Oral Workshop: Discussion Lesson25Ad-28(Text) ;
Lesson 25 ;
Additional information ;
Not long ago,a newspaper column caught my attention. ;
It was the first time since I came to America ;
that I read about an issue similar to the ones I often heard in China. ;
It all started from a letter sent ;
to a newspaper column by a woman named Sally rom Toronto,Canada. ;
She told the columnist about her unpleasant experience on a bus ride in Canada. ;
She was in the late stage of her pregnancy with very swollen ankles. ;
However,people on the bus just pretended not o notice her. ;
The responses to Sally's letter,in the columnist's words were ;
"staggering",and many of them were "unpredictable". ;
Almost all the women readers,of course, ;
gave their understanding and sympathy to Sally. ;
A woman who signed her name as "L.M. ;
"related Sally's experience with her own. ;
She told the columnist that she had used ;
public transport ation for 11 years in Detroit ;
and never saw a man give his seat to a pregnant woman. ;
She pointed out, however,women passengers did it all the time. ;
As for her own experience, ;
she once offered a seat to another pregnant woman ;
when she herself was in her seventh month pregnancy. ;
When the other woman sat down and said to L.M.," Bless you for saving my life", ;
the man sitting next to her "turned red as a tomato". ;
Some people think that nowadays in America, ;
a lot of men were raised with no manners. ;
A woman reader from California wrote about what she once saw on a bus ;
and implied that parents should be strict with their children's behavior. ;
She was sitting behind a mother and a teenage son. ;
An elderly lady got on the bus and stood near the boy, ;
struggling to stay upright. ;
The boy was engrossed in his comic book when his mother poked him ;
and ordered him to give his seat to that elderly woman. ;
The Californian woman thought the mother was oing a fine job bring up her son. ;
Men readers,however, responded to Sally differently. ;
Some of them have long resented at women's equal rights campaigns, ;
and took this opportunity to get back at women. ;
Here is what a man from Anchorage, Alaska wrote: ;
This is for Sally in Toronto who figures she is entitled to a seat on the bus ;
because she is seven months pregnant:Get real,lady,this is the '90s. ;
You women have been screaming about equal rights,so now you've got them. ;
Live with your equal rights and stop beefing. ;
Another reader from Philadelphia ;
claimed he learned his lesson from an experience on a bus. ;
This is what he wrote in his letter published in November,1990: ;
The last time I offered a woman a seat on the bus was in 1972. ;
She glared at me and said."Do I look helpless?"I replied, "No,but I thought." ;
She cut me off with, "You thought? ;
The trouble with you chauvinists is that you don't think. ;
Women today don't want a seat on a bus. ;
They want equal pay."She then laun- ched into a women's liberation lecture. ;
I was never so glad to get off a bus in my life. ;
There are also those who are ;
unhappy with life and hate the world in which they are living. ;
Therefore,they used Sally's letter as an opportunity to speak out their mind. ;
A person from Oakland does not think Sally deserves any sympathy. ;
His reason is that overpopulation is a major problem in the universe today ;
and there are other reasons that he dislikes this world. ;
Therefore,he concludes hat anyone who would bring a child into this "crazy, ;
mixed-up"world is insane and deserves punishment. ;
Lesson 26 There Are Two Sides to Everything ;
Text A ;
I had a most exasperat -ing and frustrating experience with the hospital today. ;
But Granny had it much worse. ;
First she was the victim of an accident and then she was the suffering patient. ;
She was out shopping early this morning, ;
and was hardly a few scores of yards from our house ;
when she was knocked down by a bicycle. ;
The rider was a reckless young man who didn't even stop after the accident, ;
but raced away as though an army was after him. ;
It was a neighbour who recognized her and came to call me ;
(both of my parents were out). ;
When I heard the news, my heart jumped up to my mouth. ;
I raced downstairs, two or three steps at a time ;
and sprinted to the spot.I never ran so fast in my life. ;
There I saw a crowd of people.I elbowed my way in, ;
and saw Granny sitting on the ground leaning against a tree, ;
her face all swollen and her mouth bleeding. ;
She was holding her left arm with her right hand. ;
It must be a fracture judging from the way it hurt her. ;
Some of the crowd were concerned and offering help and advice, ;
but most were just curious onlookers. ;
Someone managed to stop a passing car for us, ;
and the driver kindly drove us to the nearest hospital ;
Then our ordeal began. ;
Naturally I took her to the emergency room first ;
and expected immediate attention. ;
But we had to wait for t least ten minutes before a doctor came over to us. ;
He just took a brief look at her and said simply:"Go to the dental department." ;
