AUDIO SCRIPTS
174
LESSON 5.4 RECORDING 5.3
And now some news for all you tourists who
are planning to go to the beautiful city of
Beauciel for a vacation. The results of a survey
about the transport system in the city have just
been published. They make interesting reading.
As many people know, Beauciel has serious
transport problems. According to the survey,
there are too many cars in the city, traffic jams
at peak times, insufficient car parks, too much
noise, especially from motorbikes, and slow,
unreliable buses. Residents also mentioned
on-street parking, which slows down traffic,
especially the buses.
For most people in the survey, that’s over 80
percent, traffic jams are the biggest problem.
At peak times in the morning and evening,
there are often serious traffic jams when
people enter and leave the city. Over 75
percent of the residents consider there are
too many cars in the city.
Many residents, about 70 percent of those
surveyed, feel the city needs more car parks.
There is only one car park near the city centre,
and that is always full early in the morning.
The other car parks, dotted around the city,
are generally small and insufficient for the
number of cars.
Many residents, roughly 60 percent in the
survey, mentioned the unacceptable noise
levels, not just from cars but also from
motorcycles. This is having a bad effect on
people’s quality of life.
Just over 45 percent drew attention to
the problem of on-street parking. There
are too many private cars parked on the
streets. This causes problems for people
who have to park on the roads such as
ambulance drivers, taxis, school buses, road
maintenance vehicles, and so on.
The unreliable bus services were criticised by
40 percent of the residents. Many complained
also about the time it takes by bus to travel
across the city from east to west. The journey, a
distance of about five kilometres, usually takes
more than an hour.
The survey results have come at the right time.
The city planners are now considering how to
solve the problems and have set up a website
where people can give their opinions and voice
their complaints. That’s all from me. I’ll be back
again tomorrow morning at 11 o’clock.
LESSON 5.4 RECORDING 5.4
F = Francoise, K = Kirsten, D = Daniel
F:
OK, I’d like to move on. But first, let me
recap, please. We’ve talked about having
bicycle lanes. We think it’s a good idea and
we’d like to discuss it at the next planning
meeting. But Kirsten, you’re not convinced
it’s worth doing, right?
K:
Well, I know it’s been tried in other cities
and hasn’t really worked.
F:
So, just to confirm, you won’t support the
proposal if it goes to a vote.
K:
Exactly.
F:
Right. Now what about our biggest problem?
How to get from the harbour to the city
centre. It took me almost an hour yesterday to
get there. It’s not good enough, the journey’s
only three kilometres, and the bus was
stopping every five metres. It’s so frustrating,
especially when the weather’s hot. What do
you think, Daniel? What’s the answer?
D:
Mmm, it’s a big problem getting from east to
west, no doubt about that. In the long term,
we’ll need to have a tram system or build
a ring road. But either solution will cost a
lot of money, and there’ll be environmental
problems. What do you think, Kirsten?
K:
You’re right, a ring road or tram system,
they’re long-term solutions. Do we need
to spend time discussing them? I think we
should focus on a short-term solution. I’d
like to have more exclusive bus routes, and
more buses for that matter. And let’s get rid
of on-street parking on the busy routes.
D:
Well, they’re interesting ideas. Right, Francoise?
F:
Yes, very interesting. A better bus system
is definitely worth considering. But still,
I’d like to discuss the ring road proposal
at the next meeting. If we could build that
ring road, a lot of cars would go round the
city instead of through it. And that’d greatly
reduce traffic congestion. OK?
D:
Well, OK. I suppose you’re right.
F:
OK, do we essentially have agreement, then?
K:
OK
F:
Right, I’ll now sum up. We talked about bicycle
lanes and agreed to discuss this proposal at our
next meeting. But Kirsten is not in favour of
them. We think a short-term solution could be
to improve the bus system, have more buses
and stop on-street parking on some routes. And
we’d also like to discuss a long term solution
at the meeting, building a ring road which will
take cars round the southern part of the city.
Everyone happy with my summary?
K:
Yeah, fine.
