AGENT: Ah, good morning, Mr Rich, isn't it?
MR RICH: That's right; Raymond Rich of ICT Industries.
AGENT: ICT Industries. Just a moment while I put that on the form. Now, you're looking for new office space, is that right?
MR RICH: Yes, our present lease is due to expire soon and as the company is expanding anyway we need to find somewhere to move to.
AGENT: Do you prefer the suburbs, the city or a commercial zone on the outskirts?
MR RICH: Well, currently we're in a very pleasant suburb but as I said we've outgrown that building. As we've got to move anyway, I think the city centre is where we want to be—right in the heart of things.
AGENT: I see, anywhere in particular?
MR RICH: Yes, somewhere in the vicinity of the main transport centre because I have a large staff and car parking in the city is terribly expensive. I think it would be a good idea if we didn't use our cars at all.
AGENT: Exactly what size premises are you looking for?
MR RICH: Good question. Something more than the 10,000 square metres we have at present should do it.
AGENT: Shall we say...12,000 square metres?
MR RICH: That's probably about right. Yes, I think that would meet our needs.
AGENT: Just how many employees do you have to accommodate?
MR RICH: Forty in all. But only fourteen will have their own offices. The rest will be in open-plan shared offices.
AGENT: Oh, I forgot to ask—do any of your employees have extra requirements? Will we need to consider people with disabilities?
MR RICH: Yes, actually, there is one in a wheelchair who'll need suitable access and another who can walk just a few paces—she uses a mobility scooter, so we'd need to make sure all facilities, especially toilet facilities, were suitable and accessible and we'd also need to be either on the ground floor or to find a secure place by the lifts for Mrs Jackson to park her scooter.
AGENT: I'll need to keep that in mind when I come up with property for you to look at. Now, when are you thinking of moving?
MR RICH: Well, our current lease expires in August so we'd like to have the move completed by then of course.
AGENT: Well, there is a very suitable property that I have in mind here in the city but the owners want a lease signed by the end of this month, May.
MR RICH: Ooh, too early I'm afraid. I'd be ready to sign up by the end of June though.
AGENT: Shall we say signed up by the 1st of July and moved by the end of that month?
MR RICH: Definitely.
AGENT: Well, I'll keep your requirements in mind and let you know when something comes up. Wait a minute... there is vacant office space on the tenth floor of this very building. Would you care to take a look? It has only just become available but I haven't started marketing it yet because it's in need of a bit of a makeover. The floor area is about the right size...
MR RICH: Good, let's see it then.
AGENT: Well, what do you think? Elevator access is great and the lobby area is roomy enough for that disability vehicle you were telling me about.
MR RICH: Oh, I don't know, there are too many small offices. Would we be able to take out a few of these walls and make bigger work areas?
AGENT: I don't see why not—most of them are just partitions—obviously load-bearing walls can't be touched but there aren't many of those to worry about.
MR RICH: What about kitchen and dining facilities? We like our staff to feel comfortable eating at work—if they go out for lunch, it often leads to extended lunch hours and lost time.
AGENT: Come this way—this is the kitchen.
MR RICH: Oh, it's a bit poky; we'd need to enlarge it somehow. What's behind the wall here?
AGENT: That's just a storeroom. You could take out that wall and expand into that space.
MR RICH: Then what would we do for a storeroom?
AGENT: Ah, well, see that tiny office near the entrance? It has no external windows or natural light—it would make an ideal storeroom.
MR RICH: Yes, you're right. The whole place is a bit dilapidated—obviously in need of that redecoration you were talking about—and I don't just mean a coat of new paint. I think all the light fittings would have to be modernized, those broken blinds have to be replaced and this old blue carpet definitely has to go.
AGENT: I agree. That's something we can negotiate with the owner. But...overall, do you think it would fit your requirements?
MR RICH: Well, you haven't given me any indication of what the lease would cost but before we get into that, what are the terms of the lease concerning length of tenancy?
AGENT: Well, generally in the city leases are never less than three years.
MR RICH: Oh? I mean we don't mind signing up for that period of time initially but we don't necessarily want to have to move after that—we've been in our last place for ten years, you know.
AGENT: Well, the usual agreement is a three by three by two—that's a contract for three years with entitlement to extension for three years and then another two years after that. But let me speak to the owner first.
MR RICH: Mmm...and one more thing: we have to consider the time frame—remember my current lease is due to expire in August.
AGENT: Well, with reliable contractors, it shouldn't take more than a couple of months to do the necessary refit...
Are you thinking about further study? Well, listen to this before you make a decision. It will help you decide if going on to tertiary study is right for you and it will help you make good decisions for the right reasons. It includes information about student life, what it will cost and the different ways you can support yourself.
What should you think about first? Well, obviously you're thinking about tertiary study and it's one of the biggest decisions you'll make in your life—what you decide now will affect the rest of your life. It's the last year of high school for most of you and you're busy and under pressure. Perhaps you're thinking of going abroad, getting a job, or working for just a year or two to save some money before getting back to study.