"But doctor,aren't you going to give her a thorough check?"I asked. ;
"Don't worry,her life is not in danger." ;
Before I could say anything more,he was already out of sight. ;
There was nothing for us to do but look for the dental department ;
which took us a long time because it was on the third floor. ;
There the dentist told us that we must register first, ;
so I had to rush all the way down again to the ground floor, ;
there only to find a long queue. ;
I tried to jump the queue explaining it was an emergency case, ;
"Go to the emergency room if it's an emergency case!" ;
I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. ;
Anyway I stood obediently at the end of the line ;
and at last when my turn came I was given many forms to fill, ;
some of which were very detailed and quite unnecessary I thought. ;
After filling them I found I had to queue up once again to hand them in! ;
By the time everything was finished and I rushed upstairs, ;
I was happy to find the dentist had ;
the decency not to wait for me before treating Granny. ;
That was the first comforting thing after entering the hospital ;
and I really felt grateful to the dentist. ;
After putting several stitches to lips and gum, the dentist said: ;
"That's all.Now go and pay your bill." "But doctor,her arm hurts." ;
"You have to go to the surgical department for that. It's just opposite. ;
I'll take you there."I really like the man. ;
But all the same I had to run all the way down to the ground floor ;
to register again for the surgical department. ;
And for all the much trouble the doctor spent less than five minutes examining ;
Granny and said: "She'll need an X-ray." ;
He wrote out a chit and that was that. ;
The X-ray department was on the ground floor ;
and I had to help her all the way down. ;
The complications and rigmarole involved in getting the X-ray done were ;
too complicated and irritating to describe. ;
The long and short of it was,after we got the X-ray picture, ;
I had to take Granny all the way up again to the third floor. ;
After taking a look at it,the doctor said:"No bones broken. ;
I'll prescribe some pain-killer and antibiotics." ;
So it was all the way down again. ;
The complications in paying the bill and getting the medicine were ;
too silly for words. I had to queue from window to window- ;
to get the medicine priced and added up, to pay the bill,to get the medicine... ;
And if you didn't know the right order and sequence,which I didn't, ;
it often meant standing in the wrong queue ;
only to be told to come back again after queuing up at another window. ;
By the time we got home it was almost one o'clock. ;
We had spent almost four hours at the hospital,and I made a calculation: ;
Five minutes with the doctor in the emergency room, ;
half an hour with the dentist,ten minutes with the surgeon- ;
three quarters of an hour all told.The rest of the time was spent. ;
Waiting queuing, rushing from place to place. ;
If Granny had had to do all that by herself, ;
she wouldn't have left the hospital alive,I'm sure. ;
Text B ;
Dr Ding Ping,a bone specialist in No.2 People's Hospital of ;
Anqing in Anhui Province,won a bronze medal at the 37th ;
International Eureka Fair in Brussels last year for his invention ;
a new bone-setting device.Not only the doctor himself was happy and honoured, ;
his hospital,indeed the whole city felt honoured and happy too. ;
But who would have thought that his invention not only brought ;
the doctor a bronze medal,but also plunged him into a heavy debt. ;
It all started in 1986 when for the whole year ;
Dr Ding spent his every spare minute on his new invention. ;
After another year's clinical trial use, the device proved to be effective. ;
So in June last year Dr Ding was informed by the Science ;
Commission of Anhui Province that this invention had been selected ;
to compete in the 37th ureka International Fair. ;
This was indeed happy news,but Dr Ding's happiness was marred ;
by the fact that he had to pay 5,000 yuan for entering his item for the fair. ;
Where on earth was he to raise such a huge sum? ;
He applied for aid from the Municipal Science Commission, ;
but got turned down because firstly the Commission ;
thought his invention was a private one, ;
the work of an individual and therefore could not be unded by the public, ;
and secondly the Commission was hard up anyway and could not ;
afford to pay out such a large sum. So what was to be done? ;
At the last moment his hospital came to the rescue: ;
They agreed to lend Dr Ding 5,000 yuan, but starting from January this year, ;
they would deduct 50 yuan from his monthly salary ;
until the debt was fully repaid. ;
Dr Ding was grateful and jumped at the chance. ;
But he was under no illusion about the predicament he was plunging himself into. ;
His salary was only 97 yuan a month. ;
His wife,a school teacher,only brought home 82 yuan a month. ;
With two daughters at school their life was not easy as it was. ;
To have 50 yuan deducted monthly from their meager income ;
