Speaker Three

One unexpected aspect of the course was that we all became experts on the physical characteristics of top-eared goats, so often did they feature in our representations of the various landscapes. There were also many outings, including a lovely meal in a local farmhouse, it was all very well organized. But it was the clear air and the sparkling perspectives that really encouraged me to try something new at home. Some people were rather shy, but that suited me, and everyone tended to get on with their own work. The tutor would give a demonstration in the morning, then wander round from easel to easel, giving advice about brushwork., etc. She was scrupulously fair with her time.

Speaker Four

As a single person, I’d had one or two lovely holidays abroad on my own, so I loved the friendly meals with everyone eating together. Most evenings ended in a sing-song, it was lovely. You can do all sorts of other activities, like throwing pots or trying your hand at wildlife photography. But as I hadn’t so much as looked at a book since my schooldays, I was keen to get back some of my old fluency. The tutors are great, they realize you’re on holiday and so no-one’s going to rap your knuckles if you don’t turn up for a class. Anyway, I could make just as much progress chatting to the locals, and they certainly had plenty of time for me.

Speaker Five

I was quite nervous at first, though there was no need to be. The group included a lot of people who, like me, were just looking for inspiration. One couple had won the holiday in a competition, some had been before, but they didn’t seem to be much the wiser for it. My only criticism is that it could have been more hands-on. We spent a lot of time watching demonstrations when we could have been chopping or peeling ourselves. Because we had the afternoons free, we didn’t get on top of one another, and as our efforts literally provided a topic of conversation at mealtimes, it was all very relaxed, and it was difficult not to get on with each other.

UNIT 2

PART 1

You will hear an interview with Harry Newland, a young film actor. For questions 1-5, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits best according to what you hear.

Presenter: My next guest was the darling of Hollywood by the age of ten, playing child parts in many top films. By the time he was fifteen, he’d been nominated for an Oscar. Now nineteen, and at college, Harry Newman is taking time out from his career to study. I asked him when he’d first felt the urge to perform.

Harry: Although technically it wasn’t acting, I remember when I was a kid of two or three, having a collection of plastic masks and I’d run around the backyard pretending to be different characters, you know, everything from Donald Duck to my own superheroes. And, of course, my father, he’s an actor, and I was raised in Hollywood after all. But I think it was more than that with me. There’s no getting round the fact that I was born with the bug, had the right instincts from the start, and that’s what my Dad spotted and developed. One of the most important things he taught me was that acting is believing. That’s at the heart of every performance I give.

Presenter: So when did it come, that first performance?

Harry: I guess I was about five. Like a lot of young actors, it began with television advertising, but I quickly moved up to playing, sort of, cute-as-a-button grandsons in various run-of-the-mill TV dramas, you know the sort of thing? It’s easy to run them down, but I try to avoid that because, you know, that’s how you cut your teeth in the business, learn the ropes. You can’t just go in as a child movie star and hope to steal the show; that just doesn’t happen without the right background. In the end, I got a role in a film that made it quite big at the box office, not thanks to me I should add, but I had a bit part and that’s what got me noticed.

Presenter: Since when you’ve worked with some pretty big names. How did they take to you? Didn’t they worry about being upstaged by a cute kid?

Harry: Well, if that worried them, they wouldn’t be accepting these roles in the first place. No, I never had any trouble being accepted. Basically, if they respect your work and providing you are mature enough to cope with the situation, then actors treat one another like equals and that’s mostly what I’ve experienced. I never felt patronized in any way and I wouldn’t have accepted colleagues coming on as sort of authority figures, and I guess they recognized that. It was like having friends on the set most of time.

Presenter: But you worked on some pretty big projects.

Harry: It never strikes me to be intimidated by making big movies. I try to do my best with every performance. I concentrate on the job and not the size of the production. It’s up to the director to worry about the big picture, and mostly they’re great. It must be tough keeping so many things in your head at once, knowing every single detail. I rely on them to indicate what the character should be feeling, to suggest different ways I could play it. Not all actors like that, but I listened and did my best to follow and tried not to worry about what other people on the set were up to.

Presenter: And the result of all this was a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. I mean, how did you cope with all that? It must have gone to your head a bit.

