Unit 7
Task 2
An interview with Miguel
Interviewer: What was your life like when you were growing up there? Miguel: Well, when I was growing up in the jungle from six, seven years old,
my dad train me, took me fishing, hunting, canoeing and that kind of things, so basically, I was trained to survive in the jungle.
Interviewer: So how did you get your first school, then, to get your
education?
Miguel: Well, I didn’t speak Spanish at the time, so I traveled for four or five
days in a canoe from my village to the closest city, which is called Pucallpa.
Interviewer: And there you were taken in by a Peruvian family, there, weren’t
you ?
Miguel: Yes, that’s right, yes, they gave me a place to stay and food in
exchange for work, so I work during the day and went school at night.
Interviewer: And you taught yourself Spanish and you then went on to
further education in Lima.
Miguel: That’s right.
Interviewer: How did you live when you in Lima?
Miguel: When I was in Lima I was seventeen years old and I couldn’t find
work’cause I didn’t have any skills and also because I was an Indian. That didn’t help at all. So, I was on the street for two months, you knew, around three in the morning, they used to throw the food away, you knew, so that’s how I survived for a couple of months, but later on I found some missionaries and I think they felt sorry for me and they offer me a place to stay and a job, so much 1987 to 1989 I studied theology and linguistics for three years, and I finished in 1990-and that’s how my life started.
Interviewer: And you then got a scholarship to study in Texas, didn’t you, and then a scholarship to study in Oxford…
Miguel: Right.
Task 3
Sally: Where are you from, Geoff?
Geoff: Well, it’s difficult to say really, because we moved around a lot
when I was a kid.
Sally: Oh, why was that?
Geoff: Well, basically because my parents couldn’t agree where to live!
My father wanted to live abroad. He liked warm climates, you see. But my mother preferred Britain.
Sally: Oh, I see! Where were you born then?
Geoff: I was born in South America, in Peru, but I grew up mostly in England.
We left Peru when I was about four years old. My sister Bonnie was two.
Sally: Why did you left?
Geoff: Well, my grandfather was ill and my mother didn’t want to be so far
away from him. So we went to Manchester, in England.
Sally: I bet your mum was happy about that.
Geoff: yes, but we didn’t stay there very long. My grandfather died and we
went to the Far East-to Singapore.
Sally: And how long did you stay there?
Geoff: Oh, quite a long time for us-nearly five years. But then my dad lost his
job, because his company closed down.
Sally: That was unlucky.
Geoff: Yes, it was, because we all liked it there. Anyway, we moved back to
Britain, because my father find a job in Scotland, but…
Sally: He didn’t like it, Right?
Geoff: Right. It was too far north-too cold, you see. So after about six months
we moved down to South Landon. I was about ten by this time.
Sally: Good Heavens! And how long did you stay there?
Geoff: Oh, that was the last stop. I started secondary school, you see, so we
stay there till I left school and went to university. But soon after that, my parents moved.
Sally: Where did they go this time?
Geoff: Well, my sister got married and went to live in Australia. So my parents
followed. Lots of sunshine there.
Sally: And where are they now? Geoff: Oh, they’re still there.
Sally: And when did you come to Canada?
Geoff: Oh, about two years ago, when I got a place at the university. But,
anyway, that’s my life story. What about you? Where are you from?
Sally: Well, my life seems a bit boring after that. I was born in…
Task 5
Presenter: In this week’s edition of It was a normal day we hear stories from
Robin, Katherine and David. They tell us about normal days which became very unusual days. First Robin’s story.
Robin: It was nearly ten years ago, so I was about 22. I was working as a
builder at the time and I was also the singer with a band in my free time. Anyway, we were building some house near Farnham in Surrey. It was about half past ten in the morning and most of the other men were having their tea break. They were listening to the radio. I was working on the roof of one of the house. Well, as I said, I sang with a band in my free time and we’d made a record, called Wild One. None of the other guys at work knew about it. Anyway, it came on the radio. The man painting the windows said, “Great. I think this record’s stunning. If it doesn’t reach number one, I’ll eat my paint brush.” I felt very excited when he said that, but I didn’t say anything. But then when the record finished the DJ came on and said, “There, straight into the charts this week at number 11 is Wild One.”
Presenter: And what did you do?
Robin: Well, that was enough for me. I climbed down the ladder. I gave my
bag of tools to the other guys and said, “Here, you can have these. I’m off.” And I left. Two weeks later our record hit number one and we had several more hits after that.
