How did Douglas feel when he booked the weekend?Interviewer: My guest today is Douglas Turner, who recently spent a weekend climbing a mountain in Africa. Douglas, how did this come about? Douglas: Well, I suppose it started with seeing adverts for activity holidays in the national press week after week; it somehow got into my subconscious. Then there was one which said, ’Are you ready for the greatest physical challenge of your life? 5,000 metres. One weekend’, and somewhat against my better judgement, I found myself picking up the phone straight away. You see, I simply hadn’t trained for it, the nearest I’d got was a bit of hill-walking five years ago. Interviewer: What did you think you would get out of the weekend? Douglas: Generally when I go to things I enjoy meeting people, but in this case I was afraid the rest of the group would be a bunch of healthy types, and I wouldn’t have much in common with them. And as for the physical effort of climbing the mountain, I thought I’d be lucky if I survived the weekend at all! It was more a kind of wanting to see what I was mentally capable of doing, would I get cold feet and not go at all, or go, but give up halfway up, that sort of thing. Interviewer: But you made it to the top. Douglas: Yes, I did. Much to my surprise, I can tell you. Interviewer: And were you right about the other people? Douglas: No, actually. There were a few serious walkers and climbers, but most of the participants were professional people who wanted to do something ,quite different once in a while, more or less like me, in fact. So not intimidating after all. Though I have to admit that nearly all of them were fleer than me. Actually I hadn’t realised so many people did this sort of thing. It was funny, when I told a friend that I was going, she said, ’Oh, not another one. Everyone I know’s going climbing this year. There’s a big thing about pushing yourself to your limit at the moment, isn’t there? You’re welcome to it,’ she said. ’You won’t catch me up there.’ Interviewer: How did you all get on together? Douglas: I suppose we were a bit suspicious of each other at first, but that soon went, and we somehow developed a really close group feeling, and nobody complained about having to wait for the slow ones, which usually included me. Or at least, if they did complain, they did it out of earshot. In fact, on the flight home we were busy exchanging cards and decided to book another weekend trip as a party-- but without a mountain in sight this time. Interviewer: Se how did the weekend compare with your expectations? Douglas: It was much better than I’d expected. It made me change, in subtle ways. As I’d hoped, I gained in self-knowledge, and I learnt to get on with people I couldn’t escape from, but I also became much more observant, of the tiny little wild flowers, for instance, and that was quite a bonus. Interviewer: I suppose you’re going to be a regular mountain climber now. Douglas: The pair of boots I wore, I’m keeping with the mud still on them, on my desk at work. They’re a kind of trophy, to prove to myself that rve done it. But I somehow don’t think I’ll be using them again. I’m going to have to put them somewhere less visible, though, because it’s sometimes a bit embarrassing when other people are impressed. Interviewer: Douglas Turner, thank you very much. Douglas: Thank you. sure that he would enjoy training for it uncertain if it was a good idea for him surprised that such activities were organised