for the next eight years would mean a financial burden ;
that would surely break the camel's back.Discarding all face problems, ;
Dr Ding started to beg for alms from all quarters. ;
Mostly he met with rebuffs,but he could not afford to give up. ;
After a few months of begging from door to door, ;
he managed to collect 1,400 yuan. ;
Quite a substantial sum,but he was still 3,600 yuan short. ;
The news that his invention had won a bronze medal ;
not only brought some spiritual comfort,but also some material gains. ;
His hospital decided to award him 500 yuan ;
as a token of recognition for his brilliant work. ;
But the fact remains that he still had a debt to pay, ;
now reduced to 3,100 yuan. ;
Again he applied for help from various municipal departments, ;
but so far without success. ;
Is Dr Ding and his family going to spend the next five years in overty and misery ;
just because he has invented something useful ;
and won international recognition? ;
Additional Information ;
It's a hospital scene. People are lining up for registration. ;
After seeing the doctor they come back to line up again for their medicine, ;
Of course it's a very time-consuming process, ;
because they have to get the prescriptions priced at one window and pay at another. ;
Then at the last window they get their medicine. ;
That means altogether they have to line up at three different windows ;
just to get their medicine. ;
To avoid all this trouble, ;
a smart woman works out the most convenient way of getting her medicine. ;
She herself stands at the end of the first line and puts her pram ith her baby in it, ;
a toy duck and her own bag at the end of the other three lines. ;
She has them all strung together with the wool yarn with which she's knitting ;
She believes this will save her the trouble of lining up three times. ;
Lesson 27 Is It an Ideal Career? ;
Text A ;
I am not an extreme feminist.I am not an extreme anything. ;
However,I am a firm believer in equality and freedom. ;
I think we are all entitled to the same rights and opportunities. ;
Perhaps my views on feminism are influenced by the fact ;
that I was an only child and perhaps if I had had a brother, ;
he(and I)might have been treated differently. ;
My mother was the perfect example of all an ardent feminist would hate: ;
she waited hand and foot on my father and did it all without complaint. ;
When my father arrived home from work,his soup was served. ;
Every night his clothes for the next day were left out with the underwear ;
thoughtfully placed on op so that he didn't even have to think what to put on first. ;
His shoes were always polished for him, ;
his right to be first in the bathroom was never challenged, ;
and if he ever found himself in the kitchen it was by mistake. ;
My mother was honestly ontent with this situation ;
and regarded my father as a perfect husband: ;
he was a caring, generous man-a good provider.What more could any woman ask? ;
I remember being brought up,not as a male or female, ;
but simply as an individual, ;
and although I suppose I must have been influenced by my parents, ;
I do not remember ever eing encouraged to make marriage my major ambition. ;
I was fortunate enough o marry a man who did not expect to chain me to the kitchen sink. ;
He was quite capable of polishing his own shoes,and mine too while he was at it. ;
He was also able to wash dishes,dust,or do anything else around the house. ;
We managed beautifully with no strict male/ female division of labour. ;
Our first baby arrived much to our delight, six months ago. ;
I was more than pleased to give up my job as I had become sick of it. ;
I looked forward to my baby,and now he is here I actually enjoy him very much. ;
I have no intention of eturning to work,as I think our son ought to ave a parent ;
to care for him for a few years at least. ;
Indeed,I could be very appy with the situation, ;
were I not experienci- ng quite unexpected problems adapting to my new role. ;
When I attended the ante-natal clinic, ;
I remember the doctor asking me what I was', meaning my occupation, ;
rather than my blood group or star sign. ;
Yet when I went to the baby clinic for the first time, ;
all they wanted to know was what my husband 'was'. ;
I am still wondering what difference that makes to anything, ;
and I was hurt that nobody wanted to know about me any more. ;
Quite suddenly I was just someone's wife and someone's mother ;
I no longer seemed to have an identity of my own. ;
Where,previously,my husband was quite happy to help around the house, ;
his attitude now seems o be that if I'm at home all day,I can do all the housework. ;
And what bugs me most is that I find myself going along with it. ;
If the baby cries during the night, ;
then there is no question about who gets up.Have I taken leave of my senses? ;
My sense of self- esteem seems to be logged with baby powder and baby cream! ;
But the aspect of motherhood ;
I've found hardest to take has been the loss f earning power, ;
and what I see as a loss of financial independence. ;
