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Few institutions are more important than the police, / yet there are few subjects that historians know so little about. / Most of the early academic interests developed among political scientists, / who usually examined it with only a nod toward the past. / Yet urban society has always placed a wide responsibility on its police. / Not only were they to maintain order and prevent crime / but they were also to assist in health services, / fight fires, supervise elections, and direct traffic./ In addition, it was assumed that the police were the special guardians / of the citizens’ liberties and the community’s peace.
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Car Safety
1. The focal point of the project: Road Rage
- e.g. A man hit the driver who had 【T1】______him earlier 【T1】______
2. Findings of the survey
- 93% experienced road rage, including 【T2】______had their cars 【T2】______
damaged and 79% were being shouted at
- 15% been hit—police only dealt physical violence
3. 【T3】______adopted to ensure safety 【T3】______
- get key ready before 【T4】______the car 【T4】______
- leave room for 【T5】______【T5】______
- lock doors all the time
4. Self-protection skills when rage happens
- police interference:
— Maryland: hefty 【T6】______as the front line 【T6】______
— California: an automated system to 【T7】______the license plates 【T7】______
- effective approach: apology
— If the driver 【T8】______, the road rager would drop the matter. 【T8】______
— If the careless drivers looked 【T9】______, the road rager would 【T9】______
teach them a lesson.
- how to make an apology in the car: a “ SORRY“ sign
— The potential 【T10】______smile when drivers raise a “SORRY“ 【T10】______
sign to them.Car Safety
Well, good afternoon. In today’s session I will be sharing some of the findings of my project from last term. I had been interested and horrified by several newspaper reports on what people call “road rage“. For example the famous incident of a man getting out of his car in a car park and hitting the driver of a van who had overtaken him earlier. So I decided to make this the focus of the project.
For our research we depended mainly on talking to individuals, asking them questions rather than using written questionnaires. Well, we found 93% of respondents had had some kind of problem. A surprisingly large percentage—24% had their car damaged in some way, but the main type of incident was being shouted at—79% had experienced that. The police tended only to be informed when there was physical violence involved.
So what strategies had people developed to ensure their own safety? We found that both sexes made the point that it’s much safer to get keys out well in advance as you go towards your car. Men were very aware that muggers or whatever might be concealed behind the car. They also made the point that you should leave plenty of room when you park your car so you can make a quick getaway if you need to. Finally, locking doors at all times.
Besides self-protection skills, when road rage does happen at the very moment, something needs to be done. Maryland, like many other states, is working on the problem by stepping up efforts to crack down on aggressive drivers. Hefty fines for dangerous drivers and speeders are on the front line against road rage. California is approaching the problem with technology. A new automated system being installed by the state automatically takes photographs of the license plates of vehicles that run red lights. It even captures accident scenes for police review. A key factor in reversing the process is an apology. A road rager can become upset because you accidentally cut in front of him or her, or for other reasons that were not intentional. Over 85% of road ragers said that they would drop the matter if the other “careless“ driver simply apologized. Instead, road ragers claim, the “careless“ driver seems to be unconcerned about what they just did and, therefore, needs to be taught a lesson. In a car, only one method is effective in conveying an apology: A sign. We have found that it is very effective in warding off anger. In fact, many drivers actually smile when we raise a “SORRY“ sign to them after we have accidentally done something wrong. We keep a “SORRY“ sign in the map holder on the driver’s door and the passenger’s door. It could also be kept under the sun visor if it is fastened with a clip or rubber band so that it doesn’t hit you in the face when the visor comes down.
To sum up, I have described the phenomenon of road rage, explained the findings of the survey, and presented the strategies to ensure safety and self-protection skills. That’s it for today.
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W: Hello Danny.
M: Hello Kitty.
W: Now, I have a question for you: at what age did you leave home?
M: I left home at 18.
W: That’s quite young, isn’t it? Why did you leave home?
M: Well, I really wanted to see more of the world.
W: We could say that was the end of your childhood and the beginning of your adulthood. Well, according to some experts, the age when adulthood begins could be increasing, and it varies from country to country. In England, people can get married without asking their parents at the age of 18. Can you guess what the youngest age is when men can legally marry in Bangladesh?
M: I honestly have no idea. 15 perhaps.
W: No, older than that in England. It’s 21 for men and 18 for women.
M: But in the UK, people regard 18 as the age when we reach the end of adolescence—a point where you’ve changed from being a child to being an adult.
W: Well, that is the theory. We know that people develop at different speeds and some never grow up. And child psychologists now think adolescence could last until the age of 25.
M: Twenty-five is when they stop being an adolescent. Medical and educational professionals now have a better understanding of how our body develops and how our brain works. They say that we keep developing into our twenties.
W: A child psychologist called Laverne Antrobus, appeared in a BBC magazine article recently and said that the idea that suddenly at 18 you’re an adult just doesn’t quite ring true. Her experience of young people is that they still need quite a considerable amount of support and help beyond that age.
M: So she says the idea that we become an adult at 18 doesn’t sound true. Young people need help and support until they’re older.
W: She also suggests that some young people continue to live at home because they need more support during the time when they are growing up. Well, that might be true for some but I was ready to leave home at 18—I was bored at home and ready for my freedom!
