研究生英语口语交流课程学习材料 (1)

II. Useful sentences in speaking

1. It‘s up to you. 由你决定。

2. I envy you. 我羡慕你。

3. How can I get in touch with you? How can I contact/reach you? 我怎么和你联系？

4. Where can I wash my hands? 请问卫生间在哪？

5. Where are you headed? 你要去哪？

6. I wasn‘t born yesterday. 我又不是三岁小孩。

7. What do you do for relaxation? 你做什么消遣？

8. It‘s a small world. 这世界真小。

9. It‘s my treat this time. 这次我请客。

10. When is the most convenient time for you? 你何时最方便？

III. Group discussion

Topic 1: Physical Attractiveness

It has become a self-fulfilling prophecy. The popular television series Friends played on anorexic chic in an ad which was soon pulled.

In some ways, we all have distorted views of what is beautiful. And the repeated exposure to a particular image teaches you to like that particular image. And we have become so used to seeing extremely thin women that we have learned to think that this is what is beautiful.

The mystique of thin began with the arrival of the British model Twiggy in the late 1960s. Standing five feet six inches tall, she weighed only 91 pounds and was dubbed Britain‘s top mini model. Since then, fashion models have become increasingly thinner, with body weights nearly 25 percent less than the average American woman who weighs 140 pounds.

I think there are two primary things going on right now with the cultural availability of eating disorders. First, the whole society is involved in the perfection game, alright, that we all can fix our bodies, make our bodies over. And then, I think, among young women, they are increasingly tuned in to a celebrity culture where the models‘ and actresses‘ bodies are considerably thinner than they have ever been in the past. This is very seductive and hard for young girls to resist. This is not about illness. This is about idealized beauty and perfection of a certain type.

These plus-size models are boldly challenging contemporary ideals of beauty. Ranging from size 12 to 18 they are much more in tune with the average American woman. Now a plus-size icon, Kate Dillon started out as a skinny model.

I think it happens to everybody at some point where you feel one way about yourself. And that your initial, your intuition about who you are is that you‘re a good person, that you‘re beautiful, that you‘re strong, that you‘re capable. And then at some point it‘s met with an outside force that‘s telling you, ―no, you‘re none of those things.‖

I remember getting ready for my first day of Junior High. And I was sitting at my mirror, putting on my electric blue mascara and my frosted pink lipstick. And I was thinking I was like, ―yeah, I‘m fine. I‘m looking good.‖ You know? And when I got to school, it was just, they were just horrible to me, telling me I was fat. And whether it was in PE or coming home on the bus every day, they‘d stand up, and they would jump up and down, and they would chant, ―overweight Kate, overweight Kate‖. And I remember just like, you know, I‘m like sitting in the front seat. I would always wear these massive

sweaters, and I was sitting in the front seat, and just like trying so hard not to cry, because I was so embarrassed and horrified.

Topic 2: Inner Beauty

I believe in mystery.

I believe in family.

I believe in being who I am.

I believe in the power of failure.

And I believe normal life is extraordinary.

This I believe. I‘m Jay Allison for This I Believe. Our essay this week comes from our collaboration with USA Weekend from their call-out to readers to submit statements of their core beliefs.

Lisa Sandin lives in Big Rabbits Michigan where she is raising her kids. And when she read about our project, she immediately began to write of her belief that started to develop the day she was born. Here‘s Lisa Sandi with her essay for This I Believe.

I believe I am not my body. Everyday we see images of perfect bodies we can never have. And we become convinced our bodies are who we are. Passing through puberty into adulthood and now into middle age, I‘ve wasted a lot of time lamenting the size of my hips, the gray in my hair and the lines in my face. Finally as I approach my fifties, I believe my parents were right all along. I am not my body.

I was born in 1959 at the tail-end of the baby boom. Unfortunately, I arrived without all my body parts fully intact. My left arm is a short stub with a small hand and three fingers reminiscent of a thalidomide defect. To my good fortune, I had superb parents. They were fighters who struck ―I can‘t‖ from my vocabulary and replace it with ―I will find a way‖. They believed the development of the mind, heart and soul determined who you are and who you will become. My body was not to be used as an excuse. Instead, it was a catalyst.

My body was not neglected though. It endured surgery; it was dragged to physical therapy and to swimming and finally to Yoga. But it was not the focus of my life. I was taught to respect my body but to remember it was only a vehicle that carried the important things, my brain and soul. Moreover, I was taught that the bodies come in all shapes, colors and sizes and that everyone was struggling in some way with their physical inadequacies. Infomercials have convinced me this must be true although through adolescence I found it difficult to believe the cheerleading squad had any self-doubts.

In my alternatively formed bodies, I have learned lessons about patience, determination, frustration and success. This body can‘t play the piano or climb rock walls. But it taught all the neighborhood kids to eat with their feet, a skill it learned in the children‘s hospital. Eventually I learned to tie shoes, crossed the stage to pick up a college diploma,

backpacked through Europe and changed my baby‘s diapers. Some people think I am my body and treat me with prejudice or pity. Some are just curious. It took years but I have learned to ignore the stares and just smile back. My body has taught me to respect my fellow humans, even the thin able-bodied beautiful ones. I am my words, my ideas and my actions. I am filled with love, humor, ambition and intelligence. This I believe. I am your fellow human being and, like you, I am so much more than a body.

Exercise: Discuss the following questions.

1. Describe a stereotypical beautiful person in your culture. In what ways do you think different cultures can affect people‘s understanding of beauty?

