Text 1

M: Good morning, madam. What can I do for you?

W: Well, the sleeves of this jacket are too long. Can you make them shorter?

M: Let me take a look. Okay, I can do it for 20 dollars.

Text 2

M: I heard on the radio that it'll be sunny during the holiday. Maybe we can take a trip to Boston.

W: That sounds great. I'll call my friend Jane to see if she likes to join us.

Text 3

W: It's nearly eight. If you want to catch the nine o'clock train, you'd better go now.

M: Don't worry. I'll drive to the station.

W: In that case, let me go with you. And you drop me at the city center. I'll go to the open market.

Text 4

M: Do you think people's moods are affected by the climate they live in?

W: Well, I think there's certainly something in it, because when the weather is hot, I easily lose my temper, but when it's cooler, I feel much calmer. And if it's raining I always feel sad!

Text 5

M: Guess what, Vicky? I'm moving to Boston.

W: Moving? Why?

M: Because I want to live in a big city. I need some exciting things in my life. And it is convenient.

W: But living in a big city is dangerous. There's a lot of violence.

Text 6

W: Excuse me. I wonder if you could spare a few minutes to do a survey on transport. It won't take long.

M: OK.

W: Great. Are you a student?

M: No. I've actually just finished my training and I'm a carpenter.

W: Oh, right. What is the reason for you coming into town today?

M: Actually it's not for shopping today, which would be my normal reason, but to see the dentist.

W: Right. Then I'd like you to give us some ideas about the facilities and arrangements.

M: Well, I think the lighting is better than before. And they've been increasing the number of footpaths. But I don't think there are enough trains. We have to wait so long.

Text 7

M: Where are my glasses? I can't find them.

W: That's a problem. You need glasses to help you find things.

M: I should have some in a brighter color — yellow or blue maybe — then I could find them easily. Brown is too dark.

W: You should buy one of those strings so you can wear glasses round your neck when you don't have them on.

M: I don't like them, because they make me look old. I'm only 28 — almost too young to be married!

W: Well, if your colleagues see you wandering around looking for your glasses, they might assume you are far older.

M: Yes. Tomorrow I'll get one of those strings from...What's the place that sells strings?

W: Are you losing your memory as well?

Text 8

W: Hello.

M: Rachel, tell us about your day.

W: Well, it all starts with a lot of post we get. We often get artists sending in photographs of their work to see if we'd be interested in exhibiting it.

M: So you are busy all day.

W: Yes. Sometimes I spend nearly all day on the phone and about fifty percent of the time with artists. We have a new artist exhibiting here about every two weeks.

M: And what's the best part of the job for you?

W: The really rewarding thing for me is that you never know how a day is going to go. Some days it'll be really quiet, while other days it's really busy and you don't know what you're going to have to deal with. Of course I find great pleasure, spending my days surrounded by beautiful works of art, so I am satisfied.

M: Thank you Rachel, and now we'll move on to...

Text 9

M: Hey, Alice. I'm sorry I am late.

W: Don't worry about it. Did you have trouble finding a spot to park?

M: Actually, that wasn't the problem. I left early enough to avoid the traffic, but I couldn't get across the bridge.

W: What's happening on the bridge?

M: I couldn't tell. I just saw the road signs, so I turned around and took the long way here.

W: Well, it looks like we missed the worst of the weather. It was pouring this morning.

M: That's good. I can see the sky is clearing up and the wind has stopped. What are those tents for?

W: They're for the food fair. It will close soon, so you'd better get over there if you want to eat. Unfortunately, you came a bit late for the music.

M: So what is this event all about, anyway?

W: It's just a community festival we have every year. All the food, entertainment and activities represent the many cultures in our city.

M: Cool. What's happening across the street at the stadium? I saw that the local TV stations are all set up there.

W: That's where all the dancing and sports events will take place. This area is for families. I saved us this spot on the grass of the park.

M: That sounds fun. I'll go grab something at the tents, and then meet you back here.

Text 10

W: Jin Yong, a famous Chinese novelist, wrote 15 books about martial arts. He is considered to be one of the greatest wuxia writers in China. Jin is also one of the best-selling Chinese authors of all time, with over 300 million copies of his works sold worldwide. Jin was born in Zhejiang Province, the second of seven children. Even as a boy, Jin enjoyed writing. He was admitted to the Department of Diplomacy at National Chengchi University in Chongqing, but he left to study international law at Soochow University. Jin was planning to have a career in the foreign service, but in 1955, he began writing his first martial arts novel, The Book and the Sword. In 1957, while still working on wuxia novels, Jin got a job writing movie scripts at Great Wall Movie Enterprises Ltd. In 1959, Jin co-founded the Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao with a classmate. Many of Jin's most famous wuxia novels appeared in the newspaper, including The Smiling, Proud Wanderer and The Deer and the Cauldron. Jin Yong mixed martial arts, fantasy, history and romance into must-read novels. Many years after he had stopped writing novels, Jin earned his PhD from the University of Cambridge in 2010.