Audio Scripts to the Student book (Total English Upper-Intermediate) / NTE_UI_AudioScript_U01

Upper Intermediate

Unit 1 Audio Script

CD 1 Track 2

F = Fiona, S = Sarah

S: Hello. My name’s Sarah. Pleased to meet you.

F: Oh, hello. A pleasure to meet you, too. My name’s Fiona. It’s really nice to see a friendly face, actually. I’m feeling a bit nervous.

S: Oh, don’t worry. There’s no need to be nervous. I’ve been to this class before and everyone is really nice. The teacher really makes you feel at ease. Have you done any Spanish classes before?

F: Just a bit, but not for ages. I feel like I’ve forgotten everything!

S: I know what you mean. So, do you live near here?

F: Erm, not too far. I live in Wood End.

S: Oh really? That’s not far from where l live … I live in Whitefields, you know, just at the top of the hill.

F: Oh yes, that’s really near me, actually!

S: So, how did you get here today? Did you come by bus?

F: Yes, I did. I got the seventeen all the way. It took me ages though because there was so much traffic. What about you?

S: Yes, I got the seventeen too. The traffic was awful, wasn’t it?

F: Yeah, really bad. I was a bit late leaving the house as well, ’cos I didn’t get back from work till after six.

S: What’s your job?

F: I’m a teacher.

S: Are you?

F: Yes, I teach children. Primary school age, you know, mostly aged between seven and eleven. I love it, but it’s really hard work! And you? What do you do?

S: Oh, well, I’m certainly not a teacher. I wouldn’t have the patience for that! I work in advertising.

F: That sounds fun!

S: Yeah, it’s OK. But I’d like to do something different now, I think. Oh, here’s the teacher. Well, it’s been really nice talking to you. Maybe we could meet up after the class and … well,

if you’re going straight home, perhaps we could go together?

F: Yes, that would be great.

CD 1 Track 3

P = Presenter

P: And now a story about another large family. Being in a large family usually means learning to juggle several tasks at once – shopping, cleaning, making dinner, helping with homework, bandaging a knee and keeping an eye on the children playing outside. However, in addition to a normal family life, the Boehmer family juggle clubs, rings, torches, balls and anything else they can get their hands on. It all started while Larry Boehmer was working as a pipeline worker for Shell Oil. His job took him away from his wife Judy and the four children they had at that time. He had spent the first few weeks sitting in his motel room between shifts, when one day, while he was feeling bored, he decided to take up a new hobby. Using a book, he taught himself to juggle. When he had mastered the basics, he went home and showed his children what he could do. Immediately, they wanted to learn too. Larry is a big family man, so he was only too happy about that and soon the whole family was juggling. Larry and three of the children gave their first family performance at an amusement park, and from there it all went from strength to strength. Now, there are four sons and seven daughters in the family, and they are the largest family of jugglers in the world, working together and performing regularly as a family. As Judy puts it, they didn’t plan on all this happening. When the kids saw each other, they picked up on different things. One would do rings, another would do clubs, acrobatics or the unicycle. Before they knew it, they had everybody doing something. Even Casey, the second son, who was born with only one arm, is a champion juggler in his own right, as well as part of the family troupe.

Larry insists the children’s talents aren’t inherited, it’s simply a matter of practice and persistence. This is a skill that basically anybody can do – you just have to put your mind to it. It’s just that most people who try to learn juggling give up too soon. Each member of the family has

a speciality but they all have to practise … a lot! Each member of the family not only takes part in the show, they also help with preparing the costumes, transporting everything and setting up the show. In the end though, performing in the show makes all the practice and hard work worth it. It’s great fun and they all love it.

CD 1 Track 4

A = Andrew, J = Julia, M = Maria

J: So Andrew, how many people are there in your family?

A: Erm, there are … well there are three really. I have … I have an older brother, he's about two years older than me, and I have a younger brother, he's about a year and a half younger than me.

J: Mm, so you're the middle child then?

