[00:00.00] CHAPTER TWO Reading

[00:-1.00]A WOMAN'S PLACE IS IN THE HOME

[00:-2.00]Chairperson and fellow students,

[00:-3.00]1.Replying to such a well-argued speech is not easy,but I will try.

[00:-4.00]As you know,I'm speaking against this motion.

[00:-5.00]I wish to make three main points.

[00:-6.00]First,we cannot accept the traditional role for women

[00:-7.00]in a modern and sophisticated society.

[00:-8.00]Second,I wish to refute the argument that women are weaker than men.

[00:-9.00]Third, I shall discuss whether or not it is damaging

[00:10.00]for a childif his/her mother has a job.

[00:11.00]2.In proposing the motion,

[00:12.00]Jane suggested that we should be proud of our history

[00:13.00]and respect the traditional role of women.

[00:14.00]Well,I want to remind her of some other facts about the past.

[00:15.00]Girls born into some poor families were not wanted.

[00:16.00]They were sometimes killed or later sold as slaves.

[00:17.00]After getting married,many women were like servants in their husband's family.

[00:18.00]These wives,confined to their houses,had very low status.

[00:19.00]New wives sometimes committed suicide.

[00:20.00]Are these traditions which we should support today?

[00:21.00]I don't think so.

[00:22.00]We can be proud of our history without clinging to these old traditions.

[00:23.00]3.Second,the proposer mentioned the old argument

[00:24.00]about women being weaker than men.

[00:25.00]Having made this point,

[00:26.00]she said it showed that women were unsuitable for many jobs.

[00:27.00]Well,I must disagree with both statements.

[00:28.00]Looking around,we can still see some women doing heavy,physical work

[00:29.00]on farms,building sites androads.

[00:30.00]Thus,women can do heavy manual labour when they have to.

[00:31.00]Furthermore,statistics prove that women suffer fewer serious diseases.

[00:32.00]Moreover,the life expectancy for women is longer than that for men.

[00:33.00]So how can we say women are weaker?

[00:34.00]Finally,while agreeing that men are better at weightlifting,

[00:35.00]I must say that very few jobs actually require physical strength these days.

[00:36.00]4.In his speech,James tried to pay us a compliment,I think,

[00:37.00]when he said that women are superior to men in bringing up children,

[00:38.00]and should therefore stay home.

[00:39.00]I concede that many women feel torn between their careers and their families.

[00:40.00]However,a recent study has shown that working women

[00:41.00]spend only five hours lessa week with their children than non-working women.

[00:42.00]It is better for the family finances and for the woman's own development.

[00:43.00]For instance,my mother returned to work a few years ago.

[00:44.00]Having been at home for ten years,she felt quite nervous.

[00:45.00]After returning to work, she became more confident.

[00:46.00]But I feel strongly that every woman should have the right to work out her own priorities.

[00:47.00]5.Thus,I have shown that some traditions of the past were unfair,

[00:48.00]and that women are not the weaker sex.

[00:49.00]I believe we're capable of doing any job a man can do.

[00:50.00]In our city,over 51% of the female population now have jobs.

[00:51.00]Many of those also manage to run a home,and so they have a double burden.

[00:52.00]Very few men could manage this.

[00:53.00]6.There are still many examples of discrimination against women in our society,

[00:54.00]as Simon pointed out in his speech.

[00:55.00]As a community,we are wasting our valuable resources

[00:56.00]if we don't let women play their full part.

[00:57.00]A woman's place is not only in the home,but also in the office,

[00:58.00]in the design studio,in the bank,and in the managing director's chair.

[00:59.00]I urge you to vote against the motion.Thank you.

[-1:00.00]1 LISTENING SKILLS Changing texts

[-1:-1.00]2 LISTENING SKILLS Changing texts

[-1:-2.00]SPEAKING

[-1:-3.00]A Stress in words ending in -ion

[-1:-4.00]When you want to say or read a long word such as discrimination

[-1:-5.00]it helps if you know where the main stress is.

[-1:-6.00]Most words ending in-ion

[-1:-7.00]have their main stress on the vowel before the -ion ending

[-1:-8.00]Exercise A1

[-1:-9.00]construct construction discriminate discrimination

[-1:10.00]donate donation explode explosion

[-1:11.00]investigate investigation limit limitation

[-1:12.00]oppose opposition organize organization

[-1:13.00]pronounce pronunciation recommend recommendation

[-1:14.00]Exercise A2

[-1:15.00]1.Thank you for your donation to our charity.

[-1:16.00]2.The police investigation into the crime will start immediately.

[-1:17.00]3.There is a lot of opposition to that proposal.

[-1:18.00]4.It is difficult to learn communication skills in a foreign language.

[-1:19.00]5.The modern industrialization of this city began in the 1950s.

[-1:20.00]6.Discrimination against women still exists in some occupations.

[-1:21.00]7.We have decided to oppose all of your recommendations.

[-1:22.00]MORE LANGUAGE INPUT

[-1:23.00]A Reading Growing Up

[-1:24.00]Leaving childhood andheading into adulthood

[-1:25.00]is a physical and emotional process for teenagers.

[-1:26.00]Growing up is difficult in terms of health as well.

[-1:27.00]As a teenager,you need to understand what is going on with your body,

[-1:28.00]how to handle those changes,

[-1:29.00]and how to start taking responsibility for your own health.

[-1:30.00]Puberty is a mysterious word.

[-1:31.00]Upon pronunciation,it almost sounds embarrassing.

[-1:32.00]But it is really nothing to be shy about.

[-1:33.00]After all, everyone goes through it.

[-1:34.00]A young person may begin development at 8 years of age,

[-1:35.00]while another may not show signs of development until 14 or 15.Generally,

[-1:36.00]girls tend to enter puberty two years ahead of boys.

[-1:37.00]For both sexes,puberty is usually complete by age 18.

[-1:38.00]During these years,your voices deepen,

[-1:39.00]pimples grow and many other physical changes happen.

[-1:40.00]Your emotions also see-saw as you ride the wave of adolescence.

[-1:41.00]Part of the ride may have something to do with your hormones;

[-1:42.00]whereas the other part may come from your changing relationships

[-1:43.00]with your parents and friends,or pressure from peers.

[-1:44.00]Puberty is important for all boys and girls

[-1:45.00]It may greatly influence personality development,particularly for girls.

[-1:46.00]Research findings show that adolescent girls

[-1:47.00]sometimes undergo a significant drop in self-confidence.

[-1:48.00]They may feel uncertain and insecure about their own judgement and emotions

[-1:49.00]Yet they are usually reluctant to tell their parents and teachers

[-1:50.00]about their feelings.

[-1:51.00]Therefore,adolescent girls

[-1:52.00]should be encouraged to discuss things with trusted adults

[-1:53.00]to cope with such natural developmental difficulties

[-1:54.00]in their personal and school life.

[-1:55.00]Good advice at the right time can lead to positive and productive results.

[-1:56.00]Boys, at this stage,

[-1:57.00]should also start to learn how to make sensible decisions for themselves.

[-1:58.00]If not,bad choices or risky behaviour may bring about lifelong consequences.

[-1:59.00]Parents and schools,communities and media can each do a lot to care and help.

[-2:00.00]It is the responsibility of the whole society

[-2:-1.00]to ensure young people's health growth

[-2:-2.00]--through their teenage years into adulthood.

[-2:-3.00]B Listening