听力题
I: So, Mr. Hood, you work in the American Embassy in London, is that correct?
D: That''s correct. Yes.
I: What do you do there?
D: I''m an Assistant Cultural Officer there, and my specific responsibilities are bringing a small number of American speakers over to the U. K. to talk to various audiences here. Er, I also work with people who teach American Studies in the British educational system at secondary level and universities.
I: What do you think are the advantages and, and. . . disadvantages of living in the U. S. ?
D: I think one advantage is perhaps a certain casualness, and a more relaxed attitude in the U. S. . . um. . . things are not quite as formal as what I''ve seen here in England. . . um. . . people are perhaps a little more spontaneous, er, in. . . in just getting up and doing things, getting up and going someplace in the U. S. . . um. . . a disadvantage. . . um. . . I think our. . . our fascination with bigness and with newness leads us sometimes to be, er, wasteful of resources. Er, we build very big cars that use a lot of gasoline, we build big roads and big parking lots to park them in, and I think we could be a little more conscious of, um, of the resources that we''re using when we''re doing that sort of thing.
I: What do you think is the biggest threat to world peace?
D: Well, I guess one would have to say that the, um, the tremendous build-up of the weapon of war is a major threat to world peace. . .
I: Do you think. . . do you think we''ll have a world war at the end of the century, is that a strong possibility?
D: I don''t think so, no. I guess I could be called optimistic but I think that, um, people throughout most parts of the world are just too much aware of what a world war would mean, and I think, um, our leaders are now wise enough, they. . . they have, er, good enough adviser, and they get enough input from public opinion, so that I think we could avoid whatever final steps would lead us to, er, a world war. So I don''t think it will happen.