1、BOOK3Unit 1 Inside ViewConversation 1Janet: Hi, its me again, Janet Li. Im still a student at the University of Oxford in England. But Im not in Oxford right now. And I havent gone back home to China either. Its the long vacation now, and believe it or not, its the middle of summer. Im spending my s
2、ummer in one of the worlds greatest cities. Im in London, home to the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Tower Bridgeand the double-decker bus. I want to find out what its like to live in this busy, lively city. So Im working for London Time Off, a website about whats on in London. This is Joe, hes my b
3、oss, and this is Andy, who is a reporter. And whats my job? Well, I dont know yet, because its my first day. But Im meant to be shadowing Andy, oh, what I mean is, Im going to be helping him. So can you tell me something about London, Andy?Andy: Its the greatest city in the world. .Joe: Except for N
4、ew York! Andy: New York? Dont make me laugh!Joe: And your point is?Andy: Look, if you want my opinion, London is greater than New YorkJoe: No, I dont want your opinion, thank you very much. Its a fact.Andy: A fact! Are you serious?Janet: And here we are in London, probably the greatest city in the w
5、orld.Andy: What? Probably? Excuse me, I prefer to deal with this myselfJoe: Ah, dream on, Andy Conversation 2Janet:So when did you start working at London Time Off?Andy: About a year ago.Janet: And I hope you dont mind my asking ,but do you like working here?Andy: Yes, I love it. I mean, Joe and I g
6、et along quite well. He drives me crazy sometimes, because hes my boss, and I wish I earned a bit more money, butI think my job is really cool, because I get to see everything thats happening in London. And I didnt want to join the rat race.Janet: What do you mean by the rat race?Andy: You know, doi
7、ng the same thing day in day out, and not doing anything creative, or having any time to enjoy life. Its the last thing I want to do.Janet: So do you mind telling me what you do exactly?Andy: Basically, we check out new events on the London music scene, you know, new clubs, the latest plays and film
8、s, as well as exhibitions in galleries and museums. Then we go and film interviews with the musicians or the actors, or anyone who has anything to do with the event.Janet: Ok, then what happens?Andy: We edit the interviews, and then we upload it all onto the website. We get 200,000 hits a week. Were
9、 Londons biggest listings site.Janet: Can I ask you something else?Andy: Fire away.Janet: What are we going to do now?Andy: I need to go back to my flat, and get my research. Then weve got an interview to do. Lets get the tube back to my place.Janet: And what about Joe?Andy: Well, hes supposed to be
10、 on his way to the National Theatre, to do an interview with the director of a new play. But I kind of hope he gets lost on the way. Then hell discover what a great place London is.Janet: I dont understand.Andy: Im joking! Come on, lets go! Outside viewHappiness is not what most students have in min
11、d when they think of school. Yet a school in Germany has developed a novel way to raise the morale of its students, by teaching happiness in classes. Students at Heidelbergs Willy Hellpach School of Economics are learning how to achieve happiness as an official subject, alongside mathematics and lan
12、guages. This is the first school in Germany to develop a happiness course, intended for 17- to 19-year-olds preparing for university entrance exams. Ernst Fritz-Schubert, the schools principal, is on a mission to change things.Ernst Fritz-Schubert: It was my idea-Ive been at this school for 31 years
13、, and I feel that school and happiness have to be reunited. These are two terms which are not considered together, because one does not connect school with happiness. In some cases school comes behind the dentists on the popularity scale and we should try to push schools popularity a bit.It has been
14、 proved by science that a happy student can learn more than an unhappy one, Unhappy students can concentrate for a while but do not use all their potential. The happiness classes are intended to help students fulfill their potential. They will help the students live happy and prosperous lives.The cl
15、asses aim to help students in achieving a positive state of mind, by using all their own resources and boosting their self-esteem. In addition, they hope classes will increase self-awareness and physical comfort. Happiness classes are also intended to make students more aware about their environment
16、 and society as a whole. During classes students are encouraged to express themselves and observe their peers behavior. The classes are taught by Bjoern Bonn, an actor and visiting lecturer.Bjoern Bonn: One of the exercises I do is to have one of the students walk across the classroom, with the othe
17、rs copying his walk. Through this exercise, I hope they learn something about themselves. Why do I move like this? How do others see my way of walking? I hope that with a higher body awareness they ideally of course it will take time-achieve a higher self-consciousness which could lead to happiness.
