Things Are Looking Up

Part 1

Narrator I wouldn't like to have to pay Peter's phone bills. He's spending a lot of time on the phone these days. Things certainly seem to be looking up for him. Every call he makes or receives brings him more good news.

Peter 7408.

Arnold Peter! Great news!

Peter Hello Arnold. What gives?

Arnold The computer software. There's no problem!

Peter You mean...?

Arnold Yes. The lawyers say the patent rights are yours.

Peter Ahem, ahem. You shouldn't sound so pleased, Arnold.

Arnold Pleased? I'm over the moon. Why not?

Peter Well, you are Bensons' Managing Director, and...

Arnold But Peter, I'm...

Peter... and you should put the company's interest first.

Arnold Come off it, Peter! I'm only keeping your seat warm until you come back.

Peter That'll be the day!

Arnold It'll be soon.

Peter Well, we'll see... Thanks for all you've done, Arnold.

Arnold It's a pleasure, Peter. I've already written to confirm that Bensons has no interest in your invention.

Peter Thanks. It's a load off my mind. Arnold I'll be in touch. Bye.

Narrator Things really are looking up for Peter now, aren't they? Let's do some repetition and role-play and then go back to him.

Part 2

Switchboard BIM International. Can I help you?

Peter I'd like to speak to Jim Lovelace, please.

Switchboard Certainly, sir... I'm sorry, it's engaged. Will you hold?

Peter Yes, I'll hold.

Switchboard It's still engaged. Will you hold?

Peter Yes.

Switchboard Oh, it's free now. It's ringing for you.

Jim Lovelace.

Peter Jim. It's Peter.

Jim Hello, Peter. Any news?

Peter Yes. And all good. There're no legal problems.

Jim Great! Congratulations. When can we meet up?

Peter Just suggest a time.

Jim Can you come over on Friday? I'd like you to meet a few people.

Peter OK. What time?

Jim Will half past ten suit you?

Peter Yes. See you then. Bye.

Jim Oh, Peter...

Peter Yes? I'm still here.

Jim Don't forget to work out what sort of deal you want.

Peter Cash on the table or royalties, eh?

Jim Why not think in terms of a mixture of the two?

Peter Is that possible?

Jim Anything's possible in this world, Peter. Work out what you want and ask for it. Cheers.

Peter Cheers, Jim.

Narrator Peter seems to have landed on his feet, doesn't he? Do you remember how much BIM was willing to pay for the patent rights? Five hundred thousand pounds. To put it another way: half a million quid. It's a lot of money. Let's hope that Peter can hang on to it...

Episode 20

Kidnapped!

Part 1

Narrator You must be wondering whether Peter sold his invention to BIM. Well, he did – and he didn't. He reached a royalty agreement based on 15% of net income from sales, with £ 100,000 'up front', as an advance on royalties. Of course, the press got wind of the deal. Probably from BIM's Public Relations Department. And as so often happens, many newspapers got it wrong. Headlines included: 'Sacked Boss of Bensons in £ 1,000,000 Deal', and 'From Rags to Riches in 48 Hours', and so on. But, in spite of various exaggerations and distortions of the truth, the papers got it right in one respect at least. Peter Benson is potentially a very rich man. At long last it seems that all his problems are over.

Sheila Andy! Oh, Andy! Come in.

Andy Hello, Mum. Hi, Dad.

Peter Andy! Welcome home, son. How are you?

Andy I'm fine... Look, I'm sorry that I...

Peter Don't. There's no need to apologise.

Sheila We're sure it wasn't your fault. Are you really OK?

Andy Yes. I'm as right as rain. Uncle Arnold helped me so much...

Sheila Arnold? Helping you? How?

Peter What's Arnold got to do with it?

Andy When I left home I phoned him, and, er...

Peter And what?

Andy He gave me some money and an address in Manchester...

Sheila But he never told us.

Peter And I started to trust him again...

Andy But you can trust him. He's been wonderful...

Peter We can trust him to do things behind our backs.

Andy But...

Peter But nothing. Your wonderful Uncle Arnold owes me an explanation. Right now...

Peter It's engaged. Hello?

Voice Listen carefully.

Peter Who is this?

Voice I'll say this once only.

Peter Who's speaking?

Voice We've got your daughter. We've got Cynthia.

Peter Who are you? Come on. Who is it? It's not funny.

Voice Look in the glove compartment of your wife's car. Do it now.

Narrator After all the newspaper and magazine articles about the sale of his invention, Peter received lots of begging letters and quite a few 'funny phone calls'. In fact, it reached the point where Sheila was almost afraid to answer the phone. Consequently, Peter had the number changed and went ex-directory. Only a small number of close friends and business contacts know the new number... So who made the phone call?... Andy has gone out to look in Sheila's car. Let's do some exercises before he gets back.

