Student: Good afternoon. May I come in?
Agent: Yes. Come in please.
Student: Well, is this the Job Centre for students?
Agent: Yes. How can I help?
Student: Mm... I'm looking for a part-time job in the campus. Do you have anything available at the moment?
Agent: Yes. Of course. Before checking the job position let's get some personal information from you first. OK?
Student: Yes.
Agent: Well, what's your full name?
Student: My full name is Andy Kahn.
Agent: Can you spell your last name?
Student: It is K-A-H-N, Kahn.
Agent: OK, Andy. Are you a registered student in our university?
Student: Yes.
Agent: What's your major and faculty?
Student: I'm studying Educational Studies in the Education faculty.
Agent: Good choice. Did you bring your student union card or your library card?
Student: I have my union card. Do you need it?
Agent: Yes. I need to copy it now.
Student: Oh, here it is.
Agent: OK. And can you tell me your mobile phone number?
Student: Oh, I just lost my mobile phone yesterday.
Agent: I'm sorry.
Student: May I leave my home phone?
Agent: Yes. Of course.
Student: It is 0114 7281.
Agent: Fine. Let's talk about the pay. What's your requirements for the pay?
Student: Er, I think it should be about at least 10 pounds per hour.
Agent: OK. I think it is not difficult to look for a position for you.
Agent: Well, let me check the vacant position on the list... here, a position in Computer Lab is available now.
Student: In the Computer Lab?
Agent: Yes.
Student: What's the position?
Agent: A cleaner.
Student: And what are the working hours?
Agent: The Computer Lab opens at 8 o'clock and it needs to be cleaned before 7 o'clock. So you should be there at 6:30 in the morning.
Student: At 6:30 in the morning? Oh, I cannot get up so early, sorry.
Agent: OK, let's check the afternoon time. There is a job working as a councillor assistant in the Student Union on three afternoons per week – that's Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Student: Oh, I have three afternoon seminars in those three afternoons. I'm so sorry.
Agent: Well, there is a position as a cashier working from 2 o'clock to 5 o'clock on Thursday afternoons.
Student: What is the place?
Agent: In the campus canteen, is this OK?
Student: I'm afraid that I have to attend Yoga class at that time.
Agent: Well, and there is a position as a teaching assistant at the International Language Centre.
Student: That sounds interesting. My major is education.
Agent: Well, they need a language teaching assistant to supervise student attendance and send out handouts in three evenings a week on Monday, Thursday and Friday.
Student: Great. Well, could you arrange an interview for me?
Agent: How about next Wednesday morning, at 10 o'clock?
Student: Is that 7th May?
Agent: Right.
Student: That's fine. 10 o'clock on 7th May. Thank you very much.
Agent: You're welcome. Good-bye.
Student: Good-bye.
Clerk: Good morning. What can I do for you?
Customer: Good morning. I'd like to open an account. Could you give me some suggestions?
Clerk: Well, let's fill in the application form first.
Customer: OK.
Clerk: What's your full name?
Customer: My name is Jenny Chen.
Clerk: Is your last name spelt C-H-E-N?
Customer: That's right.
Clerk: Fine, Jenny. Are you a student or do you have a job now?
Customer: I should graduate this year, but I took off last year, so I am still a university student now.
Clerk: Fine. And your birthday?
Customer: I was born on 6th July in 1987.
Clerk: And your current address?
Customer: I will move into a new house, so...
Clerk: Just tell me your new address.
Customer: It's on 25 Woodside Avenue.
Clerk: Woodside, one word?
Customer: Yes.
Clerk: Do you know the postcode?
Customer: Let me think, erm... it is A83D6.
Clerk: A83? Are you sure it is not A38?
Customer: Oh, yes, it is A38D6.
Clerk: Right. OK. Do you have a mobile phone?
Customer: Yes. My number is 0903 775 115.
Clerk: The last one is your email.
Customer: My email is skylight_1987@msn.com.
Clerk: Right.
Clerk: Right. Did you bring the documents we need? Such as passport or letter from university?
Customer: Yes. Here they are.
Clerk: What type of account do you want to open?
Customer: I'm not sure. Could you give me some suggestions?
Clerk: I see. How about the Student Account? It's a kind of current account.
Customer: Student Account? Does it have a high interest?
