[00:00.00] CHAPTER 2 HOME AND FAMILY
[00:14.00]Unit 2 Home and Family
[00:20.77]Conversations
[00:25.63]Wang Fang shows a photo of her family to Dianna.
[00:32.18]How many members are these in your family?
[00:36.62]There are five.Look at the photo.
[00:41.67]The old couple sitting in the middle are my parents.
[00:46.94]Oh,your parents!They smile so happily.
[00:52.22]You're right.My mother was an English teacher in a middle school,
[00:58.67]and my father was a doctor,now both of them are retired from work.
[01:05.93]Your fluent English must be inherited from your mother,I think.
[01:11.78]Maybe.When I was little,she liked to teach me English.
[01:17.66]A wise mother!Who is the man on the left?
[01:23.83]He's my elder brother.
[01:27.59]He looks so handsome and energetic.What is he doing now?
[01:33.47]He works in a big company in Shanghai as a manager.
[01:39.32]Who is the girl on the right?Is that you?
[01:44.88]No,that's my younger sister.She is studying in Los Angeles.
[01:51.93]So the girl next to her must be you.
[01:56.79]Yes,you're right.
[02:00.76]You are still as lovely as you were.
[02:05.44]Thank you,by the way,I'd like to see my parents this weekend.
[02:12.49]Would you like to go with me?My mother is preparing my favorite dishes.
[02:18.97]Have a taste,OK?
[02:22.63]Oh,I'd love to.I'll be gald to meet your parents.
[02:28.51]It seems you really have a happy family.
[02:32.87]Mary's Daisy and brother-in-law are to travel to Europe,
[02:41.33]now Daisy is talking to Mary.
[02:45.69]Mary,come here,I will tell you a secret,OK?
[02:50.97]OK!
[02:54.21]We are going to Europe together.Can you remember what dad has said?
[03:01.58]Travelling around the world,living life.
[03:06.85]Let me give his necklace to you...to wear until I get back,
[03:13.10]well,so you will not forget me.
[03:17.85]Before we come back,what are you going to do?
[03:23.42]To cry.
[03:27.07]Oh,no,my poor little sister!
[03:32.43]OK.Will you think of me in your travelling?
[03:38.07]Sure.I promise to send you a postcard every day till I return.
[03:45.31]That's great!I'll be waiting for you at home.
[03:50.77]Kate and her brother Bill are talking about their cousin Nancy
[03:59.02]and her husband Steve.
[04:02.99]Kate,Nancy and Steve are breaking up.
[04:08.14]It's really shame.I've heard that quarrel,
[04:14.51]but they've always made up afterward.
[04:18.87]Things are not working out this time.They are getting a separation soon.
[04:25.53]What is going to happen to our nephew,little Jack?
[04:30.81]Nancy is going to take him.
[04:35.17]The cost of living is so high.
[04:39.61]It will be very difficult for her to take the respon sibility.
[04:45.57]She had better think the whole thing over.
[04:50.25]She seems to have made up her mind.
[04:54.90]She said she would rather be a single parent
[04:59.26]than make do with an unhappy marriage.
[05:04.22]Well,I hope her parents will be able to talk her out of it.
[05:10.28]Passage Enjoy the Round
[05:15.25]My old man was the original silver Lining Guy.
[05:20.99]As a teenager I called him Opi the Mystic
[05:26.84]because of his crazy optimism and his imperturbable ability to see any crisis as\
[05:35.80]"an opportunity for growth".
[05:40.06]For 30 years my father had been senior representative
[05:45.34]for one of the world's largest firms.
[05:49.99]To Opti,hard work was a form of a play because work involved solving problems.
[05:57.96]This life view fit the philosophy of his favorite game-golf.
[06:04.20]He first put a club in my hand when I was ten.
[06:09.35]I was in such a rush to be good
[06:13.47]that he would urge me to"relax and enjoy the round.
[06:19.53]The game ends far too soon."I didn't have a clue what he meant.
[06:26.01]Eventually when I grew up,
[06:30.16]golf became much more than a game between Dad and I.
[06:35.42]It acted as a means of seeing who this funny,
[06:40.14]oddball philosopher really was,and who I needed to become.
[06:46.52]Dad was pushing 80.But he always laughed off my concerns.
[06:53.07]Now the cancer came back.He had a month,two at most,he said,
[06:59.53]and merely asked me to save my strength for the golf course.
[07:04.78]We played a course near the English village of Freckleton.
[07:10.73]During World War II
[07:14.29]my father had served in an army on the outskirts of the village.
[07:20.03]A local told us,"There was quite a memorial service because of the bember."
[07:27.11]I glanced at Dad."Do you know the bomber?"
[07:32.15]His complexion had turned pale."Yes.Come with me."
[07:38.53]I followed him to a burying ground at the rear of a church.
[07:44.40]"How did these folks die?"I asked.
[07:49.73]"They weren't folks.They were children.Four and five-year-olds.
