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Lesson Thirty-Four
Section One:
Tapescript.
Listen to these people talking about videos.
I borrow videos every week. I can watch cartoons of adventures at any time and I can watch them over and over again. I never watch children’s programs on television any more.
My wife likes the video because she doesn’t speak any English. But I say, if she doesn’t hear English, how can she learn it? She needs to learn English to meet people and make friends.
Videos are ruining the cinema, of course. Too many people copy films instead of buying or borrowing them. There are too many pirates. Of course, more people can see their favourite films now. Videos are obviously cheaper than the cinema, but they don’t have the same effect, do they?
I watch the video every day while I knit—mostly old films, ice skating and pop videos. I used to watch television all the time—news, talk shows, soap operas—anything that was on. Now I can choose what I watch and when I watch it.
A lot of educational videos are made with government money and video is used by a lot of schools now. Videos can be used at any time of the day and they can be stopped and replayed. When I was learning to be a teacher we were filmed and we could see our mistakes. Of course some teachers just put the video on and let it do the work, but it can be extremely valuable in the classroom.
I use the video for three things: I record programs when I’m not at home and I watch them when I have time. At work we use videos for training new employees; and I hire films at weekends and my friends come to watch. It makes quite a nice social evening.
Section Two:
Tapescript.
Discussion:
Speaker A: Well, hunk is a verb. And it means to carry something, particularly something that’s heavy and difficult to move. So you can say something like ‘When I saw the men they were hunking the piano down the stairs.’
Speaker B: Actually, hunk is the cry made by an elephant, especially when it’s angry, or it’s trying to contact other elephants. The word sounds like the noise they make ‘hunk, hunk.’ So you can say, for example, ‘The elephants are hunking a lot tonight.’
Speaker C: No, no the truth is, hunk is a noun. And it means a piece of something, a big thick piece. So if you cut a thin piece of bread, that’s not a hunk. When you tear off a thick piece of bread, that’s a hunk. Today, for example, I had a big hunk of bread and cheese for my lunch.
Mark:
Tony: Whew. The disco wasn’t bad but I’m glad to escape from the noise. Aren’t you?
Richard: Ummmmm.
Tony: Richard, I’d forgotten. You’ve got a letter. Now where did I put it? There it is. Under the gas bill.
Richard: From my brother.
Tony: Good. How many brothers have you got?
Richard: Only one.
Tony: Name?
Richard: Mark.
Tony: Older or younger?
Richard: Much older.
Tony: How much?
Richard: Five years.
Tony: Get on all right?
Richard: Yes, all right.
Tony: Tell me about Mark. You must have a lot in common. Such as problems.
Richard: Well, when I have a real problem I usually discuss it with Mark.
Tony: And what is a real problem?
Richard: Money is one. But Mark never minds helping me out.
Tony: You say money is one problem. I suppose you mean there are others.
Richard: Well, yes. Of course there are. Friends and possessions. He knows who my friends are and I know who his friends are. But when we meet we hardly ever speak. His friends aren’t interested in talking to my friends. And my friends think his friends are boring and patronising.
Tony: Go on, Richard. You mentioned possessions. What about possessions?
Richard: I can never find my favourite cassettes. Mark and his friends keep borrowing them. I suppose Mark has a point when he says he can’t find his calculator. I use it whenever I can find it.
Tony: So ... if you were in real trouble, who would you contact first?
Richard: Mark, of course.
Gardening:
Chairman: Now Mr. Grant has a question, I think, on gardening. Mr. Grant?
Mr. Grant: Can the team please suggest any suitable gardening task that could be given to young children between eight and twelve years old.
Chairman: I usually get them to wash my car. But a gardening task, well, what do you suggest. Peter?
Peter: There’s a great tendency among some people I know to treat young children like slave labor. I don’t think you should. I think you should give them a job which is going to be useful to you, not one that you would object to doing yourself and, if possible, one which is going to be of some educational benefit to them. A job I would suggest is hand weeding.
Chairman: You must have thought about this, Jeff. What job would you give them?
