English Recordings

Good evening, everyone. I have the final programme for our expedition to Costa Rica. I’d like to tell you about the three different projects that we are running there.
Before I go on, though, let me tell you that we will be leaving on the 6th of April and we will be coming back on the 10th instead of the 20th of July. I hope that won’t be a problem for anyone.
Now, the first project involves cleaning up the beaches in the east of the country. This is home for some rare species of turtles and we’re going there to do our best to protect them. The second project is in the capital, San Jose. There we will be working in the national zoo, planting trees in a new park to improve the animals’ natural habitats.
The final project is in one of the national parks. This is an area of rainforest, which was destroyed, but now the Costa Rican government wants to restore it. We will be planting trees and recording the animal and plant species that we will find there.
Has anyone got any questions on any of that? Right, next … [fade]

OK, class, settle down. Now today we are going to carry on looking at ancient Egypt. Last time we talked about …? …. their kings …. that’s right. Jonathan, who were called Pharaohs? …. that’s right. We said that they were the richest and most powerful people because they controlled the land and the economy of the country and made … what? ... the laws, right.
Now, can you guess what was of great importance in ancient Egypt? Hmm? The River Nile, exactly. Why? Because people depended on that for food and transport.
What about women in Egyptian society? What was their position? No, quite the opposite. They were equal to men ... that’s very interesting, isn’t it? They had the right to do business, own land and get a divorce if they didn’t get along with their husbands. Amazing, huh? They could also get a job in rich homes as nannies or at temples as singers, dancers or musicians. Boys and girls learned how to read and write, studied religion and arithmetic, either at school or at home, and some girls even became doctors!
Now, if you open your books at page 67, we could look at ….. [fade]

I'm William Bailey. I'm eleven and a half. I'm Scottish. I live in a small village called Aberdeen. I have a lot of hobbies.I like to play sports, especially football and tennis, but I don't like golf. I also love listening to music in my bedroom.
I'm in year 7 . My new school is called Albyn School. It's small but beautiful. I have a lot of friends there.

walk
run
jump
swim
fly
cut
push
pull

We walk together.
I can run fast.
He can jump very high.
He can swim.
Superman can fly.
Cut the paper, please!
I push the wheelchair for her.
Can you push the rock?
The horses pull the carriage.

I have two questions:

The first concerns the dates of delivery of the reports.

The second, it is about the work with mass media that are not in the area of intervention of the project but they are important for national public advocacy. Can we work with these media?

Examiner: We have been talking about an adventurous person and now I would like to ask you some more general questions relating to this topic.

DESCRIBE some of the risky activities which people do

Student: The first thing that springs to mind is climbing mountains such as Everest which is something I would absolutely never do. I can see why people would want to do that – there is the satisfaction of getting to the top, however it is fraught with danger and there are so many things that could go wrong. Other risky things that people enjoy doing are things like caving or potholing which involves going underground. I suffer from claustrophobia so this is something I would not consider doing. I didn’t use to be but I am such a coward now that even skiing seems like a dangerous thing to do. A British actress died recently after she fell on the ski slopes so this proves that it is indeed dangerous.

EXPLAIN why people are willing to risk their life mountain climbing, parachuting etc Student: When you do activities such as these your body releases adrenalin, which can be addictive. People who do lots of these things are often referred to as adrenalin junkies. This means they are addicted to the feeling that you get when you do such activities. You get on a high when you have finished the activity and it is similar to the feeling you get when you take drugs I imagine. Personally, I wouldn’t want to risk my life mountain climbing or jumping out of an aeroplane, however I can appreciate the reason why people want to do it.

ASSESS whether taxpayers should be responsible for paying for rescuing people who have got into trouble doing risky activities like mountain climbing

Student: This is a tricky question for me to answer because on the one hand it could be argued that it is irresponsible for people to do these kinds of activities and get into danger and then expect the taxpayer to rescue them if they encounter a problem. However, my sister enjoys doing such things therefore if she were to get into trouble and needed mountain rescue then I would want her to get whatever help possible. Maybe policies should be introduced which mean that people could not do such things without having insurance which would cover them in the event of any accidents, however this would be extremely difficult to monitor.

