P:Is that 30 working days or 30 days in total? Penny:That's 30 working days P:Wow,that's
Penny:Yes,yeah it's a good deal.
P:What about retirement?I know it's a long way of there!When do you retire? E:Generally speaking it's at 65. P:And the same for women.
E:Um it's I think a little sooner than that for women.Women I think 62or 63. P;Right ,good.And in Brazil is it similar?
Penny:Similar to the States.It's um after 60 for women.65 for men,or if you've clocked up about 30 or 35 years of service then you can retire after that.
P:Right and when...do you have a pay day?When is pay day?
E:Um,well ,we gt paid twice a month,so we get paid at the beginning of the month and then we get paid in the middle of the month at the 15th give or take(大约). P:Yeah,and what about in Brazil?
Penny:I think it all depends which company you're working for.For the one I am working for right now I get paid twice a month but when I began,with a different company that was once a month,so,it varies.
P:And are there any company benefits that you have in the States?Do you have a company car or a pension?
E:Yeah,we get a company car.We're able to...we lease a car in effect but it's a company car that we get for 18 months to two years and then we...we can move on to another model from that.There's a fairly good pension scheme,that's still working,and hospitalization as well. P:Oh,that's important
E:Yeah,a health plan through work is very important. P:Right.And what about in Brazil?
Penny:Yeah,excellent benefits like that.Well I mean it does depend on the company and the status of your or your job but you might get a car,living accommodation,school for the children,they'll pay for your lunch,travel passes,gasoline,health insurance,all sorts of benefits actually it's very good.
P:Sounds very good,with the holiday and all those benefits it sounds a great place to work.
Unit 2
Outside view
Conversation 1
Joe: OK, when you finished chatting, let's get down to work. Andy: OK, sure.
Janet: Fine by me. What's on the agenda?
Joe: First up today is Read all about it! Now, I assume everyone has read all the books for the
future? Has anyone read any of the books?
Andy: Well, Joe, there are over 20 new books coming out next month, so…
Joe: I'm sorry, I really think that's quite unacceptable. It's your job! What about you, Janet?
Janet: I'm sorry but this is the first time I've worked on Read all about it! And I didn't know I was
meant to read all the books. Andy: Have you read them?
Joe: No, but that's why you're my assistants. You're meant to assist me. Andy: It's true that we need to read the books, Joe, but we haven't… Joe: OK, there you go. You are always making excuses!
Andy: And what's more, we haven't even chosen the books yet. Joe: OK, let's get down with it. What's on the list?
Janet: I suppose we're looking for books with a London angle（伦敦视角）? Andy: Not necessarily.
Janet: Is it OK to look for non-fiction too? Joe: Absolutely.
Janet: OK, here's an idea. There's a new biography（自传） of Charles Dickens which I'm reading. Andy: Sounds good-his books are always on TV.
Janet: You see I'm studying Dickens at university, and I noticed it in the bookshop last week. It's
really interesting.
Joe: OK, tell us more.
Janet: Well, it's a description of the London locations where he set many of his books like Oliver
Twist and David Copperfield.
Andy: Sounds right up your street（拿手的）!
Joe Well done, Janet. Maybe you can show Andy how to plan the feature. OK, that's it
everyone. Let's get to it!
Conversation 2
Janet: What's the matter with Joe today?
Andy: No idea. He's a bit like that sometimes. He gets annoyed with me, but I don't really know why.
Janet: He wasn't being at all fair. How often does he get like this?
Andy: Well, I suppose it's not very often. But sometimes he really gets on my nerves（使某人心烦意乱）.
Janet: Don't let it get to you. He's probably got too much work, and he's stressed.
Andy: Well, he should keep his problems away from the studio. Anyway, you're the expert on
Dickens, tell me something about him.
Janet: Well, Charles Dickens was one of the most popular novelists in 19th century Britain.
Many of his novels first appeared in magazines, in short episodes. Each one had a cliffhanger at the end that made people want to read the next episode（集，一集）. Andy: And was he a Londoner?
Janet: He was born in Portsmouth but his family moved to London when he was ten years old. Andy: And he set most of his stories in London, didn't he? Janet: That's right. He knew the city very well. Andy: Whereabouts in London are his stories set?
Janet: Around the Law Courts in the centre of London. He worked as a court reporter and many
of the real life stories he heard in court inspired some of most famous characters in his novels.
Andy: I think some of his stories take place south of the river?
Janet: That's right, especially around Docklands. The thing was…Dickens was a social commentator（社会评论员） as much as he was a novelist-his stories describe the hardship, the poverty, and crime which many Londoners experienced in the 19th century. It makes me want to read some Dickens again. Maybe I'll just go shopping for a copy of Great Expectations.
Andy: Anyway, you did me a huge favour. That was a real brainwave（突然想到的妙计，灵感）
to suggest the new biography.
Janet: Cheer up Andy. It wasn't your fault.
Andy: No, it's OK, I'll get over it. Go on, off you go and enjoy your shopping!
Outside view
British people read a lot. They read books, newspapers and magazines. And of course they read text messages on their mobile phones. Sixty-five percent of British people list \pleasure\A quarter of the population reads more than 20 books each year. So where do these books come from? Well, there are bookshops where you can buy books. And there are lots of public libraries where you can borrow books for free. In this library you can borrow books, but you can also buy a cup of coffee, look at an art exhibition, sit in a quiet study area or connect to the Internet. You can also now borrow CDs, videos or DVDs of films and television programmes. Some libraries even let you borrow computer games. There are often reference rooms where you can go to look something up or go to study. Many libraries have also got special rooms with books and photograghs about the historu of the area. Libraries are very important in schools and universities both for study and for reading for pleasure. The British Library is one of the world's greatest libraries. The queen opened its new building in 1998. It receives a copy of every book published in Britain, and adds three million new items every year. It's got books of course, but also sound recordings, music, maps, newspapers, and magazines. People predicted that radio, then television, then the Internet will kill reading, but it still a very popular activity.
