英语口语教程(高级) UNIT 19-20

[00:01.00]Lesson 19 II.Read;

[00:00.91]4.Night Life Thrives;

[00:05.95]In northern China people are asleep by midnight,;

[00:11.34]but in Guangzhou most of the city's residents;

[00:15.64]are still awake at that hour,living it up.;

[00:20.08]Television and radio blast and blare away until two in the morning.;

[00:27.55]Cinemas are multi-purpose.;

[00:31.14]Besides showing films,they present video shows,dances and they have a bar.;

[00:39.83]"I love the rich and colourful night life in this southern city,";

[00:44.75]a young Beijinger said when he came to Guangzhou for a business trip.;

[00:50.28]"Sometimes when I come to the city, I visit the night bazaars there.;

[00:56.66]I usually go shopping in the evening;

[00:59.87]because I work during the day," a middle-aged woman said.;

[01:04.79]"Furthermore,after supper,I like visiting the night bazaars.;

[01:10.88]It's a knid of entertainment.";

[01:13.81]As most people in Guangzhou don't go to bed until far into the night,;

[01:20.67]they usually eat a midnight snack.;

[01:24.49]After shopping or leaving a iconcert,;

[01:27.90]people often get a snack on the way home.;

[01:31.96]"I would like to spend 5 yuan ($1.35) to sit down;

[01:36.12]and relax and eat something in the evening,";

[01:39.76]Xiao Zheng,a taxi driver said.;

[01:43.02]"Meanwhile,I might spend another five yuan to have my car washed,"he added.;

[01:49.45]In Guangzhou,there are car washing services near some of the big bazaars;

[01:55.92]which are popular with the drivers.;

[01:59.04]A lot of Guangzhou residents take a second job at night to earn extra money.;

[02:06.51]College teachers have part-time jobs lecturing at night schools.;

[02:12.89]Engineers sometimes work on a project for another corporation.;

[02:18.84]College students act as tutors.;

[02:22.29]Problems also exist in the South China city.;

[02:26.97]Prostitution is a bigger problem in Guangzhou;

[02:30.99]than elsewhere in the country.;

[02:33.59]And smuggling has increased recently.;

[02:37.93]5. Problem for Beijingers;

[02:43.51]Improving public toilets has long been a serious problem in Beijing,;

[02:49.89]as well as the rest of China.;

[02:52.87]There is a wry saying among Chinese people,;

[02:56.98]"Follow the smell if you want to find a toilet.";

[03:01.19]"About 80 per cent of Beijing's public toilets fit the saying,";

[03:06.24]admitted Xue Baoyi, an official from Beijing Sanitation Bureau in 1989.;

[03:13.99]But at the western gate of the Chinese History Museum near Tian'anmen Square,;

[03:20.28]there is an unusual "luxury" toilet of about 300 square metres,;

[03:26.66]in which there are rockeries,fountains, fresh flowers,a sofa and piped music.;

[03:34.93]The standard of cleanliness is extremely high.;

[03:39.47]But visitors have to pay 0.3 yuan.;

[03:44.00]Some say the clean toilet is worth the price,;

[03:48.59]but others complain that they can not afford it.;

[03:52.98]In Beijing there are now 40 such toilets at tourist sites.;

[03:59.74]On the opposite side of the museum,;

[04:03.14]by the southern gate of Zhongshan Park,;

[04:06.26]is situated another fairly clean pay toilet.;

[04:10.80]Since last March, Liu Zhaomin,;

[04:14.81]a retired sanitation worker from the West City District Cleaning Team;;

[04:20.34]and his wife have contracted to keep the facility clean,;

[04:25.78]and the once dirty and foul-smelling toilet;

[04:29.84]has become one of the cleanest in Beijing.;

[04:34.10]The old couple charge 0.03 yuan per person,;

[04:39.53]but disabled people and students are admitted free.;

[04:44.49]Outside the toilet they also provide water;

[04:49.17]and help people take care of their belongings --all for free.;

[04:54.80]Their service not only earns the old couple about 800 yuan monthly,;

[05:01.70]but it also saves the government money.;

[05:05.24]The toilet fees pay for maintenance.;

[05:09.40]There are no public toilets in some areas of the city.;

[05:15.02]About 200 WCs in downtown area;

[05:19.56]have to have soil carried away manually,;

