英语听力教程第三版(张民伦主编)Unit7AKaleidoscopeofCulture听力原文

1、Unit 7 A Kaleidoscope of CulturePart I Gett ing readyMew York is one of the most important cities in the world. It is not only a cen ter for bus in ess, but also a cen ter for music and art. It has many famous buildings and places of interest. And it, too, has jot its nickn ame. What is it?Audioscri

2、pt :A :Are you ready for the trip to the museum in the Big Apple? Ican hardly wait.B:The Big Apple? What are you talk ing about?A :The Big Apple is the nickname for New York City. You are going to New York with us, arent you?B:Yes, Im going. Im especially looking forward to seeing the Museum of Mode

3、rn Art. Theres a special show of 20th century American painters there. But, tell me, where did the nickname the Big Apple come from?A :The jazz musicia ns of the 1920s are resp on sible for the n ame.Whe n they played a con cert in a city, they called that city an apple.Of course New York was the bi

4、ggest city in the country and best place for a jazz con cert. So the musicia ns called it The Big Apple.B: Amaz ing! New York is such a fasc in at ing place and it eve n has aninteresting nickname, one that its had for more than 50 years.Britain is famous for its pubs, where you can sample a pint of

5、British beer, enjoy good-value bar meals and savor the friendly atmosphere. The pub boasts an excelle nt range of hot and cold bar sn acks or a wide selecti on of home-cooked meals with a warm and relaxed atmosphere.Audioscript :There are visitors who come to En gla nd and leave thi nking they have

6、n ever bee n in side a pub. They dont realize that the words pub or public house are rarely included in the title of the place. So how do you know whether a buildi ng is a pub and what does a pub offer the visitor?The first thi ng to look for is a large sig n either hanging over the street or placed

7、 on a pole outside the buildi ng. This sig n may have a n ame like The Kings Arms, The Black Rabbit or The Duke ofKendal or an appropriate picture. Many pubs have n ames lin ked to royalty, popular heroes, sports or great occasi ons. There is a pub called The Con corde after the new airli ner.On the

8、 doors of a pub you may see the words Salo on Bar or Public Bar. The Salo on Bar is more comfortably fur ni shed. Occasi on ally the words Free House can be see n beside the n ame of the pub. This does nt mean they serve free food and drink; it refers to the fact that the pub does nt buy its drinks

9、from one particular brewery only. It isnt a tied house- tied to a brewery.The services a pub offers vary around the country. The basic service is the sale of alcoholic drink at certain times of the day. Opening times, as these periods are often called, are usually from 10.30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and from

10、6 p.m. to 11 p.m. on weekdays. On Sun days the ope ning times are 12 noon until 2 p.m. and 7-10.30 p.m. although these times can vary slightly accord ing to the regi on. Pubs can also offer food and accommodati on. To help visitors, an experime ntal system of symbols has bee n tried out in Southern

11、En gla nd and East An glia. These symbols in dicate just what is available from a particular pub.Part II Times squareTimes Square is in the heart of New York City. Every year, Times Square is the cen ter of worldwide atte nti on on New Y ears Eve because of the rooftop celebrati ons to usher in the

12、New Year. Apart from that, there are some other things that make Times Square famous.Audioscript :Times Square is New York. Those are the words of the head of the Times Square Allia nee, a coaliti on of area bus in esses. The millio ns of visitors to Times Square each year would probably agree. The

13、area has one of the most recognizable names in the world. But, Times Square is not really a square. It is the n ame for the area around where Broadway crosses 42nd Street in Man hatta n. The Times Square area stretches more than ten blocks north to south. The borders to the east and west are un eve

14、n. Some people call the shape of the area a bow tie.Times Square gets its n ame from The New York Times n ewspaper. I n 1904, the n ewspaper bega n to build its headquarters in what was the n called Long Acre Square. The citys un dergr ound train system built a stop un der the Times Tower. The city

15、ren amed the area Times Square.On December 31st, 1904, the n ewspaper held a big celebrati on in Times Square to welcome the New Year. Fireworks lit the sky.Celebrati ons have take n place every year si nee the n. Now, crowds also watch a big glass ball slide down a pole as the New Year arrives.Hun

16、dreds of bus in esses are in Times Square. The allia nee says twenty percent of all hotel rooms in New York City are in Times Square. It says Times Square also has about six and one-half million square meters of office space. And more is being built.Times Square is home to famous Broadway theaters.

