英语听力总结

Unit4 Activity4 You’ve never met Melissa Hayes, and you don’t know her name, but you know her voice. Melissa records information messages for the telephone company. When you hear “The number you called has been changed …” —that’s Melissa! “Yes, it’s true,” she says. “I’m the voice talent for National Telephone.” At least 50,000 people hear her voice every day. “I try to sound warm and friendly, even when I’m saying, I’m sorry, that number is incorrect. Please try again.” Melissa works only three days a wee k, but she has to practice a lot. “My voice has to sound the same at the end of eight hours.” She’s very careful about her voice. “I don’t go outside in cold weather, and I have to drink lots of hot water with honey. I can’t go to horror movies because I a lways scream, and I might hurt my voice!” How did she get her job? “A friend told me about it. I listened to all the telephone company messages on my phone, and then I recorded a cassette of those messages. After I sent it to the company, I called them eve ry day for a month!” She’s done this work for three years now, and she loves it. “It’s fun! And I’m helping people by using my voice.” Plus, people are always surprised when they hear about Melissa’s job. They say, “You’re a real person? I thought it was a computer!” Unit5 Activity3 Microsoft Corporation Microsoft Corporation is a multinational computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of software products for computing devices. Headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA, its best selling flagship products are the Microsoft Windows operating system and the Microsoft Office suite. Microsoft ships products to Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Microsoft was founded by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975. In the mid-1980s, it rose to dominate the home computer operating system market with MS-DOS. Since 1985, Microsoft has released an upgrading line of Windows operating systems featuring a friendly user interface. The latest one, Windows 7, was released in October 2009 and has sold 600 million copies to date. A more powerful one, Windows 8, is to be released in late 2012. It is reported that this product can deliver a fast and fluid experience, along with a new user interface that responds equally well to touch as it does to keyboard and mouse. As one commentator notes, Microsoft’s original mission was “a computer on every desk and in every home, running Microsoft software,” and now it is a goal near fulfillment. Microsoft also makes profits in other markets such as computer hardware products and home entertainment products. Unit5 Activity4 A different kind of holiday: Shop less, live more! Advertising is everywhere. It’s on race cars and subway trains, on T-shirts and billboards. Every day, you see hundreds of ads, and each advertiser wants you to buy their product. But do we really need all these products? A group in Canada says “No.” In 1991, they started an event called Buy Nothing Day, to protest against consumerism and waste. Every year, on the last Friday in November, no one should spend any money for 24 hours. The event has spread to over 15 countries around the world, including Japan, Australia, and the United Kingdom. In the United States, Buy Nothing Day takes place on the Friday after the Thanksgiving holiday. This is usually the busiest day of the year in department stores and shopping malls. Traditionally, it’s the first day of the Christmas shopping season, when Americans buy gifts for family and close friends. However, this “season” has grown lo nger every year. Now some stores put up their Christmas window displays in the middle of October, and Americans are pressured to buy gifts for every one of their relatives, for all of their coworkers, and for everyone they do business with. Many people feel that they are forgetting the real significance of the holidays, because companies just want them to spend more money. Of course, Buy Nothing Day supporters don’t want to change just one day. They want the change to continue all year. But if we take a break from shopping on one day, we can start thinking about what we really need in life. Michael Smith, British organizer of Buy Nothing Day, says: “Our message is clear: Shop less, live more!” Activity5 Ad or no ad? Is advertising really necessary? Billions of dollars are spent on it every year, so it must be important. After all, it’s a busy world. You have to advertise, sell products, and make money! Not every company thinks that way. The NO-AD company (“no-ad” stands for “not advertised”) avoids big advertising campaigns. The company was started in 1960 and is successful today. Their products are still affordable because the company saves money on advertising. They also use their savings to support a drug and alcohol awareness program to educate high school students. NO-AD sells by word of mouth. “Word-of-mouth advertising” happens when a person tells another person about a good experience with a product or service. That second person then tells another friend, family member, or colleague. And so a chain of information is created. Typically, advertisers talk about how good their product is. Although they say things like, “Studies show that our product is the best,” or “Everyone loves this product,” it can sound insincere or unconvincing. It’s much more believ able to hear about a product from someone who did not make it. Our friends’ opinions are very important to us, so we often listen to their advice about a product. Word-of-mouth advertising has other advantages, too. It’s cost-effective (after all, it’s fre e) and a company doesn’t have to create a complex business plan to do it. Here is some advice for small business about word-of-mouth advertising: ? Be prepared to talk about your company at any time. You never know who you will meet. Always carry business cards. ? Only say positive things about your company. Don’t say negative things about your company.? Help other companies by referring people to them. The more you help others, the more good fortune will come back to you. Unit6 Activity4 Ad or no ad? Is advertising really necessary? Billions of dollars are spent on it every year, so it must be important. After all, it’s a busy world. You have to advertise, sell products, and make money! Not every company thinks that way. The NO-AD company (“no-ad” stands for “not advertised”) avoids big advertising campaigns. The company was started in 1960 and is successful today. Their products are still affordable because the company saves money on advertising. They also use their savings to support a drug and alcohol awareness program to educate high school students. NO-AD sells by word of mouth. “Word-of-mouth advertising” happens when a person tells another person about a good experience with a product or service. That second person then tells another friend, family member, or colleague. And so a chain of information is created. Typically, advertisers talk about how good their product is. Although they say things like, “Studies show that our product is the best,” or “Everyone loves this product,” it can sound insincere or unconvincing. It’s much more believable to hear about a product from someone who did not make it. Our friends’ opinions are very important to us, so we often listen to their advice about a product. Word-of-mouth advertising has other advantages, too. It’s cost-effective (after all, it’s free) and a company doesn’t have to create a complex business plan to do it. Here is some advice for small business about word-of-mouth advertising: ? Be prepared to talk about your company at any time. You never know who you will meet. Always carry business cards. ? Only say positive things about your company. Don’t say negative things about your company.? Help other companies by referring people to them. The more you help others, the more good fortune will come back to you. activity5 Money from unexpected sources The San people live in southern Africa. Scientists say that they may have been living there for as long as 40,000 years, hunting animals and gathering plants. Until recently, the once mighty San were broke and unemployed. They had lost their land and were no longer engaged in traditional activities, such as hunting. The few young San people with jobs were working as farm laborers. They were not learning about their ancient culture and language. That may all change. The San have struck it rich. They recently signed an agreement with a large drug company. The San have traditional knowledge about plants. The drug company is especially interested in a particular cactus and how the San use it. The San used to go on hunting trips. While away from home, they chewed on the cactus to suppress their appetite —they no longer felt hungry afterwards. Using the San’s knowledge, the drug company plans to make a new drug from this plant. For people around the world who eat too much and have weight problems, this new drug could really help them by suppressing their appetites. The San have a positive plan for this new wealth. Their first step will be to get jobs for their people. Their next priority will be education. Through education, they hope to save their culture and language for future generations. When you think of a monk, you might think of a quiet man living in an isolated place. The “free monks” of Greece do live in a monastery, but they are anything but quiet. In fact, they sing. They have been recording their songs and selling many records in Greece. Young music listeners love to listen to the “free monks.” Their songs are recorded in different styles (digital keyboard and rock, for example), and the themes are not only religious. The brothers also sing about problems like drugs and globalization. The monks haven’t made a fortune from their record sales, but they have made a profit. They use the money to pay for summer camps for teenagers. At the camps, the teens can play soccer and go horseback riding. The monks also donate money to other social programs that help people.