listentothis2 lesson 9

Catherine has just left school and she wants to find a job. She and her mother have come to speak to the Careers Advisory 1 Officer.

Listen to their conversation.

Officer: Oh, come in, take a seat. I'm the Careers Officer. You're Cathy, aren't you?

Mother: That's right. This is Catherine Hunt, and I'm her mother.

Officer: How do you do, Mrs Hunt. Hello, Catherine.

Cathy: Hello. Pleased to meet you.

Officer: And you'd like some advice about choosing a career?

Mother: Yes, she would. Wouldn't you, Catherine?

Cathy: Yes, Please.

Officer: Well, just let me ask a few questions to begin with. How old are you, Catherine?

Mother: She's nineteen. Well, she's almost nineteen. She'll be nineteen next month.

Officer: And what qualifications have you got?

Mother: Well, qualifications from school of course. Very good results she got. And she's got certificates for ballet and for playing the piano.

Officer: Is that what you're interested in, Catherine, dancing and music?

Cathy: Well ...

Mother: Ever since she was a little girl she's been very keen on her music and dancing. She ought to be a music teacher or something. She's quite willing to train for a few more years to get the right job, aren't you, Catherine?

Cathy: Well, if it's a good idea.

Mother: There you are, you see. She's good girl really. A bit lazy and disorganized sometimes, but she's very bright. I'm sure the Careers Officer will have lots of jobs for you.

Officer: Well, I'm afraid it's not as easy as that. There are many young people these days who can't find the job they want.

Mother: I told you so, Catherine. I told you shouldn't wear that dress. You have to look smart to get a job these days.

Officer: I think she looks very nice. Mrs. Hunt, will you come into the other office for a moment and look at some of the information we have there. I'm sure you'd like to see how we can help young people.

Mother: Yes, I'd love to. Mind you, I think Catherine would be a very nice teacher. She could work with young children. She'd like that. Or she could be a vet 2. She's always looking after sick animals.

Officer: I'm afraid there's a lot of competition. You need very good results to be a vet. This way, Mrs. Hunt. Just wait a minute, Catherine.



* * *

Officer: There are just one or two more things, Catherine.

Cathy: Do call me Cathy.



Officer: OK, Cathy. Are you really interested in being a vet?

Cathy: Not really. Anyway, I'm not bright enough. I'm reasonably intelligent, but I'm not brilliant. I'm afraid my mother is a bit over-optimistic.

Officer: Yes, I guessed that. She's a bit overpowering, isn't she, your mum?

Cathy: A bit. But she's very kind.

Officer: I'm sure she is. So, you're interested in ballet and music, are you?

Cathy: Not really. My mother sent me to lessons when I was six, so I'm quite good, I suppose. But I don't think I want to do that for the rest of my life, especially music. It's so lonely.

Officer: What do you enjoy doing?

Cathy: Well, I like playing tennis, and swimming. Oh, I went to France with the school choir 3 last year. I really enjoyed that. And I like talking to people. But I suppose you mean real interests—things that would help me to get a job?

Officer: No. I'm more interested in what you really want to do. You like talking to people, do you?

Cathy: Oh yes, I really enjoy meeting new people.

Officer: Do you think you would enjoy teaching?

Cathy: No, no, I don't really. I was never very interested in school work, and I'd like to do something different. Anyway, there's a teacher training college very near us. It would be just like going to school again.

Officer: So you don't want to go on training?

Cathy: Oh, I wouldn't mind at all, not for something useful. I wondered about being a hairdresser—you meet lots of people, and you learn to do something properly—but I don't know. It doesn't seem very worthwhile.

Officer: What about nursing?

Cathy: Nursing? In a hospital? Oh, I couldn't do that, I'm not good enough.

Officer: Yes, you are. You've got good qualifications in English and Maths. But it is very hard work.

Cathy: Oh, I don't mind that.

Officer: And it's not very pleasant sometimes.

Cathy: That doesn't worry me either. Mum's right. I do look after sick animals. I looked after our dog when it was run over by a car. My mother was sick, but I didn't mind. I was too worried about the dog. Do you really think I could be a nurse?

Officer: I think you could be a very good nurse. You'd have to leave home, of course.

Cathy: I rather think I should enjoy that.