Harry: That was a really big surprise. I never thought it would happen to me, let alone so early. But, getting back to your question, I was lucky in that my parents really had their heads screwed on. All the attention you get in that situation is certainly flattering, but if you don’t keep your feet firmly on the ground, you can lose yourself to it really easily. Seeing that, my parents hit a pretty subtle balance, actually. I had their support, practical and emotional, but I wasn’t pushed beyond what I was capable of, and they managed to keep me pretty much on track as far as friends, schoolwork and all that was concerned.

Presenter: As for the future”

Harry: I’m keeping an open mind until I’ve finished college, but I haven’t given up acting together. Although I guess your movies should get better as you get older, shouldn’t they? So I might find that a bit of a challenge!

PART 2

You will hear an interview with a woman who works as a casting director in the film industry. For questions 6-13, choose the best answers, A, B, C or D.

Interviewer: My guest today is Barbara Darby. Her name has appeared on the credits of many well-known films. Although her role in making those films successful was crucial, you’ve probably never heard of her because she works as a casting director. Barbara, welcome.

Barbara: Hello

Interviewer: So it’s quite a big responsibility, is it, Barbara, finding the actors for a film?

Barbara: The job of a casting director is a highly-skilled actually, because without the right cast, there’s no movie. Although experience counts of course, intuition is the essential quality for the job, and that’s not something you can learn. You signal things to the audience through the kind of actors you cast and those signals have got to reflect the central message of the script and the director’s vision.

Interviewer: So how do you go about it?

Barbara: It’s an odd process, because it’s not just about casting a certain numbers of actors in roles. The dynamic is incredibly important: if you have a comedian, you have to cast a particular type of person against them. And it’s also about energy: if one person has quite a low-energy style, then you need someone opposite them to gee them up a bit. When I meet an actor, I’m trying to find a quality in that person that reflects into the part in an interesting way, although actors don’t really like people saying that, as they believe they can act every part. But that’s how I do it.

Interviewer: And do you do the whole range of films, do you get to choose?

Barbara: I do say no to quite a lot of scripts. I only do films that I feel have something important to say, or that see life in an interesting way, or are being made by people that I know I like. After I’ve read the script, I start to have ideas and to talk to people.

Interviewer: And the director leaves it all to you?

Barbara: Well, I do all the preparatory work. The first stage is that agents send in photos, video tapes and resumes of actors that I’ve requested or that they think are good. I watch loads of tapes. If I like an actor, I’ll meet them, or go to see them in a play. Then they go to meet the director who makes the final selection from my short list. On average they see about eight or nine actors per part, but I see many more. When I take on a film, I’ll cast the whole thing, even if a person doesn’t speak in a role.

Interviewer: So how did you get into this in the first place?

Barbara: I didn’t so much choose my career as fall into it actually. I was hanging around London, working as a stagehand at the National Theatre and I met someone there who thought I’d be good at it. He was an agent and he got me a job as an assistant. I’ve always been drawn to the bright lights, and this was a step up from what I’d been doing.

Interviewer: And you were ambitious?

Barbara: Yes. I don’t believe anyone who does well, isn’t. I was initially attracted by the glamour of it all, but I’m definitely not driven by money, because I still don’t have any. What absolutely drives me now in all parts of my life is that I don’t want to be old and have regrets. We are all able to do something successful, and I think it’s a shame if you don’t achieve that.

Interviewer: But you took a break from your career at one time, didn’t you?

Barbara: That’s right. I was working on a film which was set in the rain forest of South America. I lived the place, but I had such a horrible time on the film that as soon as I came back, I put my whole office into nine bin bags and threw them out of the window. I said: ‘If that’s what the film industry is about, I’m giving up.‘ I stayed away for nine months.

Interviewer: But what went wrong, why did you give up?

Barbara: The worst aspect of the job is that the casting stage is a stressful time in the making of a film. It takes a lot longer than people think – a big film can take six months. An awful lot of other people’s frustrations can land on you, and I’ve never really learnt how not to take it personally. I guess it goes with commitment.

Interviewer: But in the end they tempted you back, didn’t they?

Barbara: The only reason I came back was because one of my favourite directors handed me a lovely script. It wasn’t even that I wanted it, I’d got plenty of theatre work which I was enjoying. But I just couldn’t bear the idea of anyone else doing that script because it was so brilliant. It’s the best thing about my job, working with really fantastic people. I’m lucky, I work with interesting individuals and the scripts are good. But after my work is done, I move on – I don’t get involved in the rest of the making of the film. At the end, at the after-shoot party, everyone looks at me as if to say, ‘Who are you?‘ But I don’t mind because the people who matter know what part I’ve played and anyway, by that time I’m already getting my teeth into the next one … and I love that feeling.

