Unit 7 Weird, wild and wonderful

Listening to the world

Sharing

Scripts

F = Finn; M1 = Man 1, etc.; W1 = Woman 1, etc.

Part 1

F: I like being in the countryside, but I’m always happy to come back to the city. How about you?

M1: I actually really love the countryside. I grew up on a farm.

W1: I love being in London. I have loved my time in London, but as I’m getting older, I increasingly want to visit the countryside more and more.

M2: It’s nice; it’s, it’s quiet – you know, you can forget about the city.

W2: I love it. I was brought up in the countryside.

M3: I love being in the countryside. I love the quiet; I love the fresh air. It’s great.

W3: I love being in the countryside. Um, I’ve come, I come from Hertfordshire, so, although it’s not … where I live isn’t actually directly in the countryside. If you drive for 10 minutes, you’re in it and it’s beautiful.

W4: I love the countryside. It’s a nice change to living in London and I enjoy taking weekends out. Um I enjoy camping.

M4: I enjoy the countryside because I’ve, I’ve lived there for about 37 years. And particularly I enjoyed (enjoy) gardening – growing a lot of vegetables.

Part 2

F: The thing I like most about being in the countryside is watching animals and birds. How about you? Do you like wildlife?

W1: Well, I am, er, an animal lover. Er, I’m a vegetarian as well.

W4: I like wildlife and animals. Er, since I was a little girl, I’ve always really liked foxes for some reason. And I know a lot of people don’t, but foxes have always been my favorite animal.

M1: I love wildlife. Er, I really, sort of, enjoy things that you don’t see every day – um … enjoy sort of very exotic wildlife that I haven’t seen before.

M4: I like, um, watching them on the telly.

W2: I think, I think animals are living beings and should be treated as so – should be treated with respect.

M3: I like, um, big cats. They’re very graceful; they’re very beautiful. Um, and um, something I’ve, I’ve always just had a fascination with from an early age. Er, I also quite like large snakes. A friend of mine used to keep them.

W3: My nephew and niece have a guinea pig, which I love.

Part 3

F: Are there any animals you’re frightened of?

M2: Snakes and scorpions. Um, just ’cause I know that usually one bite could mean that’s the end.

W3: I don’t like spiders. It’s not really an animal – but I hate spiders.

M1: I am very scared of spiders. Um, and even though in Australia, we get some very small but very dangerous spiders – I’m afraid of very big spiders.

M4: I don’t particularly like horses because they’re big, and they frighten our dog.

W1: I’m not really frightened of any animals. I love them all.

M3: There’s nothing that scares me – that I haven’t got any memories of animals scaring me as a child.

W4: I’m quite scared of sharks. I don’t really like the sea and so whales and um, animals such as that, I don’t really like. Um, I suppose because it’s the unknown, I just find it quite scary.

Listening

Scripts

Part 1

Welcome to Save the Planet where we talk about the world’s environmental problems. Now, did you know there are more than six billion people on the planet, and by 2050 there might be more than nine billion? People are living longer and healthier lives than ever before, but a big population means big problems for the planet.

Part 2

Let’s look at three of the most important problems. The first problem is water. Many people in the world can’t get enough water. But in some countries we use too much. A person in Gambia, Africa, for example, uses much less water than someone in the United States. In Gambia, one person uses four and a half liters of water a day. But in the US it’s 600 liters. And to make the problem worse, the deserts are getting bigger. The Sahara Desert is one of the hottest places in the world, and is already the largest desert. But each year it gets bigger than before, so it gets more difficult to find clean water. Our second problem is the animals. There are more people on the earth than ever before. This means we use more space. And for the animals this means that there is less space than before. One example is the Amazon Rainforest. It has the highest number of plant and animal species in the world, but it’s getting smaller every year. People are destroying the rainforest to make more space for houses, roads and farms. In the last 10 years we have destroyed more than 150,000 square kilometers of forest – that’s an area larger than Greece! So in the future, many plants and animal species will become extinct. And the last problem on our list, but not the least important, is the weather. The world is getting warmer. The ice in Greenland is melting faster than ever before. Also sea levels are rising. This means that soon some of the world’s most important cities, like New York, London, Bangkok, Sydney and Rio de Janeiro might all be under water.

