新东方口语特训文本.doc

新东方口语特训文本－４５ｓ题
TASK 1
1. Person
The reasons you choose this person:
-tolerant of others
-good values
-educated
In my family, my mother has influenced me greatly because she has so many good qualities. She is very well educated and keeps an open mind. Her thinking is very modern. She is able to understand people from different generations. In addition, she is a good listener. This makes her tolerant of other people’s opinions. Her personal values set a good example for me to follow in my own life. The way she treats people and thinks makes me want to become the best person I can be. This is why I think my mother has influenced me the most in my life.
2. Culture
The rudest behavior: ignoring people
The reason you chose the behavior
-hurts people’s feelings
-anti-social behavior
-makes others uncomfortable
The rudest thing a person can do in our culture is to ignore someone. It cut off all communication. Ignoring someone shows selfishness and a lack of respect to others. If I am trying to catch someone’s attention in a meeting to discuss something or in a store fro assistance, it can be very embarrassing to be ignored. It can hurt people’s feelings and make people lose self-confidence. Furthermore, it makes anyone witnessing this rude behavior uncomfortable. Overall, the rudest thing you can do is to ignore some one as it hurts everyone involved.
3. Event
The event: my graduation
The reason you chose the event
-special ceremony
-recognized for my hard work
-full of all my friends and family
My high school graduation is the most memorable event in my life because it was such a special day. During our graduation we were each called up one at a time to the stage. We each received our diploma and everyone applauded our hard work. I even received an award for being the best math student. There was a get-together afterwards which was attended by all my friends and family. It was a memorable event because on this day I ended one part of my life and embarked on the beginning of my future.
4. Pet
The animal: giraffe
The reasons you chose the animal:
-majestic animal
-long tongue and powerful lips
-awkward and goofy
If I could have a pet, I would have a giraffe. It is the most majestic animal in the world. It is tall and sleek. It bends down gracefully to pick leaves from trees using its long tongue and powerful lips. Its fur coat is the most beautiful found in the desert – a yellow background with large brown circles placed here and there. Despite its grace horns on its head and a somewhat goofy looking smile. To me the giraffe is a paradoxical animal – clumsily and awkwardly beautiful and graceful.
5. TV and film
The program: Seinfeld
The reasons you chose the program:
-funny
-mix of characters
-everyday situations
I like to watch the TV program Seinfeld because it is a funny show about ordinary people like my friends and me. None of the characters on the show are perfect people. Each one takes a turn getting into some trouble on screen. Sometimes they help each other out while other times they just make each feel silly for their mistakes. My friends and I try to see every episode. In fact, we often talk about the most recent episode when we see each other. I can really identify with the show because the characters are so similar to my friends.
6. Music
The type of music: rock music
The reasons you chose the music
- like beat
- sound of a generation
- music for a better life and a better society
I like all kinds of music but if I had to choose one type of music it would be rock. It was the lively beat of change for a whole society. Moreover, one of the leaders of this change was Jimi Hendrix. When I listen to his masterful electric guitar style, I can hear the energy of his generation. The music has a soul and an appealing sound. It has inspired many people to work for a better life for themselves and for a better society around them. Rock music has soul and has stood the rest of time.
7. Book
The book: the Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger
The reasons you chose the book:
- identified with the character
- challenges of my age group
- interesting point of view
When I read The Catcher in the Rye, By J. D. Salinger, it was already an old book, but I liked it because I identified with Holden Caulfield, the young man who was the main character. He was not always correct in his judgments about the way life was, although he had strong opinions. I liked to read about how he felt and what he understood. His constant wry observations about what he encounters, from teachers to phonies, capture the essence of the eternal teenage experience of alienation. In many ways, we still have the same challenges in life since the times of The Catcher in the Rye.
