L2 036 Listening Scripts
TASK ONE
Text 1
Hello, this is Ashley Simpson. Let’s start our
weekly programme “News Tidbits”. Today we
are talking about French schools. Xavier
Maurice from the Institute of European
Studies is here with us. Hello!
Hello.
Xavier, the French government wants to
reform the French education system. Why is
that?
Well, at the moment French children go to
school four days a week. They have two hours
a day for lunch. And they have more vacation
than other European students.
It looks like they aren’t overworked.
That’s what I often hear. People say French
children have a light schedule. They have
about 28 hours weekly and don’t go to school
on Wednesdays. But the problem is that they
have lessons 7 hours a day – that’s pretty
much, especially for the youngest children.
Even 6-year-olds are in a class till late
afternoon and at the end of the day they no
longer pay attention. That’s why the President
wants to add a fifth day of classes on
Wednesday. That's way students could have
fewer classes a day.
To the French, it must sound like a revolution.
You’re right. But Hollande wants to leave the
weekly number of hours as it is. He just wants
to reorganize the timetable.
Xavier, why do French children have
Wednesdays off?
This tradition dates back to the 19
th
century
when most schools were Catholic. The Church
wanted Wednesdays to be free so that
children could study their catechism. Today,
Wednesdays are a bit problematic as parents
can’t look after their kids in the middle of the
week. They have to fill that time with different
activities. Wealthy parents send their children
to music or sports classes. The richest kids
have private lessons. And poorer kids go to
school “leisure centres”.
And are the parents happy about the changes?
Well, they’ll no longer have to arrange extra
classes on Wednesdays, that’s an advantage.
But the National Parents’ Organization has
brought up another problem. You see, if
children finish their lessons earlier each day,
someone will have to look after them, too.
They can’t just spend after school hours being
bored and looking for trouble. More
constructive options, like theatre, art or music,
will have to be arranged. That means qualified
teachers will be necessary, which might be
expensive.
Does it mean students’ parents will pay more?
Not really. In France the government pays for
school lessons and lunches. But extra activities
are always financed by the municipalities. So
the reform may prove expensive for them.
What are municipalities?
Towns or cities, you know – local
governments.
Are there any other ideas how to solve the
problem?
Parents have suggested children should have
more classes before lunch when they can still
concentrate. Then the lunch break could start
later and lessons in the afternoon would be
shorter. Actually, some politicians also think
it’s a good solution. And there’s one more idea
- some politicians have suggested a shorter
vacation. But this solution is greatly
unpopular. No matter how you look at it -
changes are unavoidable.
Xavier, thank you for being with us.
You’re welcome.
Text 2
Hello, this is Science Round the World with
sensational news from Russia. Reportedly, an 11-
year-old Russian boy found a well preserved woolly
mammoth’s body in Siberia. Scientists say that the
animal was probably killed by human hunters in
the Ice Age era. Its body has survived in
exceptionally good condition in frozen ice.
Paleontologists named the mammoth Zhenya,
after the boy who found it.
Jack Trotsky reports from Yakutsk:
It was quite small, considering some
mammoths grew to be 13 feet tall and weighed as
much as 10 tonnes. Zhenya was about 6 feet 6
inches tall and weighed roughly 1,100 pounds.
Archaeologists say the boy found the animal
because one of its tusks was sticking out above the
frozen ground.
The animal discovered in Siberia was the so
called woolly mammoth. The last of the woolly
mammoths died out about 10, 000 years ago,
although scientists believe some of them survived
longer in Alaska and on the Siberian coast. Zhenya
died 30,000 years ago. It was still quite young
when the hunters killed it – it was barely 16 years
old.
Alexei Tikhonov, a professor at the Zoology
Institute of St. Petersburg says that Zhenya’s DNA
is seriously damaged by low temperatures. That’s
why cloning the animal is impossible. Its exact
genetic code is still a mystery. Yet scientists have
learnt a lot thanks to the Siberian discovery.
Zhenya’s bones are so well preserved that
scientists will be able to create a better model of
the mammoth’s skeleton.
Jack, thank you very much for your report.
You’re welcome.
TASK TWO
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to
the press conference. I’m major Pavlak and I’m in
charge of organizing the annual NATO and the
Czech Air Force Days in Ostrava. In today’s briefing
I’ll give you more details about the upcoming
event. If you have any queries, please hold them
till the end of the briefing.
