1

Ka Jason, you are amazing. Really, that song is you and you sang it beautifully. So, for me you’ve definitely got the look, you’ve definitely got the talent.
J Thanks, Katy.

Ka You’re also very charming. BUT ... but ... you’ve got a problem. You don’t believe that you’re good. I think you need confidence. No, really. The music business is tough and you’ll need more than a voice. If you’re ambitious, you’ll be successful, OK? So what are we going to do?

J I don’t know, Katy.
Ka We’re going to make you stronger. Are you going to work with me?
J Yes, I am.
Ka Good. You’ve got a big heart, Jason, and if you think you can win, then maybe you will win. Anyway, I think you can do better but I’m still going to give you eight points – so ... you’re going through to the final.
J That’s great, thanks Katy.

2

L Kiera, congratulations! What a performance! You’re my number one! Do you know what I like about you, Kiera?
Ki Um no ...
L Everything. Well, almost everything. The thing that I like most – your biggest strength – is your energy. The dancing in particular was fantastic. You’ve got a lot of confidence.

Ki Thanks, Lewis.
L Now, I am not a hundred per cent happy with the voice. It’s a little weak, but only a little. You are dancing so much that maybe it’s difficult to sing.
Ka Come on Lewis, what score are you going to give her? Is she going to be in the final or not?
L Be patient! Kiera, what are you doing next Saturday?
Ki I don’t know yet, Lewis.
L OK, well don’t make any plans, because I’m going to give you nine points, so you’re also coming with us to the final next week. Congratulations!

J What’s the first thing you want to do when we get to Hồ Chí Minh City, Mike?
M I don’t know. I really want to see Bến Thành Market and the War Remnants Museum.

J I just hope the weather isn’t too bad. It often rains this season.
M I guess it is going to be sunny this week. Which gate do we need to go to?
J Look, there is a screen over there. Let’s go and look for the departure information.
M Where is Vietnam Airlines? Oh, it’s on the top of the screen. Flight VN-1080.
J Our flight leaves at 10 o’clock. We have to go to Gate 34, Terminal 1.
M Great! Is it near here?
J Look at that yellow sign. We must catch the shuttle to Terminal 1, then walk to Gate 34.
M Oh, hurry up. It takes about 15 minutes to get there.

J Don’t run, Mike. It’s only 9:15 now.

1 Your poor eye sight is due to too much exposure to blue

light. This has probably been caused by looking at digital

screen too much, especially at night time. I can certainly

prescribe some drugs that will help to better your eye

sight, but initially I’d like you to make some changes to

your habits at work. Try to avoid sitting at your desktop

or laptop for hours on end. You really should stop using

mobile devices before bedtime. Try also to work in

natural light as much as possible. Come back to me in

three months. If your eye sight doesn’t improve, we will

consider a course of treatment at that point.

2. You’ll be delighted to hear that the new multimedia

classroom which the school purchased has finally

come into use. It consists of an interactive board and

50 desktops, all of which are hooked up to the highest-

capacity internet network. It runs various self-study soft

wares of every single subject on the school’s curriculum,

so it is very useful for students to work on whatever

aspect they need to improve. It’ll also allow students to

practise communicative skills of foreign languages. We

were able to set up this multi-media classroom thanks

to the money we made at the Christmas fair. We are very

grateful to all the people who donated unwanted items

for the stalls and who made all those delicious cakes and

biscuits. Without you, we wouldn’t have this wonderful

self-study space. I’m sure this classroom will be in high

demand from the word go.

Georgina Hepworth relaxed back in her seat. Two hours

into her flight, she turned to the woman next to her and

said, ‘I’m really looking forward to my holiday in Spain.’

‘Oh, when are you going to Spain, then?’ asked the

woman. ‘Well, now, of course!’ said Georgina.

The woman look puzzled. ‘Not on this plane,’ she replied.

That’s when Georgina found out that her plane wasn’t

heading for Granada in Spain, but for the island of

Grenada, in the Caribbean.

The Spanish city is 1,500 kms south of London. The island

is 7,000 km away on the other side of the Atlantic.

When Georgina decided to go to Spain she called a travel

agent to book the flight. When the tickets arrived, she

didn’t notice that one letter was wrong.

‘It said GrEnada, not GrAnada,’ Georgina explained.

The flight attendant was very sympathetic, and allowed

Georgina to sit in a first-class seat. When the plane finally

arrived in the Caribbean, the airline put her in a hotel

for the night and then, on the following day, flew her to

Granada in Spain.

The travel agent apologised. ‘It was just a

misunderstanding,’ said Georgina. ‘I’m certainly not

complaining. They’ve even given me a free holiday

in Austria. Let’s hope they don’t send me a ticket to

Australia!”

Interviewer This is Todd Canter, host of Talk True on City Radio. Today in the studio we have well-known psychologist and business expert, Lisa Williams. She’s going to tell us why
so many young people are creating their own businesses. Welcome to the show, Lisa.

Lisa Thanks, Todd.

I Lately, we’ve been hearing about younger and younger people creating their own businesses. And these are not just little, part-time businesses. They’re very successful companies which sometimes become global brands. That’s what I
really don’t understand. How can a very young person, with little understanding of how business works and not much knowledge of money, come up with a good idea for a business?

L Well first of all, the question isn’t how it’s possible, but why it doesn’t happen more often. You see, young people are ideal candidates to come up with business ideas that no one else has thought of. They’re also the perfect people to turn these ideas into reality.

I Really? But they haven’t got any business experience.

L OK, you’re falling into the trap that most people fall into. You assume that it takes a lot of experience and a business education to create a new business. But in my experience of working with young entrepreneurs, exactly the opposite is true. Young people don’t have a lot of business knowledge, but this can sometimes be an advantage. In fact, too much business education and experience often makes it harder to think creatively. This is because you’ve been told again and again what the so-called ‘right’ answers are, so you’re not able to look at all the other options.

I So you’re talking about creative thinking ... thinking ‘outside the box’?

L That’s a saying that we all hear too often ... but yes, that’s exactly what I’m talking about. If you don’t already have a set of ‘right’ answers to various problems, you are free to think of options that no one else would think of.

Tim You’ve got a new smartphone, Sal! Can I have a look at it?

Sal Yes,ofcourse,Tim.Igotitforagoodprice,andit’sgreatfor social networking. My parents didn’t want me to buy it, though. They keep telling me I spend too much time on my phone already, and this one has even more things to keep me busy!

T You know, I sort of understand their point. I wish my sister would put her phone down once in a while. She even uses it at the dinner table, and it drives us all crazy! She never hears what we’re saying, or talks to us.

S Yeah, some of my friends are like that. It is frustrating. Anyway, my parents don’t let anyone bring their phone to the dinner table.

T Really?

S Yeah, it’s good because we really do talk about a lot of important things while we’re eating. If our phones were on, we probably wouldn’t communicate at all.

T Well, my mum thinks the MP3 player on my phone is bad for me, so she only lets me use it for an hour a day. She says it’s going to damage my hearing.

S You do have the volume up very high. I’ve heard it from across the room. Maybe you could make a deal with your mum. Say you’ll agree to play music much more quietly if you can use the MP3 player more often.

T That’s a good idea. Thanks! Hey, can you show me what games you have on your phone?

>> To practice: https://play.blooket.com/play?hwId=661fec1e60a75e98c0cd0be6