TEST 1 - PART 2

CONVERSATION 1:
Interview: Simon, tell us about yourself.
Simon: Well, like lots of other kids my age, I've grown up taking my boat onto the rivers in this
area. One of my favourite rivers is the River Stanton, which is fast with excellent white water —
so things can get pretty dangerous but it’s exciting and I'm experienced.
Interview: Now, it was while you were on the River Stanton that you noticed something was
wrong.
Simon: Yeah, I always wondered why the water made my eyes bum if it got on my face...and
why it was a strange, orange colour, especially when the water was running low.
Interview: So you decided to find out more.
Simon: Yeah, I asked other people using the river and I visited a few websites and found out that
the river was orange because of pollution from the old mines in the area. There was a lot of
mining for coal done in this part of the country. I knew that from my history class at school, but
what I didn’t know was that pollution was coming from those old mine works and escaping into
the rivers.
Interview: then you did a qualification, didn’t you?
Simon: Yes, I found out about an organization called: “The Friends of the River Stanton”. They
told me they did a special course where I could learn how to test the river ‘water to see if it was
healthy or not. So that’s what I did and I got really interested in the subject.
Interview: In fact, you got so interested that you actually started to look for an answer to the
pollution problem!
Simon: I learned as much as I could about the chemistry behind the pollution. I can’t really
explain all the detail, but basically if you add something called limestone to the river, it can
improve the chemistry. That means that the plants and fish which had died because of all the
mining companies that used to be in the area...could live in the river again, So that made me
really happy.
Interviewer: And you did some experiments to find out the best way to use the limestone, didn't
you? And you also entered your project in a competition.
Simon: Yes. | did some experiments to see what would be the best size of limestone to add to the
river - should it be big, rock- sized pieces or should it be the size of sand or powder? One of my
teachers thought the project was good enough to enter into a national science competition …
And I thought it was a good way of letting more people know about river pollution and showing
people how, with just a little bit of money and a little effort they could make their local rivers
clean again.
Interviewer: Well, good work, Simon, and thanks for talking to us.
CONVERSATION 2:
OFFICER: Yes, what can I do for you?
STUDENT: My friend is in homestay… and she really enjoys it… so I’d like to join a family as
well.
OFFICER: Okay, so let me get some details. What’s your name?
STUDENT: My name is Keiko Yuichini.
OFFICER: Could you spell your family name for me?
STUDENT: It’s… Yuichini, that’s Y-U-I-C-H-I-N-I.  Example
OFFICER: And your first name?
STUDENT: It’s Keiko. K-E-I-K-O.
OFFICER: That’s Keiko Yuichini… okay… and you’re female. And your nationality?
STUDENT: I’m Japanese.
OFFICER: Right and could I see your passport, please?
STUDENT: Here it is…
OFFICER: Okay… your passport number is JO 6337… And you’re how old?
STUDENT: I’m twenty-eight years old.
OFFICER: Now, you live at one of the colleges… which one?
STUDENT: Willow College, umm… Room 21C
OFFICER: Right, 21C Willow College, and how long are you planning on staying with
homestay?
STUDENT: About four months… longer if I like it…
OFFICER: And what course are you enrolled in?
STUDENT: Well, I’ve enrolled for twenty weeks in the… um… Advanced English
Studies because I need help with my writing… and I’m nearly at the end of my first five-week
course.
OFFICER: Okay… Do you have any preference for a family with children or without children?
STUDENT: I prefer… I mean I like young children, but I’d like to be with older people… you
know… adults… someone around my age.
OFFICER: Okay, and what about pets?
STUDENT: I am a veterinarian so that’s fine… the more the better.
OFFICER: All right, now what about you? Are you a vegetarian or do you have any special food
requirements?
STUDENT: No, I am not a vegetarian… but I don’t eat a lot of meat… I really like seafood.
OFFICER: And what are your hobbies?
STUDENT: I like reading and going to the movies.
OFFICER: Do you play any sports?
STUDENT: Yes, I joined the handball team, but I didn’t like that… so I stopped playing. Now I
play tennis on the weekend with my friends…
OFFICER: All right, let’s see, name, age, now the location. Are you familiar with the public
transport system?
STUDENT: No… I’m not really because I have been living on campus… I’ve been to the city a
few times on the bus, but they are always late.
OFFICER: What about the trains?
STUDENT: I like catching the train… they are much faster…
OFFICER: Now, let me go check on the computer and see who I’ve got… Listen, leave it with
me… I’ll check my records and I’ll give you details this afternoon.
STUDENT: Thank you for helping me…
OFFICER: It’s a pleasure. Bye.
STUDENT: Bye.

