unit9

II Listening Skills

crashing into a building

Italian investigators are trying to discover what caused a small private plane to crash into Milan’S tallest building on Thursday，killing at least three，injuring dozens more and making a big hole in the 32-story building．

The aircraft was piloted by a 68-year-old Swiss man．It hit the 26th floor of the tower in an apparent accident at 5：48 P．m．，I 8 minutes after taking off, Italian officials said．

An Italian police officer said they had no evidence of fl link to terrorism．An intelligence official in Washington told the media that，in spite of past warnings，there was no information about a possible terrorist attack aiming at Italy．

Milan fire brigade officials said the aircraft had only the pilot and no passengers，according to the flight plan．It was on fire as it flew into the tower．There was an explosion in the building when the tour-seat plane hit，but there was no danger that the building would collapse，the police said．

Agent, event, time and cause/ reason	Detailed description
The plane	Private；four-seat；having only the pilot
The building	32-story
The pilot	A 68-year-old Swiss man．
The accident	A plane crashing into the building．
The results	Killing at least three people, injuring dozens more and making a big hole in the building；but no danger of the building’s collapse.
Time	5:48p.m,18 minutes after taking 0ff．
Reason	Not known．No evidence of a link to terrorism

 

III．Listening In

Task 1：The Seatbelt

Lisa：Do you wear the seatbelt every time you drive or ride a car?

Mike：No，seatbelts are for chickens．Besides，I’m a great driver

Lisa：The chances of being injured in a car accident this year are 1 in 75. I think that，s worth thinking about seriously．

Mike：Have you ever been involved in an automobile accident?

Lisa：Only once·My car slid on a rainy night and went off the road．Fortunately 1 was wearing my seatbelt．

Mike：I’ve never had a serious accident．

Lisa： My brother was more unlucky than 1 was．Last December he was almost killed in an accident．He was in the back seat of his friend’s car when it rolled．He wasn’t wearing a seatbeIt．

Mike：Wow, that’s terrible．

Lisa：  Fastening your seatbelt should be an automatic thing as soon as you get into your car．But t00 many people still refuse to wear seatbelts j  

Mike：It’s just hard for me to get in the habit of wearing one．  

Lisa：All it takes is one close-call and you’ll wear your seatbeIts．

Mike：0.K．，I’ve got the message．From now on I’11 hook up my seatbeIt．

 

1.T   2.F   3.T  4.F  5.F

 

Task 2:How many parachutes are left?

Script

There were three passengers in a plane that had a sudden engine trouble. One was the smartest man in the world, another was a lawyer, and the other was a little girl. The pilot told them they must jump out to lighten the weight on board; otherwise, the plane would crash. However, there were only two parachutes. The smartest man in the world jumped to his feel and shouted, "The people who would benefit the world the most should get the parachutes. I'm the smartest man, so !' m one of those." With that, he seized a parachute and threw himself out of the plane.

The lawyer looked at the little girl and said, "I've led a good long life, and you're just starting yours. You take the other parachute.."                                                                                  
With tears in her eyes, the little girl said, "That smart man was very unreasonable. Just now he grabbed my school bag and jumped out. Morn will scold me for losing the bag. But at least 1 have a parachute."

 

1. Four. They were the smartest man in the world, a lawyer, a girl and the pilot.      

2. The plane was going to crash, but there were only two parachutes.

3. Those who would benefit the world most should get the parachutes. Being smart, he was one of those people.

4. Because he had led a good long life and the girl was just starting her life, and he believed there was only one parachute left.

 

1. Why did the little girl cry?

B) The smart man took her school bag.

2. How many parachutes were left for the lawyer and the girl?

C) Two.

 

Task 3:Why did you stop at a green light?

One day．two friends were driving downtown when they came to an intersection with a traffic light．The light was red but the driver sped right through the red light．The passenger looked in terror at the driver and shouted，“What the hell are you doing? You‘re going to get us killed!!¨

The driver replied．“Don’t worry, my mom always drivers like this，and she is all right．”Later．they came to another traffic light，and that too was red．Again the driver shot right through the light．Again the passenger looked at the driver and shouted．“I thought I have told you，you would get US killed! Would you please stop this nonsense”

The driver looked at the passenger and answered．”All right! I get it，but I told you my mom drove like this all the time! And she’s quite OK．”

They came to another traffic light．It was green．The driver slammed 011 the brakes，suddenly stopping the car．，The passenger was thrown forward．“What on earth are you doing?”he screamed．“This is the third time you almost got US killed．Why did you stop at a green light?”

