Perspectives Intermediate AUDIOSCRIPTS

Presenter: Hi there, and welcome back to another one of our weekly podcasts.
Today we’re talking about study-abroad programmes, which, as you
probably know, allow secondary school or university-level students to
go and study abroad for anything from a week to a year. What you
may not know, though, is that the roots of the present system date
back to the end of the Second World War, when it was hoped that the
experience of living overseas would increase participants’
understanding and tolerance of other cultures whilst also improving
their language. So is this really what happens? Well, we decided to
talk to two students who have taken part in study-abroad
programmes to find out what their experiences were. First we’ll hear
from Kenji in Tokyo, Japan, and then Catalina, who’s in Buenos Aires,
Argentina.

Kenji My name’s Kenji. I spent six months in Germany last year. My dad’s
American so I’d been to the US with family a few times, but I hadn’t
travelled on my own before. I was actually thinking about cancelling
my trip before I left. I remember as my departure day got nearer, I got
really nervous, but I’m so happy I didn’t cancel because it completely
changed my life. I stayed with a host family in Munich and they were
really welcoming. When I wasn’t in school, they showed me all the
sights, took me hiking and skiing and really helped me get a feel for
the country. I have become far more fluent in German and feel as
though I have matured a lot. I miss my host family, but we still talk a
lot online and I’m actually planning to visit again in the summer.
Catalina My name is Catalina. I went to Italy last year as part of a Summer
Explorer programme. I have an Italian grandmother, so I’d been
wanting to go there for ages. I’d never left Argentina! I’ll never forget
the feeling I had as I was stepping off the plane and into Palermo
airport! It all took a while to get used to and I got a bit of a culture
shock to begin with, but I soon started making new friends. After the
first month, I could get by in Italian and, by the end of the second
month, it had got way better. By the third, I didn’t want to leave as my
Italian was really improving, and I’d made loads of new friends. All in
all, it was a great experience and I’m keen to go back sometime in the
future to live and work for a few years.

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1  We’d often go camping and sleep under the stars.

2  I didn’t use half the clothes I’d taken with me.
3  Whenever I’d ask them to do something, they’d do the opposite.
4  They brought us a present back from every place they’d visited.
5  I’d try any kind of food if you put it in front of me.
6  My dad’d often come home after I’d gone to bed.

1 I make the mistake of asking him ‘So where are you staying tonight?’
2 And I’m thinking ‘Oh man! What did you do?’
3 And the voice in my head goes, ‘Wait, what?’
4 I’m staring at the ceiling, I’m thinking, ‘Oh my god, what have I done?’

M = Male, F = Female
M I’m thinking of seeing some sights today. Can you recommend anywhere?
F Well, the Old Town is well worth a visit. There are some amazing buildings
there.
M OK. Well, I’ll check that out this morning, then. And do you know anywhere
good to have lunch?
F Well, there’s a great steak place down by the river.
M Oh, right. Well, actually, I don’t eat meat, so ...
F In that case, you’d be best off going to Madragora – a nice little vegetarian
place near the park.
M Great. Thanks for the tip.

The number of entrepreneurs has been growing ever since the arrival of new
technology and online services. This new technology has reduced the barriers that
previously discouraged people from setting up a business. Now, a company does not
have to be based in an impressive office or employ lots of people. It could be just one
person at home with a computer – like Nick D’Aloisio. He created an app in his
bedroom to summarize news articles and then sold it to Yahoo for $30 million – all
before he reached his 18th birthday! Or, it could be someone like the best-selling
author Amanda Hocking. Rather than finding a publisher to market and distribute

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her work, she self-published her fantasy- thrillers as e-books. She has since sold over
a million copies of them on Amazon. This new style of business particularly benefits
people like Nick and Amanda young people or people from other groups who have
been under-represented in corporate leadership.
Technology has also changed how businesses are funded. Previously, people trying to
raise money to develop their ideas had to go to a bank or negotiate a deal with an
investor. Bankers and investors often only supported people like themselves – older,
wealthy men in suits. In contrast, D’Aloisio’s first investor contacted him by email
from Hong Kong and had no idea that the company was run by a 15-year-old boy out
of his bedroom. Crowdfunding websites such as Kickstarter allow entrepreneurs to
avoid banks or having to sell part of their business to an investor. They provide a
place for anyone in the world to give small or large amounts of money to a project in
return for the future product, a gift or even a simple ‘thank you’.
While traditional banks focus on future profits, many Kickstarter entrepreneurs and
investors are more interested in having a positive impact on the world. Kickstarter
has been running for several years now and has raised over $2 billion to develop
more than 300,000 projects that include everything from hi-tech smart watches to
Oscar-winning films and projects to save the rainforests of the world.
So, the new entrepreneurs may be younger, more diverse and more socially aware
than in the past, but there are some things that don’t change. 50 percent of new
businesses never make money. Over half of the campaigns on Kickstarter don’t
receive any funding because they fail to reach their set target. Most successful
entrepreneurs have failed at least once: Amanda Hocking had 17 books rejected by
publishers before she found success herself. Entrepreneurs have always needed the
confidence to recover from failure and maintain a passion for what they do – and it’s
still key.