Jeff: Well, I’d sooner have them eating ice cream. No, seriously, I like having young people in the garden. One thing that they enjoy doing, because they get very messy, is cleaning tools, you know spades, rakes and things like that. I mean you give a little boy an old rag to clean them with and he is so happy. Another job they love and which I hate absolutely is edging. You know, trying to give a shape to the lawn. They make a horrible mess of it cutting it smaller and smaller and giving it no shape at all, but they thoroughly enjoy it. The other thing that I like to give them to do is pot washing. They’re not so keen on that but I get them to wash the pots. But anything that’s going to get them messy, lovely!
Chairman: What do you say, Susan?
Susan: Well, I would say heaven help any young boy or girl who came into my garden because their life would be made a misery. The only way I would let anybody touch my garden is if I was in the garden with them and working alongside, so I think the only thing to do is, whatever you do, work with them and make sure (a) that it’s done properly and (b) that they’re happy while they do it.
Violence in Sport:
Three people are giving their opinions about boxing.
Speaker 1: When I look at a picture like this I feel ... hmm ... I feel ... I’m not really sure how I feel.
Interviewer: Disgusted perhaps? Horrified?
Speaker 1: No, no, I wouldn’t say that.
Interviewer: Are you excited, perhaps?
Speaker 1: Excited? No, no, not at all. What’s there to be excited about?
Interviewer: Well, a lot of people who go to boxing matches seem to be excited.
Speaker 1: Yes, I know. But I really can’t understand why anybody should do that sort of thing at all.
Interviewer: What? Go to a boxing match? Or box in one?
Speaker 1: No, the first. I ... I think ... well ... it’s hard to understand why people should want to earn their living by fighting, but I think I can. I mean, it’s the money, isn’t it? No, I meant going to a thing like that and watching it. I ... I just can’t understand it. That’s all.
Speaker 2: Well, before ... I used to be disguested by the idea of this sort of thing. Men fighting for money. Blood. All that sort of thing.
Interviewer: And now?
Speaker 2: Well, since I’ve started going to a few boxing matches with my boyfriend, I think I see something ... something else in it.
Interviewer: What?
Speaker 2: Well ... perhaps you’ll be surprised when I say this ... but I think there’s a real element of skill. Yes. Skill.
Interviewer: What kind of skill?
Speaker 2: Physical skill. Those men are really ... fit. And if you watch two good boxers ... boxers who know what they’re doing ... you can see the skill. The way they ... they ... the way they watch each other and wait for an opening. That sort of thing. It’s quite exciting, really. A bit like ... a chess game. Yes.
Speaker 3: To me it’s just disgusting. A brutal, disgusting spectacle. It ought to be banned. It sickens me ... the very thought of it sickens me.
Films:
Woman: Well, what did you think of the film, Margaret?
Margaret: Oh, I enjoyed it actually. But I do like musicals and I think Julie Andrews is wonderful.
Woman: Lovely voice.
Margaret: Oh, beautiful.
Woman: And a lovely face.
Margaret: Oh, she’s very very attractive.
Woman: I can’t think why so many people criticize her.
Margaret: Oh well, a lot of people do, but I think it’s a snob thing with a lot of people.
Woman: I’ve always enjoyed her films. Very well produced, too.
Margaret: Oh, excellent, yes.
Woman: Those lovely scenes in the Alps.
Margaret: Yes, where she was doing that number where she was dancing on the hills.
Woman: Mm, and that scene in the school. It brought tears to my eyes. What about next week then?
Margaret: Yes, what are we going to see next week? Do you know what’s on? I haven’t looked at the local paper to see what’s on next week.
Woman: Well, I’d better give you a ring about it.
Margaret: All right. I hope there’s another musical on.
Woman: Well, I believe there’s Guys and Dolls on, if I remember well.
Margaret: Really? Are they bringing that back again?
Woman: I believe so. But it’s on at the Odeon, on the other side of town, so it would involve quite a bit of travelling.
Margaret: Oh, yes, but I’d go anywhere to see Frank Sinatra.
Woman: I’d forgotten he was in it, so he is. Well, let’s try and see that if we can.
Margaret: I have seen it before, of course, but they’re always bringing it back.
Woman: What do you say, shall we meet for tea and then take in a matinee?