17、And several television companies have studios there. MTV is one of them. Times Square is probably most famous for its huge colorful sig ns. The allia nee says Times Square is the only place in New York where bus in esses are required to use them.Audioscript :It is ano ther typical morning in Times S

18、quare: Taxi cabs blare their horns, 15 foot billboards look dow n over throngs of people hurry ing by, and in the middle of it all, members of a smash Broadway musical climb up on a stage to dance and si ng for the tourists.The en terta inment is being orga ni zed by the Times Square Bus in ess Impr

19、ovement District, the people responsible for making the area as welcoming to tourists as possible. Right now, the square is crowded and bus in ess is boo ming. So much so, in fact, that several sidewalks had to be wide ned rece ntly to cope with the in crease in visitors. And some New Yorkers are ev

20、e n push ing for the en tire area to be off limits to traffic: modeli ng Times Square after a Europea n plaza.It has not always bee n this way. Un til a decade or so ago, Times Square had the well-deserved reputati on of a seedy n eighborhood teem ing with prostitutes and drug dealers. A sizeable pa

21、rt of the areas economy came from stores selli ng porno graphy or cheap kno ck-off goods. The city gover nment n eglected the area, spe nding little of its tourism budget on improveme nts.But today, theaters, restaura nts and upscale stores have replaced the sex shops. A thriv ing part nership betwe

22、e n City Hall and private bus in esses, such as Disney Compa ny, has revitalized Times Square.The current mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, has made it a priority to clean up the area. Crime rates have declined and visitors feel a lot safer on the square. Part of that effort has invo Ived the T

23、imes Square Busin ess Improveme nt District and its Preside nt, Brendan Sext on.Mr. Sext on and his colleagues are launching a new line of Times Square clothing and accessories which, they hope, will compete with everyth ing else on offer to visitors to New York. In stead of just pass ing through Ti

24、mes Square and stopp ing on ly to take a picture of all the flash ing lights and neon sig ns, Mr. Sext on hopes tourists will stop and shop, and bring a little piece of the revitalized Times Square home with them.Part III America ns love chocolateChocolate is one of the most popular holiday gifts. G

25、ifts of chocolate molded into differe nt shapes have become traditi onal on certa in holidays. Chocolate bunnies and eggs are popular on Easter, chocolate coins on Hanu kkah, sno wme n and other holiday symbols on Christmas, and chocolate hearts or chocolate in heart-shaped boxes on Vale nti nes Day

26、. Chocolate most commo nly comes in dark, milk, and white varieties, with cocoa solids contributing to the brow n color.Audioscript :Chocolate is as big a part of American culture as baseball and apple pie. But its roots run much deeper.Cheri Friedma n knows how much America loves chocolate. She is

27、co-ow ner of Kron Chocolatiers, a small, gourmet chocolate shop that ope ned 32 years ago in Washi ngton, D.C.I thi nk its one of the best comfort foods there is. Its easy to eat. It melts in your mouth. Theres a warm sen sati on.Friedman says she takes pride in the fact that Krons chocolates are ma

28、de with the finest ingredients, right on the premises.America ns love of chocolate has helped to make it a big bus in ess in this coun try. Mark Sesler is senior vice preside nt of marketi ng at Russell Stover Can dies, one of the largest manu facturers of chocolate in the United States.According to

29、 Sesler, the industry got its start in the early 1900s with small-scale chocolatiers such as Steve n Whitma n, and Claire and Russell Stover. They started with small stores - much like Kron - but soon expa nded their bus in ess into broader markets - tha nks, Sesler no tes, to an importa nt tech no

