:27.40]placed on them by other family members. [03:29.70]They want to make independent decisions [03:31.88]and not be told what to do by grandparents or uncles or aunts. [03:36.37]For example, both American men and women expect to decide [03:40.64]what job is best for them as individuals. [03:43.37]Indeed, young Americans are encouraged by their families [03:47.20]to make such independent career decisions. [03:49.93]What would be best for the family is not considered to be [03:53.43]as important as what would be best for the individual. [03:56.82]Third, the role of the child. [03:59.34]The American emphasis on the individual, rather than the group, [04:03.82]affects children in a contradictory way. [04:06.45]On the one hand, it may cause them to get more attention [04:10.72]and even have more power than they should. [04:13.23]On the other hand, because most children have mothers [04:16.84]who are working outside the home, [04:18.37]they may not get enough attention from either parent. [04:21.54]Worse yet, parents who feel guilty for not having enough time [04:25.81]with their children may give them more material things [04:29.31]to compensate for the lack of attention. [04:31.71]Studies show that both parents are now spending less time with their children, [04:36.75]due to work habits and a busy lifestyle. [04:39.91]In general, American families tend to place more emphasis [04:43.74]on the needs and desires of the child [04:46.04]and less on the child’s social and family responsibilities. [04:49.98]In the years after World War Two, [04:52.94]so much stress has been placed on the psychological needs of children [04:57.20]that the number of experts in this field has increased enormously. [05:01.47]Some Americans believe that the emphasis [05:04.20]on the psychological needs of the individual child [05:07.26]have been carried too far by parents and experts alike. [05:11.31]Although Americans may not agree on [05:13.93]how best to nurture and discipline their children [05:16.89]they still hold the basic belief that the major purpose of the family [05:20.83]is the development and welfare of each of its members as individuals. [05:25.52]The next point I’d like to talk about is equality in the family. [05:30.45]Along with the American emphasis on individual freedom, [05:34.28]the belief in equality has had a strong effect on the family. [05:38.10]There is much more social equality between parents and children [05:42.15]than in most aristocratic societies or societies ruled by centuries of tradition. [05:47.51]This can be witnessed in arguments between parents and their children, [05:51.77]and in the considerable independence granted to teenagers. [05:55.50]Children are given a lot of freedom and equality in the family [05:59.65]so that they will grow up to be independent, [06:02.18]self-reliant adults. [06:04.04]Last, the family values. [06:06.23]Daniel Yankelovich, based on a survey, [06:09.07]reports that there are 11 points that a majority of Americans agree on “family values”. [06:15.09]He classifies six of them as “clearly traditional”. [06:18.81]They are respecting one’s parents, [06:21.10]being responsible for one’s actions, having faith in God, [06:25.15]respecting authority, [06:26.68]married to the same person for life, [06:29.42]and leaving the world in better shape. [06:31.60]The other five are “a blend of traditional and newer, more expressive values”. [06:37.51]They are giving emotional support to other members of the family, [06:41.67]respecting people for themselves, [06:44.18]developing greater skill in communicating one’s feelings, [06:48.01]respecting one’s children, [06:50.09]and living up to one’s potential as an individual. [06:53.04]The ideal of the American family is group cooperation [06:56.76]to help achieve the fulfillment of each individual member, [07:00.59]and shared affection to renew each member’s emotional strength. [07:04.42]Families can be viewed as similar to churches in this regard. [07:08.24]Both are seen by Americans as places where the human spirit can find refuge [07:13.71]from the highly competitive world outside and renewed resources to continue the effort. [07:19.95]By this, we are now coming to the end of today’s lecture. [07:23.34]Thank you for your attention. [09:28.54]Section B CONVERSATION [09:30.39]In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. [09:34.44]Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. [09:38.16]Questions 1 to 5 are based on a conversation. [09:42.21]At the end of the conversation, [09:44.39]you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following 