大学听说教程3 Unit 2 Coincidence

Unit 2 Coincidence

Part A

Pre-listening Task

Questions for Discussion

1. What is coincidence? Give an example to illustrate it.

2. Have you ever experienced or read about an amusing case of coincidence? If yes, what is it? 3. How do people react to coincidences? How important are they in human life? 4. Can coincidences be explained? Why or why not?

5. What can coincidences do? Are they mostly beneficial or harmful?

6. What do you think can be the causes of coincidences? Do you think coincidences are beyond

chance?

Additional Question for Discussion

Do you think there is a cause-and-effect relationship between events that share some similarities? Why or why not?

Language Focus

Here are some sentences and structures that you may find useful in discussing the above questions. ? Coincidence refers to the phenomenon in which two or more events which are similar or

related happen to take place at the same time or place. ? It’s / What a coincidence that …

? Coincidence is not rare. It happens around us every day.

? It so happened that three of our classmates were born on the same day. ? Compared with non-coincidental events, coincidences are rare. ? Coincidence is the result of pure chance / our memories.

? The human mind tends to look for patterns in events / remember events that match but forget

events that don’t match.

? Speak of the devil and he will appear / the devil comes. ? No coincidences, no stories.

? Everything under the sun is possible.

? Coincidences make great stories / very good topics for small talk. ? Coincidences make life more interesting / amusing / colorful. ? Coincidences tend to stay in our memory longer.

? People remember coincidences and love to pass them around among friends. ? It’s meaningless to try to explain coincidences.

? Some people try to find a cause-and-effect relationship between events that happen to share

some similarities.

? Some people believe coincidences are the work of mysterious forces / supernatural powers. ? Some people believe coincidences can reveal relationships between events, human beings

and natural phenomena that are not obvious to them.

? Coincidences have nothing to do with good luck or bad luck / no power to predict future

events.

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? As the saying goes, “Good fortune seldom repeats itself but troubles never come singly.”

Part B

Listening Tasks

Passage 1

What a Coincidence! (Part One)

Word Bank

tuition n. payment for schooling 学费

somehow ad. for some reason that is not clear 由于某种未知的原因 click v. to become suddenly clear or understandable 突然变得明白

real estate agent a person whose business is to buy, sell or look after houses or land for

people 房地产经纪人

note down to write down 记下 Andrew （男子名） Stewart （姓）

Script:

Andrew had always wanted to be a doctor. But the tuition for a medical school in 1984 was 15,000 dollars a year, which was more than his family could afford. To help him realize his dream, his father, Mr. Stewart, a real estate agent, began searching the house-for-sale ads in newspapers in order to find extra business. One advertisement that he noted down was for the sale of a house in a nearby town. Mr. Stewart called the owner, trying to persuade him to let him be his agent. Somehow he succeeded and the owner promised that he would come to him if he failed to get a good deal with his present agent. Then they made an appointment to meet and discuss the thing.

As good things are never easy to acquire, the time for the appointment had to be changed almost ten times. On the day when they were supposed to meet at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, Mr. Stewart received another call from the owner. His heart sank as he feared there would be another change of time. And so it was. The owner told him that he couldn’t make it at three but if he would come right then, they could talk it over. Mr. Stewart was overjoyed. Leaving everything aside, he immediately set out to drive to the house.

As he approached the area, he had a strange feeling of having been there before. The streets, the trees, the neighborhood, all looked familiar to him. And when he finally reached the house, something clicked in his mind. It used to be the house of his father-in-law! The old man had died fifteen years ago but when he was alive, he had often visited him with his wife and children. He remembered that, like his son Andrew, his father-in-law had also wanted to study medicine and, failing to do so, had always hoped that one of his two daughters or his grandchildren could someday become a doctor.

Exercise 1

Listen to the story and choose the right answers to the questions you hear. 1. Who are the two main characters in the story you have just heard? a. Mr. Stewart and his son. b. Mr. Stewart and his client.

