高级英语视听说原文.docx

1、高级英语视听说原文Listening and SpeakingChapter 1 Napoleon：From Schoolboy to EmperorNapoleon was a French soldier who became emperor of France. He was born in 1769 on the island of Corsica. When he was only 10 years old, his father sent him to military school in France. N. wasnt a very good student in most o

2、f his classes, but he excelled in mathematics and military science. When he was 16 years old, he joined the French army. In that year he began the military career that brought him fame, power, riches, and, finally, defeat. N. became a general in the French army at the young age of 24. Several years

3、later, he became the emperor of the French Empire. N. was many things. He was, first of all, a brilliant military leader. His soldiers were ready to die for him. As a result, N. won many, many military victories. At one time he controlled most of Europe, but many countries, including England, Russia

4、, and Austria fought fiercely against him. His defeat his end came when he decided to attack Russia. In this military campaign against Russia, he lost most of his army. The great French conqueror died alone - deserted by his family and friends in 1821. N. was only 51 years old when he died. Listenin

5、g Factoid#1The cause of Napoleons death at the age of 51 on the island of St. Helena is still a mystery. There is no doubt that a very sick man at the time of his death. One theory about the cause of his death is that he had stomach cancer. Another theory is that he was deliberately poisoned by a se

6、rvant. This third theory suggests that he was poisoned, but not by his servant. This third theory suggests that that he was poisoned, accidentally by fumes from the wallpaper were analyzed and traces of arsenic were found in it. Arsenic is powerful poison that was used in some of the dyes in wallpap

7、er during the time that Napoleon lived. More than 170 years after his death, people are still speculating about the cause of his death.Listening Factoid #21. Ten people who speak make more noise than 10,000 who are silent.2. In politics, stupidity is not a handicap.3. A man will fight harder for his

8、 interests than for his rights.4. Men of genius are meteors intended to burn to light their century.5. I know, when it is necessary, how to leave the skin of the lion to take the skin of the fox.6. History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon.7. It is success which ma

9、kes great men.Chapter 2 Pompeii：Destroyed, Forgotten, and Found Today many people who live in large metropolitan areas such as Paris and New York leave the city in the summer. They go to the mountains or to the seashore to escape the city noise and heat. Over 2,000 years ago, many rich Romans did th

10、e same thing. They left the city of Rome in the summer. Many of these wealthy Romans spent their summers in the city of Pompeii. P. was a beautiful city; it was located on the ocean, on the Bay of Naples. In the year 79 C.E., a young boy who later became a very famous Roman historian was visiting hi

11、s uncle in P. The boys name was Pliny the Younger. One day Pliny was looking up at the sky. He saw a frightening sight. It was a very large dark cloud. This black cloud rose high into the sky. Rock and ash flew through the air. What Pliny saw was the eruption the explosion - of the volcano, Vesuvius

12、. The city of P. was at the foot of Mt. V. When the volcano first erupted, many people were able to flee the city and to escape death. In fact, 18,000 people escaped the terrible disaster. Unfortunately, there was not enough time for everyone to escape. More than 2,000 people died. These unlucky peo

13、ple were buried alive under the volcanic ash. The eruption lasted for about 3 days. When the eruption was over, P. was buried under 20 feet of volcanic rock and ash. The city of P. was buried and forgotten for 1,700 years. In the year of 1748 an Italian farmer was digging on his farm. As he was digg

14、ing, he uncovered a part of a wall of the ancient city of P. Soon archaeologists began to excavate to dig - in the area. As time went by, much of the ancient city of P. was uncovered. Today tourists from all over the world come to see the ruins of the famous city of Pompeii.Listening factoid #1In 19

15、51, an Australian pilot prevented his plane form being shot down-by flak form a volcano. The plane was flying over a volcano in Papua, New Guinea when the volcano suddenly erupted. It sent ash and flak 36,000 feet into the air. Bits of stone pounded against the planes wings and fuselage, but the pil

16、ot kept control and flew the plane to safety. Incidentally, almost 3,000 people on the ground died as a result of the eruption of this volcano.Listening factoid #2Pliny the Younger saw the eruption of Mount Vesuvius form a distance. On the day of the eruption, the boys uncle Pliny the Elder was in c

