listening_script_--_book_1_unt_6.doc

Listening book 1 unit 6
Warming up
Believe it or not, people judge others by their jobs. A common image of garbage men is they are uncivilized and uneducated. However, most people speak highly of business executives, believing them to be rich and successful with happy lives. Society tends to respect them more and believe they have jobs that most people want. People have stereotyped images of white-collar and workers, but are they correct?
Consider Collar Colors Carefully examines prejudice against manual jobs. It questions these prejudices by showing you that pride in their work is possible for blue-collar workers. Garbage men, for example, can be proud of making the city cleaner. In contrast, a company man, a man with a desk job may work fourteen hours a day, six days a week, and can die of overwork! His job isn’t as good as many people think.
Short Conversations
1. M: Do you know what is meant by Consider Collar Colors Carefully?
W: It means we should think about our beliefs about job status.
Q: What does Consider Collar Colors Carefully mean?
2. W: Since you became an executive at the firm, you never have time for the kids.
M: I know. All the respect and money I get now isn’t worth missing my children.
Q: How does the man feel about being an executive?
3. M: My aunt visits schools to convince girls to become plumbers.
W: I’d be surprised if many girls listened to her. Most want to work in offices.
Q: What would surprise the woman?
4. M: Did you hear the big news? The vice-president died! And I might get his job!
W: Are you sure you want it? The job was what gave him the heart attack!
Q: Why should the man think more about taking the job according to the woman?
5. W: I really admire people who work hard to build roads and clean the city.
M: That’s nice to hear. Many people don’t respect laborers.
Q: According to the man, what is nice to hear?
6. W: You had options after college. Why did you choose to be a window washer?
M: I think it’s exciting to be high up, outside of tall buildings.
Q: Why did the man choose his job?
7. M: It took me 30 hours to write that proposal. I haven’t slept, and I want to cry.
W: It’s finished now. And you can relax by playing some golf.
Q: What might make the man relax according to the woman?
8. M: The image of trash men being dirty is wrong! Many of them are very clean.
W: I believe you’re right. Still, I’m not sure I’d like to become one.
Q: What do the two speakers agree on?
9. W: Since you work in an office, you can wear nice clothes every day.
M: To be frank, I’d rather wear a T-shirt than a suit.
Q: What would the man like to dress for work?
10. M: I’m getting tired of the rude comments we get as garbage men!
W: Just ignore them. We know our work is important, and that’s all that matters.
Q: What should the man do according to the woman?
Long Conversation
M: When we were kids, we didn’t think much about social status. We played the part of doctors or plumbers and didn’t really understand why one was better than the other.
W: Right! We didn’t consider collar colors carefully. Later, we learned to respect people like business executives, lawyers, and doctors more than others.
M: Do you think we learned the right idea?
W: Yeah, I do. Some people are more important than others for society. A plumber, for example, does important work. But he can be replaced easily. A doctor, on the other hand, does important work and it is difficult to replace him. We should, then respect people like doctors more.
M: What about plumbers? Shouldn’t we respect them, too?
W: Everyone who works hard should get respect, but it’s not necessary to respect everyone the same. Of course, I’m friendly and nice to my plumber, but I don’t think he’s as valuable as some people.
1. What did the two speakers NOT think much about as kids?
2. What did they learn as they got older?
3. Why are doctors more important than plumbers according to the woman?
4. How does the woman feel about respecting plumbers?
5. What does the woman do towards her plumber?
Passage
There was a time when I was afraid to tell people I am a construction worker. Nowadays, I’m proud of it. In fact, I boast about it.
My life changed one day when my daughter came home from school and told me that I had a better job than any of the parents of her classmates. At first, I was surprised. I knew many of her classmates had parents who were important business people. I reminded her that business people get more respect from society, often make more money and work in an office.
She told me that I didn’t understand what was important in life. Respect, money and offices aren’t as important as time. Businessmen just work long hours, so they can’t see their children as much. Building houses, I only work six hours a day. This gives me more free time to spend with her.
1. What does the man boast about?
2. What did his daughter tell him about being a construction worker?
3. What did the man know about some of her classmates’ parents?
4. According to his daughter, what was most important in life?
5. What does the construction worker do when he is free?
Listening and Speaking
Most folds thought that being a garbage man is a lowly job, but I felt differently. Not only did I think that hauling trash made me as good as everyone else, I thought that it made me feel much better. Perhaps I was a little too proud.
There was one man in particular that I felt better than. He was a businessman who lived on a street in the middle of my route. Though he made a lot of money and had a big house, he did not look very active. He was a small man with small muscles.
“That businessman probably hasn’t worked a day outdoors in his whole life,” I said to myself as I went about my work.
One day, however, I hurt my back while lifting a trash can. I fell on the street, and the businessman ran to me to see if I needed help. When I couldn’t get up, he carried me to his car and drove me to the hospital.
The nest day, I found out that the businessman returned to where I had fallen and had completed my work for me. What’s most surprising, he finished the work faster than I usually did.
Supplementary Listening
Task 1 Happy Here!
M1: Excuse me, is this where I can fill out an application for a security guard position – the one from the newspaper ad?
M2: Didn’t you see the sign on the door?
M1: Well, yes.
M2: You saw the big sign on the door that says, “SECURITY GUARD WANTED, APPLY HERE”?
M1: Um, yeah, I suppose I did.
M2: Way to go, smart guy. You found it. You should have this job, no problem. Just pick up one of the application forms, fill it out and give it to the receptionist – the woman over there with the sign on her desk that says “receptionist”.
M1: What’s your problem, friend?
M2: I’m a university graduate with five years of experience in IT. Now that the IT bubble has exploded, I’m applying for a stupid, lowly security guard job, talking to an idiot who can’t figure out a simple sign.
M1: You’re in IT? And you’re here trying to find a job? I just spent a lot of money on an IT education. My friends and family told me that I was making a mistake by going into computer work.
M2: You should’ve listened to them.
M1: I can’t believe this. My life is over.
M2: Ha! Your life was over before it ever really began. I can’t wait to tell my friends about this.
1. What job are the two men applying for?
2. How did the first man find the ad for the job?
3. Why did he go to the office?
4. What profession was the other man previously in?
5. What is it that really bothered the man who had recently spent so much money on an IT education?
Task 2 I Wanna Be a Nurse
I’m sick to death of the values that society teaches children. Young people are growing up with the idea that they have to become rich and famous in order to have a meaningful life.
Many educators like myself believe that young people have the incorrect and unhealthy belief that physical work is not good enough for them. In fact, all work is honorable and should be respected. There is nothing wrong with being a trash man or a plumber, which is why I always nod and say “Hi!” to the people who perform these services, and thank them if I happen to be around when they empty my trash can.
Well, one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen was during a visit to an elementary school. The kids in a fifth grade class had written down almost the same stories: “When I grow up I want a million dollars.” Only one student wanted to be a nuse, and another wanted to be a teacher. We all know how poorly these two professions are paid nowadays.
1. What makes the speaker feel worried about the current education of children?
2. What do we know from the passage about the profession of the speaker?
3. What does the speaker do when he happens to meet a trash man?
4. What did the speaker find during his visit to the elementary school?
5. How did the speaker feel about his findings at the elementary school?

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