up on Friday, near a small town on the northeast coast of Australia. The girls said they were visiting a friend on the ship and fell asleep in their friend’s cabin. When they woke up, the ship was heading for Singapore, so they decided to jump off the ship and swim to shore. They found themselves on a deserted part of the Australian coast, and had to walk over 100 miles to the nearest town. 3.
Early Tuesday morning in California, two police officers who were pursuing a car thief down Hollywood Boulevard in a high-speed chase were rescued by the thief. During the chase, the officers’ car overturned and fell into a shallow river. The officers couldn’t get out of the car, which was rapidly filling up with water. The thief went back to the scene of the accident and helped rescue the officers. The Hollywood Police Department has decided to drop charges against the thief for saving the officers’ lives. P23
8 Conversation
A Listen and practice.
Brian: Someone stole my wallet last night!
Kate: Oh no! What happened?
B: Well, I was working out, and I had put my stuff in my locker, just like I always do. When I came back, someone had stolen my wallet. I guess I’d forgotten to lock the locker. K: I’m sorry. That’s terrible! Did you lose much money?
B: Only about $20. But I lost my credit card and my driver’s license. What a pain! B Listen to the rest of the conversation. What did Kate have stolen once? Where was she? What happened?
K: Hmm. That reminds me of when I had my purse stolen last year. B: Really? What happened?
K: Well, it was when I was in Belgium. I was on my way to the airport, so I was standing on the side of the road with my bags, trying to figure out the bus schedule. Anyway, this a bunch of guys came by and asked if they could help me. They spoke very broken English, and I couldn’t really understand what they were saying. I really just wanted them to leave me alone. Finally, they left and when I looked down, I realized my purse had disappeared. It had my wallet in it with all my traveler’s checks and my money and my credit card. Well, luckily, I had put my airline ticket and my passport in one of my carry-on bags.
B: How awful! So what did you do?
K: Well, first I screamed at the top of my lungs and tried to run after the guys – but they were long gone. Then – this sounds really corny – I did just what I had seen people do on TV: I called my credit card company. B: Were they helpful?
K: They were lifesavers! In no time at all, they’d given me new traveler’s checks and a new credit card, and sent me on my way. Review of Units 1-4 P26
2 Listening Favorite gripes
A Listen to two people discussing these topics. Complete the chart. 1 Taxi drivers
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A: It really upsets me when taxi drivers drive so fast. I’m always terrified of having an accident.
B: That doesn’t really bother me. I like to get where I’m going quickly. But I can’t stand it when they have their radios turned up all the way full blast. You can’t even hear yourself think!
2 People with dogs
A: I hate it when people take their dogs into a park and let them make messes all over the place. It’s so irresponsible!
B: You know what bothers me? I hate it when they go out and leave their dog at home, barking all day.
3 TV commercials
A: I can’t stand it when they show the same commercial twice in a row. Why do they do chat? It drives me crazy!
B: The thing that bothers me the most is when they interrupt a ball game at the most exciting moment to show some stupid commercial. 4 Store clerks
A: It really upsets me when store clerks pretend they haven’t noticed you and just stand around chatting to each other. It’s so rude.
B: Yeah. Or on the other hand, they give you the hard sell, and try to get you to buy something you don’t really want. Unit 5
Crossing cultures P28
1 Conversation A Listen and practice.
Fred: I hear Maggie is going to work in India.
Pam: India! Wow! I hear it’s a beautiful place, but I don’t think I could ever live there. F: Why not?
P: Well, it’s too far from home. I’d miss my family.
F: I don’t think I’d mind moving to a foreign country. The language is the only thing that I’d be worried about.
P: Yeah, but wouldn’t you miss your friends? F: Sure, for a while, but I’d make new ones. P: You certainly sound very confident.
F: You know, actually, there is one thing I’d miss. P: What’s that? F: My dog! P29
4 Listening
B Listen to a radio broadcast by journalist James Fallows, who talks about some of his experiences in Japan.
1. What is the most difficult thing about learning a foreign language? 2. Why is he able to read more books in Japan? 3. What other advantages does he mention?
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Announcer: Language is taken for granted – unless of course, you’re trying to learn one that isn’t your own. Commentator James Fallows has discovered that living in another country can create barriers to communication that are limiting in some ways and liberating in others.