5 questions. [09:48.99]Now listen to the conversation. [09:51.94]Mary (W): Hello, may I come in? [09:54.57]John Smith (M): Oh, yes, come in. how can I help you? [09:57.19]W: I was looking for the Economics office. [10:00.47]I’ve been all over the Arts Faculty building [10:02.77]looking for it but I could only find the School of Accounting and Economic History. [10:06.71]Is this the right place? [10:08.78]M: Yes, this is the School of Economics. [10:11.40]W: Oh, good. My name is Mary. [10:13.81]I am a new student and I was wondering [10:16.33]if someone could give me some information. [10:18.52]M: Nice to meet you, Mary. [10:20.60]I think I might be able to help. [10:22.46]I am John Smith. [10:23.76]I lecture on that program. [10:25.41]What do you need to know? [10:26.50]W: Quite a few things. [10:27.85]Firstly,how many lectures a week do I have to attend? [10:31.46]M: Ah, well, the Economics course is a double unit [10:35.72]so there are two lectures a week and one tutorial. [10:38.13]The lectures are scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday. [10:41.63]W: What time? [10:43.38]M: Let me see…you know this information is all in the handout [10:47.43]which you should have received yesterday at the orientation meeting. [10:50.27]W: Oh, was there a meeting yesterday? [10:53.22]I didn’t know about that. [10:54.87]M: Yes, there was. But never mind. [10:57.82]New lectures are at four in the afternoon. [11:00.11]W: Four’s a bit late. [11:02.30]I’ve got a part time job that starts at four thirty. [11:05.91]M: Well, you can’t be in two places at once. [11:08.53]And attendance at lectures is necessary. [11:10.83]We expect at least 90% attendance at this university, you know. [11:14.99]W: 90%? That’s high. [11:17.39]Maybe I have to omit this one, too. [11:21.22]Do they enforce that rule? [11:23.08]M: Yes, we do. We’re pretty strict about it actually. [11:26.25]W: And what times have been set down for the tutorials? [11:29.43]M: That’s a very well attended course [11:31.51]so there are a number of tutorial times. [11:33.58]Monday, Wednesday and Friday, all at 9 o’clock. [11:36.64]Yours will be allocated at the first lecture. [11:39.05]W: Can’t I choose the time? [11:40.80]M: Maybe, maybe not. [11:43.09]You’ll have to talk to the lecturer on the course. [11:45.29]Dr. Roberts is his name. [11:47.26]W: Oh, when can I find him? [11:49.55]M: Well, he will arrive here at three o’clock. [11:52.39]He will supervise his master students then. [11:54.80]But you may have to wait for another forty minutes. [11:57.54]Or you can deal with something else first. [11:59.61]He won’t leave until maybe five o’clock. [12:02.02]W: What a pity! I have to do my part time job. [12:05.41]Is it possible that I leave a message and call on him later? [12:09.56]M: Well, of course. Just a minute! [12:12.08]Why don’t you wait until tomorrow? [12:13.72]He will attend a meeting at Room 302 [12:16.57]this building from a quarter to nine. [12:18.43]W: That’s more reasonable. [12:20.18]Thank you for your suggestion. [12:22.14]Is it Room 302? [12:23.67]M: Yes. Anything else I can help with while you’re here? [12:26.74]W: Well, yes. Do you know what the course requirements are? [12:30.89]I mean, how much work is expected for this course? [12:33.62]M: Well, you have to complete a tutorial paper. [12:36.58]W: What does that involve? [12:38.66]M: Well, it’s a piece of work on a given topic based on some set of reading texts. [12:43.03]You’ll have to give a small talk to your tutorial group. [12:46.42]W: How long does that have to be? [12:48.72]M: Oh, about 25 minutes usually. [12:51.01]W: I have to talk for 25 minutes? [12:54.29]M: Yes, that’s right. [12:56.05]And then you have to write up your piece of work [12:58.45]and give it to the lecturer to be marked. [13:00.31]W: Right. And is that all? [13:02.83]M: No. You also have to complete a 3,000-word essay on a topic. [13:07.09]W: Can I choose the topic? [13:09.28]M: Yes, usually you can. [13:11.57]W: Right. That shouldn’t be too bad. [13:13.98]M: And in addition to that there is an exam. [13:16.61]W: An exam! What sort of exam? [13:19.89]M: Well, it’s an open book exam. [13:21.97]W: Does that mean I can have the textbook with me during the exam? [13:25.90]M: Yes, that’s right. [13:27.54]W: And can you give me any idea about the content of the first year of Economics [13:32.36]so that I can get into some reading? [13:34.44]M: Well, you’ll be getting the reading list next week when lectures start. [13:38.92]All the books are in the library. [13:40.56]W: Yes, but won’t everyone else take them out [13:44.72]as soon