Texts for Listening

Tapescript 1.

J = Jane, S = Sally

J When I arrived I was shown into Sally’s office - which was much more normal than I'd expected. Sally looks like a kind and sincere woman. She says that she inherited from her grandmother the ability to “see” the past and future of other people. First she asked me a few basic questions - was I married, did I have children and so on. However, her next questions rather surprised me…

S Who's Caroline?

J I'm afraid I don't know. I don't know anybody called

Caroline. -.-. \-

S Well, somebody called Caroline is going to have a powerful and positive effect on your finances. Australia is very important in your life.

J Is it? I've never been to Australia.

S Well, you'll be going there very soon.

Tapescript 1.1

S Another place which is very important in your life is Ireland.

J Yes, that's true. Ireland does play a big role in my life. In fact, I g.rew up there.

SIreland is a place where you will find answers to a lot of your problems. Look for the Irish connection. I am very optimistic that an Irish man is going to be “the one for you”.

JAh, very interesting! What does he look like?

S He's very tall.

J That's good - I'm 1 metre 90 myself.

S And he's highly intelligent; in feet it's his brain that will really attract you to him. He is a distinguished public figure – perhaps a professor?

J So when am I going to meet him?

S Actually, you already know him. It's just you don't think of him in that way.

J I immediately started thinking about all the people I know, but, to be honest, I couldn't think of anyone who fitted the description.

Tapescript 1.3

J I decided to ask Sally some questions myself. What about my health?

S Let’s see, your mother suffer from headaches, doesn't she?

I Yes she does, actually. She gets bad headaches.

S Well, you'll need to watch out for headaches, and so will your mother, because hers are going to get worse. But in general, you’re a healthy woman, and you'll have a long life without any major illnesses, but you must never be tempted to have plastic surgery - if you do, it will go horribly wrong.

J So far it had all been quite positive, but I wasn't really convinced. It was only when she started talking about my children that I really started listening.

S Your son Conor is very like you. He's good with language and he may end up working with words, maybe a poet or a songwriter.

J In fact he does like words arid writing, and last week he won a poetry prize at school.

S But your daughter Clara is more like your ex-husband. She's not good with words at all.

J It's true! They’re both dyslexic. This was beginning to make me wonder...

Tapescript 2.

When I saw the lady's face, I knew it was really serious. Her face was starting to turn blue. I put my arms around her waist and I pulled hard in and up three times and the piece of steak came out. Then I just put my arm round the lady and gave her a hug. I knew exactly what to do because before I started to work as a television presenter, I used to be a flight attendant. We were taught a lot about first aid. The technique I used is called the Heimlich manoeuvre and it's what you should do when someone is choking. I must admit I was a bit embarrassed by all the attention I got in the restaurant and then the next day the story was in all the newspapers. But I'm very glad I was there to help. And maybe this story will make people think about learning first aid. I really think it's something which should be taught at school. It's so important!

Tapescript 2. 1

I knew I was hurting Peter, but I carried on pushing my fingers down his throat. I managed to touch the tomato with two of my fingers and I was able to move it a little. That was enough - Peter started coughing and the tomato came out. But I was very lucky. Afterwards, I found out that my ignorance of first aid had nearly killed my son. Hitting Peter on the back was OK, but putting my fingers down his throat was a big mistake. I could have pushed the tomato even further down his throat and he could have died. I'd made every mistake possible and I nearly killed him because of my ignorance. I should have called an ambulance immediately, because I don't know first aid, and the ambulance staff would have told me exactly what to do... and whatnot to do.

Tapescript 3.

1 I think above all we are strong individualists. We want as few rules as possible governing our lives. We are also very hard-working. People here live to work and don't work to live. We are also very optimistic, and we think that if we work hard, we can achieve anything. On the negative side, I think we are extremely materialistic. The measure of success for most people here is money. We are extremely concerned with 'things' - possessions and the bigger the better. Personally, I think I have inherited the typical optimism and drive, and I'm also an individualist, so I think I'm probably quite typical, but I hope I'm less materialistic than many of my countrymen seem to be.

