Listening tests tapescripts thv 1
Track 1
Go for it! 2nd edition, thv 1, Listening test, unit 2
Skipping school
Why do young people skip school? We asked young
people what they think about skipping school.
Hi, my name is Andy Mills.
People only skip lessons they don't really like, such as
maths. They've got better things to do. If you leave
school to go somewhere with your parents it's not
really skipping because you could be going to the
doctor or something like that. I think parents do know
when their kids skip school.
My name's Paul Williams.
I think parents know when their kids bunk off because
you can tell by the way people act and people are
always arguing, so I think they know what's going on.
I think people skip school just to get out of certain
lessons because most of the time you'll just find them
hanging around town doing nothing. So it’s not
because they have something better to do.
Hi there, I'm Rosie Knowles.
People skip school because it's so terribly boring. If
you're on holidays with your parents when you should
be in school then it's not skipping, I think. I don't think
parents always know when their kids skip school
because they just do it behind their backs. It isn't fair
that parents get blamed when their kids skip school
because if the parents don't know about it then they
have no control over their children doing it.
Lizzie Taylor, I'm 14, and I live in Hexham.
I don't know that many people who do skip school or
why. It's probably just to get away from it. If you're off
school with your parents then you're still truanting
because you're still skipping classes. If you're on
holiday and your school knows about it, then that's
OK. If parents know their kids skive regularly, then
they should try to stop them. I have never skipped
school before. I think it's wrong.
Go for it! 2nd edition thv 1
I'm Lucy Smith, 14.
People skip school because they don't like it and they
think there's better stuff to do. If you're off school with
your parents then you're not really skipping school,
because if the school knows about it then your
parents will have given permission. If the parents
don't know about it then it isn't fair that they should
take the blame for it. I mean, it is their responsibility
but you can't always get kids to go to school.
Listening tests tapescripts thv 1
Track 2
Go for it! 2nd edition, thv 1, Listening Test, unit 4
unfortunately they're all mine, it's all one-way traffic
here. I've heard nothing back from anybody at River
Island.
Wheelchair worries
Atkinson
Is going shopping or going to the movies any easier
nowadays for disabled people? Well, I'm in Bristol
with Chris Goddard, who is a wheelchair user. He’s
been trying to buy clothes a shop called River Island
and basically he's not getting very far.
Atkinson
Chris, what's your experience been with River Island?
Goddard
Well, I went there about three months ago and tried to
buy some clothes in there. But the men's department
is upstairs, so the guy – he was very, very helpful - he
asked me what shirt I wanted. I tried to sort of give an
idea of colour and size and whatever, and he came
down with a shirt. Then he pointed towards a
cupboard for me to try it on, because the changing
rooms were actually up some more stairs.
Atkinson
When you say a cupboard, this was a wheelchair
user's changing room?
Goddard
No it was a cupboard. I've been in worse cupboards
on one or two occasions, but it was a cupboard. My
first reaction was I just thought it was so funny. But
when I thought about it afterwards I thought - it's quite
awful really, so I felt very bad. Shopping is not like
going into a supermarket. Clothes, music, books, all
sorts of things, are things that we need to spend time
looking at, waiting, thinking and maybe not even
buying in the end - that's shopping.
Atkinson
Now, we know you've written to River Island. What's
happened?
Goddard
Well I wrote and phoned to their office in London that was on the 22nd November – and a couple of
days later a guy that I spoke to on the phone sent me
an e-mail. He said that he will give it to the Health
and Safety people who "will get in touch with you".
There are a whole load more e-mails but
Go for it! 2nd edition thv 1
Atkinson
Now we are outside the Odeon cinema and there’s a
flight of 12 steps leading to the entrance, so that is
obviously the first problem.
Goddard
Yes, there is a flight of stairs - they're wide stairs, so
there's plenty of room to build a lift for wheelchair
users, but there isn’t a lift at all. There is a new film
out that I wanted to go and see, but sadly not at this
cinema because I can't get into it! And I was visiting
their website only a short time ago, so I know that
they are a big company running cinemas all over the
country. But, unfortunately, I'll have to go to London
or Bath or Birmingham or somewhere else to see a
film at an Odeon cinema.
Atkinson
Now we of course did ask both River Island and
Odeon for a reaction. River Island told us: "Our Bristol
shop is one of our older shops. It's not the easiest for
disabled customers to get to the first floor, so our staff
know they have to assist customers such as Mr
Goddard by bringing products downstairs. At Bristol
we do have a goods lift, to carry heavy loads up and
down. We're now considering changing that goods lift
so that it can be used by wheelchair users." Odeon
has not answered yet.
Listening tests tapescripts thv 1
Track 3
hopeless.
Go for it! 2nd edition, thv 1, Listening Test, unit 6
Skateboarder Tony Hawk
interviewer
Tony Hawk was nine years old when his brother
changed his life by giving him his first skateboard. At
age 14 he turned professional, and by age 16 he was
the best skateboarder in the world. He stopped
skating as a pro at age 31, but still skates almost
every day.
interviewer
What, do you think, is important in becoming
successful in a sport?
Tony
The most important message, I think, is to believe in
yourself, you know, and go after whatever you want to
do. If you go at them only because someone thinks
you should, then you're not going to get what you
want. That is my philosophy in skating. I don't really
try something unless I'm already convinced I can do it.
I didn't go to college, so I've had to cope with what I
learned in high school, as well as my skating skills.
interviewer
Did you ever have any fear of getting hurt?
Tony
There's always a fear of getting hurt, but I try to
approach it with confidence. I don't go at it thinking,
‘Boy, I hope this works’ but rather, ‘Boy, I can do this’.
I try to ignore the fear. I also sometimes have this
habit of imagining the worst that can happen. Which is
probably the worst thing to do, really. But if I think:
‘What's the worst thing that could happen right here?’
Okay, I can live through that.
interviewer
Is there anything you ever did for good luck?
Tony
Not really. I don't know, I put everything on my left
side first, like my kneepads, left to right, but I think
that is more of an obsession than a good-luck thing. I
used to have a certain warm-up run I'd do - but I
stopped doing that because I became too focused on
that instead of on the competition itself. If I didn't do it
right, then I thought the rest of the day would be
Go for it! 2nd edition thv 1
interviewer
You gave up playing the violin for skateboarding. I
was wondering if there is anything else about you that
would surprise people?
Tony
Gosh, I'm a computer geek. My friends phone me for
technical support. But they don't realize that I'm in
Australia, and they're calling my cell phone. - I miss
the violin, actually. I literally gave it up for skating,
because I felt I could only have one extra activity on
top of my schoolwork. I felt my skating was improving
faster than my violin skills. But I just recently bought a
new violin, so I'm going to try to take it up again.
interviewer
A lot of kids nowadays have no idea what to do with
their lives. What advice would you have for them?
Tony
See what skills you have and what you enjoy doing.
I'm in a unique position because when I started, and
turned professional, there was no money in it, you
know. Even though I was number one, I wasn't
making a living at it. I guess if I had not skated
computers is probably what I would have done. I think
you've just got to find what really interests you and
keeps you excited, and not do something you feel like
you have to do.