M: I know the feeling. Well, in the same BBC article, Frank Furedi, Professor of Sociology at the University of Kent, thinks what you did is a good thing. He says that there is a loss of aspiration for independence and striking out on your own. When he went to university it would have been a social death to have been seen with parents, whereas now it’s the norm.
W: So he thinks living at home makes you lose the desire to be independent, and he says in his day it would have been social death. It’s so embarrassing to be seen by others to live at home!
M: Yes, and I think he’s saying living at home stops you growing up quickly.
W: Does this mean we are developing a generation of big babies?
M: Maybe not, but this is an interesting subject.
This is the end of Conversation One. Questions 1 to 5 are based on Conversation One.
1. When did the man leave home?
2. What is the youngest age for people in Bangladesh to get married?
3. Why do psychologists think adolescence could last till 25?
4. What does Laverne Antrobus believe?
5. What is social death, according to Frank Furedi? At 15. At 18. At 21. At 25.
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M: How do you engage children, reduce the chances they will drop out and increase their chances of success? Tonight, we put some of those questions to the Council of Chief State School Officers’ 2012 Teacher of the Year, Rebecca Mieliwocki. She joins me now from Burbank, California, where she teaches seventh grade English at Luther Burbank Middle School. And, Rebecca, is this something you can feel yourself getting better at the longer you do it?
W: Oh. Oh, absolutely. That one of the brilliant things about this career is that the learning curve is enormous. You start out, and it’s such a struggle and you really feel like you’re finding your way every day. And at the end of the day, you know 100 percent more than you knew at the start, and at the end of the year the feeling of accomplishment is tremendous. And that just builds on itself. So about five years in, you start to hit your stride and feel really confident about what you do. And I have been at it 15 years now and I know two things. I’m far better than 1 was when I started and I have a lot still to learn.
M: I have heard teachers talk about middle schoolers as being particularly tough to teach. What’s going on in kids these age intellectually, physically, socially that makes them a tough group?
W: Oh, my gosh. They’re a party coming and going. I can’t imagine a funner-funner? A teacher said funner—a more fun group of kids to teach. They have so much just native energy and enthusiasm about the world around them. And it’s my job to kind of harness that energy and that enthusiasm and direct it toward the things that I need them to learn as far as being 21st century communicators and thinkers and problem-solvers.
M: You often hear that teachers can tell who’s going to have trouble in high school early on, in the earlier grades. Do you agree with that?
W: I think what the best teachers are, are seekers. We are given a family’s child to teach. We’re given their most precious resource, their child. And our job is to send them out better than when they walk through the door. And better doesn’t necessarily mean that they can ace a standardized test. Better means that I have seen deep within each child what his or her unique potential is. And so great teachers give assignments that are seeking to find that resource within each child. So, we will give activities that require, you know, debating skills one day. And the next day, it will be a research skill, and the next day it will be artistic or musical because we’re looking for what each child’s native talent and capacity is, so that we can provide the education that child needs and help him or her find him or her best path to success.
M: Right.
This is the end of Conversation Two. Questions 6 to 10 are based on Conversation Two.
6. Who is Rebecca?
7. According to Rebecca, what is the learning curve for teachers?
8. How long has the woman been teaching?
9. What does the woman think of middle school students?
10. Why do teachers give various activities on different skills? An education TV program host. Teacher of the year 2010. A school headmaster from California. A seventh grade English teacher.
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“Would you mind if I turned up the heating?“ The past tense used in the if-clause of the sentence indicates______. impossibility tentativeness past time hypothesis
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“Had it not been for his lies, he would still stay in the relationship.“ The inverted structure used in the sentence______. emphasizes the possibility expresses the emotion of regret reveals the consequence indicates the hypothesis
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“The doctor must have sat up all night with his patient, for you see, he looks tired and sleepy.“ In this sentence the clause “for you see, he looks tired and sleepy“ serves to______ reveal the actual cause provide the basis for the inference designate the purpose indicate the outcome
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“I can’t praise his high efficiency______“, George said, “even though I don*t like him personally.“ sufficiently adequately enough abundantly
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She has bought herself______dress. a cotton, purple, expensive an expensive, purple cotton a purple, expensive cotton a cotton, expensive, purple
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The bank is reported in the local newspaper_____in broad day light yesterday. to be robbed robbed to have been robbed having been robbed
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It is only when you nearly lose someone______fully conscious of how much you value him. do you become then you become that you become have you become
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____that he’s already heard the news. Chances are Chance is Opportunities are Opportunity is
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____man can now create radioactive elements, there is nothing he can do to reduce their radioactivity. As Whether While Now that
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Britain’s press is unusual_____it is divided into two very different types of newspapers: the quality press and the popular press. in how in what in which in that
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Metals we found in the earth______iron, lead and copper. include contain comprise constitute
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We rarely perceive more than a minute_____of the sights and sounds that fall upon our sense organs: the great majority pass us by. fiction function fraction friction
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The Spanish team, who are not in superb form, will be doing their best next week to______themselves on the German team for last year’s defeat. remedy reproach revive revenge
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The students and teachers alike took great______at the rude way the president criticized little Tom. annoyance offence resentment irritation
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What professor Clinton mentioned just now was a virtually extinct Caucasian language spoken ______in Turkey. exceedingly excessively extensively exclusively
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The colonists of Plymouth, Massachusetts, who had settled there had left England because they felt ______of religious freedom. deprived denied disposed depressed
