UNIT1

II. Listening Skills

1.???????M: Why don’t we go to the concert today?

W: I’ll go get the keys.

Q: What does the woman imply?

2.???????W: I can’t find my purse anywhere. The opera tickets are in it.

M: Have you checked in the car?
Q: What does the man imply?

3.???????M: Are you going to buy that pirated CD?

W: Do I look like a thief?

Q: What does the woman imply?

4.???????M: Do you think the singer is pretty?

W: Let’s just say that I wouldn’t/t vote for her in the local beauty contest.

Q: What does the woman imply about the singer?

5.???????M: Have you seen Tom? I can’t find him anywhere.

W: The light in his dorm was on just a few minutes ago.

Q: What does the woman mean?

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1.B?? 2.B? 3.D?? 4.C?? 5.A?

III. Listening In

Task 1: Encore!

As soon as the singer completed the song, the audience cried, “Encore! Encore!” The singer was delighted and sang the song again. She couldn’t believe it when the audience shouted for her to sing it again. The cycle of shouts and songs was repeated ten more times. The singer was overjoyed with the response from the audience. She talked them and asked them why they were so much audience in hearing the same song again and again. One of the people in the audience replied, “We wanted you to improve it; now it is much better.”

1.F?? 2.T?? 3.F?? 4.T?? 5.F

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Task 2: The Carpenters

W: They play “Yesterday Once More” all the time on the campus radio. Do you like it?

M: I do. I never get tired of it. I like the Carpenters. Their voices are so beautiful and clear. I guess that’s why they’re so popular.

W: I like the way their voices blend. There were just two of them, brother and sister, right?

M: Yes, Richard and Karen I think they were. She died I think.

W: Yes, anorexia. It is hard to believe that someone so beautiful would starve herself to death.

M: It’s a problem everywhere in the world, includingChina, I’m afraid. Women worry too much about their appearances, and are so crazy about losing weight.

W: Well, let’s go for lunch before we go to the concert.

1. beautiful and clear?? 2. blend well?? 3. sister?? 4. worry too much?? 5. more important

Task 3: Mozart

Mozart was a fascinating musician and composer whose fame continues to grow more than two centuries after his death. He was born in Salzburg,Austria, in 1756. Before the age of four, he had shown great musical talent. His father then decided to let him start taking harpsichord lessons. The boy’s reputation as a musical talent grew fast. At five, he was composing music. Form that time on, Mozart was performing n concerts and writing music. By his early teens, he had mastered the piano, violin and harpsichord, and was writing symphonies and operas. His first major opera was performed in Milan in 1770, when he was only fourteen. At fifteen, Mozart became the conductor for an orchestra in Salzburg. In 1781, he left for Vienna, where he was in great demand as both a performer and a composition teacher. His first opera was a success. But life was not easy because he was a poor businessman, and his finances were always in a bad state. His music from the next decade was not very popular, and he eventually fell back on his teaching jobs for a living. In 1788 he stopped performing in public, preferring only to compose. He died in 1791 at the age of thirty-five. Although he lived only a short life, he composed over 600 works.

1. Which of the following is true of Mozart????? D

2. How long has Mozart’s fame lasted????????? A

3. Which of the following is true of the four-year-old Mozart??? B

4. What could Mozart do at the age of six??????? C

5. Which of the following is not mentioned as one of Mozart’s accomplishments while he was in his early teens????????????????????????????? C

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IV. Speaking Out

Model 1 Do you like jazz?

Laura: Hey!

Bob:? Hello!

Laura:?Do you like jazz, Bob?

Bob:??No, not much. Do you like it?

Laura: Well, yes, I do.?I’m crazy about?Wynton Marsalis.

Bob:? Oh, he’s a piano player, isn’t he?

Laura: No, he’s a trumpet player. So,?what kind of music do you like?

Bob:? I like listening to rock.

Laura:?What group do you like best?
Bob:? Er, The Cranberries. They’re the greatest.?What about you? Don’t you like them?

Laura: Ugh!?They make my stomach turn!

SAMPLE DIALOG

A: Do you like classical music?

B: No, I don’t like it at all.

A: What type of music do you like?

B: I’m a real fan of pop songs.

A: Who’s your favorite singer or group?
B: Jay Chou. What do you think about him?

A: I can hardly bear pop songs. They are all noise to me.

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Model 2 Do you like punk rock?

Max:?? What kind of music do you like?

Frannie: Well,?I like different kinds.

Max:???Any in particular?

Frannie: Er, I especially like punk rock.

Max:?? Punk rock??You don’t seem like?the punk rock type.

Frannie: You should have seen me in high school. I had my hair dyed blue.

Max:?? Wow, that must have been a sight!

Frannie: It sure was.?What about you??What’s your favorite music?

Max:?? I guess I like jazz best. Hey, I’m going shopping for CDs tomorrow.?Would you like to?come along?

Frannie: Sure,?that sounds great.

SAMPLE DIALOG

A: What sports appeal to you?

B: I like almost every kind of sport.

A: Is there anything you like especially?

B: Well, I like X-sports in particular.

A: x-Sports? You don’t look like the extreme sports type.

B: I have even tried bungee jumping and surfing.

A: Wow, you certainly surprised me!

B: Then how about you? What kind of sport do you prefer?

A: I like t’ai chi most. In fact, I’m going to buy some books about t’ai chi. Why don’t you come with me?

B: Sounds good. Let’s go.

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Model 3 It just sounds like noise to me.

Philip:?Turn down that noise! What on earth is it anyway!

Laura: But dad…This is Metallica1?They’re so cool.?They are one of the most famous heavy metal bands.

Philip: I don’t care.?It just sounds like noise to me. I can’t stand it!

