Unit 7 Leisure Time
Part I Warming up
Section A
Listen to some information about the circulation of some major British and American newspapers. Write down the numbers as rapidly as you can. Tapescript:
1. The Boston Globe, a leading newspaper in the eastern part of the U. S., has a circulation of 604,068 copies per day.
2. The Chicago Tribune sells 957,212 copies daily. 3. The Daily Mail in Britain sells 2,426,533 copies every day.
4. The Daily Mirror, a popular paper in Britain, has a daily circulation of 1,710,743 copies.
5. The Daily Telegraph in Britain has a daily circulation of 907,329 copies.
6. The Financial Times is famous for its business and stock exchange news and has a small but steady circulation of 419,386 copies daily.
7. The Guardian is a daily newspaper published in Britain and sells 366,645 copies every day.
8. The Los Angeles Times is a national daily published in California. It reached 1,231,318 copies in circulation. .
9. The New York Times in America is more than a hundred years old and has a daily circulation of 1,683,855 copies. 10. The Observer is one of the “quality” Sunday newspapers in Britain and sells 444,509 copies every Sunday.
11. The Sun, another popular daily in Britain, sells 3,273,116 copies every day. 12. The Sunday Times, another national Sunday paper in Britain, has a circulation of 1,400,873 copies. 13. The Times is the most influential national newspaper in Britain with a daily circulation of 679,190 copies.
14. The USA Today is among the most popular daily newspapers in America with a daily circulation of 2,528,437 copies.
15. The Wall Street Journal, published by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. is a financial daily
in America and it sells 2,058,342 copies daily.
16. The Washington Post, a daily newspaper published in Washington D. C., has a circulation of 960,684 copies.
Section B
Tapescript:
In most libraries hooks are classified according to their subject on the Dewey Decimal System. Under this system knowledge is divided into ten main classes and named as follows:6
000 General 500 Science
100 Philosophy 600 Applied Science
200 Religion 700 Are and Creation
300 Social Science 800 Literature
400 Language 900 History, Travel, Biography
Each main class is divided into ten divisions, also numbered 0 to 9, giving the second
figure of a book’s classification number, and, within the main classes, books are grouped on the shelves to correspond. For instance, books on art and recreation are arranged in the following divisions:
700 Art and Recreation 750 Painting
710 Landscape 760 Engraving
720 Architecture 770 Photography
730 Sculpture 780 Music
740 Drawing and Design 790 Amusements
Each division of a main class is then subdivided into ten sections, the first covering the subject in general and the others, numbered 0-9, dealing with its branches.
Here is an example:
Main class: 700 Art and Recreation
Division: 790 Amusements
Sections: 791 Public Entertainment
792 Theater. Stage
793 Indoor Entertainment
794 Games of Skill
795 Games of Chance
796 Outdoor Sports and Games
797 Water Sports
798 Horsemanship. Racing
799 Fishing. Hunting. Shooting
Section C
1. Johann Bach, a famous German composer, was born on March 21, 1685 and died on January 28, 1750.
2. George Handel, a well-known German-born British composer, was born on February 23, 1685 and died on April 14, 1759.
3. Wolfgang Mozart was a brilliant Austrian composer, who was born on January 27, 1756 and died on December 5, 1791.
4. Ludwig Beethoven, an ingenious German composer, was born on December 17, 1770 and died on March 26, 1827.
5. As one of the outstanding Austrian composers, Franz Schubert was born on January 31, 1797 and died on November 19. 1828.
6. Felix Mendelssohn, another famous German composer, was born on February 3,1809 and died on November 4, 1847.
7. Poland also produced a well-known composer, Frederic Chopin, who was born on March 1, 1810 and died on October 17, 1849.
8. Franz Liszt was a renowned Hungarian composer. He was born on October 22, 1811 and died on July 31. 1886.
9. Johann Strauss, another celebrated Austrian composer, was born on October 25, 1825 and died on June 3, 1899.
10. As the most prominent Russian composer, Peter Tchaikovsky was born on May 7, 1840 and died on December 6, 1893.
Part II Mozart’s Music Still Alive Today
Tapescript:
This year, the world marked the 250th anniversary of the birth of Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. There have been celebrations of the composer’s work all year long.
On December 5, music houses around the world observed the anniversary of the composer’s death.
That music is from Mozart’s Requiem, a work the composer did not complete before his death. A Requiem is music written in honor of someone who has died. Many people consider the music and its subject matter to add to the mystery surrounding Mozart’s death. Could it be that the composer sensed his approaching death from lever and wrote Requiem in his own honor? There is no doubt, however, that the music of Mozart has more to do with life and happiness than with sadness or mystery.
Mozart wrote and performed music in the second half of the 18th century. During this period, European musicians performed for kings, queens and other royalty. Musicians often depended on wealthy people called patrons to support them.
Mozart, along with his friend Joseph Haydn, became the best example of the classical style—the important performance music of his time. Today, people often use the word
“classical” to describe other kinds of music written for and performed by an orchestra.
Some music critics consider Symphony Twenty-Five in G Minor to be the first work showing Mozart’s full ability. He was 17 when he wrote it. See what you think of this young man’s skills.
The word “effortless” is often used to describe the musical compositions of Mozart. Music came so naturally to the child born in Salzburg, Austria, in 1756.
Wolfgang was the last of seven children born to Leopold Mozart and Anna Maria Peril. Five of the children died while babies. Only Wolfgang and his older sister, Maria Anna, survived. Both were extremely gifted musicians from a very young age. The children traveled with their parents and performed across Europe.
