M: Hello. International Friends Club. Can I help?

W: Oh, hello. I read about your club in the paper today and I thought I'd phone to find out a bit more.

M: Yes, certainly, well we're a sort of social club for people from different countries. It's quite a

new club—we have about 50 members at the moment, but we're growing all the time.

W: That sounds interesting. I'm British actually, and I came to Washington about three months ago.

I'm looking for ways to meet people. Er, what kinds of events do you organize?

M: Well, we have social get-togethers, and sports events, and we also have language evenings.

W: Could you tell me something about the language evenings?

M: Yes. Every day except Thursday we have a language evening. People can come and practice their languages—you know, over a drink or something. We have different languages on different evenings. Monday—Spanish; Tuesday—Italian; Wednesday—German; and Friday—French. On Thursday we usually have a meal in a restaurant for anyone who wants to come.

W: Well, that sounds great. I really need to practise my French.

M: OK. Well, if you can just give me your name and address, I'll send you the form and some more information. If you join now you can have the first month free.

WOMAN: Hi, Johnny. What's up?

JOHNNY: Look at this.

WOMAN: Let's see .... Uh-oh.

JOHNNY: My dad's going to kill me when he sees this!

WOMAN: Oh, come on, it's not so bad. Look, you got good grades in biology and math.

JOHNNY: Yes, but only in biology and math. What should I do?

WOMAN: You shouldn't worry. Your dad will understand.

JOHNNY: You think so?

WOMAN: Sure.

INTERVIEWER: Lisa, you work in a very modern office nowadays. It must be very different from when you started.

LISA: Oh yes—very different. I remember my first job...

INTERVIEWER: When was that?

LISA: Oh, about 40 years ago. I worked in a small office. It had very old, heavy and noisy typewriters. The noise was terrible!

INTERVIEWER: What was the first new machine that you saw then?

LISA: Well, I got a job in a university office and they had one of the new typewriters.

INTERVIEWER: What was that?

LISA: Well, it was electric. It had a 'golf ball' with all the letters on it. It moved quickly backwards

and forwards across the page!

INTERVIEWER: It must have felt great then.

LISA: It certainly made typing a lot faster.

INTERVIEWER: When was that?

LISA: Um, I think it was about 1970, perhaps.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Captain Gibson and his crew welcome you aboard Airways

Flight 179 to New York. We're now flying at a height of 30,000 feet. Our speed is about 600 miles

an hour. We'll land in New York in five and a half hours. The temperature in New York is now 3°C below zero. In a few minutes you'll be able to see the Irish coast. Our lunch will be served in half an hour. Thank you!

JOHN: I spent the week with my grandparents in the country. They live ... um ... on a big farm, and they have chickens and lots of animals and fruit trees and fresh vegetables, and it's just really, really beautiful and peaceful. When I was there, ... um ... the apples were in season, and we went picking.

 And the neighbors came, and they helped pick the apples, and we packed them, and it was so much

 fun. And then at the end of the day, my grandma would cook a big meal, and we would just sit

around and eat and eat and talk, and everything was delicious. It was so good. And I thought I'd

be bored because they don't have a TV or anything, but I wasn't. It was ... it was a lot of fun.

           But at the end of the week, I just ... I don't know, to tell you the truth, I prefer to live in the

city, I – it's noisy and it's dirty in the city, but I ... I like it better than the country. You know, the country's OK for a visit, but ... um ... it's too quiet for me!

INTERVIEWER: And, Bob, you're a student learning languages. How do you remember new

words in a foreign language?

BOB: Oh, well, um ... if I can't understand the word by looking at the sentences around it, then

... um ... I usually just look it up in a dictionary. That seems to really help. Um ... You know what?

I think that pronunciation is really important. (Oh.) So I say the word to myself several times, you

know, out loud. Now, sometimes people look at me and think I'm a little strange, but ... uh ... I

don't care. I ... I think doing this is really important.

INTERVIEWER: Thanks. And good luck with your exam. Is it next week?

BOB: Yes, uh ... it's next Monday.

Pandas are one of the most precious animals in the world. They live only in a small area in the

mountains of South-western China.

There are only 500 – 1,000 pandas in the wild and the number is falling down all the time. There

are about 100 more in zoos and research stations.

Although they are protected, pandas are still killed for their skins. Because their skins are very

valuable.

Pandas live in mountain forests, and can only eat bamboo. As the place they live in is getting smaller

and smaller, pandas are in danger of dying from lack of suitable food.

Zoos are making efforts to raise and produce pandas, but this is very difficult. Also, baby pandas

weigh only 100 grams at birth, so they need to be looked after very carefully. Since 1963 about 50

baby pandas have been born in zoos, and around half of them are still alive today.