Scripts
I = Isabel; M = Marek Part 1
I: Hi, Marek. How was your weekend? M: OK. And yours? What did you do? I: I went for a walk. It was great! M: Who did you go with?
I: With my boyfriend, Diego. He’s a football player. M: Oh. Where did you go?
I: By the river. It was really beautiful. M: That sounds good. Part 2
I: And you? What did you do? M: Oh, I played football; cleaned the flat. I: Who did you play football with? M: With some guys from work. We play every weekend. I: Really? Where did you play? M: In the park. There’s a football pitch there. I: Did you win? M: Of course. I scored five goals! I: Ha! I don’t believe you!
6
Group discussion Scripts
I = Interviewer; W = Writer
I: We are very pleased to have you here, George. Shall we start from the beginning? Could you tell us about your childhood?
W: Yes, of course. I was born in a small town in the northeast. My father was a truck driver and my mother worked part-time in a hospital. I have a brother and a sister. We all went to the same local school.
I: You wrote your first novel just one year after you left college, didn’t you? W: Yes, that was in 1993. I was only 22 then. And the next year I went to Brazil. I: Is that period of your life related to your later career in any way? W: That’s a good question. You see, it was my experience there that inspired my film Lost in the Forest, although I didn’t actually make that film until several years later, in 2008.
I: When did you start making films? W: In 2003. That was after I gave up farming. I: Farming? W: Yes. I stayed in Brazil for 7 years, during which I met my wife. After we came back we bought a farm in the south of the country. A kind of experiment, really. I: That sounds interesting. Why did you give it up then?
W: It was very hard work. I was also busy working on my second novel …
7
Further practice in listening Short conversations Scripts Conversation 1
W: Hi, John. I’m back. Did any of my friends call me? We were supposed to meet at the bar for drinks, and then go to the cinema. But they never showed up. M: Sorry. I’ve been home since I came back from the office and the phone never rang once.
Q: Where does the conversation probably take place? Conversation 2
M: Not all great people are famous; take Jack Kilby as an example. W: Right. Jack Kilby invented the microchip, and received the Nobel Prize. But only a small part of the public knows of him. It’s very surprising. Q: What does the woman think is very surprising? Conversation 3 W: I don’t quite understand what made Charlie Chaplin such a popular movie star. M: Are you serious? Look at Charlie Chaplin’s works and compare them to other films of the time. He was so original that people were really surprised by his films. Q: What does the man say about Charlie Chaplin’s films? Conversation 4
W: What’s the greatest invention of the last few hundred years?
M: Let’s see. The computer, the car, the phone? No, I think it’s the light bulb. This
8
invention has changed the world more than anything else. Q: Which invention does the man think changed the world most? Conversation 5
W: Our play last night was a great success. We’re all proud of Bob.
M: Yes. But if Bob had remembered all his lines, his performance would have been more natural.
Q: What does the man mean?
Long conversation Scripts
W: Hey, Bob, I’m taking care of my cousin this weekend. Can you think of any fun things for us to do?
M: You guys should go see the new Harry Potter movie! W: That’s a great idea! J. K. Rowling is such an inspiration. I just watched an interview with her on BBC news. Did you know her first book was rejected by 12 different publishers? Everyone told her to get a different job, and that she wouldn’t be able to make any money by writing children’s books.
M: Yeah, it’s hard to believe that once she was really poor but now she’s so wealthy. She came up with the idea for Harry Potter at a café in London … no, wait, I think it was a bookstore in Manchester … right?
W: Haha, almost! It was actually on a train between London and Manchester. But she did write in cafés a lot. She could only write when her baby daughter was sleeping, so
9
she took her on long walks around the neighborhood to get her to fall asleep. She would usually end up in a café and write as much as possible before her baby woke up again.
M: Did J. K. Rowling say what she’s going to write next in her interview? I can’t wait to see what she will write after her Harry Potter books!
W: No. She keeps her future plans a secret. Personally, I hope she writes more magic stories, with flying horses and lots of animals!
M: Not me. I hope she works on more serious material. I’d love to read stories with historical settings and big battle scenes!
Q1: What does the man suggest that the woman do this weekend? Q2: Where did J. K. Rowling come up with the idea for Harry Potter? Q3: What are J. K. Rowling’s future plans? Q4: What are the two speakers mainly talking about?
Passage 1 Scripts
Stephen Glenn is a famous research scientist. When he was interviewed by a newspaper reporter who asked him why he was so much more creative than the average person, he responded that it all came from an experience with his mother that occurred when he was about two years old.
He had been trying to remove a bottle of milk from the refrigerator when he lost his hold on the bottle and it fell, spilling milk all over the kitchen floor. When his
10