1、Unit 1ARE WOMEN GIVEN A FAIR CHANCE?I dont think women are given a fair chance to have as good a career as men for three reasons.First, girls have more difficulty getting an education than boys. If there is little money in the family, boys will get the first chance to go to school. Even if girls do

2、begin school, they often leave earlier to help the family or to go to work. It is often felt that girls will marry and look after another family but that boys must earn money for the family. This way of thinking prevents some girls from training for a career.Second, women have more difficulty gettin

3、g to the top of their chosen career. Most people who run companies are men. So they choose other men to succeed them. This means that women get fewer chances to show how good they are at running businesses. Unless they are given the opportunity, they will never be able to show that they can run comp

4、anies successfully.Third, women are more likely to give up their careers to look after children or run the house. This is becaues these kinds of responsibilities are considered womens work. However, men do not have this problem. They can work long hours and go on business trips. They can improve the

5、ir career chances since the family is cared for at home.Unit 2GIRL:WHATS WRONG WITH THE VEGETABLES?BOY:Hey, Paul, listen to this a magazine articl about a farmer who used too much chemical fertilizer on his fields. When his vegetables were picked, they were all found to be empty!GIRL:Empty? Youre jo

6、king, Carrie that cant be true!BOY:I didnt believe it either! This article says this can happen sometimes with vegetables like cucumbers, carrots and pumpkins. The chemical fertilizer makes the vegetables grow fast to look big and beautiful, but theyre empty inside!GIRL:You know, Ive noticed that so

7、metimes my mum buys carrots from the supermarket that have big holes down the centre. I guess that must be from using chemical fertilizers!BOY:Yeah, thats what the magazine says! The main point of the article, though, isnt about holes in our vegetables. Its talking about why the fruit and vegetables

8、 we eat today arent as nutritious as the ones our grandparents ate.What? My mum is always telling me to eat more vegetables, because theyre good for me!BOY:GIRL:Yeah, I know my mother says that same thing! And its true they are good for us but the problem is that they arent healthy enough! All these

9、 chemical fertilizers they kill off both the bad and the good things in the ground. The ground doesnt have enough vitamins and minerals any more to help crops grow healthy.So if our fruit and vegetables were grown with chemical fertilizers, they might look healthy, but probably arent really healthy?

10、 I guess weve got to stop using so many chemical fertilizers to grow our food!Unit 3THE STORY OF THE DRUNKEN CHICKENSPart 1Mary Smith looked at the beautiful ripe plums. They would make lovely jam. When she had finished the cooking, she filled all her empty jam jars and left the rest of the jam in t

11、he pan. She would put it in the fridge when it was cooler. But just then the telephone rang,her mother was in hospital after a car accident. Mary picked up her bag and ran out of the house.Some days later, her husband, John,came home from a business trip. He had been travelling all day and felt like

12、 having a drink and a piece of cake. As he came into the kitchen he saw a pan with a dark red mess inside it, he lifted it up and smelled it. It smelled bad. Mary must have forgotten to clean this pan, he thought. So he poured all the jam into the chicken yard and cleaned the pan. Then feeling comfo

13、rtable, he began to eat a piece of cake.Part 2When Mary returned, she noticed the chickens behaving strangely. They were running round the yard as if they were sick. She saw the dark red mess on the ground and went closer. When she saw a plum stone she went into the kitchen. Her husband was reading

14、a newspaper at the table. Angrily Mary rushed to him. “You threw away my jam,”she shouted,”O(jiān)h,”thats what it was,”he said.”Im sorry but I thought it was porridge which had gone bad in the hot weather.”Good heavens!”said Mary.”That mustbe the jam I left in the pan, butwhy didnt you threw it in the du

15、sbin?”John laughed,”It was a mistake. However ,the chickens have enjoyed the jam, except that it has made them drunk. What are we going to do with these drunken chickens?”Unit 4TO DRIVE OR NOT TO DRIVEC=CYCLIST P=POLICEMEN L=LIN PULin Pu is excited, but very nerous. He just got his drivers license l

16、ast week and yesterday bought his brother-in-laws old car. Today, he is driving in the city for the first time. Taxis are going in every direction. People are crossing the street withour paying attention to the cars, and the people riding bikes never look before they turn.C:Just then, the traffic li

17、ght in front of him turns red and the car in front of him stops suddenly. Lin Pu quickly turns to the light to avoid hitting the car in front of him. Crash! He hits a bicycle and knocks out a basket full of apples. Then he sees a policeman, walking toward him.P:Look what you did! All my apples are o

18、n the road! You must pay for them!L:Driver, what were you thinking? You didnt stay in your lane! Youll have to pay a fine for this.C:Im sorry! I was just trying not to hit that car in front of me. Ive just got my licence and Im not used to driving in the city.P:I dont care if he is used to it or not

19、! Shouldnt he have to pay for my apples, sir?L:Well, hell certainly need to pay a fine for breaking this traffic rule. You two will need to discuss what to do about the apples.C:I dont have any money. I spent it all on this car!P:Well, then at least you can pick up my apples!L:You can sell that car

20、or something else, but you must pay this fine by the end of the month.Oh, dear! Why did I ever buy a car?Unit 5CHINAS CULTURE THEME PARKGUIDE: Ricky and Lucy, weo American tourists, are part of a tour group visiting the Folk Culture Villages in Shenzhen. This Chinese theme park shows the homes, temp

21、les and dress of more than twenty minority groups in China.RICKY:Which village do you want to see first? There are twenty-five villages here, and they are all life-size, so we have to make some choices.GUIDE:What I really want to do is eat some of the food that Naxi women are making over there. We got up very early this morning and didnt have any breakfast.OK, but hurry up, because we want to see at least half of the villages before noon. We mustnt miss the Uyghur cultural dances and the Dai singing