TAPESCRIPTS
UNIT 1
Lesson 1, ex4a, b
1) The youngest person in my family is my niece Rosemary. She was born only three weeks ago. My sister and my brother-in-law named her after our great-grandmother. Rosemary is such a beautiful name, isn’t it?
2) My great grandfather would be the oldest person in our family. 84 years make him not only the oldest but also the wisest person of our family. We all love grandpa Ron.
3) Well, I would say that my uncle David is the most successful person in our family, though it hasn’t always been like that. At the age of 20 he dropped out of college and his parents, my grandparents, were very disappointed with him. But he started his own business and now when he is only 35, he is a C.E.O. of a very influential corporation in our country. I am very proud to be a nephew of such a smart uncle.
4) The most extraordinary person in my family is definitely my half-sister Kim. She looks like a teenager even though she is 24. She has short dark hair, her nose and eyebrow are pierced and she has a couple of tattoos. She is extremely fond of wearing leather clothes and riding a motorcycle. Kim is an amazing photographer and people pay her a lot of money to shot their weddings.
5) I have never met my brother-in-law. My sister Anna moved to Sydney to do her degree in science 3 years ago. There she met John who also studied at the same college. They fell in love and got married. My parents went to Australia for the wedding, but unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to go with them. But Anna and John are going to visit us here in the US next summer, so I am very excited to meet my brother-in-law!
Lesson 2, ex2b
Song.
(CHORUS:)
We are family
I got all my sisters with me
We are family
Get up everybody and sing
Everyone can see we're together
As we walk on by
(FLY!) and we fly just like birds of a feather
I won't tell no lie
(ALL!) all of the people around us they say
Can they be that close
Just let me state for the record
We're giving love in a family dose
(CHORUS x2)
Living life is fun and we've just begun
To get our share of the world's delights
(HIGH!) high hopes we have for the future
And our goal's in sight
(WE!) no we don't get depressed
Here's what we call our golden rule
Have faith in you and the things you do
You won't go wrong
This is our family Jewel
(REPEAT CHORUS TO FADE)
Lesson 4, ex.4, 5
Virtual Dating
Virtual dating combines online dating with online gaming. It involves the use of avatars for people to interact in a virtual place that resembles a real life dating environment. For example, individuals can meet and chat in a romantic virtual cafe in Paris or on a Caribbean resort. They can explore together, play games and take relationship quizzes to get a better, deeper understanding of each other. While online dating sites allows members to search on attributes such as education and social status, virtual dating allows users to explore compatibility, sense of humor and rapport. According to Scientific American virtual dating is "the next step in online dating".
Researchers at Harvard have found that "people who had had a chance to interact with each other (by computer only) on a virtual tour of a museum afterwards had more successful face-to-face meetings than people who had viewed only profiles."
Speed dating
The fast-paced world of speed dating gives singles the opportunity to date up to ten other lovelorn singles in one evening. How is this possible, you ask? Each date lasts seven minutes. So even if someone is not a good mixer by nature they don't have to worry as the date doesn't take long. The rules of speed dating are quite simple. A group of singles gathers at a cafe. Armed with a nametag, a card to put down the scores and their sparkling personality, couples are paired up to begin their first date. They are allowed to discuss anything, except their careers, or where they live. After seven minutes of conversation, a bell rings, and the men move on to meet their next date. Following each date, participants mark on a card whether they would have an interest in meeting their date again. If a mutual interest is noted, speed-dating organizers provide each party with the other's phone number within 48 hours.
Arranged Marriages
We live in a society where we are free to fall in love, to date and to make our own mistakes. Our parents can give us suggestions who they think would be good for us. But the decision is ours as our lives. Its not easy for us to imagine that things don’t go this way in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh or Shri Lanka. Families over there have a tradition of getting their child married through their own selection. Its your family who are responsible for your future financial security and stability. We keep worrying about finding “the right one”. Love often makes us blind to how a person really is. With arranged marriages you don’t have to worry about choosing the wrong person or your parents‘disapproval. Moreover, it was noticed that arranged marriages tend to be more long-lasting and stable. However, you are not guaranteed a romantic soul either.
