Unit 8

Section I

Task 1

Woman: So where are you working this summer, Carlos?

Carlos: Oh, I’m working as a tutor in a learning center for kids.

Woman: Interesting. What kinds of things do the kids do there?

Carlos: Well, they work on subjects they need help in, uh, mainly math and English.

Woman: Is your job hard?

Carlos: No, not at all. The kids work on computers most of the time. We have to help

them get started and be there when they run into problems.

Woman: Do you enjoy it?

Carlos: Oh, yes. Working with kids is so much more fun than working with adults.

And I get to choose my own hours. As long as I work eight hours a day, I can come in

at any time from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Woman: Lucky you!

Task 2

Woman: Paul, did you find a summer job yet?

Paul: Yeah, I’m working in a restaurant.

Woman: Oh, how’s it going?

Paul: Oh, the money’s not bad.

Woman: What are you doing? Are you waiting tables?

Paul: I wish! No, I’m working in the kitchen. I cut up stuff for the chef—vegetables

and meat and things. I also wash the dishes.

Woman: Oh, yuck.

Paul: Yeah. It’s pretty hard work. I didn’t realize how hot it is in a restaurant kitchen

until I took this job.

Woman: So why don’t you quit?

Paul: I’d love to, but I need the money.

Task 3

Man: So what kind of job did you find for the summer?

Julia: I’m working for a marketing company. I’m doing telephone marketing.

Man: Oh, so you’re one of those people who drives me crazy by calling me up and

trying to persuade me to buy something that I have absolutely no need for.

Julia: Exactly.

Man: Do you like it?

Julia: Believe it or not, I do. It’s mostly a bunch of students working there, and we

have a lot of fun when we’re not making calls. It’s really easy, too, since we just have

to read from a script.

Man: Are you doing this full time?

Julia: Yeah, but I work from two in the afternoon until eleven at night, so I get to sleep

as late as I want to in the morning.

Section II

Task 1

Man: Last night I ended up taking a cab home, and the cab driver was making rude

remarks the whole time „cause we’d given him the wrong directions. And then I go to

give him money to pay, and I give him six dollars—the fare was five ninety—and he

said, “Um, haven’t you forgotten something?” And I was like, “No, but I think you

have. You owe me like 10 cents.” And because he was like that, I didn’t give him a tip.

But you know what? He wouldn’t give me my change. So I got out of the car, and I

said, “I’m going to take your number. I’m going to report you.”

Woman: So, did you report him?

Man: Yeah. I mean, I know it was only 10 cents, but still . . .

Woman: Well, speaking of rude cab drivers, I had a similar experience one time. I’d

called for a cab to come at like 7:30, and so at 7:30 I went out and got in. And the cab

driver said he was going to charge me extra because he’d arrived early and he had the

meter on while he was waiting for me—for like 10 minutes. I mean he came early!

And I was like, “No way, mister. I’m not paying extra because you came early.”

Man: What did he say? Did he refuse to take you?

Woman: No, we had a big argument, but in the end he took me.

Man: Well, how about the ones who drive really badly? I was in a cab once, and the

cab driver was on his cell phone and he wasn’t paying attention, and he jumped the

curb! We were driving on the sidewalk! My heart was in my throat. I’ve never been so

scared. I mean, I really thought we were going to hit something. And I asked him to

get off the phone, and he said, “Why? What’s the matter?” I said, “Well, we were just

driving on the sidewalk a second ago, in case you didn’t notice.”

Woman: That’s like a cab ride I had once. The guy drove at like 90 the whole way.

Incredibly fast. I was so scared.

Man: Don’t you just hate that? That reminds me of the time I was going to work and

I’d taken a cab „cause my car broken down. And this cab driver hit another car—I

mean, he just ran into the car in front of us . . .

Woman: Oh, no. That’s awful. Were you hurt?

Man: Luckily, no. But as soon as he stopped, I got out and said I was going to find

another cab, and then he tried to charge me the fare!

Woman: No way! That’s amazing.

Task 2

Anita: My name's Anita Dougal and I'm part of the North London reading group and

we're here at the pub tonight, um The Yorkshire Grey to discuss The Great Gatsby by

Scott Fitzgerald.

The book group is a group of people that get together to discuss books. Most of

us are graduates who find that we still enjoy reading but don't have enough people to

discuss books with. I've always been interested in reading—I did my degree in

English Literature. And I started off, like most people, with Enid Blyton and um,

haven't stopped since.

The book group meets um, approximately once every four to six weeks. Um, it

generally depends on when everyone's free. Um, but we like to meet on a fairly

regular basis, um, so we don't lose touch. Depending on the book we're reading and

what people think about it, the conversation about any particular book could last, um,

anything from ten minutes to two hours, depends on who's got what opinions about

the book. We do, do a mixture of both classics and contemporaries, but our favorite

ones have been Rebecca—Daphne du Maurier, The Catcher in the Rye—J. D.

Salinger . . .

Generally we decide on the book we're going to read by taking it in turns. And

um, it does mean that we don't all end up arguing about what we'd like to choose,

what we'd like to read. It just does make it very fair. This particular book group has

been um, in action now for about two years, and so we do, do joint events together

with other book groups. Um, we go for picnics, we go for literary walks, we go to the

theatre, we go to the cinema, um we also—those of us who have become close friends

have lunch and dinner at each other's houses. So it's become quite a close network of

friends.

Reading has always been, um a great hobby of mine. Um, it does help me very

much to relax. I think when you're caught up in a book and you're enjoying it and

you're creating the author's world in your head, it just gives you a chance of complete

escapism. I would say some people's equivalent might be watching um, a soap or a

television program.

Section III

What kind of computer user are you?

Computer geeks are the most passionate about technology and spend all their

free time at their computer. They often use “geek speak” (special computer

vocabulary) and it's sometimes difficult to understand them!

Hackers are the cleverest users. They're very good programmers who try to

break into computer systems. They can do this because they know the weak points

in the security system. They're usually experts at a particular programming language

or system. They think it's fun to cause trouble but it's illegal. Some famous hackers

are now in prison.