8. Subject
The subject: math

The reasons you chose the subject
- difficult to understand
- not relevant to my life
- no time to catch up
My worst subject in school was mathematics. I didn’t understand it as well as other subjects. Furthermore, it was hard for me to see the relevant of math in my life. I just never saw the point of studying so many formulas and equations that seem so abstract. I think I could have been good in math if my teacher were to have taken more time to explain it to me. Maybe I needed a different approach to math. In as much as I was weaker in math, I was stronger in art, literature and even biology so there was balance in my subjects and in my marks.
9. sport
The sport: golf
The reasons you chose the sports:
- good exercise
- have fun and relax
- play to win
I recently took up golf because I though it might be a sport that would be fun and useful. So far, I have discovered that golf requires a lot of time and a lot of walking. This, however, adds to the fun and relaxation of a round of golf. Golf has also taught me to concentrate and to take many factors into account, such as wind and slope. Although I like to play to win, even if I don’t beat my partner, I know I have played well if I have improved my own score. I think by choosing golf I have found a good way to do business in the future as well as have fun learning it now.
10. gift
The gift: music box
The reasons you chose the gift:
- sentimental
- thoughtful
- useful
My favorite gift is a music box. It has a great amount of sentimental value. It was given to me as a gift for my first dance recital with my ballet class. I was only seven years old and my family planned a dinner celebration. At the table, my father presented me with a little jewelry box. When I opened it, music played and a small plastic pink ballerina burned in a mirror. My family knew how much I loved ballet and understood my dream of becoming a ballet dancer. I didn’t become a ballet dance, but I still use my favorite gift because it reminds me of my parent’s thoughtfulness.
11. Motto
The motto: honesty is the best policy
The reasons you chose the motto:
- personal philosophy
- easier to live with
- overall moral good
My motto is “honesty is the best policy” because life is easier when we tell the truth. I have felt this way ever since I read the story of Pinocchio, the little marionette whose wooden nose grew whenever he told a lie. It just seems better to deal with the truth. As a result, there are no surprises or stories that don’t match up. It also helps people treat themselves with more self-respect and in turn, others will treat them in a more dignified manner. Lying to others is lying to oneself. If everyone were honest, we would all fell better in our personal lives and in dealing at work.
12. Criticism
The criticism: how I looked
The reasons you chose this:
- lazy, careless in my attitude
- attracting undesirable people
- but appearance did not mean everything
When I was in school, I was criticized because of how I looked. I had long hair of many colors – often a mix of black, blond and blue. My clothes were big and baggy; nobody saw my shoes because my pants were so long and dragged on the ground. I felt comfortable in this way. It was a way of expressing my feelings about the world around me. However, my family didn’t agree with this. They said it made me look lazy and careless in my attitude. People thought I didn’t care about
my parents either. They were worried about me and about my appearance attracting undesirable people. I know they were just trying to show their love to me. I was the top student in my class, so to me, looks and appearance didn’t mean everything.
13. Embarrassing Moment
The moment: sending an email by mistake
The reasons you chose this moment
- careless moment
- revealed personal information
- lost people’s trust
My most embarrassing moment came when I recently sent an email careless to the wrong person. A friend revealed personal information to me in an email and asked for my advice. At first, I concentrated on answering him, but then the phone rang and I mistakenly sent it off on another friend in my address book. I sent off a friend’s confession about how he had cheated on his girlfriend, not once, but twice in the same day. The friend who received it happed to be a good friend of the guy’s girlfriend. In this one embarrassing moment I careless revealed private details and might have lost the trust of both friends. I also revealed my stupidity and lack of care – personally very embarrassing.
14. Game
The game: skipping
The reasons you chose the game:
- nostalgia
- group singing
- regular recess activity
In the schoolyard I liked skipping as a child because everyone could be included in the same game at the same time. The older girls at school taught us all the songs. Every time we had recess we would all run out to the yard and take turns turning the rope and all the other girls would sing and jump in and out together. We were together singing songs and exercising; it was a lot of fun. As we grew up and got to be the older girls, we would teach the songs we learned. Skipping was a schoolyard activity that we could all enjoy together and pass on to younger students.