CONVERSATION 3:
Interviewer: Sophie, you're a native English speaker and you're been working as a translator for
some time now.
Sophie: I’m currently doing a lot of legal texts - the details of court cases can be interesting and
the language quite challenging,
Interviewer: And what kind of language gives you the most problems? The kind of expressions
used in technology, perhaps, or science?
Sophie: Actually, I don’t have much trouble with those. What's still quite tricky, though, is when
someone mentions a person or an event, perhaps in their country’s history.
Interviewer: So, do you normally deal with big private firms or with state institutions like local
government.
Sophie: Well, I was once contacted by an insurance company and I did a job for them, but nearly
always it’s a case of an agency asking if I'd be willing to do a particular text.
Interviewer: That mush speed things up a lot.
Sophie: Yes, but it can still be a very long working day. I don’t mind which part of the day I'm
working though - that’s one of the advantages of working from home.
Interviewer: How do you see the long - term future of translating? Will it continue to be a good
area to work in?
Sophie: Oh, 1 think so. Professional standards are higher than they've ever been, and the
increasingly wide range of languages used internationally means that the demand for high-
quality translation will keep growing for many years to come.

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PART 3:
TALK 1:
I want to talk about learning languages. I've lived in many different countries, both in Western
Europe, Middle East and now here in Hong Kong. And during all of that time, I've learned five
or six different languages to one degree or another. I love learning languages. Not only are they
important when you move to a country, I just find them fascinating.
Before I came to Hong Kong, I lived in Barcelona, Spain, for ten years. And when I first arrived,
the most important thing was being able to communicate with people locally. I don't attend
classes. I don't think I'm particularly good in classes. I prefer to learn by just talking to people,
finding out what I need to say, by looking at dictionaries and listening carefully.
Other things that helped me when I first moved to Spain were watching the typical kinds of
programmes we see every day on channels around the world, for example the weather. This is
great, because they always say the same things, so you can really quickly hear the same words
repeated again and again. And the pictures help of course.
Other types of programme that helped me learn Spanish quickly were things like game shows,
where the same thing happens. They have a catchphrase or a slogan that they repeat endlessly
when contestants win or when they are called to compete.
As well as that, I used to pick up the Spanish newspapers. First of all, I just accepted there was
no way I was going to understand anything but one or two words. But gradually, I found that I
learned lots of new things about this. I was interested because I wanted to know what was
happening in the country I lived in. But I also knew that I could learn a lot of language this
way. So I'd take a dictionary with me sometimes, or I'd notice a word and I'd ask other people
what … it meant.
Anyway, by far the best practice I ever had was just talking to people in the street or in shops,
where I'd rehearse in my head what I wanted to say beforehand, before I went in. Usually, I made
a right mess of it first of all, but after you get over the embarrassment, it's quite funny
really. And people are very sympathetic and supporting in most cases.
It took me a long time to develop a good level of Spanish. I lived there for ten years, and I think
I'm very fluent now. But I think for the first two years that I was there it was quite a struggle to
hold a decent conversation. There were always lots of words and expressions that I didn't pick up
on. In particular with the colloquial expressions, idioms, that kind of thing, that people use in
everyday talk, but you don't necessarily see written down. I didn't find those very easy to learn at
all. But it was a lot of fun. And people, as I said, are really supporting when they know that you
are genuinely interested in learning their language.