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1
Female 1 She’s retired now, but I’ve always really admired Mia Hamm. She used to
be a forward in the US women’s football team, and she’s one of the most
successful football players ever! I mean, she’s won Olympic medals,
World Cup medals ... She played for her country 275 times – and scored
over 150 international goals! No man has ever managed that! And they
were some of the best goals I’ve ever seen as well. She really had
everything: awareness, technique, skill, stamina, everything! And she was
so consistent too – always an eight or nine out of ten performer.
2
Male 1 Not many people can claim to have made a sport popular more or less on
their own, but Valentino Rossi is one of them. In my eyes, he’s the
greatest MotoGP racer of all time and, without him, fewer people would
watch motorcycle road racing. And I’m not just saying that because we’re
both Italian! He’s won the World Championship nine times, but I won’t

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 bore you with the details because actually what I love most about him is
both his passion for racing and the fact he seems so decent, so humble.
He has no ego problems and a great personality. I love watching him ride
and his celebrations when he wins are always really entertaining as well.
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Male 2 I love diving! A great hero of mine is Joaquín Capilla because he was
Mexico’s most successful diver. He competed in three Olympic Games
and won many medals, including one gold. And, you know, that was at a
time when there were few competitors in the Olympics from Mexico and
very little support for them. My coach has shown me some videos of
Joaquín when he was at his best. Obviously, things have moved on and
the dives we do now are more difficult, but you can still appreciate his
amazing technique. I also admire him for his later life when he managed
to overcome a lot of personal problems. I think he serves as a great
lesson about what you can achieve in both sport and life.
4
Male 3 Susi Susanti was a national hero when my father was at high school. Ask
any Indonesian of his generation, and they’ll know her. Before the 1992
Olympics in Barcelona, we’d never won any gold medals. I guess you
could say we were lucky the International Olympic Committee decided to
introduce badminton as an Olympic sport that year because Susi won the
women’s singles – and her future husband, Alan Budikusuma, won the
men’s. Susi is not very tall – maybe 1 metre 60, something like that – but
she was so energetic and determined, always moving, almost floating!
Another thing I love about her is her attitude. She always fought right to
the end, even when it seemed there was no hope, and I admire that.

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The winner of the 2012 Olympic marathon [slows down] ran two hours and eight
minutes. Had he been racing against the winner of the 1904 Olympic marathon,
[slows down] he would have won by nearly an hour and a half.

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P = Presenter, H = Holly, M = Mark

P Today on Arts Spot, we’re looking at some art projects aiming to make a
difference. I’m here with my usual guests, Holly and Mark. So Holly, if we can
start with you ... I think you wanted to talk about the Favela Painting
Foundation, right?
H Yeah. You may have seen these guys Haas and Hahn give a TED Talk on their
project in Rio.
M Yeah, they’re very cool guys. They created an incredible work of art by painting
a whole neighbourhood.

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H Exactly. So their latest project is something similar, but in Port-au-Prince, the
capital of Haiti, which, as you know, has suffered a lot over the last few years
from an earthquake in 2010 and a hurricane in 2016.
P OK. So these paintings have a big impact on the eye – I mean, they’re really
colourful and beautiful, but what about their impact on the community?
H That’s a difficult one. I mean, I think they have a positive impact. They certainly
get local people involved very early on so the community really supports the
projects. And in Haiti, the project is certainly going to create jobs, and it’ll be
employing local artists. I guess that work won’t last, but I think the locals are
hoping the project will attract interest in the area and bring in more investment
long term.
P That’s always the hope, isn’t it? Mark, you have another city which is hoping to
put itself on the world cultural map– Birmingham!
M Yeah, well that’s what they say.
P They’re looking for an artist to create a big innovative piece of public art, aren’t
they?
M That’s the plan. It’s part of the continuing redevelopment of the city. The idea is
it’ll be part of a space local people can enjoy; a place they can hold events to
attract tourists and boost their economy.
P That’s quite ambitious! So, how much is it all going to cost?
M Well, the budget for the selection process and the costs of installing the piece
they choose is set at two million pounds.
P Wow – and what about once it’s been completed?
M Who knows? I mean, the idea is the piece should be low maintenance, so they
won’t be spending thousands of pounds every year to keep it in good condition.
P Yeah, that’s important. Part of me wonders about that with the Haiti painting.
What’ll happen when the paint fades?
H I don’t know. Does it matter? I think in that case what matters is it’s bringing
people together and restoring pride in their community.
M You’re probably right, but aren’t there cheaper ways to do that? For example,
we’re about to put on a community arts festival. We’re holding various shows
and events over a week with local people volunteering.
P That sounds interesting, but I’m afraid we’ve run out of time. You can continue
the discussion on the Arts Spot website and get information on Mark’s festival,
which starts on the 24th, is that right?
M Yep.
P OK. So thanks to Mark and Holly. Until next time.

