Unit 10
Section One Tactics for Listening
Part 1 Spot Dictation
Do You Risk Enough to Succeed? During the semi-finals of the 1990 Wimbledon(1)tennis tournament, 16-year-old Yugoslav Monica Seles faced American Zina Garriaon. As the match (2) proceeded, it became clear that Seles’s most formidable (3) opponent was not Garrison but herself.
“The match was so close,” said a crestfallen Seles afterward. “I was going for the (4)safe shots. Even on Zina’s second serve I was (5) scared to hit the ball for winners.”
When things get (6) tough, conventional wisdom tell us to (7) play it safe, to pull in your horns. Consequently, rather than performing to (8) our potential, we concentrate on minimizing our losers. The results can be (9) catastrophic.
If you find yourself shying away from (10) risks, these five tips will help you (10) tap into the adventurous spirit buried in us all.
1. Take (11) dreams seriously.
2. Take it in little steps . When starting something new, (12) figure out a first step and make it one you are reasonably sure of (13) accomplishing.
3. Don’t say “don’t”, The Don’ts, a form of (14) negative goal setting, can be self-fulfilling because your mind (15) responds to pictures.
4. Make your own (16) rules. 5. Learn from your mistakes.
By (17)embracing risk, you will accomplish more than you (18)ever thought you could. In the process you will (19) transform your life into an exciting adventure that will constantly challenge, reward and (20) rejuvenate you.
Part 2 listening for Gist
It'll be a dull day, with outbreaks of rain. There may be some heavy showers in the south-west later, with perhaps the odd thunderstorm. The outlook for tomorrow: continuing dull, but there should be some breaks in the cloud by midday. It'll be quite
warm, with a maximum temperature of about 16 to 17 degrees.
Directions: Listen to the passage and write down the gist and the key words that help you decide. 1. This passage is about a weather forecast.
2. The key words are rain, showers, thunderstorm, outlook, and maximum temperature.
Section Two Listening Comprehension
Part 1 Dialogue
Adulthood Interviewer: OK, Bruce, Ur, why is the late twenties better than, say, earlier twenties? Bruce: Ur, I think that when you’re in your, in the early twenties, you’re just getting over, um, teenage adolescent years, so now I think in the late twenties you kinda know a direction but, um, the early twenties are just too… you just kinda remember too many things of the teenage years and you're still trying to get a plan. But in the twenties, late twenties, you kind of know what you wanna do and you kind of have an idea of, of how to get it. And you know how to settle down, too. You can see a plan for getting things and also settling down.
Interviewer: Hmm, um, is there a time in your life that you think you would call the most difficult time?
Bruce: Probably the teenage years, like fourteen, fifteen ... Interviewer: Yeah? Bruce: Sixteen.
Interviewer: The mid teens.
Bruce: Yeah, I think the mid teens were the worst.
Interviewer: So, Julie, why would you like to be a little girl again?
Julie: Um, I think, uh, I think lately because the age I'm at now, I feel, is kind of a stressful age. Interviewer: Huh.
Julie: When you're, when you're younger, you don't have as many worries and responsibilities. Interviewer: Yeah.
Julie: You don't have all the stresses of life as an adult. I think at the age I'm at now, when you get out of college and you need to find a job... Interviewer: Uh-huh.
Julie: And I'm single and I can't depend on my parents anymore... Interviewer: Uh-huh.
Julie: And I have new responsibilities - just trying to get used to having new responsibilities and also figure out what I wanna do - there's lots of decisions. Interviewer: Uh-huh.
Julie: I don't always know what the best thing to do is. Um, those are things
that I need to learn. Interviewer: Yeah. Julie: Yeah.
Interviewer: So, Ann, why was being in your thirties good?
Ann: Because in your thirties you pretty much know what you like and what you don't like，and you're kind of settled into life. And, at least for me, that was a really good time. Actually, now that my sons are married and, and they're independent... Interviewer: Uh-huh.
