Natural speed and loud voice, please. Thank you in advance. Please, do not read the name of the characters (A and B).
A: Did you watch Newsline last night?
B: No. It had already ended by the time I got home.
A: What did you do last night?
B: I went to sleep as soon as I'd finished dinner.
A: When did you get started in the news business?
B: It was in 1988. It's funny, but I'd never given any thought to journalism when I was in college.
A: Had you worked at all before then?
B: Not much. I 'd just graduated.
A: Dean is a great athlete, isn't he?
B: Yes. By his last year in high school, he 'd already won some awards.
A: Have you seen John this morning?
B: No. He 'd left on an assignment before I got here
***
A: You're a casting director. Can you explain what you do?
B: It's simple. I hire actors to work in movies.
A: Did you start out as a casting director?
B: Oh, no! I was an actor! But after five years, I still hadn’t gotten any good acting roles, and I wanted to stay in the business.
A: How did you get your first casting job?
B: I didn't get a part! At that time, I hadn’t given up on acting yet, and I was still looking for roles. The casting director said, "I don't want to hire you to act, but why not do casting with me?"
A: So that's when you changed careers?
B: Yes. I really hadn’t thought about casting until she suggested it, but it sounded like a great idea.
A: How important is luck for a new actor?
B: Preparation is more important than luck. A few years ago, I hired someone who is now very famous. When I hired him, he hadn’t taken many acting classes, so he was lucky to get the job. But by the time I offered him his second job, he had studied a lot more. That preparation made him successful.
