Unit 15

Section I

Task 1

Woman: I think they’re going to let us choose our work hours. I heard the managers

discussing it.

Man: Really? Choose our own hours? Like, any hours at all?

Woman: Well, not exactly. I think we can choose to start anytime between 8 and 10 in

the morning, and then work 8 hours. A lot of places are doing this now.

Man: Wow. When’s this supposed to start?

Woman: I don’t know . . . but I’m not sure I like the idea.

Man: Why not? It might be good.

Woman: Well, maybe for some people. But I think in our department, I’d make it

impossible to get anything done. What if you really needed someone, but they’d

already left? Everything would have to wait.

Man: Huh. That’s a good point. It’s probably better if we’re all here at the same time.

Woman: Exactly. I hope they decide not to do it.

Man: Well, you could say something, couldn’t you?

Woman: I’m not supposed to know! We’ll have to wait for the announcement.

Task 2

Man: Our office is so noisy—I can hardly get any work done. People are always

stopping by my desk and chatting. And the phone’s always ringing.

Woman: It must be hard to concentrate.

Man: Yeah. You can say that again.

Woman: Well, I know what you mean. Even in my small office, it’s noisy. And to

make things worse, it’s being renovated right now, so it’s even noisier.

Man: I wonder why they don’t let us telecommute. So many companies are allowing

that these days. I mean, we all have computers and e-mail, right? So we could do

everything at home and then just send in the work.

Woman: Yeah, we could. But my boss is kind of old-fashioned. He would never agree

to it, even though we’d all get a lot more work done.

Man: I think everyone should do it. No more interruptions. I’d love it.

Woman: Oh, so would I. No more morning traffic. No more suits and makeup.

Yeah . . .

Task 3

Man 1: You know, it seems like more and more guys in my company are getting time

off work when their wives have babies. Not just a couple of days, but like, several

weeks.

Man 2: Right. Most places used to just give maternity leave, but now a lot of new

dads get leave, too.

Man 1: Yeah. Even my boss took off for a couple of weeks when his wife had their

baby.

Man 2: I don’t know if my company does it. I mean, a guy I work with took some

time off when his baby was born, but that might have been his vacation. But still, I

think new fathers should be able to take time off work, don’t you?

Man 1: Oh, yeah. It really takes two parents to look after a new baby in those first

couple of weeks. Or, at least, so I’ve heard. (laughing)

Man 2: You know, maybe I should find out what my company’s policy is on this . . .

for the future.

Section II

Task 1

Emily: I like your jumper, Vince.

Vince: Thank you very much. It's cashmere.

Emily: Cashmere?

Katie: Is it?

Vince: Yes, it is.

Katie: Oh, look at you.

Emily: What is its designer?

Vince: Yeah. What? What's wrong? Why are you shaking your head?

Emily: Oh, it's just, it's so, you're such a sucker for designer names. It's really funny.

Vince: Yeah? It's quality. The designer's name means quality. I'm not gonna buy some

cheap thing.

Emily: That's absolute rubbish.

Vince: Why?

Emily: Oh, just because you buy designer doesn't mean it's quality.

Vince: Course it is.

Emily: The stuff I buy, it's quality, but it's probably about a tenth of the price that you

pay.

Vince: Really?

Katie: I agree. I mean you don't need to buy, you're always in fashionable stuff and

you always look absolutely great but . . .

Emily: You buy it for the name.

Vince: Yeah.

Emily: Not for… because of its quality.

Vince: No, but the name equates to quality.

Katie: But where's the name? How do we know that that's a designer, you know, it's a

plain jumper, Vince, I'm sorry but . . .

Vince: You don't need to know it's . . .

Katie: I've, I've got a cardigan that's just you know, exactly the same sort of

material . . .

Emily: Also of cashmere.

Katie: Looks cashmere—but it's quality. I wear it all the time. I've actually bought it

three times running 'cause I just know that I like that style—that suits me and you

know, done and dusted. I don't need to spend, however much I've got, I dare to even

think how much you spent . . .

Emily: No, it's not, it's handbags that people buy.

Vince: I don't have handbags.

Emily: You've got bags.

Vince: Yeah? Man bags.

