【正文】 morning. nine o39。m terribly sorry I39。t got anything better to do, have I? Woman: Just let me explain, will you? Man: I39。t be like that. Just let me explain. (Silence. Man says nothing.) Woman: I ... I tried to get here in time but just after I left home, the car broke down. Man: The car broke down? Woman: Yes, and ... well ... luckily ... there was a garage near me. And ... and it took them a while to repair it. Man: Why didn39。t remember the name of the restaurant. I knew where it was, but forgot the name. Man: I see. Well, at least it was lucky you found a garage to repair your car. Woman: Yes. It was something I couldn39。m late, you see. Man: Uhhuh. Which garage, by the way? Woman: Pardon? Man: Which garage did you take it to? Woman: Uh ... the one near my flat. You know. Lewis Brothers. Man: Yes, I know that garage. It39。ll have some ... Man: A pity it39。t got anything better to do, have I? I39。t meet strict quality control standards, they are immediately cut in half and melted down. large boxes are shipped to the Academy offices via air express, with no identifiable markings. The Oscar statuette, designed by MGM39。t use the nickname officially until 1939. Since its conception, the Oscar statuette has met exacting uniform standards with a few notable exceptions. In the 1930s, juvenile players received miniature replicas* of the statuette。t meet strict quality control standards, the statuettes are immediately cut in half and melted down. Each award is individually packed into a Styrofoam container slightly largerthan a shoebox. Eight of these are then packed into a larger cardboard box, and the large boxes are shipped to the Academy offices in Beverly Hills via air express, with no identifiable markings. On March 10, 2000, 55 Academy Awards mysteriously vanished en route from the Windy City* to the City of Angels. Nine days later, 52 of stolen statuettes were discovered next to a Dumpster* in the Koreatown section of Los Angeles by Willie Fulgear, who was later invited by the Academy to attend the Oscar 2000 ceremonies as a special guest. For eight decades, the Oscars have survived war, weathered earthquakes, and even managed to escape unscathed* from mon thieves. Since 1995, however, R. S. Owens has repaired more than 160 statuettes. Maybe somebody used chemicals on them to polish them and the chemicals rubbed right through the lacquer* and into the gold, explains the pany president. Or maybe people stored them someplace where they corroded. Although he stresses that the statuette is made to endure, Siegel offers this sage advice to all Oscar winners: If it gets dusty, simply wipe it with a soft dry cloth. Exercise A Prelistening QuestionEvery January, the attention of the entertainment munity and of film fans around the world turns to the uping Academy Awards, the highest honor in filmmaking. The annual presentation of the Oscars has bee the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences39。s NATO allies will stand with the United States if he decides to take military action against Iraq. All the same, the president says no action is likely in the near future. He says for now the focus is on implementing the new UN resolution that calls for a tough weapons inspection regime* and warns of consequences if Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein fails to ply*. Administration official say they expect the NATO summit to release a political statement backing the UN resolution. They say President Bush will bring up Iraq in his bilateral meetings in Prague*, but they also say they do not believe the Iraqi threat will be the focus of the summit. In Prague, the alliance plans to take steps toward the creation of a rapid deployment force that can playa role in bating terrorism. The president said even the smallest NATO member nations can contribute something to the cause Exercise A Directions: Listen to the news item and plete the summary.This news item is about American’s NATO allies.Exercise B Directions: Listen to the news again and answer the following questions1. He hopes America39。s stand on the Iraqi issue. Exercise B Directions: Listen to the news again and plete the following sentences. Minister Blair warned that Saddam Hussein would suffer the consequences unless he cooperated with the UN weapons inspectors. Hussein should cooperate fully with the inspectors to tell them exactly what material he has, and ply with them in the eradication of that material. Thursday Tony Blair had an interview with Radio Monte Carlo39。s generals set himself up as king of a new Egyptian state. The Nile River* was a kind friend but occasionally it was a hard taskmaster*. It taught the people who lived along its banks the noble art of teamwork. They depended upon each other to build their irrigation trenches and keep their dikes in repair. In this way they learned how to get along with their neighbors and their mutualbenefitassociation quite easily developed into an organized state. Then one man grew more powerful than most of his neighbors and he became the leader of the munity and their manderinchief when the envious neighbors of western Asia invaded the prosperous valley. In due course of time he became their King and ruled all the land from the Mediterranean to the mountains of the west. But these political adventures of the old pharaohs* (the word meant the Man who lived in the Big House) rarely interested the patient and toiling peasant of the grain fields. Provided he was not obliged to pay more taxes to his King than he thought lust, he accepted the rule of pharaoh as accepted the rule of Mighty Osiris *. It was different however when a foreign invader came and robbed him of his possessions. After twenty centuries of independent life, a savage Arab tribe of shepherds, called the Hyksos, attacked Egypt and for five hundred years they were the masters of the valley of the Nile. They were highly unpopular and