Headway New
Optional listening tests tapescripts Test 1 M = Man W = Woman M So what do you think is the biggest wonder of the modern world? W It’s got to be the Web – the World Wide Web. Definitely. I love it. I don’t know how I lived without it. I think it is extraordinary! You can find all that information without leaving your desk. Don’t you love it? M No, not really. It’s OK. It’s useful but I don’t think it’s that great. The first problem is that you’ve got to spend a lot of money on a computer. And you can’t trust everything on the Web – the information isn’t always true or accurate. W I know that – it’s like everything, you just have to be careful. You know, just check the information on another website or – if you’re really worried – do the old-fashioned thing and go to a library. M Oh yes, I still prefer to use reference books if I’m looking for facts. I use the Web to do things like compare the price of airline tickets but I would never buy anything on the Web; I don’t think it’s safe to give your credit card number to strangers. W Of course it is! I’ve never had a problem, and I buy nearly everything on the Web – clothes, CDs, holidays, food. Why waste all that time in shops when you can order everything online and they deliver it to your home? M No, as I said, I don’t want to put my credit card details on the Web. You don’t know who the other person is – they can say anything and it’s impossible to check if they’re honest. And I suppose I like going out to the shops and seeing what I’m spending my money on. W If it was something special, I’d probably …
Test 2
I didn’t start swimming seriously until I was in my mid-thirties. I didn’t like any sport – I still don’t – but swimming is the least awful. You don’t get all hot and dirty like you do with most sports, and it’s not a team game so it doesn’t matter if you’re bad at it. I started because I knew I had to do more exercise if I’m to stay fit and healthy as I get older. I go to the adults-only session at the local swimming pool – it’s from 6-8.30 every morning. It’s a great time to go – there are no children shrieking and jumping in the pool, just middleaged people like me quietly swimming up and down. Also, I don’t have time to think about it – I just get up at 6.15, drive to the pool and start swimming at 6.45. I usually swim for 40 minutes – it’s boring but it’s better than doing something like running. I never go at the weekends – only Monday to Friday. The equipment is minimal, so you don’t have to spend too much money: all you need is a swimming costume and a towel. It’s not very pretty but I wear a swimming hat because the chlorine in the pool made my coloured hair go a bit green. I sometimes wear goggles to protect my eyes but I find them rather uncomfortable.
Test 3 M = Man W = Woman W Have you seen the latest Harry Potter film? M No, I haven’t. But I have read it – the kids were so excited about the book that I wanted to see what the fuss was about. The children went to see it at the cinema last weekend but I was working. I assume they enjoyed it – they didn’t say much about it. Have you seen it? W Yep, I have. I really enjoyed it – I’ve been reading the books with the kids so I went to the cinema with them. There were quite a lot of adults there without children, which surprised me.
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M No, it’s not that surprising, is it? A lot of adults read them anyway – the publishers even did an edition with special covers so grown-ups weren’t embarrassed to read them in public. W That makes sense – I enjoyed them, which is more than I can say for some of the stuff I’ve read with the kids. Anyway, I think they translate well from book to film. M Yeah, and they’ve got some good actors in them – Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, and that one who died … What’s his name? You know, the tall one, thin face … he was one of the teachers. W I know who you mean but I can’t remember his name. Old man who drank a lot? Yes, I know exactly who you mean. He was the headmaster in the first film, wasn’t he? Anyway, I agree – I think they got the right actors for the parts. I hate it when you see a film of a book and nothing and nobody is as you imagined it. M Did you see Sense and Sensibility? It was done in the 1990s … the lead actress was meant to be a young girl and I am sure she was over 30. Ridiculous! It spoilt the whole film for me – I couldn’t believe any of it. W I didn’t mind that – I can believe anything if the actors are good. The one I hated was The Horse Whisperer. Did you see it? I went with a friend and we laughed so much we cried. M Did other people ask you to be quiet …
Test 4
Hi, my name’s Enzo. I’m an Italian banker and I live with my wife, Lorna, in L.A. I do most of the cooking because I love good food and Lorna isn’t very interested. We do a lot of business entertaining at home – it’s usually quite formal and I like to be sure that the food is perfect. I spend a lot of time thinking about the menu and I go to the market to buy the freshest ingredients I can find. I think supermarkets are OK for things like toilet paper but I wouldn’t buy food in them. We order wine over the Internet so there is always plenty in the house. If the guests are American, I do an Italian meal but if they are Italian, I’ll do something more international – possibly Japanese or Thai. While I’m busy in the kitchen, Lorna looks after things like tidying the house and setting the table – she’s very creative so it always looks beautiful. We don’t expect people to bring us a gift but it’s nice if they do – occasionally someone brings something like flowers or wine. Usually people send us a thank-you note after the meal – it’s a bit old-fashioned but we appreciate it.
