W: How many hours’ sleep do you normally get, Allan?

M: I usually sleep for eight and a half hours in the evening and take a short sleep for one hour after lunch.

W: Adam’s mother makes him so nervous every time he takes her to the store.

M: You are not kidding. She will tell him where to turn, how fast to go and which road to take. She is such a "back-seat driver".

M: This is Jim White speaking. May I speak to Mr. Smith?

W: He is not in. Would you care to speak to Mr. Brown? He is taking Mr. Smith’s course when he is out.

W: You look down. What happened?

M: I can’t go to the US tonight. I have to stay here for a meeting with my boss tomorrow.

W: Never mind. You can come to my party tonight.

M: Hi, Judy. Do you want to play tennis after school at about 4:30?

W: That would be fun, but I've got a swimming lesson. It’s usually at 5:15, but it’s half an hour earlier this afternoon.

W: Michael, where are you from?

M: I was born in Beijing. Later I went to college in Nanjing, but I work in Shanghai now. How about you?

W: I’m from Scotland.

M: What’s it like?

W: The weather is pretty cold there in winter and summer in Scotland is pretty wet and cool.

M: Beijing is very cold in winter too, and it’s rather dry. However, I like winter best. Summer is just too hot!

W: Jeff, what about going shopping this weekend?

M: Do you want to buy something again? You just bought two new dresses last week.

W: That’s true, but we will get our salary tomorrow. So we should celebrate it and enjoy ourselves. We’ve eaten Italian food before but it was just so-so. How about trying Korean food this time?

M: That sounds great. But don’t forget to pay for the rent and food.

W: So what?

M: I mean you should have some money for a rainy day.

W: But in my opinion, we work very hard because we want to enjoy a high-quality life.

M: Kate, you went to Japan once, didn’t you?

W: Yes. When I was 15, I studied in Tokyo for just two weeks as an exchange student.

M: Did you go there alone or with your parents?

W: I went with a group of seven students and we were from the same school.

M: What do you think of living with a Japanese family?

W: It was very interesting. The family was really kind to me and the customs were so different.

M: What is the Japanese lifestyle like?

W: The traditional way is that the mother is a housewife. She will make breakfast for the whole family. When the kids come back home, she makes dinner for them. And finally the father gets home very late after work, and has his dinner. Everybody just gets their own dinner. Everyone is independent.

M: That’s a lot different.

M: Mrs. Williams, have you been swimming long?

W: No, not long at all. I started originally to get fit again after my youngest child was born.

M: So when did you start taking it seriously?

W: About three years ago. I joined the swimming club then, which really made me work at it.

M: And now, how often do you practise?

W: Every day. But I can't go at a regular time, as I have to make arrangements for the children to be looked after.

M: And what does your husband think of it?

W: Oh, he thinks it’s wonderful. He’s pleased that I’ve got something more interesting to think about than housework, and he’s proud of me for getting into the country team and winning prizes.

M: Well, I hope there’ll be more today. Thank you very much, Mrs. Williams.

If you have trouble finding the best hotel for your trip to London, I’m sure this passage will help you a lot.

The Swan Hotel is a pretty small hotel. The good thing about it is that it’s not far from the airport. All thirty-five rooms are double rooms and all of them have bathrooms. Each room also has a TV but there’s no Internet access. The hotel takes credit cards.

The Sunrise Hotel is a lot closer to the centre of London, so it’s probably a bit more expensive than the Swan Hotel. It’s within walking distance of many theatres and shopping centres. Every room has an Internet connection and you have to pay to use that. You can pay in cash or by check in the hotel.

The Backpacker Hotel is pretty near the centre of London. You can take the underground there from the airport but it takes more than an hour to get there. They’ve got sixty rooms. They don’t have the Internet connection in each room. The hotel takes cash only.