Lesson 6, ex.4a, c
1. In Italy, weddings usually start in the morning, ideally on a Sunday. According to regional Italian folklore, you should never marry (or leave for your honeymoon) on a Friday or Tuesday, or you will have lots of bad luck.
In Italy brides don’t bother with make up because in addition to a white dress, they wear a veil. Meanwhile, the groom can carry a piece of iron (preferably a small one) in his pocket to keep evil spirits away.
Traditional Italian brides and grooms forget about the limo and walk to the chapel on foot. In certain villages, people throw symbolic things in your path to see their future as man and wife. After the wedding ceremony, the couple break a glass or vase - the number of pieces represents the amount of years they’ll stay happily married.
The main dish of the Italian wedding is a roasted baby pig or lamb. Confetti -- sugar-covered almonds represent the bitter and sweet of life.
2. The date of a wedding in China depends on your astrologer. Chinese couples may consult a fortune-teller to find a favorable date which depends on their birth dates.
Brides wear a red silk dress that is embroidered with a dragon and phoenix. If you think choosing one dress is tough, take a look at this: Chinese brides buy as many dresses as their budgets allow and change from one to the other throughout the wedding to show that their family is not poor.
On the morning of the big day, loyal bridesmaids get to give a husband-to-be a hard time, forcing him to negotiate his way into the bride’s house. Once the girlfriends are satisfied with his offerings he is let in.
They usually have a 10- to 12-course banquet in China. The most impressive dish served is shark’s soup, which costs $150 per guest. Other delicacies include bird’s nest soup (yes, made from real birds’ nests) and a whole fish!
3. Weddings in Mexico take place in the evening around 9 p.m. The bride wears a brightly colored, Flamenco-style dress. But the groom gets off easy: he wears a guayabera. This light, short-sleeved shirt is not only perfect for tropical temperatures, it’s a Latin symbol of masculine elegance.
During the ceremony, the groom offers his bride 13 gold coins, called arras, which stand for Christ and his apostles. The priest wraps a large rosary, or a band of flowers in a figure eight around the couple to symbolize their eternal unity.
The Food is quite traditional: spicy rice, beans, and tortillas.
4. A liberal bunch, Swedes often decide to marry after living together for a few years, or after the woman is pregnant with their first child. With almost 20 hours of sunlight each day, summer is the most popular wedding season.
A crown belonging to the bride’s family or church, and, although it hardly sounds comfortable, a gold coin in your right shoe and a silver one in your left for good luck.
A seriously old-school tradition forces bridesmaids to carry bouquets of weeds that stink in order to keep trolls away. According to another old tradition, men dance around the bride, trying to knock her crown off, and the one who succeeds will have good luck.
The traditional Swedish smorgasbord (The Swedish table) lasts for three days and can include herring, lingonberry jam and köttbullar (Swedish meatballs).
Lesson 7, ex.2c
Mark Schultz
Everything To Me
I must have felt your tears
When they took me from your arms
I’m sure I must have heard you say goodbye
Young and so afraid had you made a big mistake
Could an ocean even hold the tears you cried
But you had dreams for me
You wanted the best for me
And you made the only choice you could that night
(Chorus)
You gave life to me
A brand new world to see
Like playing baseball in the yard with dad at night
Mom reading Goodnight Moon
And praying in my room
So if you worry if your choice was right
You gave me up but you gave everything to me
And if I saw you on the street
Would you know that it was me
And would your eyes be blue or green like mine
Would we share a warm embrace
Would you know me in your heart
Or would you smile and let me walk on by
Knowing you had dreams for me
You wanted the best for me
And I hope that you’d be proud of who I am
(Chorus)
You gave life to me
A chance to find my dreams
And a chance to fall in love
You should have seen her shining face
On our wedding day
Oh is this the dream you had in mind
When you gave me up
You gave everything to me
And when I see you there
Watching from heaven’s gates
Into your arms
I’m gonna run
And when you look in my eyes
You can see my whole life
See who I was
And who I’ve become
(Chorus)
You gave life to me
A brand new world to see
Like playing baseball in the yard with my son at night
And reading Goodnight Moon
And praying in his room
I am so greatful that I have this life
When you gave me up
You gave everything to me
Lesson 8, ex.3b, c, 4b
PART 1
Are people surprised at your age, and that you're working?