Test 5
Moving on to the south now. The weather is still mixed with lots of warm spring sunshine inland and cold windy weather along the coast. Away from the sea, temperatures will reach 24 degrees – although it will be quite a lot cooler if you’re going into the mountains. The cold wind coming from the sea means temperatures along the coast won’t go above 16 degrees. Overnight temperatures will drop sharply with a low of 8-9 degrees in most areas. Tomorrow’s forecast is for rain moving in from the west with strong winds and unsettled weather to follow.
Test 6
How do I feel about living here? I like it more and more. When I first arrived in 2002 I didn’t know many people so it was a bit lonely – but that didn’t last long because everyone is so friendly. These people know how to enjoy themselves! In fact, I seem to be out all the time – the night life is incredible – and exhausting. I visited all the famous places in my first month and now I’m exploring some less famous places in the city. I’ve found some fantastic architecture in back streets. There are some real surprises if you
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look carefully. The other things I enjoy visiting are the museums and the art galleries. The working hours are different from my last job in Berlin. Here people start work at about 9.30 and everyone leaves the office for a long lunch. They start again at about 4.00 in the afternoon and work until 8.00 in the evening. People tend to eat dinner quite late – you go to a restaurant at maybe 10 or 11, which means I don’t usually get home until the early hours of the morning. The other thing that is different here is that family life is very important – you see three generations of the same family out for meals together and it’s normal for people to live with their parents until they find a partner. I can see the benefits of this but I’m more used to the northern European way of doing things where you leave home when you go to college or start work and never live at home again. How long will I stay here? I hope I’ll be here forever.
Test 7 I = Interviewer S = Sylvia I Sylvia, before you tell me about your unusual life now you are retired, tell me what you did when you were working. S I was a district nurse. I spent my days visiting patients in their homes. I did it for twenty years. I And you retired from being a district nurse … S … nearly three years ago. I And can you tell me what you’ve been doing since then? S Well, sadly, the first thing that happened was that my husband died – it was a terrible shock, he was only sixty. I was in my fifties and I quickly realized that I had a lonely and boring future if I didn’t do something – all my children had left home – and that’s when I saw the advertisement for the RV. I RV? S Recreational vehicle – you know, a mobile home – your whole home in a van – bed, table, shower, toilet, kitchen – they are all there with a driver’s seat at the front. Anyway, I saw the advertisement and something clicked in my brain – I just decided that I would buy it and start travelling. I What, using it for holidays? S No, using it to live in. I was fifty-eight, fit and healthy and I decided to see the world. I sold my house and all the furniture … books … basically anything I didn’t need, I got rid of. I What did your children think? S They thought I’d gone mad and tried to stop me but I didn’t care – they weren’t the person sitting alone in a big family house with nothing to do. I And since then? S Since then I have been travelling in my home. I’ve got my dog with me for company, and I go wherever the mood takes me – I never have a proper plan for my route. I visit my children but I don’t need to stay in their houses – I just park outside and embarrass them. … I go to the Mediterranean for the winter … I meet up with other retired people who live in RVs. I So you’re not the only one? S No, there are lots of us. We arrange to meet in different places. It’s fun – we get together and enjoy each other’s company but then we move on to the next adventure. I So no regrets? S No, absolutely none. I’ll do this until I’m too old and silly to do it any more. I Sylvia, thank you.
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Headway New
Optional listening tests tapescripts Test 8 P = Radio presenter Dr = Dr Karen Jenkins P In the studio today my guest is Dr Karen Jenkins and our topic is memory, forgetfulness, and ways of improving your memory. We’ve had lots of calls from people telling us how they remember things. The old favourites include tying a knot in your handkerchief, writing on the back of your hand, or simply keeping a list of things you have to do every day but perhaps our expert can add to this list; Dr Jenkins? Dr They are all good ideas if they work. There is no right or wrong way of remembering things – the important thing is to find what helps you. Some people seem to be born with good memories but most people need a bit of help. P What can they do to help themselves? Dr One idea is to develop a habit of associating or connecting things in their minds so they are building lots of links – a network – and not trying to remember everything separately. You make a mental picture and connect it to what you want to remember. P For example? Dr A lot of people can’t remember names so when they meet someone new they should create a mental picture that goes with the person and their name. Your name is John London: your first name is easy because it’s the same as my husband’s but I remember your second name by seeing a map of the London underground on your face. It sounds mad but it does work. P Indeed. Moving quickly on … You said some people naturally have better memories than others? Dr Yes, some people have a natural talent but, interestingly, in places where people don’t read and write people usually have very good memories. P Why? We often remember things by writing them down. How can people who can’t write have better memories? Dr Because they can’t write it down! Someone who is illiterate – they can’t read or write – has to keep a lot of information in their mind because they can’t record it in writing – and they can’t read information from other people. If someone tells them something, they have to remember it. P Yes, that does make sense. We have some callers waiting and I think the first one has a question about memory and getting older. Hello?
