最新新编大学英语视听说教程第六册听力原文Unit 6.docx

1、最新新编大学英语视听说教程第六册听力原文Unit 6Unit 6ViewScene 1: In the studio(The Program News Review is on. Garman is interviewing Tiffany Zorn, the NotComGuy.)Garman: This is Terry Garman. Welcome to News Review. With me today is Ms. Tiffany Zorn, from The Chicago Tribune. Welcome.Zorn: Hi.Garman: Tiffany, your seri

2、es of reports in the Tribune on your experiment have become well-known nationwide. Would you please briefly introduce it to the audience?Zorn: Well, I made a public announcement that I would go cold turkey for one week and then report on my discoveries.Garman: What do you mean by going cold turkey?Z

3、orn: We human beings are addicted to electronic equipment, such as cell phones, fax machines, and of course, the computer and the Internet.Garman: And you want to go without them?Zorn: Youre right. I wanted to know if I could survive in a world without them.Garman: Thats why youve got a nicknameNotC

4、omGuy. Now Im curious about the results of your experiment. Did you actually do that?Zorn: Well, to tell the truth, I gave up my attempt four days after I began.Garman: Your experiment only lasted four days and then you gave up?Zorn: Yep.Garman: What do you think was the reason for the failure of yo

5、ur experiment?Zorn: For one thing, I have to admit that I dont have enough willpower. At the beginning, I thought it would be difficult for me to quit after I made a public commitment in the newspapers, but things turned out otherwise.Garman: What made you change your mind?Zorn: When I set out to gi

6、ve up my computer and other electronic equipment, I felt sort of living in a different environment. I was cut off from my e-mail and felt lonely. I knew I could exist without it. But I still really missed my e-mail. You know, as a columnist, I always have to keep in contact with my correspondents.Ga

7、rman: Yes, I see.Zorn: But thats only part of the story. Worse still, I learned that I wasnt able to write coherent sentences without the use of my word processor.Garman: Thats amazing.Zorn: On second thought, it is quite understandable. With access to computers everywhere you go, youve probably los

8、t some sort of ability to spell.Garman: Thats right. Do you mean that you just couldnt go without a computer?Zorn: I was kind of adrift for those four days. It was partly due to the absence of the computer and the Internet. Yet of course, the cell phone and the fax machine were likewise indispensabl

9、e. Think of the inconvenience and frustration it caused when I deliberately ignored them! They were so handy and tempting!Garman: The results of this experiment are not encouraging at all for those who want to return to simpler times.Zorn: I suppose so. I intended to give up my dependence on electro

10、nics, but as it turned out, I failed. Things are easier said than done.Garman: Tiffany, you tried to withdraw from your computer, your cell phone and your fax machine, and fit into human society. Someone I know is trying to do the exact opposite. Hes withdrawing from human society into his computer.

11、 His name is Eric Maddox. Scene 2: In Eric Maddoxs home(Terry Garman is interviewing Eric Maddox, the DotComGuy, in Eric Maddoxs home, where he has been doing the opposite of Tiffany Zorns experiment.)Maddox: Hi, everyone!Garman: Hi, Eric! Hows everything going?Maddox: Fine. Everythings fine.Garman:

12、 Eric, or should I call you DotComGuy?Maddox: Go ahead.Garman: Eric, what prompted you to spend a whole year at home ordering everything you need to live over the Internet?Maddox: I got the idea two months ago when I found myself growing restless while I was shopping with my parents. They were walki

13、ng back and forth in the aisle, making a fuss over what to buy. The whole trip took three hours. I was fed up with it.Garman: So you turned to e-commerce?Maddox: Yeah. It saves me a lot of trouble. Time is one thing, and price is another. Whats more, I hope people can learn from my experience and kn

14、ow that the age of e-commerce is here and its good.Garman: Well, youve certainly shown that its possible. Your name is a household item because youve been observed by round-the-clock video cameras hooked up to computers around the world.Maddox: Computer and the Internet are here as well, you see?Gar

15、man: Since you are not allowed to leave your home, do you feel that you are separated from the outside world?Maddox: To some extent, my life is more isolated. But the Internet is a virtual world in itself. It offers a wide variety of things to buy, information to learn, and people of different backg