LESSON 6.1 RECORDING 6.1
J = Jenny, E = Erika, P = Paul, M = Michael
J:
Now, if everyone’s got a coffee, I think
we should begin. Has everyone read this
month’s book and seen the film?
P:
Yes, sure.
E:
(less positively) Yes.
J:
Well, Michael, I suppose as you chose this
book for us to read, you should start us off.
Why did you choose it?
M:
Yes, well … OK. I chose it because it is a
classic book by Jane Austen, which I read at
school but couldn’t remember, and a film
about which I think people will have strong
opinions. There have been several film and
TV versions of the story, but I was interested
in this one because the director has set the
film in the modern day. I’m always interested
in modern-day versions of films. Sometimes
they work really well, such as the Leonardo
Di Caprio version of Romeo and Juliet.
Sometimes they don’t. I loved the book and I
enjoyed the film. It was funny and the acting
was great but I can imagine that a real Jane
Austen fan might disagree.
P:
I definitely disagree. I thought it was
dreadful! The novel is a brilliant piece of
literature. I couldn’t put it down. I can’t
believe I haven’t read it before. The film,
though, is just a lightweight Hollywood
comedy. What did you think, Jenny?
J:
Well, I’m a fan and I have read the book
several times but I enjoyed reading it again.
I agree with Paul about the film. The main
problem for me was the characters. Elizabeth
was OK but they changed Darcy’s character,
and that spoiled it for me. But, the great thing
about a film like this is that it will make a
lot of young people aware of Jane Austen.
People who would never watch a historical
costume drama. Some of them may now
go to their library and get the original novel
out. It might open their eyes to something
wonderful and, if it does, then it was
worthwhile. Erika, what did you think? You
hadn’t read the book before, had you? It’s a
real page-turner, isn’t it?
E:
Not for me, I’m afraid. It’s not my type of
thing. I just couldn’t get into it. It was really
dull, the language was old fashioned and
I found it hard going. The characters were
really annoying and the story was quite
tedious. I think the book is overrated. I think
all classic literature is overrated. However, I
enjoyed the film a lot more. mainly because I
could relate to the characters and understand
what they were saying. Also, because it was
aimed at young people, the film was well
paced and kept me interested right to the
end.
P:
I can’t believe we’re talking about the same
book. I found it light and easy to read. Yes,
the ending is predictable but only because
writers have been copying Jane Austen’s
ideas for the last two hundred years!
J:
Erika, can I suggest that you watch the 2005
version with Keira Knightley in it. It is much
closer to the original and it might make you
appreciate the story more. I’ve got the BBC
series on DVD too, with Colin Firth. It’s five
hours long but it is riveting. Time goes by so
quickly while you’re watching it.
E:
I don’t think I could cope with five hours
but I’ll watch the Keira Knightley version. I
really like her.
LESSON 6.2 RECORDING 6.2
1
I really enjoyed the film
The Pursuit of
Happyness
, starring Will Smith. It’s a true story
about a man who overcame a lot of problems
such as homelessness, and finally became
a millionaire businessman. Although Chris
Gardner, who it is based on, is rich, he wasn’t
famous at the time, so it didn’t matter too much
if Will Smith looked or sounded like him. The
most important thing was that Will Smith was
really believable in it. I think it’s his best role
ever. For me, the message of the story is that, if
you try hard enough, you can succeed. Chris
Gardner helped to make the film so, if some of
the events or facts are different from his book, I
assume he doesn’t mind. I read the book after I
had seen the film, and I preferred the film.
2
In terms of visual impact, I think I’d have to say
Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
with excellent
performances from Michelle Yeoh and Zhang
Ziyi, two of Asia’s greatest actresses. This movie
has breathtaking fight scenes and contains
beautiful landscapes. The cinematography is
outstanding and I think it won an Oscar for art
direction. I also loved the beautiful musical
score, and especially the use of the cello.
The film was based on a novel by novelist
Wang Dulu, but I can’t say which I preferred
as I haven’t read the book. The film was a
Chinese, Hong Kong, Taiwanese, American co-
production directed by Ang Lee. The dialogue
is in Mandarin with subtitles and in my opinion
that version is much better than the version
with English voiceovers.