Part 2

Narrator Here comes Andy now. He's carrying a small package.

Andy Dad. I found this! 'For the attention of Mr P. Benson.'

Peter Well, let's see what's in it.

Sheila It's some sort of practical joke.

Peter Hmm, a cassette. Can you play it for us, Andy?

Andy Sure...

Cynthia Daddy! Mummy! It's Cynthia. They've got me. They're mad. They – Oh, no! Aaaargh!

Voice If you want to see your daughter again, don't inform the police. No police. Stay by your phone.

Cynthia They mean it. Do what they say. They aaaaargh!

Voice Remember, we're watching you. No police or else! Goodbye for now, Mr Benson.

Narrator Phew! What can I say? For once, I'm just lost for words...

Episode 21

Sunday: Arnold Plays a Dirty Trick.

Part 1 – Cars are dangerous.

Narrator Hello again. There's no good news, I'm afraid. In fact, things are going from bad to worse. There's no doubt that Cynthia Benson has been kidnapped. The Headmistress of her school told Sheila that Cynthia had been collected by the Bensons' new housekeeper a few days earlier... The Bensons don't have a housekeeper.

Interestingly enough, the description of the supposed housekeeper given by the Headmistress was very, very similar to that given by Andy of the mystery woman in his 'nightmare'. Which reminds me. Why not take a look at the woman with Arnold in Episode 3? She fits the description to a 'T'. So what do you think Arnold is up to? Is he behind the kidnapping?

Andy I don't like it, Uncle Arnold.

Arnold Trust me, Andy.

Andy I do trust you. You know I do, but...

Arnold Just bear with me, Andy. It won't be long now.

Andy But what are we looking for?

Arnold For the houseboat... And the woman.

Andy Maybe I just imagined it.

Arnold No, you didn't. I was there, too.

Andy You? But how? When?

Arnold I don't know how, but I do know when.

Andy Bloody idiot.

Arnold Yes. But don't swear, Andy.

Andy He could have killed us. Oh! Look out!

Arnold Hold on! Hold tight!...

Narrator In the circumstances, I'm sorry to have to ask you to do this. But it's good for your English. So, let's repeat and role-play. We'll soon be back with the story...

Part 2 – In the hospital

Doctor They'll both live, Mr Benson.

Peter But how are they? What about Andy? What damage...

Doctor Your son has a broken leg, and some facial bruises. Nothing very serious.

Peter And Mr Watson?

Doctor He was badly shaken up. Cuts and bruises. That's all.

Peter Yes. Trust him to be OK.

Nurse Doctor!

Peter How long will they be in hospital?

Nurse Doctor! Could I have a word with you?

Doctor Just a moment, nurse. Your son will be here for about a week. Mr Watson about three to four days...

Nurse But he's gone! Mr Watson's gone, doctor!

Part 3 – A dirty trick

Narrator Peter has just got home. Sheila's waiting anxiously.

Peter Andy'll be all right.

Sheila Yes. Arnold told me.

Peter Arnold? Did he phone?

Sheila No. He was here just a few minutes ago.

Peter Here? Arnold?

Sheila Yes, of course. I gave him the cassette.

Peter You gave Arnold the cassette? But why?

Sheila He asked for it. I thought you'd told him about it.

Peter I didn't even see him. What on earth is all this about?

Narrator Arnold seems to have played a dirty trick on Sheila. Why did he take the cassette? Do you think he's trying to hide the evidence? Well, we'll soon find out.

Episode 22

Monday: The Ransom Note

Part 1 – 7 a.m. The note

Narrator Cynthia was abducted last Thursday. Since then Peter and Sheila have heard nothing from her or from the kidnappers. Not until now, that is... During the night a note was put through the letterbox.

Sheila What does it say?

Peter £ 500,000... used notes... suitcase... Wednesday. We phone midnight. No police or we kill.

Sheila They want half a million pounds in used notes in a suitcase on Wednesday...

Peter That's what it says.

Sheila And they're going to phone us at midnight on Wednesday.

Peter Yes. To give us instructions, I suppose.

Sheila Can you raise the money by then?

Peter No. It's impossible. I don't have it.

Sheila But you must. You've got three full days.

Peter It's not enough time. I think we'd better call in the police.

Sheila No! They'll kill her if we do that.

Narrator I'm sorry to sound pessimistic, but they may murder Cynthia in any case. After all, she must have seen them... What would you do if you were in Peter's shoes? Play along with the kidnappers or contact the police? Let's do some more work and then get back to the story. Lots of things are happening just now.

Part 2 – Monday, 10 a.m. Is Andy in danger?