Test 9
Save the Children is an international children’s charity dedicated to making the lives of children safer, happier, and healthier. The charity listens to children and works with them to find longterm answers to their problems. Children around the world live with many different challenges. This is reflected in the range of work done by the charity: helping child workers in the developing world, sending medicine and food to places that need them, supporting schools and working with children to develop HIV and AIDS awareness are just a few examples.
Test 10 P = Radio presenter J = John (caller) P We’re talking about collectors and collecting this morning. On the line we’ve got John from Bristol. John, hi. What’s your hobby? J First of all, it’s my job, definitely not a hobby: I study people and collecting. You could say I collect collectors. P Oh yeah. So what does that involve? J I’m a psychology student and I’m studying collectors and what they collect. Most people like particular things and may have more than
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one of them but that doesn’t mean they’re all collectors. For example, I like ties so I buy more than some other young men. However, there are some people who are obsessed with ties and have hundreds of them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, like Imelda Marcos. Imelda Marcos? Er yes – but she bought shoes, not ties. She had thousands of pairs of shoes. She really is a good example of an obsessive collector – she didn’t need all those shoes so they were fulfilling some other need in her. Come off it! She just liked shoes! It is more complicated than that. At its simplest level people collect because it is something to do – it fills their time. They enjoy finding things to add to their collections, they meet other collectors so they are part of a community. If they have a good collection, this gives them an important position in the group. It’s all quite primitive. What do you mean, ‘primitive’? You know – like the biggest lion in the group or the strongest monkey. The king or queen of the collecting group is the person who has the power – a collector is given power in their group by the size of their collection. That’s rubbish. I think collectors are boring people who don’t go out enough. That is absolutely not true. Many collectors are fascinating people who spend their whole lives working on their collections. Some of the great museums and art galleries around the world are there because someone had an obsession and put together a magnificent collection. And collecting something like Star Wars toys is exactly the same. Mmm interesting but our next caller is on the line. Heather collects glass bottles. Heather?
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Test 12
I went to the house when Mr Wilkins telephoned the police station to complain about his neighbours, Mr and Mrs Stewart. This is the fifth time I have been called to the address this month. When I arrived at 7.15 p.m., Mr Stewart was in the street while Mrs Stewart was in their house throwing his clothes from a window and screaming at him about his drinking and gambling. Mr Stewart admitted that he was drunk. He begged me to talk to his wife before turning and shouting that Mr Wilkins had ruined his marriage with his complaints. I warned him that I would arrest him if he continued shouting. I asked Mrs Stewart to allow her husband back into their home but she refused saying that she wished she had never married him. On hearing this, Mr Stewart became violent and threw a piece of the gate at his wife. I then ordered him to accompany me to the police station where he was kept overnight.
Test 11 I = Interviewer, L = Lisa I Lisa, tell me about your childhood. L I am the youngest of three children. My two brothers were a lot older – 8 and 10 when I was born so it was like being an only child. I Why do you say that? L Because my brothers were older, I spent a lot of time on my own. My parents worked full-time and my big brothers were always off doing something. I think my parents thought my brothers were babysitting but obviously they weren’t interested in dragging a little girl about with them. So at home I was on my own most of the time. I went to school of course but I wasn’t sociable. I Were you lonely? L I suppose some children might have been lonely but I wasn’t. I was quite a cheerful child and I enjoyed my own company – I still do. I had a lot of freedom because my family were too busy to really notice what I was doing. That sounds bad, doesn’t it? But in fact I’m glad I was left to bring myself up. I’m very independent – and that must be something I learned as a child. I And what about now? What is your relationship with your family now you’re in your forties? L It’s OK. I see my parents a few times a year – they are both retired but they are still very hardworking and spend a lot of time doing charity work. I usually see my brothers for dinner if I’m in London. We get on well as adults and I think that may be because our childhoods were quite separate. In fact, my brothers still argue and compete with each other like children – there’s a lot of sibling rivalry between them. I And what about your own children? How old …
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