Family, travelling, holidays, diet, phone

A tételben szereplő témák:

 - relatives
 - family
 - relax
 - cruise
 - vegetables
 - potlucks
 - phone
 - bluetooth
 - atm
 - online
 - ...

 
 
 
 
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
        Do you have any brothers and sisters?  If yes, how old are they?
I have a younger sister, and that’s all, and she’s three years older than me, so she would be 21 now, and she’s studying to be a nurse, and she still lives with me and my parents, but she’s considering moving to a new place in the summer.  I always wanted more brothers and sisters, I’d love to have an older brother.  But yeah, she’s my best friend, we get on very well.

        How many first cousins do you have?
Well, I come from a very, very small family, my father has one brother and my mother has two sisters.  And my father’s brother has two children, and my mother’s younger sister has one daughter, so all in all I have only got three.  Very, very small family.  And they’re all about ten years older than me, so didn’t really spend much time with them
growing up.

        Do you look more like your mother or more like your father?
Well, that’s interesting, because I’m the spitting image of my mother.  We look exactly alike, we have the same bone structure, the same cheekbones, the same lips, sort of, you know.  She passes as my older sister most of the time.  But if you compare a picture of me with my father’s mother when she way my age, I’m the spitting image of her as well, which is very interesting, because I don’t look much like my father but I do look like his mother.

        Were your parents strict with you?
Not really.  They were very strict with my older sister.  She was a firstborn and she had a curfew of 10 p.m. on weekdays and midnight on weekends, which drove her mad, because all of her friends would sort of be out at a party and she would have to go home, and if she was even a minute late, she would be grounded for, two weeks or something.  I guess it was frustrating for her that when I became a teenager, they didn’t mind at all. I got to take the car, I got to stay out as late as I wanted, and so I think they sort of got rid of all their strict tendencies with her, which was a bit unfair, but great for me.

        What is the best place to raise a family?
I think that goes without saying.  In a rural setting, somewhere in the country.  Let’s say a small town of 5,000 people, where everybody knows everybody and you’re sort of part of a community, everybody takes care of everybody else’s children.  I can’t imagine raising children in the city where they’re just sort of one of many and there’s danger and you’re afraid to let your children go out on the street without you.  Yeah, I think in the country, where they’re able to get outside, and enjoy nature is definitely the best place.

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

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

Do you prefer active or relaxing holidays?
I think there’s something to be said for both.  If I’ve only got a week, I think I’d definitely go for a relaxing holiday, preferably a beach.  Somewhere where I could just sort of get up in the morning and maybe go for a little walk, and then lie in the sun and read a book, and unwind and be able to go back to work or studying with less stress.  But if I had more time, I think I’d probably have a combination of both.

Would you like to take a cruise?  Where to and with who?
I’d love to take a cruise, but I don’t think I’d do very well on one.  I think I’d get seasick, which would be a bit unfortunate.  So I’m not sure I’d ever try, because it would be such a waste of money.  But if I did take a cruise, I think I’d probably go to Alaska.  I think that would be amazing, you could see the mountains and see the wild of that area from a safe distance.  With who?  I’d go with my boyfriend, obviously.  Who else would you go on a cruise with?

Could you live in another country for the rest of your life?
That would obviously depend on which country it was.  I really like Japan, and I think I could definitely live there for the rest of my life.  It’s a beautiful country, and I hear the people are wonderful, very polite, very friendly.  I think the only problem would be that it’s so far away from the rest of my family.  That would be the one thing that would keep me from committing to being there for life.

Why do people travel?  what are some benefits of travel?
I think, you know, the obvious answer is to see something that’s different, to meet new people, to learn about new cultures, and sort of experience a different way of life.  I think it challenges you to, step outside of who you are and, and be somebody different.  Travel can be difficult, it’s, it can be stressful, and if you travel, you sort of grow as a person, and, and hopefully learn new things.

Do you travel green?
I’m afraid to say I don’t really.  I know I should, but I think money has been the biggest issue for me.  I read about things like carbon offsetting, when you can, you know, sort of pay the airlines the amount of carbon dioxide that you’re putting into the environment.  But I’m a poor student at the moment and I don’t really have the money to do those things.  But I think I’d like to do them when I’m older.