2. Is it better to be physically attractive or intelligent? Is it better to be physically attractive or wealthy? Does beauty affect one's success in life?

3. What personality trait is the most important for inner beauty? How do you define beauty, using your own words?

Unit 2 Biodiversity

II. Useful sentences in speaking

1. Take your time. 慢慢来，别着急。

2. I‘m crazy about Bruce Lee/ rock music. 我迷死 李小龙/摇滚乐 了。

3. How do I address you? 我怎么称呼你？

4. What was your name again? 请再说一遍名字好吗？

5. Would you care for a cup of coffee? 要杯咖啡吗？

6. So far so good. 到目前为止都好。

7. It drives me crazy. 它让我疯了。

8. She never showed up. 她一直没有出现。

9. That‘s not like him. 那不像是他的风格。

10. I couldn‘t get through. 电话打不通。

III. Group discussion

Topic 1: Endangered Species

Climate change is normally bad news for endangered species, but in the case of

Australia‘s Grey Nurse Shark, some scientists suggest it might actually help their fight for survival.

The Grey Nurse Shark is one of Australia‘s most critically endangered species. A survey in 2002 estimated there were fewer than 500 in the critically endangered population living off the country's east coast. On the west coast, they are vulnerable but not yet endangered. Australia‘s two Grey Nurse Shark populations have been isolated from each other for more than 100,000 years. Until now the waters separating the two populations have been too cold for the sharks to come into contact with each other. But as temperatures rise due to global warming, warmer waters could result in the sharks inhabiting the same areas. If the shark populations unite, the extinction risk may be reduced.

Topic 2: Conservation of Biodiversity

The 22 researchers that created the survey are hoping it will help with the

conservation of more than 2,300 species of plants and animals that are found only in Madagascar.

Only 587,000 square kilometers in size, Madagascar is considered one of the most significant of the so-called biodiversity ―hot spots,‖ threatened areas of the world that are among the most biologically rich.

―We had a lot of species and we wanted to use the data at the finest scale that we possibly could, at the most precise scale and the most detailed scale,‖ she said. ―And that means that the computational problem becomes very large. And that why one of the big advances was the availability of a new piece of software that allowed us to tackle so many species over such a large area and with so much detail or at such a fine resolution.‖

Topic 3: Health

Accountant Sydney Brookman loves two things, working, which he‘s been doing since 1937. ―I don‘t wanna retire; I wanna keep working as long as I can live.‖ And telling jokes. ―I can rattle off 100 jokes, 50 I can tell, just by memory.‖

He is 97 years old. ―And I feel fine. Physically I feel great. My sexual demands may be a little less, but I can‘t help that.‖

He is a youngster compared to Rhea Tauber, a former school teacher. She writes a weekly column for her local paper and is working on her autobiography. She recently turned 100.

―They held a big party for me on my 100 birthday and everybody in the whole county

came down. Because they‘ve never heard of anybody who is 100 years old still working.‖

For the last 35 years, she‘s been living on her own and said she‘s happy that way. It keeps her on her toes.

―When I was 100 years old, they said, You shouldn‘t be living alone. You get all

steps to climb up.‘ But that‘s good for me. It‘s my exercise: up and down the steps.‖

At a time when the American life expectancy is 78 years, there is no obvious reason why Rhea and Sydney should still be alive, much less thriving. Sydney‘s eating habits would make a nutritionist weep.

―I love fried chicken. I love fried fish. I hate vegetables. I violate every dietary law.‖ And Rhea is referred to by her own doctors as ―the miracle lady‖. ―They can‘t figure out why. I love the way I do, enjoy life the way I do, go about, and travel.‖

Exercise: Discuss the following questions.

1. Are there any advantages that global warming can bring about to endangered species?

2. Some people think that human needs for farmland, housing, and industry are more

important than saving land for endangered animals. Do you agree or disagree with this point of view? Why or why not?

3. Far too little has been done to prevent animals and plants from dying out. People today

have noticed this problem, but few actions are taken, why do you think people do little about it? What do you suggest to solve this problem?

4. What are the tips for longevity?

5. Describe a health problem that you know. You should say: what this problem is; what

causes of the problem; how it affects people's health; and explain how to solve this health problem.

IV. Class survey (Group Work)

Each group take a small survey to find out your classmates‘ opinion about reasons to preserve biodiversity. Please interview at least 15 classmates. Here‘s how:

1. Make a list of reasons to preserve biodiversity. Here are 7 reasons for you:

(1) To protect possible medicine sources, for example, for cancer or AIDS treatment.

(2) To protect world food security against the risk of disease or pests.

(3) To provide a wider variety of food species for people‘s diet and health.

(4) To keep the climate in balance.

(5) To provide a variety of species that can cope with new climate conditions in the

future.

(6) To respect nature.

(7) To preserve plant and animal species for their own sake.

2. Interview your classmates by asking them to choose 3 most important reasons.

3. Count their choices, and take notes on their reasons behind their choices.

4. Report and discuss your survey results in your presentation. Please include 5 parts: the purpose of the survey, method (how you conducted the survey), results (remember to use the statistics), discussion (how do you analyze your results) and conclusion.

