2020年P(guān)ETS-3考試教材第六單元：閑暇活動(dòng)

Unit 6 Free Time Activities

Conversations：

Mother asks Helen about her hitchhiking.

Mother:How did your hitchhiking go?

Helen:Oh,it was all right,provided I thumbed the drivers down.

Alec didn't let me at first in case the drivers decided to kidnap me.

But whenever he did it,we had to wait for hours.

Mother:And didn't you have any trouble?Your father and I were very worried.

Helen:No,you needn't have worried,really.

It's all right provided you're patient.And people are very kind.

One couple gave us a lift in the south of ltaly,near Brindisi,and they wanted to put us up at their house in case we couldn't find rooms in the youth hostel.

We got the boat to Greece from there.

Mother:You went to Greece?You never told us you got so far!

Helen:We didn't tell you in case you got worried...

Steve asks Judy to see the film.

Steve:Hello.Is that judy?

Judy:Yes.Who's that?

Steve:Steve.You know,we met in the pub.

Judy:Oh,of course.Hello.

Steve:Look.I was wondering if you'd like to go to the pictures tonight.

Judy:Well,er...What's on?

Steve:Gone with the Wind is at the Phoenix.

Judy:I've seen that.Rather soppy,I thought.

Steve:Close Encounters is on too.

Judy:I don't know if I want to see that.It doesn't sound my cup of tea.

Steve:Oh,it's not just science fiction,you know.It's got a message.

Well,what about it?

Judy:Well...OK then.

Steve:Fine.See you outside about half past seven.

Judy:OK.Goodbye.

Steve:Bye.

Ruth is asking her children to help her with the housework.

Ruth:Now it's time for cleaning up our house,we need a thorough cleaning,everybody gets to do something.

Lily:Mum,we should get downtown today,we can't be too late.

Ruth:If everyone gives a hand,we will make it done early.

OK,let's assign tasks now.

Sam,it's your job to clean our two bathrooms,you need to wash the tubs,basins,both wall and floor tiles.

Roy,you should mow and water the lawn and vacuum all the rooms.

Lily and I will clean the kitchen,and I will keep an eye on the washing machine.

Jimmy,you should put your toys in order to make our house look tidy.

Roy:Can I do it some other day?I am tired from playing soccer yesterday.

Ruth:Sorry,you can't.

If I agree to let you do it some other day,

I'll have to agree Lily to leave earlier for shopping,if that were the case,who would be left for cleaning the house?

OK,everyone,get down to your own assignment ASAP(as soon as possible)and we will dine out at noon.

Passage

Perhaps no other thing has such power to lift the poor out of his poverty,the wretched out of his misery,to make the burden-bearer forget his burden,the sick his suffering,as books.

They are friends to the lonely,companions to the deserted,joy to the joyless,hope to the hopeless,good cheer to the disheartened,a helper to the helpless.

They bring light into darkness,and sunshine into shadow.

We may be poor,socially ostracized,shut out from all personal association with the great and the good,and yet be in the best society in the world,in books.The trend of many a life for good or ill,for success or failure,has been determined by a single book.

The books which we read early in life are those which influence us the most.

The greatest advantage of books does not always come from what we remember of them,but from their suggestiveness.

A good book often serves as a match to light the dormant-powder within us.

There is explosive material enough in most of us if we can only reach it.

A good book or a good friend often excites thought in great writers,even upon entirely dfferent subjects.

We often find in books what we thought and felt,could we have expressed ourselves.

Indeed,we get acquainted with ourselves in books.We discover one feature in Emerson,another lineament in Shakespeare,an expression in Homer,a glimpse of ourselves in Dante,and so on until we spell out our whole individuality.True,we get many pleasing reflections of ourselves from fiends,many mirrored deformities from our enemies,and a characteristic here and there from the world;but in calm and unbiased way we find the most of ourselves,our strength,our weakness,our limitations,our opinions,our tastes,our harmonies and discords,our poetic and prosaic qualities,in books.

We form many of our opinions from our favorite books.

The author whom we prefer is our most potent teacher;we look at the world through his eyes.

If we habitually read boods that are elevating in tone,pure in style,style,sound in reasoning,and keen in insight,our minds develop the same characteristics.

The best books are those which stir us up mostand make us the most determined to do smething and be something ourselves.

Libraries are no longer a luxury,but a necessity.

A home without books and periodicals and newspapers is like a house without windows.

Children learn to read by being in the midst of books;they unconsciously absorb knowledge by handling them.

No family can now afford to be without good reading.

"No entertainment is so cheap as reading,"says Mary Wortley Montagu,

"nor any pleasure so lasting."

Good books elevate the character,purify the taste,take the attractiveness out of low pleasures,and lift us upon a higher plane of thinking and living.

Whatever you read,read with enthusiasm,with energy,read with the whole mind,if you would increase your mentalk stature.

Learn to absorb the mental and the moral life of a book,and assimilate it into your life.

He is the best reader who consumes the most knowledge and converts it into character.

Mechanical readers remember words,the husks of things,but digest nothing.

They cram their brains but starve their minds.

If you are getting the most out of a book,you will feel a capacity for doing things which you never felt before.