The NATO Days will be held on 22nd and 23rd of
September. We expect more than 200,000 people
to arrive. Once again, the Czech membership in
NATO will be celebrated with spectacular air
displays of military equipment.
This year 19 Allies are going to take part by
providing equipment for the show and displays,
including the British Red Arrows, American B-52
Bombers, French Mirage 2000N, Italian Typhoons
and Czech Gripen aircraft. But that’s not all. On the
ground, visitors can also see dynamic displays by
military, police and rescue units.
Please, bear in mind that this is the biggest air,
army and security show in Central Europe. This
time we are going to meet for the 12
th
time. Over
the last eleven years, the NATO Ostrava Days have
changed a lot. They turned from an air show into a
public diplomacy event with international
participation.
Attendees this year will meet some of the Czech
Olympic team medalists, including Jaroslav Kulhavý
– a gold medal cyclist. He trained at the Czech
Army Sports Centre Dukla nearby. Also attending
the event is official guest General Klaus Naumann,
a former Chairman of NATO’s Military Committee.
He received the Czech-Slovak Transatlantic Award
for his fight for freedom and democracy in Central
Europe.
Before the Ostrava Days begin, the Czech
documentary “Afghanistan: The Country of Peace
and Sword” will be shown in Prague. The
documentary focuses on how coalition forces in
Logar and Wardak provinces of Afghanistan fight to
protect the local civilian population, to keep lines
of communication open and to force the
insurgents out of the area.
The entire celebration, as well as the documentary
are fully supported and funded by the NATO PDD -
Public Diplomacy Division.
Well, that’s all from me. If you have any questions,
don’t hesitate to ask them now. I’ll be happy to
answer them all.
TASK THREE
Nowadays it’s difficult to go shopping or have a meal
in a restaurant without listening to music. Whether you
like it or not, there’s always a tune in the background.
This kind of background music, called Muzak, may seem
harmless but it can have a powerful effect on those who
hear it. In today’s programme, we’ll take a look at a
brief history of Muzak.
Muzak was founded by Major General George
O'Squire who served as the Chief Signal Officer during
World War I. In the early 1920s he worked on a method
for transmitting music across electrical wires. At the
time, radio wasn’t that available, so the idea of sending
music to businesses and residences via wires seemed
interesting. In 1934 O'Squire formally founded a
company to develop his invention. As he liked the sound
of the name “Kodak” he borrowed from it to name his
own company Muzak.
When O'Squier’s technology was ready, the position
of radio on the market had become really strong. It
meant people had unlimited access to music and
O'Squire’s idea failed. However, he didn’t give up and
looked for a different market—he decided to provide
background music for shops, restaurants, and office
buildings.
In those early days, Muzak didn’t have access to the
huge libraries of licensed music that radio stations can
pick from today. So the company invited top bands and
orchestras to record original selections and standards.
Thanks to this strategy, the company has amazing
archives now. It also owns some original recordings of
jazz legends like Casper Reardon.
Sometimes Muzak is called elevator music. Why?
Well, skyscrapers began to appear in cities in the 1920s.
People had to use lifts, that is elevators in American
English, to get to the top floors. But most people didn’t
like the idea of getting into a tiny box and going all the
way up. That’s why building owners started playing
music in elevators. It really helped calm riders’ nerves.
Even people who had a fear of heights felt less nervous
in lifts.
During WW II, the company's researchers made a
surprising discovery: Muzak had a positive influence on
workers. It improved their mood and productivity. So
Muzak patented a system called Stimulus Progression
that offered 15-minute blocks of instrumental
background music. When factory workers listened to
those blocks, they got more work done.
Since then, a lot of research has been done into
Muzak. Researchers have discovered that Muzak also
has an effect on supermarkets. Fast music has no
influence at all on their sales. Slow music, on the other
hand, increases sales by 30%. Do you know why? This is
because shoppers slow down and have more
opportunity to spot the items they want to buy.
You might also expect that slow music is an ideal
choice for restaurants. Actually, it means customers
take longer to eat their meals, which reduces overall
sales. So restaurant owners try to play fast music to
keep the customers moving. However, it often causes
stomachache in customers and, of course, leads to many
complaints.
Muzak is still around today. Recorded background
music has found its way into shops and restaurants for
good and our life would be empty, I mean silent,
without Muzak.