TALK 2:
Moderator: Hello Ladies and Gentleman. It gives me great pleasure to introduce our keynote
speaker for today’s plenary address, Dr. Howard Miller. Dr. Miller, Professor of Sociology at
Washington University, has written numerous articles and books on the issues facing older
Americans in our graying society for the past 15 years. Dr. Miller:
Dr. Miller: Thank you for that introduction. Today, I’d like to preface my remarks from a story
from my own life which I feel highlights our common concerns that bring us here together.
Several years ago when my grandparents were well into their eighties, they were faced with the
reality of no longer being able to adequately care for themselves. My grandfather spoke of his
greatest fear, that of leaving the only home they had known for the past 60 years. Fighting back
the tears, he spoke proudly of the fact that he had built their home from the ground up, and that
he had pounded every nail and laid every brick in the process. The prospect of having to sell
their home and give up their independence, and move into a retirement home was an extremely
traumatic experience for them. It was, in my grandfather’s own words, like having a limb
severed off. He was quite emphatic exclaiming that he felt he wasn’t important anymore.
For them and some older Americans, their so-called “golden years” are at times not so pleasant,
for this period can mean the decline of not only one’s health but the loss of identity and self-
worth. In many societies, this self-identity is closely related with our social status, occupation,
material possessions, or independence. Furthermore, we often live in societies that value that
which is “new” or in vogue, and our own usage of lexicon in the English language often does not
bode well for older Americans. I mean how would your family react if you came home tonight
elated exclaiming, “Hey, come to the living room and see the OLD black and white TV I
bought!” Unfortunately, the word “old” conjures up images of the need to replace or discard.
Now, many of the lectures given at this conference have focused on the issues of pension reform,
medical care, and the development of public facilities for senior citizens. And while these are
vital issues that must be addressed, I’d like to focus my comments on an underlying issue that
will affect the overall success of the other programs mentioned. This has to do with realigning
our perspectives on what it means to be a part of this group, and finding meaningful roles the
elderly can play and should play in our societies.
First of all , I’d like to talk about . . .

TALK 3: Unusual British festivals

Hello. I’m going to talk about British festivals. I’m sure you’ve heard about the Notting Hill
Carnival in London and the Edinburgh Festival, but today we’re going to look at a lot more that
you might not know about. Actually, a lot of these are not exactly festivals, but strange races or
competitions. Some of them are ancient and some are modern.
So, let’s start in January in the north of Scotland with the Burning of the Clavie. This is a whisky
barrel which is set alight then carried through the streets as a bonfire. It’s an ancient tradition
which always takes place on 11th of January, the first day of the year, according to an older form
of the calendar. The bonfire brings good luck for the coming year and people used to keep bits of
burnt wood as protection against evil spirits. At the end of January, even further north, in the
Shetland Islands, there’s another fire festival, the Up Helly Aa. This seems like an ancient
festival, but has actually only been going for about 130 years – well, it is fairly old, I suppose.
People carry fire-lit torches and a Viking boat through the streets, then set fire to the boat.
There’s lots of dancing; it’s good fun.
Now to the north of England. On Shrove Tuesday in February, otherwise known as Pancake Day,
a special Pancake Bell is rung in Scarborough. Everyone goes down to the road next to the beach
where they skip – yep, they jump over long ropes, up to fifteen people to one rope. And they
have pancake races. This is quite common in the UK – running with a frying pan and tossing a
pancake at the same time.
Another kind of race takes place in spring – cheese rolling. In Gloucestershire, in the south-west
of England, round cheeses in round boxes are sent rolling down a hill and people run after them
and try and catch them. The hill is very steep, so people often fall over – if you take part in this
you need to be very fit and wear your oldest jeans. Nowadays this strange custom attracts visitors
from all over the world, but the people from the local village are usually the ones who catch the
cheese.
From people-racing, to animals, very tiny animals. World Championship Snail Racing takes
place in a village in Norfolk. The snails have to race from an inner circle to an outer circle and
the winner gets a lot of lettuce. There’s a party and barbecue for the snail owners and observers.
This custom began in the 1960s after a local man saw something similar in France. In the UK we
don’t eat snails, by the way.
More fun, in my opinion, are the onion-eating contest, also in Gloucestershire – a race to finish
eating a raw onion – and the Black Pudding Throwing Championship, in Lancashire. Black
puddings are like big sausages made mainly from dried blood. Contestants bowl three black
puddings each at 21 Yorkshire puddings set on a six-metre platform; the winner is the one who
knocks down the most. Another fun contest takes place in September at the Egremont Crab Fair
in Cumbria in the north of England. The World Gurning Championship is a competition to pull
the ugliest face. It sounds ridiculous but this is an ancient British tradition and the Crab Fair itself
dates back to 1267. The man who won the title of best gurner the most in recent years had all his
teeth taken out so he could make terrible faces more easily.
Finally, let’s go back to the south of England. In Brighton there’s a Burning the Clocks Festival
to celebrate the winter solstice on December 21st. This custom started twenty years ago and is
very popular. People make clock lanterns and time-themed figures of paper and wood, then walk
through the town to the beach where the sculptures are set on fire and there’s a massive firework
display.
So, that’s just a taste of a few of our old and more modern traditions. Would you like to take part
in any of them?