CONSIDER whether life now is more or less risky than in the past

Student: Personally, I believe that life is significantly riskier now than in the past. Firstly, because of the increasing number of vehicles on the roads this has made travelling by car much more dangerous. Secondly there are a lot more opportunities for people to travel to foreign countries, for example many students now take a gap year before they go to university and this involves travelling to dangerous countries on their own and there have been many instances of young people being killed whilst on gap years. Thirdly, I think life is riskier because it has become more competitive. This means that people are doing more and more dangerous things to try and compete with each other. People are not satisfied with doing something simple like going for a walk nowadays, they have to be hot air ballooning or trekking through Peru in their spare time.

Describe an adventurous person

How do you know this person?
Why do you think this person is adventurous?
How do you feel about this person?

Student: The first person that came to mind when I read this question is my friend Michael who I met seven years ago at work. On the one hand, he could be described as completely unadventurous as he has not passed his driving test yet, however on the other hand I would describe him as extremely adventurous because of something that he did a few years ago and that was cycling from Lands End, which is the most southerly point in the United Kingdom to John O’Groats, which is the most northerly point in the United Kingdom. I see him as daring because most people who make up their mind to do something like this would plan it meticulously and make sure that they had comfy hotels to spend the night in to recover from the day’s cycling, but not Michael. No, he decided not only to put his body through the arduous task of cycling hundreds of miles every day, but also to camp in a tent every night. To me this indicates a person who loves adventure whereas I would have made sure that I had a luxury hotel with a hot shower and a breakfast prepared for me every morning rather than having to wake up and make my own breakfast. The first few days were extremely tough for him and he telephoned me and said ‘What am I doing?’ I admire him tremendously for doing this because he refused to give up and kept going despite having to endure horrendous weather, an extremely uncomfortable tent that he had to put up every night when he reached his destination and a very long journey and he spent most of it cycling on his own. Most people think about doing such things, but when it comes down to it they don’t have the courage to actually do it. Words are cheap and it is easy to say ‘I could do that’, but it is much harder in reality to actually do it. I doubt whether Michael would do it again, but I still think he is an adventurous person for doing it in the first place and that is an admirable quality.

Examiner: We have been talking about a radio programme and now I would like to ask you some more general questions relating to this topic.

COMMENT on whether TV programmes are better than radio programmes Student: That is a sweeping statement and it is impossible to say whether TV programmes are better than radio programmes. Certainly, there are some TV programmes, which are infinitely better than some radio programmes however, the reverse is also true. I have seen some absolute rubbish on TV and because there are now so many TV stations and because of the credit crunch there is not as much money to spend on making quality TV programmes. It would be fair to say that there are good TV programmes and there are good radio programmes.

CONSIDER the qualities which somebody needs to be a good radio presenter Student: Being a radio presenter requires many different qualities; however, it depends on the type of show they are presenting. For example, if you are working on a music show you need to have an extensive knowledge of music, the latest bands etc. However, if you are working on a talk show with a phone in, that means people can phone in to the radio show then you need to be a good communicator and have excellent interpersonal skills. I think being a presenter on this kind of show would be very tricky because you might get rude people phoning in and you have to be careful that they do not swear or say anything libellous on air.

EXPLAIN why radio is becoming less and less important

Student: Because it is now possible to get satellite television, when people are abroad they can watch TV programmes from their own country whereas in the past it was only possible to get radio stations from your own country. People would depend on the radio for the latest news whereas now it is possible to get the news on the Internet.

COMPARE the importance of national and local radio

Student: National radio is essential for news, which is relevant for the whole country for example major events and things which affect us all. Local radio can keep us informed about traffic jams and local events, which might be considered insignificant for the national news.