[05:23.01]mostly by old workers who are near retirement,;

[05:27.22]and it is now very difficult to recruit young people to do this job.;

[05:33.17]Because of a shortage of manpower,tools and disinfectant,;

[05:38.65]it's very hard to keep those public toilets clean.;

[05:43.85]"WC service in Beijing has four key problems," said Xue.;

[05:50.70]"There are no places and money for building public toilets.;

[05:55.52]And most of them are in a very poor condition,and are badly managed.";

[06:01.86]Xue also said that the users should take care of public toilets.;

[06:07.95]Many newly-painted wails in WCs are already dirty.;

[06:15.04]6.The Countryside   in Spring;

[06:21.85]We need never feel dull in the country.;

[06:26.15]No matter how often we walk down the same road,over the same fields,;

[06:32.86]or through the same woodland paths,;

[06:35.69]there is always something new, somthing fresh to see.;

[06:41.22]It may be a little plant that has come up since last we visited the place:;

[06:47.93]a hedge that was just a lot of brown sticks;

[06:52.14]may now be covered with flowers.;

[06:55.26]We may find a bird's nest deep in a bush,;

[06:59.04]and,if we are careful not to frighten the birds,;

[07:03.06]as the days pass, see first the little eggs,and then the baby birds.;

[07:11.71]We never know what we may see,or find, when we start out for a country walk.;

[07:19.31]But we must learn to use our eyes, keep them wide open,;

[07:25.51]or we shall pass by many a pretty or interesting plant,;

[07:30.75]or miss the sight of some little wild animal,;

[07:34.53]who sees us well enough,and will keep perfectly still and quiet;

[07:40.49]so that we should not notice him, until we are quite out of sight.;

[07:46.68]The wild children of the woods and fields are easily frightened,;

[07:53.34]and if we want to get to know them, we must do as they do,;

[07:58.11]and learn to be quiet and keep very still when watching them at work or play;

[08:05.58]All the year round, from the first warm breath of Spring;

[08:10.83]till the last icy wind of Winter,;

[08:14.09]we shall always find something to please and interest us in the country.;

[08:21.08]Lesson 20 Is Housing Reform Necessary?;

[08:28.79]Text Housing Reform Faces Obstacles;

[08:35.54]Housing reform, acknowledged by economists;

[08:40.88]and politicians at home and abroad;

[08:44.24]as central to China's economic reform,;

[08:48.11]has reached a critical stage.;

[08:51.90]A recent article in the overseas edition of the magazine outlook;

[08:58.46]remarked that China's housing reform is facing five obstacles.;

[09:05.17]Major breakthroughs will surely come;

[09:08.77]if these knotty problems are carefully and properly handled.;

[09:14.44]Firstly,the old attitudes of the bulk of urban employees;

[09:21.01]that it is the State's duty to provide shelter;

[09:25.35]as a kind of social welfare;

[09:27.81]has adversely affected their enthusiasm;

[09:31.59]for participating in housing reform.;

[09:35.37]Most people don't include housing on their shopping list.;

[09:40.57]They think that they deserve State housing;

[09:44.35]no matter how little they may have contributed towards it.;

[09:49.46]Some of them consider commercialization;

[09:53.38]or privatization of housing;

[09:56.12]as being synonymous with taking money out of people's pockets;

[10:01.32]and so running counter to3 the ideals of socialism.;

[10:06.28]Secondly,the little money that workers, enterprises;

[10:11.76]and governments at all levels have;

[10:14.88]has affected the accomplishment of housing expectations;

[10:20.36]The per-capita monthly earnings of not more than 80 yuan;

[10:25.75]in China's urban areas;

[10:28.30]plus the continuous price hikes of recent years;

[10:32.51]has greatly lowered the citizens ability to pay extra;

[10:37.33]to buy a house and has reduced their incentive.;

[10:42.48]It is difficult for enterprises to earmark large sums;

[10:48.06]to support housing reforms since many of them are not profitably run.;

[10:54.34]The State,already in deficit,finds itself unable to subsidize the reform;

[11:03.23]Thirdly,the current housing reform will encounter social frisks;

[11:09.84]since those vested interest holderss,;

[11:12.82]most of them senior caders stand in the way of the restructure.;

[11:19.11]Fourthly,the rocketing price of housing;