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a  but they just played loads of new stuff. They were absolutely terrible.
b  but it literally sold out in seconds. I couldn’t believe it.
c  loads of people were actually against it.
d  but it cost way more than that.
e  but we had to wait for hours. It must’ve been midnight before they came on.
f  but seriously, it just poured down all day.

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1
Female 1: My parents took me to see The Mousetrap while we were on vacation. I
don’t know if you know it or not, but apparently it’s the world’s longest-
running play. My dad said it’ll soon have been running for seventy
years, and over ten million people will have seen it, which is pretty
amazing, really. Anyway, I wasn’t expecting much because I don’t
usually like murder mysteries, but it was way better than I thought it
would be.
2
Male: We were hoping to get tickets to see a show at the local comedy club,
but we left it too late, so on the spur of the moment we decided to go to
a concert instead. We saw a French band called The Arrogants. I don’t
know if you know them or not. I’d heard their record and quite liked it,
but the show was a real letdown. They were nowhere near as good as I
was expecting.
3
Female 2: I was just going to stay at home and have a quiet night in, to be honest,
but a friend called me and said she was going to see this new Japanese
horror movie, so I decided to go with her. I’m not usually a big fan of
that kind of thing, and I honestly wasn’t expecting it to be very scary,
but it was actually totally terrifying. Honestly, it gave me nightmares.

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F = Female, M = Male
F So, hey, listen, I was wondering ... um ... Do you fancy going out somewhere
with me tomorrow?
M Yeah, OK. Why not? Where did you have in mind? Anywhere in particular?
F Well, there’s this new exhibition on in town that I’d quite like to go and see.
M OK. What kind of thing is it? I’m not really into art, so ...

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F No, it’s all about technology and how it’s changing the world. You know – 3D
printers and all that.
M Ah, it doesn’t sound like my kind of thing, to be honest.
F No worries. It’ll be running for a while, so I can always go and see it on my own
some time.
M Cool. Hey. How about checking out this band that are playing in the park
tomorrow night?
F Umm ... maybe. Who are they?
M They’re called Moral Panic. They’ve got this sort of alternative, hardcore, metal
sound.
F OK. Doesn’t really sound like my kind of music, I’m afraid. Metal just does
nothing for me.
M Hmmm. OK. Well, we’re a bit stuck then, really, aren’t we?
F I don’t know. What about just going to see a film? Would you be up for that?
M Yeah. Maybe. Do you know what’s on?
F Well, there’s The Gift, this new thriller that’s supposed to be really good.
M Oh yeah! I was going to go and see that last week but couldn’t get tickets in
the end. It looks amazing, though.
F So how about that, then? Let me just check. Yeah. There’s a showing at quarter
past four. And another one at quarter to seven.
M Let’s go for the later one but meet a little bit earlier.
F OK. Shall we say six in the café so we can get a coffee first? And I’ll book tickets
right now, just to be safe.
M Brilliant! I’ll see you there, then. Bye.

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P = Presenter, M = Marie, J = Jamal

P Hi – and welcome to Life Hacks, the show where we help you deal with those
annoying everyday problems. And with me today to share the life hacks they’ve
picked up this week are Marie and Jamal. So, Marie, what have you got for us?
M Well, I was recently given this lovely new smartphone for my 18th birthday
and, if you’re one of those people like me, who finds it really hard to get out of
bed in the morning, there’s a hack for that.
P Interesting! Go on.
M Well, basically, if you use your phone as an alarm clock like me, you can create
your own loudspeaker by simply putting the phone speaker downwards in a
paper cup – a clean, dry one, obviously. And of course it works better as an

