Section 1:

TC Employee: Hi. Can I help you?

Visitor: I'd like to find out if you have any excursions suitable for families.
TC Employee: Sure. How about taking your family on a cruise? We
have a steamship that takes passengers out several times a day - it's over
100 years old.
Visitor: That sounds interesting. How long is the trip?
TC Employee: About an hour and a half. And don't forget to take pictures of
the mountains. They're all around you when you're on the boat and they look
fantastic.
Visitor: OK. And I assume there's a cafe or something on the board?
TC Employee: Sure. How old are your children?
Visitor: My daughter's fifteen and my son's seven.
TC Employee: Right. Well, there are various things you can do once you've
crossed the lake to make a day of it. One thing that's very popular is a visit to
the Country Farm. You're met off the boat by the farmer and he'll take you to
the holding pens, where the sheep are kept. Children love feeding them.
Visitor: My son would love that. He really likes animals.
TC Employee: Well there's also a 40-minute trek round the farm

on a horse, if he wants.

Visitor: Do you think he'd manage it? He hasn't done that before.

TC Employee: Sure. It's suitable for complete beginners.

Visitor: Good.
TC Employee: And again, visitors are welcome to explore the farm on their
own, as long as they take care to close gates and so on. There are some very
beautiful gardens along the side of the lake which also belong to the farm -
they'll be just at their best now. You could easily spend an hour or two there.
Visitor: OK. Well that all sounds good. And can we get lunch there?
TC Employee: You can, and it's very good, though it's not included in the
basic cost. You pay when you get there.
Visitor: Right.
===========================================
Visitor: So is there anything else to do over on that side of the lake?
TC Employee: Well, what you can do is take a bike over on the ship and then
go on a cycling trip. There's a trail there called the Back Road - you could easily
spend three or four hours exploring it, and the scenery’s wonderful. They'll give
you a map when you get your ticket for the cruise - there's no extra charge.
Visitor: What's the trail like in terms of difficulty?
TC Employee: Quite challenging in places. It wouldn't be suitable for your
seven-year-old. It needs someone who's got a bit more experience.
Visitor: Hmm. Well, my daughter loves cycling and so do I, so maybe the two
of us could go, and my wife and son could stay on the farm. That might work
out quite well. But we don't have bikes here… is there somewhere we could
rent them?
TC Employee: Yes, there's a place here in the city. It's called Ratchesons.
Visitor: I'll just make a note of that – uh, how do you spell it?
TC Employee: R-A-T-C-H-E-S-O-N-S. It's just by the cruise ship terminal.
Visitor: OK.
TC Employee: You'd also need to pick up a repair kit for the bike from there
to take along with you, and you'd need to take along a snack and some water -
it'd be best to get those in the city.
Visitor: Fine. That shouldn't be a problem. And I assume I can rent a helmet
from the bike place?
TC Employee: Sure, you should definitely get that. It's a great ride, but you
want to be well prepared because it's very remote - you won't see any shops
around there, or anywhere to stay, so you need to get back in time for the last
boat.
Visitor: Yeah. So what sort of prices are we looking at here?
TC Employee: Let's see. That'd be one adult and one child for the cruise with
farm tour, that's 117$, and an adult and a child for the cruise only so that's 214$
altogether. Oh, wait a minute, how old did you say your daughter was?
Visitor: Fifteen.
TC Employee: Then I’m afraid it’s 267$ because she has to pay the adult fare,
which is 75$ instead of the child fare which is 22$ - sorry about that.
Visitor: That’s OK. So how do…
Section 2:
Good morning everyone. My name’s Joy Parkins and I’m the restaurant
manager. And I understand that none of you’ve had any previous experience as
kitchen assistants? Well, you might be feeling a bit nervous now, but most of
our kitchen assistants say they enjoy the work. OK. They might get shouted at
sometimes, but it’s nothing personal, and they’re pleased that they have so
many different things to do,
which means they never get bored. And i’ll tell you straightaway that if you
do well, we might think about moving you up and giving you some more
responsibility.
Right, well, you’ve all shown up on time, which is an excellent start. Now I’m
glad to see none of you have unsuitable footwear, so that’s good – you need to
be careful as the floors can get very wet and slippery. Those of you with long
hair have got it well out of the way, but some of you’ll need to remove your
rings and bracelets – just put them somewhere safe for today, and remember to
leave them at home tomorrow, as they can be a safety hazard.
Now it’s going to be a busy day for you all today – we don’t have any tables
free for this evening, and only a few for lunch. Fortunately we’ve got our
Head Chef back – he was away on holiday all last week which meant the other
chefs had extra work. Now I’ll tell you a bit more about the job in a minute
but
first, some general regulations. For all of you, whatever your age, there’s some
equipment you mustn’t use until you’ve been properly trained, like the waste
disposal system for example, for health and safety reasons. Then I think there
are two of you here who are under 18 – that’s Emma and Jake, isn’t it? Right,
so for you two, the meat slicer is out of bounds. And of course none of you are
allowed to use the electric mixer until you’ve been shown how it works.
Now you may have heard that this can be a stressful job, and I have to say that
can be true. You’ll be working an eight-hour day for the first week, though
you’ll have the chance to do overtime after that as well if you want to. But
however long the hours are, you’ll get a break in the middle. What you will
find is that you’re on your feet all day long, lifting and carrying, so if you’re
not fit now you soon will be! You’ll find you don’t have much chance to take
it easy – when someone tells you to do something you need to do it
straightaway – but at least we do have a very efficient air conditioning system
compared with some kitchens.
Now let me tell you about some of the people you need to know. So as I said,
I’m Joy Parkins and I decide who does what during the day and how long they
work for. I’ll be trying to get you to work with as many different people in the
kitchen as possible, so that you learn while you’re on the job. One person
whose name you must remember is David Field. If you injure yourself at all,
even if it’s really minor, you must report to him and he’ll make sure the
incident is recorded and you get the appropriate treatment. He’s trained to give
basic treatment to staff himself, or he’ll send you off somewhere else if
necessary. Then there’s Dexter Wills – he’s the person you need to see if you
smash a plate or something like that. Don’t just leave it and hope no one will
notice – it’s really important to get things noted and replaced or there could be
problems later. And finally, there’s Mike Smith. He’s the member of staff who
takes care of all the stores of perishables so if you notice we’re getting low in
flour or sugar or something, make sure you let him know so he can put in an
order.
OK. Now the next thing…