[11:23.69]has tremendously dampened;

[11:25.58]the enthusiasm of potential house buyers.;

[11:29.39]In some largle cities such as Beijing and Shanghai,;

[11:34.45]the price has surged to record heights of around 2,000 yuan a square metre.;

[11:42.48]Finally,the overall social reform environment;

[11:47.82]has slowed the of housing reform.;

[11:51.27]The relationship of cost,wages,;

[11:55.95]finance and social welfare system reforms;

[12:00.35]has stemmed the housing reform since they are closely integrated.;

[12:06.07]Based on the preceding problems,;

[12:09.37]the article puts forward several suggestions on how to resolve them.;

[12:15.90]First of all,there should be more publicity;

[12:20.67]to encourage urban dwellers to give up their stereotype thinking;

[12:26.06]that housing is social welfare right guaranteed by the State.;

[12:32.91]Commercialization of housing;

[12:36.17]may be achieved through several different phases.;

[12:40.90]The idea of carrying out the housing reform at one stroke should be abandoned.;

[12:48.50]Housing reform;

[12:50.82]should be implemented in conformity with the country's wage,price;

[12:55.97]and other related reforms.;

[12:59.14]The State Council should pressure local governments;

[13:04.10]especially those that are dragging their feet --;

[13:07.64]to speed up their housing reform when necessary,;

[13:11.43]but meantime it should promise to share some of the risks;

[13:15.92]local authorities will face.;

[13:19.03]So quite a few obstacles have emerged;

[13:22.86]and the decision makers should do some hard thinking;

[13:27.16]to determine the correct course of action.;

[13:30.80]These were the opinions aired by dozens of experts and economists;

[13:36.71]on construction and housing reform;

[13:40.16]who have been summoned recently to a meeting in Beijing;

[13:45.03]by the Ministry of Construction,;

[13:47.53]to coincide with the World Habitat Day on October 2.;

[13:53.72]II:Read Read the following passages.;

[14:01.14]Underline the important viewpoints while reading.;

[14:06.53]1.Encouraging Atmosphere for Housing Reform;

[14:13.67]The current atmosphere in respect of reform in housing;

[14:19.34]is still encouraging the experts and economists said.;

[14:24.96]Despite some areas and departments;

[14:28.41]having resorted to the attitude of "wait-and-see";

[14:33.09]and even called a halt to housing reform,;

[14:36.82]attributable to the April-June social unrest,;

[14:41.74]26 out of the country's 30 provinces,;

[14:46.23]municipalities and autonomous regions;

[14:50.20]are still maintaining their endeavours;

[14:53.31]adhering to the scheduled restructure.;

[14:57.24]Out in the main metropolises,;

[15:00.31]Beijing and Tianjin are experimenting with a reform scenario;

[15:05.79]of "multiple directions",;

[15:08.20]such as raising rents for public residential housing,;

[15:12.83]encouraging urban residents to buy more State-built housing,;

[15:18.36]arranging funds to build commercial high-rises,;

[15:22.66]setting up housing deposit banks and the like.;

[15:27.06]Shanghai,the largest city in China,;

[15:31.78]is also drafting its blueprint to quicken the pace of its housing reform;

[15:38.02]in keeping up with their housing requirements.;

[15:42.37]In Guangzhou,the provincial capital of Guangdong,;

[15:47.43]an overall housing reform plan is beginning this month.;

[15:53.00]The municipal government plan;

[15:56.03]stipulates that all residents living in non,privately- owned houses,;

[16:01.75]including those;

[16:03.35]owned by the city's real estate administration departments;

[16:07.70]and by State and collective units,;

[16:10.77]will have to purchase their dwellings;

[16:13.42]or rent them at a rate set by the government.;

[16:17.86]The housing reform characterized by selling of housing;

[16:23.06]and raising rents will be enormously conducive;

[16:27.27]to the healthy development of China's economy in all sectors,;

[16:32.37]some economists maintain.;

[16:35.87]2.Why Is Housing Reform Necessary?;

[16:42.01]During the past few years,the State has spent 30 billion yuan a year;

[16:49.52]on building and maintaining houses and subsidizing rents.;

[16:55.43]But as the investment produces little financial return;

[17:00.44]and funds are tight, housing shortages still persist.;

[17:07.01]According to calculations;

