Spot Dictation  

Good morning, class. Today’s topic is” Idioms and their Origins”. An idiom is phrase or expression with the special meaning. The meaning of a idiom often can not be understood from the meaning of the individual words in it. In our language, idioms are important part and they often make our language more colorful. So in today’s lecture, let’s look the origins of some English idioms. The first idiomatic expression on our list is “raining cats and dogs” This is an interesting phrase. It is not related to the well-known antipathy between dogs and cats, which is vividly describe in the phrase 'fight like cat and dog'. However, there are several common theories about the origin of the well-known expression” raining cats and dogs” One theory is that long ago in England the roofs on houses were made of hay. You've probably heard of thatch-roofed houses, well that's all they were. Thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. Those thatch roofs were the only place for the little animals to get warm. So all the pets in the house; dogs, cats and other small animals, even mice, rats, bugs, all lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery so sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Thus the saying, "it's raining cats and dogs."Another explanation is the heavy rain would wash the dead animals down the streets. In the 18th century , streets in England would rather , heavy rain would occasionally carry along dead animals and other debris. The animals didn't fall from the sky, but the sight of dead cats and dogs floating by in storms could well have caused the coining of this colorful phrase. The most popular one comes from Northern European myth in which cats were symbol for rain and dogs as symbol for wind. Thus it’s cats and dogs out there is often used to describe a heavy rainstorm with strong winds.

Statements

1. We have a heavy load of work today and let’s leave for the office right now. The earlier we get there, the more working time we’ll have.

2. Are you saying you’d like to apply for the part-time job? Fine, just fill out this form. Someone will be with you in a moment.

3. Florence came back to London last night from her trip to Shanghai. She stayed there for two weeks negotiating a new business deal with a local company.

4. My nephew is very disappointed with the toy and I am too. I want all my money back and I am not interested in receiving a replacement.

5. Although English is now the global language, spoken in more than a hundred countries, it does not have the most speakers compared with Chinese.

6. It is advisable to choose a college major based on your interests and aptitudes, but you should make sure you get a good background in basic skills like writing and math.

7. In our department, old Jack is the back-seat driver. He likes to give advice whenever and wherever he can, as if he were the boss.

8. In American business circle, the business lunch has become a regular feature. Knowing how to conduct yourself at the business lunch is just as important as the business discussion.

9. Because of the pressures of modern life, our body often goes into threated mode which can lead to stress-related disorders such as heart disease, headaches and an inability to sleep.

10. Negotiations are a frequent part of international business. When parties involved in a negotiation have different culture backgrounds, they face more complex problems.

Talks and Conversations

Q11-14

W: I’m popping out to get some sandwiches for lunch, do you want anything ?

M: Yeah, could you get me a salad sandwich please?

W: Sure, white bread or brown?

M: I have brown. And what else? Let me think. Hang on! Eh… a yogurt, a plain yogurt and a piece of cheesecake.

W: Right. Yeah, actually…hang on! I ‘d better write this down or I’ll forget. One salad sandwich ?

M: Yes, brown bread and one plain yogurt and one piece of cheesecake.

W: No ham and meat. Are you a vegetarian?

M: No, you know I’m not. I am just on diet. I think I am putting on some weight lately.

W: Well, I think exercising is the best way to keep fit, there is a fitness center downstairs. Would you like to have a try after work?

M: I’d love to. Thanks a lot for the advice.

Q15-18

Good morning folks, welcome to The Elephant Walk. Today we’re going to learn and enjoy the riding of an elephant. The first step in riding an elephant, of course, is to climb onto it. There are four ways. The first is the easiest for the passenger and the most uncomfortable for the elephant. With the command of “Baitho”, the elephant kneels. You climb up to the seat by stepping on the top of the front part of either leg, holding on to the ear and pulling yourself up. The second way is more difficult. Upon the command of “Utha! Utha!”, the elephant lifts either of its front legs and holding on to the ear. You step onto the leg and are raised up as in a lift. The third is over the back side. The elephant lowers one of its back legs, and you simply catch hold of the tail. The fourth--- the experts’ way, is by the trunk. It looks so elegant and simple. As the trunk is lower to the ground, you place your foot in the middle and then hold on to both ears. The result is that you’re lifted up and over and onto the elephant’s back. Remember, each elephant can ride only two passengers and the third one is from our trainers’ team who will help you climb onto the elephant and through the entire journey to ensure your safety and your pleasure.

Q19-22

W: Here we are at registration again; I can’t believe how much tuition has gone up.

M: I know. It’s ridiculous. You know my cousin Anne pays nothing to go her school in Kentucky.

W: Nothing! Maybe I should transfer there.

M: You can’t, only students from certain part of Kentucky can go. It’s only for students from the Appalachian Mountains area.

W: So with no tuition how do they run the school?

M: Well, they get a lot of donations.

W: And that pays for everything?

M: Well, they also get some money from the government and besides that all the students are required to work at the college. That’s why the college doesn’t need to hire a lot of outside-workers.

