Spot-Dictation
When Americans think about hunger, we usually think in terms of mass-starvation in far-away countries, but hunger too often lurks in our backyards. In 2006, 35.1million people, including 12.4million children in the United States did not have access to enough food for an active healthy life. Some of these individuals relied on emergency food sources and some experienced hunger. Although most people think of hungry people and homeless people as the same, the problem of hunger reaches far beyond homelessness. While the number of people being hungry or at the risk of hunger may be surprising, it is the faces of those hungry individuals that would probably most shock you. The face of hunger is the older couple who has worked hard for their entire lives, only to find their savings wiped out by unavoidable medical bills, or a single mother who has to choose whether the salary from her minimum wage job will go to buy food or pay rent, or a child who struggles to concentrate on his schoolwork because his family couldn’t afford dinner the night before. At December 2006 survey estimated that 48 percent of those requesting emergency food assistance, were either children or their parents. Children are twice as likely to live in households where someone experiences hunger and food insecurity than adults. One in ten adults compared to one in five children live in households where someone suffers from hunger and some food insecurity. Child poverty is more wide spread in the United States than in any other industrialized country. At the same time, the US government spends less than any industrialized country to pull its children out of poverty. We have long known that the minds and bodies of small children need adequate food to develop properly. But science is just beginning to understand the full extent of this relationship. As late as the 1980s, conventional wisdom held that only the most severe forms of malnutrition actually alter brain development. The latest empirical evidence however shows that even relatively mild under-nutrition produces cognitive impairments in children which can last a life time.
Talks and conversations ：
Q1-5
M: Emily I know you’ve been the victim of a crime.
F: Unfortunately, yes. Once I was mugged by some young kids.
M: What happened?
F: I was going home late at night, and I couldn’t see a single person on the street. And it was winter, oh, it was so cold , so I had my scarf wrapped around my face. And suddenly I walked straight into three guys, they looked about 14 or 15. and they said something threatening, like give us all your money or I’m going to kill you. I’m looking at them, because they look so young, and I’m thinking what on earth are you doing? They said blablabla, and I said, “listen, it’s very cold, give me a second, I have to take off my gloves.”
M: You must be really scared
F: Well I opened my purse and all I have got is few dollars. I was so nervous and I say, “ here it is”, and they say “four dollars?” Yeah, it’s 4 dollars and they say “that’s all you have?”
M: So, so then what happened?
F: Well I gave them money, and i just went home, But I felt so bad when I was walking down the street. You know I really had mixed feelings about it. I wanted to say Guys what are you doing? You know, go home, you asre ruining your lifes. And I think why are those kids on the street doing things they are not supposed to do? Something stupid, really stupid. That could lead to something worse.
M: Why do you think Kids get involved in stealing?
F: I don’t know , I mean it was only four dollars, you look at kids getting involved in this kind of small crime , and you think who is responsible? I don’t know what they were doing out on the street at that time of night
M: Did you report the crime?
F: No, I didn’t. Kids like that don’t need prosecuting, they need parenting. They need someone to Put them on the right path, these kids really need, you know, help.
M: In what way?
F: Well, kids are so vulnerable. They have to have a lot of supervision. There are these kids hanging on the street doing things they are not supposed to do. I think if these kids have more self –esteem, they wouldn’t behave in that way. We have to find ways to help these kind of kids have good futures, then they wouldn’t commit crimes.
1.In what way has Emily been the victim of a crime?
2.At which of the following times did the crime occur?
3.What amount of loss did she suffer in the crime?
4.What did she do after the crime occurred?
5.What did she think about those who committed the crime?
Q6-10
European Union
A European Union flotilla will begin anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia next week, EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana said on Tuesday. The six warships and three maritime reconnaissance aircraft will replace a NATO naval force that has been patrolling the region and escorting cargo ships carrying relief aid to Somalia since the end of October. Although the NATO ships have successfully delivered nearly 30,000 tons of humanitarian supplies to the impoverished nation, they have not been able to stem the upsurge in pirate attacks on foreign shipping in one of the most important shipping lanes in the world.
New Delhi, India
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Pakistan yesterday to cooperate "fully and transparently" in investigations into the Mumbai attacks that have upset India-Pakistan relations. India has said the 10 militants who rampaged through its financial capital killing 171 people were from Pakistan, including one surviving gunman. If Pakistan fails to act swiftly against those responsible, India has threatened to pull out of a nearly five-year-old peace process between the nuclear rivals. "This is the time for everybody to cooperate and to do so transparently, and this is especially a time for Pakistan to do so," Rice told a press conference in New Delhi.