[17:09.89]by the Leading Group of Housing Reform under the State Council,;

[17:15.00]if only one half of the State-built houses nationwide;

[17:19.96]are sold to urban residents,;

[17:22.94]up to 200 billion yuan will be recouped,;

[17:27.76]which can be further used as investments;

[17:31.44]to construct more residential dwellings;

[17:34.42]or help the development of other industries.;

[17:38.53]In this way,the abnormal circle of more house construction;

[17:44.63]and heavier burdens for the State to shoulder will be resolved.;

[17:50.58]Successful housing reform;

[17:53.65]will have other beneficial effects on the society;

[17:58.14]People buying their own houses;

[18:01.45]will restrain the swelling of consuming funds;

[18:05.04]and tighten the State's grip on any panic buying.;

[18:09.35]And last but not least,;

[18:12.23]commercialization of housing;

[18:14.87]would stop the practice adopted by some officials;

[18:19.18]of abusing their position to obtain extra or larger houses.;

[18:25.74]However,the nationwide situation of housing reform;

[18:30.80]is still rather critical.;

[18:33.35]Last year,the government forecast of 80 cities;

[18:38.36]mapping out their scenarios of housing reform was not reached.;

[18:44.32]3. Tianjin Folks Can Buy Their Own Houses;

[18:51.83]A double blessing descended upon Wang Jianpo,;

[18:57.45]a worker at the Tianjin Machine Tool Plant, last month.;

[19:03.27]He married a beautiful young girl and bought a two-room flat--;

[19:09.55]a thing considered by many Chinese young men;

[19:13.38]even harder than finding a wife.;

[19:16.88]At the wedding ceremony,;

[19:19.67]which took place in the new flat recently,;

[19:23.12]Wang and his wife presented some wedding candies;

[19:27.56]to the city leaders to express their gratitude for the government's efforts;

[19:33.23]to build more housing for sale for local residents.;

[19:37.91]The young couple is one of the 20,000 households;

[19:43.06]who moved into new houses built at their own expense last month.;

[19:49.25]The State covered the expenses for infrastructures;

[19:54.02]such as roads linking all the apartment blocks,;

[19:57.80]waterworks and sewers.;

[20:00.88]Nearby industrial enterprises;

[20:04.42]financed construction of grain shops, groceries and parks.;

[20:10.75]Construction costs were shared by the local government,;

[20:15.76]would-be buyers and most local enterprises.;

[20:21.01]"The method is a good way to speed up urban housing construction;

[20:26.63]and tallies with the current consumption level;

[20:30.08]of Chinese urbanites" said a local government official.;

[20:35.42]There is no doubt that money collected from house sales;

[20:40.24]will greatly relieve the shortage of funds for new construction,;

[20:45.11]the official added.;

[20:48.18]4.Housing Reform in Tianjin;

[20:53.66]For a long time, China practised a housing system;

[20:59.29]under which work units were held responsible;

[21:02.69]for housing their employees,who paid a nominal rent.;

[21:07.79]Therefore,houses were regarded as State-funded welfare facilities;

[21:14.36]rather than commodities.;

[21:17.25]Tianjin is one of the 17 pilot cities;

[21:21.69]chosen by the State Council;

[21:24.29]to try out the practice;

[21:26.27]of selling government-built apartments to individuals;

[21:30.59]as part of the country's housing reform.;

[21:33.94]The aim is to recover part of the construction cost;

[21:38.00]for reinvestment in housing construction.;

[21:42.00]The city has built houses for sale;

[21:46.00]with a total floor space of 20 million square metres over the past decade.;

[21:53.00]This has helped raise the per capita living space;

[00:21.00]of urban residents in the city to 6.4 square metres,;

[22:02.91]double that of a decade ago.;

[22:06.55]This year the city has built dwellings for sale;

[22:11.61]totalling 500,000 square metres.;

[22:15.81]Local residents raised 100 million yuan,;

[22:20.30]the government invested 25 million yuan;

[22:24.42]and local enterprises provided 75 million yuan;

[22:29.43]to cover the cost of construction.;

[22:32.92]The cost of every square metre averaged 300 yuan.;

[22:38.74]The buyers pay 200 yuan for each square metre;

[22:43.46]and the State covers the rest.;

[22:47.20]Many Tianjin residents are saving money;