2 Generally speaking, I think we're very sociable and easy-going, and we're great storytellers. People are also quite religious and family oriented, we're also very patriotic. Maybe this is because we're a small country and so many of us live abroad. Historically there has always been a lot of emigration. Weaknesses? I think we can be very melancholic and nostalgic, you only have to listen to our music to hear this - it's often quite sad and slow. It's probably because of our climate and our history. The stereotypical image is that one minute we're laughing and telling you a funny story and the next minute we're crying into our beer. Which reminds me that we also drink quite a lot. I think I'm quite typical in many respects, although I'm not particularly melancholic.

3 It's difficult to generalize about us as a people, especially as our big cities now have such a multiethnic population, but I would say that we're basically very tolerant and open-minded. We're not nearly as insular as we used to be. We defend the things that we believe in - when we have to -and we avoid taking extreme positions, which I think is another strength. One of our main weaknesses, though, is that we can be quite self-satisfied and arrogant towards foreigners. Just think of our inability, or our unwillingness, to learn foreign languages! I'd also say that that we can be lazy, and we're a bit careless about the way we dress, and also we drink too much. I don't think I'm very typical, though I do definitely have one of the weaknesses - but I'm not going to say which!

4 As a nation we're very proud of our identity and our cultural heritage. We're an inventive people, but we often feel marginalized and forgotten by our bigger neighbour, England that is. We're very sociable and like to have a good time. We're also great travellers and people often compliment us on the good behaviour of our sports fans abroad.

On the other hand, we do have a tendency to melancholy - maybe it's something to do with the weather, you know we tend to think that life is hard. There's also a negative attitude towards or neighbour - and this can range from humorou-comments to actual violence. And although we are keen travellers, we can be quite negative towards foreigners. Some people would like to -the country kept only for us, without apparent] understanding how negative that could be.

I don't think of myself as a typical example, love the country, and think it has some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, but I feel that we tend to focus too much on the wrongs done to us in the distant past, rather than trying to move on.

Tapescript 3.1

1 a We think that if we work hard, we can achieve anything.

b I think I have inherited the typical optimism and drive

2 a Historically there has always been a lot of emigration.

b It's probably because of our climate and our history.

3 a It's difficult to generalize about us as a people, especially as our big cities now have such a

multi-ethnic population.

b Just think of our inability, or our unwillingness, to learn foreign languages!

4 a There's also a negative attitude towards our neighbour.

b I feel that we tend to focus too much on the wrongs done to us in the distant past.

Tapescript 4.

Todd: So CleAnn can you talk a little bit about your country?

CleAnn: Sure. My country is called officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. For short, Trinidad and Tobago. And even shorter, Trinidad. However, it is best to just say Trinidad and Tobago cause sometimes people from Tobago may get offended if you just say Trinidad. People from my country are usually just called Trinidadians, but if you are, again, trying to be inclusive of people from Tobago, we say Trinbagonians.

Todd: Trini-bagonians?

CleAnn: Trinbagonians.

Todd: It’s hard to pronounce.

CleAnn: Yeah, exactly. So sometimes we just say Trinidadians. But actually, although Tobago is extremely small. I mean, Trinidad is also small but Tobago is I think probably about 1/6 the size of Trinidad and it’s actually extremely important to the country as a whole because Tobago is our center for tourism. Trinidad doesn’t have much tourism. We are more industry and oil and gas based, but Tobago is very beautiful and is known for tourism, for its natural scenery, and it’s actually an ecotourism destination.

Todd: Oh really?

CleAnn: Yes.

Todd: So Tobago has, I take it, rain-forests and beaches and...

CleAnn: Yes, small rain-forests, beaches and there is a very famous place called the Nylon Pool. And it’s famous because it’s actually out in the middle of the sea but you can stand out there because the corals have risen to such a height that it’s close to the water. So boats take you out and then you can get off the boat and just stand out in the middle of the ocean on top of corals.

Todd: Oh, how nice.

CleAnn: It’s very nice and it’s white, just white coral. So it’s really gorgeous.

Todd: Yeah, that must be beautiful.

CleAnn: Yes. It’s called the Nylon Pool because I think one of the British Monarchies, someone from the British Royal Family, visited Trinidad some years...many years ago and said that the Nylon Pool actually looks like nylon. The water reminded her of nylon so it was named the Nylon Pool.

Todd: So if people go to Tobago on vacation, which island do they fly into?