W: Oh yeah, that will help cut the school expenses, so what kind of job do they do?

M: My cousin helps to clean the dorms. I think her roommate washes dishes in the cafeteria. Things like that.

W: That sounds great! Come to think of it. I heard of something in Georgia called hope scholarship.

M: Hope scholarship? What’s that?

W: I think they used state lottery money to give free tuition. But not everyone from Georgia qualifies. You need at least B average in high school.

M: I should apply for that. I had really good grades in high school.

W: No, you had to be from Georgia.

M: Just my luck.

Q23-26

Increasingly over the past 10 years, people, especially young people, have become aware of the need to change their eating habits. Because much of the food they eat, particularly processed foods, is not good for the health. Consequently, there has been a growing interest in natural foods.

What are natural foods, you may ask. Well, they are foods which do not contain chemical additives, and which have not been affected by chemical fertilizers that are widely used in farming today.

Natural foods, for example, are vegetables, fruit and grain which have been grown in soil that is rich in organic matters. In simple terms, this means that the soil has been nourished by unused vegetable matter which provides it with the essential vitamins and minerals. This, in itself, is a natural process compared with the use of chemicals and fertilizers, the main purpose of which is to increase the amount but not the quality of foods grown in commercial farming areas.

Natural foods also include animals which have been allowed to feed and move freely in healthy pastures. Compared this with what happens in the mass production of poultry, there are battery farms for example, with thousands of chickens living crowded together in one building and are fed on food which is little better than rubbish. Chickens kept in this way are not only tasteless as food, they also produce eggs which lack important vitamins. 

Q27-30

W: Good afternoon, Linda speaking. How can I help you?

M: Oh, Hello. At last. I was just about to ring off.

W: I am sorry about that. The waiting system is a bit frustrating, isn’t it? It’s the only way we can offer our 24-hour service, you see.

M: Yeah, yeah. Look, it’s about the computer I’ve bought off you two weeks ago.

W: Yes, what’s seems to be the problem?

M: Well, I was transferring my files to it from my hard disc drive and it’s lost a lot, everything.

W: OK, now don’t worry, I am sure we can sort something out. The computer has lost all your data you say?

M: Yes, and it has wiped everything of hard disc drive as well. My whole life! My whole life was in those files

W: Oh my goodness. Are you sure? Sounds like the problems with your hard disc drive.

M: Of course I am sure. And there’s nothing wrong with my hard disc drive. I’ve had it years.

W: OK. I can understand how upset you must be. Now I don’t think we can deal with this on the phone. So I’ll arrange to send a service engineer to see if they can retrieve your data. Can you give me your product reference number?

M: Eh…yes, it’s…here it is. it’s SF11-003. By the way, I’ll be expecting a total refund and compensation if this can’t be fixed.

W: Unfortunately, we’re not of the rights to give refunds, but what I can do is send you a brand new computer. How would that be?

M: This is supposed to be a brand new computer. You think I want another one of this after what the last one did?

W: Well, let’s see what our engineer can do. Hopefully, it’s not quite as bad as you think. Now I’ve got your name and address here in your customer file. It’s Mr.Chatton, at Oxford. OX26BI,right?

M: Yes.

W: Right, Mr. Chatton. We’ll have an engineer with you this afternoon. Is that Okay?

M: Eh, well. I suppose…

W: Good. Glad to be of assistance. Is there anything else I can help you?

M: Hmm, oh, no.

W: Well, best of luck this afternoon. I hope we can solve the problem for you.

M: Well, thanks. Good bye.

Listening Translation

Sentence Translation

1. People used to believe that to be healthy, they had to eat a lot of meat. Today, we eat more whole grain food, like bread and rice. Fruit and vegetable are also important.

2. The most important purpose of getting an education is to prepare us either for our future work and careers or for living a full life.

3. When you talk to people, don’t just focus on their words. Take note of their body language, voice tones and expressions. These will tell you more about the people you are talking with.

4. In British businesses, it is considered poor practice for employees to exhibit emotion on the job. Indeed, most British people find public displays of emotion, especially anger, offensive.

5. In America, you must be at least 16 years old to have your driver’s license. If you are 15, you may have a learner’s permit, which means you can only drive with an adult driver.

Passage Translation 1

North America is an interesting continent. There are many types of land forms, such as mountains and deserts. There are also great rivers and lakes. There are still many wide-open spaces. But there are crowded cities, too, for example,New York and Toronto. The United States and Mexico are part of North America. Canada is also in North America, and it is the biggest of the three countries. In addition, Central America, which is made up of seven countries and many islands in the Caribbean, are also part of North America.

Passage Translation 2

Some early childhood education expert says a person’s brain grow fastest in infant period. If a person’s intelligence grows up to 100% at 17 years old, they can get 50% of their intelligence at four years old. Therefore, early childhood education is very important. For children at one to four years old, it’s a crucial period to develop their brain, as well as their language skills, cognition and social networking. Also during this period, their capabilities to recognize colors and numbers also grow very fast.

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