[22:51.87]and waiting for their turn to purchase new houses;

[22:55.70]instead of spending more money on consumer durables,;

[23:00.05]such as colour TV sets,refrigerators and video-recorders, as inthe past.;

[23:08.42]Many experts, officials and local residents;

[23:13.19]have called for an extension;

[23:15.30]of the "tripartite cooperation" in housing construction;

[23:19.76]-- financing by means of individually- raised funds;

[23:24.15]with the help of the government and enterprises.;

[23:28.22]This is because wholesale commercialization;

[23:31.40]of housing won't work yet,as only a few people can afford to buy houses;

[23:38.34]The housing cooperatives;

[23:41.13]have turned out to be a feasible way to get overthe impasse.;

[23:45.86]People are more keen to invest in their own houses;

[23:50.06]and the State has less of a financial burden.;

[23:55.22]Lesson 21 Should People Be Promoted according to Ability?;

[24:05.00]Text Flattering the Boss Gets You Everywhere;

[24:12.28]In the world of work flattery will get you everywhere.;

[24:18.09]Employees who flatter their bosses;

[24:21.59]tend to receive better evaluations;

[24:24.75]and move more easily up the corporate ladder;

[24:28.87]whether they deserve to or not -- said Gerald Ferris,;

[24:33.68]management professor at Texas A and M University.;

[24:39.69]"Based on what we have found,;

[24:43.04]it looks to be the case that political skills;

[24:46.54]are highly reinforced out there in the work place.;

[24:50.70]It is the politically astute that are more often promoted,";

[24:55.90]Ferris said in an interview.;

[24:58.36]His conclusions are based on surveys of employees and supervisors;

[25:04.50]taken as part of his research into political behaviour in the office.;

[25:11.30]"People tend to believe that flattery;

[25:14.89]is just too transparent to be effectives,;

[25:18.58]but we have found that is not necessarily true.;

[25:22.98]We have found a strong correlation;

[25:26.38]between this type of behaviour and good evaluations," Ferris said.;

[25:32.81]The reasons that flattery works are many,Ferris said,;

[25:38.38]but most apparently have to do either with the boss's ego,;

[25:43.72]or insecurity, or both.;

[25:47.60]Some supervisors enjoy having their egos boosted;

[25:52.89]by complimentary employees,;

[25:55.63]while others simply need the reinforcement of consents,he said.;

[26:01.63]"What we have found is that often bosses are new or unsure of themselves;

[26:08.68]and need a lot of social reinforcement for their decisions.;

[26:13.92]They might look at flattery as a sign that they are right," Ferris said.;

[26:20.77]The reasons employees flatter bosses vary,too, Ferris said.;

[26:27.20]Ambition - the desire to move up the corporate ladder;

[26:32.02]-- is often behind the compliments, he said.;

[26:35.38]Also,many workers use flattery;

[26:39.16]to obscure their laziness or incompetence.;

[26:43.41]"We did find a big gap between some of the people doing this manipulation;

[26:49.56]and those that did not.;

[26:52.20]Many of these people (flattering the boss) were not the high performers.;

[26:58.91]They were doing it to cover up their shortcomings," he said.;

[27:04.39]But if flatterers are not always top workers,;

[27:08.98]they frequently are what social scientists call;

[27:13.37]"high self-monitor", Ferris said.;

[27:17.53]"Those are people who are highly attuned to;

[27:22.15]and aware of their surroundings;

[27:24.94]and know what to do to get a favourable response,"he said.;

[27:30.85]Fellow employees are not blind to what their colleagues are doing,Ferris said.;

[27:37.46]But,while they may disapprove,;

[27:40.82]they usually do not tell the boss for fear of appearing jealous,he said.;

[27:47.67]Flattery works best when the employee is saying something;

[27:53.01]he or she really means,Ferris said.;

[27:57.17]But sincere or not, it should be done in moderation.;

[28:02.65]"If you overdo it or if you are not sincere and the boss catches on,;

[28:08.98]it can mean troiuble,he said.;

[28:11.87]You have to be subtle and not take it too far.;

[28:16.31]One way employees can avoid appearing too flattering;

[28:21.41]is occasionally disagree with the boss on minor points,he said;

[28:27.04]In that way,the employee avoids being viewed as a "yes-man".;