Interviewer: Barbara, thanks for talking to us today.

Barbara: Thank you.

UNIT 3

PART 1

You will hear an interview with a woman called Tansy Burton, who runs a company which makes beauty products. For questions 1-5, choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which fits best according to what you hear.

Presenter: My guest today, Tansy Burton, has an enviable nose. She and her husband have built up a multi-million pound fragrance and skin care business that now threatens to overtake some of the big names in the industry. Tansy, welcome. So is it a nose for fragrances or a nose for business that has got you where you are?

Tansy: Hi. Well, I love creating things, sure, but I also love the idea of making someone want to buy them. I guess I’m a merchant at heart, although that was hardly my background. I mean, my mother was a beautician, and I was just followed in her footsteps. I used to watch her as a child, and she used to make her own face masks and things out of sandalwood and rosewater, you know, the standard stuff, and I was fascinated.

Presenter: So is that how it all began?

Tansy: Well, I started out as a beautician working from home, and when people came round for a facial or whatever, I’d give them a bottle of my home-made bath oil. One day, a customer asked for one hundred bottles to put by each place-setting at a dinner party as gifts. When eighty-six of those people came back for more, I thought, ‘Um … There could be a future in this‘. And the production company followed on from that.

Presenter: So you knew how to set up a business like that?

Tansy: Well, I’m blessed with the gift of the gap, you know, I can talk people into things and that was my approach. I’ve never written a business plan in my life, and I’ve no intention of starting, but I’m good at coming up with the ideas and convincing people of the potential in them. Once I’d found the right backers, I would tend to move on to the promotional side and leave the bookkeeping to my husband, Colin. He trained as a builder, but he’s really found his niche on the business side, so I’m happy to leave him to it.

Presenter: So what makes your products so appealing? Are you able to analyze it?

Tansy: Well, it’s partly seeing the way the market’s going and responding to that. If your idea of a fragrance is so wondrous liquid that smells divine, comes in a beautiful crystal glass bottle and costs a bomb, then you’re seriously out of date. Of course, there are still some perfumes whose sole function is just to smell nice – and some of these sell on their reassuring retro imagery – but on the whole, they are being pushed to the back of the shelves by much more active fragrances.

Presenter: Active?

Tansy: Yes, fragrances these days are usually required to do a whole lot more than just smell nice; they need, so to speak, to sing and dance for their supper. They have to energize and tranquillize, deal with depression and jealousy; they need to uplift and to inspire. Fragrance is permeating more aspects of our lives than ever before and the full capacity of fragrance to enhance and improve our lives has yet to be fully exploited.

Presenter: So that’s the way the business is going?

Tansy: If you like. It’s all about pushing boundaries. People are already talking about air conditioning units that will fragrance rooms. People these days want versatile fragrances, which in practice means that instead of sticking to one grand perfume which they just use on their person, many people now have a wardrobe of perfumes for different purposes.

Presenter: So, the market’s up for grabs, is it?

Tansy: Well, the more of a relationship you can build between customer and product, the more multi-sensorial you can make it, the more it converts the customer. Meanwhile, every fashion house that relies on fragrances to bolster its profits is putting more and more energy into providing ways to add extra layers of fragrance to our lives.

Presenter: So you won’t be resting on your laurels?

Tansy: Indeed not.

Presenter: Well, Tansy, thank you for joining us today.

Tansy: Thank you.

PART 2

You will hear part of announcement about an airline company. For questions

(6-14), complete the sentences.

When faced with the need to make travel arrangement for large groups of people, or particularly important clients, many companies find it convenient to avoid the hustle and bustle of scheduled services by chartering their own plane. When you charter an aircraft, you get the use of not only the plane, but the flight crew and all the in-flight services that go with it. Plivilair is a company that specializes in providing this kind of service, with the choice of first class or business class service, on board. There’s no doubt, an executive aircraft can make all the difference in getting an event off to a flying start.