“Well，”said the driver，“my mom might be coming the other way．”

1,D   2,A   3,B  4.C   5.C

 

IV  Speaking Out

MODEL 1  I　had a bad fall off　my bike！

Bob：Laura，what happened to you? You look a mess

Laura：And I feel even worse than I look．I had a bad fall off my bike.

Bob： how did it happen?

Laura：i was riding along the road when a dog began barking at me  .I turned to have a

       look，and I bumped into another bike．

Bob：Then what happened? Did the dog attack you?

Laura：Let me finish… I’ll give you all the details. I went off the front of my bike and

landed on the road．I hurt my head when I landed．

Bob： You could have been hit by a car!

Laura：Fortunately there were no cars on the road at the time．1 was lucky．

Bob：The dog was to blame.

Laura：But I can’t blame the dog．All dogs bark．

Bob：You should be more careful in the future .

Laura：Sure．you are right．I may be hard-headed but I’m not thick-headed.

 

Now Your Turn

SAMPLE DIALOG

A: What’s the matter with you? You look terrible．

B: Too bad. I fell off my bike．

A: How come you fell off?

B: 1 was riding along the road，thinking about the exam，when the driver behind me suddenly honked his horn．1 was SO startled that I crashed into another bike

A: Then what happened? Were you hurt?

B: Let me finish…I’11 give you all the details．1 went off the front of my bike and landed on the road. I hurt my，arms and elbows when I landed

A: That’s terrible．The driver was to blame．

B: He had the right to blow the horn in that section of the road．1 was daydreaming．

A: You’d better be more careful from now on．

B:1 will．1 won’t be daydreaming while riding a bike any more.

 

MODEL 2 Your breath smells of alcohol

John：Lovely party．Thank you．I enjoyed every minute of it.

Laura：you’re slurring your words, and you’re unsteady on your feet. Are you all right to drive home?

John：Perfect．I drive better after a few drinks．

Laura：Well，you’ve had a lot more than a few drinks．Your breath smells of alcohol．What’s that on your key chain? May I see it?

John： That? That’s just an old beer bottle opener．Hey, what’s going on? Those are my car keys

Laura：I know．I'm keeping them until tomorrow．I’11 call a taxi for you．    ／

John：No，no．1 want those car keys back．

Laura：They’re mine now．

John：Well? Okay．You win．I’ll go by cab.

 

Now Your Turn

SAMPLE DIALOG

A：It’s a great get-together! I had a great time．

B：Wow．you can’t speak clearly or walk steadily．Can you drive home?

A：No problem．I drive better under the influence of alcohol．

B：Well．You’ve had too much drink tonight．We can smell alcohol on your breath a mile away, let me drive you home

A：hey, don’t bother. I can go myself

B：Come On．I don’t want to see you in the hospital tomorrow．

A：Okay．Thank you．

 

MODEL3  I got a ticket this morning

Laura: What’s the matter with you? You look very upset.

Se-Jin: I got a hundred- dollar ticket this morning.

Laura: Oh, that’s too bad. But why?

Se-Jin: It wasn’t my fault. It was that dog.

Laura: What are you talking about? What has a dog got to do with the fine?

Se-Jin: Listen to me. A dog suddenly appeared in my lane. If it wasn’t for the stupid dog.

I wouldn’t have almost hit the police car.

Laura: You could have braked, couldn’t you? How fast were you going?

Se-Jin: Well, it was about 50, or even less. I was driving very slowly.

Laura: Fifty? Don’t you know the speed limit downtown is 40 miles an hour?

 

Now Your Turn

SAMPLE DIALOG

A: What’s happened? You look miserable.

B: I was fined a hundred dollars this afternoon.

A: Oh, what bad luck! But why?

B: I’m not to blame. It was the other car.

A: What are you talking about? Did you have a accident?

B: Listen to me. I was trying to do a U- turn in front of the school gate, when another car came up very fast from behind. If the car hadn’t gone so fast, I wouldn’t run into it.