18、Wolfgang Lang: We give these classes to students to help them find happiness. Now the question is: How do I define happiness? Happiness is for example a strengthening of the personality. We are providing helpful suggestions to make stronger people. People that ask“Who am I as a person? Am I really h
19、appy?”Pascal Gemble: It takes time and everybody has to find happiness for themselves. You cannot go into a coaching lesson and say teach me happiness. One can only get indications from teachers or the visiting lecturers. There are also happiness scientists, if we could talk to one of those, I am su
20、re he would have some hints. Yosma Pinar Cetinkaya: You would think that the teachers are writing definitions on the board. Not true. Those who want happiness have to find it for themselves, you cannot really learn that. So what does it take to be happy and can you learn it at school?Listening inPas
21、sage oneInterviewer: Can you tell mehow do you think you have changed as you have matured?What things have had a major influence on you?Speaker 1 : Well, let me thinkI suppose going to university had a big impact on my life. It made me much more open-minded. I met so many different types of people t
22、here with weird and wonderful ideas and it changed the way I see the world. Im much more tolerant now It made me a more rounded person.Interviewer: Great, and had any particular person had a central role in forming your character?Speaker 1: I guess thatd have to be my grandfather. I was very close t
23、o him, and he taught me to stand up for my beliefs. He was always telling me about thisInterviewer: So what people or events have had an impact on your life?Speaker 2: I think that traveling my gap year made me grow up and see both the beauty of the world and, welljust the generosity of ordinary peo
24、ple. I traveled a lot around Asia and you know, I found that in some of the poorest countries, like Cambodia and Laos, people share whatever little they have, and they possess a real joy for life. Its probably made me a less selfish person.Interviewer: Interestingso you would recommend that young pe
25、ople take a gap year to discover themselves and the world?Speaker 2: Definitely. It gives you an opportunity o learn about the world beyond the one you grew up in and I found it reallyInterviewer: Could you tell me what things in your life have had the greatest influence in forming your personality?
26、Speaker 3: Wella couple of years ago I was on a reality TV show where a group of young people all lived in a house together. Each week some one was voted off by the audience. I got down to the final three! I suppose being on the show and seeing how the other contestants behaved made me realize how s
27、elfish and spiteful some people can be just to get what they want. I also realized its best to just be yourself in life. If you pretend to be someone different people will eventually see through the lies.Interviewer: RightAnd how did you feel when you were eventually voted off?Speaker 3: Relieved, t
28、o be honest with you. But you know, a slight regret that I didnt win because I kind ofInterviewer: So you can tell me, what one thing do you think that has had the biggest impact on your life?Speaker 4: Hmm, thats a difficult question. But I think helping victims of the tsunami in 2004 had a very gr
29、eat impact on me. Im half Thai and Id just arrived in Thailand for a family Christmas holiday. When I heard the news I knew I had to help-you couldnt not. I ended up acting as an interpreter for a group of volunteer doctors. It was an incredibly difficult time but you know, even in the middle of suc
30、h a horrific tragedy there is still a huge amount of g kindness.Interviewer: Thats amazing! And has it changed the way you view your futurePassage twoTony: Talking to us today in our Life Choices series is Joan Robinson, an academic counselor at Manchester University. She gives advice to school stud
31、ents on choosing the right subject to study at university. Joan, welcome to the show.Joan: Thanks Tony.Tony: So Joan, what do our listeners need to think about when choosing a course? Its a huge, potentially life-changing decision, isnt it? Joan: Yes. I generally give students advice in two areas. F
32、irstly, know yourself, and secondly, think to the future.Tony: When you say “know yourself” what do you mean?Joan: Basically, I mean evaluate your own personal strengths and weaknesses, your personality traits and the things you like.Tony: I seeSo how can our listeners do this?Joan: Well, start by a
33、sking yourself questions to help reflect on your life so far. For example, what subjects are you good at? Are you an organized and self-disciplined person? Are you confident and outgoing? Do you like working with others in a team or do you prefer working alone? These kinds of questions will help you