Long before your guests board, the account manager from Privilair will have discussed and agreed with you your choice of plane, destination, menu, including any special dietary needs, as well as your selection of magazines, newspapers and much more. The company regards attention to detail as its principal selling point and Privilair cabin crews take pride in the standards of service they offer. They are attentive but discreet and will always ensure that guests enjoy every moment of their travel experience. Amongst satisfied clients, Privilair can boast government ministers, celebrities and sports teams from all over the world.

And when you enter a Privilair aircraft, you see and feel luxury and comfort all around you. Every first-class seat has an adjustable back recline, extending leg supports and foot rests and there is generous legroom in both first and business class seats. The overall effect of space, comfort and quality is enhanced by pleasing colour schemes and subtle lighting. The in-flight catering service will satisfy even the most demanding traveller; the airline can provide anything from a simple afternoon tea to gourmet four-course meals. On one occasion, a world famous chef was invited to come and cook in the aircraft galley.

The company has identified the need for flexibility within its fleet of 27 aircraft and the largest planes can be configured to hold up to 130 people. The latest additions to the fleet include a 46-seat first-class aircraft and a 70-seat business class aircraft. Each of these has two tables at the front replacing the second row, with row 1 facing down the cabin. This forward area has computer terminals installed at the tables, and can be curtained off to create a separate cabin where full individual first-class table service can be provided for extra special guests.

Flexibility is the key attitude that Privilair offers. The company has operated into all major European capitals and regularly goes further afield. They are willing to consider all ideas, and the professionalism and enthusiasm of the staff assures clients of a job well done. If you would like to find out more about Privilair, you can contact their commercial department on …

UNIT 4

PART 1

You will hear a radio announcement about two events happening later today. For questions 1-8, complete the notes.

Now, some information about two events happening today in the historic town of Langham, a lovely place, famous for antique shops and excellent restaurants. With its castle and beautiful 200 year-old theatre, it’s well worth a visit if you’ve never been.

Firstly, there’s a new exhibition opening today at the Wildlife Gallery, which is quite close to the theatre in Castle Street. Now, if you like paintings that depict animals and birds, then this gallery is the place for you. The exhibition opening today is of work by the painter Wendy Wilson. You may know her work because a few weeks ago there was a fascinating programme about her on television. On the programme, you saw how Wendy goes all over the world, for example, to remote parts of Africa and Central Asia, painting pictures of animals and birds.

In fact, today’s exhibition is tied in with the book that the gallery’s launching entitled ‘Tigers in India‘ and some of Wendy’s big cat pictures, painted when she visited the Indian sub-continent last year, are pictured in the book. And the fascinating thing about Wendy is that, unlike many artists, she doesn’t paint from photographs of animals. Rather than carrying a camera, she literally stands a couple of metres away from bears and lions, etc. and paints the most stunning pieces of work from life.

Now, Wendy’s going to be there in Langham today to talk to you, if you’ve got any questions about her work. There’ll be plenty of her pictures for sale too. The exhibition is open from midday till five, and Wendy’s going to be there from two o’clock onwards.

The other thing going on today, if you decide to go to Langham, opens at 11 a.m., so get there early and you might be able to combine the two. This is in the Farming Museum which is located in Market Street. Today, in the museum, as well as all the exhibits related to the history of agriculture, you’ll be able to see the artist Edward Colne at work. Edward, who makes objects out of metal, has been invited to create a piece of sculpture for the museum, and visitors will be able to watch him at work. For this project, his raw material is all kinds of old metal agricultural tools which people have brought in. Yesterday, he was working on the main structure of the piece, which is made out of a large wheel, and today he’s doing the decorative work.

As well as the big wheel which will be static, the sculpture will feature all kinds of smaller moving parts and they’re going to have it on permanent show in the building when it’s finished.

Now, …

PART 2

You will hear an interview with a young artist who is talking about her life and work. For questions 9-17, complete the sentences.

Interviewer: Now many of you will have seen and admired Lynda Buckland’s striking drawings of the River Thames in London which were featured in a recent edition of a leading monthly magazine. Lynda joins me today to talk about her work. Lynda, hello.

Lynda: Hi.

Interviewer: Why the river, where did it all start?

Lynda: I feel energized by drawing a living, beautiful thing. When I’m drawing down by the river, I much prefer it when there’s something going on, a ship’s docking or the cranes are moving. It’s easier to feel involved, part of the action. My paintings are all about life and movement, as far as themes are concerned, I’m not interested in landscapes as such.

Interviewer: And they have a wide appeal, don’t they, because we can all place them, we know where we are with them.