[07:56.08]Thirty-eight in all.One of our bombers crashed into the school."
[08:02.14]He shut his eyes."God,what a sight!I rememeber pulling away pieces of the plane,
[08:10.50]bricks and all these precious kies inside.."
[08:15.65]I saw tears gathering in my father's eyes,
[08:20.40]There was one girl who was always laughing.
[08:25.08]I called her Lady Sunshine.A week after the crash,
[08:31.14]I found a note on the base of bulletin board from her parents.
[08:36.49]They wondered if anybody had taken a photograph of her.
[08:41.64]I took them all the photos I had.
[08:45.90]We sat in their front parlor and cried.
[08:50.26]I've never experienced anything quited so sad."
[08:55.69]"I'm surprised you never told me this story."I said.
[09:01.34]"The war ended for me right here,"he said.
[09:07.29]"I promised myself I would never speak about it again."
[09:12.86]The night before,he had tole me that when he'd joined the Army he was a cocky guy.
[09:20.22]Then"Something happened"and he realized"
[09:25.50]the only thing life really promises us is pain.
[09:31.06]It's up to to create the joy".
[09:35.43]Opti the Mystic had been born in that bomber's wreckage.
[09:41.20]That night,my prayer was simple:
[09:46.16]I hoped that my own children would never know the pain my Dad had known,
[09:52.22]but if they must,I hoped the pain would make them little Optis.
[09:58.57]Dad died the following march.
[10:02.93]I was on the course near Freckleton again.
[10:07.48]My partners,who had been warned what was coming,watched solemnly.
[10:14.63]I told them my old man had said golf was a game that made you smile.
[10:20.38]"So please smile."As they smiled,
[10:25.66]I scattered my father's cremated ashes into the bunker.
[10:31.54]After the round,a boy passed me.
[10:36.39]"Did you shoot a good one?"I asked.
[10:40.94]"Not so good,sir."
[10:44.41]"That's okay,"I said."Enjoy it.The game ends too soon."
[10:50.97]"Right.Thanks."
[10:54.81]He walked on and I walked on-and then I stopped.
[11:00.45]I'd heard it-my father's voice.
[11:05.10]Words and Expressions
[11:09.67]original teenager optimism imperturbable
[11:14.00]adj.独创的,新颖的 n.十几岁的青少年 n.乐观的;乐观主义 adj.沉着的;冷静的
[11:18.32]ability crisis opportunity growth
[11:22.10]n.能力;才干 n.危险;危险期 n.机会，时机 n.生长,发展,增长
[11:25.87]senior representative involve solve
[11:29.89]adj.高级的,地位较高 n.代表 vt.包括,涉及 vt.解决,解答
[11:33.92]philosophy golf club urge
[11:37.39]n.哲学 n.高尔夫球 n.棍棒,球棒 vt.催促,力劝
[11:40.87]relax clue eventually oddball
[11:44.89]vi.放松,休息,变从容 n.线索 adv.最后 adj.古怪的
[11:48.91]laugh off concern cancer outskirts
[11:52.99]一笑置之 n.关心,关注 n.癌;肿瘤 n.边界,市郊
[11:57.06]local memorial bomber complexion
[12:00.64]n.当地居民 adj.纪念的 n.轰炸机 n.面色
[12:04.22]crash sunshine bulletin parlor
[12:08.31]v.坠落,坠毁 n.阳光 n.公告;报告 n.客厅,会客室
[12:12.39]cocky guy wreckage prayer
[12:16.08]adj.骄傲的,自大的 n.家伙,人 n...的残骸 n.祈祷
[12:19.76]partner solemnly scatter cremate
[12:23.73]n.搭档 adv.严肃地,庄严地 vt.使分散,散播 vt.火葬,焚化
[12:27.70]bunker
[12:29.28]n.沙坑,障碍洞
[12:30.86]Exercises
[12:34.42]Section I Listening Comprehension
[12:39.46]Listen to the record.
[12:43.22]Answer each question by choosing A,B,C or D from the four possible choices.
[12:52.36]A
[12:55.42]1.What do you think I should bring for your father as a gift?
[13:01.87]Why not get him a mobile phone?
[13:06.10]2.Why don't you and your family come for supper in our house this Sunday?
[13:13.23]We would havt to if we weren't already invited by my brother.
[13:19.40]3.May I offer you one of my cigarettes?
[13:24.96]No,thankls.I'm sitting here only
[13:29.61]because all the seats in the nonsmoking section are occupied.
[13:35.80]4.Look,here is an advertisement for an apartment with two bedrooms.
[13:42.86]It's really near our campus.
[13:47.11]What's the number?
[13:50.88]I will find out whether it's available for immediate occupancy.
[13:57.22]5.Did you notice that man with a fashionable wig was our uncle?
[14:04.49]Oh,I didn't recognize him at all.
