has prescribed. At the moment it’s something like ￡5 per item. So you pay for the medication but the consultation with the doctor doesn’t cost you anything. It’s completely free as long as you’re a resident here. You’re going to be here for three years, aren’t you? So there shouldn’t be any question of you paying anything to see the doctor. So that’s one less problem to worry about.
Look, Mrs Sutton. If you want, I’ll sit with your daughter for half an hour if you want to go down to the health centre to register. It’s no trouble really, don’t worry.
MRS SUTTON: Are you sure you wouldn’t mind? That would really help me a lot. I’ll ask them if
they can send someone round later to see Anna. I think I’ll try the Dean End Centre.
MRS SMITH: Good idea. Don’t worry about Anna. MRS SUTTON: Right. I’ll be back as soon as I can.
Script 8
MAN: WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN:
Good morning, please take a seat. How can I help you?
Well, I’m thinking of buying a new car and I’d like some advice. Sure, yes. Had you got any particular make in mind?
I’m interested in a Lida – I’ve had one before and liked it. But I haven’t really made up my mind.
Sure. We’ve got various models. Umm, right. What about the engine size? Any ideas? The one I’ve got at the moment’s a 1.2 litre engine but I find it a bit slow on long journeys. I’d like a bit more power this time... a L4 should do. I don’t think I need a 1.6 or anything.
Right. Well I think the model you’re looking at is the Max. Here’s a picture. Oh, yes... have you got one in?
Yes. I’ll take you to have a look at it in a minute. I’ll just get a few more details. Er... Is there anything else to do with the engine? What kind of gear change do you want? I presume you’d want a manual?
I’d want automatic – I’ve never driven a car with manual gears.
Right. Well now, here’s the colour chart for the Max. Have you given that any thought? This blue’s very popular at the moment.
Yes, it is nice. I like blue. What’s it called? ‘Royal’? Yes.
But actually, I think I prefer this lighter shade here – ‘Sky’. Yes, that’s popular too. I think I’ll go for that.
You might have to wait a week or so for that colour, but I assume that’d be OK? Oh yes, fine.
Well, we can go outside and you can have a good look at one, and perhaps take it out. But first, can I just ask you about finance? The cash price is going to be somewhere in the region of seven and a half thousand. How would you like to pay? Are you in a
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MAN: WOMAN: MAN:
WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN: MAN:
WOMAN: MAN:
WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN: MAN: WOMAN:
position to pay cash, or would you need credit? I’d like credit provided the terms are reasonable.
Well you can discuss that with my colleague in a moment; we have various arrangements. And would you be interested in us taking your present car as part exchange? Yes.
OK, fine. So I’ll just need some details from you and then we can do a valuation... Is that OK? Fine, yes.
Could I have your full name?
Wendy Harries, that’s H-A-double R-I-E-S. And is that Mrs... Miss... Ms...? It’s Doctor, actually
Oh, right. And your address? 20 Green Banks.
IS that ‘Green’ spelled as in the colour? Yes, that’s right. OK. Alton.
Is that O-L-T-O-N?
Not quite, it begins with an A, not an O. Oh yes, that’s in Hampshire isn’t it? That’s right.
And do you know your postcode? Yes. It’s GU8 9EW.
Do you have a daytime phone number?
Well, I work at the hospital but it’s a bit difficult to get hold of me. I can give you a number just for messages, and then I’ll get back to you when I can. Is that OK? That’s fine.
It’s 0-7-9-8-2-5-7-6-4-3.
Fine. And about the car you have now, what make is it? It’s a Conti.
Do you know the year or the model name?
I think it’s 1996. and it’s called a Lion – like the animal.
Then it must be 1994, because they brought out the Fox after that. Oh right, yes.
Mileage? Roughly?
I’m not sure. I know it’s less than seventy thousand. OK. What colour is it? It’s grey, metallic grey.
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MAN: WOMAN: MAN: Right, and one last thing – what sort of condition would you say it’s in?
I’d probably describe it as reasonable. Do you need to see it? it’s parked outside. Not at the moment, no. Perhaps you could call in one day next week ...
Script 9
STUDENT: Well, my group has been-doing a project on how household waste is recycled in Britain. We were quite shocked to discover that only 9% of people here in the UK make an effort to recycle their household waste. This is a lower figure than in most other European countries, and needs to increase dramatically in the next few years if the government is going to meet its recycling targets.
The agreed targets for the UK mean that by 2008 we must reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by 12.5%, compared with 1990. And recycling can help to achieve that goal, in two main ways: the production of recycled glass and paper uses much less energy than producing them from virgin materials, and also recycling reduces greenhouse gas emissions from landfill sites and incineration plants.
As part of our project, we carried out a survey of people in the street, and the thing that came up over and over again is that people don’t think it’s easy enough to recycle their waste. One problem is that there aren’t enough ‘drop-off’ sites, that is, the places where the public are supposed to take their waste. We also discovered that waste that’s collected from householders is taken to places called ‘bring banks’, for sorting and baling into loads. One problem here is taking out everything that shouldn’t have been placed in the recycling containers: people put all sorts of things into bottle banks, like plastic bags and even broken umbrellas. All this has to be removed by hand. Another difficulty is that toughened glass used for cooking doesn’t fully melt at the temperature required for other glass, and so that also has to be picked out by hand.
Glass is easy to recycle because it can be reused over and over again without becoming weaker. Two million tons of glass is thrown away each year, that is, seven billion bottles and jars; but only 500.000 tons of that is collected and recycled.
