Telephone CallsA: Hello, thank you for calling Bradford and Sons. This is Tracy speaking, How may I help you?B:Hello. I would like to speak to your director of human resources, Ms. Jenkins, Please.A: Just a moment. I'll check to see if she is at her desk. May I tell her who is calling? B: This is Bill Burton from Milford Insurance, I'm calling in regards to our meeting next Tuesday.A: Thank you, Mr. Burton. Can you please hold for a moment? I’ll check to see if she is available.B: No problem.A: I'm sorry. Ms. Jenkins is away from her desk. She has already left for lunch. Would you like to leave a message for her?B: Yes, please have her return my call when she returns to the office. It's best if she can get in touch with me before 3 pm today, she can reach me at my office number, 635-8799.A: I'm sorry. I didn't quite catch that, could you please repeat the number?B: No problem, my office number is 635-8799. Tell her to ask for extension 31.A: I'm sorry, Mr. Burton, just to confirm, your name is spelled B-U-R-T-O-N, is that correct?B: Yes, and I represent Milford Insurance.A: I will make sure Ms. Jenkins receives your message and returns your call before 3pm this afternoon.B: Thank you very much.MemosA: I have been waiting here in the conference room for ten minutes already, what time is the meeting start? Where is anyone anyway?B: Didn't you hear about that, our meeting was postponed until Friday.A: Why the meeting was postponed? No one told me anything about it.B: Did you get the memo?A: What memo? They haven’t any memo this whole week, I check my inbox every day. And I haven’t seen anything.B: The memo went out 3 days ago. It should have made to your inbox, but maybe lost in all collectors on your desk.A: You know how things get pilot about my desk when I'm busy. I know sometimes I do many please things, But I always read all the memos go around; they go directlyto my inbox. Are you sure were send to whole office?B: It should have got around to everybody, they also post a copy of the memo in the break room. Don't you ever look at messages post on the bulletin board?A: I'm usually too busy to take a bunch of coffee break by the water cooler, Anyway, I'm sure the memo never get to my inbox, I'll have to talk our secretary about it.B. That's right, You will never know what your missing out of it if you don't read the memos.Placing an OrderA: May I help you?B:Yes, I would like to place an order for toner cartridges. We have a standing agreement with your company, so we will need the same amount as last time.A: Let me key in your information into my computer. I will pull up our records for you . Do you have an order number? What name is the order listed under ?B: It should be under Leslie Smith. The number is 184796A: Yes, Mr. Smith. I have an order for three cases of cartridges, it that what you would like to refill?B: Yes.A: Is there the correct billing address?B: No, please post the bill to 124 Hildrod Lane, Milton County, 98830.A: I will send you an invoice in the next few days. Your order should be delivered before the end of the day on Monday.B: Thank you.The working lunchA: Excuse me, Don? I hate to bother you, but I need your help on something. Do you have time to brief me on the Martin account today?B: Oh, that's right. You are supposed to deliver a brief on that account tomorrow. I know there are some things I need to share with you about that. But, gosh, I don't know. . . . Things are really busy for me today, the only time I can manage to squeeze out might be over lunch break. . . .A: I hate to make you work through your lunch break with how busy you are. . . .B: It's okay. . . . I've already had several days in a row working through lunch. . . . A: How about this. . . . We can make it a working lunch this afternoon, and I'll order some Chinese food for delivery. It'll be my treat.B: You don't have to do that. . . .A: I insist. I really appreciate you taking time to work with me in. What is your favorite fast food? I'll cater to your taste.B:Actually I do like Chinese. . . . Let's make it a date for Chop Suey and the Martin account at about 12: 30. Does that sound good?A: Great. I'll bring the food.Hotel SituationsF: Hello, welcome to Prise star hotel. How may I do for you?M: Hi, yes, I have a reservation. My secretary called and booked a room a couple of weeks ago, the reservation should be for a double bed, none smoking room.F: And what name of reservation made under?M: It should be under Steve JohnF: Mmm, let me see, it seems there is no John listed a room for tonight, is there any other name that you reservation list under？