Ottawa, Canada
Canada’s minority Conservative government may seek the temporary suspension of Parliament to stop opposition parties from voting it out and taking power, an aide to Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Tuesday. The Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois signed a deal on Monday committing them to bringing down the government, just seven weeks after it won re-election with a strengthened minority, and forming a coalition government to replace the Conservatives. The opposition says Harper is not doing enough to tackle the fallout from the financial crisis, so they proposed forging a coalition of Liberals and New Democrats, with the separatist Bloc promising its support.
Manila, the Philippines
Philippine lawmakers allied to President Gloria Arroyo quashed an impeachment motion against her yesterday, shielding her from opposition moves to unseat her for the fourth time in as many years. Eleven opposition lawmakers walked out of the chamber when it became apparent that an overwhelming majority of the 238-member House of Representatives would throw out the impeachment complaint. Voting 183-21, with three abstaining, the House of Representatives adopted a report by a congressional justice panel dismissing the impeachment complaint for lack of substance, blocking a possible trial in the Senate. The complaint against Arroyo, due to serve until mid-2010, were based on charges of corruption, bribery and human rights abuses. Apart from surviving four impeachments, she has also escaped three attempts by troops since 2003 to seize power.
Cambridge, United States
Harvard University says its endowment has tumbled $8 billion in the four months since the end of the last fiscal year. The school’s endowment is the largest in higher education. The estimated 22 percent decline is the school’s sharpest endowment drop in modern history. The endowment was valued at $36.9 billion on June 3. The school has said its U.S. stock portfolio and foreign equity portfolio had taken hard hits recently. The university’s president warned that the estimated drop may be conservative because some money managers have yet to report figures.
Question 6: What can we know about the world’s efforts to fight pirate attacks?
Question 7: At a press conference in New Delhi, what did US Secretary of State Rice urge Pakistan to do?
Question 8: What is Canada’s Minority Conservative Government likely to do according to the news?
Question 9: Which of the following statements is true about the political situation in the Philippines according to the news?
Question 10: At least how much has Harvard University’s endowment dropped since the end of the last fiscal year?
When Americans think about hunger, we usually think in terms of mass-starvation in far-away countries, but hunger too often lurks in our backyards. In 2006, 35.1million people, including 12.4million children in the United States did not have access to enough food for an active healthy life. Some of these individuals relied on emergency food sources and some experienced hunger. Although most people think of hungry people and homeless people as the same, the problem of hunger reaches far beyond homelessness. While the number of people being hungry or at the risk of hunger may be surprising, it is the faces of those hungry individuals that would probably most shock you. The face of hunger is the older couple who has worked hard for their entire lives, only to find their savings wiped out by unavoidable medical bills, or a single mother who has to choose whether the salary from her minimum wage job will go to buy food or pay rent, or a child who struggles to concentrate on his schoolwork because his family couldn’t afford dinner the night before. At December 2006 survey estimated that 48 percent of those requesting emergency food assistance, were either children or their parents. Children are twice as likely to live in households where someone experiences hunger and food insecurity than adults. One in ten adults compared to one in five children live in households where someone suffers from hunger and some food insecurity. Child poverty is more wide spread in the United States than in any other industrialized country. At the same time, the US government spends less than any industrialized country to pull its children out of poverty. We have long known that the minds and bodies of small children need adequate food to develop properly. But science is just beginning to understand the full extent of this relationship. As late as the 1980s, conventional wisdom held that only the most severe forms of malnutrition actually alter brain development. The latest empirical evidence however shows that even relatively mild under-nutrition produces cognitive impairments in children which can last a life time.
Talks and conversations ：
Q1-5
M: Emily I know you’ve been the victim of a crime.
F: Unfortunately, yes. Once I was mugged by some young kids.
M: What happened?
F: I was going home late at night, and I couldn’t see a single person on the street. And it was winter, oh, it was so cold , so I had my scarf wrapped around my face. And suddenly I walked straight into three guys, they looked about 14 or 15. and they said something threatening, like give us all your money or I’m going to kill you. I’m looking at them, because they look so young, and I’m thinking what on earth are you doing? They said blablabla, and I said, “listen, it’s very cold, give me a second, I have to take off my gloves.”
M: You must be really scared
F: Well I opened my purse and all I have got is few dollars. I was so nervous and I say, “ here it is”, and they say “four dollars?” Yeah, it’s 4 dollars and they say “that’s all you have?”