34、 discover more about yourself. Tony: Sounds like good advice. How about your second point regarding the future?Joan: Well, your choice of major subject is likely to have a significant impact on your future career so its important to look into this carefully. I recommend you check not only which acad
35、emic subjects will help you get into a particular area of work, but also look carefully at what universities offer. Each university has its strengths so try to choose one that is the best in your chosen field. Find out what links the department has to related industries and leading companies in it.T
36、ony: Good point. Now Id like to take some calls from our listeners. First up we have James on the line. Hi, James! How can we help?James: Hi. Im interested in career in IT and Id like to ask Joan whether she thinks its better to go to a highly respected university, like Oxford, or to study somewhere
37、 that has more of a vocational focus?Joan: Well, James, you know it really depends on what you expect to get out of a university and how you see your future. Basically a handful of the brightest graduates are picked from the top universities around the world to join the leading IT companies. So Id s
38、ay if youre a high-flyer then this is the route that might be for you. But if you are looking for a more mainstream career then you should consider a course that helps you acquire practical, transferable skills that you can use in the workplaceand look at which universities have the best levels of g
39、raduate recruitment for the kind of job you are aiming for.James: I see! Thanks a lot. That really helps me outUnit 2 Inside viewConversion 1 Janet Hey, look at that! Its just like Ive seen it in the films!Andy Welcome to London, my hometown. We are in Shoutwark, south of the river. theres London br
40、idge off to your left, and theres Tower Bridge.Janet Im really impressed. How old is it?Andy Its only about 120 years old.Janet well, thats quite old.Andy the London Docks used to be around this area. What happened was that about three or four times a day, they raised Tower Bridge, so the bigger shi
41、ps could come right into London. But because they couldnt go under London bridge, they had to stop and unload here.Janet Does Tower Bridge still open?Andy well, not so often. When I was a kid, I think I saw tower bridge go up fairy often, all the traffic had to wait for the ships to pass through the
42、 bridge. Anyway, just this side of London bridge were lots of warehouses, where they kept their cargo. But during the second world war, there was lots of bombing over LondonJanet yes, I read about thatthe Blitz?Andy thats right. And even when I was a kid, I remember that many of the buildings were s
43、till damaged. But in the late 1980s and 90s, this whole area was redeveloped, you can see for yourself, its a trendy place to live now.Janet is the river thames still polluted?Andy well, it certainly used to be polluted. I remember it had a very distinctive smell, if you fell in, they used to take y
44、ou to hospital.Janet thats sounds revolting!Andy yes, but in the 1960s, they cleaned it up, and in fact its now one of the cleanest city rivers in the world.Conversion 2 Janet It is very different from the parts of London I know.Andy The thing about Southwark is that its a typical suburb of London,
45、full of old buildings and shops. And this is where I grew up. I used to live in that building there. Janet Its amazing. It looks very old.Andy Yes, its about 80 years oldJanet And where did you go to school?Andy Let me see. Yes , it was about a mile away from here. From about the age of eight, I use
46、d to go by bike. We all made our way to school on our own, meeting up with friends along the way until there was a large gang of us kids as we got closer to school. These days parents are much more protective and take their kids to school by car. Its safer, but its not as much fun. Anyway where was
47、I? Janet You were telling me about your schooldays.Andy Thats right. Anyway, I stayed at school until I was 16,and then I went to a college of further education, and did my A levels. And after that, I decided to go to university. Janet Your parents must have been proud of you.Andy Yes, I think so. I
48、 was the first person in my family to go to uni. Janet Thats fascinating. Andy And what about you? Janet Oh, it was a typical childhood in Anshan, nothing much to tell.Andy But I have no idea what a typical childhood is like in China. Janet OK, I will tell you. Let me thinkAndy Oh, hang on! Do you mind waiting here for a minute? Let me go up to my flat and get my research, and then you can tell me about it while were on our way back to the studio.Janet OKA