Unit 4A

Text 1

M: Where's Jane? She said she'd be here by 7:25, but it's 8:15 now.  

W: Well, why don't you give her a ring?

M: I rang her ten minutes ago and there was no answer. 

Text 2

M: You seem to be in the office all the time.

W: No. I take part in many different activities. What I fail to do is looking after my husband and kids.  

Text 3

W: How about joining us for a cup of coffee?

M: I'd love to, but I'm too tired. I wrote a paper for my French class and I didn't go to bed till 3:00 this morning. I need to get some sleep.  

Text 4

W: I want to go boating tomorrow. Do you think the weather will turn fine tomorrow?  

M: I've just checked the weather report. It says the rain will finally stop tonight.  

W: Great.

Text 5

M: Hello, English Language Center.

W: Hello, Jacob. This is Sarah. I have a bad cold. Could I take today off? I think I'll be ready for tomorrow. 

M: Sure. We'll see if we can get another teacher to cover for you.

Text 6

W: Are you having a party?

M: Yes. I am holding a party for my cousin Sheila.  

W: That sounds fun! Is it her birthday?

M: No. She graduates from nursing school. The family are very proud of her.  

W: That's wonderful. Does she live here in Houston?

M: No, she lives in Dallas. But she will be moving to New York next year, after she gets married. 

Text 7

W: Hi! Is that the library?

M: Yes. What can I do for you?

W: Well, I called earlier and asked for some information about Daniel Hopkins, the scientist. You asked me to call back.

M: Oh, yeah. I've found something for you.

W: Great. I've got a pencil and some paper. Go ahead, please.

M: OK. Daniel Hopkins: born in Manchester, in 1835; died in Los Angeles, in 1921.  

W: Yes, got it.

M: Physicist and businessman, son of a farm worker. He was accepted by the University of London at the age of 16.  

W: OK, got all that. Thanks a lot for your help.

Text 8

W: Have you ever had dreams that you can remember?

M: Yes. Most nights I dream about football. That's what I dreamed about this Monday and Tuesday, but on Wednesday it was something completely different.  

W: What was that?  

M: I dreamed I was an astronaut, landing on Mars.  

W: That must have been fun.

M: It was, but it was also scary. I had to depend on all the technology created by scientists. I had to trust them, because my life depended on them.

W: And did you?

M: Yes, that's why I was there on Mars — but it was something I had never thought of before. I had to be sure they had done their jobs properly.

W: We have a science lesson this morning. You can tell the teacher about your dream. 

M: Maybe. Now I can't stop thinking what an important job scientists do. 

W: That's what I want to do for a living. I suppose you want to be an astronaut, do you? 

M: I did before I had that dream. Now I'm not so sure.

Text 9

M: Hi Gillian. Does your friend Janet still run an art museum? 

W: Yes. In fact, she now owns two. The original one is in the west end, and she now has a second one in the south side. Why do you ask?

M: My brother, Dylan, has recently graduated from art school. He was top of his class, and he spent all summer creating new works of art. Also, he won many prizes in all kinds of art competitions. 

W: So he is looking to show them? 

M: Yes. What does she usually show?

W: Janet mostly focuses on oil paintings. She hardly takes pencil drawings and watercolor paintings. 

M: She'll probably like my brother's work then. 

W: Cool, then he can send Janet some photos of his paintings, and see if Janet can arrange a show of them in her museums.

M: Sure. He has about 20 pieces in total.

W: Here's her email address. Ask him to send five of his most satisfied works. 

M: Great. I'll get Dylan to send them today.

W: Excellent. I need to run. There is a conference in 15 minutes. 

M: OK, bye.

W: Bye.

Text 10

M: Well, I want to talk about an activity course for the summer holidays. It operated for the first time last year for a six-week period from the middle of July until the end of August. This year we will be holding the course again. There will be different things to do every week, so the children won't be repeating the same activities over and over again. However, I don't expect many children will come for the whole summer, as I'm sure their parents will want to be with them for a week or two. We do, however, ask that children attend full weeks, not just single days. It makes it easier for us to keep attendance records. The course is available for children aged 8-10. Next year, those aged 5-7 are welcome to the course. If a child or a child's parent is interested in coming to our summer activity course, they should go to our website and print out an application form. Send it in with part payments as soon as possible. You'll need to tell us which weeks you are planning to attend straightaway, but you won't need to choose your activities in advance.