2019下半年英语六级考试听力材料2

坦途网英语六级考试频道给大家整理的是英语六级听力材料，听力练习很重要，但是你听完后不对照材料，你永远不知道自己的答案是否正确，所以每一次听力练习结束要对着材料仔细研读，把生词和复杂的句子标记下来进行背诵，不仅可以拓展词汇，还可以学习语法的表达。大家可以通过本篇文章练习，认真做好笔记哦。

I'm Susan Clark with the Special English programWORDS AND THEIR STORIES.

The Italians have an old saying, "Il dolce far niente." The words mean it is sweet, or enjoyable, to donothing.

On weekends and during holidays, many of us enjoydoing nothing. But most of the time we have towork. And, to keep our jobs, we must work hard. Our employer will not like it if we do nothing.

American workers often call their employers bosses. The word boss comes from the Dutchword, baas, meaning master.

Sometimes company bosses are called the brass. They also are sometimes called top brass, orbrass hats.

Experts disagree about how these strange expressions started. But, they may have come fromBritain. Leaders of the nineteenth century British army wore pieces of metal called oak leaveson their hats. The metal, brass, has a color similar to that of gold. So a leader or commandercame to be called a member of the brass. Or he might have been called a brass hat. Or, eventhe top brass.

By the nineteen forties, the expression had spread beyond military leaders. It also includedcivilian officials.

A newspaper in the American city of Philadelphia used the term in nineteen forty-nine. It calledthe most important police officials, top brass.

Other expressions that mean boss or employer have nothing to do with brass or hats. One ofthese is big cheese. A cheese is a solid food made from milk.

The expression probably started in America in the late nineteenth century. Some expertsbelieve it comes from a word in the Uersian or urdu languages -- chiz. The meaning is a thing. So the meaning of big cheese may be a big thing.

Other experts say the word cheese in this expression was really an incorrect way of sayingchief. The word chief means leader. So the expression may mean big leader.

An employer usually does not object to being called boss. But most workers would not call theiremployers big cheeses, top brass or brass hats to their faces.

These words are not really insulting. But neither do they show great respect.

Employers also have expressions to describe their workers. One of them that describes a goodworker is that he or she works like a Trojan.

This expression probably comes from the ancient writings of the Greek poet Homer. He wroteabout the Trojans who lived in the city of Troy. He said Trojans worked very hard to protecttheir city.

Now, the expression often is used to describe an employee who works hard for a company. Aloyal, hard-working employee is said to work like a Trojan.

So be happy if your company's brass hats say you work like a Trojan. They may consider youvaluable enough to increase your pay.

今天的听力材料大家都整理好了吗？里面有很多生词需要同学们自己去查阅资料，弄懂含义了解本文的主旨。学习是自主性的，小编每天会为大家提供试题材料，但是大家也要学会独自思考，自主完成每一道习题，这样才会提升自己的英语水平，顺利通过英语六级考试。