A: You should have been careful. But I remember correct, U-turn is not allowed at the place.

B: Well, I didn’t know this until the policeman told me.

A: What? Don’t you look at the road sign when you are driving?

V  Let’s Talk

Speeding Ticket，

A policeman stops a driver and says to the driver,“Sir，you were speeding．Can I see your license，please?”The driver replies．“I don’t have one．”

“You don’t have one?”

The driver answers．“I lost it for drunk driving．”

The policeman is surprised．“I see．Will you show me your vehicle registration papers．please?”

“I m sorry．I can’t do that．”

The policeman asks．“Why not?” 

“I stole this car．”

The Officer says，“Stole it?”   

The driver answers，“Yes，and I killed the owner．” 

The 0fficer is shocked．“You did what?”

“She’s in the trunk if you want to see．”

The officer is horrified and calls for backup．Within minutes，five police cars show up，surrounding the car．A police chief cautiously approaches the car，asking，“Sir，could you open the trunk of your car，please?”

The driver opens the trunk，revealing nothing but all empty trunk．

The chief says，“Is this your car，sir?”

The driver says“Yes．”and hands over the registration papers．

The 0fficer iS quite surprised．“0ne of my 0fficers says you don’t have a driving license．”

The driver quickly produces his license．The chief examines it and finds nothing wrong．He looks puzzled．“Thank you，sir．One of my Officers told me you didn’t have a 1icense，stole this car，and murdered the owner．”

The man replies，“I bet the lying bastard told you 1 was speeding，too!”

Characters	Events／statements	Reasons
A police officer	polls over a driver and asks for his driver's license	speeding
The driver	claims to have lost it	drunk driving
The officer	asks for the vehicle registration papers	surprised
The driver	says he does not own it	stole it and killed the owner
The officer	asks the driver to repeat what he said	shocked
The driver	says she is in the trunk	the reason the police officer does not yet know
The officer	calls for backup	horrified
The police chief	comes and asks the driver to open the trunk	evidence of the crime
The driver	opens the trunk	to show his innocence
The chief	asks for the registration papers and the driver’s license	evidence of the crime or innocence     I
The driver	quickly produces／hands over both	to show his innocence
The chief	says an officer reported that the driver did not have a license, stole his car, and killed the owner	being puzzled and wanting to know the truth
The driver	bets the officer said he was speeding，too	to suggest that the accusation of his speeding is false, too

 

 

 

 

Possible Retelling for the Teacher’s Reference

A police 0fficer pulls over a driver and orders him to produce his driver’s license because he was speeding．The driver claims that he has lost his license for drunk driving．The officer is surprised and asks him to show his vehicle registration papers．The driver then answers that he does not have those papers，for he stole the car and killed the owner, though nobody knows why he says so．The officer is so shocked that he cannot believe his ears，so he asks the driver to say it again．To confirm what he has said，the driver says the lady’s body is in the trunk．By now the officer

is horrified．so he calls the police station for support．When the police chief arrives，he orders the driver to open the trunk to find evidence of the crime．The driver opens it，but it is empty；and this shows that he is innocent．Unconvinced，the chief asks for his vehicle registration papers and license to see whether he is guilty~，,,The driver quickly hands over both to show that he is really innocent．The chief is now puzzled，saying that an 9mcer did report to him that the driver did not have a license，stole the car, and killed the owner．To this，the driver answers that he bets the officer must have said he was speeding as well．By saying so，the driver suggests that the officer，S accusation of his speeding must be false too

Discussion

Possible Answer for the Teacher’s Reference

Even if the driver cleverly shows that he is not guilty of stealing the car and killing the owner, this does not necessarily mean he did not speed．We must take all possibilities into consideration．

To begin with，we should try to find out whether there is any evidence to show the driver was speeding．For example，we can check the records of the radar device or police video，or find human witnesses．

Failing this，we may check whether the driver had any record of lying or cheating，or whether he had many previous traffic violations 0r a criminal record．If so，we can hardly trust his words．But this cannot yet provide conclusive evidence of his speeding．

We might like to investigate whether the police officer has a record of lying or cheating since his statement contradicts the driver’s．This is normally impossible，for a habitual liar would have been dismissed from the police force．In fact，a policeman is usually assumed to be honest unless proved otherwise in a court of law．

If the driver is found guilty of speeding，he should be punished for that as well as for the lies he told about the theft and murder

 

VI  Further Listening and Speaking

Task 1:Emergency Call

Operator:  Hello. This is the emergency 911 operator.