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 alarm if the cup is then left far away from your bed, as then you’ll be forced to
get up to turn it off.
J And how does it work, Marie? I mean, what’s the science behind it?
M Simple – the cup channels the sound in one direction, whereas normally it’d be
thrown around all over the place.
P You’ve actually just reminded me, Marie, of an app I came across recently. It’s
been designed to track your sleep patterns and wake you up during light sleep
rather than deep, which is far less painful of course!
M Neat. I like the sound of that. I might give it a try. By the way, one other phone
hack I’ve learnt recently ... you know, if your phone’s being charged and you
need it done ASAP, then what you need to do is put it in Airplane mode. That
reduces the energy the phone uses and so speeds things up a bit.
P Great! Thanks, Marie. Jamal. What have you got for us today?
J Something completely different, actually. An email has just been sent to me by
Maxine, who’s suggested a hack for anyone out there who likes a spicy curry
from time to time.
M That’d be me, then.
P Yep, me too.
J Well, I guess you’ll know that burning sensation you get when eating spicy
food?
P Oh yeah!
J That’s caused by a chemical that’s found in chillies, and once it’s in your mouth,
it attaches itself to the ends of the heat-detecting nerves, tricking them into
thinking the temperature has increased. To get rid of the burning feeling, you
need to wash away the chemical, but it doesn’t dissolve in water, so instead
you need fat from something like bread, rice or yoghurt. The fat washes off the
chemical and stops the burning.
P I’m sure there’ll be plenty of listeners out there glad to hear that one, Jamal.

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The Scientific Method is basically an organized way of designing and setting up

experiments that helps you answer questions or solve problems. It usually involves six
specific steps. Firstly, define the purpose of your experiment. What question are you
trying to answer? Maybe you want to find out if the colour of a light bulb affects
plant growth, for instance. Next, do your research look for information in books, on
the web, and so on. Get as much information as you can before you start your
experiment. Maybe someone has already done a similar experiment that you could
repeat or develop. After this, you form your hypothesis. In other words, you predict
an answer to your question. It’s best to state your hypothesis explicitly. An example
might be, ‘If I grow plants under red light bulbs, they’ll grow faster than plants
growing under white ones.’ Then, comes the fun part – the experiment itself. Design

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a test to find out if your hypothesis is correct. In our example, you could set up some
plant seeds under a red light bulb and some under a white one and observe each for
a couple of weeks. During the experiment, keep a record of what happens and then
analyze this data before finally drawing your conclusions. Review your data to see if
your original hypothesis was correct. If the plants under the red light bulb did
actually grow faster, then you’ve proved your hypothesis. If not, your hypothesis was
wrong. Either way, you’ve discovered something!

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I = Interviewer, PS = Paloma Sánchez

I So today, inspired by the exhibition Extinction Not the end of the world? we’re
talking about conservation – and here to discuss it is biologist and
conservationist Paloma Sánchez. Paloma, welcome.
PS Pleasure to be here.
I So Paloma, I suppose the first thing that will strike people is the statistic that 99
percent of species that have ever lived on Earth are already extinct!
PS Absolutely. Extinction is as natural part of our planet as death itself: we all die,
and all species eventually die out!
I Indeed, but doesn’t that raise a huge question for you as a conservationist?
Should we even try to preserve endangered species? I mean, if evolution is the
survival of the fittest, then you might stop weak species going extinct, which
could be a bad thing. Maybe we shouldn’t interfere.
PS Well, I think there’s a bit of a misunderstanding there. That phrase, ‘the
survival of the fittest’ can suggest evolution is a kind of competition where only
the strong survive, but that’s a myth. The initial genetic changes that lead to
evolution occur purely by chance. Those changes have a positive effect on a
species’ ability to breed, defend itself or get food and, as a result, the genes get
passed on. However, while the changes must bring some benefit, the animal
can be weaker in another area which might actually leave it more at risk of
extinction.
I Really?
PS Absolutely. Say an animal adapts perfectly to one specific area. If that habitat
disappeared for whatever reason, they’d easily die out.
I They couldn’t adapt to a new environment?
PS Not unless their existing features matched the new environment, because
evolution’s not a choice, and the chance of getting the right genetic change is
low.
I And that’s why we’ve had mass extinctions like the dinosaurs?
PS Exactly. And the argument is that humans are now the equivalent of an ice
age. We’re causing so many changes so quickly that animals and plants can’t
adapt and are dying out at an incredible rate.

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I But that still doesn’t explain why we should protect them, does it?
PS Well, I suppose because we humans can choose to alter our behaviour. I feel
we have a duty to.
I A lot of people won’t share that feeling – they will think of the cost of
conservation.
PS It’s not cheap, but they might want to look at it from a purely selfish point of
view. Plants we’re killing could be cures for cancer. And losing biodiversity has
negative consequences for us – some that could even lead more quickly to our
own extinction!
I Yes – a point the exhibition ends with. Our short-term survival isn’t guaranteed.
PS Absolutely not, but conservation of other species may help us last longer.
I Paloma, shall we leave it there?
PS Sure. Thank you.
P Thank you.

