听力背景知识.docx

听力背景知识.docx

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听力背景知识

听力背景知识

1.Superstition迷信

[00:

01.89]OnepersoninfourinBritainis,apparently,superstitious,

[00:

08.35]andthey'lldoeverythingfromhanginghorseshoes

[00:

11.58]overtheirfireplacetocrossingtheirfingers,

[00:

14.84]touchingwoodandabsolutelyneverwalkingunderaladder.

[00:

19.40]Andthey'recarefulaboutcats.

[00:

22.58]Blackcatsaresupposedtobethefamiliarsofwitches,

[00:

27.02]soifoneisfollowingyouit'sdefinitelybadluck

[00:

31.70]-awitchisafteryou!

[00:

33.46]Ontheotherhand,ifonecrossesyourpathandcontinues

[00:

38.17]thenit'sgoodluckbecauseithasn'tnoticedyou.

[00:

42.15]However,insomeplacesthebeliefsaredifferent

[00:

46.53]-soitpaystoknowwhereyourblackcatcomesfrom!

[00:

50.36]Oldsuperstitionslingerevenintoday'smodernworld.

[00:

56.10]TheauthorPhilipPullmandrewonthem

[00:

59.57]inhisawardwinningnovel"HisDarkMaterials".

[01:

03.78]Thenovel,whichappealstobothchildrenandadults,

[01:

08.26]hasbeenadaptedforradioandalsothetheatre.

2.GraduateStudent研究生

[00:

02.67]Graduatestudentsspecializeinaparticularfieldofstudy.

[00:

08.27]Theystudytobecomeexpertsinthisfield

[00:

11.53]andtolearnnewadvancesintheirfields

[00:

14.55]whiletheyearnanM.A.orPh.D.

[00:

17.38]SometimeswhentheygetanM.A.inonefield

[00:

20.97]theybeginstudyinganotherfield.

[00:

22.92]Theyhopethatwhentheyearntheirgraduatedegrees

[00:

25.52]theywillsucceedinfindingimportantjobs.

[00:

28.49]Theyhopetogetjobsthatareinterestingandhighpaying.

[00:

32.24]Thelifeofagraduatestudentisoftendifficult.

[00:

35.61]Theyareusuallytoobusystudyingtomakeagoodliving.

[00:

39.47]Oftentheyhavetopayhightuitionfeesfortheireducation.

[00:

43.22]Somegiveupstudyingbeforetheygettheirdegrees.

[00:

47.24]Butmostkeeponworkingattheirstudiesuntiltheygraduate.

[00:

51.51]Intoday'sworld,mostgraduatestudents

[00:

54.81]don'tregretspendingtimewiththeirstudies.

[00:

57.63]Theyarefindingthatnewdevelopments

[00:

59.96]areoccurringinallfields.

[01:

01.97]Formanygraduatestudyhasbecomeanecessity.

3.AprilFool'sDay愚人节

[00:

02.13]1stAprilisadaytobecareful,

[00:

05.89]oryoucouldeasilygettrickedbysomeone.

[00:

08.59]It'sAprilFool'sDay,

[00:

10.82]adaywhenpeopletraditionallyliketotry

[00:

14.18]tomakeafoolofsomeoneelseandlaughatthem.

[00:

17.39]Therearelotsoftheoriessurroundingtheoriginsoftheday,

[00:

22.02]butoneexplanationisconnectedwiththechange

[00:

25.67]inthecalendarinthe16thcentury,

[00:

28.32]whichmeantthat1stApril

[00:

30.40]wasnolongerthebeginningoftheyear.

[00:

33.16]ThosewhostillcelebratedtheNewYear

[00:

36.52]on1stAprilwerecalledfools.

[00:

39.56]Sowhatkindofpranks

[00:

42.27]dopeopleplayonAprilFool'sDay?

[00:

44.97]Well,therearelotsofsimpletricks

[00:

47.51]thatyoucanplayonyourfriends.

[00:

49.99]Forexample,youcouldwearablacksweater

[00:

53.41]andpullapieceofwhitethreadthroughit,

[00:

55.95]sothatpeopletrytopullitoff.

[00:

58.04]Youcouldchangethetimeonsomeone'salarmclocksothatthey'relateforwork.