Taxi Driver: Help! Help! Please help me!

Operator:   Yes sir. Please calm down and explain exactly what is happening.

Taxi Driver: Calm down! My car has broken down on the highway; I have a  lady passenger, and she's going into labor.      

Operator:  Now relax, sir. Explain exactly where you are..

Taxi Driver: I’ m...I’ m in the southbound lane of No. 15 Expressway, about 15 miles from the tunnel, and this lady isn't going to wait.

Operator:  Okay. What's your name, sir, and your passenger's?

Taxi Driver: It's... it's Mike, and I have no idea about the woman. She's in no condition to tell me. How soon can someone get here?

Operator:  I've just sent an ambulance to your location. They should be there any second.

Taxi Driver: Hey, is there anything I can do while we wait for the ambulance?

Operator:   Yes, uh, keep her calm and warm.

Taxi Driver: Okay. Please hurry... Oh, they're too late. It's a boy!

 

A taxi driver called the emergency 911 operator, reporting that his car had broken down on the road, and a woman passenger was going into labor. He further explained that he was in the southbound lane of No. 15 Expressway, about 15 miles from the tunnel, and his name was Mike. The operator said an ambulance had been sent and would arrive at any moment. While the operator asked the driver to keep the lady calm and warm, she gave birth to a boy before the ambulance arrived.

 

Task 2:Have a drink!

In the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, a woman and a man are involved in a car accident. Both of their cars are damaged, but surprisingly neither of them is hurt.

After they climb out of their cars, the woman says, "So you're a man. That's interesting. I'm a woman. Wow, just look at our cars! There's nothing left. But fortunately we're not injured. This must be a sign from God that we should meet and be friends and live together in peace for the rest of our days."

The man replies, "I agree with you completely. This must be a sign from God!"

The woman continues, "And look at this, here's another miracle. My car is completely destroyed, but this bottle of wine didn't break. Surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good luck."

Then she hands the bottle to the man. The man nods his head in agreement, opens it, takes a few large drinks, and then hands it back to the woman. The woman takes the bottle, immediately puts the cork back in the bottle, and puts it away. The man asks, Aren’t you having any?” The woman replies, ' Yes, but not until the police get here."

 

1. Which of the following is true of the accident?

A) Both cars are damaged, but neither of the drivers is hurt.                                 

2. Which of the following is true of what the woman says?

C) God has arranged for the man and woman to become friends.

3. What does the woman say about the bottle of wine?

C) God wants the man and woman to drink it to celebrate.

4. Why does the man drink the wine?

B) He believes he's following God's will.

5. What can we infer from the passage?

D) The woman makes the man appear to have been driving while drunk.

 

Task 3:Pa won’t like it.

Max, a farm boy, accidentally overturned his wagon loaded with corn. The farmer who lived nearby heard the noise.

"Hey, Max!" the farmer shouted. "Forget your troubles. Come in with us, then I'll help you get the wagon up."

"That's mighty nice of you," Max answered, "but I don't think pa would like me to." 

"Come on," the farmer insisted. 

"Well, okay," the boy finally agreed, and added, "but pa won't like it."

After a hearty dinner, Max thanked his host. "I feel a lot better now, but I know pa is going to be really upset."

"Don't be silly!" the neighbor said with a smile. "By the way, where is your pa?"

"Under the wagon."

   1. T  2. F  3. F  4. T  5. F

 

Speaking

A Minor Car Accident

Jill:    I had an accident last week.

Richard: What happened?

Jill:    Somebody bumped into the rear end of my car.

Richard: Were you hurt?

Jill:    No, but my car was damaged.

Richard: You were very lucky that you weren't seriously hurt. Who's to blame for the accident? The other driver?

Jill:    It was not his fault. Seeing a dog running across the road, I suddenly braked. Then the next car crashed into the back of my car.

Richard: Fortunately, you've insured your car.

Jill:    Yes, I have.