5. Please present your results with a well-made PPT file. Your presentation in all will be within 20 minutes.

For example:

Unit 3 Cloning

II. Useful sentences in speaking

1. I got sick and tired of hotels. 我讨厌旅馆。

2. Be my guest. 请便/ 别客气。

3. Can you keep an eye on my bag? 帮我看管一下包好吗？

4. Let‘s keep in touch. 让我们保持联系。

5. Let‘s call it a day. 我们今天到此为止。

6. I couldn‘t help it. 我没办法。

7. Something‘s come up. 有点事。

8. Let‘s get to the point. 让我们来谈要点。

9. Keep that in mind. 记住那件事。

10. That was a close call. 太危险了。/ 千钧一发。

Exercise: Make short conversations with the above useful sentences.

III. Group discussion

Topic 1: History of Cloning

This is the VOA English Agriculture Report.

The United States government has decided that food from cloned cattle, pigs and goats is safe to eat. The Food and Drug Administration also says it found no risks in meat and milk from offspring born to them.

A clone is a genetic copy of an animal prized for its quality. A laboratory process

develops a cell from the animal into an embryo. The embryo is put into a female animal which, if all goes well, gives birth to the clone.

The F.D.A. looked at studies for several years before it announced its decision in a final report this month. The United States Department of Agriculture supported the findings. But it says time is needed to smooth the way for marketing meat and milk from clones. So, for now, the industry is being asked to continue a voluntary ban on such products.

The idea of eating cloned animals rates low with the American public. Several major food companies say they have no immediate plans to get involved.

The Food and Drug Administration will not require any product to be identified as coming from clones or their offspring. A producer would need approval to label a product ―clone-free‖. The agency says that could be misleading because the food is no different from other food.

But activists argue that the F.D.A. based its decision on incomplete research into

possible risks. The Center for Food Safety criticized the use of studies supplied by cloning companies.

Animal rights activists point out that cloning attempts often fail. They say cloning is cruel and can lead to suffering in clones born with abnormalities.

Congress has been trying to get the F.D.A. to do more studies. But the agency noted

that experts in New Zealand and the European Union have come to the same findings about the safety of food from clones. Japan, South Korea and Taiwan say they want to study the issue further before taking action.

Products from cloning may not be widely available for several years. Currently the United States has about six hundred animal clones.

Clones are costly, which is why most are used for breeding. The Agriculture

Department says few clones will ever become food. Their traditionally bred offspring would enter the food supply instead.

The first mammal cloned from an adult cell was Dolly the sheep, born in Scotland in nineteen ninety-six. But the F.D.A. says it could not decide about the safety of food from clones of sheep or other animals besides cattle, pigs and goats.

And that‘s the VOA English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I‘m Steve Ember.

Topic 2: Cloned Animals: Safety Issues

This is the VOA English Agriculture Report.

The United States government wants to know what the public thinks about its findings on the safety of cloned animals. The Food and Drug Administration says meat and milk from clones of adult cattle, pigs and goats are safe to eat. An F.D.A. official called them ―as safe to eat as the food we eat every day.‖ And when those clones reproduce sexually, the agency says, their offspring are safe to eat as well. But research on cloned sheep is limited. So the F.D.A. proposes that sheep clones not be used for human food. The United States this year could become the first country to approve the sale of foods from cloned animals.

First, however, the public will have ninety days to comment on three proposed

documents. On December twenty-eighth the F.D.A. released a long report, called a draft risk assessment, along with two policy documents. The agency says it must receive comments by April second. The F.D.A. seemed ready to act several years ago, but an advisory committee called for more research.

For now, the government will continue to ask producers to honor a request that they not sell foods from cloned animals. Clones are still rare. They cost a lot and are difficult to produce. Some people think farmers might find it difficult to export products from cloned animals. Critics question the safety. Animal rights activists also have objections.

The F.D.A. says most food from cloning is expected to come not from clones

themselves, but from their sexually reproduced offspring. It says clones are expected to be used mostly as breeding animals to spread desirable qualities. Public opinion studies show that most Americans do not like the idea of food from cloned animals. But this research also shows that the public knows little about cloning.

Cloning differs from genetic engineering. A cell taken from a so-called donor animal is grown into an embryo in the laboratory. Next, the embryo is placed into the uterus of a female animal. If the process is successful, the pregnancy reaches full term and a genetic copy of the donor animal is born. The F.D.A. sees no scientific reason to require special labels on products that involved cloning. But companies could identify products as

―clone-free,‖ if statements do not suggest that one product might be safer than another.

And that‘s the VOA English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson.

Topic 3: Debates Over Human Cloning

Saving lives has always been an important mission of science. Now science, and

indeed all society, is facing a new dilemma: whether or not to try and save more lives through human cloning.

The first cloning experiments in the 1950s involved frogs and toads. It was not until

1997 that scientists successfully cloned the first mammal, the now world-famous sheep known as Dolly. Cloning techniques have continued to improve since then, and today there are cloned mice, salmon, and cattle.

Some scientists want to apply the methods used in cloning animals to produce skin, organs, and other body parts for humans. One of these methods involves taking adult cells from the brain or blood and growing them into new tissues. Another, more complex,

technique takes embryo cells and develops them into a wide variety of cell types and tissues. It is this planned use of human embryos that has resulted in controversy and criticism.

The cloning of human cells provides the potential to find cures and eliminate diseases. The dream of some researchers is to create a utopian world of good health. Others question whether it is right to ―Play God‖ in an attempt to cure the disabilities and diseases of this world. Some of the great hopes for cloning include the ability to perform transplants,

whenever they are needed, using cloned organs. For example, people with lung cancer may simply have their lungs replaced with healthy ones. Scientists also look forward to the day when people in wheelchairs can walk again, and illnesses such as Alzheimer‘s and Parkinson‘s Disease can be prevented.