Lynda: Well, maybe that’s because I’m actually quite resistant to the idea of moving into abstract art, because that’s what everyone, kind of, expects you to do. The resistance stems, I think, from where I did my training. I was at a college where there was a very strong emphasis on figure drawing and traditional drawing skills generally. It’d be hard to shake that off, even if I wanted to.

Interviewer: So do you actually do the drawings down by the waterfront?

Lynda: Not much of the work is done in situation, actually, just the preliminary sketches. Those then act as my source of inspiration. I then take them and play about with them until I get an idea of how a finished drawing may look. The drawings often take the form of composite images actually.

Interviewer: So your workspace is pretty important to you?

Lynda: It’s funny you should mention that because when I did those particular drawings, I was working in a rented studio in South London. It was a great space, with a nice atmosphere. It was big enough to have six or seven pieces of work on the go at the same time. But it was beginning to get me down because although it wasn’t that far away in terms of miles, it was a stressful journey to get over there. I often found that ideas that were fresh in my mind as I left the house in the morning were draining away by the time I’d fought my way through the traffic.

Interviewer: So where do you work now?

Lynda: Well, as I say, I’d had it in mind for some time to find a workplace closer to home., and then one day earlier this year, I noticed an easel in an upstairs window in one of the houses on the other side of the road where I live. I knew the girl across the road was an artist, but for some reason I thought she was a designer working in a potter’s studio or something. I’d never met her to talk to. So it was a pleasant surprise to realize not only did I have a painter living nearby, but she also did her work there, too.

Interviewer: A real coincidence.

Lynda: Amazing. Seeing the easel standing there was one of those eureka moments, you know, I phoned her later on and said that I had a show coming up, and could I rent a room on a short-term basis. As it turned out, she was happy for me to take over a room as a temporary studio.

Interviewer: So it’s really worked out well for you.

Lynda: I’ve only been in this studio for a couple of months, but it’s already proved to be a revelation. There’s the obvious benefit of just having to cross the road to get here, and at first I was concerned about whether I’d be able to completely detach myself mentally from the normal day-to-day routine, which is vital. I know I would be terribly distracted if I actually tried to work at home.

Interviewer: So tell us about the exhibition.

Lynda: The work I’ll be showing at the exhibition in September is all new work, a lot of it produced in my present studio. Working there has had a real impact on my work. I think it’s got a lot to do with the fact that I can come in and work in short bursts – one of the effects of that has been that the work has been developing more quickly and I think the images are sharper as a result. But it’s not only that, the colours have changed, become softer, though I couldn’t tell you why. Overall I think the effect is a much stronger image.

Interviewer: And what does the future hold?

Lynda: Although I have started to experiment with different surfaces and mediums – I tried doing some designs on ceramics recently which was fun – I’m actually more comfortable working on paper. I feel I know exactly what I can do with it, what it can take. Canvas frankly freaks me out. I know that a gallery can charge more for an oil painting on canvas just because it is an oil painting on canvas, but I can’t really understand why. As far as subject matter goes, I’m also thinking about moving away from the Thames; going back to doing people, which is where I started really.

Interviewer: Lynda, good luck with the exhibition, and thank you for joining us.

UNIT 5

PART 1

Listen to Part A of the call and decide if these statements are True or False.

THE RADIO PHONE-IN

Part A

Presenter: Our next caller is Rachel who is from South London. Go ahead Rachel.

Rachel: Hello, Doctor Howard.

Dr. Howard: Hello, Rachel. How can I help you?

Rachel: Well, you see it’s about my son, Mark. He’s almost 18 and he hasn’t been able to find a job since he left school.

Dr. Howard: When did he leave?

Rachel: It’ll be a year in July.

Dr. Howard: And what seems to be the problem?

Rachel: It’s like this. Mark used to be such a nice, outgoing sort of boy but over the last few months he’s changed quite a bit.

Dr. Howard: So, can you describe what has happened?

Rachel: Well, after he was turned down for several jobs he got depressed and withdrawn which was bad enough, but now it’s got much worse – he’s become really moody and aggressive.

Dr. Howard: Moody and aggressive?

Rachel: Yes, and he’s started mixing with some boys I don’t like very much. But to tell you the truth, I think he’s starting taking drugs.

Dr. Howard: What makes you think that?