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A study sponsored by the US Department of Education and conducted by researchers

at the University of Connecticut has revealed the alarming degree to which internet
users believe anything they read online. As part of the research, students were sent
to a website containing details about a made-up creature – the endangered Pacific
Northwest tree octopus – in order to assess their ability to evaluate information
found online. Researchers discovered that not only did students believe the site was
genuine, but some also insisted the octopus must exist even after it was revealed to
them that it was all a trick. This has led to concerns that students are now too reliant
on the internet when doing research, as well as fears that students are not being
taught how to check whether information found on the internet is genuine or not.

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Speaker 1
I feel a bit stupid for ever believing it, to be honest. I can’t have been paying
attention when I read about it. I mean, as you can see, it does look quite professional,
but when you look a bit closer, you realize that all the links about the different kinds
of tree octopuses go to the same page. I really should’ve noticed that. And also, as he
keeps reminding me, even my little brother could’ve told me that the photos were
fake. He’s really good with Photoshop and notices things like that. Oh, well. You live
and learn.
Speaker 2
I used to really love eating meat. I mean, you could’ve told me how cruel it was, and I
honestly wouldn’t have cared. I just never really used to think about the connection
between dead animals and the meat that I ate. It’s weird – I can’t remember exactly

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when my feelings started to change. I think I might’ve read something about how
much water is used to raise cattle, perhaps. I don’t know, but if it was that, it must’ve
had an impact because I’ve been vegan for quite some time now. I don’t eat or wear
anything from animals: no eggs, no milk, no leather, nothing!
Speaker 3
I never really used to like snakes. I mean, I wasn’t afraid of them or anything – I
might’ve been able to touch one or pick one up if the chance had arisen, but I would
certainly never have thought about owning one, that’s for sure. Then my big brother
got one for his 16th birthday and I started getting interested. Now I’m just as bad as
he is! Our favourite is a python called Monty. We will have had him for three years
this November.

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1  They can’t have been serious. They must’ve been joking.

2  I should’ve helped him. I would’ve helped him.
3  It must’ve been really interesting. It was really interesting.
4  I guess that might’ve been the reason. I guess that could’ve been the reason.
5  You shouldn’t have texted me.You shouldn’t have been texting me.
6  It should’ve arrived by now. It will have arrived by now.

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1  ... she thought it was just a splinter of wood, because that’s the sort of thing
people had found at the Fyles Leaf Bed before – prehistoric plant parts.
2  How certain were you that you had it right, like ... that you had put it together in
the right way, like?
3  ... something like a cow or a sheep. But it couldn’t have been either of those. It
was just too big.
4  ... you’re going to have different body sizes. You’re going to have some with really
long necks, so they’re actually functionally like giraffes.
5  And, as a historian, you start with an idea in your mind of how the story goes.

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The Monster Engine is one of the most wonderful things I’ve come across in quite
some time. It’s a book, a lecture and a gallery exhibition, featuring wonderfully
detailed coloured paintings of all kinds of crazy creatures. And none of it would ever
have happened if comic artist Dave Devries hadn’t spent a day with his young niece
Jessica back in 1998. Jessica was busy filling the pages of a sketch pad with pictures
of monsters when Devries suddenly thought, ‘What would these drawings look like if
they were painted more realistically?’ Using his experience of drawing superheroes

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and comic book characters for DC and Marvel, he then set about applying colour and
shading to children’s artwork in an attempt to bring their pictures to life. For Devries,
it was also a link back to his own childhood and proof, if he needed it, that he could
still see with the eyes of a child – still create like a child creates.
At the heart of The Monster Engine, though, lies a much bigger idea: that most
adults would be more creative if their schools had embraced difference and
encouraged unusual ways of seeing the world. Now, of course, this isn’t a new idea.
But it is an important one. As Sir Ken Robinson famously points out in one of his TED
Talks, if you’re at school now you’ll probably be entering the world of work in the
2020s or early 2030s and, if we’re honest, we have no idea what skills will be needed
in the workplace by then. Skills will be more important than knowledge and being
able to think outside the box will benefit you greatly.
Now, you might be thinking that this all sounds a bit extreme. You might be asking,
‘If schools are so bad, how come we’ve got the Dave Devries and Ken Robinsons of
this world?’ But surely it’s worth asking how things could be even better and what
else schools could do to stimulate creativity and keep alive in us the childlike desire to
experiment, to play, to fail – and then to try again! Because surely that’s the very
essence of human creativity and will serve people well in the future!

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P = Presenter, S = Stacey
P Welcome to Travel Chat. I’m here with Stacey, who’s lived in several countries
because of her parents’ work. How many places is it, Stacey?
S Five now – if you include the USA.
P Quite a variety. So today we’re talking about intercultural communication ... or
should I say miscommunication.
S Yep.
P And I think your first example’s from Germany.
S Yeah, so when I was first there, I was leaving school one day and I asked a
German girl from my class if she was going to the train station, and she replied,
‘Of course’. And I thought, ‘That’s rude’ because to me ‘of course’ means, like,
obviously and so she made me feel like I was stupid for asking!
P Absolutely!
S Anyway, we walked on a bit in silence and then I made an excuse I said I’d
forgotten something and had to go back to school.
P Awkward.
S Yeah, definitely. Anyway, that evening I told my dad what had happened and
he said that I shouldn’t be so sensitive because in German the word for ‘of
course’ is also used for ‘yes’ or ‘absolutely’.
P In other words, the girl was actually really pleased to go with you!