A: Yeah I'm the middle child …

J: A lot of people say that middle children have the worst time. What do you think about that?

A: It's, ah, it depends, erm, I think, erm, there's, ah – you end up, I suppose, looking up to your older brother, ah, as a kind of a leader, you look to him for guidance …

J: That's quite interesting. I've got an older brother and I definitely don't look up to him …

M: I have an older sister and I don't look for gui … to her for guidance for sure, no.

A: I think, erm, when I was young I did, yeah. Definitely to my older brother, yeah. And your older brother does certain things first … first to ride a bike, pass a driving test, first to university. Ah … so maybe they get more attention than the middle child.

J: Yeah, I suppose. And I suppose parents kind of spoil the younger children because they've had the toughest with the older children and then by the time they get to … for me, there's five children in my family … so by the time my parents got to the fifth child they were kind of ready for her to just let herself go.

M: That's not the experience that … that I had, my parents were quite liberal with … I have one sister who's only a, a year and a bit older than me, and, ah, my parents were quite liberal with both of us and we grew up …

J: Oh right, you were lucky.

M: … kind of as friends, yeah, it was great.

J: Mm, I don't know, and did you have lots of, do you think everyone in your family has a lot of friends, or is it different depending on which, which, erm …

M: No, I think it's, it’s quite similar. I suppose my sister maybe has a, a wider network and perhaps I have a slightly smaller network but, of very close friends maybe … . But I don't think it's connected to position in the family at all.

J: Mm. What about only children, I mean none of us are only children but …

M: No, well …

J: Do you think they need more friends or less friends?

M: I don't know about needing friends, but I do think that sometimes they … they can need a lot of attention. I think maybe if they've been the sole … yeah.

A: But they … they're used to the attention.

M: Exactly.

J: I mean, I guess though, it depends on how much attention they get. Do all parents give, you know, if they have one child, do they all give them loads of attention or just only children? Are they quite lonely and do they want more attention? I don't know.

M: I suppose it must, must be the case for some but I, I … I don't know anybody like that.

CD 1 Track 5

1

It's, ah, it depends, erm, I think, erm, there's, ah … you end up, I suppose, looking up to your older brother, ah, as a kind of a leader, you look to him for guidance … .

2

That's quite interesting. I've got an older brother and I definitely don't look up to him … .

3

Definitely to my older brother, yeah. And your older brother does certain things first … first to ride a bike, pass a driving test, first to university. Ah … so maybe they get more attention than the middle child.

4

Yeah, I suppose. And I suppose parents kind of spoil the younger children because they've had it the toughest with the older children.

CD 1 Track 6

Before I had my mobile, my parents worried about me all the time because they couldn’t contact me when I was out. You know, I wasn’t able to tell them where I was or what time I was coming back. There was one particular time when I lost track of time. I know I should’ve been more careful, but I ended up missing the bus. I wanted to let my parents know that I was going to be late, but I couldn’t phone them. In the end, I got to a friend’s house and I was able to phone from there, but they had been very worried because I was already forty-five minutes late. I felt really bad … I knew I shouldn’t have put them in that situation. After that, they bought me a mobile phone, which was good … except, at first, I had to phone them every half an hour to tell them where I was … which was a real pain. After a while, they changed their minds and I didn’t have to phone them so much, but I had to have it turned on all the time. I don’t find it too annoying … in fact, I like having a phone and it makes me feel safe, knowing that I can phone my parents at any time.

CD 1 Track 7

1

Can you hear what she’s saying?

Yes, I can.

2

I couldn’t phone them.

3

I was able to phone from there.

4

I know I should’ve been more careful.

5

I wasn’t able to tell them where I was.

6

You have to phone me when you get there.

7

He had to get in touch with his boss.

8

Could you speak English when you were five?

Yes, I could.

CD 1 Track 8

G = Gill, M = Mandy

M: So … do you think Tim takes after his dad?

G: Well, I suppose so, in some ways.

M: How?

G: Well, I mean, they’re both very stubborn … .

