On his TV programme, Steve likes to show audiencesInterviewer: With us today is Steve Thomas, a 23 year-old chef who delights TV audiences with his imaginative cooking programme. Steve, what’s the secret of your success? Steve: Well, I think I’m different from other TV chefs in that I want people to see how I prepare a dish from the word go, so I don’t present them with a dish that’s half prepared already. If anything should go wrong during the programme, know, suppose something gets burned, well, that’s part of the experience. When they try preparing it themselves, then they’ll see the beauty of the finished product, but not on the screen. Interviewer: So how did you come to get your own TV series? Steve: I was working in a restaurant called the Gala in December last year when they came to make a documentary about the place. I didn’t even look at the camera.I was too busy making pasta and cooking fish. But the producer spotted me and the following week they phoned me to offer me a job... The Gala owner wished me all the best and let me go without a complaint. Interviewer: Wow!! Now, is it true that you come from a family of cooks? Steve: Well, you could say that ... I started cooking at the age of eight. My mum and dad have a restaurant and Dad used to do all the cooking back then. My mum was too busy looking after us ... Dad insisted that if I wanted some money, I should work for it. And it seemed a lot more interesting to help out in the kitchen and see how things were made than to earn my money washing Dad’s car ... Interviewer: You attended a catering course at college. How did you like that? Steve: At school I wasn’t very good at anything much. At that time, my mind wasn’t on anything other than cooking. I found sitting in a classroom trying to pay attention to things very very trying. I managed to get to college though and there I was fine, because when it came to the actual cooking, I knew what I was doing. I realised that a bit of academic work didn’t do you any harm either and I found it much easier when I was interested in the subject, and so I’ve no regrets, really. Interviewer: And now you have a TV programme and several cooks working under your orders. How do you get on with them? Steve: Oh, I love working with them. But on my programme everyone has to be really special. They need to have gone through college training before they even apply for the job. I suppose the problem is that fairly frequently I tend to raise my voice if they don’t work emciently ... but I’m just as likely to praise them if they do well ... What I say to them is, you want the audience to say we are the best, so we need to make a special effort ... Interviewer: Is there any chef celebrity that you admire especially? Steve: I definitely think that Ron Bell is the best, and I’m pleased that he’s now got his own food column in a newspaper. I had the great privilege of working with him for a while. What’s so special about him is that he’s always been enthusiastic about using ingredients that come from the area where he works ... For example the fish of the day would be the catch from the river close to his restaurant. He’s been criticised for sticking to old-fashioned recipes, maybe that’s a weakness, but I think that’s his decision ... Interviewer: I heard that you are also going to write a book. Steve: Yes, I’m writing it at the moment. It may disappoint readers who expect a lot of glossy pictures, as most cookbooks nowadays seem to be things to look at rather than read ... I’ve gone for a style that may be less attractive with fewer colour pictures but it will be more useful for most types of reader. What I say in my book is that we must remember the success of a meal does not depend on how it looks ... it’s what it tastes like and the company of the friends you’ll share it with that matters ... Interviewer: Well, thank you, Steve, I look forward to trying some recipes ... the process of cooking. amusing incidents. attractively presented dishes.

You overhear a young man talking about his first job. How did he feel in his first job?Man: I didn’t want to go to university, so when I finished school, I went and got a job. My parents said if I was in full-time education, they’d give me an allowance, but if not, I’d have to work. So, I got a job in a big store in the menswear department ... Actually, I think I had to go out and find out what I could do because in school I wasn’t particularly brilliant, so, when it came to doing work, I think I had to prove a lot of people wrong. So I really felt like doing it ... even though it was just selling socks in Hayrides. Bored. Confused. Enthusiastic.

