专 项 练 习Dictation 1 Old Age Many people mistakenly believe that old age is a time of increased illness and loneliness./ In fact, people do not suddenly change /when they reach the age of 60 or 65. /Consequently, we shouldnot expect more mental illness/ among the 60to 70 age group than among the50 to 60. / Furthermore, although more parents and their married children live in separate households than ever before,/ this is usually by choice. It is not because children now tend to neglect their parents /when they become old. /It is also wrong to believe that old age seriously affects a persons mental abilities. /There is clear proof that people who were eager to learn and who welcomed new experiences in their middle age,/ continue to do so in old age. /It is true that older people tend to take longer to learn something new than young people. /Nevertheless, if they are given sufficient time, /they learn as well as young people do. Dictation 2 Gardening Gardening is one of the oldest of the arts. /The Chinese with their deep sensitiveness to beauty /laid the foundation for a form of garden art /which was later to have great influences upon other lands. /The Greeks gave to the world a new concept of gardening. /Their homes were decorated with flowers/but it was in their civic design that they most skillfully applied their garden art. /Their temples were surrounded by rows oftrees, /and trees lined the important streets and market places in their principal cities. /TheRomans acquired much of the knowledge and skill in garden craft from Greeks. /In the second century AD the Romans began to build gardens of great scale, /inspired by the vast palace gardens they had conquered./ They bought water from great distances to supply the ornamental foundations which decorated their villa gardens./ these great villas were later to inspire the Italian garden architects to follow the Roman style. Dictation 3 Being Unemployed Most people are much more frightened by being unemployed than they need to be. /Being unemployed certainly has disadvantages,/ but there are good things about it too. /One advantage is that youdont have to get up early to work in the rush hour. /You can stay in bed as long as you like, /and there is plenty of time to read the newspaper /and have a leisurely breakfast./ But the best thing of all is that you are your own boss /and there is no one to tell you what to do and when to do it. /One drawback of being unemployed is that you havent got much money coming in. /Having a job at least enables you to save a lot of money to go on holiday./ On the other hand, when you are unemployed, /you neednt go on holiday /because you are on holiday already. /In fact, the main trouble is that you have to spend much time looking for a job./ Dictation 4 The Credit Card in the U.S.Today, more and more people in the U.S. are using credit card/instead of money to buy what they need./Almost anyone who has a steady income and a continuous work record/can apply for a credit card. With a credit card, you can buy a car, eat a dinner, take a trip/ and even get a haircut by charging the cost to your account./ In this way, you can pay for purchases a month or two later./ Or you may choose to spread out your payments over severalmonths/ and pay only part of the total amount each month./With a credit card,you dont have to carry much cash/ and you dont have to be concerned about losing your money through carelessness or theft./ The card user only has to worry about paying the final bill./ This of course can be a problem/ if you charge more than you can pay for.Dictation 5 A Woman at Home In Japan, most people still feel that a womans right place is in the home /and most women willingly accept their traditional role as wives, /leaving the business of making a living to their husbands. /For those who do want a career of their own, opportunities are limited. /And working women usually have to settle for lower wages and less responsible positions. /In America, on the other hand, most women, including wives and mothers, work most of their lives. /But until recently, few have had real careers. /As in Japan, most fields are dominated by men /and opportunities for women have been restricted, /salaries low, chances for promotion rare. /Americanwomen work mainly because they have to./ In these days of inflation and expensive living, /only one income per family is simply not enough. /So American women actually have two jobs: /one outside the home, and the other round-the-clock job such as wife, cook and nurse. Dictation 6 Success Success in life depends to a great extent on what is meant by success. /To some people, money is the only real indication /of achievement in the modern world and therefore/ their judgment of success is based on the state/ of their bank balance and the power that goes with it. /Their life is devoted to making money/ and they are at a loss to understand people whose ideas are different from their own