Ann: When I come to, come to think about it, I probably do more interesting things now for myself than I did when I was in my thirties ... Interviewer: Huh! For example...
Ann: Well, now I'm playing in an orchestra, which I would never've had time to do when the boys were little and, urn, and I, ur, read a lot more than I did. Interviewer: Do you and your husband go out more?
Ann: Ha! We do! We do. We go out to movies, and we go out to dinner, and we hope to be able to travel!
Directions: Listen to the dialogue and decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F). l. T 2. T 3. T 4. T 5. T 6. F 7. T 8.T
Part 2 Passage
Social Security The Social Security system in the US is a major source of retirement income for many. Thus Social Security is a logical place to start answering the question: Can we afford to continue this trend of retiring ever earlier and living longer?
The Social Security Administration projected income and expense for the Social Security fund from 2000 to 2050. The figures for both income-tax revenues and benefits paid out are sobering*. It highlights the coming deficits in a system on which so many Americans depend for at least a part of their livelihood during retirement.
The gap between revenue and expense arises because of demographic shifts. The aging of the Baby Boomers and life-extending medical advances combine to create an imbalance in the Social Security system as designed.
The system was established in 1935 and was intended as an insurance policy against a poverty-ridden old age, a not uncommon fate for the elderly during the first decades of the 20th century.
The Social Security system has been expanded many times since its inception*. It now covers workers, disabled persons, and the dependents of each. The system also adjusts benefits for inflation annually.
In the 1930s, life expectancy in the US was 59.7 years; many people never reached the age of retirement. In 2001, life expectancy was 77.6 years; most people today live for quite a while on Golden Pond*. We're living longer and drawing from the Social Security fund for more years with each passing generation. The declining age of retirement only exacerbates* this trend.
In simple terms, if the number of those paying into the fund drops as the number of those drawing from it rises, an imbalance is sure to develop in the future.
Barring any restructuring of the system beforehand, Social Security expenses will exceed revenues in the year 2015. At that point the system will begin to use reserves to meet its obligations. According to the Social Security Administration estimates, these reserves will carry the system through the mid-2030s. At that point, if not sooner, one of two things will need to be done: (1) The Social Security tax rate will
need to be increased, or (2) Benefits paid out wij1 need to be reduced. The second solution may involve extending the retirement age to 70 or an even older age. Since none of these options is politically palatable (the elderly have the highest voting rate), it remains to be seen which will be implemented - most likely some combination of the two.
Since 3 out of every 10 Americans aged 65 or older depend on Social Security payments for 90% or more of their income (and 3 out of 5 depend on Social Security for 50% or more of their income) we must ask an important question: Are those of us now in our 30s and 40s planning on an alternative or supplemental retirement income?
A: Pre-listening Question Actually, it is a government scheme that provides economic assistance to those people faced with sickness, unemployment, maternity and retirement, etc. In this case, the cost is paid entirely out of taxation. If the cost is met wholly or partly from contributions paid by employers to the state, the scheme is usually called national insurance.
B: Sentence Dictation Directions: Listen to some sentences and write them down. You will hear each sentence three times. 1. Social Security is a logical place to start answering the question: Can we afford to continue this trend of retiring ever earlier and living longer?
2. It highlights the coming deficits in a system on which so many Americans depend for at least a part of their livelihood during retirement.
3. The Social Security system now covers workers, disabled persons, and the dependents of each, and the system also adjusts benefits for inflation annually. 4. In simple terms, if the number of those paying into the fund drops as the number of those drawing from it rises, an imbalance is sure to develop in the future.
5. Since none of these options is politically palatable, it remains to be seen which will be implemented - most likely some combination of the two. C: Detailed Listening Directions: Listen to the passage and choose the best answer to complete each of the following sentences. l. B 2. A 3. D 4. A 5. D 6. B 7. D 8. B
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