Part C    Additional Listening

A Passage    Smile When You Read This

Listen to the passage and decide whether the following statements are true (T) or false (F). Correct the ones that are false.

1. The smiling students could remember more of the happy article than the frowning students.      (T)

2.         The smiling students could also remember more of the angry article than the frowning students. 

(F)   

(The frowning students remembered the angry article better.)

3. According to the speaker, facial expressions might affect a person’s memory.                  (T)

4. Nowadays the specialists understand why facial expressions can help to improve memory.           (F)      

(The specialists still don’t know why facial expressions help memory.)

Script

Smile When You Read This

How good is your memory? Answer these four questions: What did you have for breakfast yesterday? What clothes did you wear last Friday? Who did you talk to yesterday? Where did you go last Saturday? If you can answer all the four questions, your memory is very good.

Education specialists in England have been looking into ways to improve our memory of what we read. The specialists found something to help: facial expressions. They gave ten students a happy article to read. Five of the students read the happy article while smiling. Five students read the happy article while frowning. Then they answered comprehension questions. The smiling students remembered more of the happy article than the frowning students.

Then the specialists gave ten students another article to read. It was an angry letter to the editor of a newspaper. Five students read the angry article while smiling, and five students read the angry article while frowning. Which group remembered better? You’re right. The frowning students.

The specialists don’t know why facial expressions help memory. They are continuing to study the relationship between the mind and the body. Until they find the answer, keep smiling (or frowning?)!

Movie Time

Watch a video clip. After watching it, choose the right answer to each of the following questions.

Word Bank

Saturn               n.   [天]土星

approval             n.  赞成，同意

galaxy               n.  星系

factor in             v.  包括，把…计算在内

orbit                v.  绕轨道运行；在…轨道上运行

mature              a.   成熟的

evolve              v.  进化

consume             v. 消耗；大吃，大喝

vegetarian            n.  素食者

anniversary           n.  周年纪念

Script

Father and Son

Son:   What is it?

Father:  Saturn's rings await your approval.

Son:    Has anyone found life on other planets?

Father:  Not yet. Guess it's just us for now.

Son:    Okay. Then how many that might have life?

Father:  Well, if you count the number of stars similar to our sun in this galaxy, then you factor in the probability that they have Earth-like planets orbiting them ...

Son:   There are 10 million possible worlds with four million mature enough for life to evolve.

Father:  Why do you even ask?

Son:    Just making sure if you're listening.

Father:  Where (are) you going?

Son:    To watch that Discovery program.

Father:  But it's Dad's famous Sunday night, hot dogs on the run ... time.

Son:    I can't consume that. I've decided to become a vegetarian.

Father:  Well, when were you planning on telling the guy who buys the groceries around here?

Son:   Are you deaf? I just told you now, Dad.

Man on TV:  Six months old and bounding with energy, but, any parent knows, this is also a mixed blessing.

Father:  Off.

Son:    No, it's almost over.

Father:  You're not gonna be able to concentrate in class tomorrow.

Son:    I don't have class tomorrow. It's the 50th anniversary, remember?

Father:  I remember. Caleb, when I said it was just us out there, you know I was talking about space, right? I didn't mean heaven, or anything. I'm sure wherever Mom is ...

Son:    Dad, you don't even believe in heaven.

Father:  I never said that, Caleb. I just said we can't know for sure, that's all.

        If you want to believe, you go ahead and believe, okay?

Okay. Bedtime. Hey, you and me, together forever.

Son:    Forever.

Father:  I love you.

Son:    I love you, too.

Exercise

1. What was the boy interested in?

a.         The hotdogs.

b.         The evening party.

c.         The camp fire.

d.         The outer space and planets.

2. What did they observe through the telescope?

a.         Many Earth-like planets.

b.         A new galaxy.

c.         A planet orbiting the sun.

d.         The Moon.

3. Why didn’t the boy want the hotdogs?

a.         He’d decided to be a vegetarian.

b.         He was too tired to eat.

c.         He was unhappy.

d.         He’d already had his meal.

4. What did the father and son pledge?

a.         They would not argue any more.

b.         They would go to school together tomorrow.

c.         They would not part from each other forever.

d.         They would finish the job.

Part  D                           

Test Your Listening                    A Passage

Listen to the passage and choose the right answers to the questions you hear.

1.    What condition does the expression “beside oneself” describe today?

       a. It describes something that really is not possible.

       b. It describes the possibility of having two of the same person appear together.

       c. It describes someone who is completely helpless because of anger.

       d. It describes someone who is extremely excited because of anger or joy.                                                                                

2.    What is meant by the expression “flip your lid”?

       a. You may do something strange in extreme excitement.

       b. You are beside yourself with happiness.

       c. You lose self-control due to happiness or anger.

       d. You turn over the lid of your cooking pot to let the heat out.

3.    What does the passage mainly discuss?

       a. Expressions used to describe someone in great joy.

       b. Origins of some expressions describing someone in great anger.

       c. Meanings and effectiveness of some common expressions.

       d. People's excitement and related expressions.

Script:

       Many expressions may be used to describe someone who is excited. One such expression is to be "beside oneself". You can be beside yourself with anger or beside yourself with happiness, although usually not both at the same time! If you are beside yourself, you are filled with excitement.

       The dictionary tells us that "beside" means "next to", or "at the side of". So the expression "beside oneself" describes something that really is not possible.

     Today, you might hear a husband say, "When my wife told me we were going to have a baby, I was beside myself with joy." Or someone might tell you he was beside himself with anger because he had just lost his job.

       When you are full of joy or are extremely excited about something, you may do something else that is strange. You may "flip your lid". A lid is the cover that prevents something from escaping from a container. A lid on a cooking pot, for example, keeps the heat from escaping. To flip something is to turn it over. So when you "flip your lid", you become so excited that you lose your self-control.