中科大综合英语听力教程Unit 2

U n i t T w o Life and Success

Part I Schooling and Growing-up

Task 3

Directions: Listen to the following passage about the influence of television on children. The passage will be read only once. After listening, choose the best answer from the four suggested choices marked A, B, C, and

D to each of the questions you hear.

Children in the United States are exposed to many influences other than that of their families. Television is the most significant of these influences, because the habit of watching television usually begins before children start attending school. And, by the time that the average child finishes high school, he or she will have spent 18,000 hours in front of a television set as opposed to 12,000 hours in a classroom.

Parents are concerned about these figures. They are also concerned about the lack of quality in television programs for children. The degree of violence in many of these shows also worries them. Even if it is unreal--a cartoon cat beating up a cartoon mouse with a baseball bat--this violence may have a negative effect on the young minds exposed to it. Studies indicate that, when children are exposed to violence, they may become aggressive or insecure.

Parents are also concerned about the commercials that their children see on television. Many

parents would like to see fewer commercials during programs for children. And some parents feel that these shows should not have any commercials at all because young minds are not mature enough to deal with the claims made by advertisers.

Educational television has no commercials and has programs for children that many parents approve of. The most famous of these is "Sesame Street," which tries to give preschool children a head start in learning the alphabet and numbers. It also tries to teach children useful things about the world in which they live.

Even though most parents and educators give "Sesame Street" and shows like it high marks for quality, some critics argue that all television, whether educational or not, is harmful to children. These critics feel that the habit of watching hours of television every day turns children into bored and passive consumers of their world rather than encouraging them to become active explorers of it.

Questions:

1.What is this passage mainly about?

2.At what time does the habit of watching television usually start?

3.How many hours have American children spent watching television when they finish high school?

4.Why do some parents feel television shows shouldn't include any commercials?

5.What kind of program is "Sesame Street"?

6.Why do some critics think that all television is harmful to children?

1. A. Television programs in the United States are of low quality.

B. Watching too much television is undesirable for children.

C. The degree of violence in television programs is too high.

D. There shouldn't be any commercials on television.

2. A. Before children finish high school.

B. Before children start high school.

C. Before children start attending kindergarten.

D. Before children start attending school.

3. A. 12,000 B. 20,000 C. 18,000 D. 80,000

4. A. Because children are not mature enough to deal with the claims made by advertisers.

B. Because children will become aggressive and insecure.

C. Because children will be distracted from their studies.

D. Because children will be more willing to watch them.

5. A. Violent B. Commercial C. Military D. Educational

6. A. Because children will become bored and passive.

B. Because children will be unwilling to go to school.

C. Because children will use violence at school.

D. Because children will become lazy and useless.

In bringing up children, every parent watches eagerly the child’s acquisition of each new skill—the first spoken words, the first independent steps, or the beginning of reading and writing. It is often tempting to hurry the child beyond his natural learning rate, but this can set up dangerous feelings of failure and states of worry in the child. This might happen at any stage. A baby might be forced to use a toilet too early, a young child might be encouraged to learn to read before he knows the meaning of the words he reads. On the other hand, though, if a child is left alone too much, or without any learning opportunities, he loses his natural enthusiasm for life and his desire to find out new things for himself.

Parents vary greatly in their degree of strictness towards their children. Some may be especially strict in money matters. Others are severe over times of coming home at night or punctuality for meals. In general, the controls imposed represent the needs of the parents and the values of the community as much as the child’s own happiness.

As regards the development of moral standards in the growing child, consistency is very important in parental teaching. To forbid a thing one day and excuse it the next is no foundation for morality. Also parents should realize that “example is better than precept”. If they are not sincere and do not practice what they teach, their children may grow confused, and emotionally insecure when they grow old enough to think for themselves, and realize they have been to some extent fooled. A sudden awareness of a big difference between their parents’ principles and their morals can be a dangerous disappointment.

