Listen To This1lesson 19

—Good morning. Can I see Mr. Johnson, please?
—Have you an appointment?
—Yes, at half past ten.
—What's your name, please?
—McDonald, Jane McDonald.
—Ah, yes. Mr. Johnson's expecting you. This way, please. Mr. Johnson's room is on the next floor.


—What does your friend do for a living?
—He's one of those people who give legal advice.
—Oh, I see. He is a solicitor, you mean.
—Yes. That's the word I was looking for. My vocabulary is still very small, I'm afraid.
—Never mind. You explained what you meant.


—What shall we do this weekend?
—Let's go for a walk.
—Where shall we go, then?
—Let's go to the new forest. We haven't been there for a long time.
—That's a good idea. I'll call for you in a car at about half past ten. Is that alright?
—That'll be splendid. See you tomorrow, then. Goodbye.


—You have some brown, suede shoes in the window at four pounds. Would you show me a pair in size six, please?
—Oh, what a pity. We have no size six left in that style. But we have a pair in slightly different style.
—Can I try them on?
—Yes, of course.
—I like these very much. How much are they?
—They are exactly the same price. Four pounds.
—Good. I'll have them, then.


—Excuse me, but I really must go now.
—Oh, must you? It's still quite early.
—I'm terribly sorry, but I have to be at home by midnight. My wife will be very worried.
—I quite understand. What time does your train go?
—At 11:15. Dear me, it's gone 11:00. I'll have to ask you to drive me to the station.
—That's alright. But you must come again soon.
—That's most kind of you.


—You are up early this morning.
—Yes. I've been out and bought a paper.
—Good. Then you can tell me what the weather's like.
—It's freezing.
—Oh, dear, not again.
—Don't worry. It's not nearly as cold as yesterday.
—Thank goodness for that.


—Excuse me, can you tell me where the "James Bond" film is showing?
—Yes, at the Palace Cinema.
—Do you happen to know when it starts?
—I don't know when it starts, but I can tell you how to find out. It's here in the local paper.
—Can you show me which page it is on?
—Here it is. But I don't know which performance you want to see.


—Why aren't you eating your breakfast?
—I don't feel very well.
—Oh, dear, what's the matter?
—I feel feverish. I'm shivering.
—Go and lie down. I'll send for the doctor.
—Look, I hate causing any bother. I prefer working it off.
—Certainly not. You must go to bed and keep warm.


—Excuse me, can you tell me the way to the swimming pool, please?
—I can't, I'm afraid. I'm a stranger here, you see. But why not ask that man over there? He'll be able to tell you, I'm sure.
—Which one do you mean?
—Look, the one over there, on the other side of the road.
—Ah, yes. I can see him now. Thank you so much.


Announcer l: This is Radio 2 and you are listening to the 6 o'clock news. Here are the main points: Texas is having its worst storms for fifty years. Many people are homeless ... and damage to property is estimated at over two million dollars. Today's Irish budget has introduced the highest increase in taxes since 1979. The film Living at Home, has received the Best Film of the Year Award. This is the first British film to win the top award for four years. The rise in the cost of living has been the lowest for six months.
Announcer 2: More news later. And now for the latest sound from The Freakouts.


Mike: (confused) Look, Jenny. I don't understand what's going on. You said your sister was arriving at 7:30. It's 8:30 now.
Jenny: I'm sorry, Mike. I don't understand either. Here's Helena's telegram. Have a look at it.
Mike: Arriving Heathrow Tuesday 19:30. Can't wait to see you. (sarcastic) Can't wait to see you. Hmmm. I can't wait to see her. Jenny, where's she coming from? What airline is she traveling on? What's the flight number?
Jenny: I don't know, do I? This telegram is the only information I have.
Mike: Never mind, Jenny. Let's have a coffee. We can sit down and think about the best thing to do.


—Have you ever been chased by a dog, Keith?
—No, I haven't, but I have been chased by a bull.
—Really?
—Yes, it was a couple of weekends ago—I was ... er ... I was going for a walk out in the country following this footpath and it went through a field, and I was so busy looking out for the footpath that I didn't notice that the field was full of young bullocks. And the trouble was I was wearing this bright red anorak, and suddenly the bulls started bucking and jumping up and down and started chasing me.
—What did you do?
—Well, I was pretty scared—I just ran for the nearest fence and jumped over it.
—Actually I do know somebody who once got bitten by a dog while he was jogging.
—Was he? How did that happen?
—Well, he was running past a farm when suddenly this sheepdog came out and started barking at him, so he tried to kick it out of the way but then suddenly the dog jumped up and bit him in the leg. I think he had to go to the doctor to make sure it wasn't infected.


