Unit 4-6 Audioscripts

TRACK 17

Narrator: Unit 4, What are some rites of passage? Page 22, Vocabulary, Meaning

Professor: Today’s lecture is about rites of passage. By the way, a rite of passage is a
ritual that marks a change in a person’s life. Some examples are coming of
age and marriage. Today, we'll talk about coming of age ceremonies.
During this time, individuals prepare for their future and their new
responsibilities. Some people think rites of passage are rare, but as a
matter of fact, coming of age rituals occur in most cultures.

In the U.S., girls have a “sweet sixteen” party. Hispanic girls celebrate
their 15th birthday with a quinceañera. This is a big celebration almost like
a wedding. The birthday girl will wear a beautiful dress almost like a
bride’s dress, but it is usually in pink or another light color. She chooses 14
girls and 14 boys to be her attendants during the church ceremony and
later for the dance. The dance is in a hall where there are many guests and
there is usually a band playing. Everyone has a good time.

But in other parts of the world, the rites of passage aren’t so easy or fun.
For example, on Pentecost Island in the South Pacific, a boy jumps from a
100-foot tower before he becomes a man. It’s a tradition called “land
diving.” The boy attaches two long stems from a tree to his ankles and
then jumps. These stems are like ropes and are supposed to stop him
from hitting the ground. But of course, these long stems are not elastic
and can break, so it can be dangerous.

In Southeastern Ethiopia, another kind of jumping takes place. Boys

between the ages of 12 and 15 leap over a row of cattle. After this feat,
the boys learn the ways of the men in the tribe.

Among the Shan people of Myanmar—formerly, Burma—and northern

Thailand, there is a rite of passage for boys between seven and 14 called
Poy Sang Long. This ceremony takes place before boys enter the
monastery to become Buddhist monks. A family member shaves the boy’s
head, bathes him with herbal water, and dresses him in beautiful clothes.
Then, three family members take turns carrying the boy on their
shoulders. They go from temple to temple. After they participate in three
days of ceremonies and processions, the boys enter the monastery. They
 go through a formal ceremony to become novice monks. Then they take
off their beautiful clothes and put on plain robes. Some boys stay at the
monastery for as little as a week. Others, however, become monks for a
lifetime.

So, you can see that there are many different types of rites of passage.
Some are mainly happy events, but others are very serious and will have
an influence on the people involved for many years after.

TRACK 18

Narrator: Page 23, Taking Notes: Rites of Passage

Female: This coming of age celebration is a big event for a girl. It celebrates that a
girl is not a child anymore and has become a woman. The celebration may
be different in different countries of this culture. The girl wears a beautiful
dress like a bride’s dress. Her parents also order a cake that is special like
a wedding cake. They also rent a hall for the party and rent a band to play
music. This celebration can cost as much as a big wedding, depending on
what the parents can afford. Families have this celebration when the girl is
fifteen years old.

TRACK 19

Narrator: Page 24, Comprehension: Short Conversations

Narrator: Conversation 1

Female 1: I want to order the invitations for my quinceañera. My parents and friends
are so excited. We need them for next week.

Male 1: Next week! But that’s impossible! You’re ordering them too late!

Narrator: Conversation 2

Female 2: Aren’t you excited about graduation? I can’t wait for my parents to see me
in the procession. I’m going to buy a new dress for the occasion.

Male 2: Well, I’m pretty worried. I have to talk to my math professor first. I don’t
think he’s giving me a passing grade!
Narrator: Conversation 3

Male 3: Welcome to Wedding World! Congratulations on your wedding! I will be

helping you to plan your reception. We have to order the hall, the food, the
cake, the flowers and the entertainment

Female 3: Wow, there’s so much to do. I think I want a big wedding but maybe I
don’t. Maybe I want an unusual wedding, or maybe I don’t! I'd better
think about this for a while.

TRACK 21

Narrator: Page 26, Conversation, Exercise A

Natalie: I hear you’re turning twenty-one this week. Are you planning a party?