Fallows: Right now, you’re listening to the radio, but I bet you’re doing something else, too – getting dressed, finishing your breakfast, leafing through the paper, driving to work – that is, you’re enjoying the luxury of operating in your own familiar language, which your brain can handle so easily that it has plenty of power left to supervise the other things that you do.
Here in Japan, I’ve been in exile from that comfortable world. If I want to make any sense whatever of the sounds coming out of the radio, the TV speaker, or someone else’s mouth, I have to concentrate my complete attention on that task. There’s no brain power to spare for anything else, including walking or chewing gum. I’ve become a man who can do exactly one thing at a time.
This predicament has its good and bad sides. The bad part is a certain narrowing, to put it mildly, of the information flowing into my life. You take in information as if you are drinking from a big been stein; for me, it’s like sucking through a tiny, clogged straw. But the good part is the same enforced need to concentrate. I may do only one thing at a time now, but I do that thing very intently. One of the things I’ve begun doing most seriously is to read books all the way through. Of course, we all read books in America, too, but precisely because of the other distractions, it’s often hard to stick with them. Reviews, excerpts, TV interviews take the place of actual books.
But here, with my one-track mind and my exhaustive need to retreat into English, there’s nothing to keep me from finishing a book once I get started. I have the added plus of spending three to four hours each day on the Tokyo train system, which, when it’s not so crowded that I can’t raise my arms, lets me go through several books a week. Indeed, thanks to the train, I am the only person on Earth actually to have read Paul Kennedy’s famous Rise and Fall of the Great Powers book. This whole-book environment changes your world view, making you more deeply but more spottily informed. I find that I have become more patient with long-winded explanation, and less likely to cut somebody else off and make him get to his point. There are problems with this perspective, too, I’m sure, but right now my brain can’t handle thinking what they might be.
AnnouncerThis report was originally broadcast on National Public Radio on Morning Edition, and is reproduced with permission of National Public Radio. Any unauthorized duplication is prohibited. P31
8 Conversation
A Listen and practice.
Marta: Guess what! I just got invited to my teacher’s house for dinner! Karen: Oh, how nice.
M: Yes, but what do you do when you’re invited to someone’s house here? K: Well, it’s the custom to bring a small gift. M: Really? Like what?
K: Oh, maybe some flowers or dessert.
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M: And is it all right to bring a friend along?
K: Well, if you want to bring someone, you’re expected to call first and ask if it’s OK. P32
10 Listening Unique customs
Listen to three people describing unique customs they observed while traveling. Complete the chart. 1. Alice
One thing that I never really got used to when I was traveling in Asia was the way people make noise when they drink soup. I think it’s because they want to show that they’re really enjoying their food so they make a loud slurping noise. It always bothered me. I guess it’s because my parents spent years when I was a kid telling me not to make noise while I was eating.
2. Mark
When I lived in Spain, I was surprised at how late people eat in the evening. When you’re invited to dinner, you are asked to come around nine o’clock and you usually don’t start dinner until ten. And people stay terribly late – sometimes until two in the morning or even later. I found it difficult. How does one get up and go to work or school the next day after eating and drinking until three in the morning? 3. Susan
I lived in the Middle East for a while, and when I went out, I had to obey the local custom of wearing something over my head and wearing a dress that covered my whole body. At first, I found it a real nuisance, but after a while, I got used to it and even started to like it. You feel really secure, and also you don’t have to worry about what to wear all the time. Unit 6
What’s wrong with it? P34
2 Conversation:
Listen and practice. Clerk: Can I help you?
Helen: Yes, I’d like to return this jacket.
C: Is there something the matter with it?
H: Yes. I didn’t notice when I bought it, but there are a few problems. First, it has a tear in the lining.
C: Hmm, actually, it’s torn in several places.
H: And some of the buttons are very loose, this one came off, in fact. And there’s a stain on the collar.
C: I’m really sorry about this. Would you like to exchange it for another one?
H: Well, to be honest, I don’t think this jacket is very well made. I’d rather get a refund. C: I understand. Do you have the receipt? P36
4 Listening Fair exchange?
Listen to three customers returning items they purchased. Complete the chart. 1.
C: Can I help you?
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