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1.Whatdoyouthinkofthechangesofwomen’srolessince19thcentury?Canwomennowadaysliveindependentlywithequalrights?A:DoyourememberthenovelwehavereadonthetextbookAPairofSilkStockings?B:Yes,awonderfulstoryaboutMrs.Sommers.A:Sowhat’syourfeelingafterreadingthisstory?B:Aftergettingmarried,theroleofMrs.Sommerschanged.Shebecameherhusband’swifeandtheirchildren’mother.Shehadtobearthefamily’sburden;sheneverconsideredherownneeds.A:Shelookedsopitiful.Shewasevenafraidofrecallingthepast.Thisreflectedtheimprisonment[ɪm'prɪz(ə)nm(ə)nt]andrepressionagainstwomenoftheAmericansocietyin18thcentury.Thewomenwasconfinedtothesocialroleofwifeandmother;theydidn’tallowanyofthemtohaveself-awarenessandpersonalpursuits.B:That’sinconceivable.Ican’timaginethatifIliveatthattime.Sowhatdoyouthinkofthechangesofwomen’srolesince19thcentury?A:Since19thcentury,womenhavebeenmoreandmoreindependent.Inmostcountries,theyhavecommonrightsandfemalerights.Ithinkthesocietyshouldgoforwardandwomenshouldbetreatedequally.B:Yes,nowadays,youcanseemanywomenworkforthegovernment,someevenservedasthepresidentorotherimportantpositions.Femaleofficialsarerecognizedbymoreandmorepeople.A:Andmoreandmorejobsareavailabletowomen.Womencanhavemorechoices.Theycanhavetheircareeranddowhattheylike,anddon’tneedtodependonmentolive.B:That'sright.Infamily,women’srolechangedalso.Theycanworktoearnmoneyforthefamilythesameastheman.Husbandandwifeareequalandtheyrespecteachother.A:Alotofchangeshavetakenplace.Women’lifewillbecomemorecolorful.B:Ofcourse.It’sgettingbetter.Butcanwomennowadaysliveindependentlywithequalrights?A:Notexactlyso.Thoughthelawhasbeenestablishedandeveryoneappealtoequality,womencouldnottrulyliveindependentlywithequalright.Forexample,whenyouapplyforajobastheprogrammer,thecompanytendtochoosethemalecandidatesandrefusefemale’sapplication,eventhoughtheyarebetter.B:It’sreallyunfair.What’smore,inmanyplacesaroundtheworld,womenarenotequalwithmen.Theydon’thaveright,andtheycan’tprotectthemselvesthroughlegalchannels.InIranandotherMiddleEastareas,womenareforbiddentoexposingtheirfaceunlessintheirownfamily.Andwomencannotparticipateintheelections.A:Thereisstillalongwaytogoinprotectingwomen’right.2.Duringthedevelopmentofalanguage,thereareperiodsofdramaticchangesandminorchanges.Why?Givesomespecificexamplestoillustrateit.A:DoyouknowanythingabouttheEnglishlanguage?B:Yes.EnglishistheofficiallanguageusedbymostcountriesandalotofcountriessettheEnglishasthesecondlanguage.A:Yeah,andin19th-20thcentury,EnglishbecameaninternationallanguagebecauseoftheleadingpositionsofBritishandAmerican.Theirculture,economy,military,politicsandsciencehaveinfluencedothercountriesintheworld.B:That’sright.Englishisimportantnowinourlife.Anditdoeschangealotwiththetime.A:Yeah,yeah.Iagreewithyou.Thelanguagehasalwayschanged,buttherateofchangehasbeenuneven;minorchangeshaveslowlyaccumulatedineverygeneration,buttherehavebeenperiodsofdramaticchangeaswell.Youknowsomeofthem?B:Ofcourse.ThemostimportantoftheseperiodsoccurredaftertheNormansConqueredEngland.Thisconquestbroughtnewconceptsfromacrossthechannel,liketheFrenchlanguage,theDoomsdayBookandsoon.Allinall,theEnglishabsorbedabouttenthousandnewwordsfromtheNormans.ThisgreatlyenrichedtheEnglishlanguage.A:Absolutely,culturalconflictbringnewvitality.Also,somechangeshaven’tcomefromtheborrowing,butfromthenaturalgrowingneed.SuchasShakespeare’spoetry,Bible.TheyalldidagreatcontributioninEnglishchanging.Justasthedictionaryshows,about2000newwordsandphraseswereinventedbyWilliamShakespeare.HispoetryshowedtheworldthatEnglishwasarich,vibrantlanguagewithlimitlessexpressiveandemotionalpower.B:Yeah,manynewwordsoccurredwiththedevelopmentoftheworld.Aswell,thescience,theInternet,theirdevelopmentproducedmanywordslikegene,e-mail,download,etc.Whennewthingsappeared,newwordsareinventedtofollowthem.A:Besidesthevocabulary,thegrammarisalsodifferentfromthebeginning.Forexample,peoplenowliketosay“Let’shaveadrink”or“Let’stakeaswim”.Wecallthem“empty”verbs.Yearsago,wesay“Let’sdrink”or“Let’sswim”.B:Therearevariouskindsofgrammarchanges,wearenotsurehowitbegan,butmoreandmorepeopleexpressedlikethat,thenitbecameastandardgrammar.A:Yeah,theseminorchangeshappenedslowly.However,manyyearslater,whenyoucomparethepresentonewiththeformer,youwouldfindabigchange.B.You’reright.Theexpansionofourknowledgeandexperiencerequirestheinventionofnewwordsortheadaptationofoldones.Meaningwilldependmoreandmoreuponwordorderandcontext,andspellingwillbecomesimpler,withfewercommonvariants.Englishisalwayschanging!3.Whoisyourfavoriteathlete?Whatqualificationsdoesasuccessfulathleteusuallypossess?A:......AiswatchingNBAmatchbythecomputer......B:Hey,A.Whatareyouwatching?Basketballmatch?Youseemtoenjoyitverymuch.A:Yeah.I’menthusiasticaboutthebasketball.Ihavenevermissedawonderfulbasketballmatch.B:Oh,great.You’rereallyabasketballfan!Sowhoisyourfavoriteathlete?A:YaoMing.Nopeoplecouldreplacehisstatueinmyheart.ButhehasalreadyretiredfromtheNBA.B:Iknowhim.Thereisnodoubtthatheisasuccessfulbasketballathlete.Couldyoutellmemoreinformationabouthim?A:Yes.YaoMingwasborninSeptember1