For seven years I enjoyed helping to bring home the bacon, ;
and money never caused a row.It does now. ;
Although the decision to have our baby and for me to stay at home as a joint one, ;
I feel totally dependent on my husband, ;
who is becoming more and more irritated by my stupidity. ;
The indignity of being financially dependent on my husband ;
is something I feel very sensitive about. ;
Logically,having a baby ought to have extended me as a person: ;
I should be the person I was plus the person I am, ;
as a result of my new experience.It hasn't worked out like that. ;
Motherhood seems to have wiped out ten years of varied and ;
interesting work experience and taken me back, ;
not forwards-a whole generation back. ;
But the big difference between my mother and me is that she was happy and I am not. ;
I know a conflict that she couldn't have imagined. ;
Text B ;
Having a special day in honour of teachers is a fine thing. ;
But one day a year is not enough! ;
Where would the world be without teachers? What hope would there be for human progress? ;
Teachers deserve the respect of the whole of society the whole year round. ;
But they haven't got it.What is most remarkable and regrettable is ;
that in this great land of China, ;
with its ancient civilization and traditional respect for learning, ;
teachers are so looked down upon ;
that it is necessary to set aside a day to show respect for them. ;
Why is this? I believe hat teachers' low social status ;
is inseparable from their low pay,and poor iving and working conditions- ;
though these are gradually being improved. ;
But still the state allocation of funds for education is, per capita, ;
among the lowest in the world.So teachers are,in general, ;
under-paid and overworked-especially those in preschool, ;
primary and secondary education. ;
This despite the fact that Comrade Deng Xiaoping ;
immediately on resuming office pointed out: ;
education is a continuous process and the pay and conditions of teachers ;
from the most elementary level must be improved. ;
This statement was most encouraging,but progress since it was made, ;
some years ago,has been painfully slow. So today,who wants to become a teacher? ;
Who wants to marry a teacher? ;
When far better prospects are offered in other professions? ;
True,"man does not live by bread alone" -but he can't live without it. ;
Of course many fine dedicated people are still willing, ;
even eager to become and remain teachers. Many,but not enough. ;
That's one reason why there are middle school classes of 70 and more pupils, ;
and intolerable situation.The lower the number of students in a class ;
the higher the quality of education can be. Of course I am not speaking personally. ;
Looking back on 35 years as a teacher in China I feel grateful. ;
As a teacher here I have had a happy and rewarding life. ;
Being surrounded by young people has helped to keep me young. ;
But my pay and conditions are well above those of my Chinese colleagues. ;
A big and rapid improvement in their social status, ;
together with a similar improvement in their pay, ;
working conditions and housing,will attract more and more fine people ;
to the teaching profession. ;
That is a vital and urgent necessity for China's socialist modernization. ;
Additional Information ;
For many of you this will be your last year at shcool ;
and now is the time for you to begin ;
thinking seriously about your future careers. ;
In order to give you as much help as possible, ;
I have drawn up a list of questions that you ought to ask yourself. ;
"Have I given thought to what I would like to be doing 15 to 20 years from now? ;
"Bear in mind that the areer you choose will affect the future course of your life. ;
It will partially determine your range of friends, ;
your choice of husband or wife, where you live, ;
your recreational activities,and other important aspects of your life. ;
"Have I a clear knowledge of my abilities and aptitudes, ;
as well as my interests and aims? ;
"Be honest about your weak points as well as our strong ones. ;
Take a really good look at yourself ;
and give real thought to the kind of person you are, ;
what you are good at, and what kind of person you want to be. ;
"Do I know the kind of ccupations in which people like myself ;
tend to find success and satisfaction? ;
"Once you have examined and found out about yourself, ;
your next question is what you can really do ith yourself. ;
You can gain some idea f what other people, with similar abilities nd interests, ;
consider to be import- ant and challengeing in the careers that they chose, ;
by talking to people already in the careers hat interest you. ;
Watch these people at work. ;
"Have I weighed carefully the immediate advantages ;
against the long term prospects offered by the jobs I am considering? ;
"Will the occupation you select give you satisfaction,not just when you start, ;
but in the years to come? ;
Realize now the importance of education in all fields, ;
technical and professional. Remember that when promotion occurs, ;