16、rounds, professions and interests to chat with.Garman: Thats for sure. Do you have any other leisure activities?Maddox: Uh, an aerobics instructor comes once a week to make sure I dont merge with my couch physically.Garman: And your couch was bought online too?Maddox: Yeah, of course. Um. I enjoy my

17、 lifestyle. Last night I went shopping for my bed.Garman: Besides, your life as a professional electronics consumer is apparently a financial success.Maddox: My website, which features videos of nearly every move I make, receives millions of hits a day and is using advertisements as well. I estimate

18、 I will earn nearly $90,000 this year. Scene 3: In the studio(Terry Garman and Tiffany Zorn are in the studio for the News Review program again.)Garman: Were back in the studio. Tiffany, what do you think are the differences between you and DotComGuy?Zorn: Well, I think my experiment is 50 times har

19、der than his. And what hes doing is not very difficult. And I have the impression that what hes doing is almost like a job. Hes now profiting from it. The problem is how long people will be willing to log on and watch him click his mouse. Its questionable whether that will go on for very long.Garman

20、: You may have a point. The true test of DotComGuys character will be 10 months from now, when he has to face the outside world again, no longer safely protected by the Web and his e-comforts.Listen1-1Those of us who do not want to tell our doctor how much we really drink are often more honest with

21、a computer. In fact, many patients say they prefer talking to a computer to talking to their doctor. Computers dont expect you to smile or socially relate to them when you are feeling ill, said psychiatrist and program writer, Dr. Tony Carr. Dr. Carr of the Maudsley Hospital in London tries to make

22、sure his programs are friendly. For example, if a patient called Anna says that both her parents are dead, the computer will say: Im sorry to hear that, Anna. As well as expressing sympathy like a doctor, the computer can also question patients and remind patients of something. If a patient says he

23、never drinks alcohol, the computer can ask him: Never? Not even at parties or at Christmas? Computers are doing everyday interviews which used to take up a lot of a doctors time. And, of course, said Dr. Carr, it is cheaper to use a computer than a highly-trained person. Does this direct contact bet

24、ween the patients and the computer mean that we do not need doctors anymore? It depends. Computers are useful because they do not feel embarrassed. They do not look shocked if you say you drink two bottles of whisky a day. And they do not stop to talk on the phone as doctors often do. But, as Dr. Mi

25、ke Pringle, a family doctor in Nottinghamshire, said: We smile and we give a patient a hankie or put an arm around her shoulder if she is crying. That is why people will always want us. Listen1-2Questions: 1. Why do some patients prefer to talk to a computer?2. What is the advantage of using compute

26、rs in hospitals?3. How are doctors different from computers?4. What is the main idea of the passage? Listen2-1Vickie Hulvey, 29, in New Jersey, met Steve Barnes, 35, a confirmed bachelor and computer consultant living in Bristol, in a CompuServe chat room in August 1995. Now theyre married and have

27、an eight-month-old daughter. When they first made contact, Vickie had been divorced for about four years. Shed begun using the Net while she was married to her ex-husband. I am not a good computer user, Vickie said. I could only use text, so I spent lots of time in the chat room. It was a great way

28、for me to forget about all my problems. Everyone was so friendly. Sort of a Utopia where no one really had any problems. Four months after Steve and Vickie had first made contact, he flew to New Jersey. Our first meeting was pretty amazing, she recalls. Steve and I both realized the IRL (In Real Lif

29、e) meeting would either cement our future together or end the relationship wed been dreaming about. I felt awkward during the first 10 minutes, because I kept thinking, A sane person wouldnt be doing this! But Steve said he felt comfortable straightaway. He was exactly what he had said he was, so th

30、ere werent any adjustments to make. Theyd started e-mailing each other during August 1995 and had been sending about four messages daily. We spent a huge amount of time online, Vickie says. They printed all the e-mails, which fill seven large binders. They also crossed the Atlantic to visit each oth

31、er five times between December 1995 and June 1996. I dont think it was a specific thing that attracted me to him; it was the whole package really, Vickie said. I know its going to sound sappy, but it was like destiny. We just clicked. We had similar hopes and dreams for the future for what we wanted out of life. Is their relationship still heavenly? Life is good, we get on well together, and we work on everything as a team, sharing all of life. Steve sometimes e-mails me when he is at work, but we talk more than type these days,