Let's assume you're choosing to continue studying next year. It's important that you set yourself goals and plan how you're going to achieve them. First off, career goals: What career do you want to pursue or what is it your parents want you to do? Then, you need to think about employment opportunities at the end of your study. Will your qualification assist you in finding a rewarding job? Thirdly, course selection—exactly what qualifications will you need: for instance, a degree, a diploma or something else? Now, we're down to study goals—the number of papers you can study at a time and what sort of grades you would like to attain.
Now, how do you make all that happen? You might feel overwhelmed by all the choices but there are people and agencies to help: Career Services is a great website with lots of useful information and a search tool for finding courses and providers throughout the country. Then there are the tertiary education institutions themselves—universities and institutes of technology, for example, have comprehensive information on their particular websites. You can find out most anything there. Many campuses have a Student Support Association and they can tell you a lot about what to expect. Don't be afraid to ask them anything—I'm sure they've heard it all before. It might also be worthwhile to make enquiries with potential employers to see if they will fund, or partially fund, your studies. If it is a trade you want to learn, the Apprenticeship Scheme will help you earn while you learn. That way you'll get valuable work experience while you're studying. If you're still at school, then search out your School Careers Advisor who will have a variety of information and resources at hand and be able to give you the kind of guidance you need to make a fully informed decision; and last but not least, don't forget your parents and other family members! They can be of enormous help, too. Oh, one last thing that might help you make up your mind: have you thought of applying for a scholarship? Some embassies, governments and individual institutions offer scholarships to cover part or all of your study fees. Most large libraries have a comprehensive catalogue of the various grants, awards and scholarships that are available.
TUTOR: I'm very glad that the two of you decided to pursue this research topic because I think it's not only much needed but very relevant to current psychological concerns about addiction issues in young people. Now, tell me, how did you get started?
LEE: Well, we looked around for problems, or perceived problems, that teenagers in general might encounter and we came up with the extremely popular phenomenon of instant messaging and the implications that the use, or overuse, of this form of communication might have on teen behaviour.
KIM: Then we decided to propose the concept of instant messaging addiction. By the way, do you mind if we abbreviate "instant messaging" to IM in our discussion?
TUTOR: Not at all. But before you go any further, tell me something about the demographic sample you used.
LEE: We chose a random sample of teenagers from Jiangsu Province, from a typical public middle school, and we considered this group to be representative of teenagers in urban China. We distributed 500 questionnaires and 450 were returned. The sample group was on average aged between 14 and 15 years.
TUTOR: Internet addiction, or technological addiction as it's sometimes called, has been studied many times before. What makes your research different?
LEE: Well, previous studies indicated that Internet-dependent students are more likely to use instant communication, but we wanted to find out primarily whether IM addiction actually exists...and if so, what the symptoms are.
KIM: And secondly, we wanted to know whether IM addiction could be predicted, and finally, whether addiction has an impact on academic performance.
TUTOR: Quite a large undertaking. Tell me, what IM addiction symptoms did you identify among teenagers in your sample?
KIM: We found four major IM addiction symptoms, which are remarkably similar to the symptoms used to identify substance dependence, although here we're looking at behavioural addiction, not chemical addiction to drugs, alcohol or the like.
LEE: Yes, loss of control was a significant factor which indicates that the addicts had less self-discipline; they could not control the amount of time they spent on IM; and they neglected their schoolwork, as well as other responsibilities or obligations they might have. Obviously academic performance was adversely affected.
TUTOR: I'm sure that led to a lot of complaints from family and friends not to mention teachers.
KIM: Yes, of course. Another symptom was, as you would expect, a preoccupation with instant messaging—they would be annoyed if interrupted when chatting online and they would feel depressed and moody when they couldn't; they would go without sleep in order to chat; and when they were offline they would still be thinking about online chatting. As in chemical addiction, they would need to increase the dose, in this case, of IM time, to get satisfaction.
TUTOR: That sounds quite disturbing.
LEE: Yes, and as you can imagine, loss of relationships due to overuse of IM was a factor too. The addicted teenagers would rather chat online than go out with friends or spend time with family, which jeopardised their social relationships and their educational opportunities.
KIM: The fourth addictive factor we found was escape. These teenagers used IM as a form of escape from reality and responsibilities.
TUTOR: And can IM addiction be predicted?
KIM: Well, we found a definite correlation between shyness and IM addiction.
LEE: Not only shyness, but also a feeling of alienation was a predictor too: alienation from family, peers, and school.
TUTOR: So the more alienated they feel, the more they look for affection, friendship and social support through IM.
KIM: Exactly. But, interestingly, what we found was that alienation was a predictor for addiction but not necessarily related to a high level of IM use.
TUTOR: How do you explain that?