Rachel: Well, as I said, there are his change of moods. One minute he’s depressed and the next minute he becomes very excited – you know, he can’t sit still. Another thing is stuff has disappeared from the house. Some of my jewellery has gone and some money and so has Mark’s cassette player.

Dr. Howard: Does he know you know about the cassette player?

Rachel: Yes, he does. He told me he’d let a friend borrow it. I was really surprised because he’s always been so keen on music. When I asked him about it a couple of days later, he just told me to mind my own business. Another thing is that he just doesn’t look after himself any more or care what he looks like. And I’ve noticed strange noise smells in the house too.

Dr. Howard: May I ask you, Rachel, are you still married?

Rachel: Yes I am but my husband spends a lot of time away. He’s in the merchant navy, you see.

Dr. Howard: From what you’ve said the change in your son has been quite dramatic. What I suggest….

PART 2

Listen to the text and write if the following statements are True or False according to the text.

(P= Presenter, N= Nostradamus)

P One of the names most commonly associated in the collective consciousness with augury and foreknowledge is that of Nostradamus, although the facts about this man and his prophecies are less widely known. Born in Provence in 1503, the Frenchman Michel Nostradamus studied medicine at Montpellier University and began a lifetime of seemingly dedicated caring for the sick. He particularly cared for the victims of the Black Death, a virulent plague that had reached epidemic proportions. After the death of his first wife and her two children, ironically victims of the disease, he wandered widely, at one period having to evade the infamous Inquisition because of some injudicious remarks he had made concerning a statue. Eventually he remarried, this time to a rich widow, and settled down in Salon.

It was there that he began to write almanacs and his book of prophecies. Each prophecy is written in the form of a four line verse or ‘quatrain‘ and they are given in groups of 100 called ‘centuries, although they are not in chronological order. He intended to write 100 quatrains, but the seventh century is not complete, so there are 942 in all.

The first two quatrains are not prophecies but describe the divining technique. Nostradamus used a method recorded by Imblichus, a fourth century Neoplatonist, details of which had been republished in a book in 1547. A bowl of water was placed on a brass tripod, and the seer stared into the water until images of the future appeared. The prophecies became very popular all over Europe and Nostradamus was given a royal audience with Catherine Medici on three occasions. After his death in 1556, his fame continued to spread. There are a number of his quatrains which appear to refer to historical episodes with an uncanny accuracy. The following quatrain is believed to be about the rise of Hitler and the Second World War, and the prophecy even predicts the name almost exactly:

N Beasts ferocious with hunger will swim across rivers. The greater part of the region will be against Hitler. The great one will cause it to be dragged in an iron cage when the German child will observe nothing.

P In another quatrain he is believed to have predicted the rise of the emperor Napoleon, who was born in Corsica:

N An Emperor will be born near Italy. One who will cost his Empire at high price. They will say that from the sort of people who surround him. He is to be found less prince than butcher.

P Nostradamus is also credited with foreseeing the fighter aircraft and the atomic bomb; one of the quatrains has also been interpreted as predicting a nuclear war, with its origins in the Middle East, at around the end of the millennium.

Sceptics would argue that the quatrains are vague and are open to many different interpretations. They would suggest, too, that almost any historical event could be made to fit one of the 940 randomly ordered prophecies, and also that there were bound to be some apparently spectacular predictions with such a large base. But whatever the millennium brings, Nostradamus and his apocalyptic visions are certain to remain a subject of fascinating and controversy for the foreseeable future.

UNIT 6

PART 1

You are now going to hear an interview between Peter Whitehead, the presenter of a current affairs programme, and Frances Kelly, the leader of the Campaign for Clean Air. While you listen, decide if the following statements are True or False (1-8).

Peter Whitehead: The Campaign for Clean Air has just issued a report on air pollution and we have in the studio Frances Kelly of the CCA who’s going to tell us something about the dangers we face from air pollutants.

Frances Kelly: Hello.

Peter Whitehead: Let’s start with sulphur dioxide which causes acid rain. I thought the government was doing something about that.

Frances Kelly: Well, they are but slowly. Sulphur dioxide emissions from power stations are still going on and the resulting acid rain is still killing fishes and plant life in lakes and destroying the forests. And we in Britain are among the worst culprits when it comes to this kind of pollution.

Peter Whitehead: What are the other pollutants?