CleAnn: They fly to Tobago if you’re going...if you’re coming from England, direct flights are from Tobago. There are no flights from Trinidad to England. Only we have to go to Tobago and then from Tobago to London. From the US, I think you have to come through Trinidad.

Todd: Actually how far apart are the islands from each other?

CleAnn: By plane, 15 minutes...or less.

Todd: So there’s like ferries that...?

CleAnn: Yeah, the ferry -- the fastest one right now is about 3 hours, but it’s not a very fast ferry at all. So there’s ferry, we have air transport of course to Tobago also. There's talk now of building a bridge but I don’t know how soon that will be done.

Tapescript 5.

Road pollution is a serious danger to children’s health. That’s the worrying conclusion of the longest and largest study* ever undertaken into the effects of traffic fumes on child development. Researchers from the University of Southern California spent 13 years studying children who lived within 500 meters of busy highways. They found that most of the 3,600 children in the study had significantly weakened lungs. Researchers said this meant the children could have breathing problems for the rest of their lives. The main author of the study W. James Gauderman said: "Someone suffering a pollution-related deficit in lung function as a child will probably have less than healthy lungs all of his or her life.” He added: "If you live in a high-pollution area and live near a busy road, you get a doubling of the damage.”

Gauderman and his team conducted their research on youngsters who lived near busy roads. Once a year, the team measured the children's lung power. It checked how much air the children could release in one breath and how quickly it could be released. The team found that by their 18th birthday, children who lived within 500 meters of a highway exhaled three per cent less air compared with children who lived one-and-a-half kilometers away. Further, the highway children’s lung power was seven per cent weaker in the rate at which they could exhale. Gauderman said that: "Even if you are in a relatively low regional pollution area, living near a road produces lung problems." About a third of the children moved away from busy roads during the study but stayed near the same community. Their lungs developed more healthily.

Tapescript 6.

Int: On the morning of May 18^th ,1980, Liz Nielson was camping with a friend about 18 kilometers from Mount St.Helens in Washington State in the United States. She was making coffee and her friend Dave was fishing. So, Liz, when did realize that something was wrong?

Liz: Well, Dave lost the fish and came up to replace his line. He Looked up and saw a small black cloud on the horizon and said there must be a forest fire. Within 30 seconds it was absolutely enormous and then it just kept getting bigger and bigger, and coming at us faster, and it was very dark and black. The cloud of ash was the first sign we had that anything was happening.

Int: What were you thought at that moment?

Liz: I’m not sure I had any –apart from maybe wishing I were somewhere else! It wasn’t like a smoke cloud, it was as if it were alive and it was massive and dense, and very black. It was the strangest thing. It was totally silent until it got down into the canyon where we were and then there was a huge roaring. I remember looking at the fire and the wind just blew the flames out low along the ground, and watching the handle of my coffee pot just kind of melt in the flames, and then this awful cold –it just surrounded us.

Int: I expect you were very frightened by then, weren’t you?

Liz: Frightened! I was absolutely petrified, and also was Dave. Well, we started to run back towards to tent. Stupidly I thought that if only we could get in the tent we’d be safe! Then the cloud hit us. It was like an explosion of sound and I fell over backwards and was covered with dirt. I remember wishing it would stop and almost immediately it did, and then Dave reached over to me and me if I was Ok. We got up and realized that there were trees all around us. In fact, we’d fallen down into a hole left by the roots of a tree and then other falling trees had covered us. Dave tried to climb out of the hole but it was too hot. Then, when we did get out we were met with such a scene of total devastation. Everything had happened so fast. When we set off it was difficult to breathe so we took our shirts off and wrapped them around our heads. There were flashes of lightning across the sky.

Int: Was it difficult getting out of the valley?

Liz: The ash was nearly a metre deep and it was so hot underneath you could only stay in it for a short period of time. Then we had to get up on a tree stump and take our shoes off and unroll our trousers, but within a few minutes they would be filled up again. It gave off a terrible smell-like rotten eggs. Anyway, we were really lucky. A falling tree could easily have crushed us. I wish now that we’d taken a radio with us, then maybe we would have had some warning. Even a couple of hours warning would have helped. We went back a few days alter and found the site where our tent had been. Thank goodness we fell in that hole instead of reaching the tent!

Int: A lucky escape indeed. Now in the studio we also have…..

Tapescript 7.