M: No, here is the confirmation number, would that help?It is 898007, I had the room booked with visa cold card.F: Ah, yes, here it is, you have a standard double room, non smoking on the 3rd floor, I just need to see the credit card you booked the room with if you don’t mind.M: Sure, here it is. would it be possible to check out and pay the bill in the morning, also, what time is brack served?F:There is a continent for breakfast from 6: 00am to 10: 00am. Also you can pay your bill in the morning, but we require a 20% depart it of front, but I can just keep a record of your credit on file. Ok, I’ve got you on set up if you could just sign here, and in a show here, here is your room key, anything else I can do for you?M: Yes, could you call me a taxi please?FriendsA: what kind of qualities do you look for in your friends?B: I like people who are open and friendly. Those people are usually more active and fun to be with. I like spending time with my friends. We go to bars together or play sports together.A: I don’t like to make friends with people who aren’t honest. Honesty is very important to me.B: I think it’s important to most people. The problem is that you can usually only find out if someone is honest by getting to know them.A; you can find out from their friends.B: if you know any of their friends. You can’t rely on your friends to introduce people to you all the time. You have to go out and make the first move sometimes. I also like funny people.A: oh, I don’t. they don’t seem to take anything seriously. You never know when they are joking and when they are being serious.B: sometimes it can be hard to tell, but if you know the person fairly well, you canusually see from their expression what they are really thinking.A: it seems that we generally like different kinds of people. How is it that we are such good friends?B; maybe people don’t like to have friends that are al l same. Most people like a little variety in their lives-including a variety of characteristics in their friends.PartyA: that was a great party. Thanks for saying behind to help me clear up.B; it certainly was a great party. It’s a pity that a glass and a plate got broken and someone spilled a drink over there.A: I expected that something might get broken. That doesn’t bother me. That spilled drink won’t leave a stain ,will it?B: I doubt it, I ‘ll deal with it right away. Luckily it wasn’t a glass of red wine, I’ll just get a bowl of water and a cloth.A: I’m going to put all the rubbish into this big plastic bag.B: afterwards, we can do the washing up together. Everything will be finished within an hour. Your friend keith is really funny. I liked his magic tricks.A; yes, he’s very good.. isn’t he? He told some funny stories too.B: Amanda told some very funny jokes. At the beginning of the party, she was being very serious.A; I think that she had a litter too much of the punch.B: what did you put in that punch? It tasted great, but was quite strong.A: that’s my little secret. Did you like the snacks and I prepared?B: very much. The birthday cake was delicious, wasn’t it? Emily told me that she and karen made it themselves.A: that cake tasted so good! It disappeared within minutes, so I think everyone liked it a lot. How’s that stain?B: all cleaned up. Are you ready to start on the washing up:Renting an apartmenta: we'd like to rent a flat near the university.b: are you looking for somewhere for two people?a: yes, we are. obviously, we'd like something as cheap as possible. We’v e heard that there are places for 80 to 100 pounds a month.b: yes ,there are several place available in that price range near the university. do you have any other requirements?a: net really, no. we'd preferably like to live in a quiet street.b: how many rooms do you need in the flat?a: we'll need two bedrooms. the kitchen and dining room can be seperate or combined.b: ok. i've got a list of place that fit your requirements. let's just go through them. the first on the list costs 80 pounds a month, but it's on a noisy street and it's a little far from the universtiy.a: how far away is it from the campus?b: it's about two miles away. that might be a little far to walk. here's one that's about half a mile from the campus. the cost is 100 pounds a month and it's on a small street, just off a main street.a: that sounds ideal. can we go to have a look at it? we'd like to see it before making a final decision.b: of course. i'm not very busy at the moment. if you can wait for about 15 or 20 minutes. i can take you there.a: thank you. that would be great.ShoppingA: do you do a lot of shopping online?B: not really. I like looking on the internet at what’s available, but I usually prefer to actually see and touch what I’m buying before I pay for it. Sometimes, I’ll look at something in a shop, but later buy it online if it’s cheaper. You don’t like buying things online, do you?A: yes. I’m a little worried about security. You never who’s trying to find out your codes and passwords. Aren’t you worry about that?B: not really. I know that it happens, but if you buy from reputable companies with secure websites, you should be ok. Even thought I use online shopping facilities, I don’t think it’s the best way to shop.A: I’m surprised to hear you say that. I thought you loved anything technological. B: I do. I’m a big fan of using new technology, but I don’t want to sit in front of a computer screen all day. I think people need to get out and interact with other people. A: so, how about coming to the department store with me? I want to see if there are any new summer clothes on sale yet.B: sure. I’d love to join you. Can we stop by the computer store? I just want to see if they have something.A: sure. While you’re in the computer store. I will visit the book store opposite. I like to browse through their books if they have anything interesting.B: ok. I’ve finished online. Let’s go. I’ll just get some money and my credit card.A; thanks for reminding me. I had forgotten to get mine.Asking for directionsA: ok, I’ve got an up-to-day map. Let’s check the route from here to the airport.B: where