Officer: Well, don't decide all at once. Here's some information about one or two other things which might suit you. Have a look through it before you make up your mind.

Speaker 1. When I was at university, I was—I was horrified 4 by what had happened to a lot of my friends by the time they reached the end of the course. Having spent their university careers being all the things one is at university—clever, artistic 5, very noisy—at the end of their time they all seemed to take entry exams for the ... the Civil Service, and there were some of them who went ... huh ... went as low as to go into the Tax Office huh. How grey, how grey, I thought. But now huh. well, look at me!

Speaker 2. The circular letters I get drive me absolutely mad, from American Express, etc. They're sent to my work address and they're all addressed to Mr. S Andrews! Obviously they found the name on some published list and assumed that anybody who wasn't a secretary must of course be a man. It's stupid really, because the Company does put Mr. or Ms. in front of the names on its departmental lists, but perhaps because they naturally assume it's a man, they're just blind to the women's names amongst the heads of departments.

Speaker 3. I work in London at er ... a large hospital as a nursing officer. It's erm ... it's what a lot of people call a male nurse, which I think is the most ridiculous term I've ever come across. It ... sort of implies that a nurse ought to be female and that by being male I'm different, but er ... the idea still carries on. The other thing is that people always say 'I suppose you really wanted to be a doctor', just because I'm a man. They can't imagine that I really wanted to be a nurse and that er ... erm ... it wasn't just that I failed to be a doctor. And ... what they don't realize is the work's completely different, you know as a ... a male nurse you've much more contact with the er ... patients and, you know, a long term responsibility for their ... their welfare huh. There's no way I'd want to be a doctor. Well, except for the money of course.

Speaker 4. Whenever I say I'm a bank manager, half the time people tend to laugh. I've never understood why. I suppose bank managers do have a rather stuffy 6 bourgeois 7 image, but I can't see why it's funny.

Speaker 5. I'm a sales representative, what used to be called a travelling salesman, and for some reason there's lots of dirty jokes about travelling salesmen. Can't think why. Well, I suppose it's because they tend to travel a lot, you know, a night here, a night there. Well, people get the idea they're not particularly dependable, sort of fly by nights I suppose, you know, wife in every port. But it aint true, I promise you.

Speaker 6. I'm an apprentice 8 hairdresser. I enjoy the work very much. I'm learning a lot, not just about hair, but how to get along with people. I'm gaining confidence 'cos I never had that at school. I left as soon as I could. I hated it. I remember teachers used to look down on jobs like hairdressing. They were ever so stuck up. They thought that only girls who were a bit dim went in for hairdressing, but I'm not dim at all. If I work hard in the salon 9 and get all my certificates, if I save hard, in a few years I could start my own business, and I'd be earning five times as much as those old bags at school!

Interviewer: Well, we heard some people just now who seem to feel that other people have a wrong idea about the work they do. Do you think this sort of thing is very widespread?

Sociologist 10: Oh absolutely. Most jobs or professions seem to have an image or a stereotype 11 attached to them, often much to the irritation 12 of the job holders 13. But there is a serious point to all this, too, that maybe young people actually choose their careers under the influence of these false images. And certainly, there is evidence that they may even avoid certain careers because they have a negative image. Well, on a large scale, as you can imagine, this could cause problems for whole sectors 14 of the economy.

Interviewer: Er, you say there's evidence?

Sociologist: Oh most definitely. There was a survey recently into children's attitudes to different professions.

Interviewer: How was that done, though? Because, after all, children don't know much about the world of work before they get into it.

Sociologist: Well, exactly. What the investigators 15 wanted to get at was their impressions and their prejudices. They used a very simple technique. They gave the children twelve pairs of statements. In each pair one statement was positive, the other was its opposite.

Interviewer: For example?

Sociologist: Well, for example, 'Such and such a person is likely to be boring or interesting company.'

Interviewer: I see. What professions did they ask about?

Sociologist: (laugh) Do you want the whole list?

Interviewer: Well, why not?

Sociologist: OK. Here goes. They looked at: physicists 17, lawyers, economists 19, accountants, sales representatives, estate agents, biologists, and three types of engineer—mechanical engineers, electrical and civil. The children were asked to say which of the statements was 'most true' about each profession.

Interviewer: And the results?