Curtis: As a matter of fact, I am. It’s on Saturday night. Would you like to come?

Natalie: I’m supposed to work on Saturday but I’m free after 8 o’clock.

Curtis: Good. By the way, I am so glad that I’m not a teenager anymore.

Natalie: Oh, I am too. I never want to go through those years again.

Curtis: I know those years were hard sometimes, but we had a lot of fun!

UNIT 5

TRACK 22

Narrator: Unit 5, Who are some famous explorers? Page 29, Vocabulary, Meaning

Professor: Good morning, class. Our subject today is Percy Harrison Fawcett. Many
people call Fawcett the last of the great explorers. Fawcett was born in
England in 1867. At 19 he joined the British Army and had a 20-year
military career. In 1906, the Royal Geographical Society offered Fawcett a
job. They wanted him to explore the boundary between Bolivia and Brazil.
Fawcett loved adventure. He left the army and set off for Bolivia. He soon
realized how difficult his job was. He climbed mountains and endured
great hardships. There were hostile local people and dangerous animals.
 Nevertheless, Fawcett became intrigued by this part of the world. He
heard stories about lost civilizations and hidden cities. Soon he was
convinced there was a lost ancient city in the wilds of Brazil. He called it “Z.”
Fawcett accepted other assignments and made many expeditions into the
South American jungles. On one expedition, a group of people attacked
his group. Fawcett told one of his men to play loud annoying music. After
a while, the attack stopped! Fawcett talked to the people and they
exchanged gifts. Unfortunately the people were only one danger. The
jungles were full of poisonous snakes, spiders and other creatures.
Fawcett had encounters with all of them, including huge snakes! He
crossed rivers full of flesh-eating piranha fish. And the land was
challenging too. On one expedition, a raging river swept Fawcett’s boat
over a waterfall. Another time, he and his men almost starved to death.

None of the obstacles stopped Fawcett, however. In 1925, he went to

Brazil, because he wanted to find “Z.” He took his oldest son, Jack, and
one of Jack’s friends. On May 29, 1925, Fawcett sent his wife a message.
They were about to enter unexplored land. The team disappeared into the
jungle. No one saw or heard from them again.

TRACK 23

Narrator: Page 31, Taking Notes: Continents

Male: This continent is in the southern part of the world. It is the fourth largest
continent in the world and the fifth largest in population. There are
thirteen different countries in this continent. In general, the climate is
usually warm, although it is cold in the higher mountain areas. This
continent has deserts, mountains and rainforests. In fact, it has the
largest rainforest in the world. It also has the longest river in the world,
but some people disagree with this fact. It also has the world’s highest
waterfall, called Angel Falls. The falls are almost 3,200 feet – or about
1,000 meters – high.

TRACK 24

Narrator: Page 31, Comprehension: Short Conversations

Narrator: Conversation 1
Male 1: Look, I found this great book on Mary Kingsley. I'm going to take it home
and start reading it tonight.

Female 1: Oh, yes, the British explorer who went to Africa. What an amazing
woman! But I’m sorry to say this is a reference book. You can’t take it with
you.

Narrator: Conversation 2

Male 2: I want to be an astronaut. What’s more challenging than exploring outer

space? Then again, the deep sea is amazing too. Yes, that’s it!?

Female 2: Right. Aren’t you the guy who gets seasick every time we go sailing? I
think you’d better explore the Arctic or something.

Narrator: Conversation 3

Female 3: Two assignments on explorers are due on Friday and I don’t even have
one finished! What can I do? I can’t fail this class!

Male 3: Then why are you sitting here drinking coffee instead of working at the
library? I certainly can’t help you. I have to go to work in an hour.

TRACK 26

Narrator: Page 34, Conversation, Exercise A

Alex: Are you joining Lisa on her summer trip? Cindy: I wanted to, but it took
her ages to make the arrangements. After a while, I made other plans.