Wolfgang’s father was a well-known violin teacher. The year Wolfgang was born, Leopold published a popular book on violin playing. Soon Wolfgang started to show an unusual command of many instruments.
By the age of eight, he played the piano — sometimes with his eyes covered. He also played the organ and violin very well. He showed an understanding of music of a much older person.
Travel enriched the education of the young Mozart. His father worked in many of the great cities of 18th century Europe. The family visited London, Munich, Vienna, Prague and
Paris.
Mozart married Constanze Weber in the Austrian capital in 1782. He described his wife as having “plenty of common sense and the kindest heart in the world.” Constanze had six children but only two survived. They were happy together, although their life was sometimes difficult.
In Vienna, Mozart wrote his greatest operas — musical plays performed with an orchestra. His works were performed in other cities as well. His Marriage of Figaro was so popular in Prague that he was asked to write an opera especially for a music house there.
The opera he composed was Don Giovanni, considered by many to be his best. The opera is based on the story of the lover and fighter, Don Juan, by the Spanish writer Tirso de Molina. In this scene, the spirit of a man Don Giovanni had killed long ago returns to the world of the living to seize him and drag him down to hell.
Events have been held all over Europe and in the United States to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth. Salzburg alone held about 500 events to celebrate the famous composer. Vienna spent about 60 million dollars in public and private money for its Mozart celebration.
In reality, there is an ongoing Mozart celebration all the time. Mozart’s music is performed around the world.
Mozart died on December 5, 1791. He was only 35. He had composed more than 600 pieces of music. Some experts consider Mozart the greatest composer of all time.
Near the end of his life, Mozart composed the Forty-First Symphony. After his death, it came to be known as Jupiter, possibly in praise of its style and expression. Critics consider it one of Mozart’s truly great works and a beautiful expression of the classical style that he helped to define. Listen, and consider that what you have heard on our program represents just a few of Mozart’s best works.
Part III. The man with the Horn
The crowd cheered and cheered. The man with the horn waved and smiled his great, happy smile. “More! More!” cried the crowd. And Louis Satchmo Armstrong took his horn and began to play again.
Here he was in England. Now a famous man, he was rich. He knew many important people. Wherever he went, people knew his name. They wanted to hear his music. As Louis played the sad, slow songs, he thought of his home in New Orleans. He lived there as a boy. How many years ago it was? It was a busy, exciting city. But Louis’s family was very poor. He went to work to help his mother. He also went to school. One of Louis's teachers asked him to be in the school band. “This horn is yours until you leave our school,” his teacher said. Louis's music was jazz and he loved it. He remembered all the music he heard. He didn’t learn to read music until he was a man. When he left school, he played in many bands. He
loved his work and people loved him. They knew that he had a wonderful talent. Louis played in little towns and in big cities.
Satchmo’s horn had as many sounds as ten horns—sometimes slow and sweet? Sometimes fast and hot, high and low. His music was always strong and exciting. “He does make wonderful music,” said the man who listened happily. “Yes,” said another man, “he makes that horn speak.” Then the music ended and the crowd cheered. Louis Armstrong spoke with tears in his eyes, “I think, my friends, you can listen to as much jazz as I can play. I thought jazz was my music, but now I understand it is ours. Isn’t it beautiful how music brings us together!”
Questions:
1. Where was Louis from?
2. What kind of family was he born into?
3. Who knew Louis?
4. What music did he play?
5. When did he learn to read music?
6. What is Louis Armstrong most famous for?
7. What brings Louis and other people together?
8. What does the story “The man with the horn” mainly tell us?
Part IV Bank Holiday DIY
Tapescript:
Whenever there’s a Rank Holiday weekend in Britain, a certain kind of shop always gets very busy, and it’s not what you might think— clothes shops or music shops. The British flock to DIY stores and garden centres and huge numbers of people spend their days off doing home improvements instead of relaxing!
Doing DIY is very popular in Britain, and there are lots of TV programmes which show people how to improve their homes.
Some people stick to simple decorating — putting up wall-paper and painting walls. But there arc all sorts of DIY projects that some people decide to take on, from laying new flooring, to plumbing, such as putting in a new shower, or tiling walls.
Unfortunately, some people bite oil more than they can chew, and start doing a job which ends in DIY disaster. For example, it’s recommended that anything electrical should be done by a qualified electrician, but many people ignore this warning and put themselves in danger.
There is also a huge market for flat-pack furniture which you put together yourself with a few basic tools. Often people who are not very savvy about DIY find the supposedly simple instructions impossible to follow, and it’s easy to build a piece of furniture which is unstable or just not very attractive!
Gardening is also popular, and a good way to enjoy the weather on a sunny Bank Holiday. But it’s not as simple as planting plants and doing some weeding. More complicated work such as building a new patio or some decking can cause some stress and backache!
So why do people do it? Who knows, maybe we are so used to working that we aren’t very good at relaxing. One thing’s for sure, though a lot of DIY or gardening projects will be started with the best intentions during the Bank Holiday weekend, many of them may not get finished!
Statements:
1. Many British people go to clothes shops, music shops or relax at home on a Bank Holiday weekend.
2. DIY projects are very easy to finish because there are many TV programmes showing people how to do them.
3. Pulling in a new shower is more difficult than putting up wall-paper.
4. Non-electricians are not supposed to do anything electrical because they might put themselves in danger.
5. Hat-pack furniture is furniture that can be put together with a few basic tools.
6. Gardening can cause stress and backache.
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