My grandfather was called Charles, and my grandmother was called Ann. They lived in Manchester. My grandmother died last year, aged ninety-eight. They had three children, named David, John and Alice. They are, of course, my father, my uncle, and aunt. My father is called David, and he is the eldest of the three. My mother is called Mary. My father was an engineer. He's retired now. My father's brother, my uncle, as I said, is called John. He's married to Heidi. They have two children. The oldest is called Simon, and the younger one is called Sally. My uncle John is in the army, serving in Germany. Simon is married to a girl called Diana. They have two children, Richard and Fiona. My auntie, Alice, married a man called Henry Jones. They moved to Australia when I was very young. I don't remember them very well.
My husband's name is Andy. We have two children, Ida aged two and Tom who is six months old. We're working in China now, and may visit Aunt Alice next year.


I was born in Scotland. In Glasgow to be exact. In the early 1950s and I suppose like everybody else, I went to school. Primary school, then secondary school. The only difference really is that I always went to the same school from when I was aged five, right through until I was aged eighteen. So there wasn't really much to relate about that part of my life. I suppose it was much the same as everybody else's. I lived in my hometown, Paisley, all that time. But then aged eighteen, like most British people of my sort of class and so on, I left my hometown and moved away to university. A lot of British people don't go to their local university—they go to another one which is further away. Possibly because they'd rather not stay at home with their parents. So I left my hometown of Paisley and I went to St. Andrews on the east coast of Scotland. There I studied English and then Modern History, and so for four years I studied those subjects and was very happy. Later I left St. Andrews with a degree in Modern History, and not really knowing what I wanted to do. I wasn't sure whether I'd go on to do some research or whether I'd like to be a teacher. So I took a year off to think about it. And then one year later I decided I wanted to be a teacher and I went to Teacher Training College. And this time yet again it was in another part of the country. In Newcastle in the northeast of England, so there I trained to be a teacher and I qualified as a teacher of History and English. And after that year I began work—real work for the first time in my 1ife. I suppose this would be around 1977.
So then I went to work in a comprehensive school in southeast England outside London in a place called Basildon. And there I taught History, but I found out I really disliked both the place, Basildon, and the school. It was a terrible school. So I thought I don't want to be stuck here the rest of my life. I want to try something different. So I did something completely different. I went to er ... would you believe, the Sudan. And I ended up in Omdurman which is near the capital city of Khartoum in Sudan. And I taught English, I taught English to foreigners—to, in fact, teachers of English in a Teacher Training College. That went on for a couple of years. And then I returned to Britain where I did my Master's degree in Applied Linguistics. This time, again, in another part of the country. In Wales, in North Wales, at a place called Bangor. After graduating, and getting my master's, I went and I taught at Lancaster University. I taught Algerian students who were going to come to British universities to study.
Then I went, for quite a long time, to Yugoslavia, to Lubijiana to be exact. And I taught ESP. ESP means English for Special Purposes—in particular I taught Scientific English in a Chemistry Department connected to UNESCO, U-N-E-S-C-O. And so I worked there for five years and then I moved, but still in the same city. I moved to another job, in medical English, in a hospital—which was also connected with UNESCO.
After a total of seven years in Yugoslavia, and I left and I ended up here where I am now in China, teaching at Yiwai.


Doctor Sowanso is the Secretary General of the United Nations. He's one of the busiest men in the world. He's just arrived at New Delhi Airport now. The Indian Prime Minister is meeting him. Later they'll talk about Asian problems.
Yesterday he was in Moscow. He visited the Kremlin and had lunch with Soviet leaders. During lunch they discussed international politics.
Tomorrow he'll fly to Nairobi. He'll meet the President of Kenya and other African leaders. He'll be there for twelve hours.
The day after tomorrow he'll be in London. He'll meet the British Prime Minister and they'll talk about European economic problems.
Next week he'll be back at the United Nations in New York. Next Monday he'll speak to the General Assembly about his world tour. Then he'll need a short holiday.