Frances Kelly: Carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Carbon monoxide, which is mostly produced by motor vehicles can, even in small doses, cause sickness and a slowing of the reflexes and there is strong evidence to show that it has an effect on the growth of children.

Peter Whitehead: And carbon dioxide?

Frances Kelly: Well, in a way this is the least dangerous of the pollutants we’ve mentioned but in the longer term it may be the most damaging.

Peter Whitehead: Why?

Frances Kelly: There is clear evidence that the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is the main cause of the Greenhouse Effect. This will have dreadful results like the melting of the polar ice caps and the subsequent flooding of low-lying areas.

Peter Whitehead: So what you’re saying is that the increased amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is making it warmer.

Frances Kelly: Yes, that’s right and the results will be catastrophic.

Peter Whitehead: And what should we be doing about this?

Frances Kelly: Frankly, the government has got to impose far stricter controls on these emissions and bring in tough legislation to deal with the problem.

Peter Whitehead: Frances Kelly, thank you very much.

Frances Kelly: Thank you.

Peter Whitehead: After the news we hope to be talking to the Minister for Environment, Patrick Hilliard…

PART 2

You will hear a radio report about a wildlife holiday in the Yellowstone National Park in the USA. For questions 9-17, complete the sentences with a word or short phrase.

Announcer: And our next report is from Michela Jenson, who’s been wolf watching in the Yellowstone National Park in the USA.

Michela: It all started some years ago on a trip to Canada. In a place called Dawson City, I met a man who had just had his first sighting of a wild wolf. His eyes positively lit up every time he spoke of it and I could see that he had been deeply moved by the experience. Ever since then, I had been looking forward to the day when I might share the feeling.

Wolves once roamed freely across North America, but after 200 years of being regarded as a pest and persecuted mercilessly, few remain, and they now feature on the official list of endangered species. I was told that the best chance of seeing one was to head for the Yellowstone National Park in the US state of Wyoming. The US National Parks Service reintroduced wolves into the Yellowstone some years ago in an attempt to recreate the balanced ecosystem lost to hunting over the centuries. Yellowstone has more than three million visitors a year, 140 000 of whom visit, as I did, in the winter, the best time for wolf spotting. And an estimated 20 000 of those are thought to have been lucky enough to get a sighting since the wolf reintroduction programme began.

There are no direct flights from London to Yellowstone, so I flew to Salt Lake City via Phoenix, Arizona, and then on into Wyoming by road. It was a seven-day organizes wolf-watching trip offered by the company known as Wildlife Windows, and so my visit began with an evening lecture given by a park warden. He explained that the wolves are now one of the park’s biggest winter attractions, for the animals are easier to see in the snow. For people traveling alone through the park there was, he explained, little chance of seeing a wolf although many people mistake the much commoner coyote for one. The coyote is smaller, with longer ears and a paler coat. Wolves, whitch vary in colour from grey to jet black, have longer legs.

Fortunately, my own personal guide was already booked as part of the package tour I had bought, and for the next six days he led me around the park. His name was Ken and he’d studied to be a biologist before retraining as a professional guide.

There is only one road open through the park in the winter, and it was fairly packed with wolf watches, environmentalists and photographers, and so Ken’s advice was invaluable. He explained that about 50 per cent of the wolves have been fitted with devices known as tracking collars, which send out a signal, so it was possible to know whereabouts to start our search. Nonetheless, the animals tended to keep away from the road unless they wanted to cross it, and large numbers of cars parked along one stretch of road was an indication that there’s been a sighting, but the wolves wouldn’t be hanging around.

Ken told me that wolf pack tend to operate over fairly large territories, but he was fairly sure he knew where we’d spot some. He told me not to bother scouring the forested verges and nearby hillsides, but to keep by binoculars trained on the distant slopes, where I should keep my eyes peeled for grey rocks sticking up out of the snow. When I saw one move, we’d stop and take a closer look.

When it came, my one wolf sighting was over very quickly. My heart leapt into my mouth when I spotted one, just a few hundred meters away on the side of a hill. A young male, he had a flecked grey coat and surprisingly piercing yellow eyes, clearly visible through the excellent telescope Kent trust into my hand. I might have been in the relative safety of the car, but I could still feel myself struggling to breathe with the excitement. My friend in Canada had been right; it was a unique experience, well worth waiting for.

Announcer: Michela Jenson there, reporting to the USA.

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