allergies, room, theatre, art

A tételben szereplő témák:- topics
- competitions
- art
- reading
- illegal
- punishment
- allergies
- curtain
- theatre
- museum
- ...
 

TASK 1

Examiner:     Good morning!  Take a seat, please.
How are you feeling at the moment?
How did you feel this morning when you woke up?
What will you miss most now that you’re leaving school?
Would you stay one more year?  Why (not)?

Now I’m going to ask you a few questions.  If you can’t understand me, I can repeat the question once.  Let’s get started.

A
Have you ever taken part in any art competitions?
In elementary school we had these contests where you had to design a poster.  And usually it was a poster about the environment, or recycling and it had to be an advertisement to make people want to recycle.  And so I think I took part in those.  I never won, though.

Do you think dancing is a form of art?
Yeah, dancing definitely is an art form.  I remember once going to a performance and I remember watching the dancers, and they were so talented that they didn’t look like people making movements, they just looked like the movements.  You could forget that it was some human beings.  And I think that was the first time that I really understood how difficult dancing is and how expressive and beautiful it can be.  So yes.

Did you like your art class in primary school?
No, I didn’t really like art class, because our art teacher was really mean in elementary school.  She would come over and look at our paintings or our drawings or whatever we were doing and say, “No, that’s wrong, that’s bad.”  And then she used to erase the picture and draw it back herself, with a corrected version.  So no, not at all, she was awful.

What’s your favourite art form?
Well, I really like music. I listen to music all the time.  And I like music that is interesting and creative and when the sounds aren’t perfect together, when they sound a little bit off.  And I think I like it because it’s interesting and different.  A lot of pop music is so unoriginal and I like things that are creative.  I also like photography though.  So photography and music.  And things that are playful.

What kinds of things do you enjoy reading?
Gosh.  Well I like non-fiction, I like fiction, I like all sorts of things.  I really like to read about languages.  But I guess when I’m looking for an escape, I like to read 19th-century novels about aristocrats and very stuffy people who have fixed rules about how they should live.  I love those kinds of novels.  Yeah, that’s my favourite sort of thing to read.

I see.  Now let’s move on to the next topic, which is crime.

B
Are some parts of your city considered more dangerous than others?
Well, the rumour is that the eighth district is more dangerous than any other part of the city, but I honestly feel that Budapest is not a dangerous city.  Except if you want to cross the road on a pedestrian crossing.  But I’ve never heard of any muggings or street crime, and it’s a reason I really like Budapest, that it’s never felt dangerous to me.

Where do you keep the money you have on you?
I keep it in my pockets, in my front pockets.  I’ve heard of things like bum-bags or people putting their money underneath their T-shirt and stuff, but I don’t think that’s a good idea.  I think if someone wants to get into my pockets, I’m going to feel it.  I’m going to know, I’m never going to be pickpocketed.  And I think it’s the safest possible place you can keep your money. 

Have you ever done anything illegal?
Yes, of course I have.  I don’t think anyone lives their lives not doing anything illegal.  When I was younger, I used to steal things, very small things of course.  Thankfully, I gave that up.  But I’ve never done anything for which I could have been put in jail, or the police could have caught me for it.  I think it was stupid stuff, and I’m glad it stayed that level and never went further.

Do you think capital punishment is a good idea?
That’s difficult, because there are some people that you feel the world is a better place for them not being around.  But there’s also the idea of one person killing someone else in return, that ‘eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth’ – that’s not right either.  People have been executed who did nothing wrong, and that is the problem with capital punishment.  And yet, there are some people who killed millions and never were punished for it.  But all in all I think it’s too dangerous.

Do you think there will be more or less crime in the future?
More, definitely.  Just in my lifetime, the attitude of people is that they can do anything, and they can get away with anything.  And they do it.  The world is more violent now, I don’t know why.  Whether it’s because of what people see on TV, whether it’s because of what people see around the world…  But there is more crime.  And it’s a shame.

Well, I see.  Now, let’s change the topic.  We’re going to talk about health.

C
Have you ever broken a bone?
I’ve never broken my leg or my arm.  But I did once break my thumb.  I was doing some martial arts and I fell over and landed on my thumb.  And my thumb went out at right angles.  And it was horrible, it was like an upside down L, and I heard it crunch.   My trainers just grabbed my thumb with his hand and kind of crunched it back in, but we had to go and see a doctor eventually.