Many people fear the effects cloning could have on our society. They imagine masses of identical people, and the production of ―perfect‖ humans for warfare or slave labor. We might even see headless human bodies being stored at hospitals for their ―spare parts‖. With such thought-provoking possibilities for the 21st century, human cloning will no doubt continue to receive widespread attention and scrutiny.

Exercise: Discuss the following questions.

1. What might be some of the beneficial applications of cloning?

2. Why would a clone be a good source for a blood, organ, or bone marrow transplant? Medical advances save lives, but does technology go too far? Discuss whether anything and everything should be done to save a person‘s life.

3. Politicians around the world have begun to ban human cloning experiments. Do you

think it is a good or bad idea for politicians to decide what scientists can and cannot do? How about religious authorities, many of whom are also opposed to human cloning? Who should make such decisions and why?

IV. Class survey (Group Work)

Each group take a small survey respectively to find out your classmates‘ opinion about cloning. Interview at least 15 classmates. Here‘s how:

1. Interview your classmates and ask 3 yes/no questions:

(1) Is it acceptable to clone animals?

(2) Is it acceptable to clone humans?

(3) Is it acceptable to genetically alter farm produce?

2. Ask them to give reasons for their answers. If they couldn‘t tell the reasons very clearly, you may prepare some reasons for them to choose from.

3. Count the yes and no responses, and take notes on their reasons.

4. Report and discuss your survey results in your presentation. Please include 5 parts: the purpose of the survey, method (how you conducted the survey), results (remember to use the statistics), discussion (how do you analyze the results) and conclusion.

5. Please present your results with a well-made PPT file. Your presentation in all will be within 20 minutes.

For example:

II. Useful sentences in speaking

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10. I‘ll be looking forward to it. 我期待这一天。 Chances are slim. 机会很小。 Far from it. 一点也不。 I‘m behind in my work. 我工作进度落后了。 It‘s a pain in the neck. 那真是麻烦/ 棘手的事。 We‘re in the same boat. 我们的处境相同。 My mouth is watering. 我在流口水了。 What do you recommend?你推荐什么？ I ache all over. 我全身酸痛。 I have a runny/ running nose. 我流鼻涕。

III. Group discussion

Topic 1: Love and Marriage

Matchmaking services have become a booming business in Japan, thanks to a popular book released last year. In the book Marriage Hunting Era co-author Touko Shirakawa wrote that singles had to work harder for true love, and that waiting for a soul mate was not enough. She coined the term ―konkatsu‖— a play on the Japanese words for marriage and action.

Shirakawa says there was an entire industry built on matchmaking. But it was

considered an embarrassment to search for a spouse so aggressively. She says people were secretly searching until her term ―konkatsu‖ made it okay to do so publicly.

Shirakawa compares the ―marriage hunt‖ to a job hunt. She encourages hunters to perfect the resume and dress to impress. Some companies even host seminars to prepare people for a matchmaking event. The term ―konkatsu‖ has become so popular there is even a television drama named after it.

That popularity is welcome news for Japan, where the birthrate has been declining for more than three decades now, and the country‘s population is beginning to shrink. The percentage of men and women who remain single into their late 30s has tripled since the 1980s. And the government says without marriage, there are no children.

Topic 2: Parental Love

Charles Spearman and Nancy Burnett have been married nine years. ―When we are outside in the community, we know other people perceive us as a black and white couple. But inside the house, we‘re a couple and we‘re thinking of the challenges and the

opportunities any other couple has.‖

In the Virginia suburb where Spearman and Burnett live, their marriage would have been illegal prior to 1967. That‘s when the U.S. Supreme Courts dropped down laws prohibiting interracial marriage.

Richard and Mildred Loving, who were also residents of Virginia, led that

battle. ―That was a lot of courage by that couple. It was a testament to love, courage and, I think, the legal profession to pave the way for the changes that have taken place in (the past) 40 years.‖

Spearman and Burnett, who were both previously married, say if they had met earlier, they would have married then. But Burnett says it may have been more challenging.

―Because I came from a more conservative smaller city, a town and grew up seeing and knowing very few people of color. I can‘t really predict how my family at that time would have been able to accept that difference‖.

40 year-old, Rachel Lerman, knows what it is like to be a person of color in a

majority white community. ―A lot of people I don‘t personally knew. So for me I was about black‖. But Lerman‘s mother was white. Lerman married Alex Diaz-Asper seven years ago. They have three-year-old twin boys Alejandro and Migue. ―We took every action obviously because how they look being such contrasts. Usually it is people who are aware, people who look at them and ask how did that happen? Gosh, oh, you got one for mum, one for dad.‘ ‖

Despite such comments, Lerman, whose father was Nigerian, says she believes her children would have a better experience growing up in Washington DC than she did growing up in suburban Boston in the 70s.

― Being bi-racial isn‘t something a lot people didn‘t quite get. It is not like Halle Berry today. There is nothing cool about it. There is nobody. There is no president. President Kennedy was running. Even before Americans became familiar with Barack Obama, Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry and golf superstar Tiger Woods, both of whom are multi-racial, were public figures in America.

Topic 3: Humanitarian love

Eleven-year-old Zach Bonner walked across the southeastern countryside on his

1,900 kilometer hike to bring attention to the plight of homeless children. ―I think it‘s

ridiculous that there‘s any child that doesn‘t have a home in this country, here, in America, I think it‘s horrible.‖ He traveled from Florida to Washington, D.C. where he told an

audience there are many child homeless children. ―It still amazes me the amount of people still today who don‘t believe that this problem even exists. And the truth is, not only does it exist, but it‘s getting worse‖.