as they get the reading list too? [13:46.68]M: Yes, they might. But most of the important ones are held in Closed Reserve. [13:51.17]That’s part of the library where you can go to read books [13:54.56]but you can’t take them out of the building. [13:56.96]However, we do recommend that you buy the core books. [13:59.70]You’ll find them useful and you’ll need them for the exam. [14:02.80]W: Yes, I will. Well thanks for all your help. [14:06.30]M: That’s fine. [15:00.56]Section C NEWS BROADCAST [15:02.85]In this section, you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. [15:06.58]Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. [15:10.07]Questions 6 to 7 are based on the following news. [15:14.34]At the end of the news item, [15:17.29]you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the two questions. [15:21.78]Now listen to the news. [15:24.40]European Union foreign ministers are putting pressure on Turkey [15:29.11]to recognize Cyprus if Ankara expects to ever join the 25-nation bloc. [15:34.57]Turkey is to begin negotiations on October 3 [15:37.63]that could eventually lead to EU membership [15:40.15]for the predominately Muslim nation of 70 million people. [15:43.98]But Ankara's refusal to recognize the government of Cyprus — [15:47.91]an EU member — has cast a shadow over the process. [15:50.65]Further complicating matters are recent referendums [15:54.15]in France and the Netherlands, [15:56.01]in which voters rejected an EU constitution, [15:58.63]partly out of concern about Turkey joining the Union. [16:01.70]One suggestion is to offer Turkey something less than full EU membership, [16:06.84]a proposal tacitly backed by Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik. [16:11.87]However, Turkey rejects anything but full EU membership. [16:15.70]Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul says [16:18.76]the idea of a so-called privileged partnership with the EU, [16:22.15]is in his words, [16:23.46]"illegitimate and immoral." [16:47.19]Question 8 is based on the following news. [16:49.49]At the end of the news item, [16:52.11]you will be given 10 seconds to answer the question. [16:55.39]Now listen to the news. [16:57.69]A team of three American high school students has won [17:01.85]the National Geographic World Championship in Budapest, [17:05.67]Hungary Thursday. The team from Russia came in second and Canada was third. [17:10.71]They received their gold medals after a nerve-wracking hour, [17:14.32]which included burning questions on the capital of Slovakia, [17:17.48]an egg-laying mammal, [17:19.89]and questionable election practices in Zimbabwe. [17:23.50]14-year old Jesse Weinberg from Coral Gables in Florida said [17:29.19]he could not believe his team managed to win the championship. [17:32.47]Like his two teammates, [17:34.22]Jesse wants to start a career in geography, perhaps in politics. [17:38.59]It is the fifth time the U.S. has won the National Geographic World contest, [17:43.85]despite a recent survey [17:45.49]showing that American youngsters know less about geography [17:49.10]than most of their foreign counterparts. [18:01.03]Questions 9 and 10 are based on the following news. [18:05.07]At the end of the news item, [18:07.70]you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the two questions. [18:12.73]Now listen to the news. [18:15.25]A new form of treating grief following the death of a loved one [18:19.62]has been found to be more successful than conventional psychotherapy in some patients. [18:24.32]Complicated grief includes intense feelings that last six months or longer, [18:29.68]according to psychiatrist Katherine Shear of the University of Pittsburgh. [18:33.95]Experts say people suffering from complicated grief [18:37.44]do not respond well to traditional psychotherapy. [18:40.51]So, Dr. Shear and colleagues developed a new form of treatment [18:44.23]designed to get those with complicated grief [18:46.74]to both accept their loss and focus on their personal life goals. [18:50.68]The therapy includes "revisiting" [18:52.98]— tape recording the patient telling the story of the loved one's death [18:57.02]— and having the patient listen to the story daily, [18:59.87]to help them lessen the intensity of emotion. [19:03.04]The patient also tells the loved one things they didn't get to hear in life. [19:08.07]In a study comparing the two types of therapy, [19:11.25]51 percent of people with complicated grief were helped [19:15.51]compared to 28 percent of people receiving traditional psychotherapy.

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