are we? Oh, here we are. So we drive to the A120 and turn left.A: no, we turn right. Remember that we are coming from this direction.B: oh yes! Sorry! Then we drive to the M11 motorway.A; how far is that?B: it’s only seven miles. We turn left to join the motorway and drive south.A: according to the map, we get off the M11 at the second junction and join the M25. that’s the motorway that goes around the edge of London.B: that’s another 15 miles, so that’s 22 miles total so far.A: then we drive west on the M25. we must be careful to turn in the right direction!B: then we drive on the M25. it turns south. When we reach exit 15, we turn left and go west along the M4.A: then we take the first Heathrow Airport. What’s the total distance?B: the journey around the M25 is 33 miles and then 3 extra miles to get to the airport. So how many miles is that together?A: 22 miles to the M25, 33 miles on the M25, a nd 3 after that. That’s a total of 58 miles, isn’t it?B: it shouldn’t take us very long to cover that distance. Remember that we can go quite fast on the motor way.A: we can only go fast on the motor ways if there isn’t much traffic. I think we should allow ourselves plenty of time to get there. Being early is much better than being lateBeginnerA: I would like to watch the Oscars on tv tonight. How about you?B; yes, I ˉd love to . it’s interesting to see who is considered the best in their field and which film are thought to be particularly good.A: I like watching it for the fashion. I like to see what the ladies are wearing. Of course, the men nearly always just wear the traditional tuxedo.B: sometimes the men wear flamboyant colours. Which films do you think will win awards this year?A; I ˉm really not sure. Usually just one or two films look set to sweep the awards ceremony, but this year there are several contenders.B: you’re right. This year should be much more exciting than usual. What’s you favourite award category?A: you might think this strange, but I like the category for ¨best foreign language film’.B: it’s nice to see foreign language films making a little impact on Hollywood. I like the ¨best actor and actress〃.fans and their idolsA: you’re a big fan of andy lau, aren’t you?B: yes, I’ve been got all his albums and most of his films on dvd. I adore him. He’s my idol.A: how come you don’t have all of his films on dvd?B: some of his early films are hard to find nowadays, especially the ones where he only played a bit part.A: I see. I’m sure you’ll find them one day. I see you also have several poster of him.B; yes. These posters are new. I bought them last week and put them up on my bedroom walls yesterday.A: are you a member of his fan club?B: I was, but then I discovered you can find out everything for free on the internet, so I’m not a member now.A: did you see the interview with andy lau in cosmopolitan magazine last month?B: of course I bought two copies.A: two copies? One to keep and one to cut the pictures out of, right?chatting onlineA: what’s up? B: not much. Its frezzing in Beijing.A: u sh ould come to Bangkok. We’ve got lovely weather here. B: great! R y inviting me?A: laughing out loud. B: be right back.A: where r u going? B; bathroom.A; ok. I’m going to go to bathroom too. Talk to you later.Note: when people chat online, they often shorten words. Use abbreviations, use lower case letters, and rarely use punctuation marks, especially apostrophe marks.computersA: hi! Is that the new laptop you brought last week? It looks very nice.B; yes, it is. Thanks. I’m just surfing on the internet.A; here? In this cafe? How can you do that?B; this cafe offers a wireless internet connection. That means I can get on the net for free while I’m here. Of course , I have to buy a cup of coffee!A: that’s great. Can you do it anywhere?B; no. you can only do it when the cafe offers a wireless connection. There are only about 10 or 12 places that offer it in this city.A: so, what programs do you have on your laptop?B: I’ve got all the usual ones for word processing and then I have a f ew for creating and editing photographs.A: I know you are keen on photography. It’s very useful for you to be able to download photos from your digital camera. Then you attach the picture files to emails and send them to anyone, anywhere, at anytime!B: it’s wonderful, isn’t it? Would you like to see some photos that I look recently?the internet and email: how often do you use the internet?B; I use it almost every day, but I usually only use it to check my email. I don’t often surf the net. You use the internet a lot, don’t you?A: yes. I use it to find products and components at the lowest price for my computer. It can be frustrating when the connection is poor.B: so , you’re online eight hours a day.A: yes, I lik e the job though. Sometimes, I help other people in the office if they’re having trouble online.B; how useful do you think the internet is as a source of information?A; I think it’s fairly useful, but there are two big problems. First, a lot of the inf ormation you find online is false. Second, when you buy something online, you don’t see it until you actually get it. B; how do you solve the website problems when you’re buying something online?A: what I do is find the website of shops. Then someone from our company visits the shop andbuys when they’re seen that the products are genuine and