[00:00.00] Unit 15 My Hometown

[00:03.79]Dialogues A.The Return Visit

[00:10.24]Mr.Hall spent his childhood in Changchun,China.

[00:16.90]However,he has lived most of his life in Newtown.

[00:23.25]He is now returning to Changchun for the first time in twenty years

[00:30.80]and is traveling by bus with his nephew.

[00:36.05]Mr.Hall:We're nearly there.It's all coming back to me now.

[00:41.61]I used to travel along this road to school every day.

[00:47.65]Robert:Did you really?

[00:51.59]I thought you'd lived in Newtown all your life.

[00:56.03]Mr.Hall:No,I used to live in Changchun when I was young.

[01:02.20]Robert:Have you ever been back since you first left Changchun?

[01:07.45]Mr.Hall:No,but I often thought about visiting my old birthplace.

[01:13.48]In fact,I never made it because I had no time.

[01:19.12]Robert:We're coming into the center of Changchun now,aren't we?

[01:24.87]Mr.Hall:Er-are we?It's all changed.There didn't use to be a flyover here.

[01:33.94]Robert:Look at those skyscrapers.Are they office buildings?

[01:39.68]Mr.Hall:I have no idea.I don't remember any huge buildings here.

[01:46.42]There was a field-my family often had a picnic there.

[01:52.77]B.It's All Changed!

[01:57.81]Now,Mr.Hall and his nephew are passing through the town center.

[02:03.87]There is a swimming pool on the right

[02:07.92]Robert:Did you often go there when you were a boy?

[02:12.57]Mr.Hall:I've never been there.I would have gone if there was one then.

[02:19.62]Robert:Look at that old building.

[02:24.17]It's the town library.You must have been there.

[02:30.52]Mr.Hall:Oh,yes,but not often.I didn't use to have time to read a lot.

[02:38.35]Robert:Ah,we're coming into the bus station now.

[02:43.92]Mr.Hall:What? The bus station didn't use to be here,next to the town hall.

[02:51.57]Robert:Where was it? Mr.Hall:I can't remember.The whole town's changed.

[02:58.81]Let's get off and look around ..Can you read the date over there?

[03:05.08]Robert:It says 1955. The bus station's been here all the time.

[03:13.83]Mr.Hall:I never used to come here to catch the bus.

[03:18.66]I can't remember a thing.Maybe I've changed- not the town.

[03:25.90]Passage My Hometwon

[03:31.64]John Pizarro,the director of the Commercial Development in our company,

[03:38.70]is going to travel to my hometown with me to see the great changes taking place there.

[03:46.46]My hometown is a beautiful place.

[03:51.92]It stands beside a wide river at the foot of low green hills.

[03:58.86]It has many fine buildings and wide streets.

[04:04.61]Wherever you go,you may see trees and flowers.

[04:09.76]But it has not always been like that.

[04:14.09]When I was in high school,it was a sad and dirty little town.

[04:20.75]Some people lived in dark,unhealthy rooms in old buildings

[04:27.60]and others in huts on narrow muddy streets.

[04:32.67]Nearly everyone was poor and many had no work.

[04:38.41]Great changes have taken place in my hometown since 1978

[04:45.96]when China started to put into effect the policies of reform

[04:52.81]and opening to the outside world.

[04:57.27]The people have got rid of the mud and dirt.

[05:02.52]They have put up theaters,shops and flats in the center of the town.

[05:09.76]They also have set up a hospital in the east of the town.

[05:15.69]Along the river they have built schools,hotels and a big park.

[05:22.95]Factories and businesses have sprung up.

[05:28.31]On the river,steamers and boats come and go busily day and night,

[05:36.07]carrying the products of our industries to all parts of the province.

[05:42.31]Because the economy has developed rapidly and steadily,

[05:48.55]the people's living standard has been improved greatly.

[05:54.61]I love my hometown,and I love its people.They too have changed.

[06:01.98]If we continue to carry out the policies,

[06:06.92]I am sure that my hometown will have an even brighter future.