Zach says There are many reasons that children are homeless. ―Because of the

economic crisis going on right now, it‘s getting worse because of people losing their jobs, and people losing their homes. And therefore, that‘s also a reason they become homeless. And sometimes, the families are abusive toward the child and they run away.‖

It took three years for Zach to finish his walk, which began when he was only eight. He made the trip in three stages averaging 20 kilometers each day. No matter how tired he got, he felt he had to keep walking. ―When a child gets tired of being homeless, you know, they don‘t get to think, Well, I‘m tired of being homeless, so I‘m not going to be homeless anymore.‘ So why should I be able to say, Well, I‘m tired of walking, so I‘m not going to walk anymore.‘ ‖ His mother Laurie took each step with him, and his sister Kelly followed them in a car. At night they stayed in a donated recreational vehicle.

Exercise: Discuss the following questions.

1. What characteristics do you look for in a girlfriend or boyfriend?

2. Would you go to TV shows for dating such as If You Are the One (非诚勿扰)?

3. Do your parents will stand by you if you go into a transnational marriage?

4. What can you do to help the underprivileged?

5. How do you understand the statement that the one you love most is who can hurt you the same most?

IV. Class survey (Group Work)

Each group take a small survey to find out your classmates‘ opinion about online romance. Please interview at least 15 classmates. Here‘s how:

1. Make up 3 yes/no questions.

2. Interview your classmates by asking them your yes/no questions.

3. Count the yes and no responses, and take notes on any interesting comments that they add. Or you can give them reasons for them to choose from.

4. Report and discuss your survey results in your presentation. Please include 5 parts: the purpose of the survey, method (how you conducted the survey), results (remember to use the statistics), discussion (how do you analyze your results) and conclusion.

5. Please present your results with a well-made PPT file. Your presentation in all will be within 20 minutes.

For example:

You can record the results of your survey like this.

II. Useful sentences in speaking

1. Are you pulling my leg? 你在开玩笑吗？

2. I‘ll keep my ears open. 我会留意的。

3. It isn‘t much. 那是微不足道的。

4. Neck and neck. 不分上下。

5. I‘m feeling under the weather. 我不舒服。

6. Don‘t get me wrong. 不要误会我。

7. I‘m under a lot of pressure. 我压力很大。

8. You‘re the boss. 你是老板，一切听你的。

9. What‘s this regarding? 这是关于哪方面的？

10. Over my dead body! 休想！

Exercise: Make short conversations with the above useful sentences.

III. Group discussion

Topic 1: Traditional Media vs New Media

The newspaper industry was already pressing through changes. The recession has

simply accelerated the process. The figures make grim reading. In the past five years, some of the countries‘ biggest and most established regional newspapers have seen their

circulations plummet. And with advertising revenue continuing to fall, adapting to change has been a tough process. The annual GA estimates around 1,000 jobs have gone in local newspapers in the past year alone.

Got a Chester Roman Amphitheater misplaced on Google Maps, it's currently where the Chester Magistrate Court is.

In Chester, people've sat down to discuss how they should cover their city for over 230 years. Like most newspapers, the Chronicle has had to cut jobs. Advertising revenues are down, adapting wasn't the choice, but a necessity.

"People within the industry realize that it is a different world, it's a different way doing things. And we have to adapt and I think stuff of, I have to accept that, on the whole, I think this, that there were always dinosaurs, there were always people that would not accept change, but they have to do or they have to fall by the wayside. "

The newspaper is still the cornerstone here, but the website is their growth market. ―... it was a meerkat on its, stood on its back legs, looking through the patio window, it was absolutely frozen, shivering."

―In the last year, on the Chester Chronicle site, we've seen about 450% increase in unique users, which is quite staggering and that's not at the moment showing any sign of letting-up. So it is really tremendous news that we are reaching so many more people with our product.‖

In Essex, EverythingEppingForest.co.uk is also flourishing. Set up by a local

newspaper editor who took redundancy.

―Local papers are all struggling with the current economic climate. There are fewer houses for sale, so their property section is reduced. People aren't buying cars, so the

motoring section gets smaller and the same with jobs, you know, the situation‘s vacant page gets more, more reduced, but community websites offering cheap advertising, providing the community needs. If you get the message around, 'they are there', which I have managed to do, I think that's the way ahead.‖

Local radio and regional TV are going through similar changes. The common concern is how to balance good journalism with financial realities, a dilemma that goes back many, many years.

Topic 2: Media and People

Renee Montagne: All this week we have been talking about your privacy. Today we will meet a man who keeps very little private, in fact, puts his life online with a sound track. This music greets web surfers at a blog for Jonathon Coulson. There he writes he is a 22-year-old student at the University of Missouri, that a personality test gave him a 78% score in emotional stability and that he doesn't want to die alone. All that and more, and it's just one of his six blogs.

Steve Inskeep: And now we are gonna talk to Jonathon Carlson and ask whether

anything is really private anymore whether anything should be. Jonathon Carlson, welcome to the program.

Jonathon Carlson: Thank you for having me.

Steve Inskeep: I wanna ask first about the website on which your blogs exist,

something called http://www.77cn.com.cn. Explain what that is for people who've never seen it.