Emily: That leather satchel bag that you bought, which was like what, five hundred

pounds or something . . .

Vince: That's great leather, have you felt it?

Emily and Katie: But five hundred pounds for a bag?

Vince: Yeah? That will last me 'til I'm like, getting my pension.

Emily: Oh no, but that isn't why you buy it.

Katie: Ah, but Vince, five hundred pounds, you could go on holiday for that.

Vince: Yeah? And I will.

Emily: And also there's no individuality. Like this, I really like this, you know like

those little charity, well charity shops but also those retro shops . . .

Vince: Urgh.

Katie: Ah, yeah.

Emily: You go in and you stuff round and you know that nobody else will have

anything like it.

Vince: How do you even stand to be in those places? You walk in and it's just funky. It

just smells like my grandmother.

Emily: It smells like clothes.

Vince: I mean how could you even? Oh, no . . .

Katie: They're not that bad. But I do, I do agree with Vince, I can't find anything that

ever, you know, there’s nothing ever, there's nothing plain there, everything is always

slightly original.

Emily: It’s not . . . Loads of places . . .

Katie: It doesn't suit me though. I can never find anything. I just want you know, your

standard things that suit me, things that look good.

Emily: It's so boring.

Katie: It's not boring. It's just something that you know I, I like. I know that it, I know

that it, you know, works for me.

Emily: But why not have something which has kind of got a bit of style to it. That you,

you buy something which on the hanger just doesn't, you know, it's, it's fabric, and

you make it into something yourself. So you're, you're stamping your own style onto

it.

Vince: So you're buying clothes and then you're spending more money to modify

them. Why don't you just buy them the way you want them to be.

Emily: Because it doesn't cost anything to modify them. You just put a belt round it or

put a few stitches in it.

Vince: Well, where do you find a belt? You have to pay for a belt.

Emily: What, a pound from another charity shop?

Katie: You are quite, you are quite creative, Emily. I don't know what I'd do, you

know, if I just had a plain top, I'd just wear it plain and simple, whereas you, you've

got a very creative eye and you're able to, you know think, OK, how would that work?

Would I add a certain accessory?

Emily: Everybody, everybody can do that, I mean I just think it's to do with how you

look at things. I mean, the way that you go and buy something which is manufactured

is just as it is makes me like urgh . . . Makes me seethe, I think it's so horrible—just

everybody you know had got that same bag, has got the same brand emblazoned on it.

Katie: And, you can find, you can find an equally good bag in somewhere for…you

know, a quarter of the price.

Vince: I don't think so.

Task 2

Rhiannon: So that grin says it all.

Kevin: Yep. Yeah, it came through, it came through.

Rhiannon: Wow.

Katie: It actually happened?

Kevin: Yeah, it totally did. I've got a huge amount of cash in the bank. Done.

Rhiannon: Wow, well done.

Kevin: I could, I could retire now. And I'd be fine. It's great.

Rhiannon: That's a proper turn around.

Kevin: It really, it really is. It's like from this time last year and now is just night and

day. It's just, I can't tell you how awesome it feels.

Katie: Are you relieved?

Kevin: Yeah, so much of myself I put into this thing and it's finally . . . I can see the

fruits of my labors right there.

Rhiannon: It's payback for not having had a weekend for like two years.

Kevin: Yeah. Yeah.

Katie: Yeah exactly.

Kevin: Yeah, I mean, but I like that, that's how it should be—that's the way—if you're

gonna pour yourself into a business then you've got to be willing to take that kind of

sacrifice. Weekends and everything.

Rhiannon: Yeah . . .

Katie: So are you gonna . . .

Kevin: That's the price you pay.

Katie: Are you going to use the cash or you going to just chill out, for . . .

Kevin: I don't know. I'll put it back in the business and we'll see what happens you

know, I'm gonna keep trying to make it bigger. Bigger and better. That's the way it is,

you know, bigger and better. Every time.

Rhiannon: Make sure you have a life at some point.

Kevin: What? You know, what’s the point? You know, I need, I wanna have, you know,

that money is my life. You know? I need that. And I'll retire a happy, happy man, what

can I say?

Katie: Wow, so things are going quite well for you then?

Kevin: Yeah, yeah.