30、logical adva nee.Its the advent of refrigeration that has really made the availability of chocolate very prevale nt throughout the Un ited States. I thi nk chocolate has secured its place as a delectable treat for a nu mber of societies and a number of countries. So I think were just one of many cou

31、n tries who enjoy the delicacy that is chocolate.Susa n Fussell is spokespers on for the Natio nal Con fecti on ers Associati on, a trade group that represe nts virtually every one whos invo Ived in the producti on and sale of candy in the Un ited States.And why does Fussell thi nk chocolate is so u

32、ni versally popular?Well theres really nothing like chocolate . One of the mainingredients in chocolate is cocoa butter. And cocoa butter melts at body temperature. So whe n you put chocolate in your mouth, it has a mouth feel thats un like any other food that you eat. It has that melt-in-your-mouth

33、 sensation right there on your tongue, and it is very hard to approximate that with any other food.Audioscript :Chocolate is as big a part of American culture as baseball and apple pie. But its roots run much deeper.Made from the seed of the tropical cacao tree, chocolate dates back at least 3 000 y

34、ears to the ancient civilizations of Central and South America, where the cacao tree is n ative. The Aztec people valued the trees cocoa bea ns so much, they used them as curre ncy.In what is now Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, in the southwester nUn ited States, new archaeological evide nee shows that pe

35、ople were eati ng chocolate here more tha n 1 000 years ago.And theyre still at it. Today, the average American eats almost 5 kilograms of chocolate each year.Cheri Friedma n knows how much America loves chocolate. She is co-ow ner of Kron Chocolatiers, a small, gourmet chocolate shop that ope ned 3

36、2 years ago in Washi ngton, D.C.I thi nk its one of the best comfort foods there is. Its easy to eat. It melts in your mouth. Theres a warm sen sati on.Friedman says she takes pride in the fact that Krons chocolates are made with the finest ingredients, right on the premises.America ns love of choco

37、late has helped to make it a big bus in ess in this coun try. Mark Sesler is senior vice preside nt of marketi ng at Russell Stover Can dies, one of the largest manu facturers of chocolate in the US.According to Sesler, the industry got its start in the early 1900s with small-scale chocolatiers such

38、 as Steve n Whitma n, and Claire andRussell Stover. They started with small stores - much like Kron - but soon expa nded their bus in ess into broader markets - tha nks, Sesler no tes, to an importa nt tech no logical adva nee.Its the advent of refrigeration that has really made the availability of

39、chocolate very prevale nt throughout the Un ited States. I thi nk chocolate has secured its place as a delectable treat for a nu mber of societies and a number of countries. So I think were just one of many coun tries who enjoy the delicacy that is chocolate.Susa n Fussell is spokespers on for the N

40、atio nal Con fecti on ers Associati on, a trade group that represe nts virtually every one whos invo Ived in the producti on and sale of candy in the US.Fussell says that although the US is the largest total con sumer of chocolate, it is not first in terms of per-capita consumption.In fact, we come

41、in somewhere aro und No. 12, and thats because, of course, there are so many coun tries in Europe that have eve n more of an established culture around chocolate - if you can imagine - than we do in the Uni ted States.And why does Fussell thi nk chocolate is so uni versally popular?Well theres reall

42、y nothing like chocolate . One of the mainingredients in chocolate is cocoa butter. And cocoa butter melts at body temperature. So whe n you put chocolate in your mouth, it has a mouth feel thats un like any other food that you eat. It has that melt-in-your-mouth sensation right there on your tongue

43、, and it is very hard to approximate that with any other food.But that melt-in-your-mouth sensation comes at a price. Chocolate as we know it today is made with lots of sugar and milk, both very high in calories. Thats give n chocolate a rather bad reputati on among nu triti oni sts.In rece nt years

44、, however, research has proved that chocolate, particularly dark chocolate, is also n aturally rich in can cer-fight ing antioxidants - a fact that chocolate manufacturers like Russell Stover are happily promoti ng.But no matter the preferenee, Fussell says when it comes to holidays, chocolate is ki