Jonathon Carlson: Um, MySpace is one of several social networks that allow people to post profiles and the basic concept here is that you are gonna find other users that share your interests. And in my personal experience, most of the other users you find are people you know offline anyway.

Steve Inskeep: You keep a blog as lots of people, perhaps millions of people not do. Jonathon Carlson: Six

Steve Inskeep: Yeah, why six?

Jonathon Carlson: I have a blog that's dedicated purely to my political ramblings. Then I have a personal blog that I use sort of as an open journal. The other 4 are smaller blogs that I've just used from time to time. One is just a blog about blogs actually. 'Coz I, I guess I'm that interested in them.

Steve Inskeep: Mr. Carlson, what are your limits? What are things you would never post online?

Jonathon Carlson: I guess I have a higher tolerance than most. I think there is a lot of value and personal expression. But even when I set up my profiles, I never put my phone number on there--it says "Upon quest"--or my personal address. Because these are just bits of information I just don't generally give out to people. I don't mind if they E-mail. So I leave those channels open to them.

Steve Inskeep: So you do have some limits, which is very interesting, because one would imagine that after reading all 6 of your blogs, there might be very little need to ever call you and ask anything in the first place.

Jonathon Carlson: Yeah, well, I guess the one group that I guess it does concern me that they may read my blog will be future employers. Granted I don't particularly plan on

applying anywhere that my political activism would be a problem. But this is a big concern for a lot of people of my age.

Steve Inskeep: Have people that you know already had problems?

Jonathon Carlson: Um, this is a hard one. I don't know anyone who has personally had any sort of difficulty to get a job outside of just the problems with our economy. I don't know anybody who has faced a university sanction. But I do know a number of students who have taken down personal information based on the threat of those things.

Steve Inskeep: To the extent that you are able to know, who's reading your blogs?

Jonathon Coulson: Um, my mother actually. Outside of that, I have quite a few friends here at school that have blogs because of me, and kind of read mine, as I read theirs. My political blog actually, I use it as a listserv as well. So it kicks out to about 60 people, who just are interested in hearing my thoughts.

Steve Inskeep: It sounds like you don't really worry about who, who reads this stuff, once you got your mom out of the way anyway?

Jonathon Coulson: Um, well, I don't even worry about her particularly. And like I noted, I think I'm less concerned with privacy generally than other people are. I don't have much to hide. Personal information, I don't think it's a secret. And other than that, anything I am thinking or saying, I'd like to put out there because if I'm wrong, I could only learn from people's feedback.

Steve Inskeep: In the end, given that you are mostly communicating with the few

people you already know, what's the point really of posting all those stuff? Why not just pick up a phone, send an E-mail?

Jonathon Coulson: That's a great question. The advantage I think to MySpace and blogs, it comes down to time shifting. I don't have to call them and expect them to pick up the phone, interrupt them in class or with their studies or work. I can just put it on my blog. And at their convenience, they can come and find that information. There is some personal satisfaction to me also in posting to the general audience.

Topic 3: Sports

In China he's known as ―the Flying Fish‖; in America they call him ―the Baltimore Bullet‖.

Whatever you call him, American swimmer Michael Phelps looks destined to become a household name across the world after breaking the Olympic record for most gold medals in a single Games.

Phelps's total of eight golds in Beijing put him one ahead of compatriot Mark Spitz's previous tally set in 1972.

Michael Phelps dominated the field in seven of his races and set an amazing seven world records in the process. He did, however, have one close shave in the 100m butterfly which he won by the smallest possible margin of just 0.01 seconds, and in another he had to contend with a faulty pair of goggles.

Now people are already calling him the greatest Olympian of all time. But whether he is or not, what is it that makes Michael Phelps so good?

A good place to start might be his physique. Phelps has the perfect body shape for a swimmer: his armspan is longer than his height, he has very flexible joints, huge lungs, and his incredibly large feet (size 14 US, size 49 in China) act like flippers in the water.

To feed his huge swimmer's body, Phelps eats an astonishing 12,000 calories a day, six times the average for a man of his age.

According to his coach, Phelps starts with a breakfast of champions: "Three fried egg sandwiches with cheese, tomatoes, fried onions and mayo, a five egg omelette, a bowl of grits, three slices of French toast and three pancakes with chocolate chips."

He then slips into a swimsuit which has been making waves in the world of swimming. Designed by NASA, the American space agency, the suit is made of a special material which is said to help athletes swim 2% faster.

Michael Phelps should spare a thought for his mum, who first pushed him into

swimming as a way of making friends, and who believed in him when one teacher said he would never be a success.

Whatever the reason for his success, Phelps admits there was perhaps also a bit of luck involving in winning his eight medals.

"I guess eight is a lucky number for me, too, now. The opening ceremony started on 8/8/08. Maybe it was meant to be," he said.

Exercise: Discuss the following questions.

1. How do you keep up with current events? Do you think that news reporting has gotten better, gotten worse, or stayed the same over your lifetime?

2. What are the major differences between traditional media and modern media? How has technology affected the way that we receive news? In what ways have modern media changed people‘s life? (For example, privacy protection)

3. Why are people so interested in the private lives of celebrities? Do you think that most newspapers print what's really important, or what will make them sell more newspapers? What about TV news? What about online news?