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c. Mr. Stewart and his father-in-law. d. Mr. Stewart’s father-in-law and the owner of the house. 2. How did Mr. Stewart get to know the owner of the house? a. From a house-for-sale advertisement in a newspaper put up by the owner. b. Through the introduction of Mr. Stewart’s father-in-law. c. They attended the same medical school. d. They lived in the same neighborhood. 3. What problem did Mr. Stewart have? a. He had no house to live in. b. He had lost his job. c. He was disappointed with his son. d. He did not have enough funds for his son’s college education. 4. What is the coincidence in the story you have just heard? a. His client’s house was the one that once belonged to a friend of his. b. His client’s house was the one his family once lived in. c. His client’s house was the one his father-in-law once lived in. d. His client’s house was the one he once wanted to buy.

Exercise 2

Listen to the story again and fill in the blanks with the missing information.

The story happened in 1984. Mr. Stewart, a real estate agent, had a son whose name was Andrew. The young man wanted to go to a medical school. But the tuition was so high that his father couldn’t afford it. In order to help his son realize his dream, Mr. Stewart searched newspaper ads, hoping to find extra business. One advertisement caught his eye. It was for the sale of a house near where he lived. But although he succeeded in persuading the owner of the house to let him be his agent, the appointment time was changed again and again. At last, he received a phone call from the owner, asking him to go and discuss the matter with him right away. Mr. Stewart put aside everything he was doing and left immediately for the house. When he approached the area, he found everything there looked familiar to him. And when he saw the house, he realized it was his father-in-law’s old house. He had visited it many times years ago when his father-in-law was still alive. What a coincidence!

Passage 2

What a Coincidence! (Part Two)

Word Bank

latter n. the second of two things or persons just mentioned 后者 intrigue v. to fascinate; to appeal strongly to sb. 激起……极大的兴趣 mystify v. to fill with wonder; to completely puzzle 使困惑；使大为惊奇

standing a. being at a particular level or amount （水平、量等）现有的，现在显示的 cover v. to be enough to pay for sth. 够支付 bear v. to have or show 具有，带有

miracle n. a wonderful event 奇事，不可思议的事 blessing n. a lucky thing 幸事

be in for to be going to experience sth. 必定会经历

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receipt slip a written or printed statement acknowledging that sth. has been paid for or

received 收条

come to to amount to 合计，总数为 in sb.’s place instead of sb. 代替某人

Script:

When he entered the house, Mr. Stewart was even more amazed to find that the house was decorated exactly as he had remembered it. He told the owner about this and the latter became intrigued too. However, they were in for even greater surprises. It so happened that in the middle of their discussion, a postman came to deliver a letter. And the letter was addressed to Mr. Stewart’s father-in-law! Were it not for Mr. Stewart’s presence there and then, the letter would be returned as no person of that name lived in the house any longer. As the postman demanded a signature on the receipt slip, Mr. Stewart signed for his long-deceased father-in-law. Mystified, the owner urged Mr. Stewart to open the letter and see what it contained. The letter was from a bank. When he opened it, two words immediately met his eye — “For education”. It was a bank statement of an amount his father-in-law had put in years ago for his grandchildren’s education needs. With the interest it had earned over the years, the standing value of the amount came to a little over $15,000, just enough money to cover the tuition of Andrew’s first year at a medical college!

Another thing that is worth mentioning is about the postman. The original postman, who had worked in this neighborhood, called in sick that day. So the postman, who was new to the area, came to deliver mail in his place. Had it been the old postman, the letter would undoubtedly have been returned to the sender, as he knew full well that no person bearing that name lived in that house any longer.

The miracle was a blessing for Andrew. With the money given to him by his grandfather he was able to study medicine. Now he is a doctor in Illinois. Exercise 1

Listen to the recording and write down the coincidences mentioned in the text. 1. The house was decorated exactly the same as Mr. Stewart remembered it. 2. Mr. Stewart happened to be in the house when a postman came to deliver a letter to his father-in-law who had died 15 years ago. 3. The old postman had called in sick that day, and the postman who came in his place was not familiar with the neighborhood. Otherwise the letter would have been returned to its sender.

Exercise 2

Listen to the recording again and write down answers to the following questions.

1. How did the owner feel about the fact that Mr. Stewart’s father-in-law once lived in the house? He was intrigued. 2. What was inside the letter delivered by the postman? A bank statement. 3. What did Mr. Stewart learn from the letter?

His father-in-law had put an amount of money in the bank for his grandchildren’s education. 4. What was the standing value of the amount of money fifteen years later? A little over $15,000.

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