AUDIO SCRIPTS
161
grown a lot from its creation back
in the 1950s. Today, the
headquarters are in London, and
the charity employs more than 250
staff all over the country. We do
everything we can to help every
child fulfill his or her potential, no
matter where they live. Thank you
for listening. I hope those of you at
the back could hear me. Are there
any questions?
A2:
Yes, do you think you could do the
same work, without the help of
your celebrity supporters? I
sometimes wonder if you are
playing on the ‘fan appeal’ of
celebrities to raise money for your
campaigns. Are they always good
role models?
S:
Hmm, now that’s a very interesting
and important question. Let me see
if I can give you a balanced
answer ...
LESSON 11.1 RECORDING 11.1
P = Presenter, N1 = Newscaster 1,
N2 = Newscaster 2,
N3 = Newscaster 3
P:
I’ve known about global warming
for at least 20 years, and to be
honest, I haven’t been very
worried about it. I understood the
claims about man-made global
warming, but I didn’t think it was a
big problem. They talked about a
temperature change of a few
degrees. That didn’t seem a
problem to me – in fact, I thought
it might make the UK a nicer place
to live. Maybe you did too.
However, also like me, I’m sure
you’ve noticed a significant
increase in news stories like these.
N1:
It’s official. According to
government statistics, this summer
has been the wettest one since
1929. It has rained every day since
the second of June.
N2:
The drought in the middle of the
US continues. There has been no
rainfall for 96 days, and
temperatures during the heatwave
have been ten per cent higher than
usual.
N3:
South-East Asia has experienced
the worst floods for 50 years, with
record-breaking rainfall in the
monsoon season. Today, the
United Nations said the
situation …
P:
In the past, I think I was ignoring
climate change. Now, I think I’m
seeing the effects of the change in
global temperature … but am I? Is
we will continue to improve this
transport service. A good example of
this is the new high-speed train line
which we are building. This train will
take only seven minutes to travel from
the city centre to the Olympic Park,
which is incredibly quick. During the
Olympics, all public transport in the
city will be free for people who are
part of the Games, for example the
athletes, the volunteers and the
spectators.
LESSON 10.4 RECORDING 10.10
S = Speaker,
A1 = Audience member 1
A2 = Audience member 2
S:
Good evening. Thank you for
inviting me here this evening to
talk about UNICEF, the
international children’s charity.
Now, what do you think of when
you think of UNICEF? A lot of
people get their image of UNICEF
from the news, or advertisements
on TV. Perhaps they think of
celebrities visiting children in
clinics or orphanages in remote
parts of the world. Actually, this is
only one aspect of the charity’s
work, and tonight I’m going to give
you more of an idea about the
work we do. First of all, I’ll say a
little about UNICEF’s history. Then
I’ll talk about UNICEF UK today;
I’ll tell you how it’s organized and,
finally, what it does. There’ll be
some time at the end for questions.
The United Nations was
responsible for the creation of
UNICEF in 1946, after World War
II, to provide food, clothing and
healthcare to European children in
need.
In 1953 the UN General Assembly
allowed UNICEF to extend its
work to children in need all over
the world, and in the UK it
became a registered charity a few
years later, in 1956. UNICEF UK
now works with children and their
families not only in the UK, but
also in more than 190 other
countries.
A1:
Sorry, could you speak up a little
please? We can’t hear you very
well at the back.
S:
OK, sorry about that. I’ll do my
best. Now let’s look at UNICEF UK
as an organisation. As I said, we
operate in more than 190
countries. And let me point out
that we don’t receive any funding
from the UN. We rely on voluntary
donations to fund our work. Our
headquarters are in London, where
most of our over 250 employees
are based. We also employ staff in
other parts of the UK. UNICEF UK
focuses on children’s issues here at
home as well as worldwide. Don’t
forget, UNICEF is the only
organisation working for children
recognised by the UN Convention
on the Rights of the Child, formed
in 1989, and here in the UK we
work to support UNICEF’s
campaigns for children’s rights all
over the world.
A1:
Speak up, please!
S:
Fine, fine, I don’t want to shout
though. Well, er, where was I? In
the final part of my talk, I’m going
to say something about what
UNICEF UK actually does.
Basically, we believe that every
child has a right to survive, grow,
and live up to their potential in the
world. Of course, most people
recognise that children in disaster-
struck areas, or areas where there
is conflict, need our help. But, and
I must draw your attention to this,
we work to promote children’s
rights here, too, at home, in
partnership with our schools and
local government. Of course, one
of our priorities is protecting
children in emergencies – after
natural disasters, for example.
Another important area is
protecting children from disease.
Every day, 17,000 children under
five die, usually because they
don’t get adequate health care or
life-saving vaccines. Another key
priority is the exploitation of
children.
A1:
Why don’t they give her a
microphone?
S:
So, how do we raise funds to
support these causes? Well, one of
the most important things we do is
call on our supporters to raise
awareness of our vital work. We
appoint people called Goodwill
Ambassadors, worldwide and here
in the UK, as well as celebrity
supporters who work with us on
specific campaigns. Another
important thing we do is work
alongside other organisations such
as schools, universities,
community groups and businesses,
who help us enormously with
fundraising and donations.
So there we are. To conclude, we
can say that UNICEF UK is more
than 60 years old now, and has