Words and Expressions：

poverty wretched misery burden

貧窮，貧困可憐的，悲慘的痛苦，不幸擔(dān)子，負(fù)擔(dān)

suffering dishearten socially ostracized

苦楚，受難使氣餒，使沮喪在社交方面受排斥的

association trend failure influence

協(xié)會(huì);聯(lián)合;結(jié)交傾向，趨勢(shì)失敗影響，改變

suggestiveness dormant explosive entirely

啟發(fā);建議;暗示睡眠狀態(tài)的;靜止的爆炸的，爆發(fā)的完全地，全然地

acquaint feature lineament glimpse

使熟悉，使相識(shí)面貌的一部分特點(diǎn)，特征一瞥，一看

individuality

個(gè)性

pleasing fiend

令人高興的，愉快的魔鬼，邪惡的人

deformity characteristic unbiased limitation

缺陷;畸形特性，特征沒有偏見的局限性;限制

harmony discord poetic prosaic

協(xié)調(diào)，融洽不一致，意見不合詩的，詩意的散文的

potent habitually elevating tone

使人信服的習(xí)慣地振奮精神的語調(diào);語氣

style keen insight stir

風(fēng)格;風(fēng)度敏銳的，鋒利的洞察力;見識(shí)激起;鼓動(dòng)

luxury necessity periodical midst

奢侈;豪華必要性，需要期刊，雜志中間

unconsciously

無意中，不知不覺

absorb handle entertainment

吸收處理;操作娛樂

purify attractiveness plane enthusiasm

使純凈吸引人，有魅力水平，程度狂熱，熱心

stature moral

高度道德的;精神的

assimilate consume convert

吸收;徹底了解消耗，消費(fèi)使轉(zhuǎn)變，轉(zhuǎn)換

mechanical husk digest

機(jī)械的，呆板的外殼，皮;無價(jià)值之物消化;融會(huì)貫通

cram capacity

填滿才能，能力

Exercises

Section I Listening Comprehension

Listen to the record.

Answer each question by choosing A,B,C or D from the four possible choices.

A

Receptionist:Royal Hotel.Good afternoon.Can I help you?

Mr.Brown:Good afternoon.I'd like to book a room,please,

for the twenty-third of December.

Receptionist:Right.The twenty-third of December?

Mr.Brown:Yes,please.

Receptionist:Er,how long for?

Mr.Brown:Two days.

Receptionist:So the twenty-third to the twentyfifth of December?

Mr.Brown:That is correct.Thank you.

Recepotionist:Is that right?Mr.Brown:Yes.

Receptionist:And,er,what time will you be arriving on the twenty-third?

Mr.Brown:Approximately two thirty.

Receptionist:Two thirty P.M.Yes?

Mr.Brown:Yes,indeed.Yes.

Receptionist:And,er,what kind of room would you like,sir?A single or a double?

Mr.Brown:Single,please.

Receptionist:Single room.Right.Could you give me your name,please?

Mr.Brown:Yes,it's Mr.Bown.

Receptionist:Brwon,could you spell that for me,please?

Mr.Brown:B-R-O-W-N.

RECEPTIONIST:B-R-O-W-N.

Mr.Brown:Yes.

Receptionist:Look forward to seeing you.Goodbye.

Mr.Brown:Thank you.Goodye.

B

Because I leave for work very early,my husband gets our four children ready for school.

One day,I laid out a jumper for my youngest daughter.

Running late,I couldn't find her matching shirt and tights,so I left my husband a note explaining they were somewhere in the clean laundry in the basement.

Later,when I called him,I discovered there was utter chaos at home.

Nobody could find anything.

I phoned him again at work and asked if he found everything for our daughter's outfit.

"Oh,yes,"he replied that he got everything they needed.

Relieved.I asked,"So,was it all where I said it would be?"

"Not exactly,"he answered.

"Where was it then?"

After a short silence,he confessed,"WalMart."

Supplementary Reading

Wrestling with Television

Perhaps the most ironic aspect of the stuggle for survival is how easily organisms can be harmed by that which they desire.

The trout is carght by the fisherman's lure,the mouse by cheese,and man by the world's most leisure pastime,television.

Most people admit to having a love-hate reationship with it(the TV).

They complain about the"boob tube"and"couch potatoes",then they settle into their sofas and grab the remote control.

The amount of time people spend watching television is astonishing.

According to a research,on average,

American adults spend four hours a day in front of the TV-fully half of their leisure time.

Over a lifetime,that's more than nine years.

Yet,we love to complain that we don't have time for the things we really want to do.

There are two reasons we end up watching more TV than we know we should.

Peole think they need it and it's easy.

We usually don't realize how many hours we're watching television.

Since it's a passive activity,with feelings of lowered alertness continuing even after the set is off,watchers typically find their energy and concentration are low.

Inertia sets in.Hence,there is no motivation to get up and do something else once you're planted on the couch.

When you think about other activities(sleep,playing with your kids,hobbies)that you're giving up by watching television,it can be an eye-opener.

Don't make it easy to be a potato.

Instead of being a passive watcher,there are ways to make TV watching harder.

Most people arrange their living room furniture around the TV.

But you may try to put the TV away in a cabinet,a back room,or the basement.

Then arrange your couches and chairs for conversation and reading.

If your TV is too big to move,you can remove the batteries from your remote so that chnnel surfing must be done manually.

Keep a list of alternate activities taped to the TV as a reminder.

The TV-Turnoff website lists screen-free suggestions like starting a garden,looking at the stars,or going to a bookstore as options.

You may see TV watching as a way to decompress after your day.

Siince studies have shown that watching television doesn't lower your stress level,and in fact may increase it,you're better off trying other activities.

Could you do something that is more reacing like yoga,reading or listening to music?

Benefits fo less TV will be obvious,if you try life without TV for a week or less and see how you feel.

Every spring during TV-Turnoff Week(April 21-27,2004)thousands of people give this a try and oftenfind they prefer watching less.

The first few days can be rough,but,after that initial period,people find freedom.

They get more things done and taht makes them happier.

My husband and I do own a TV,and I'm working on being more aware of my viewing habits.

Now,before I pick up the remote,I ask myself,

"Is this what I really want to be doing?"

Often I come up with better options and the ON button doesn't get pushed.

After all,I doubt on my deathbed I'll regret that I didn't watch more TV.