新编大学英语自主听力 4Unit 7

[05:06.11]John is going to the U.S. He is asking Mary some information about it. Mary is an American and lives in London.
[05:20.18]John:Well, I'm going to the States quite soon. I'm a bit apprehensive about it because, you know,
[05:27.31]the stuff you see on television makes me wonder, I mean, what are the people all like?
[05:33.11]Mary:Well, it's nothing like the television, I can tell you that.
[05:38.90]John:New York surely is a pretty dangerous place, isn't it?
[05:41.93]Mary:Um... New York is not as dangerous as you might think. There are other cities in the States that are more dangerous.
[05:53.88]John:Can you understand all different types of American accents and everything?
[05:58.16]Mary:Oh yes, I think if you're moving from, say, the North to the South you're going to experience a real culture shock as far as language is concerned.
[06:14.65]I mean, people in the South you probably won't be able to understand at all.
[06:22.21]John:Is that right?
[06:23.72]Mary:Yeah, except for Florida where... everybody in Florida is from New York.
[06:33.80]John:What about the food? I suppose that's quite different from here, isn't it?
[06:38.92]Mary:Yeah, I guess so.
[06:40.57]John:Is it cheaper?
[06:41.90]Mary:I think it is. And you'll find eating out is not as expensive as it is here in London.
[06:50.65]John:Do people eat out there more than they do here?
[06:53.28]Mary:Oh yes, absolutely, and I think that's one reason why it's a lot cheaper.
[07:02.10]I mean, from McDonald's to the best Chinese restaurants if you're in New York, there's lots of variety and they're not expensive.
[07:12.94]John:How about... um... sort of finding places to stay... um... people's homes?
[07:21.58]Do they let them out for you to stay in?
[07:24.42]Mary:Oh yes, usually if you check the papers there are a lot of places.
[07:31.30]In New England, for instance, where people rent their homes out to visitors, and I don't think you'll find it hard to find hotels and people are generally friendly in the States about helping you find places.
[07:49.87]John:And is the television?
[07:52.03]Mary:Oh well, you have here... um... the BBC with no commercials but in America, almost every television station has commercials and there's lost of them.
[08:05.53]John:How about the weather in the States?
[08:07.58]Mary:Unlike in Britain, there is a variety of weather there.
[08:12.52]John:Finally is there any advice you'd give me on my first trip to the States?
[08:16.73]Mary:Well, see as much as you can. I mean, the United States. I think the most important thing to realize in going there is it's a very large country.
[08:31.96]I've lived there all my life, but I've never seen California.
[08:37.61]One of the great things I'd like to do and I always advise other people to do is to ride across country because you get to see a lot of the states that way and you realize how vast the country is.
[08:56.04]John:And you can do that quite cheaply?
[08:58.02]Mary:Oh yes and it's beautiful. I've done it in parts but it's very beautiful, it's a beautiful country.
[09:08.96]John:Thanks, I look forward... (498 words)
[09:11.99]Exercise 2:Directions:Listen to the conversation again and complete the following table with the information you get from the recording.
[09:27.18]Exercise 3:Directions:Listen to the conversation for the third time and answer the following questions briefly.
[09:41.44]Practice Three The U.S. and Australia:A Comparison
[09:50.08]Words You Need to Know
[09:52.81]sight     colonize     barren     resemblance
[10:03.07]expand    settlement     parallel    convict
[10:12.18]Exercise 1:Directions:Listen to the passage and decide which of the following is the best summary of the passage.
[10:26.15]Put a tick ( ) beside the summary.
[10:29.96]Australia, the last continent to be "discovered", was sighted by Dutch, Portuguese, and Spanish ships in the 17th century.
[10:45.08]No colonies followed at the time, however, as these nations were less interested in colonizing than in exploring.