M: That’s for sure. It runs in the family.

G: But you know Tim really looks up to him. He always has, right from when we were kids and while we were growing up. I remember he used to always be showing off to him, trying to get his attention, one way or another.

M: And how about you?

G: Oh, I suppose I was always closer to my mum. She didn’t have an easy time, bringing us up. Dad wasn’t around much.

M: And how did you and Tim get on?

G: Oh really well ... except when he’d put spiders in my bed!

M: … and how’s life with you now?

G: Not bad. You know I’m going out with Kevin.

M: Oh yes? But, it’s not so long since you split up with Max, is it?

G: Hey … it’s nearly six months, and anyway, I’ve known Kevin for ages, it’s just that it’s never seemed to be the right time before.

M: And, how’s Sally?

G: Oh … Sally. Well, we’ve kind of fallen out.

M: Really? Why? What happened?

G: Well, it’s a long story but, in a nutshell, I told her something pretty sensitive about me and things going on at work.

M: Yes … ?

G: And then I found out she’d talked about it to some other friends.

M: Oh no!

G: Yeah, I was really upset about it.

M: Do you think you’ll be able to make up?

G: I’m really not sure … .

CD 1 Track 9

F = Friend, M = Morgan

M: Look – have you seen this great website? It’s about genealogy, you know, family history …

F: Family history? What … your family?

M: Yes, well, any family. It basically helps you to find old relatives and build a family tree. Actually, there are loads of websites like this now. It’s quite popular now – lots of people are doing it.

F: Oh really? I’ve always thought I’d like to know a bit more about my family in the past.

M: Well, this is just the thing. It’s great. Even before I found this website, I had started putting together my own family tree – but the website really helps.

F: So, how far back can you go?

M: Well, I’m pretty confident about as far back as my great-grandparents, Cicely and John.

F: You didn’t actually know them, did you?

M: No, unfortunately, they died in the 1970s. By all accounts they were an amazing couple, devoted to each other … and of course they’d lived through two World Wars.

F: Yes … that generation went through such a lot. Do you know when they were actually born?

M: Well, yes, I do. My great-grandfather, John, was born right on the turn of the century in 1900. And my great-grandmother, Cicely just a year before that in 1899.

F: Wow … so did they have children?

M: Yeah, they had two children, Laura and Ben, both were born around 1930 I think.

F: So, Laura’s your grandmother, isn’t she? I’ve heard you talk about her.

M: Yeah, that’s right. I get on really well with her. My mum says I take after her in lots of ways. I even look quite like her … same nose!

F: Really?

M: Yeah. I usually go and visit her about once a month, up in Leeds. I’m going up there this weekend, actually.

F: Is her husband still alive?

M: Julian? No, he died a couple of years ago. So, she’s on her own now.

F: So, obviously Laura is your …

M: … my mum’s mother. Laura and Julian had three children: my mum, Alison, and my aunts, Sue and Deborah.

F: Three girls!

M: Yeah … but all very different in character!

F: Really?

M: Oh yes … have I never told you about Aunt Sue?

F: I don’t think so.

M: Well she was … is … an anthropologist, a kind of adventurer really. She’s spent most of her life in and around Borneo, studying the culture, religion and so on. She’s quite an expert apparently.

F: And have you got any cousins?

M: Yes, my aunt Deborah had a son and a daughter, Leon and Esther. Esther’s a year or so older than me … and I’m a few years older than Leon. We all got on really well with each other. We saw each other a lot when we were growing up, you know – we’d see them at weekends, and we also used to go on holiday quite a lot together.

F: And do you see them now?

M: Well, I try to keep in touch as much as possible, but it’s not as easy as it was … I mean, Esther lives in New Zealand now …

F: Oh!

M: … and Leon divides his time between being a diving instructor in the summer mainly around Egypt and Turkey … and a skiing instructor in the winter.

F: Hard life!

M: Yeah, I know!

PHOTOCOPIABLE © 2011 Pearson Longman ELT

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