15. Color
The reasons you chose the color:
- happy color
- looks good on me
- goes with all my outfits
In my closet I have clothes of many colors but my favorite color is pink. Pink strikes me as such a happy color. For this reason I feel that I always look good and I feel good when I wear pink. When it is rainy in the winter, I like to wear my pink silk and wool sweater. It makes me feel so warm inside. Pink appears in separate pieces of clothing as well as in some of my accessories such as scarves, hairpins and belts. Gradually I have added pieces to my collection of clothes but they all go together with each other and with the color pink. My wardrobe is coordinated around a color that both flatters me and makes me feel good.
16. Ingredient
The ingredient: ground meat
The reasons you chose the ingredient
- cheap and easy to buy
- suit a lot of recipes
- stores well
The most useful ingredient in my fridge for cooking at home is ground meat because it is inexpensive and suitable for many recipes. It used to be called hamburger meat and was usually beef. Now, it is sold all over as ground turkey, veal, chicken or pork as well as beef. I use it to make my favorite, meatball. Sometimes I use ground meat to make a meat sauce for pasta and
then there are meals when I stir fry it into vegetables and put it all on a bed of rice. I even use it in soups. It can be fried, grilled and baked in hundreds of different recipes. Meatloaf is just one of the dishes I can prepare ahead of time with ground meat to have ready for company or when I am busy. Ground meat is the most useful ingredient because it doesn’t cost a lot and cook easily for freshly made meals or to store in freezer for later use.
17. Hobby
The hobby: model airplane building
The reasons you chose the hobby:
- like to work alone and figure out the parts
- learn about engineering
- touch adventure and history
I like building model airplanes as my hobby because it gives me a change of pace from my busy schedule. I have been building model airplanes since I was 10, when my father gave me one as my birthday present. It takes time and concentration to match and glue the small parts and although some people don’t have the patience to do this, I find it very relaxing. Each model teaches me about design and engineering. Sometimes I go to a club where there are others who share my interests. This hobby lets me touch a bit of history and I can imagine the adventure of the original flyers.
TASK 2
Car or Vacation
Choice A: vacation
- in need of a break
- a treat
- experience of a lifetime
Choice B: car
- saves time
- convenient
- long lasting
Topic sentence
- My choice of prize would be the car over the vacation because it is more practical.
Supporting sentences
- A car would make my life easier.
- A car could help manage the most difficult task.
- Having a car would also make a different in our choice of leisure activities.
Closing statement (optional)
- A car would be the smartest choice because it is so useful and it would last much longer than a holiday. My choice of prize would be the car over the vacation because it is more practical. Although I’m in need of a break now the car’s benefits far outweigh those of the holiday. A car would make my life easier immediately. It would lessen the stress of arriving at appointments on time and I could run errands with less trouble. Moreover, I could manage the single most difficult
task of the week with greater efficiency and less strain grocery shopping. Normally, shopping and transporting the family’s weekly grocery needs a great deal of organization. It often means taking a taxi. Having a car would mean more choice in the locations and times we shop. It would also make a difference in our choice of leisure activities. We could drive to far away parks and spend less time to get to movies, school events or family visit. A car would be the smartest choice because it is so useful and it would last much longer that a holiday.
Cash or gift
Choice A: cash
- always useful
- easy to give
- no risk (size, color, taste)
Choice B: gift
- surprise
- personal
- memorable
Topic sentence:
- Normally I enjoy receiving a gift, but as a student I much prefer getting cash.
Supporting sentence:
- Cash is the most useful present my parents can give me.
- My parents don’t have to spend time shopping or wrapping the gift.
- There is no risk of the gift being the wrong size or color.
Closing statement (optional)
- I prefer receiving a cash gift that can be sued to make a memorable purchase at just the right time with far fewer risks Normally I enjoy receiving a gift, but as a student I much prefer getting cash. It is true that opening a gift and being surprised is really fun. However, cash is now the most useful present my parent can give me. It saves them time as well. They don’t have to spend time shopping or wrapping the g