17、ommand of a Roman fleet which was not far off the shore of Pompeii. On seeing the remarkable eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, Pliny the Elder, who was a great naturalist, sailed to shore to take a look at the eruption of the mountain. On his approach to the shore, he was met by a shower of hot cinders whic

18、h grew thicker and hotter as he advanced. He finally landed on the shore, and went to a house away form the beach. He even went to sleep, but later in the night, the servants woke him up. By then, the house had begun to rock so violently that Pliny and everyone in his household left the house and we

19、nt toward the beach to escape. Tying pillowcases on their heads, and using torches to light the way, they groped their way to the beach. But it was too late for Pliny the Elder. Apparently, he became tired and lay down on the ground to rest. But when he lay down on the ground, he died. His death was

20、 probably due to carbon dioxide poisoning. Since CO2 is heavier than air, it hugs the ground and makes it impossible to breathe when one is close to the ground. It is likely that others in the area also died of carbon dioxide poisoning if they lay down to rest on the ground below Mt. Vesuvius.Chapte

21、r 3 Lance Armstrong: Survivor and Winner Lance Armstrong was born on September 18, 1971 in a suburb of Dallas, Texas, called Plano. Lance began running and swimming competitively when he was only 10 years old. By the time he was 13, he was competing in triathlons and won the Iron Kids Triathlon. Lan

22、ces mother, who raised L. mostly by herself, recognized and encouraged his competitive spirit. During his senior year in high school, L. was invited to train with the US Olympic cycling developmental team in Colorado. From that time on, L. focused completely on cycling. By 1991, L. was the US Nation

23、al Amateur Champion. He also won 2 major national races the same year - even beating some professional cyclists. Although he was generally doing very well, L. had his ups and downs. In 1992, he was expected to do very well at the Barcelona Olympics, but finished in 14th place. This was a big disappo

24、intment. L. got over the disappointment and decided to turn professional. In his first professional race, the 1992 Classico San Sebastian, he ended up finishing dead last, 27 minutes behind the winner. L.s mother continued to encourage L. through his difficult times. Things went much better for L. i

25、n the following years. In 1993, he was the youngest person to win the World Race Championships. In the same year, he entered the Tour de France for the first time. He won one stage of the race, but dropped out of the race before finishing. In 1995, he even won the Classico S. S., the race he had fin

26、ished last in, in 1992. L. also won the most important US tournament, the Tour du Pont, 2 times, in both 1995 and 1996. By 1996, L. was ranked 7th among cyclists in the world, and he signed a 2-year contract with a French racing team. At that time, everything was looking very good for L.A. However,

27、everything changed dramatically and drastically in October of 1996, shortly after his 25th birthday. At this time, L. was diagnosed with advanced cancer that had already spread to his brain and lungs. He almost immediately underwent 2 cancer surgeries. After these 2 surgeries, he was given a 50-50 c

28、hance of survival as he began an aggressive 3-month course of chemotherapy. The chemotherapy left L. very weak, but the treatment worked well. Quite soon after, L. was declared free of cancer. L. returned to cycling and training only 5 months after he was initially diagnosed with cancer. He vowed he

29、 would return to competitive cycling better than ever. However, his French cycling team dropped L. from the team. They didnt believe that L. would ever be able to return to his former level of strength and endurance. Fortunately the US Postal Service Team became his new sponsor. With the support of

30、the US Postal Service Team, L. returned to racing in 1998. After one particularly bad day during one of his races, L. pulled over and decided he was done with racing. However, after spending time with his really good cycling friends, L. returned to racing, and again he was off again in pursuit of cy

31、cling victories! L.s big comeback was marked by his victory at the 1999 Tour de France. L. repeated this feat in the years 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004, for a total of 6 consecutive victories in the Tour de France, the most prestigious and the most grueling of all cycling contests. L.s Tour de Fr

32、ance record may never be beaten or even matched. Interestingly, L. was the youngest person to win the World Cycling Championships in 1993 and the oldest person ever to win the Tour de France in 2004! In addition to his amazing athletic performance, L.A. has established the L.A. Foundation, which is devoted to providing information about cancer and support to cancer victims. He has also written a book about his life and winning the TdF, called Every Second Counts, and for L., every second has counted. L.A. gives a lot of credit for his success to his mother, whose independent spirit and su