Everybody seems to be surprised at my age. Sometimes they make me feel like that saying that this dog stands on its back legs, it's amazing; if you're 94 and can still ride on a bus, you're the human equivalent.
Why?
Well, because most old people don't try to do the things that younger people do. My work fortunately is the kind that you can do in the office or you can sometimes work from home. But I try to be in the office, where you're more in touch with things.
What makes it harder for you, being your age?
People's attitude. People are a little skeptical about your ability.
When do things start to change, your perception of growing older?
It's a very gradual thing. In your 30s you start seeing wrinkles, and they're a little shocking, and then you get used to them. I think it's hard to feel old. I'm always a little surprised that I'm this old. I just never feel like a very old person. I think inside every old person there probably is a young person screaming to get out, but your audience doesn't let you.
What health problems have you had?
What my health record is? Just, oh, good God. Four cancers, all different. Major heart attack. Chemotherapy. Radiation. You name it, I've had it.
What does that mean when you go to work every day?
It means that you are participating; you have some enthusiasm; you have some energy.
Do people get nervous with you, with their money?
Well, I don't have a lot of clients left. It's hard to get new clients. How many people are going to come to a 94-year-old person? It's usually the people who have known me, or their parents have used me. My partner -- my daughter -- has many more customers than I do.
Why are you still working?
Everybody asks me that, so I should be prepared with an answer, shouldn't I? But I usually say, if I didn't go to work every day, my alternative would be to have lunch with some of my 80-year-old friends and listen to them talk about their grandchildren. This is better.
What does it give you?
There's an excitement. And I still, even though I'm 94, I still have ambitions, and one of them is to do the job well each day.
PART 2
Does it get isolating?
I suppose I spend a lot of time alone, but I don't feel isolated. I have a lot of interests. I have a lot of good support from my family and friends.
Did you go through a time when friends started passing away?
Yes, yes. That teaches you to get over your fear of death, because it goes together with life, just like ham and eggs. And it's hard. There are empty holes that can't be filled. But it's all a normal part of living. I have lost a lot of people physically but they are all still part of my life, all part of who I am.
How old do you feel inside?
I can't put a chronological age on it. I feel old. Well, we all have the inner child, but the body lets us down, and the inner child walks around in this old carcass. But life is still fun and interesting.
As we get older, do we get wiser?
You can't help but get wiser. You watch so many people, so many events, so many relationships, the good ones, the bad ones -- if you can't learn, my God! You have to be wiser. I don't know many old people who aren't pretty wise.
Would you ever consider living with your kids as you grow older?
I wouldn't do that to them. Actually, my daughter has asked me to do that, and I said, "I like my son-in-law too much to do that to him."
I live alone, and I like as little help as possible. I have a rather large apartment, but I only have someone come in four hours a week. I do everything else myself. ... Some people go to exercise class. I find that I never needed exercise class. I found a lot of exercise around the house. And it isn't always just boring work. It's taking care of things you love.
Since you've been a widow, have you wanted to date and meet people?
I happen to have been married to an extraordinary man. He just had everything: tall, handsome, looked like a Greek god, brilliant, witty. It would be hard. I wasn't so young when it happened -- 15 years ago. I was close to 80. If I were young, probably I would have.
What role does love play in your life now?
Well, my theory about love is that being loved is not the important part about love. It's loving that's important. I don't know how to make you understand that. You're not growing in any way when somebody loves you and adores you but the feeling of loving somebody, it's so enlarging. And you will do anything for the person you love. So that's the important part about love for me, is loving, not being loved.
You'll keep putting one foot in front of another?
At some point I may not be able to do that. But as long as I can open an eye and see someone I love, I want it.