Clerk: I'm afraid not. If you want to have a high interest account, maybe Deposit Account is a good choice. But you have to deposit at least 5,000 pounds when you open your account.
Customer: Oh. How about the annual interest of Student Account?
Clerk: It varies from time to time. At present it is 3.5%.
Customer: Right. I will take the Student Account.
Clerk: That's fine.
Customer: And can I get a Cash Card?
Clerk: Certainly. I will supply you with a Cash Card.
Customer: Great. May I apply for overdraft?
Clerk: I'm afraid you cannot. The Cash Card doesn't have service of overdraft.
Customer: Yes. I see.
Clerk: How much money do you want to deposit now?
Customer: I have 600 pounds in cash and 1,600 pounds in traveler's checks.
Clerk: So the total is 2,200 pounds?
Customer: Right.
Clerk: Fine. Please sign your name here where I have marked an "X".
Customer: OK. Thank you.
Clerk: And this is your receipt.
Customer: Thanks. Can you tell me the opening time of the bank?
Clerk: The bank opens from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Monday to Saturday.
Customer: And closes on Sunday?
Clerk: Oh, no, on Sunday the bank often closes at 3 p.m. The last thing is the statement. How often do you want to receive your statement?
Customer: Once a month.
Clerk: OK. Monthly. How about the other things, anything do you want to know?
Customer: No. Thanks for your help. Good-bye.
Clerk: Bye-bye.
Jack: Hi, Ana, what are you doing?
Ana: I'm filling in the feedback form.
Jack: What form?
Ana: The student feedback form for our course.
Jack: Oh, I really forgot that. What's the date for handing that in?
Ana: Tomorrow morning.
Jack: Oh, no. Have you finished?
Ana: Just beginning.
Jack: Great. If you don't mind we could do it together.
Ana: Of course. Do you bring your form?
Jack: Yes.
Ana: OK, let's begin with the top first.
Jack: It is a Course Name, Politics and Economics?
Ana: No. It is our faculty name.
Jack: Oh, sorry.
Ana: According to the course data from the twentieth March to twentieth June, I think the name of the course should be Global Economy.
Jack: Are you sure that it is economy not economics?
Ana: Definitely.
Jack: Alright. The next item is the name of our subject advisor.
Ana: Professor Robert Hansen.
Jack: Right. I like him very much.
Ana: Me too. He is very handsome.
Jack: Yeah. Just like me.
Ana: Yeah. Nice and humorous.
Jack: Yes. Let's see the first point on the evaluation form "handouts and equipment". What's your opinion?
Ana: I think the handouts are very good. I mean they are clear and sent out on time.
Jack: Yes. I agree. But do you think the words of handouts, well, may be too many words.
Ana: What do you mean?
Jack: I mean I have to spend so much time reading them just like reading a book.
Ana: Right. Let's put that down.
Jack: How about teaching equipment?
Ana: I do really love the new multimedia. It is perfect.
Jack: Yes. I agree, but the printer...
Ana: It is really bad. Too old and sometimes it doesn't work.
Jack: Should we suggest a new printer instead of the old one?
Ana: Why not? Let's turn to the second item. It is "course structure".
Jack: I do really like Robert's balanced design of the course.
Ana: Yes. I agree. He organised it very well.
Jack: Do you remember he sent out the course outline on the first class?
Ana: Yes, it is very clear.
Jack: I think it is a very good beginning and it is very important for a class.
Ana: Right. I gain confidence from him after the first class.
Jack: What about suggestions with course structure?
Ana: Maybe...
Jack: What?
Ana: Don't you think we have too much research work in the first module?
Jack: Research work?
Ana: Yes. We only had one research in the second module.
Jack: You are right. Let me put that down.
Ana: The next one is "practical training". Well, I think it is a good chance for our future job, right?
Jack: Yes. I agree. I learned more knowledge from that than from lecturers.
Ana: Right.
Jack: What about suggestions for improvement?
Ana: I think the department should supply more different places for us instead of just one.
Jack: Yes. Let's go on the next one "assessment". What's your opinion?
Ana: Fine. I got my feedback really quickly of my presentations.
Jack: Yes. Me too.
Ana: But I think the exam time should be adjusted.
Jack: Which type of exam?
Ana: Open-book.
Jack: Yes. I agree with you. Only 30 minutes is not enough.
Ana: Yes. Anything else?