Do you have any allergies?
Allergies, actually, I have a couple of allergies.  I’m, I’m allergic to horses, which is really unfortunate, because I really like horse riding.  So when I go horse riding, I just keep sneezing and sneezing and sneezing, and this kind of frightens the horse, and we go faster and faster and it becomes rather dangerous.  I’m also allergic to cats, which I don’t mind at all because I don’t like cats.  I think they’re kind of evil.  I think they’re very selfish.  You’ll never see a cat jump into a lake to rescue its owner, it’ll just walk away and find a new source of food. 

Do you watch your weight?
I do watch my weight, and I’m shocked at what I can see.  Because it’s really rather too much.  But it doesn’t worry me so much.  I think I tend to eat very healthy, I eat really healthy foods, sort of pasta, chicken, fish, that kind of thing.  But I just eat a lot of it.  So yeah, I’m slightly overweight unfortunately.

How have you been feeling lately?
Well, as you can imagine, quite stressed about the final exams.  But other than that, happy and enjoying the warm weather.  It’s also great that I don’t need to get up that early, I can sleep in a little bit.  So overall, apart from the exam stress, I’ve been quite happy.

Do you have any scars?
I do have scars, some small ones.  I have a little scar on my elbow from when I fell off skateboarding when I was 13 or 14.  It’s not a scar, but I also have two teeth missing, from an accident with my bike two years ago.  But I don’t have anything impressive, just the regular kind of schoolboy scars.

Thank you, that’s the end of the first part of the test.

TASK 2

Now look at this situation.  You can study the sheet for half a minute.  When you are ready, start a conversation with me.  I am your friend.

Your friend is planning to redecorate his room and asks your for advice about the following:

 the colour of the walls
 furniture
 curtains
 ornaments




- So have you decided anything about your room yet?
- Not really.  I mean I want it to look completely different.
- Yeah, I can see why.  I mean you’re probably a little too old now to have a room like that.  I would probably start with the wallpaper, I’d take it off, and then paint the wall…  I don’t know, some nice colour that reflects your personality.  Any ideas?
- Light blue would be nice.
- That sounds great.  So, if you have light blue walls, you should think about matching curtains.  Maybe dark blue, and then you could use those to keep out the light too.  And you could always have some regular white curtains too.
- OK.
- About the furniture, I would definitely keep your bed because it’s huge and really comfortable, but I think I would get rid of the desk, it’s way too small and it wasn’t designed originally as a computer desk.
- That’s true.
- And one more thing, don’t get me wrong but I think your room is too full of little things that are important for you for some reason, like stones and presents and stuff – I think they make your room look really crowded, and dusting takes so much longer this way.  I think you should decide which ones you really want to keep and put those in a box.
- OK, I’ll think about that.  Thanks for all this.
- No problem.

Thank you, that’s the end of the second part of the test.

TASK 3

In the last part of the test, you will compare and contrast some pictures.  Now you have half a minute to look at these pictures and the prompts below them.  When you are ready, you will have three minutes to talk.

The pictures below show a museum and a theatre.  Compare and contrast them, including the following points:








 the typical audience
 prices
 interest for children
 your personal preference
Both of these pictures show beautiful buildings, I’m afraid not all Hungarian theatres and museums look this beautiful.  Maybe this is why young people are usually not that enthusiastic about these places, because their treasures are hidden, so to say.
A couple years ago there was growing interest for museums because their permanent exhibitions were all free.  This is no longer true unfortunately, so only teachers can go for free, and maybe disabled people.  Museum tickets are generally not very expensive, though the big exhibitions in the Museum of Fine Arts can be very pricey.  As for theatres, it really depends on the place, I think at some places you can get a ticket for a couple hundred forints, while for some of the star productions you need to pay more than 10,000.
I don’t think Hungarian museums are doing a very good job at being interesting for children, especially compared to other European museums.  The Science Museum is a welcome exception, I was there with my brother and he really loved it.  Then there is the Palace of Wonders, which is an interactive Museum, and children seem to like that too.  We should have more of these.  But there is lots of stuff going on in theatres that is interesting for children, especially in the Puppet Theatre, which I think is great.
I’m probably a bigger fan of theatres than of museums, but again I think this is only at home, in other cities I have found some truly interesting museums, for example the Tate Modern in London.  I hope one day we will have museums that rival those.



Thank you, that’s the end of your test.


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