Viewing

Scripts

JL = Joanna Lumley; T = Tura; KS = Kjetil Skoglie

JL: The far north. Fairytale mountains. It’s just fabulously beautiful. The land of the magical Northern Lights is somewhere I’ve longed for all my life. As a little girl I lived in the steamy heat of tropical Malaysia. I used to yearn to be cold. I’d never even seen snow. But my storybooks were full of snow queens, and now I’m entering that world. This is the journey I’ve always dreamt of making. I feel I’ve come into another world now. No people except you and us. And if we’re very lucky we might see the elusive Northern Lights. I pack up things that are going to be essential on every trip. So in here I’ve got, for instance, oil-based pastels; and I’ve got a lovely little drawing book, but I’ve got that colored pages so that you can draw in different colors; a lovely old guidebook – it’s called The Land of the Vikings. It’s got beautiful old maps. Look at that. But if it wasn’t for one item in my case, I wouldn’t be on this journey at all. This is the book: Ponny the Penguin. This is when I first heard of the Northern Lights. And there was this picture which haunted me of a sort of rippling curtain and a little tiny penguin. This is not your average taxi rank at the station. I’m in the hands of Tura Christiansen and his team of 11 sled dogs. Good morning. I’m Joanna.

T: Tura.

JL: Tura. How nice to see you, Tura.

T: Yes.

JL: These are wonderful dogs.

T: They like to … to, er …

JL: They like to run?

T: Yes.

JL: The weather near Troms? is uncertain. But local guide, Kjetil Skoglie, promises me we’ll track down the lights even if it takes till morning. I can’t see anything, Kjetil.

KS: No, it’s … it’s nothing yet. You just have to be patient.

JL: OK, so I just wait here.

KS: Yeah, you just wait here.

JL: Yeah.

KS: Good luck.

JL: Thanks, Kjetil. I stand in the pitch-black by the side of the fjord, and wait. Look, much brighter there. Oh, something’s happening there. Oh … Look up here! Look what’s happening here! Look at that! Oh … Oh! Look at this! And it just keeps changing and changing. I can’t believe I’m seeing this. It’s fantastic and it’s coming back again. I have been waiting all my life to see the Northern Lights. I’m as happy as can be. This is the most astonishing thing I have ever, ever seen.

Speaking for communication

Role-play

Scripts

Part 1

A: The best sense of direction? Perhaps it’s the butterfly.

B: Er … I’m not sure.

A: It’s hard to say. Well, it could be sea turtles.

B: Maybe.

A: They swim everywhere, don’t they?

B: Um, it might be, but I think it’s the butterfly. It can’t be the taxi driver, can it?

A: It’s definitely not the taxi driver.

C: OK, here are the answers. Sea turtles travel 3,000 miles a year. And when they lay eggs, they go back to the place where they were born. So they have a great sense of direction. New York taxi drivers drive 37,500 miles a year. They know the fastest way to any address in New York. But sea turtles and taxi drivers do not have the best sense of direction!

B: So it must be the butterfly.

C: The winner is the monarch butterfly. At the end of every summer, they fly from Canada to Mexico. And no one knows how they do it.

Part 2

A: Er, so who’s the best athlete? That’s a good question.

B: I’m not sure.

A: It could be triathletes.

B: Or rats?

C: Rats are the winners. A rat is the superman of animals. Rats can kill animals that are much bigger than they are, and they can eat electric wires. They can swim a mile and survive in water for 3 days. They can also jump 3 feet and fall 45 feet and survive.

A: That’s amazing.

Part 3

B: Who sleeps the most? Let me think. Um, it can’t be the human baby, can it? And it’s not the black bear.

A: It must be the sloth. They spend most of their lives asleep.

B: So what’s the answer?

C: Well, the black bear sleeps for about 7 months a year. The females are even half asleep when they have their babies.

B: Wow.

C: Human babies usually sleep about 18 hours a day, but only in their first few months. So sloths are the winner. They sleep 15 to 18 hours a day for their whole life.

Group discussion

Scripts

A: OK, the most beautiful place I’ve been to … Well, a few years ago I went to Fish River Canyon.

B: Where?

A: Fish River Canyon. It’s the second biggest canyon in the world.

B: After the Grand Canyon?

A: After the Grand Canyon.

B: Where is it?

A: It’s in Namibia, in Africa.

B: Wow. And what did you think of it?

A: Ah, it was amazing! The first thing you notice is how big it is, of course.

B: Of course.

A: It just goes on and on as far as your eye can see. But the best thing about it was the silence.

B: Right.

A: It was so amazingly quiet. We went there in August and there weren’t many tourists and it was just so quiet.

B: Would you like to go back?

A: I would love to go back. One day!

B: One day.

Further practice in listening

Short conversations

Scripts

Conversation 1

W: We offer some very exciting tours plus the best luxury hotels. The most popular places are Thailand and India. Have you got any idea of where you’d like to go?

M: Well, we were thinking of flying to a small island where we can enjoy some special local food.

Q: Where does the conversation most probably take place?

Conversation 2

M: Have you ever tried diving in the sea? No words can describe the beauty of the sea. You lose track of time down there!

W: No, I’m kind of frightened. I mean I hear all these stories about getting sick from going up too fast to the surface and dangerous fish.

