英语听力原文

Credit Cards
Many businesses, such as department stores, restaurants, hotels and airline companies, use a credit system for selling their products and services. In a credit system, the seller agrees to sell something to the buyer without immediately receiving cash. The buyer receives the goods or services immediately and promises to pay for them later. This "buy-now-pay-later" credit system is quite old. People have been buying things on credit for centuries. But nowadays people use credit cards. There are two types of credit cards. One type is issued directly by a store to a customer. Many large department stores issue credit cards to their customers. The store credit card can be used to make purchases only at a particular store. The other kind of credit card is issued by a credit company. Credit cards from credit companies can be used to buy things almost anywhere. If you have a major credit card, you can buy airplane tickets, stay at hotels, and eat at restaurants with it. Most large credit companies are connected to large banks. So if you want a credit card from a credit company, you generally have to make an application at a bank. After an applicant receives a credit card, he or she can make purchases, using the card

The Boy Who Cried Wolf
Once upon a time there was a very naughty shepherd boy. He often fell asleep while he was watching his sheep. And he told lies. The villagers shook their heads and said, 'That boy will come to a bad end.'
One day, when he was feeling very bored, the boy decided to play a practical joke on the villagers. He ran down the hill. 'Wolf, wolf!' he cried. 'Help, come quickly. Wolf!' All the villagers seized their spears and ran to help him. But there was no wolf. 'He heard you,' the naughty boy lied, 'and ran away.' When everyone had gone, he started to laugh.
Three weeks later, when he was feeling very bored indeed, he decided to play the same trick again. 'Wolf, wolf!' he shouted. 'Help, come quickly. Wolf!' Most of the villagers hurried to help him. This time the boy laughed at them. 'Ha, ha. There wasn't a wolf,' he said. 'What a good joke!' The villagers were very angry. 'Lies are not jokes,' they said.
Two days later the boy woke up suddenly. He had fallen asleep in the afternoon sun. What was that big dark animal coming towards his flock? Suddenly it seized a lamb. 'Wolf!' screamed the boy. 'Wolf. Help, come quickly. Wolf!' But none of the villagers came to help him. He screamed again. The wolf heard him and licked its lips. 'I like lamb,' it thought, 'but shepherd boy tastes much nicer.'
When the shepherd boy didn't come home that night, some of the villagers went to look for him. They found a few bones.


How to Make Wine
This is how wine is made in our winery. After the grapes are picked in late summer, they are pressed so that all the juice runs out. Then the juice is separated from the skins and pips and it is put into large containers and left to fermen

t. Later, it is put into smaller containers. Then it is left for about a year when it is put into bottles. If it is a good wine, the bottles are kept for several years but the cheaper wines are sold immediately.

Alan Simpson
The mystery of the man found wandering in the city centre has now been solved. The man, whose name is now known to be Alan Simpson, is a medical student. Mr. Simpson was taking part in an experiment conducted by the university department of psychology, when he walked away, unnoticed by the staff supervising the experiment. He has now regained his memory, and has left hospital. Several people, including his sister, April Simpson, telephoned the police to identify Mr. Simpson after seeing his picture in the press.


Voice Analysis
If we want to measure voice features very accurately, we can use a voice analyser. A voice analyser can show four characteristics of a speaker's voice. No two speakers' voices are alike. To get a voice sample, you have to speak into the voice analyser. The voice analyser is connected to a computer. From just a few sentences of normal speech, the computer can show four types of information about your voice. It will show nasalization, loudness, frequency and length of articulation. The first element, nasalization, refers to how much air normally goes through your nose when you talk. The second feature of voice difference is loudness. Loudness is measured in decibels. The number of decibels in speaking is determined by the force of air that comes from the lungs. The third feature of voice variation is frequency. By frequency we mean the highness or lowness of sounds. The frequency of sound waves is measured in cycles per second. Each sound of a language will produce a different frequency. The final point of voice analysis concerns the length of articulation for each sound. This time length is measured in small fractions of a second. From all four of these voice features—length of articulation, frequency, loudness and nasalization—the voice analyser can give an exact picture of a person's voice


Body Positions
People often show their feelings by the body positions they adopt. These can contradict what you are saying, especially when you are trying to disguise the way you feel. For example, a very common defensive position, assumed when people feel threatened in some way, is to put your arm or arms across your body. This is a way of shielding yourself from a threatening situation. This shielding action can be disguised as adjusting one's cuff or watchstrap. Leaning back in your chair especially with your arms folded is not only defensive, it's also a way of showing your disapproval, of a need to distance yourself from the rest of the company.
A position which betrays an aggressive attitude is to avoid looking directly at the person you are speaking to. On the other hand, approval and desire to cooperate are shown by copying the position of the person you are speaking t

o. This shows that you agree or are willing to agree with someone. The position of one's feet also often shows the direction of people's thoughts, for example, feet or a foot pointing towards the door can indicate that a person wishes to leave the room. The direction in which your foot points can also show which of the people in the room you feel most sympathetic towards, even when you are not speaking directly to that person


Acupuncture
There are many forms of alternative medicine which are used in the Western world today. One of the most famous of these is acupuncture, which is a very old form of treatment from China. It is still widely used in China today, where it is said to cure many illnesses, including tonsillitis, arthritis, bronchitis, rheumatism and flu. The Chinese believe that there are special energy lines through the body and that the body's energy runs through these lines. When a person is ill the energy in his or her body does not run as well as normal, perhaps because it is weaker or it is blocked in some way. The Chinese believe that if you put very fine needles into the energy line, this helps the energy to return to normal. In this way the body can help itself to get better.
The acupuncturist puts the needles into special places along the energy line and some of these places can be a long way from the place where the body is ill. For example it is possible to treat a bad headache by putting needles into certain places on the foot. It may surprise you to know that it does not hurt when the acupuncturist puts the needles into your body. People who have had acupuncture say that they felt nothing or hardly anything. Western doctors at first did not believe that acupuncture could work. Now they see that it not only can work but that it does work. How and why does it work? No one has been able to explain this. It is one of nature's mysteries