You will hear part of a radio programme in which a woman called Sylvia Short is interviewed about her job. For questions 9-18, complete the sentences. Sylvia studied and (9)______ at university. After university, Sylvia worked as a (10)______ in Italy. The company which employs Sylvia is called (11)______ Sylvia worked for the company for (12)______ before becoming the manager’s assistant. Part of Sylvia’s job is to organise the (13)______ in newspapers and magazines. Sylvia often has to deal with strange questions from (14)______ Sylvia’s boss has a radio show on Fridays on the subject of (15)______ Sylvia has written about her (16)______ for a new book on Britain. Sylvia says that in the future she would like to be a (17)______ on television. Last year, Sylvia enjoyed attending a (18)______ in Australia.Interviewer: Good morning, and today was are continuing with our series on careers for young people. In the studio today we have Sylvia Short, who works for a company that produces guidebooks for serious travellers. Now, Sylvia, I believe you left Essex University with a degree in German and Spanish. Tell us something about how you got your job. Sylvia: My main interest has always been travel. I spent every holiday, when I was a student, travelling abroad. After I left university I spent a year as an English teacher in Spain, followed by six months as a tour guide in Italy. When I returned to England I applied for loads of jobs advertised in the newspaper, but didn’t have any success. So I decided to make a list of every company I wanted to work for and write to them directly, rather than wait for them to advertise. Interviewer: Good advice to anyone, I think. Sylvia: Yes, and I was very lucky as the company ’World Travel’ needed an assistant in their office in London, I dealt mainly with the post at first, just to get used to their way of doing things. Obviously, I was qualified to do more, but I wasn’t in a hurry. Then the manager’s assistant announced she was leaving after only being with the company for twelve months, and I applied for her job. The company encourages their staff to apply for higher-level jobs and I was promoted four months after joining. Interviewer: Good for you! What does the job involve? Sylvia: Well, I’ve expanded the role since I took it on. I’m in charge of all the advertising in the press whenever we publish a new guidebook and I sometimes give talks to people in the travel industry. Interviewer: Do you find the work interesting? Sylvia: Oh, yes, it’s never boring. We often get odd requests from journalists. They assume we know everything there is to know about travel so they often ring us to see if we can help them. One rang to say he was writing an article and wanted to know whether there were any female football teams in China. Interviewer: Really? And what other things do you find yourself doing? Sylvia: Oh, a large part of my job is to make sure my boss is where she should be. She does a lot of TV interviews on all aspects of travel and she also presents a radio programme about adventure holidays every Friday night. In between she writes articles and now and again comes into the office to find out what’s going on there. My job is to keep her fully informed. Interviewer: What do you think you’ve learnt from working for her? Sylvia: Oh, she’s an excellent writer and she’s helped me, especially when I have to do press releases -- she suggests changes, but she’s very encouraging, not bossy. She even suggested I did part of a chapter in a new guidebook to Great Britain on my home town, which I enjoyed a lot. Interviewer: So, how do you see your career developing? Sylvia: Well, I don’t think I’m good enough to be a full-time writer. But my boss has a lot of contacts in the TV world, and I fancy becoming a TV presenter. However, at the moment I’m enjoying my job far too much to give it up. Interviewer: Do you get to go abroad as part of your job? Sylvia: Not as often as you’d think] I do spend a lot of time doing things like answering the phone, but I did manage to go to the company’s head office in Australia last year for a conference. That was terrific. Interviewer: Sounds to me like you’ve got the perfect job, Sylvia! Next ...

You will hear five different people talking about their work on a cruise ship. For questions 19- 23, choose from the list (A-F) what each speaker says about their work. Use the letters only once. There is one extra letter which you do net need to use. A One aspect of my job is less interesting than others. B My job involves planning for the unexpected. C You have to be sociable to do my job. D I don’t like routine in my working life. E There’s not much work to do during the day. F I provide passengers with a souvenir of their trip.Speaker 1Man: I deal with anything to do with entertainment on board, and that covers guest lecturers, cabaret artists, the show company and any special nights. I have to plan each cruise with all the performers and then introduce them at the beginning of the show. There’s never a dull moment and if I want time to myself, I have to escape to my cabin because a huge part of my job is to mix with people. There are often parties to attend ... and then, sometimes, dance nights to organize. So, if I’m not in the shows, I’ll be out there dancing with the passengers, because that’s part of my job too.

You hear a man talking to a group of people who are going on an expedition into the rainforest. What does he advise them against? ......Man: Because you need water for various reasons, you often end up making your overnight camp by a river. Providing you take care to keep insects away, this can be as healthy a place as any. Much as you might feel you need a good wash, one trap not to fall into, though, is the use of soap or shampoo. These may make you feel good, but actually give off unnatural smells in the jungle which act as a magnet to insects, thus increasing the chances of your getting bitten. Better to actually go in for a dip, being careful to dry off and re-apply your anti-insect cream immediately afterwards. sleeping in places where insects are found. using substances which attract insects. bathing in areas where insects are common.

Douglas expected that the experience would help him to

He was surprised that the other participants

What did one of his friends say to him?

What did the people plan at the end of the trip?

In what way did Douglas change as a result of the trip?

Douglas’s boots are still muddy because he wants them to