21.5 Faults and remedies

Woman: The trouble with education in Britain, I think, lies with the teachers. I don’t think teachers get nearly enough training in actually how to teach rather than the subject. I think they’re too serious, too academic, they’re not imaginative enough. And that means that there’s not enough excitement in the classroom for children to get interested in the subject.

Man: Yes, I agree. I think there’s too much theoretical teaching given and not enough practical education, with the result that pupils are far too busy studying for exams to have time to learn about life itself and how to, how to live in the world.

Woman: Mm. I think all teachers should be at least 25 before they start teaching. I think they should be forced to live in the outside world, rather than go from the classroom to the university and back to the classroom again.

22.1 Setting a scene

Extract 1

It was early afternoon, and the beach was almost empty. It was getting hot now. Most of the tourists were still finishing their lunch back at the hotel, or taking their afternoon siesta in the air-conditioned comfort of their rooms. One or two Englishmen were still lying stretched out on the sand, determined to go home with a good suntan, and a few local children were splashing around in the clear shallow water. There was a large yacht moving slowly across the bay. The girl was on board. She was standing at the back of the boat, getting ready to dive. Jason put on his sunglasses and casually wandered down towards the sandy beach ...

Extract 2

Jacqueline got out of the bus and looked around her. It was typical of the small villages of that part of the country. The houses stood in two long lines on either side of the dusty road which led to the capital. In the square, the paint was peeling off the Town Hall, and some small children were running up and down its steps, laughing. On the other side, there were a few old men sitting outside a cafe playing backgammon and smoking their pipes. A lonely donkey was quietly munching the long dry grass at the foot of the statue that stood in the centre of the square. Jacqueline sighed ...

22.7 Memories

Well, we met at a party in London. You see I’d just moved to London because of my job and I didn’t really know anybody, and one of the people at work had invited me to this party and so there I was. But it was one of those boring parties, you know everybody was just sitting in small groups talking to people they knew already, and I was feeling really bored with the whole thing. And then I noticed this rather attractive girl sitting at the edge of one of the groups, and she was looking bored too, just about as bored as I was. And so we started, um, we started looking at each other, and then I went across and we started talking. And as it turned out she’d only just arrived in London herself so we had quite a bit in common - and well that’s how it all started really.

ACTIVITIES (following Unit 22): ESKIMOS

A: Well it’s got two big wheels one behind the other, and there’s a kind of metal frame between the wheels that holds them together. And there’s a little seat above the back wheel that you can sit on, and above the front wheel there’s a sort of metal bar that sticks out on both sides. And you sit on the seat you see, and you put your hands on this metal bar thing – and the whole thing moves forwards – it’s amazing.

B: What makes it move forward, then ?

A: Ah well in the middle you see, between the two wheels, there are these other bits of metal and you can put your feet on these and turn them round and that makes the wheels go round.

В: Hang on - if it’s only got two wheels why doesn’t the whole thing fall over ?

A: Well you see, um, well I’m not sure actually ...