Laura: I love this kind of music, but if you really hate it that much, I’ll out on something else.?What do you want to hear?

Philip:?How about?some popular easy-listening music. Maybe something like Celine Dion?

Laura: Not her again!?Her music isn’t very hip any more. I think she is a bore.

SAMPLE DIALOG

A: That music is terrible! Turn off!

B: But, Mom, this is Backstreet Boy’s hit song “Get down”! It’s really appealing.

A: Nonsense. It’s just noise tome. I can’t put up with it anymore.

B: It’s my favorite music. But if you hate it so much, I’ll hate something you like. What would like to listen to?

A: What about some old songs of the 1970s like “The White-Haired Girl”?

B: Ha-ha-ha-ha. It’s not fashionable any longer. I’ll be bored to death.

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V. Let’s Talk

The Origin of the Song “Happy Birthday to You”

The story of the song “Happy Birthday to You” Began as a sweet one, but later became bitter. Two sisters, Mildred Hill, a teacher at a kindergarten, and Dr. Patty Hill, the principal of the same school, wrote a song together for the children, entitled “Good Morning to All”. When Mildred combined her musical talents with her sister’s knowledge in the area of kindergarten education, ‘Good Morning to All” was sure to be a success. The sister published the song in a collection entitled “Song Stories of the Kindergarten” in 1893. Thirty-one years later, after Dr. Patty Hill became the head of the Department of Kindergarten Education at Columbia ?University’s Teachers College, a gentleman by the name Robert Coleman published the song, without the sisters’ permission. He added a second part, which is the familiar “Happy Birthday to You”. Mr. Coleman’s addition of the second part made the song popular and, finally, the sisters” original first part disappeared. “Happy Birthday to You” had altogether replaced the sisters’ original song “Good Morning to All”. In 1916 Patty took legal action against Mr. Coleman. In court, she succeeded in proving that hey were the real owners of the song.

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1.???????teacher at a kindergarten

2.???????Good Morning to All

3.???????Happy Birthday to You

4.???????Happy Birthday to You??? Good Morning to All

Possible Retelling for the Teacher’s Reference

The story of “Happy Birthday to You” was a nice, sweet on eat the very beginning, but later turned into a bitter one. There were two sisters: one was Mildred Hill, and the other Patty Hill. The former had great musical talents, while the latter had knowledge of kindergarten education. Bu combining their abilities, the two produced a song called “Good Morning to All”. It was a success, and later published in a collection of songs for kindergartens.

Thirty-one years later a man named Coleman published the song without the sisters’ permission. To make things worse, he added a second part, which is the present “Happy Birthday to You”. This new song soon became popular and eventually it replaced the sisters’ first part altogether. Then, in 1916, Patty took legal action against Coleman. In court she managed to prove that she and her sister really owned the song.

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VI. Further Listening and Speaking

Task 1: Karaoke

Dalin: It’s Mike’s birthday on Friday, so a bunch of us are going to go to the karaoke bar. Would you like to come with us?

Laura: Karaoke bar? You have a special place just for singing? InAmerica, bars sometimes have a karaoke night where the customers can sing a song, but we haven’t special karaoke bars!

Dalin: Really? InChina, karaoke is a very popular way for friends ro spend time together. We can select the music that ur group enjoys. We mostly sing pop songs.

Laura: Do you sing individually or in groups? Singing is not a very in thing, so I don’t sing very well.

1. F? 2. F?? 3.T? 4.T?? 5.F

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Task 2: When was music first sent down a telephone line?

So you think downloading music from the Internet through a phone line is a really cool modern thing? Not so. In 1896, Thaddeus Cahill Filed a patent on the instrument for transmitting music electronically, and until 1914 he sent music signals down telephone lines with this instrument. And he wasn’t even the first. Elisha Gray transmitted music over a telephone line in 1876, which was the same year the telephone was invented. Gray invented the first electronic music instrument in 1874, calling it the “Musical Telegraph”. Alexander Graham Bell also designed an experimental “Electric Harp” for speech to be transmitted over a telephone line using technology similar to Gray’s. Bell was a speech teacher for the deaf. In 1879 he created an instrument to measure hearing loss. That is why the degrees of loudness came to be measured in bels or decibels.

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Task 3: Thank You for the Music

I’m nothing?special, in fact I’m a bit of a bore

If I tell a?joke, you’re probably heard it before

But I have a?talent, a wonderful thing

‘Cause everyone listens when I start to sing

I’m so grateful and?proud

All I want is to sing it out?loud

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So I say

Thank you for the music, the songs I’m singing

Thanks for all the?joy?they’re bringing

Who can live without it, I ask in all?honestly

What would life be

Without a song or a dance what are we

So I say thank you for the music

For giving it to me

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Mother says I was a?dancer?before I could walk

She says I began to sing long before I could?talk

And I’ve often?wondered, how did it all start

Who found out that nothing can?capture?a heart

Like a melody can

Well, whoever it was, I’m a?fan

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So I say

Thank you for the music, the songs I’m singing

…

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Speaking

Musical Memories

Tony:? Listen! Quick, turn up the radio! Isn’t that “Can You Feel the Love Tonight?”

Nancy: Yeah, it is, but what’s the big deal?

Tony:? When I was a little boy, my grandmother took me to see the movie?The Lion King. That’s the Elton John song from the movie.

Nancy: I still can’t understand why it’s so important to you.

Tony:? Because it was the first movie I ever saw with my grandma and because I really loved spending time with her. It is my favorite song of all times!

Nancy: The first time Tom and I went on a date, we went to see Titanic. I always think of the song “My Heart Will Go On” as our song! Whenever I hear it, I think of that night.

Tony:? Oh, I can understand why you love that song! Isn’t it interesting all the memories we connect with songs?