Questions:

1.What does every parent eagerly want his/her child to acquire, according to the speaker?

2.What consequences might occur if parents push the child beyond his/her natural learning rate?

3.What should parents do in the learning process of children?

4.What does this passage say about parental restrictions on children?

5.What is very important in parental teaching, according to the speaker?

6.What should parents do as to the development of moral standards in the growing child?

Task 3

Directions: You are going to listen to a passage about parental teaching. The passage will be read only once. After listening, you are expected to choose the best answer from the four suggested choices marked A, B, C,

and D to each of the questions you hear.

1. A. New skills.

B.Independence.

C.Moral values.

D.Learning aptitude.

2. A. The child might lose natural enthusiasm for life.

B.The child might have dangerous feelings of failure and states of worry.

C.The child might have a desire to find out new things for himself.

D.The child might feel unhappy about his/her parents.

3. A. T hey should encourage them to read before they know the meaning of the words they read.

B.They should not expect too much of their children.

C.They should create as many learning opportunities as possible.

D.They should achieve a balance between pushing them too hard and leaving them on their own.

4. A. They are for the benefit of the children alone.

B.They reflect the morals of parents.

C.They represent the needs of the parents and the values of the community.

D.They greatly affect the child’s own happiness.

5.A. Instruction.

B.Consistency.

C.Strictness.

D.Patience.

6. A. They should observe the rules themselves.

B.They should be aware of the marked difference between adults and children.

C.They should forbid things which have no foundation in morality.

D.They should ensure the security of their children.

Part III Competition and Challenge

Task 3

Directions: You are going to listen to a passage about musical prodigies. The passage will be read only once. After listening, you are expected to choose the best answer from the four suggested choices marked A, B, C,

and D. to each of the questions you hear.

Violin prodigies, I learned, have come in distinct numbers from distinct regions. Most of the great performers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries were born and brought up in Russia and Eastern Europe. I asked Issac Stern, one of the world’s greatest violinists the reason for this phenomenon. “It is very clear,” he told me. They were all Jews and Jews at the time were severely oppressed and ill-treated in that part of the world. They were not allowed into the professional fields, but they were allowed to achieve excellence on a concert stage.” As a result, every Jewish parent’s dream was to have a child in the music school because it was a passport to the West.

Another element in the emergence of prodigies, I found is a society that values excellence in a certain field to nurture talent. Nowadays, the most nurturing societies seem to be in the Far East. In Japan, a most competitive society, children are ready to test their limits every day in many fields, including music. When Western music came to Japan after World War II, that music not only became part of their daily lives, but it became a discipline as well. The Koreans and Chinese as we know, are just as highly motivated as the Japanese.

That’s a good thing, because even prodigies must work hard. Next to hard work, biological inheritance plays an important role in the making of a prodigy.

Questions:

1.Where were most of the great musicians born and brought up in the late 19th and the early 20th centuries?

2.Who was Issac Stern?

3.Why did Jewish parents long for their children to attend music school?

4.What contributes to the emergence of musical prodigies according to the passage?

5.What else plays an important role in the making of a prodigy, according to the passage?

6.What is this passage mainly about?

1. A. In America.

B.In Russia and Eastern Europe.

C.In Japan.

D.In the Far East.

2. A. A musical prodigy.

B.A great pianist.

C.A great violinist.

D.A music instructor.

3. A. Because it would allow them access to a better life in the West.

B.Because Jewish children are born with excellent musical talent.

C.Because they wanted their children to enter into the professional field.

D.Because it would enable the family to get better treatment in their own country.

4. A. Musical Environments.

B.Extensive knowledge of music.

C.A prejudice-free society.

D.Very early training.

5.A. The learning of Western music.

B.Biological inheritance.

C.Variety in academic studies

D.All-round development.

6. A. Jewish contribution to music.

B.Training of musicians in the world.

C.Music and society.

D.The making of prodigies.