Section 3:
Trudie: OK, Stewart. We need to start planning our paper on public
libraries. Have you thought of an angle yet?
Stewart: Well, there's so much we could look into. How libraries have
changed over the centuries, for instance, or how different countries organized
them. What do you think, Trudie?
Trudie: Maybe we should concentrate on this country, and try and relate the
changes in libraries to external developments, like the fact that far more people
can read than a century ago, and that the local population may speak lots of
different languages.
Stewart: We could include something about changes in the source of funding,
too .
Trudie: Yes, but remember we're only supposed to write a short paper, so it's
probably best if we don't go into funding in any detail.
Stewart: Right, well shall we just brainstorm a few ideas, to get started?
Trudie: OK. We obviously need to look at the impact of new technology,
particularly the internet. Now that lots of books have been digitalized, people
can access them from their own computers at home.
Stewart: And if everyone did that libraries would be obsolete.
Trudie: Yes.
Stewart: But the digitalized books that are available online for free are mostly
out of copyright, aren't they? And copyright in this country lasts for 70 years
after the author dies. So you won't find the latest bestseller or up-to-date
information.
Trudie: That's an important point. Anyway, I find it hard to concentrate when
I'm reading a long text on a screen. I'd much rather read a physical book. And
it takes longer to read on a screen.
Stewart: Oh, I prefer it. I suppose it's just a personal preference.
Trudie: I expect the libraries will go on evolving in the next few years. Some
have already become centers where community activities take place, like local
clubs meeting there. I think that'll become even more common.
Stewart: I'd like to think so, and that they'll still be serving their traditional
function, but I'm not so sure. There are financial implications, after all. What
I'm afraid will happen is that books and magazines will all disappear, and they'll
just be rows and rows of computers. They won't look anything like the libraries
we're used to.
Trudie: Well, we'll see.
=========================================
Trudie: I've just had an idea. Why don't we make an in-depth study of
our local public library as background to our paper?
Stewart: Yes, that'd be interesting, and raise all sorts of issues. Let's make a
list of possible things we could ask about, then work out some sort of
structure. For instance, we could interview some of the staff and find out
whether the library has its own budget, or if that's controlled by the local
council.
Trudie: And what their policies are. I know they don't allow food, but I'd love
to find out what types of noise they ban - there always seems to be a lot of
talking, but never music. I don't know if that's a policy or it just happens.
Stewart: I've often wondered. Then there are things like how the library is
affected by employment laws, I suppose there are rules about working
hours facilities for staff and so on.
Trudie: Right. Then there are other issues relating to the design of the building
and how customers use it. Like what measures does the library take to ensure
their safety? They'd need floor coverings that aren't slippery, and emergency
exits, for instance. Oh and another thing - there's the question of the kind of
insurance the library needs to have, in case anyone gets injured.
Stewart: Yes, that's something else to find out. You know

something I've often wondered? Trudie: What's that?

Stewart: Well, you know they've got an archive of local newspapers going
back years? Well next to it they've got the diary of a well-known politician
from the late 19th century. I wonder why it's there. Do you know what his
connection was with this area?
Trudie: No idea. Let's add it to our list of things to find out. Well I've just
thought - you know people might ask in the library about local
organizations, like sports clubs? Well I wonder if they keep a database, or
whether they just look online.
Stewart: Right. I quite fancy finding out what the differences are between a
library that's open to the public and one that's part of a museum for example
- they must be very different.
Trudie: Mmm. Then something else I'd like to know is…

Section 4:
In public discussion of business, we take certain values for granted. Today I'm
going to talk about four of them: collaboration, hard work, creativity and
excellence. Most people would say they're all ‘good things’. I'm going to
suggest that's an over simple view.
The trouble with these values is that their theoretical concepts, removed from
the reality of day-to-day business. Pursue values by all means, but be prepared
for what may happen as a result. They can actually cause damage, which is not
at all the intention.
Business leaders generally try to do the right thing. But all too often the right
thing backfires, if those leaders adopt values without understanding and
managing the side effects that arise. The values can easily get in the way of
what's actually intended.
OK. So the first value I'm going to discuss is collaboration. Let me give you an
example. On a management training course I once attended, we were put into
groups and had to construct a bridge across a stream. Using building blocks
that we were given. The rule was that everyone in the team had to move at
least one building block during the construction. This was intended to
encourage teamwork.
But it was really a job best done by one person, the other teams tried to
collaborate on building the structure, and descended into confusion, with
everyone getting in each other's way. Our team leader solved the challenge
brilliantly. She simply asked everyone in the team to move a piece a few
centimeters, to comply with the rule and then let the person in the team with an
aptitude for puzzles like this build it alone. We finished before any other team.
My point is that the task wasn't really suited to team working, so why make it
one?
Teamwork can also lead to inconsistency - a common cause of poor sales. In
the case of a smartphone that a certain company launched one director wanted
to target the business market, and another demanded it was aimed at
consumers. The company wanted both directors to be involved, so gave the
product a consumer-friendly name, but marketed it to companies. The result
was that it met the needs of neither group. It would have been better to let one
director or the other have his way not both.