Oddly enough, half the glass that’s collected is green, and a lot of that is imported, so more green glass is recycled than the UK needs. As a result, new uses are being developed for recycled glass, particularly green glass, for example in fibreglass manufacture and water filtration. A company called CLF Aggregates makes a product for roads, and 30% of the material is crushed glass.
For recycling paper, Britain comes second in Europe with 40%, behind Germany’s amazing 70%. When recycling started, there were quality problems, so it was difficult to use recycled paper in office printers. But these problems have now been solved, and Martin’s, based in South London, produces a range of office stationery which is 100% recycled, costs the same as normal paper and is of equally high quality.
But this high quality comes at a cost in terms of the waste produced during the process. Over a third of the waste paper that comes in can’t be used in the recycled paper, leaving the question of what to do with it. One firm, Papersave, currently sells this to farmers as a soil conditioner, though this practice will soon be banned because of transport costs and the smell, and the company is looking into the
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possibility of alternative uses.
Plastic causes problems, because there are so many different types of plastic in use today, and each one has to be dealt with differently. Pacrite recycles all sorts of things, from bottles to car bumpers, and one of its most successful activities is recycling plastic bottles to make containers which are used all over the country to collect waste.
The Save-a-Cup scheme was set up by the vending and plastics industries to recycle as many as possible of the three-and-a-half billion polystyrene cups used each year. At the moment 500 million polycups are collected, processed and sold on to other businesses, such as Waterford, which turns the cups into pencils, and Johnson & Jones, a Welsh-based firm, which has developed a wide variety of items, including business cards.
Well, to sum up, there seems to be plenty of research going on into how to re-use materials, but the biggest problem is getting people to think about recycling instead of throwing things away. At least doing the research made us much more careful.
Script 10
CUSTOMER: RAILPERSON:
Hello. Um my family and I are staying here in Trebirch for a week or two and we wanted to know about the train services. We’re hoping to do a few local trips.
OK. Well, I can give you lots of details about all the trains going from Trebirch in the South West. This leaflet will be very helpful but I can tell you some of the main things. We’ve got two main train stations in the town. King Street is for local commuter lines and regional services.
What about trains to London? I’ll need to go there on business for one day.
Then you need to go to Central Station – that’s for all the national services. There are regular trains to London. They leave Trebirch every half hour on weekdays and every hour at weekends. It takes about two hours, a bit longer on Sundays. You’ve got a choice of first and second class and there’s a buffet car – though refreshments are included in the cost of a first class ticket.
Ah right. Um, and have you got any information on different ticket types?
Yes. There’s a range of ticket prices depending on when you travel and when you buy your ticket. There’s a standard open ticket which doesn’t have any restrictions. This can be bought in advance or on the day. You can also get various discounted tickets. A popular one is called the Supersave and, er, this is OK for travel after 8.45. Then there is the Special ticket, which is valid for travel after 10.15. The Special tickets are also valid for travel at weekends. The cheapest tickets are called Advance and you have to buy them at least six days ahead. Only a certain number are available and you have to make seat reservations for these. Thanks. And are there lots of places to go to around here?
Oh yes. You can enjoy many days out. Um there’s the Merthyr Mining Museum, which is only half an hour from Trebirch by train. Your children will find it just as fascinating as any theme park and they can ride in the original miners’ lifts and on
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CUSTOMER: RAILPERSON:
CUSTOMER: RAILPERSON:
CUSTOMER: RAILPERSON:
CUSTOMER:
the coal trains. There are special excursion tickets which include entrance fees. Mainline trains also offer direct services to Bristol, where you can visit the docks or spend a great day out with the children in the zoo, which is set in the parkland that used to surround the old castle. Er, special family awayday fares are available for this service now during the school holidays. Er, alternatively, you can be in Birmingham in only an hour and a half, where there’s lots to see and do including the new and internationally- acclaimed climbing wall built on the site of the old aquarium. We will also be running a special service to Newport when the new science museum opens next year, as we anticipate a lot of visitors in the opening weeks. I’d advise you to call early to book your tickets. Is that OK? Yes, thanks.
Script 11
JANICE: JON: JANICE: JON: JANICE: JON: JANICE: JON: JANICE: JON: JANICE: JON: JANICE: JON: JANICE: JON: JANICE: JON: JANICE: JON: JANICE: JON: JANICE: JON: JANICE:
Hello... Flagstone.
Oh hello; is that Flagstone Properties?
Yes that’s right. Flagstone here. How can I help you?
Hello. I’m ringing just to make enquiries about renting a house. My name's Jon Anderson. Yes, Mr Anderson. What sort of thing were you looking for? Two-bedroomed house with garden.
Well… yes, sir, that shouldn’t be any problem… just to let you know that our main areas, the main areas we deal with, are the city centre itself... City centre... uh-huh. And the north suburbs.
Oh well... we were most interested in the Northern areas actually. Right… yes… What sort of price were you thinking of? Well… could you give me some idea? Certainly. It really ranges from ￡250 per month. Only ￡250? Yes, to about ￡500 depending on a number of different factors. What does it depend on?
Well, obviously the quality of the area. And then whether there’s a garden. Well, as I said, we’d want a garden. And a garage pushes up the price.
Right... well, we wouldn’t necessarily need one. I think about ￡350 a month would be our limit.
OK. Well… would you like to have a look at a couple of properties, sir? Yes, that’d be great.
Looking at our files... I think we’ve got two which might suit you ... Hang on. I’ll just get a pen. Right.
OK. Well, there’s one on West Park Road which is ￡325 a month.
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