4.LivingOnline网上生活

[00:

02.60]Howdoyoumeetnewpeople,makenewfriends,

[00:

06.25]orfindoutaboutthelatestbands?

[00:

08.84]HereintheUKyoungpeoplehavetraditionally

[00:

11.66]donetheirsocializinginbars,pubsandclubs.

[00:

15.12]However,thereisanewgenerationgrowingup

[00:

18.58]thatfindsiteasiertomanagetheirsociallivesonthenet,

[00:

22.24]usingfreewebsiteslikeMySpace,BeboorMSNSpaces.

[00:

27.38]Welcometothesocialnetworkingwebsite

[00:

31.25]-aplacewhereyoucanpresentyourself

[00:

33.39]tothedigitalcommunityandmeetotherlike-mindedpeople.

[00:

37.45]Themostsuccessfulsocialnetworkingwebsite

[00:

40.51]intheUKisMyS.

[00:

44.07]AsofJuly2006,MySpaceistheworld's

[00:

48.45]fourthmostpopularEnglish-languagewebsite,

[00:

51.66]attractingalmost3millionvisitorspermonth.

[00:

55.73]MySpaceclaimstohave95millionmembers

[01:

00.72]with500,000newmembersjoiningthecommunityeachweek.

[01:

05.45]Sohowhasitbecomesosuccessful?

[01:

08.86]Perhapsitssecretisinitssimplicity.

[01:

12.64]Eachnewmembercanbuildtheirownpagesimply

[01:

16.29]-uploadingphotos,videosandMP3files.

5.Mother'sDay母亲节

[00:

02.14]Doesyourmotherknowhowmuchyouappreciateher?

[00:

05.91]Well,Mother'sDayisthetimetoshowher.

[00:

09.94]It'sachancetosay'thankyou',

[00:

12.69]ortotellyourmumhowmuchyouloveher.

[00:

15.28]InBritain,Mother'sDay,orMotheringSunday,

[00:

19.85]fallsonadifferentdayeachyear,

[00:

22.80]becauseittakesplaceafewweeks

[00:

25.19]beforethefestivalofEaster.

[00:

27.17]Butitisalwaysintheearlyspringtime,

[00:

30.13]whichseemsappropriate,

[00:

31.96]astheseasonwhennewplantsemerge,

[00:

34.35]andbabybirdsandanimalsareborn.

[00:

37.24]IntheUSA,Mother'sDaytakesplacealittlelater,inMay,

[00:

43.04]andmanyothercountriesalsocelebrate

[00:

45.59]theirmothersondifferentdaysoftheyear.

[00:

48.48]Itbeganmanyyearsago,whenchildren,

[00:

52.57]especiallygirls,asyoungas10

[00:

55.07]wouldliveandworkawayfromhome

[00:

57.51]ashousemaidsandothertypesofservant.

[01:

00.30]MotheringSundaywasadaywheneveryonewasallowed

[01:

04.53]togototheirhomevillageortown,andvisittheirmothers.

6.OnlineShopping网上购物

[00:

02.65]WithonlytwoweekstogobeforeChristmas,

[00:

05.81]buyingpresentsisahighpriorityforalotofpeople.

[00:

09.63]However,thisyearnotsomanypeopleareleavingtheirhomes

[00:

13.95]tobrowsearoundtheshops.

[00:

15.80]Thesedayslotsofpeoplecandotheirshopping

[00:

18.96]inthecomfortoftheirownhome

[00:

21.05]withthehelpoftheinternet.

[00:

23.13]Onlineshoppingisbecomingmoreandmorepopular

[00:

27.06]foranumberofreasons;

[00:

28.83]pricesareoftenloweronline,

[00:

31.47]youdon'thavetoqueueupinbusyshops

[00:

34.06]andyoucanbuyalmostanyproductimaginable

[00:

37.07]withjustafewclicksofyourmouse.

[00:

39.30]Computertrendsareoftenmale-dominated

[00:

43.08]butthisyearwomenareexpectedtodo

[00:

45.22]moreshoppingontheinternetthanmen.

[00:

48.16]Itseemswomenarenowmoreattractedto

[00:

51.38]theconvenienceofonlineshoppingthantheyusedtobe.