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S Yeah, exactly! Silly of me to think otherwise, I guess.
P But it does make you realize how easily misunderstandings come about when
you make certain assumptions.
S Yeah. So, I know Americans who were in Russia, and they thought Russian shop
assistants were a bit rude because they didn’t smile or ask how you were.
However, a Russian friend told me their parents kind of discouraged them from
smiling at strangers because it is seen as a sign of dishonesty. There’s also a
Russian proverb that says, ‘Laughter for no reason is a sign of stupidity’.
P Not a good message if you’re trying to sell something!
S Exactly! But Russians do smile at people they know – in fact, I’d say they’re
really warm and friendly. I also have a Korean friend who went to the USA and
she wondered why people asked, ‘How’re you doing?’, but then when she
replied – you know, actually told them how she was – people gave her strange
looks. But, of course, to them they’d only said ‘hi’ so all they expected was
‘hello’ in return!
P Yeah, and I guess you could take offence when that happens and say people
are insincere.
S Exactly! But it’s like in Chinese, sometimes people from China ask – I mean
literally – ‘Have you eaten?’ instead of saying ‘hello’, but it doesn’t mean
they’re offering you food at that moment.
P Although they certainly will at other times. I’ve heard international companies
often give lessons to avoid these breakdowns in communication. Have you ever
seen anything like that?
S No, not really. I just talked to people, and as you go on, you learn not to
assume what you do or say is normal. There’s always an alternative
interpretation.
P That’s a great lesson because miscommunication happens in all walks of life.
Have you found your intercultural experience has helped with other
relationships?
S For sure – although I do still argue with my mum sometimes!

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1  A: We’re meeting on Tuesday.B: Really? I thought you said we were meeting on
Thursday!
2  A: I got a B for the science essay.B: Oh, that’s quite good! I thought you said you
had got a D!
3  A: I’m interested in seeing the new Star Wars film.B: Really? I’m sure you told me
you weren’t interested!
4  A: I’ll bring you all the stuff you need next week.B: You haven’t got it? I thought
you were bringing it today.

13
5  A: I’m going to my dance class later.B: I didn’t know you went dancing. How long
have you been doing that?
6  A: We have to leave at 11 o’clock.B: I thought we had to leave at 12 o’clock.

40

1  I just had to grunt a lot for that one.

2  I just sat there on the computer, hitting ‘refresh’.
3  This was just the first of a two-part video.
4  I just could not do it.
5  If I stutter along the way, I just go back in and fix it.
6  And just the year before, that number was about eight percent.
7  Just like the colour blue for Ancient Greeks, minorities are not a part of what we
consider ‘normal’.

41

Speaker 1
As a shopkeeper, I’m basically in favour. These kids don’t actually spend any real
money with us and in fact we’ve lost a bit of stock recently, which I think might be
down to them. As a parent of a teenager, I know they’re not all like that, but you
know there are better places for them to go.
Speaker 2
This is crazy! Just because you’re hanging out in a group, it doesn’t mean you’re
looking to cause trouble. The shopping centre is relatively safe, you know, there are
security guards around and it’s out of the rain. I mean, where else are we supposed
to go? Or are we just not supposed to hang out at all?
Speaker 3
As someone who goes there quite a lot, I totally support the idea. They’re often loud
and take up the whole place so you can’t walk around very easily. They don’t show
respect. For an older person like me, I feel a bit scared. I don’t want to go there.
Speaker 4
Speaking as a teacher, I just don’t get it. We see kids who aren’t independent. They
spend all day at home – they rely on their parents for everything. This is sending the
wrong message. Just because one or two misbehave doesn’t mean they all do. I
mean, adults shoplift and cause problems too, but we don’t ask adults to be
accompanied by their parents – or their children!
Speaker 5
OK ... if I look at it from my grandpa’s point of view, I can kind of understand it. He
often complains about kids in the shopping centre. But I think it’s more about the

14
media andall the negative stereotypes of teenagers. I’m not loud or disrespectful or
causing trouble. Banning us from the shopping centre? Come on, give us a break!