Alex: I wanted to go, too. But a friend just offered me a job as his assistant.
Cindy: That’s great. Anyway, now I’m going on a 10- day hike to visit
some ancient sites in Egypt.

Alex: That sounds challenging. But be careful. I’ve heard stories about
poisonous snakes and mysterious deaths.

Cindy: Very funny. Anyway, you can’t scare me so easily.

UNIT 6

TRACK 27
Narrator: Unit 6, What are some jobs that are unique to Australia? Page 37,
Vocabulary, Meaning

Reporter: This is Amanda Smith reporting from the Northern Territory of Australia.
I’m with a team of crocodile catchers from the Parks and Wildlife Service.
People hunted crocodiles so much in this area that they became
endangered. So the government stopped the hunting. Believe me, if
people still hunted crocodiles, there would be very few crocodiles here
today. Then again, there are now about 75,000 saltwater crocodiles in the
Territory. In the past 30 years, they have killed 10 people and injured
about 30. Some landowners want to kill the crocodiles, but since the
government doesn’t allow it, the landowners rely on these trained
crocodile catchers to help them.

Catcher: That’s true, Amanda. We also catch crocodiles in Darwin Harbor. People
like to sail and fish there. If we reduce the number of crocodiles in the
harbor, we’ll reduce the risk of attacks on people. There are too many
crocodiles here right now. If we had more trained catchers, we would
capture more crocs. That would make it safer for people.

Reporter: What do you do with the crocodiles?

Catcher: We take them to crocodile farms.

Reporter: How do you catch a crocodile?

Catcher: We set a trap with bait. If a hungry crocodile is nearby, it will go for it
almost immediately. When the crocodile pulls on the meat, a door drops.
This traps the crocodile’s head inside. Then we tie the crocodile to the side
of our boat. We tie its jaws together and pull it inside the boat.

Reporter: That’s dangerous work! I see you have two fingers missing.

Catcher: Yes, that was a mean one. I was tying its jaws when it pulled away and bit
my hand. But that crocodile didn’t get away. It’s in a farm right now.

Reporter: Well, you’re very brave. If a crocodile bit off my fingers, I would not go
back to that job!

TRACK 28
Narrator: Page 39, Taking Notes: Animals

Female: This animal is native to Australia. It has very thick fur and can live as long
as seventeen years. When a female has a baby, she carries the baby in a pouch on her
belly for six months. Then the baby rides on its mother’s back for another six months.
This animal only eats leaves. In fact, it only eats the leaves of the eucalyptus tree. It
rarely drinks water because it gets most of its water from the leaves it eats. This animal
is only active at night. It sleeps for about sixteen hours a day and then spends the rest
of the time eating.

TRACK 29

Narrator: Page 39, Comprehension: Short Conversations

Narrator: Conversation 1

Male 1: I can’t wait to get to the harbor. I hear the fish are really biting today. Do
you have any bait?

Female 1: I just sold the last of the worms. We have flies,

but we’re out of eggs.

Narrator: Conversation 2

Female 2: don’t want an ordinary job, like something in sales. If I move to Australia,
I want to do something exciting….like become a trained…snake catcher!

Male 2: Are you out of your mind? And I suppose you want me to be a crocodile
hunter!

Narrator: Conversation 3

Male 3: Hey, how was Australia? Did you go to Sydney or the Great Barrier Reef?
Did you visit a crocodile farm?

Female 3: No. Half of my group got sick and they canceled all our tours. I’m thankful
I stayed healthy but I couldn't get out of Perth during the worst hot spell on record!

TRACK 31
Narrator: Page 42, Conversation, Exercise A

Linda: Guess what? I got a job in the Outback in Australia.

Julio: Wow, that’s great. Then again, it’s very isolated.
Linda: Yes, it’s miles from civilization. I almost said no, but then I decided to go
for it.

Julio: But there are no stores, no schools, no hospitals.

Linda: That’s true. But I can ride horses and experience a whole new way of life.
Julio: Yes, and work like a fool for very little pay. Well, you won’t catch me going
with you, believe me.