Anna was employed by a (9)______ when she first started sailing. The idea of sailing round the world came from a book called (10)______ Anna spent some time (11)______ the boat before taking it out to sea. Anna tested her boat on a trip which lasted for only (12)______ because it was damaged. Anna got the money she needed to make the trip from various (13)______ companies. Anna’s worst problem during the trip was when she felt (14)______ because the boat was going so slowly. Anna found the (15)______ in the Southern Ocean the most exciting part of the trip. On her return, Anna phoned the (16)______ to ask for a certificate. Anna’s claim was doubted because she hadn’t been in contact with people on (17)______ during her trip. Anna’s story was finally believed after her (18)______ had been checked.Interviewer: In the studio this week we have Anna Stephens who returned last July after a non-stop voyage round the world alone. Anna, welcome to the programme. Tell me, how did you get interested in sailing? Anna: Well, although I was a teacher of sports in a school for a while, it wasn’t until I started working for a travel agency that I first went sailing. A colleague invited me and I loved it straightaway. After that I went on several sailing holidays with friends in the Mediterranean. Interviewer: So, where did you get the idea to sail round the world alone? Anna: Well, I read a book, ’High Adventure’ was the title, which was about a woman sailing alone, and it really impressed me. I suddenly knew what I wanted to do with my life. So I gave up my job and talked a friend into lending me his boat. It was a bit old and rusty, but basically fine. I then spent the next few months mending the boat. Interviewer: Did you take the boat out to sea to test it? Anna: Well, that was the problem -- I had planned to spend three weeks seeing how the boat performed at sea, but after six days I had to return because it got damaged in bad weather. That was good really because if I’d had three weeks of good weather, I wouldn’t have realised what problems I needed to sort out. Interviewer: What did people say when you had to turn back? Anna: Oh, some of them thought this proved I wasn’t ready for the trip. I would have preferred to carry on with my preparations without telling anybody, but because I relied on money from a number of local companies, they all had to be kept informed of my progress. Interviewer: Right. Once you finally set out and you were out there alone, did you never feel lonely? Anna: Well, yes I did, but that wasn’t my main problem. The trip was ruined for me by the boat making such slow progress that I got bored. I wanted to be doing something all the time. The only time I really felt busy was in the Southern Ocean, where there were enormous storms and I had plenty to think about all the time. Interviewer: Were the storms really frightening? Anna: No, they were the really exciting part. My main difficulty was when I got back home and people didn’t believe I’d really done it. Interviewer: Why did that happen? Anna: Well, as soon as I returned, I got on the phone to the World Sailing Club to say that I had successfully completed the trip and what did I have to do to get my certificate. They told me to fill in all the forms, etc. Then, on television, people began to say that it was strange although I claimed to have sailed around the world, I had not been in touch with any ships along the way. That’s what started it. After that the newspapers were saying I hadn’t made the trip at alii Interviewer: So how did you manage to convince people? Anna: Well, I showed the sailing club my diaries, which I’d been very careful to keep up-to-date throughout the trip, and they checked them and gave me a certificate. I even got an apology from the newspapers in the end. Interviewer: And what will your next challenge be? Anna: I haven’t got any firm plans as yet, but rm writing a book about the trip. Interviewer: Well, thank you, Anna. We look forward to reading all about it ...

You will hear five different people talking about short courses they have attended. For questions 19-23, choose from the list (A-F) what each speaker says about their course. Use the letters only once. There is one extra letter which you de net need to use. A I was encouraged by the teachers to continue developing my skill. B I learnt something about the subject that I hadn’t expected. C I preferred the social life to the course content. D I intend doing a similar course again. E I found out something about myself. F I thought the course was good value for money.Speaker 1Man: I went on a canoeing course last weekend, rather against my better judgement, because although I enjoy swimming, I thought canoeing might be too difficult. And I was right. I really couldn’t get the hang of it. I bet the tutors will remember me: not because I was one of their star students, far from it, but I fell out of the canoe more often than everyone else put together! But even so, I enjoyed it so much that when some of the group signed up to do another course together, in six months’ time, I found myself signing up too. I bet the tutors refuse to teach me next timer

How will Steve’s book be different from other books about cooking?

Steve admires Ron Bell because

What does Steve say about the cooks who work for him?

How did Steve feel once he got to college?

What made him take up cooking as a child?

Steve was given his own TV series because