IV. Class survey (Group Work)

Each group take a small survey respectively to find out your classmates‘ opinion about media and culture. Choose ONE media and interview at least 15 classmates. Here‘s how:

1. Make up 3 yes/no questions.

2. Interview your classmates by asking them your yes/no questions.

3. Count the yes and no responses, and take notes on any interesting comments that they add.

4. Report and discuss your survey results in your presentation. Please include 5 parts: the purpose of the survey, method (how you conducted the survey), results (remember to use the statistics), discussion (how do you analyze the results) and conclusion.

5. Please present your results with a well-made PPT file. Your presentation in all will be within 20 minutes.

For example:

Exercise: Reading aloud (To be recorded)

– or worrying that they should.

I.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10. Useful sentences in speaking Can you give me a hand? 能帮个忙吗？ Whatever you say. 随便你。 It‘ll come to me. 我会想起来的。 You name it. 你说出来。 If I were in your shoes. 如果我是你的话。 I‘ll play it by ear. 随兴之所至。/ 到时候再说。 You should take advantage of it. 好好利用。 Let‘s talk over coffee. 边喝边聊。 I‘m easy to please. 我很好相处。 Let‘s give him a big hand. 让我们热烈鼓掌。

II. Group discussion

Topic 1: Economic Development

Despite the global economic crisis, US investors are being told to strongly consider putting their money in Africa. That‘ll be the message later this month when Washington hosts the 7th Biennial US/Africa Business Summit.

Corporate Council on Africa CEO Stephan Hayes describes Africa as a ―booming

business opportunity.‖ He says the upcoming summit will allow US companies to see the continent as an ―essential asset across many business sectors.‖

―I think it‘s this country‘s best chance to get US business focused on Africa. There‘s not another program like it. It‘s where government and private sector come together every two years. Because it‘s in Washington, D.C., you‘ve got some key government leaders in the US also providing leadership.‖

President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have been invited to speak, as well as the US trade representative and the commerce secretary.

―We‘re also going to see a lot of government ministers from Africa. We also have about 10 heads of state that are coming so far.‖

In all, about 2,000 people are expected to attend the summit, most from the American private sector.

―Technically, the United States private sector is the largest investor in Africa, but so much of that is in oil. If you take away oil out of the equation, then a lot of other countries are greater investors, even South Africa to the rest of Africa. China also will likely pass us up this year in investment in Africa.‖

US firms invest $40 billion a year in Africa. Most of that is in energy. Agribusiness is also a major business investment target. But Hayes says it‘s time to diversify. Infrastructure, for example.

―It‘s the major need in Africa right now. In order to get things to the market, in order to have ports that work, there‘s got to be enormous infrastructure development. China is certainly filling that void to certain extent, but there‘s still such a great need. There are opportunities for American business as well.‖

Cell phones are another investment opportunity.

―Africa has basically just skipped over landlines and gone to mobile cell phones, doing business by that. And yet, less than 10 percent of the population of Africa is using those cell phones. So there‘s a tremendous market.‖

The head of the Corporate Council on Africa says other promising areas include

tourism, health care and power.

―They can only grow as fast as the power is that allows them to grow. You can‘t have the IT (Internet) technology. You can‘t have roads unless there‘s a power sector also that keeps up with that growth. And right now that growth is just about hitting the maximum power capabilities.‖

While Hayes touts Africa as being ripe for investment, what assurances does he give regarding risks?

―I can…give you the same assurances that you can give in the United States. There‘s always risk with your investment. So you‘ve got to do proper due diligence. But there are many countries in Africa that are good places to invest, solid places to invest.‖

Topic 2: Social Changes

The title of the new Freedom House study sums up its major finding. It‘s called

―Gaining Ground: Women‘s Rights in the Arab Gulf.‖ Senior researcher Sanja Kelly says it updates a similar study the organization conducted five years ago in Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

―The results were quite encouraging in the sense that… here we may think that

women‘s rights in the Gulf are on the marge. [Yeah.] Even though this is still perhaps the most restrictive region in the entire world in terms of women‘s rights, we are noticing that women‘s rights activists have successfully pushed for change in many instances.‖

Some of the most visible changes for women, Kelly notes, have been made in Kuwait. ―Rather recently, you may have noticed that women have gained many more rights and opportunities in terms of their economic empowerment. So we have seen 5 percent improvement in terms of working women in Kuwait. So in 2003, only 46 percent of

working women were employed, whereas now 51 percent of working women in Kuwait are employed.‖

Kuwaiti women have also made significant political gains. In 2005, after a

three-decade-long struggle, Kuwaiti women finally won the right to vote.

Dr. Lubna Al-Kazi is a professor of sociology at Kuwait University and a key activist in her country‘s women‘s rights movement. In her section of the Freedom House report, she says

getting the right to vote was a big accomplishment for the women of Kuwait.

―There‘s so much that has been done as far as having a women‘s committee, women now as ministers in the municipal council, which is also very important. So you‘ve seen that representation has increased after we got the right. Laws — some laws — have been put on hold or even revoked when we have lobbied enough, and I‘m sure if we didn‘t have the voice we wouldn‘t have been able to do that.‖

Oman is another Gulf country where women have recently achieved basic rights

according to journalist Rafiah Al-Talei. She notes that despite ongoing discrimination, Omani women have still managed to make gains in higher education, the work force and the political arena. She herself was a candidate for Oman‘s Parliament in 2003 and lost by only 100 votes.

―It was very empowering experience for myself and also for other women who were encouraged for next time, too. We were only 15 women candidates in the entire country in 2003, and there were 20 women who ran for the next elections.‖

Women in other countries, notably Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, are also enjoying new rights, says Sanja Kelly.