[14:09.24]B
[14:12.40]One hot night last July,when our new baby wouldn't or couldn't sleep,
[14:20.34]I tried evertthing I could think of:
[14:24.71]a warm bottle,songs,gentle rocking.Nothing would settle him.
[14:32.18]Guessing that I had a long night ahead of me.
[14:37.03]I brought a portable TV into his room,
[14:42.39]figuring that watching the late movie was
[14:46.83]as good a way was any to kill off the hours until dawn.
[14:51.98]To my surprise,as soon as the TV lit up,the baby quieted right down,
[14:59.92]his little eyes focused brightly on the tube.
[15:05.17]Not to waste an opportunity for sleep,
[15:09.92]I then tiptoed out of the room.
[15:14.78]Leaving him to watch the actors celebrate John Bellushi's forty-birthday.
[15:21.26]My wife and I heard no more of the baby that night,
[15:26.22]and the next morning when I went into his room,
[15:30.90]I found him still watching TV himself.
[15:35.76]I found in my baby's behavior a metaphor for the new generation.
[15:42.11]My wife and I had given him some books to examine,
[15:47.67]but the merely spit upon them.
[15:52.03]When we read to him,he didn't feel comfortable.
[15:57.07]And so it is in the schools.
[16:01.44]We find that our students don't read,
[16:05.80]that they look down upon reading and scold those of us who teach it.
[16:12.17]All they want to do is to watch TV.
[16:16.82]After this experience with the baby,however,I have reached a conclusion:
[16:24.27]let them watch it.
[16:27.92]If television is that much more attractive to children than books,
[16:33.99]why should we fight it?
[16:37.64]Let them watch all they want.
[16:41.48]Supplementary Reading
[16:45.14]Working Woman
[16:48.51]Today more and more married women are working outside the home.
[16:55.46]For most of them the reason is obvious:
[17:00.73]they must work if their families are to survive.
[17:05.78]But what about those who don't really have to work?
[17:11.13]Do the rewards justify their efforts?
[17:16.41]The amswer is pretty clearly"yes".
[17:21.68]The most obvious benefit to woman working outside the home is financial.
[17:28.22]The rishing costs of living have forced many to work
[17:33.78]simply to keep their families going.
[17:38.22]And even in those families in which the wife has a choice,
[17:44.18]the extra income may reduce the financial burden on her husband
[17:49.92]in paying for college for the children,
[17:54.29]remodeling their house,or taking a long-delayed vacation.
[18:00.92]For young couples the benefit is not being able to temodel a house,
[18:07.76]it's the possibility of buying one in the first place.
[18:13.93]If the wife does not work,buying a house is simply out of the question.
[18:21.58]Two other points need to be considered,too.
[18:26.44]Even when the children have left the house,
[18:30.99]the drop in family costs if often replaced by the cost of supporting aging parents.
[18:39.06]And second,a job provides a wife additional security,
[18:45.83]psychological as well as financial,
[18:50.79]in case of the illness or death of her husband.
[18:56.35]A second benefit,particularly for women in their late thirties or forties,
[19:03.80]is the relief from the boredom of housework.
[19:10.25]They want a change from the deadly routine of washing clothes,
[19:15.92]making beds,cleaning the furniture,and the like.
[19:21.98]Not all jobs are exciting,of course;
[19:26.84]but they provide a change and a challenge,
[19:31.28]particularly for those who feel their abilities
[19:35.95]and skills have been wasted at home.
[19:40.60]In addition,women who work often have more to contribute to conversation
[19:47.97]with their husbands and friends.
[19:52.02]And as their conversation becomes live-lier,
[19:57.06]more interesting,they become more lively and interesting themselves.
[20:04.19]But perhaps the most significant benefit of working is psychological.
[20:11.06]Most women have spent their early married lives looking after their homes,
[20:17.23]their children and husbands.
[20:21.67]When their children are gone and the housework is reduced,
[20:27.55]they often find themselves unable to cope with the extra time on their hands.
[20:34.39]Working gives them something constructive to do outside the home.
[20:40.06]Meeting new people on the job,
[20:44.42]putting long-neglected skills to use,
[20:49.18]competing successfully in the marketplace
[20:54.74]-all of these experiences help to build their self-confidence;
[21:00.70]they give a woman a sense of her won importance.
[21:06.16]As she proves to herself that she can bring home the bacon as well as cook it.
[21:13.10]she will open herself to new experiences and broaden her interests.
[21:20.57]But some people may ask,"Won't all this make a wife less dependent on her husband?"
[21:28.91]Yes,quite likely.
[21:32.96]Some husbands want their wives dependent upon them for all their needs.
[21:40.32]But a truly happy,successful marriage means freedom for each partner to grow
[21:47.98]with in the bonds of a loving relationship.
[21:53.02]For some husbands the change will be painful,but all growth involves pain.
[22:00.59]And,in the long run,it's an acceptable price to pay for the personal growth
[22:07.86]and sense of achievement his wife will gain.