C
Are there any foods that you wouldn’t eat as a child that you eat now?
Most vegetables, actually.  I think the only vegetables that my father could get me to eat were raw carrots, and so every night I would have one of those.  But now I’ll eat almost anything.  I hated mushrooms, and now they’re one of my favourite foods.  And yeah generally meat as well.  I think chicken was about the only meat I would eat, and I can remember actually my uncle trying to shove a piece of steak down my throat once and telling me I’d love it, and crying while he tried to do that. But now I’ll eat anything.

    Have you ever been on a diet?
I’ve never really been one for dieting.  I like food too much.  The only thing I can really think of is a cabbage soup diet that my sister and I tried a few years ago.  And we made this massive pot of cabbage soup and it was supposed to be the only thing that you ate for two weeks.  And I think we lasted about 36 hours, and then gave up and went to McDonalds.

What would you bring to a pot luck lunch?
Potlucks are supposed to be finger foods, or things that are easy for people to sort of serve themselves from.  So maybe a shrimp dip, I think, would be what I’d bring, which is a kind of a layered thing.  You’ve got cream cheese with seasonings as the base, and then covered with a shrimp cocktail sauce, and some shrimp, and then vegetables. A little bit of spring onion, and peppers, maybe some black olives, and sprinkled with grated cheese.  And that’s great.  You just dip tortillas in it, and it’s very tasty.

Is there any food that you really dislike to eat?
Well, the only thing I can think of is oysters.  Purely for the feel in your mouth.  It’s slimy, and it’s cold, and why would anybody want to eat that?  We went to a Christmas party once, and it was this restaurant that was famous for oysters, and everybody insisted that I try one.  And there’s this picture of me with this look on my face like I’m about to die.  It was the worst experience of my life.  I hate oysters.

Do you like trying new foods?
I’m afraid to say I don’t.  It’s actually a bit of a challenge to get me to try new things, and my boyfriend’s always encouraging me to do so, because once I do, I tend to like it.  But I seem to have this attitude of “if I haven’t tried it, I don’t like it.” And so if somebody puts something in front of me that I haven’t seen or tried before, my immediate reaction is to say, “No, thank you.”  And then my boyfriend usually succeeds in getting me to take a bite, at which point I will ea up the whole plate.

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.

You want to buy a new mobile phone.  You have asked your friend to come with you to the shop and help you choose.  Discuss what kind of phone you want, considering the following:

 what’s wrong with the old one (if anything)
 what kind of design you want
 what features are essential for you
 what price range you are thinking of


         



- So, what is exactly is the problem with your old phone?
- Nothing, it just looks so old.
- OK.  So you want something with a more modern design, right?  Then I guess we should find something smaller and perhaps thinner.  How about this one?
- Not bad.
- OK, this one can do a lot of things, but there is no calendar in it.  Do you use your phone as a kind of day planner, and also to remind you of things you have to do?
- Sure, all the time.
- Then this one won’t be good.  OK, this one has the day planner feature, and an alarm clock.  There is no camera, is that alright?
- I don’t need a camera, just a phone.
- OK.  It has bluetooth and you can upload some music onto it, which I personally think is great.
- I like it too.
- Let’s look at the price.  Is this something you can easily afford?
- I think so.
- Brilliant!  Then let’s go and buy one.
- OK.  Thanks.
- 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 post office and a cash machine (ATM).  Compare and contrast them, including the following points:


   

   how often you use these services
 how difficult it is to get things done at each place
 how modern the technology is
 whether either service is going to disappear in the future

I have a lot of experience with the ATM shown in the second picture, but I can’t recall the last time I’ve been to the post office.  In fact, I don’t even know where our post office is.  I used to, but they have moved and I simply haven’t had to go since then.
I don’t have very fond memories of the post office, actually.  As far as I can remember, the clerks were not very helpful and there was always a huge queue, it didn’t matter what time of day it was.  ATMs are easier, although you have to make sure you’ve got the right one, I’ve been charged ridiculous amounts of money for using an ATM that didn’t belong to my bank.
I guess the reason I haven’t been to the post office for such a long time is that it is becoming outdated.  Nowadays people can pay their bills online, which is what my family does, and not many people send you a letter, almost everyone uses email now.
So, because services at the post office are less and less needed, I think there is a chance that such offices might disappear completely in the future, but this will definitely only happen gradually.  I think ATMs are here to stay for some time, although I’d love to see more places that accept cards.

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