―In countries such as the UAE as well, even though the country itself is very restricted in terms of their political rights and civil liberties, they have introduced a very limited voting process for their Federal National Council. And women, for the first time, were

allowed to vote for elected bodies in the Federal National Council. One woman was elected and eight additional women were appointed for this body.‖

Despite these gains, the contributors to the Freedom House report conclude that much more progress is needed for women in practically all aspects of social, economic and political life in the Arab Gulf states.

Topic 3: Remaining Challenges Cambodia‘s ancient temples at Angkor Wat are under threat from the large numbers of tourists who are now visiting the site. There are fears that ongoing damage to the temples‘ soft stone may mean they could eventually be destroyed.

The temples at Angkor Wat are considered among the best surviving examples of

ancient religious architecture in the world. The temples were built about a thousand years ago. And relief work on the walls tells of the many threats the ancient empire survived throughout the centuries. But today a new threat to the temples comes from mass tourism. Thousands of tourists now visit the area every day.

Local restaurant owner M. believes that too many people walking on the stones are damaging the temples. ―Mass tourism destroys any monuments and especially Khmer monuments for a very simple reason — the sandstone on which I sit with my nail. So imagine millions of people walking on.‖

Professor Jacque G. has been excavating in and around the ancient city for five years. He says vehicle pollution affects the stone as well. ―Everybody goes at the same time to see the Bayon, everybody goes at the same time to see the Bakeng, everybody enters the city of Angkor Thom at the same spot.‖

Professor G. recently drew up plans for new type of tourism at Angkor Wat, but says that so far his recommendations have been ignored. ―You can extend new type of tourism with the forest — a kind of ecological and archaeological tourism. New itineraries with new ways of transportation, with elephants, with bicycles — make some excavations at some points, explain to people where they are in the city. ‖

The authorities say they are working hard to protect the temples. Some stairways have now been boarded over and other areas are closed to tourists. But R. says that more must be

done.

―We need to learn from the advice — how to increase the techniques, how to put more ways, how to protect longer time, how to get people to understand especially awareness to the tourists. When they come they have to understand how to protect together.‖

With tourist numbers at Angkor Wat growing every year, most agree more needs to be done if the temples are to be protected for future generations.

These are the faces of the hungry, where food costs too much to afford.

The United Nation‘s Food Program says at least 850 million people worldwide are hungry. Executive Director Josette Sheeran: ―The world‘s misery index is rising, a silent tsunami that respects no borders — most don‘t know what hit them.‖

Here in Somalia, the price of the food staple sorghum has doubled since February. Peter Smerdon of the World Food Program predicts the rising prices will push poor people into destitution or even death. ―We may have to either cut rations or cut the number of people that we feed in Somalia because of these increased costs.‖

The World Bank says wheat prices have increased 120 percent over the past year. The Peruvian defense minister says his country copes by making potato bread. ―Wheat isn‘t produced here; it‘s imported and every day it costs more. With the potato mixed into the bread, we try to avoid, to control as much as possible, the cost of the bread.‖

The World Bank, Robert Zoellick: ―Poor people in Yemen are now spending more than a quarter of their incomes just on bread before they pay for other essential foods for their children, let alone basic healthcare or shelter.‖

In Asia, the military guards are precious cargo. The price of rice, the staple for Asian

countries, has tripled since January. Prices in Thailand surged to a record high on Thursday.

The hungry are driven to desperate acts, as desperation becomes the substitute for food. In Haiti, violence. In Egypt, the same.

Professor Vanda Felbab-Brown of Georgetown University says world hunger threatens global security. ―Anti-American groups such as al-Qaida will be able to mobilize

marginalized, frustrated populations that are especially affected by the food crisis.‖

Some terrorism experts say al-Qaida will blame Western countries for the lack of food, then use modern technology for recruitment.

Jan Lane is with the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington

University. ―People aren‘t pushed into radical ideology. They are pulled into rebellion through those social networks.‖

Lane says the U.S. and its allies need to counter the radical ideas with long-term

solutions. ―It‘s not an American PR campaign. It‘s not an American image campaign. We have to offer and encourage alternative visions and hopes and dreams for these youths to come forward. How can we work to ensure they can have an alternative future, other than one that pulls them into extremists.‖

Lane says global counter-action needs to start now before the deepening food crisis worsens. The U.N. is already predicting that more than 100 million additional people could be plunged into hunger and malnutrition because of the crisis.

Carolyn Presutti, VOA News

Exercise: Discuss the following questions.

1. Which country in the world do you consider to be the most developed? Would you like to live there? Why or why not?

2. How can we value the level of development of a country? In what ways do you wish your own country were more developed?

3. Is sustainable development possible in today‘s world in which people are becoming

richer and consuming more of the Earth‘s natural resources? How important is sustainable development in relation to issues like climate change, poverty, terrorism, etc?

IV. Class survey (Group Work)

Each group take a small survey respectively to find out your classmates‘ opinion about sustainable development. Interview at least 15 classmates. Here‘s how:

1. Make up 3 yes/no questions.

2. Interview your classmates by asking them your yes/no questions.

3. Count the yes and no responses, and take notes on any interesting comments that they add.

4. Report and discuss your survey results in your presentation. Please include 5 parts: the purpose of the survey, method (how you conducted the survey), results (remember to use the statistics), discussion (how do you analyze the results) and conclusion.

5. Please present your results with a well-made PPT file. Your presentation in all will be within 20 minutes.

For example:

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