21世纪大学英语读写教程08.docxVIP

UNIT 8Text A Pre-reading ActivitiesFirst Listening As you listen to the tape the first time, mark each word or phrase J or T, to indicate whether Jill (the woman) or Tim (the man) says them. (Some words might be spoken by both people!)animal anywhere asleep car cold decent ignore law light no one police safety sleepy social contract who knows Then briefly summarize each persons attitude toward the social contract. Second ListeningWhose point of view is closer to your own? Are there situations when its okay to break the rules? Are there rules its never okay to break, even when youre alone? Unwritten RulesBob Greene The restaurant was almost full. A steady hum of conversation hung over the room; people spoke with each other and worked on their meals. Suddenly, from a table near the center of the room, came a screaming voice: Damn it, Sylvia …JThe man was shouting at the top of his voice. His face was red, and he yelled at the woman sitting opposite him for about fifteen seconds. In the crowded restaurant, it seemed like an hour. All other conversations in the room stopped, and everyone looked at the man. He must have realized this, because just as suddenly as he had started, he lowered his voice and finished whatever it was he had to say in a tone the rest of us could not hear. It was startling precisely because it almost never happens; there are no laws against such explosions, and with the pressures of our modern world you would almost expect to run into such things on a regular basis. But you dont; as a matter of fact, when I thought it over I realized that it was the first time in my life I had witnessed such a demonstration. During all the meals Ive had in restaurants, I had never seen a person start screaming at the top of his lungs. When youre eating among other people, you dont raise your voice; its just one example of the unwritten rules we live by. When you consider it, you recognize that those rules probably govern our lives on a more absolute basis than th