Read aloud the concersation two times, and then listen to the tape without looking at the text.

　　Mr.Rathbone: Well, how are you doing1?

　　Eugene: Fine, sir. The computer section is coming along2 nicely. I should be finished with it by this afternoon.

　　Mr.Rathbone: Oh, that is great, great. But, I need to pull you off3 the computers for a little while and put you on something else4.

　　Eugene: Something else?

　　Mr.Rathbone: Yeah, yeah. Listen, you know about electricity, don't you?

　　Eugene: Well, as that is the power source for most computers, I do possess a rudimentary5 knowledge of it of course.

　　Mr.Rathbone: Oh, that is great, great! That's just what I wanted to hear.

　　Eugene: Uh, why?

　　Mr.Rathbone: Because of6 this.

　　Eugene: The main circuit7 box?

　　Mr.Rathbone: That's right. Notice something odd8 about it?

　　Eugene: Well yes. None of the wires appear to be attached9.

　　Mr.Rathbone: Nobody gets to the heart of a problem10 as quick as you. Up to now, we've been powering the place with a generator11, but it's time for that to stop12. I want you to fix the circuit box.

　　Eugene: Fix it?

　　Mr.Rathbone: Yeah, you know, attach the wires.

　　Eugene: Uh, am I to understand that you wish me to wire your building?

　　Mr.Rathbone: No, no. I don't wish you to do it. I want you to do it. You got everything you need here: transformer, wire, fuses13.

　　Eugene: Mr.Rathbone, while I do know something about electrical current14, I am not a certified15 electrician.

　　Mr.Rathbone: Did I say you had to be?

　　Eugene: You don't understand. This job requires16 the services of a true professional17.

　　注释：

　　1.How are you doing?你干得怎么样？类似的有：What's up?/Are you doing ok?

　　2.come along：进展

　　用法：The students have come along very well in Germany since the new teacher came.

　　自从新老师来了以后，学生们的德语进步得很快。

　　3.pull…off:让…暂时离开…

　　4.put you on something else:派你做别的事

　　5.rudimentary:基本的、初步的

　　用法：I sent my daughter to a rudimentary violin class.

　　我把女儿送去念小提琴初级班。

　　6.because of:由于

　　用法：Many tourists became sick because of the vident motion of the ship.

　　由于船的剧烈晃动，许多游客晕船了。

　　7.circuit:电路

　　用法：The electrical circuit doesn't work well, because something is wrong with one of the wires.

　　有根电线出毛病了，所以电路不能正常工作。

　　8.odd:奇怪的、古怪的

　　9.attached:连在一起的

　　用法：He studied the attached photographs with the letter and found nothing.

　　他认真检查随信附上的电报，什么都没发现。

　　10. get to the heart of a problem:看问题一针见血

　　11. generator:发电机

　　12. it's time for…to do…:到……干……的时间了

　　用法：Hurry up, it's time for you to get on the train.

　　快点，该上火车了。

　　13. transformer, wire, fuses:变压器、电线、保险丝

　　14. electrical current:电流

　　15. certified:有经营执照的

　　用法：She dreamt of becoming a certified accountant.

　　她梦想成为一个注册会计师。

　　16. require:要求

　　用法：Only the most important branches require special protection.

　　只有最重要的部门才需要特别保护。

　　17. professional:专家、行家

　　用法：The professional football player is coaching a team of highschool students.

　　那个职业足球运动员正在训练一群高中生。

　　1.Conversations: (Find a partner and practice these dialogues.)

　　Teacher: (Saying to the principle of the school) Look at little Reggie's history homework, Mr.Bumper.

　　Bumper: Cartoons? Drawings? (Saying to Reggie) Just what has this to do with history, young man?

　　Reggie: It's a history of our class in 1999.

　　Bumper: You may go, Miss Mood. I'll deal with1 little Reggie.

　　Teacher: Yes, sir.

　　Reggie: (Talking to himself) How many days of detention2 am I going to get now?

　　B: (Miss Mood walks out of the office.)

　　Bumper: Why do you waste your time doing these silly cartoons?

　　Reggie: I like to draw! Besides, all the kids are paying me to draw pictures of them.

　　Bumper: Paying you? To do these? If everyone looked like this, they should be in a comic3 book!

　　Reggie: Hey! That's a great idea! I can just see it…a history of our school with drawings and cartoons of the kids!

　　Bumper: I doubt if that has ever been done before!

　　Reggie: You bet4! It would be a first…I can see you becoming famous, Mr.Bumper.

　　Bumper: I--I would?

　　Reggie: We could write stories about school, our teacher, even about you!

　　Bumper: It does sound terrific5, doesn't it?

　　Reggie: It'll be a fantastic educational comic book, Mr.Bumper.

　　Bumper: I like it! I like it! We'll do it, little Reggie! You'll produce a comic book about our wonderful school! Get some paper, pencil, Indian ink, brushes and pens. You've got work to do! Reggie, you could sell ice cubes6 to Eskimos7! I hope the first issue is as good as you say!

　　C: (Miss Mood rushessintosthe office.)

　　Miss Mood: What happened? Little Reggie's taken over8 the whole art room!

　　Bumper: That's right, Miss Mood! We're going to do an educational comic book! Our school is about to go down in history!

　　Miss Mood: If little Reggie is doing it, that just may happen! Who thought up that crazy idea!

　　Bumper: You're standing right next to him!

　　D: (Later)

　　Reggie: It's finished! I'll rush9 our first two pages to Mr.Bumper.

　　(In the office)

　　Reggie: Here it is, Mr.Bumper! Right off the drawing board!

　　Bumper: Oh! I can hardly wait to see them! (Looking at the pages angrily and shouting) Stop the press! Do you realize you made me a complete joke?

　　Reggie: Wait, Mr.Bumper! This is the next page!

　　Bumper: Thank you, children. I like this happy ending!

　　Reggie: It was a happy ending for both of us!

　　注解

　　1 deal with:安排，处理

　　用法：The goverment has tried for several times to deal with traffic problems.

　　政府曾数次尝试解决交通问题。

　　2 detention: (处罚学生的)课后留校，禁闭，拘留

　　用法：He is in detention in connection with the bribery affair.由于牵连到受贿，他现在已被拘留。

　　3 comic: amusing or humorous; contrary to tragic滑稽的、喜剧的，comic strip连环画

　　用法：Nearly all the children like to read comic strip.几乎所有的孩子们都喜欢读连环画。

　　4 You bet:当然！

　　5 terrific: very good, splendid. (口)

　　6 ice cubes: small pieces of square ice(小方形的)冰块

　　用法：In summer, people like to add ice cubessintostheir drinks.夏天，人们喜欢在饮料里放冰块儿。

　　7 Eskimo:爱斯基摩人。

　　8 take over:接收,接管

　　用法：After the death of the millionaire, his little son took over all the wealth.百万富翁死后，他的小儿子接收了所有财产。

　　9 rush:迅速地交或送

　　用法：She called an ambulance to rush the child to the hospital.

　　她打电话叫救护车送孩子去医院。

　　Exercise: Turn the four mini-dialogues //into// ONE descriptive narrative. Use only indirect speech.