preference is usually given to educated persons-other things being equal. ;
"Have I talked about my job references with y careers master,my parents, ;
my teachers and my headmaster?"Remember ;
they have a tremendous und of experience from which you should benefit. ;
They can help you think about the job in which you will ;
find satisfaction and challenge. ;
They can stimulate you to give careful thought to what you really want to do, ;
and offer useful suggestions as to how you might take full advantage ;
of your personal qualities and qualification. ;
"Have I made a real study of jobs in Hong Kong? ;
"It takes a very long time to find the work that suits you the best. ;
Reading about and studying a number of occupations is something you should ;
do over and over again. ;
In Hong Kong very little material is provided about the careers available. ;
But there is some.You or your parents should btain it as soon as possible. ;
Your careers master will be able to help you in this, ;
if your school has one."How do I regard my job? ;
Is it just a means of getting money to do the things that I want to do? ;
Is the work important to me and my future happiness and contentment? ;
Is it a combination of both these things? ;
"The above questions and their answers should give you some better ideas ;
about how you should start planning your career. ;
Your life-long job cannot be approached in any kind of haphazard fashion. ;
It must be considered carefully,examined from every angle, ;
talked over with those ho know you and those who can help you in any way. ;
Lesson 28 The Perfect Match ;
Text A ;
I walked into the office and shook hands ith a smiling man named Mr Bleaucher. ;
He was dressed very well,compared to me. ;
He shuffled a pile of papers like they were so many pancakes. ;
"I'm sure you'll be very pleased with her,"he said. ;
"She was picked by our compatibility computer ;
out of over one hundred ten million eligible women in the United States. ;
We categorize by race,religion, ;
ethnic and regional background...."I sat there uninterestedly, ;
wishing I had taken a shower before I came. ;
It was a very nice office but the chair wasn't too comfortable ;
"And now..."he said. He flung open the door o the next room like a magician ;
He needed a cape, though.I was expecting rabbit but I got a surprise ;
She was pretty. Really,she was pretty. ;
"Mr Walker,this is Miss Dunfield of Laughing Lake, Montana. ;
Miss Dunfield,this is Mr Franklin Walker of New York." ;
"Really Frank.Franking s something else again."I said. ;
I was a little nervous.She was pretty,you see. ;
Mr Bleaucher left and we were able to talk. ;
"Hello.""Hello,"she said."I'm...I'm very pleased with the choice,"I said. ;
I was trying to be suave.Maybe she didn't ike being called a choice. ;
"I mean-I'm glad the way things turned out." ;
She smiled.She had a nice smile.Good teeth. "Thank you," she said. ;
"So am I."She was shy. "I'm thirty-one,"I blurted out. ;
"Yes,I know,"she said. "It's all on the cards." ;
It seemed like the conversation was about over. ;
Everything was on the cards.So there wasn't really much to talk about. ;
"How about children?" she said."Three.Two boys and a girl." ;
"That's exactly what I want,"she said. ;
"It's down on the file under'Future Planning'.That one there." ;
I suddenly noticed that sheaf of papers in my hand. ;
On the first page was glued an IBM card with ital statistics about her ;
I guessed the thing she was holding was the same thing on me. ;
I began looking through it and so did she. ;
The turning pages made lot of noise.It said she liked classical music. ;
(This was in "Preferences and Habits".) ;
"You like classical music?"I asked her. "Well...better than anything else. ;
I also have the complete collection of Frankie Laine records." ;
"He was a great old singer,"I agreed. ;
I went on looking through the file and so did she. ;
She liked books, football,sitting near the front in movies, ;
sleeping with the windows closed,dogs, cats,goldfish, tuna fish, ;
salami sandwiches, simple clothes, ;
private schools for the children (our children,really), ;
living in the suburbs, art museums....She looked up. ;
"It seems we like the same things,"she said. "The exact same things,"I said. ;
I read the report titled "Psychology". ;
She was shy,avoided arguments,wasn't outspoken,a good mother type. ;
"I'm glad you don't drink or smoke,"she said."I don't.I don't like to. ;
Sometimes I have beer,though.""It doesn't say so down here." ;
"Well,maybe I forgot to put that down."I hoped she didn't mind. ;
We finished reading the reports on each other."We're very much like,"she said. ;
Alice and I have been married for nine years now. ;
We have the three kids already,two boys and a girl. ;
We live in the suburbs nd listen to a lot of classical and Frankie Laine records. ;
The last time we had an argument is too far ack to remember. ;
We agree on practically everything. ;
She's been a good wife and,if I may say so, ;
I've been a good husband.Our marriage is perfect. ;
We're getting divorced ext month.I can't stand it. ;