42

The earthquake that struck the small Caribbean country of Haiti on the evening of
January 12th, 2010 measured a massive seven on the Richter scale. The devastation
which it caused was simply staggering – hitting the capital city, Port-au- Prince,
particularly hard. Over the next few days, the country, which has long been one of
the poorest in the world, struggled to cope in the absence of any organized relief
effort. Many of those who had survived were left to fend for themselves. The city’s
hospitals had all been destroyed, roads in and out of the city remained blocked and
the seaport, which supplies would normally have been delivered to, was also
unusable. A humanitarian crisis was unfolding.

43

Watching all of this thousands of miles away in his Boston home was Patrick Maier,
who decided that he had to do something – anything – to help. Maier, whose
girlfriend, Christine Martin, was doing research in Haiti at the time, came up with the
idea of using technology to create an interactive online map that crowdsourced
information about what was happening on the ground. Using free mapping
technology called Ushahidi, which had been developed a couple of years earlier in
Kenya, he started updating a map of the country using social media reports, many of
which he soon realized he’d need to get translated. Within a few days, he was having
to reach out for volunteers, many of whom had Haitian roots and were only too
happy to help and, before long, over one million edits had been made to the map!
This incredible resource quickly became the main map used by all those involved in
helping to provide aid and assistance to the people of Haiti. Using the incredibly
specific information it provided, helicopters were able to drop tents and food to
desperate people whose homes had been completely destroyed and evacuate people
who were trapped or injured. The map was quite literally a life-saver! And it set a
new standard for how technology can be utilized in times of crisis.
Since 2010, Ushahidi has been used to focus world attention on humanitarian crises
and to help tackle forest fires in Russia and floods in Colombia. And most remarkable
of all is the fact that anyone with access to a smartphone, tablet or laptop can now
play their part in all of this as well. We are all connected and all able to help.

45

The number of young people skipping school is failing. The number of people going to
university is rising.There are more kids hanging out in the streets these days. There
are fewer young people playing sport than before.

15
47

Now I realize that my choice may not be the most popular. In fact, over recent years,
increasing public outrage has been directed at many of the top professionals in this
line of work. There’s a perception that salaries in this field are out of control and that
greed and self-interest are king and they offer little for society let alone a crisis. But
think about it for a moment. Firstly, people who’ve made their millions on the pitch
will have plenty to donate to people in a crisis. Secondly, imagine if they actually
went out and helped – what a great message that would send. These people are role
models and would be a real force for good in showing young people values such as
hard work, getting your hands dirty, showing respect and that there is more to life
than sport. And of course most of them are really strong and fit – just the kind of
people you might need to clear debris and piles of litter. Finally, think about how they
might also lift the spirits of people who have suffered a lot. They bring joy to millions
and I’m sure fans would be amazed to meet them or even actually watch them play.
They would be great in a crisis!

48

C = Clara, J = Jaime
C So, Jaime, last week we had an email from a listener, Hugo, who is recovering
at home from an injury and wanted suggestions for inspiring films to watch.
J And we got quite a few.
C Absolutely.
J So, Clara, first up is 127 Hours.
C You don’t think that’s too much?
J You think? For those who don’t know it, this is the true story of Aron Ralston
who was climbing in Utah when he slipped, fell down a small canyon and got
his arm trapped between a rock and the wall. He couldn’t move it. He was in
the middle of nowhere and no-one could help because he hadn’t told anyone
where he was going.
C Not the best situation to be in.
J No. So basically, after trying everything to free his arm, the only thing he could
do was cut it off.
C I know! It’s horrible.
J It is horrible, but they manage to film it in a way which isn’t over the top and
you do learn his life went back to normal after the accident. Considering it’s 90
minutes watching someone who can’t move, it’s very gripping.
C That’s true. It’s the same with that film about the guy who had a stroke and
was left completely paralyzed and unable to speak.
J The Diving Bell and the Butterfly?

16
C Yeah, an amazing story. It’s based on his book which he actually managed to
dictate by only moving his eye. Incredible!
J Yeah, it is incredible, but sorry, the movie didn’t do it for me.
C No?
J Bit dull.
C Whatever. I liked it.
J What about Frida? This is about Frida Kahlo, the Mexican artist who suffered
intense pain all her life after a terrible bus accident and ...
C ... Jaime, we’re looking for inspiration, not pain and misery.
J No, no, it is inspiring. I mean, she managed to deal with that pain in the end
and was able to turn it into incredible art.
C I suppose, but ...
J ... You know, she succeeded in becoming a world-renowned artist. That’s pretty
amazing.
C I know, I know. It’s just that the film ...
J What?
C I guess it depends if you’re into art.
J It’s not your thing then.
C Not exactly. I prefer something like The Fundamentals of Caring?
J Oh, yeah! Now that’s a great choice.
C So, basically, the film is about this guy who becomes a care assistant and his
first job is with a teenage boy who has a disease that weakens his muscles and
has left him in a wheelchair. Put like that it doesn’t sound great, and it’s not
even about him recovering ...
J ... No, but it kind of is, because he learns to make the most of his life. In fact,
they both do.
C Which is what I love about it.
J And it’s really funny.
C Exactly! At least we’ve been able to agree on one movie.