45、ng, especially on Valentines Day, every February 14th. Thats a day whe n people all across the country express their love for one another with gifts, flowers, cards and - more often than not -chocolates.Vale nti nes Day itself, February 14th, is the sin gle largest sales day duri ng the year for sal

46、es of boxed chocolates.Part IV More about the topic:Bullfight ingSpai n has become in ter nati on ally known for its bullfighti ng, a tradition that spawns debate in many parts of the world and within Spain itself. Fans of bullfighting claim that it is a culturally important tradition, while animal

47、rights activists argue that it is a blood sport due to the sufferi ng of bulls invo Ived.Audioscript :Bullfight ing is see n as a symbol of Spanish culture .It traces its roots to prehistoric worshiping and sacrificing of bulls.A carpe nters assista nt from the tow n of Ron da, Spai n, Fran cisco Ro

48、mero inven ted the muleta, or red cape, used to lure the bull past the matadors body. Lege nd has it Romero rescued a young n oblema n by using his flat-brimmed Andalusian hat to lure away an irate bull. Thus was born the modern bullfight. He was the founding father of a bullfight ing dyn asty, fun

49、dame ntal for bullfight ing history. He was appare ntly the inven tor of several characteristics that started to be used in a key period for bullfighting when the modern on foot system was defi ned, as the use of the cape and sword to kill the bull face to face.The bullfight, known in Spa in as the

50、corrida, was first laun ched as an official spectacle sport in 1133. at the coronation of King Alfonso VIII, and steadily gained in popularity through the years of the Reconq uest of Moorish Spain.A typical Spanish bullfight requires six bulls and three matadors, and is divided into three parts. If

51、the matador has done excepti on ally well, the audie nee will give a sta nding ovati on and throw hats and roses into the arena. The matador will also receive one or two severed ears and the tail of the bull, depending on the quality of his performanee.Bullfight ing has always bee n con troversial i

52、n Spain. Supporters of bullfighti ng regard it as a deeply in grain ed, in tegral part of their national culture, but it is criticized by animal rights activists as a poin tless and cruel blood sport.In fact, bullfighting is not just a Spanish tradition; Portugal, Latin America and a few cities in s

53、outhern France also have a history of bullfight ing.Audioscript :Over 1000 people have dem on strated in Madrid to go for an end to bullfighting in Spain. Though small, the protest comes amid renewed debate in the country about bullfighting, which many see as inhumane but others con sider an in tegr

54、al part of Spanish culture.Carrying banners reading Abolish bullfighting and comments disparaging bullfighters, the coalition of animal rights activists and ecologists gathered in Madrids cen tral Puerta del Sol square. The Madrid regi onal governme nts decisi on to officially declare the sport part

55、 of Spains cultural heritage has inten sified oppositionMale protestor (voice of tran slator):I feel very ashamed. I feel ashamed of being Spanish whe n I hear of these crimes, and people say this torture is culture. For me it is savage, more appropriate to other cen turies.The cen turies-old specta

56、cle, whose ritual in cludes impla nti ng barbed sticks in to the bull before a matador kills it with a sword, draws thousa nds to the coun trys bullr ings and, matadors receive celebrity media coverage. Many Spani ards reject accusati ons of cruelty:Madrid reside nt (in Spani sh)This Madrid reside n

57、t in sists those who want to watch bullfight ing should be allowed to continue doing so, as it is part of the n ati ons culture.But support for bullfighting varies across the country, with parliament in the aut onom ous Catala n regi on rece ntly debat ing a possible ban, and a vote there on the iss

58、ue is expected soon. In Spains Canary Isla nds, the sport is already outlawed.Part V Do you know ?A name is a word or term used for identification. So a name can be give n to a pers on, a place or a thi ng. But do n ames have meanin gs? Many people tend to be un aware of the specific meaning of a n ame unl ess it happe ns to be their own n ame. Many n ames orig in ally had meanin gs, but you cant assume that that meaning was inten ded in any give n case.Audioscript :An American town called Boring has voted in favour of pairing with a village by the n ame of Dull in Scotla nd.This means the tw