Katie: I wish I could say the same for me. (Sighs)

Kevin: Oh, yeah.

Rhiannon: I heard.

Kevin: Yeah, that sucks.

Katie: I've just lost my job, but uh . . . I don't know.

Rhiannon: I'm so sorry. Nightmare.

Katie: I don't know what to do. What do I do? You know . . .

Kevin: Well I mean . . .

Katie: I've put up with them for five years. And now I've been made redundant. I just,

I hope I can find something else.

Rhiannon: Have you got a payoff?

Kevin: Yeah?

Katie: I did get a payoff. Yeah, I did get quite a nice lump sum, but still like I can't sit

still, I need to be working. I can't just take advantage of . . .

Kevin: You liked it, didn't you? Why don't you start your own business? You've got

this lump chunk, you can use it as deposit. Start your own advertising company. It'd

be great.

Katie: No, I'd be so rubbish at that.

Kevin: What? No, you wouldn't. You'd be amazing.

Katie: But where do you start?

Katie: (Shrugs) Well, that's what I asked myself. But here I am, it happens. You get to

know how to do it.

Rhiannon: Yeah, but there's no guarantees. I think you should just take some time.

Have a little think, maybe go away.

Kevin: But don't take too much time.

Katie: But I, yeah, how do I? I need to find another job, you know what? The

advertising company I worked for, it was a great company.

Kevin: Yeah.

Katie: And it was secure. I couldn't set up my own business. It's too risky.

Kevin: Yeah, but it gave you the contacts, and you need, you need to risk in order to

get any kind of payback.

Rhiannon: When did you last have a weekend?

Kevin: Oh, (Laughs) uh, um . . .

Katie and Rhiannon: Yeah, you can't remember.

Kevin: I can't remember, I can't remember.

Rhiannon: I had a weekend last weekend.

Kevin: Did you?

Rhiannon: Yeah.

Kevin: OK, and I'm sure it was great.

Rhiannon: And I went on a bike ride around the park and it was beautiful.

Kevin: That sounds wonderful.

Katie: Exactly, and you can cast your mind away you know, you can go away from

work and forget about it whereas running your own business—it's quite tough, you

could never take your, you know . . .

Kevin: No, you got to be on it. (Clicks) You got to be on it, all the time.

Katie: Exactly. I don't know if I could do that. I'd always worry about, oh, has this

been done or has that been done?

Kevin: Yeah, yeah. You do, you have to.

Katie: Or if it, if you haven't got one of your members of staff might be ill and then

you've got to step in and you've got, you know. Saturdays, you've got to be doing stuff.

Urgh, no, it's not for me. I couldn't do it.

Kevin: But you really are in control of your destiny. That's what you feel. You feel

like it is yours, you know?

Katie: I guess.

Rhiannon: Which is exciting but . . .

Kevin: It is really amazing.

Rhiannon: But pretty terrifying, too.

Kevin: Yeah, yeah.

Rhiannon: There's no like, I don't know I just really like the steadiness. It's you

know . . .

Kevin: Urgh.

Rhiannon: I feel lucky.

Katie: Will you always stay in charity work Rhi?

Rhiannon: Yeah. I'm lucky. It's good.

Section III

Voice-over: In Brighton you can find the Royal Pavilion, the magnificent seaside

palace Prince Regent George IV built for himself.

George loved eating, drinking and partying and the Pavilion was the ideal setting

to entertain guests.

The Prince was also very interested in the arts and architecture and the palace

reflects his tastes. The exterior shows Indian influences while the interior is just as

extravagant in an Oriental style very fashionable at the time.

The long gallery leads from the hall to the reception rooms.

In the banqueting room, feasts of up to seventy courses were served under the

spectacular chandelier.

The kitchen was very modern for its day; with running water and gas lighting.

George always employed the best French chefs!

After dinner guests could enjoy concerts or dancing in the music room. Or, they

might relax in the banqueting room gallery to play cards, drink and talk.

The bedrooms, too, are very richly decorated; this is the King’s apartment.

George’s brothers used the yellow bow rooms, while these rooms were added later by

Queen Victoria.

The building is surrounded by beautiful gardens in the Regency style.

The Royal Pavilion remains a splendid monument to the taste and creativity of

George IV.