51

We’re all used to hearing news about the terrible things going on around the world,
but rarely do we hear much about the exciting new developments that are actually
helping to make our world a healthier, happier place to live in. The past decade has
seen remarkable progress in the field of medicine. Only after scientists have been
awarded a Nobel Prize or some other similar kind of honour does their work usually
start to enter the public consciousness.

17
Take, for instance, what’s being called the ‘bionic eye’. In the early 1990s, when a
company called Second Sight started experimenting with ways in which electricity
could be used to encourage patients to see spots of light, little did they know that
they were on their way to revolutionizing what’s possible in the treatment of partial
or total blindness! While surgical options did exist before the invention of the Argus
II, none were nearly as effective as the device, which uses a chip that’s implanted into
the back of the eye and that receives its visual information from a tiny camera fixed
on a pair of glasses. The images from the camera are converted into electrical signals
and sent to the chip, where they stimulate cells that then send the information to the
brain.
While each bionic eye does cost a lot of money to set up – well over a hundred
thousand dollars once treatment costs are included – reports from people who’ve
been fitted with them have been incredibly positive, with recipients often speaking of
the life-changing effects that surgery has had on them.

52

1  Some doctors do read research about new medicine, but too many just accept
what big drug companies tell them.
2  While caffeine does increase energy levels, in large doses it can actually prove
fatal.
3  In the old days, doctors did sometimes remove arms or legs without using any
painkillers!
4  When the patient started having terrible headaches, little did she know it was
because a spider was living in her ear.
5  In no way does research suggest there is anything unhealthy about a vegetarian
diet.
6  Rarely did doctors cut people open in the days before penicillin.
7  Only after the age of 24 do you fully become an adult.
8  At no time in the Middle Ages were doctors in doubt that releasing blood from the
body kept people healthy.
9  Not until the 1980s did plastic surgery become very popular, despite having been
around for over 200 years before then.
10  Nowhere in the world do people do less exercise than in the USA.

53

Life was good. We’d been on our bikes for around five and a half hours when we got
to the part of the ride that I loved, and that was the hills, because I loved the hills.
And I got up off the seat of my bike, and I started pumping my legs, and as I sucked in
the cold mountain air, I could feel it burning my lungs, and I looked up to see the sun
shining in my face.And then everything went black. Where was I? What was

18
happening? My body was consumed by pain. I’d been hit by a speeding utility truck
with only ten minutes to go on the bike ride. I was airlifted from the scene of the
accident by a rescue helicopter to a large spinal unit in Sydney.

54

1
Male 1 Hi! Sorry I’m a bit late.
Male 2 That’s OK.
Male 1 Is Chen not here?
Male 2 He’s not coming. He’s broken his leg!
Male 1 You’re kidding! When did he do that? I only spoke to him yesterday!
Male 2 This morning. Apparently, he tripped when he was running for the bus
and fell against a bench or something. This girl in my class Olga was
there. She said the bus actually waited for him and he managed to get
to school, but when he got there he was in such pain he could hardly
walk.
Male 1 I’m not surprised!
Male 2 Yeah anyway they took him to the hospital and they said he’d broken it.
Male 1 Poor guy. So is he OK?
Male 2 Yeah, our teacher said he’s fine. He has some kind of cast and they told
him to take it easy for a couple of days. And I guess he won’t be able to
play football for a while.
Male 1 He must be fed up! We’ll have to give him a call or go round and see
him.
Male 2 Yeah, let’s call him after the game. Anyway, shall we go? We don’t
want to miss the start.
2
Female 1 Shall we go then?
Female 2 Isn’t your friend Ewa coming?
Female 1 Sorry, no. I should’ve said. She’s ill.
Female 2 Oh no! What’s up with her?
Female 1 Apparently, she’s just got this really bad virus. She wasn’t even
answering her phone. I had to ring her mum and she said she’d been up
all night and had been really sick. She had a really high fever and
everything.
Female 2 Sounds horrible! I hope it’s not too serious.
Female 1 I don’t think so. Her mum said she was a bit better, but that she’d
probably be off for a few days.

19
Female 2 What a drag! Well if you do manage to speak to her say ‘hi’ from me
and I hope she gets better soon.
Female 1 Will do. Anyway, where do you actually want to go – I want to get some
new shoes.
Female 2 OK, whatever. I don’t have anything special in mind, but I’ll see what’s
in the sales. Why don’t we get something nice for Ewa? Cheer her up!
Female 1 Yeah, great idea.

20