KIM: One possible explanation we considered was that those who were not alienated would communicate frequently with their friends through IM but addicts, on the other hand, are probably looking for friendship through online chatting with strangers.
TUTOR: Look, we're just about out of time—I'm really looking forward to reading your paper when you've finished it—but, before I go, can you quickly sum up your conclusions.
LEE: By looking at behavioural patterns and psychological characteristics, we were able to establish that there is a difference between high level of IM use and IM addiction as such.
KIM: And that there are certain positive predictors for addiction.
LEE: And our findings showed that teenagers' level of use of IM affected their academic performance.
TUTOR: So, you're saying that IM addiction detracts from the students' academic performance.
LEE: That's what we set out to prove—and there's absolutely no doubt: addicted students perform badly at school—but what we also found is that there is a correlation between the level of IM use and schoolwork.
TUTOR: So, not just the addicts suffer low scores.
LEE: Precisely. Our results show that the higher the level of IM use, regardless of whether addiction is involved, the more negative impact there is on academic performance.
TUTOR: Your research shows, then, that not only should teachers and parents be on the lookout for those teenagers who might be vulnerable to IM addiction but that parents should pay close attention and provide proper guidance and monitor their teenagers' level of use of instant messaging.
LEE: Yes, that's it in a nutshell.
Hello. I'm glad so many of you have turned out to hear what I have to say today about the British Isles, that area of the eastern Atlantic that we Americans find so confusing. I'm afraid just looking at a map or a page in the atlas doesn't necessarily explain the geographic terminology. In referring to the British Isles, a word of apology for those of you of Irish descent—that is, those whose ancestors come from Eire, the Republic of Ireland—no matter how geographically accurate the place names that I use today are, some of you will be understandably upset to be included in anything termed "British".
I have a very useful image that might help you differentiate between the various labels that distinguish the political and geographic reality of the so-called British Isles. I want to show you a Venn diagram which is a mathematical illustration that shows all the possible relationships between sets. Look at this Venn diagram and you will see that the geographical terminology is in bold while the political terms are in italics. See here the British Isles in bold and the British Islands in italics.
The aim of this lecture is to explain the meanings of and relationships among those terms. In geographical terms, you will see that the British Isles is an archipelago made up of the two large islands of Great Britain and Ireland and including many smaller surrounding islands. Of course you can't tell from the Venn diagram the true comparative size of these islands—you'll need to look at the map for that—but, take my word for it, Great Britain is the largest island of the archipelago followed by Ireland which, in reality geographically, lies to the west and there are over a thousand smaller islands.
Now in political terms, the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' is the constitutional monarchy which includes the island of Great Britain, some small nearby islands (although not the Isle of Man or the Channel Islands) and the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland. Thank goodness it is generally shortened to United Kingdom, the UK, Great Britain or Britain or even the abbreviation GB—although none of these are strictly correct of course.
You'd better listen carefully to the next part because, I warn you, it is very confusing...Ireland is the name of the sovereign republic occupying the larger part of the island of Ireland. But to distinguish it from the name of the island itself, and most importantly from the other part which belongs to the UK, it is called the Republic of Ireland or its Irish-language name, Eire—that's E-I-R-E—even though Eire directly translates as 'Ireland'. The smaller portion of the island is called Northern Ireland. The partition of Ireland took place in 1922 after a great history of struggle that we won't go into here.
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are legal jurisdictions within the United Kingdom but Great Britain refers to the countries of England, Wales and Scotland as a unit.
The British Islands contain the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands (made up of Guernsey and Jersey) and Isle of Man which all have the British Monarch as head of state. Interestingly, the Isle of Man, although governed as a British Crown dependency, has its own parliament but relies on the UK for defence and in matters of external relations.
So, you've learnt something about the geographical and political confusion surrounding the British Isles; let's have a look at some of the linguistic confusion. To start with, there isn't an adjective to refer to the United Kingdom, so the term British is generally used. However, that means that citizens of Northern Ireland, although not on the island of Great Britain, still describe themselves as British because this reflects their political and cultural identity. Irish, in a political sense, refers to the Republic only, so sometimes citizens of Northern Ireland would call themselves Northern Irish as a point of difference. Of course the 'northern' in "Northern Irish" is not completely accurate either as the most northerly peninsula on the island is in the County of Donegal which is part of the Republic.
OK, we might get in a muddle over the term Irish, but at least Scottish, Welsh and English should be self-explanatory... apparently not to us Americans—and Europeans are often guilty of this too—we often use the term English incorrectly to mean British. I'd have to be the first to admit to calling my Welsh colleague, English, which really gets his heckles up. He is Welsh, he tells me, and he may also be British, but he is definitely not English!
Just one more thing: what is the British Commonwealth? It's a voluntary association of independent states many of which were former British colonies; in fact, what was primarily the old British Empire. However, it's no longer known as the British Commonwealth but is now called the Commonwealth of Nations instead presumably because current members do not want to remember the old colonial ties.