M: So, so then what happened?
F: Well I gave them money, and i just went home, But I felt so bad when I was walking down the street. You know I really had mixed feelings about it. I wanted to say Guys what are you doing? You know, go home, you asre ruining your lifes. And I think why are those kids on the street doing things they are not supposed to do? Something stupid, really stupid. That could lead to something worse.
M: Why do you think Kids get involved in stealing?
F: I don’t know , I mean it was only four dollars, you look at kids getting involved in this kind of small crime , and you think who is responsible? I don’t know what they were doing out on the street at that time of night
M: Did you report the crime?
F: No, I didn’t. Kids like that don’t need prosecuting, they need parenting. They need someone to Put them on the right path, these kids really need, you know, help.
M: In what way?
F: Well, kids are so vulnerable. They have to have a lot of supervision. There are these kids hanging on the street doing things they are not supposed to do. I think if these kids have more self –esteem, they wouldn’t behave in that way. We have to find ways to help these kind of kids have good futures, then they wouldn’t commit crimes.
1.In what way has Emily been the victim of a crime?
2.At which of the following times did the crime occur?
3.What amount of loss did she suffer in the crime?
4.What did she do after the crime occurred?
5.What did she think about those who committed the crime?
Q6-10
European Union
A European Union flotilla will begin anti-piracy operations off the coast of Somalia next week, EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana said on Tuesday. The six warships and three maritime reconnaissance aircraft will replace a NATO naval force that has been patrolling the region and escorting cargo ships carrying relief aid to Somalia since the end of October. Although the NATO ships have successfully delivered nearly 30,000 tons of humanitarian supplies to the impoverished nation, they have not been able to stem the upsurge in pirate attacks on foreign shipping in one of the most important shipping lanes in the world.
New Delhi, India
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Pakistan yesterday to cooperate "fully and transparently" in investigations into the Mumbai attacks that have upset India-Pakistan relations. India has said the 10 militants who rampaged through its financial capital killing 171 people were from Pakistan, including one surviving gunman. If Pakistan fails to act swiftly against those responsible, India has threatened to pull out of a nearly five-year-old peace process between the nuclear rivals. "This is the time for everybody to cooperate and to do so transparently, and this is especially a time for Pakistan to do so," Rice told a press conference in New Delhi.
Ottawa, Canada
Canada’s minority Conservative government may seek the temporary suspension of Parliament to stop opposition parties from voting it out and taking power, an aide to Prime Minister Stephen Harper said on Tuesday. The Liberals, New Democrats and Bloc Quebecois signed a deal on Monday committing them to bringing down the government, just seven weeks after it won re-election with a strengthened minority, and forming a coalition government to replace the Conservatives. The opposition says Harper is not doing enough to tackle the fallout from the financial crisis, so they proposed forging a coalition of Liberals and New Democrats, with the separatist Bloc promising its support.
Manila, the Philippines
Philippine lawmakers allied to President Gloria Arroyo quashed an impeachment motion against her yesterday, shielding her from opposition moves to unseat her for the fourth time in as many years. Eleven opposition lawmakers walked out of the chamber when it became apparent that an overwhelming majority of the 238-member House of Representatives would throw out the impeachment complaint. Voting 183-21, with three abstaining, the House of Representatives adopted a report by a congressional justice panel dismissing the impeachment complaint for lack of substance, blocking a possible trial in the Senate. The complaint against Arroyo, due to serve until mid-2010, were based on charges of corruption, bribery and human rights abuses. Apart from surviving four impeachments, she has also escaped three attempts by troops since 2003 to seize power.
Cambridge, United States
Harvard University says its endowment has tumbled $8 billion in the four months since the end of the last fiscal year. The school’s endowment is the largest in higher education. The estimated 22 percent decline is the school’s sharpest endowment drop in modern history. The endowment was valued at $36.9 billion on June 3. The school has said its U.S. stock portfolio and foreign equity portfolio had taken hard hits recently. The university’s president warned that the estimated drop may be conservative because some money managers have yet to report figures.
Question 6: What can we know about the world’s efforts to fight pirate attacks?
Question 7: At a press conference in New Delhi, what did US Secretary of State Rice urge Pakistan to do?
Question 8: What is Canada’s Minority Conservative Government likely to do according to the news?
Question 9: Which of the following statements is true about the political situation in the Philippines according to the news?
Question 10: At least how much has Harvard University’s endowment dropped since the end of the last fiscal year?