Jack: What do you think about essay?
Ana: Too many.
Jack: Right. There are three essays in one module.
Ana: Yes.
Jack: On "other comments" what should we write?
Ana: Jack, what do you think about the teaching?
Jack: I like Robert's teaching method. It is very flexible.
Ana: Yes, me too. And I think we should advice Robert to help us to improve our writing skills.
Jack: Right. That's all?
Ana: Yes. That's all.
Having a drink at the local pub, going for a walk in the country or watching sports on the television – these are all main ways in which many British people like to relax on weekends or holidays. Such activities tell us about how modern British people like to spend their leisure time; but if you look more closely, we can see these activities are not just recent inventions, but are deeply rooted in the British culture over many centuries. Today we will talk about some sports which we see played throughout the world and were born in Britain.
Let's begin with football. As we all known Britain is the place of origin of modern football. The idea of sports having seasons – like the football season – also comes from the natural rhythms of an agricultural society, where the timing of harvests and the general weather affected how people spent their time. Football is played in early spring when the weather is wet and not too cold. In winter, bad weather kept people in doors and they had not so much work to do on their farm. So men used to doing hard work, physical labour found they needed to release their energy and so got together regularly to play boisterous and fast games like football. Meanwhile, during the Renaissance football has been regarded as a rough sport for the aristocratic young men although all social classes used to join in on the local football match. Today, violence is still associated with football. "Football hooligans", supporters of rival teams, sometimes clash before, during and after matches and run riot through the city or town, breaking windows and beating each other up. Of course the football violence gets a lot of attention. Nowadays, before some big matches when trouble is expected, police usually patrol the streets, pubs close to the football courts and some shops even lock their doors and shutter their windows. The Football Association was set up in 1863. It is the league or association that the major teams compete in, for a trophy title known as the FA Cup. The Football Association put out a series of measures to control violence so as to ensure a successful match.
A more gentle sport that is very popular in the world is tennis. Wimbledon, a town near London, is where the world's top players gather to compete. It has been one of the major sports events of the British calendar. As we all know tennis was invented in Britain but few people know tennis owes its origins to the church According to the records by the mid-fifteenth century, people were making a game of bouncing a ball off the side of their local churches or cathedrals, first using the hand and later a racquet.
Football, archery, tennis and other sports were frequently played in church yards.
In England, the sound of summer is said to be the sound of "leather on willow" – the ball hitting a cricket bat. Cricket was one of the very first team sports in Britain to be played according to the same organised rules nationally. Before the Victorian era, and in modern Britain, people from all walks of life play cricket, but in the nineteenth century, cricket became a sport associated with the upper classes. It was a kind of a "snob" game played by boys who attended public schools. And then the sport became popular in the public school system in the colonies of Australia, New Zealand, India and Pakistan. British English is full of idioms to the sport, those who are not familiar with the game will be baffled by it. Such as "that's not cricket" means "that's not fair" and "to play the game" means "to be fair".
The true sport of British Kings (and Queens) is not skiing or golfing, but horse racing. National horse races have been held throughout Britain for hundreds of years. The horse at the heart of medieval life was a symbol of authority and wealth and necessary to traveling, hunting and warfare. The sport of riding a horse is still considered rather snobbish or aristocratic sport because the average British family cannot afford to own a horse. Meanwhile, there are stables which rent horses and offer riding courses at affordable prices. So certainly, almost everyone can afford to place a bet on a horse race now and then. As a sport of kings, kings and commoners alike enjoy betting on the horses. The Queen, who likes riding, also likes betting on the horses and often attends some major races. Although she is extremely rich, she gets very excited when the horse she has placed her money on wins.
There are two kinds of horse racing: the flat race, where horses and riders compete on a flat, oval track; and the steeplechase, which is racing either across the countryside, or around a course designed to represent the obstacles you might overcome in the countryside. The Grand National which is set up in 1837 and it's the world's most famous steeplechase. However, some horses are usually injured and badly hurt horses are sometimes shot. Animal lovers cannot accept that animals should be hurt and killed for people's entertainment. The biggest social event related to horse racing is The Royal Ascot, where people dress up and show off how fashionable they are as well as watching the races and place their bets. Women especially wear very delicate and exotic hats and dress designed for the occasion. Television and newspapers will often comment on their outfits.