Presenter: So a normal day became the start of an exciting new life for Robin.
For Katherine it was also the start of a new life, but…
Katherine: Oh yea, it was a normal day-a very normal day. That was the
problem. It was two years ago now-about eight o’clock in the evening.
Presenter: What were you doing?
Katherine: We were sitting in the living room. My husband was sitting in an
armchair. He was reading the paper, as he always did. I was sitting on the sofa. I was knitting. Our daughter was expecting a baby, you see-our first grandchild-and I was knitting a little a little cardigan for it. There was a quiz show on the TV. It was Strike it Lucky. Isn’t it interesting how you remember these details? But we weren’t really watching it.
Presenter: And what happened?
Katherine: Well, as I said, we were just having a normal evening at home,
when suddenly my husband put down his newspaper and said, “I’m sorry, but I can’t stand this any longer. I’m totally bored with our marriage. I don’t love
you and I want a divorce.”
Presenter: How did you feel?
Katherine: I didn’t do anything. It’s funny but I just carried on with the
cardigan. But my husband went upstairs and packed a suitcase. When he came downstairs I was still knitting. I just couldn’t believe what was happening. He said, “I’m leaving,” and I said, “Would you like a cup of tea first?” I don’t know why I said that. It just came out automatically. Anyway, he just said, “Oh my God! Is that all you can say?” I wanted to talk about it, but he wasn’t interested. He just picked up his suitcase and left.
Presenter: Finally we came to David’s story. David is a bank manager. David: Oh yea, I can remember it as if it was yesterday. I was at work at the
time-at the bank. I was having a meeting with my staff. We were all sitting around the big table in my office. It was a rather boring meeting, but most meeting are, I suppose. Anyway, while Sarah Harvey, the assistant manager, was speaking, my secretary came in and said, “There’s a phone call for you.” Well, normally me secretary doesn’t interrupt meetings for phone calls. She takes a message. So I was surprised when she came in. “It’s your wife,” she said. “She said it’s urgent,” I was rather worried at this. My wife doesn’t panic easily.
Presenter: What did you do?
David: I went into the secretary’s office and I picked up the phone. My wife
answered, but immediately a man’s voice came on the line. He said, “We’ve got your life and children here. Listen and follow my instructions and they’ll be all right.” I was shocked, but I listened to the instructions. “In ten minutes’ time,” he said, “a man in a green jumper will came into your bank. Give him all the money from the safe. When he telephones me, we’ll release your family.” And then he put the phone down.
Presenter: What did you do?
David: Well, I just did as he said. I had no choice. It was very worrying at the
time, but everyone was all right in the end. The police found some of the money, but they never caught the men.
Task 7
Speaker 1 I remember hearing footsteps in the street coming up behind me. I feel quite anxious, and stressed. I was sure that someone was following me. Then suddenly someone tapped me on the shoulder, I turned round, terrified, and there was a young man looking at me. “You’re gorgeous!” He said and put a piece of paper and a red rose into my hand. Then he ran off down the street. He’d written his name and phone number on the piece of paper. I had a boyfriend at the time so I throw the number away. Now I can’t even remember what he looked like.
Speaker 2 I was reading a magazine in the kitchen and listing to some music when the telephone rang. My girlfriend answered it. I couldn’t hear what she was saying, but then she suddenly ran into the kitchen and shouted, “You’ve won a motorcycle!” I’d entered a competition months earlier. I had to answer some really easy questions-I can’t remember what they were now. I was absolutely thrilled-I’d never won anything before.
Speaker 3 I remember that my sister and I weren’t allowed to go and see Mum in the hospital. It was against hospital regulations but I can’t remember why. Anyway, we were really disappointed but Dad brought us a photo of little Michael so we could see him. We were so excited when Mum finally brought him home. We kept arguing about who would get to help Dad bath him and put him to bed. It’s incredible to think that he was ever that small. He’s almost two meters tall now.
Speaker 4 I came home from work very late and immediately I could see that Nick look annoyed about something. When I asked him if anything was the matter he just said “No” and walk out of the room. He’d cooked this really amazing meal…it must have taken hours and there were flowers and candles. “What’s the special occasion?” I asked. “Our fifth wedding anniversary”, he said. I’ve never felt so
terrible in my life. Even though he’d mentioned it a few days before I’d completely forgotten about it.
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