SPECULATE on whether radio will still be important in the future

Student: I personally believe that there will always be a place for radio, however I think most people will use internet radio in the future. The advantages of internet radio are that people can choose to listen to the programmes when they want as many programmes are available as podcasts. I cannot see radio disappearing, however I can envisage that many radio stations will close down in the near future as a lot of them get their money from advertising and companies are reducing their advertising budgets during the present difficult economic situation.

Describe a radio programme you have heard recently

What was it about?
When did you hear it?
Why did you like it and how did it influence you?

Student: I listen to the radio a lot but most of the time I have it on in the background and am not listening to it intently. However, there was a new radio show on Sunday evening which I read about it in the newspaper and I made a point of listening to it. It was presented by Russell Brand, a comedian, and Noel Gallagher, from the group Oasis. They are both massive football fans and did a two-hour show talking about football. To be honest I was a bit sceptical about the programme and didn’t think it would be very good because Noel is a singer and guitarist not a radio presenter; however, I was pleasantly surprised by it. It was extremely entertaining and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Basically, they told lots of anecdotes. These anecdotes were on the whole really funny. This show was a pilot show, that means it was like a test show to see if it would be popular and if enough people listened to it, then they would get the opportunity to make more of these shows. It was broadcast on a radio station called Talksport, which is a British radio station specialising in talking about sport obviously. They do not play any music on this station. During the day, I tend to listen to music programmes on Radio 1, however in the evening I like to wind down by listening to talk programmes on radio stations such as 5Live, Radio 4 or Talksport. Sometimes these kinds of shows can get irritating because the presenters talk rubbish or say things to be controversial. To be honest when I am listening to such programmes a lot of the time I am distracted and reading the paper or doing something else, but this programme with Russell and Noel I found compulsive listening and had to stop reading my paper to focus on it. I don’t think it influenced me in any particular way. It made me laugh and took my mind off other things, which is good for relaxing and relieving stress. I will certainly look out for further shows and will definitely listen to them.

Examiner: We have been talking about a TV programme and now I would like to ask you some more general questions relating to this topic.

EXPLAIN how TV can influence people in both a good and a bad way

Student: Many crimes have been committed as a direct result of people watching violent TV programmes or films. This is a particularly worrying way in which TV can have a negative influence on people. There are however educational programmes which can have a positive influence on people such as programmes about our health and well-being.

ASSESS whether parents should stop their children from watching some programmes

Student: In the UK there is a watershed of 9pm. This means that before 9pm programmes should not contain to many swear words or too much violence. If parents allow children to stay up after the watershed, then they need to monitor the programmes the children are watching to see if they are suitable. I think that parents have a responsibility to censor the programmes that their children watch. This is good parenting.

CONSIDER whether it is a good thing that we can see such violent news on our TV every day

Student: I watched the news today and it was full of stories of murders and violence. I was horrified and consider it a bad thing that we are exposed to such things day in day out. I am also of the opinion that violence breeds violence. People copy what they have seen on television so I would be happy if our news was censored.

SPECULATE on the future of TV.

Student: With satellite television and the internet we are now able to get TV 24 hours a day and from all the continents. Because of this, however, I personally feel that the quality of TV programmes has diminished. In the past the BBC was respected for the quality of its programmes and they were sold all over the world. Nowadays because of 24-hour TV more programmes need to be made and they are not as good as they used to be. I think this reduction in quality TV programmes is a trend that will continue.

CONSIDER whether it is fair that people can now often download music from the internet for free, without paying the writer or performer anything

Student: I totally disagree with people being able to download music from the internet and the writer or performer gets nothing. To me it is stealing. You cannot just walk into a supermarket and take something without paying for it so why should you be allowed to have music for nothing. Record companies should work with the internet to make it impossible to download music without paying for it. This would then solve this problem.

CONSIDER whether it is a good thing that “western” music seems to be popular all over the world

Student: For language students I think western music is a useful tool for learning a language. A large proportion of western music is sung in English, therefore for learners of English listening to songs in English can contribute to their language acquisition. However, if the popularity of western music means that indigenous music is lost then the dominance of western music is a bad thing.