Listening in 1
M：So how long has your book group been running?
C：Well, let me see, it's over 20years now. I think it's actually one of the oldest books groups around, because it was only about 20years ago that they started to become fashionable in the UK.
M：And how often do you have meetings?
C：We meet about once every four or five weeks, although we try to avoid meetings in the summer holidays, and during the run-up to（前奏，预备期） Christmas when we all start to get busy with other things.
M：And how many members do you have?
C：We're ten in all, although it's rare that everyone can attend. M：And what happens during the meeting?
C：Well, we usually meet at one of our homes, and we start fairly late, around 8:30, and the host
prepares dinner, and sometime during the meal, someone asks \book?\M：It sounds quite informal.
C：It is, yes, and sometimes if we haven't enjoyed the book, the meal becomes more important than the discussion. But it's fairly rare that no one likes the book, and it gets quire interesting when opinions about it are divided. M And what sort of books do you read? C：Oh, all kinds, actually, not just novels, although I must admit that being a member of the club makes me read more modern fiction than I might do otherwise. But we also read the classics, you know the novels we all read or should have read 30 years ago, and it's quite good fun to revisit them, to see if our views of the books have changed. We re-read Thomas Hardy recently, and whereas I used to love it when I was a student, this time I thought it was exasperatingly（惹人恼火地） dull. And we read non-fiction. quite a lot of history and travel writing. A couple of the members like poetry, which I don't, but you know, we're tolerant each other's choice, and it gives us a chance to try things we wouldn't usually read. M：And how do you choose the books? C：Well, at the end of the evening the person who hosts the dinner-basically, the cook- has the right to choose the next book. M：And that works OK?
C：Yes, although there's quite a lot of stress on choosing something that will earn everyone else's respect. And we've got one member who likes science fiction, so we try not to go to his place too often!
Listening in 2
Well, thank you for your kind welcome, and for giving me the opportunity to give this brief tour of Literary England. I can't claim it's an authoritative tour, as I'm, not a professional literary specialist. However, I have two amateur passions: one is travel and the other is reading and English literature in particular. And this lecture is a description of different visits I have made to places in Britain and Ireland, chosen specifically for their close links with well-known writers of what we call the classics of English literature.
Just to give you an overview of the lecture, I'm going to start in my home town of London, which is also the home of many well-known writers. But I think that the picture we have in our mind of London has been largely fashioned by the work of Charles Dickens and Shakespeare. Dickensian London is illustrated most clearly by his book Oliver Twist, and Shakespeare's London brings to mind the plays written and performed here, such as Romeo and Juliet. We'll also have a look at the memorial of freat British writers, Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey.
Then off we go to Oxford, another city rich in its literary history. I'm, going to focus on the greatest of Oxford's literary alumni, JRR Tolkien, the professor of English who wrote Lord of the Rings, which is now famous throughout the world because of the recent series of films. Then we turn south towards the gentle countryside of Hampshire, home of Jane Austen, where her various novels, including Price and Prejudice are set. She also spent a period of her life in the magnificent Georgian city of Bath.
Then we turn north to the hills of west Yorkshire where we find Bronte country, so called because it was the home of the three sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte. Perhaps the
two best known novels are Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyer, and Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, also made into successful films.
Then up to the north-west, to the stunning land of mountains and lakes which is the Lake District, home of the Lakeland poets. Perhaps its most famous son is William Wordsworth, whose poem \just in Britain, but around the English-speaking world.
So that's the basic route round Literary England, although I'll be thinking several detours to visit other famous writers whose work contributes to the glory which is English literature. Let's start…
Unit3 Inside view:
Conversation 1
Tanya: Hey! That looks good on you! You should try it on. Janet: No thanks, I‘m just looking.
Tanya: Go on, try it on. I can tell it suits you.
Janet: You seem to want me to buy something. And I‘m not sure I want to buy anything at all. Tanya: Well, yes .I‘m pretty sure you want to buy something. Janet: How do you know?
Tanya: Well, it‘s my job to know what women want to wear. Janet: How do you know what I want to wear?
Tanya: I can just tell. Most women don‘t hold things up like that unless they know they want to
buy it, but either they haven‘t got the money or they are nervous about impulse buying.
Janet: So what type of Tanya am I then? Tanya: No money.
Janet: Yeah! You are right, but how do you know? Tanya: If you were nervous about impulse（心血来潮的，一时冲动的） buying, you‘ll feel good
that you‘ve made a careful decision.
Janet: That‘s pretty smart. What is your job then?
Tanya: I‘m a buyer for a store in New York City. I‘m here for London Fashion Week. Hey, do
you want to go? I have some free tickets for the catwalk show this afternoon.
Janet: Well, I‘m not sure. I‘m waiting for a friend for a friend, actually ,and… Joe: Hi, Janet!
Janet: Joe! What are you doing here? Joe: Why the surprise?
Janet: It‘s just…I didn‘t expect to see you. That‘s all. Er, this is …
Tanya: Hello, I‘m Tanya Feinstein. Is this the friend you were waiting for… Janet: NO. Yes!
Tanya: So would you both like to come this afternoon?
Janet: Tanya has invited us to the catwalk show this afternoon.
Tanya：Look at this. Oh, it‘s perfect. I‘ll try it on. I‘ll leave you two to make up your minds.