Q: What makes the woman scared of diving?

Conversation 3

W: Many people are concerned about the rising costs of fuel.

M: I think they are a little short-sighted; they should look on the bright side. With higher costs, people will be forced to use less energy. We can thus save more energy, which is good for the environment.

Q: What does the man think of the rise of fuel costs?

Conversation 4

M: I’ve never been to the mountains before. I’m not much of an adventurer, you know.

W: Well, join us. It’s great spending some time with friends and just being close to nature. And when you come back, you’ll be a new person, relaxed and ready to study again.

Q: According to the woman, what can the man benefit from going to the mountains?

Conversation 5

M: Look! The sun is shining. We haven’t seen the sun for ages. It’s been raining for a week! It’s much too beautiful a day to waste indoors reading, cooking or cleaning.

W: You are right. Let’s make the most of it.

Q: What are the man and woman probably going to do?

Long conversation

Scripts

W: I just saw a great movie about the true story of Christopher McCandless’ trip to the Alaskan wilderness in 1992. It was so inspiring! His love of nature was so beautiful.

M: Well, I read about his story. He was foolish and just threw his life away!

W: Why would you say that? It’s a shame that he died, but at least he lived doing what he loved. Can you imagine living in Alaska alone, eating only the plants you can gather and the animals you can hunt?

M: No, that’s just it! He died in the wilderness because he thought nature was magical and kind. He needed to realize that nature is powerful and full of risks! Christopher was completely unprepared for the many dangers of the Alaskan wilderness.

W: Like what? He found shelter and he had a gun to hunt!

M: He did not use his map of the area – there was a boat where he could get help only a quarter of a mile away! He didn’t have any emergency food supplies! Most of all, he had no emergency communication equipment. Any one of those three things would have saved his life!

W: Yes, he should have been more prepared, but I still admire what he was trying to do.

M: It’s not romantic! Five famous outdoor specialists were interviewed. They all said he should have lived. He died because he was unprepared!

W: Still, I admire his spirit for trying!

Q1: What are the man and woman talking about?

Q2: What can we learn about Christopher?

Q3: What does the woman think about Christopher taking the trip to Alaska?

Q4: Which of the following is NOT mentioned as something that would have saved Christopher’s life?

Passage 1

Scripts

Within five seconds of taking off, an avalanche can move at 80 miles an hour, so people rarely have time to run out of the way. But these days, avalanches don’t often strike skiers at official skiing zones because the ski patrol makes sure the skiing areas are safe.

An avalanche occurs when one entire area or layer of snow slides off another layer below it. When a layer starts to slide, anything on top is carried along, and the avalanche picks up whatever lies in its path as it moves down a slope, including rocks, trees and people. When a person starts to travel across an area of unstable snow, their weight can start a slide.

As long as skiers stay in the official ski areas, they don’t have to worry. “We control the hazard, so it is unlikely you’ll get caught,” explains Mike, a snow safety expert. “We do that by pressing the snow together to make it more solid, and we use explosives to make an avalanche move or to test an area to see if it is unstable.” This work can be dangerous, so ski patrol members look out for each other and keep the public at a safe distance.

Mike and his colleagues also dig holes in the snow to study the layers. After they go back, they enter measurements into a computer; a special software creates a chart showing how the different layers are holding up. If an area looks risky, the ski patrol closes it.

Q1: What speed can an avalanche reach within five seconds of taking off?

Q2: According to the passage, under what circumstances may an avalanche occur?

Q3: What are skiers advised to do to avoid being caught in an avalanche?

Q4: Why does the ski patrol use explosives?

Passage 2

Scripts and answers

Anna was awarded a special day out for herself and her family after taking part in a competition run by a magazine in April, beating over 2,000 people who 1) participated in the event.

Anna’s wild day out will include a special tour of the city’s nature park, with exclusive 2) access to areas of the site that are not usually available to the public. During her visit, Anna is likely to see some natural wonders including rare birds feeding their young and a 3) tremendous number of newly hatched chicks. Anna may also see a great flamingo 4) currently nesting at the nature park after it escaped from the zoo last year.

The most 5) incredible thing is that Mike Dilger, a well-known wildlife reporter for BBC, will 6) accompany the family throughout the day. Mike is an experienced biologist, so he is ready to share his experiences and knowledge of the natural world every step of the way.

Henry, manager of the nature park, says, “Visiting a nature park is a 7) remarkable way to learn more about types of wildlife that you just can’t see in your daily life. It’s an 8) amazing time of year for a visit – the hatching season is well underway, so there are lots of chicks hatching across the park, and as parents take regular trips to find food for their young, there is a very good chance of 9) catching a glimpse of some of our very rare birds. Anna will have a great day; we are really 10) looking forward to her visit.”