suitable.advertisinga: how could we advertise our celebrations to mark the centenary of the founding of the university?B; I’m sure we could get one or two tv companies to come in. perhaps the president could invite them and do an interview.A: that’s a good idea. We could put up some posters in and around the campus with a list of events. It would be quite cheap to do on the campus.B: it will be expensive to do outside the campus. Perhaps we could arrange for some sponsorship. A: we could contact alumni who work for large, well-know companies. They might be able to arrange cheap advertising in exchange for some free tickets.B; good thinking! We should also print some leaflets for students to distribute.A: we should put some information about it on the home page of our university website. When people visit the website, they’ll see the information.B: we could take out some advertisements to local newspapers. I checked the prices and they are reasonable.A; ok. Let’s get to work on our advertising campaign.newspapera: do you buy that newspaper every day?B: yes, I do. I find it very informative. It always has plenty of articles from correspondents all over the world and the business section is very useful too.A: is there a Sunday edition of that newspaper?B; yes. There is. it has several sections, so it’s quite a read! It usually takes me a few hours to read it on Sunday morning.A: what section does it have?B: let me see. There’s the news section, the entertainment section, sports, business, and world affairs.A; what’s in that section?B: world affairs? They look at the most important stories in more detail. I find it fascinating. Do you buy a daily paper?A; I buy a national newspaper sometimes, buy I nearly always buy a local evening newspaper. I find the local news more interesting than national or international news.MagazineA; do you often buy magazines?B: I buy a computer magazine every month. It keeps me up-to date with all the latest developments.A; why don’t you find the information on the internet instead?B: sometimes it takes too long to find the exact information you are looking for. Besides, I like to read a magazine in a coffee bar sometimes.A: do you have an online edition of that magazine?B: yes, they do. But you can only access all the articles if you have a subscription.A; do you have a subscription?B; yes, I do. The magazine arrives by post at the beginning of each month. Do you every buy magazines?A: I only buy them if they look particularly interest ing. I don’t buy any regularly.booksa: what are you reading?B: oh, it’s the latest novel by ray blune. It’s a sic-fi thriller.A; I thought he usually wrote horror books.B: he does. He’s good at this genre too. It’s a captivating read.A; we’re going to the bookshop. Would you like to join us?B; yes, I would. I need to buy a textbook for my course and, as you know, I love browsing through the latest paperbacks.A: me too. I need something to read on the flight to new york. I can never sleep on planes. Sarah wants to pick up some children’s books for her daughter.B: I want to look at nelson mandela’s autobiography.A: this is sure to be a worthwhile read.countriesA: which countries have you been to?B: I’ve been to most of the countries in Europe, several countries in Asia-china, Korea, and Thailand-and to the united states and Canada.A; I thought you had been to Australia too.B: no, but I’m planning on visiting Australia and new Zealand soon. I’ve heard that they are beautiful countries. Which is the most beautiful country you’ve been to?A; I think I ‘d say Norway. It has many picturesque fjords, waterfalls, and mountains.B: isn’t it really cold there?A; well, the north of Norway is almost always cold, but further south it can be fairly warm in summer. It’s a wet country, so there’s snow almost everywhere in winter.B; I’ve been to other Scandinavian countries, but not to Norway. Perhaps I should go and do some winter sports there.citiesA: is your city a historical place?B: not rally. 200 years ago, it was just a small insignificant village.A; how did it grow into such a large place?B: large deposits of coal were found nearly and so many industries located themselves here. The village quickly grew into a key industrial centre.A: as the city grew, it must have absorbed many village nearby.B; yes, it did. The names of those village survive as the names of parts of the city.A; I see. Are there any building more than 200 years old in your city?B; oh, yes. Several of the buildings from the villages still survive. Many of them were inns for travelers and today survive as pubs. There was a castle near one village, so our city has a castle too.A; really? So your city does have some old history after all.The countrysideA: I’d love to have my own farm.B: it would be very hard work. Are you sure?A: I wouldn’t mind getting up early morning and the physical work would make me fit and healthy.B: running a farm would be totally different to you current job.A: that’s one reason I’d like to try it. I’d really like t o get away from working 9 to 5 in an office. B; you’d need a lot of training before becoming a farmer. It’s not something you can just walk into.A: my uncle owns a farm and I’ve spent some time working with him. I love being in the countryside with farm animals and green fields.B; well, I ˉd certainly come and visit you. It would be great