Narrator The clock's ticking away and Peter is trying desperately to borrow money for the ransom. But he's not the only one making phone calls. Listen to this.

Jack Parsons.

Arnold It's a very bad line. Can you hear me?

Jack Yes, go ahead, Arnold.

Arnold I've got the cassette, Jack.

Jack Good.

Arnold Andrew Benson is still in hospital. He's been moved to Ward 6.

Jack Can you repeat that, please?

Arnold Andy is now in Ward 6 at the hospital.

Jack Don't worry. We'll take care of him.

Arnold I'll meet you at the boat then?

Jack Right. Don't be late. Two o'clock sharp.

Arnold I'll be there. Let's hope that our little trick will work.

Narrator Well, what did you make of that? I didn't like the sound of it. 'To take care' of somebody can mean to look after them. But it can also mean to remove somebody who is in the way. To get rid of somebody. Even in hospital, Andy may be in great danger... We'll go back to Peter in a few minutes, after a quick exercise.

Part 3 – Monday, 6 p.m. Raising the cash

Narrator Peter's in London now. He spent all morning phoning around, fixing appointments and all afternoon rushing from one meeting to another. Now he's in one of those 'modernised' pubs I told you about. They're a good place to go if you don't want anybody to eavesdrop on a conversation.

Jim I still think you should call in the police, Peter.

Peter I daren't risk it. Quite frankly, I'm not so happy about telling even you.

Jim I'll keep my mouth shut... So, how much have you managed to raise so far?

Peter About half of what they want.

Jim Have you seen your bank manager?

Peter Yes. I've got about £ 10,000 in my current account and £ 130,000 in my deposit account. I can withdraw all that tomorrow.

Jim What about a loan?

Peter The bank needs securities.

Jim What about a second mortgage on the house?

Peter There isn't time.

Jim What about your shares in Bensons?

Peter I used them as security on loans for my computers.

Jim Hmm. So it comes back to BIM?

Peter That's it. I'll sell the patent outright if I can have the money by Wednesday.

Jim I'll do my best, Peter.

Peter I know you will, Jim. You're our only hope.

Narrator Peter's sounding quite desperate. Let's hope he gets the money in time... If you ask me, he should go to the police.

Episode 23

Tuesday: Enter Jack Parsons

Part 1 – Tuesday 9.30 a.m.

Narrator Peter is fighting a losing battle against time. He's well short of the half million pounds demanded by the kidnappers, and he has no way of contacting them. So he can't ask them for more time or try to negotiate a reduction in the ransom. In desperation, he phones Arnold to see if be can borrow some money.

Switchboard Bensons. Good morning.

Peter Hello, Anne. Peter Benson here.

Anne Oh, hello, Mr Benson. How are you?

Peter Fine, thanks. May I speak to Mr Watson, please?

Anne I'm sorry, he's away for a few days.

Peter Hmm. Can you put me through to Angela?

Anne She's on holiday all this week.

Peter Well, thanks anyway. Bye, bye.

Narrator Poor Peter. He's drawn a blank there. Let's do some repetition and then get back to the story.

Part 2 – Tuesday at noon. The assassin

Narrator You may be wondering what Arnold is doing. As a matter of fact, he's at the hospital. But he's not taking Andy any chocolates or flowers...

Arnold That's him. Over there.

Jack Yes, I can see him.

Arnold Shall we get him now?

Jack No, wait a bit. Let's just watch.

Arnold I'm getting nervous, Jack. Let's get him.

Jack Don't worry... It's all taken care of... We'll soon have him... OK. Now!

Andy Help, help. Uncle Arnold! Arnold!

Narrator Things are hotting up. I hope that Andy is OK. Let's do a quick repetition and then see what's happening.

Part 3 – Tuesday 3 p.m. In the City

Narrator The City of London is one of the world's great financial centres. Jim Lovelace has arranged for Peter to meet one of the directors of a merchant bank. They're going there now, in Jim's car.

Peter Thanks for all you've done, Jim. You've really got me off the hook.

Jim I don't think I'm doing you any favours. You should go to the police.

Peter Well, I'm not. And that's final.

Jim OK. Let's run through it again. Have you got the notes from our Chief Accountant?

Peter Yes. I'll ask for a bridging loan of £ 370,000...

Jim With your royalty agreement with BIM as security...

Peter... and Sheila's and my life insurance policies as collateral security.

Jim That's it. You'll have to pay a very high rate of interest, you know... Lovelace. Yes, he is. It's for you, Peter. It's the police.

Narrator So, the police have tracked Peter down. It could be bad news about Andy. Let's keep our fingers crossed... and let's do some exercises.

Part 4 – Tuesday 3.30 p.m.

Дата добавления: 2015-11-13