[00:

54.17]AveragespendingonlinethisChristmasbywomenwillriseto240pounds

[01:

01.23]comparedtotheslightlyloweraverageof233poundsformen.

7.RealityTV真实电视

[00:

02.41]ThelatestfashiononBritishTVisRealityTV.

[00:

07.65]RealityTVmeansthatshowsfollowandfilm

[00:

11.81]ordinarypeopleinanartificialsituation.

[00:

14.97]Thiscouldbeatwork,orinsomekindofcompetition.

[00:

19.15]OneofthefirstandmostpopularRealityTVshowsisBigBrother.

[00:

25.60]Inthisshow,15completestrangers

[00:

29.27]havetolivetogetherinahousefor11weeks.

[00:

32.73]Theyarefilmed24hoursaday,andshownontelevision.

[00:

37.45]Eachweek,theviewersvotetoevict

[00:

40.35]oneofthehousemates.

[00:

42.94]Finally,onlyoneisleft,

[00:

45.18]andtheywintheprizemoney!

[00:

47.16]Theshowwasaninstanthit,andrunsinseveralcountries.

[00:

51.97]Thehousematesoftenbecomestarsasaresultoftheshow,

[00:

55.90]andappearinnationalnewspapersandonothershows.

[00:

59.56]Anotherverypopularshowis

[01:

02.45]I'maCelebrity-GetMeOutOfHere!

[01:

05.65]Inthisshow,10celebritieshavetocompletetaskseachweek,suchaseatinginsects.

8.School学校

[00:

01.66]Septemberistraditionallytheendofsummer

[00:

05.68]andthebeginningofautumnintheUK.

[00:

08.27]Itisalsothemonthwhenchildrengobacktoschool

[00:

12.14]aftertheirlongsummerholidays.

[00:

14.33]TherearetwotypesofschoolinEngland.

[00:

17.05]State-runschoolsarepaidforbythegovernment,

[00:

20.14]soarefreetoattend.

[00:

22.03]IndependentSchoolsareprivate,

[00:

24.42]whichmeansyouhavetopaytoattend.

[00:

26.67]Theschooldayusuallystartsat9inthemorning

[00:

31.15]andfinishesaround4,

[00:

32.98]withbreaksforlunchofcourse!

[00:

35.31]Inmanyschools,youhavetowearauniformtoo.

[00:

38.92]Childrenstartschoolwhentheyare5yearsold.

[00:

42.02]Thisiscalledprimaryschool,

[00:

44.46]andlastsuntilthechildis11

[00:

47.01]whenheorshewillgoontoseniorschool.

[00:

49.61]Secondaryschooliscompulsory

[00:

52.70]from11until16yearsofage.

[00:

55.41]At16,studentstakenationalexaminationscalledGCSE's.

[01:

00.45]Afterthis,studentscanstayatschoolforanother2years

[01:

04.77]andtakeALevelexaminations.

9.TheModernFamily现代家庭

[00:

02.38]Fatherleavesforworkinthemorningafterbreakfast.

[00:

06.47]Thetwochildrentakethebustoschool,

[00:

09.56]andmotherstayshomecookingandcleaning

[00:

12.70]untilfatherandthekidsreturnhomeintheevening.

[00:

16.45]Thisisthetraditionalpicture

[00:

19.02]ofahappyfamilylivinginBritain.

[00:

21.88]Thepast20yearshaveseenenormouschanges

[00:

26.18]inthelivesandstructureoffamiliesinBritain.

[00:

29.46]Thebiggestchangehasbeencausedbydivorce.

[00:

33.46]Asmanyas2outof3marriagesnowendindivorce,

[00:

38.38]leadingtoasituation

[00:

40.30]wheremanychildrenlivewithoneparent

[00:

43.18]andonlyseetheotheratweekendsorholidays.

[00:

46.48]Therehasalsobeenahugerise

[00:

49.92]inthenumberofwomenwithchildrenwhowork.

[00:

52.76]Thelargeriseindivorceshasmeant

[00:

56.01]manywomenneedtowork

[00:

57.84]tosupportthemselvesandtheirchildren.

[01