to take a working holiday on a farm. I’d love to get away from hustle and bustle of the city for a while.wara: are you watching another news report about the war?B: yes. The two sides declared a short ceasefire but it broke down earlier today. Several military target were destroyed by bombing. Many civilians were among the dead and wounded.A: how did this war start?B: bout side claim a small area of territory. Both sides tried to build border fences and began attacking each other.A: politicians from both sides sound increasingly belligerent. Neither side wants to compromise. B: relief agencies report that many civilians are in desperate need of food and shelter. Several European countries have agreed to send aid, but are afraid that their planes will be shot down.A: what do you think will happen?B: both countries are very poor. Soon they will run out of money to finance the war. Then, perhaps, they will negotiate. The thing is to find the real problem for the war and solve that.A; it would be much simpler and cheaper if they negotiated first.religionA: do you believe in god?B: not at all. I’m an agnostic. Go you?A; I’m not sure. Why don’t you believe there is a god?B; I think everything has a scientific explanation rather than a theological one.A: I basically believe in science over theology. I mean, I believe in evolution for example. However, there are many things that science hasn’t explained yet.B; I’m sure that science will explain everything eventually. I think that the strangest thing about religion is that so many religions people act in ways that their religion claims are wrong.A: for example?B; religions preach tolerance, but many wars are caused by intolerant religious fanatics.A; yes. Such people don’t appear to be acting in accordance with their religious beliefs.politicsA: have you every belonged to a political party?B: no, I haven’t, but I thought abo ut joining the green party.A: really? I know you are very concerned about the environment. You were a member of the pressure group greenpeace, weren’t you?B: yes. I was. But I didn’t have enough time to devote to it.A: the green party have no chance of winning an election. The other parties are too big and popular.B; you’re right. But smaller political and pressure groups can often influence large political parties. Any member of parliament can propose legislation and parties and pressure groups can raise awareness of issues.A: most people are not very politically aware. They often don’t understand the issues fully.B: that’s true. But it’s a little strange because the media often reports on political events. You can read about them in newspaper or hear them on tv.social problemsA: is there a lot of crime in your city?B: there’s some, but I don’t think it’s a big problem. A lot of it is petty crime, burglary and car theft. There’s very little major crime.A: it’s the same in my city. We also have a lot of drug addicts. A lot of th e crime is committed bydrug addicts who need money for drugs.B; that happens in many places. In my city, there is a very good drug rehabilitation programme. The police and courts are also tough on people who commit crimes, but I don’t know if that’s the reason for our relatively low crime rate.A; some people believe that a tough approach is better. Other prefer a more lenient approach.B; I think that the best way to reduce crime is to spread wealth more evenly. If most people have similar amounts of money, they will not think of stealing from others.A; that’s possible, but I’m not sure it would really happen like that .the weatherA: i went shopping without my umbrella yesterday morning.B: yesterday morning was beautiful i thought the sunning was going to continue.A: so did i. that's why i didn't take my umbrella.i got cold in the rain in the afternoon.it was raining cats and dogs.B: i know. i could not believe it when i got hit by that storm.it was pouring with rain all afternoon. A: we really have some mysable weather sometime.i wish i would live somewhere which were sunning all year round.B: if it was sunning all year round there would be drought.you probably would not like it either. A: i guess you are right. maybe i just wish the weather could be a little more predictable.B: the weather forecasters are not good at predicting the weather would be like.our weather is so changeable.environmentA; is the environment a big issues in your country? It is in mine.B: it is in mine too. The biggest issue is water. The climate is dry and so water conservation is very important.A: what methods do you use to conserve water?B: water is rationed. We can only use a certain amount each month. It means that we cannot use some modern household items, like washing machines. They use too much water.A: I see. I think the biggest environment problem in my country is air pollution.B: yes, I agree. The air here is much more polluted than in my country. Of course, my country is more agricultural and has much less industry.A: we have reduced emission of air pollutants in recent years, but cars are still a major source of them. Factories have become cleaner as stricter environment pollution law have been introduced. B: the problem is now on a truly global scale. I don’t believe that any single country can do anything about it.A: I think you’re right. There needs to be an international response to this proble m.。