Margaret: Yes, that’s a good idea. Where shall I meet you?
Woman: Now what about the Odeon cafe. Four o’clock?
Margaret: Fine. Which day?
Woman: Tuesday?
Margaret: No, I can’t make it Tuesday. How about Thursday?
Woman: Yes, Thursday is all right. My husband likes to go off to his club on Thursday.
Margaret: So Thursday, four o’clock, have tea and then go and see Guys and Dolls. Well, that’ll be nice because I do like Frank Sinatra. So I’ll see you on Thursday. I have to be off now. Goodbye.
Woman: Bye.
Section Three:
Tapescript.
Boat Trip:
Angela Rogers in describing a boat trip which she took with her husband down the Nile.
It was the summer of last year when we went. It was a special package holiday which included three days in Cairo, and a week cruising down the Nile. It sounded lovely in the brochure. Relaxing, luxurious, delicious food—all the usual things. And the boat looked nice in the picture. In fact, when we got there, and on the boat, it was exactly the opposite of luxurious. It was positively uncomfortable. It was too small to be comfortable. And too hot. The only air-conditioning was from the wind, and inside, in the cabins, it was too hot to sleep, and the dining room was stifling.
My husband and I paid the special rate for the best cabin. I’m glad we didn’t have to stay in the worst one. The cabins were very poorly equipped, there wasn’t even a mirror, or a socket for a hairdrier, or even a point for the electric razor. There was a shower, but the water pressure wasn’t high enough to use it. The cabin was badly designed as well. There wasn’t enough room to move. The beds took up three-quarters of the space.
The brochure also talked about the mouth—watering French cuisine available on board, but you could hardly call it food. It was boring, and practically inedible. There was nothing to do, really. There was a table-tennis table, but one bat was broken. In the daytime the desks were so crowded, there wasn’t even enough room to sit. We did stop now and then for a swim, but who wants to swim in that filthy river? I certainly didn’t.
Interview:
Professor Ernest Taylor is a sociologist and the author of a number of books. He was interviewed recently on CBC radio by Norman Blunt.
Blunt: Now Professor, in your latest book Granny Doesn’t Live Here Any More, you suggest that Granny is a problem, and she is going to become even more of a problem in the future. Am I correct?
Taylor: Yes, in fact it’s not only Granny who is a problem, it’s Grandfather, too, and old people in general.
Blunt: Now, is this a peculiarly British phenomenon? It seems very sad that parents should give so much of their lives to bringing up their children and then, when they become old, be regarded as a problem.
Taylor: Our research was mainly carried out in Britain. In many countries it is still regarded as quite natural that a widowed mother should go to live with one of her married children, but in Britain, certainly during the last thirty or forty years, there has been considerable resistance to this idea.
Blunt: Now why do you think this is? Surely having a Granny about the place to take care of the younger children, and give a hand with the housework, can take a lot of pressure off a young wife, can’t it?
Taylor: Yes, I think this is true. But remember the old people themselves are often totally opposed to the idea of going to live with the young family. And modern houses and flats are very small; much smaller than the sort of homes people used to live in.
Blunt: And when Granny gets very old, then the situation becomes ever worse, doesn’t it?
Taylor: Yes, as long as old people are able to look after themselves, the system works quite well. But as soon as they need anything in the way of care and attention, the situation becomes very difficult indeed.
Blunt: Well, presumably a point comes when old people have to go into a nursing home or something similar.
Taylor: Yes, but it’s not as simple as that. Because of improvements in medical science, life expectancy is increasing all the time. The birth rate has fallen. This means that an ever smaller working population is having to provide for an ever larger number of old people, in need of care and attention. The number of places in old people’s homes provided by the State is strictly limited. There are private nursing homes, but the cost is way out of reach of the average family.
Blunt: And how do you see the situation developing in the future?
Taylor: Well, obviously a lot of money is going to have to be spent. But it’s difficult persuading people to do this. There aren’t many votes for policians in providing nursing homes for elderly.
Blunt: You don’t see a reversal of this trend, with Granny going back to live with the family.
Taylor: I think this is most unlikely.