Sociologist: Well, they were rather striking concerning one profession in particular, the poor old engineer. Of all the jobs mentioned, he came out really much worse than you might expect. The vast majority of children (90% in the case of the mechanical engineer), thought that engineering was a 'dirty job'. They also thought the job was of 'low status' and 'subordinate'; that is, the engineer is more likely to take orders than to give them. Oh, and insecure too. The only other person they thought more likely to actually lose his job was the sales representative. But，I must say there were good points too. Engineering was seen to be 'interesting, well paid' work.

Interviewer: Hmm, not such a rosy 20 picture, really.

Sociologist: No ... but it got better when the children were asked about how they imagined the engineer as a person. The majority of the children chose positive comments, except that they thought the engineer was likely to be badly rather than well dressed. (laugh)

Interviewer: Well, what about the other professions, then? Erm ... what came out favourite, for example?

Sociologist: Oh the lawyer without a doubt. He collected by far the greatest number of positive opinions. The sales representative and then the estate agent were right at the bottom.

Interviewer: Oh, so the engineers weren't right down there?

Sociologist: Oh no! The children's ratings put them just above the poor old sales representative all bunched together. Probably the children don't have that much of an idea of their real work. I think they ... (laughs) ... they went by the titles, really, since civil engineer came out top, perhaps the suggestion of the name?

Interviewer: Oh, I see. You mean that he was a ... a more civilized 21 sort of chap than the others?

Sociologist: (laughs) Yes, right. Reasonable sounding, isn't it?

Interviewer: Yes. Quite sensible, I suppose. And I imagine the mechanical engineer came out bottom?

Sociologist: Absolutely right. In fact 90% of the children associated him with dirty work, as against 76% for the electrical engineer and 68% for the civil engineer.

Interviewer: And the other professions?

Sociologist: Well, after the lawyer came the accountant; then the scientists, the physicist 16 first. The economist 18 came just above the engineers. Funnily enough, he was the only one that the majority of children felt would be gloomy rather than cheerful.

Interviewer: A real sign of the times, that.

Sociologist: Yes. But I still think the most serious implication of the results of the survey was the children's apparent ignorance of the importance of the engineer's role in society.

Interviewer: Hmm.

Sociologist: After all, in most other European countries to be an engineer is to be somebody. And I imagine that this means that many bright children, who might really enjoy the profession and do well in it, probably never consider it, which is a great pity for the country as a whole. We do need good engineers after all.

1. Bartering 22 is the process by which trade takes place through the exchange of goods.

2. Whereas in the past, seashells and spices had no specific value, this new money idea had a stated value.

3. However, due to recent economic developments, the world is once again conducting trade by bartering goods for goods.



4. We refer to the more valuable currency as hard currency while we term the less valuable money, soft currency.



5. In fact, hard currency is usually demanded by the seller, particularly if the seller is from a nation having hard currency.

6. Inflation refers to an abnormally rapid increase in prices.

7. As a result of the scarcity 23 of hard currency in some nations and the recent high world-wide inflation, it is obvious that the conventional method of payment in hard currency must be supplemented by other types of payment such as bartering.

8. Not only is the following illustration a good example of bartering, it also reveals, to a small degree, consumer preferences in beverages 24 in the USSR and the United States.

9. It seems that Pepsi-Cola was the first company to introduce cola into the USSR, much to the disappointment of Coca-Cola.

10. Of course, bartering presents some great problems that are not always easy to overcome.

How to Make Wine

    This is how wine is made in our winery. After the grapes are picked in late summer, they are pressed so that all the juice runs out. Then the juice is separated from the skins and pips and it is put into large containers and left to ferment 25. Later, it is put into smaller containers. Then it is left for about a year when it is put into bottles. If it is a good wine, the bottles are kept for several years but the cheaper wines are sold immediately.

Alan Simpson

    The mystery of the man found wandering in the city centre has now been solved. The man, whose name is now known to be Alan Simpson, is a medical student. Mr. Simpson was taking part in an experiment conducted by the university department of psychology 26, when he walked away, unnoticed by the staff supervising the experiment. He has now regained 27 his memory, and has left hospital. Several people, including his sister, April Simpson, telephoned the police to identify Mr. Simpson after seeing his picture in the press.