Listening
Story of Lang Lang 1
Lang Lang is one of the world’s greatest concert pianists.
His first contact with Western music was when he was just two years old.
He watched a cartoon in which a cat played a famous piece by Franz Liszt.
From this experience, he decided he wanted to learn to play the piano.
When he was three and half years old, he started piano lessons.T
Two years later he won first place in a piano competition.
This early success gave his father high hopes that Lang Lang would become a great pianist.
When Lang Lang was nine years old, his father quit his job and took him to Beijing.
They left everything behind, including his mother who had to work.
Lang Lang didn’t want to leave her behind, but his father insisted.
His father wanted him to study at the famous Central Conservatory of Music.
When they moved to Beijing, they rented a flat in a poor area of the city.
During this time, Lang Lang practiced for several hours a day.
He started practicing at 5 o’clock, which upset his neighbors.
They would often pound on his door and ask him to stop practicing.
They were so angry that he often feared that they would beat him up.
Story of Lang Lang 2
Lang Lang usually had piano lessons once a week to prepare for the Conservatory.
Nearly 2000 students were applying for just 12 places at the conservatory.
His lessons were expensive and very difficult, especially because of his piano teacher.
His music teacher didn’t like Lang Lang.
He called his teacher “Professor angry” because she always gave him a hard time.
One afternoon, his teacher told him he had no talent and told him to go home.
Upon hearing the news, his father screamed and seemed to lose his mind.
His father told him that everything was destroyed and there was no reason to live.
He ordered Lang Lang to jump off the 11th-floor balcony.
After this, Lang Lang almost went crazy.
He didn’t want to play the piano anymore.
For several months, he neither played the piano nor spoke to his father.
Then some friends encouraged him to play a piece for them, and he realized his great love of the piano.
For the next 19 months, he practiced hard and his father encouraged him.
Finally, when he was 10, he was accepted into the Conservatory with a full scholarship.
In 1995, when he was 13 years old, he played music by Chopin in the Beijing Concert Hall.
In that same year he won first place in an international completion for young musicians in Japan.
When he was 15, he moved to the United States and began studies with a famous pianist at the Curtis Institute.
Since then his career has grown and he has become a major star.
One American music critic called him "the biggest, most exciting keyboard talent I have encountered in many a year of attending piano recitals".
In 2010, Lang Lang signed a recording contract for several million dollars.
In 2011, he performed at the White House for Presidents Obama of the United States and Hu Jintao of China.
With all of his success and fame, Lang Lang tries to encourage others.
He uses his fame to spread the popularity of classical music and encourage young musicians.
And in the end, Lang Lang and his father have rebuilt their relationship.
In his autobiography, Mr Lang dedicated the book to his mother and father.
Vocabulary
Business and Economics
A person’s debt is how much he or she owes to others.
Debt can be in the form of money, products or services owed to someone else.
If you borrow money, you were taking on new debt.
An asset is something that has value, such as money, property or even a nice personality.
Assets can be used to pay off debts.
Specialized knowledge or skills are also assets that can be used to get a job or earn money.
Real estate is property, such as land, houses and buildings.
Buying, selling or renting property is the business of real estate.
Buying and selling real estate is a popular form of investment.
Inventory is a detailed list of items in one’s possession.
In business, one’s inventory is the supply of items that are ready for sale.
If a store runs out of things to sell, it needs to resupply its inventory.
An investment is the purchase of an asset with the hope that its value will increase.
A good investment will produce income, such as rental income.
If the value of an asset falls, the investment will lose money.
Countries and Continents
China is the second-largest country in the world by land area.
A major issue for China is the continuing expansion of its deserts, which have led to dust storms each spring.
Many of world's most polluted cities are located there.
South Asia is referred to as the Indian subcontinent.
It's called a subcontinent because it is separated from the rest of Asia by mountains and seas.
It is one of the world's poorest regions with about 75% of the poor living in rural areas.
Europe is the western neighbor of Asia.
It's separated from Asia by the Ural Mountains which extend for 1500 miles in a north-south direction form the Arctic Ocean.
The Philippines is the only country in Asia with a majority of Christians.
The Philippines is an island nation with over 7000 islands.
It's located in the South China Sea.
The country's capital city is Manila.
Asia is the world's largest continent, covering about 30% of the Earth's land area.
Several island nations are also a part of Asia, including Japan.
The world's tallest mountains are in Asia, including Mt Everest.
Dialogue
Election & Voting
W：Hey, have you decided how you're going to vote?
M：No, I haven't. I don't like any of the candidates.
W：So you aren't going to vote?
M：Hmm, I don't know, probably not. It seems like a waste of time.
W：Really? Why do you think it's a waste of time?
M：Have you listen to any of their speeches?
W：Yes, I have. And I agree that their speeches aren't very good.
M：Exactly. I can't believe anything they say. They are just saying what they think we want to hear.
W：Sure, they want to get elected. I have admitted that, the system isn't perfect but it's all we have.
M：Whether I vote or not won't make a difference. It's all a show.
W：Well, I think you should vote. Do a little research about the candidates.
M：Have you?
W：Yes, I have. I've looked into their backgrounds and education.
M：How can that help?
W：For example, if they know something about science, it could help the government make better decisions about issues such as climate change.
M：Yes, that's a good point. We need well-educated people making decisions.
W：And I looked to see what kind of people are supporting them.
M：What issues do you think are most important?
W：I guess for me, pollution, housing and taxes are important. I want to know how the government plans to deal with these issues.
M：Yes, I agree with you. Maybe I will vote, especially if we can get together and talk more about it.
M：What about dinner tomorrow night?
W：Sorry I'm busy tomorrow night.
M：Oh, that's too bad. Do you have any time in the next few days? I'll take you to a nice restaurant.
W：Actually I'm quite busy. But I may have some time Sunday afternoon. We could have lunch somewhere near the office.
M：Sure that works for me. I'll give you a call on Saturday and we can decide the details, ok?
W：OK I'll be looking forward to seeing which candidates you support.
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