Margaret Oliver works in a hospital. Here she talks about her job.

1.

I’m a phisiotherapist. My job is to help people who have been injured. Many of my patients have had road accidents. I show them how to walk again, or move their arms, or bend their backs. It’s a difficult job and not very well paid, but it’s very interesting. I really love it. The only thing I don’t like is the long hours. Sometimes I come home from work so tired that I just fall asleep in front of the television. I’m too tired to go out - even with my boyfriend, Joe. He doesn’t like it when I work late. He says I work too hard, but he doesn’t understand that a phisiotherapist has to work hard. If she doesn’t, her patients won’t get better.

2.

Of course, working in the hospital isn’t always enjoyable. Some days nothing goes right and then it’s very frustrating. I get annoyed when nurses don’t do what I tell them to do. Some of the young ones don’t seem to listen to what I say. That makes me angry. I feel quite depressed sometimes. But then some of my patients come back to see me. That happened yesterday. It was a young girl who had smashed her arm in a bad accident. We sat in my room and had a cup of coffee. She told me she was back at work and she showed me how well she could move her arm now. That really cheered me up. It always does.

3.

The hospital I work in is about forty miles from London. It’s quite old, but it’s got all the latest equipment. I like most of the people I work with - they’re super. My patients are super too. And some are very interesting. Last week, for instance, I had a young footballer called Don. He had broken his leg in three places. He was afraid he would never play football again. I had to tell him that he would soon get better. I told him to be patient and not to worry. A phisiotherapist has to do that quite often - reassure her patients, I mean.

4.

Working with older people is much more difficult. They take much longer to get better. A lot of the older patients don’t want to leave hospital at all. They feel safe there and they have lots of friends. I go and visit them at home when I can, but it’s hard to get the time. Some of them will never really get well again. I feel sorry for them, but you can’t show them how you feel. You’ve just got to be cheerful and do what you can. I always try to do my best for all my patients. You can’t do more than that, can you?

(from Kernel Three, by R.O’Neill, A.McLean. Unit 5A)

UNIT 2

Lesson A

A day in my life

Recording 2

1.

I normally get up at seven o’clock, but today I didn’t have to start work until half past eight, so I stayed in bed for another half-hour. That was lovely. I switched on the radio and just listened to it with my eyes closed. Then I got up, washed and had breakfast. Usually, I just have some cereal, but today I made myself a proper breakfast: orange juice, a boiled egg, tea and toast.

I left home at a quarter past eight. My flat isn’t far from the hospital. In the summer, I sometimes walk to work. But if the weather’s bad, I often drive to work.

2.

My first job this morning was to see a patient who had hurt his back. He’d lifted a bag of potatoes and hurt himself because he hadn’t picked it up correctly. I gave him some heat treatment and told him to get as much rest as possible. Then it was time for what I call my ‘knee class’. These are people who have all injured their knees in some way. I show them exercises that will strengthen their knees. They’re a great group and we always have lots of fun together.

3.

I was a bit worried today because Steve Bell hadn’t turned up. Steve is a young lad of seventeen who crashed his motor-bike a few months ago. He’s improved a lot since then, but he still needs to come to the class. So I asked one of the nurses where he was.

‘Oh’, she said, ‘Steve’s knee is a lot better now, so I thought you wouldn’t need him today.’ ‘Oh, did you?’ I replied. ‘Well, let me remind you, Nurse Walker, that I am the physiotherapist here and I will make decisions about my patients - not you. I want to see Mr. Bell at my class right now .’ And I turned and walked away. I was furious.

4.

At twelve-thirty I had lunch in the canteen. I didn’t eat much because I’ve put on some weight recently and I want to take it off before the summer. I just had a cup of coffee and an apple.

After lunch, I went to see my favourite patient, Edie. She’s eighty-five now and she’s got a bad chest. I’m sure she’ll never leave hospital now. I can’t really do much for her, but she always likes to see me. She doesn’t say very much, but she loves to hear what I’ve been doing. I was just telling her about Steve when Nurse Walker came in. She said that Mrs. Callan, the head physiotherapist wanted to see me. I tried to find out what she wanted, but Nurse Walker said she didn’t know. So I said goodbye to Edie and went to see Mrs. Callan, wondering why she wanted to see me.

(from Kernel Three, by R.O’Neill, A.McLean. Unit 6)

UNIT 2

Lesson B

The rumour

Secretary I’m afraid Mr. Joyce isn’t here. He’s gone to the hospital to see his

grandmother.

Man Is Mr. Joyce here?

Secretary No, he’s gone to the hospital.

Man Oh? He wanted me to wash his car. Did he leave the keys?

Secretary His car isn’t here, I’m afraid. The police towed it away.

Man Did you hear that Mr. Joyce had gone to hospital?

Woman No, what happened?

Man A car crash, I think. Anyway, the police have towed away the

wreckage.

Woman Oh, dear. I saw an ambulance on my way to work.

Woman Have you heard about Mr. Joyce? He was rushed to hospital by
ambulance at 8.45 this morning. He had a serious car crash.

Man Perhaps we should send Mr. Joyce something.

Woman How about some fruit? I saw some very nice strawberries this morning.

Man I was told that Joyce was allergic to strawberries.

Man Has anyone told you about Mr. Joyce?

Woman No ... what about him?

Man He crashed his car. It’s a complete write-off. He’s in hospital ...intensive care, I heard.

Woman Are they going to operate?

Man Well, I’m not sure. I heard that he’s got a lot of allergies.

Woman Did you know about poor Mr. Joyce? He’s in hospital after a terrible car crash, but they can’t operate because he’s allergic to antibiotics.

Man My sister was treated for her allergies by a Swiss specialist.

Man Do you know how Mr. Joyce is?

Woman Oh, you’ve heard too. Bad news travels fast. I hear that he needs to see a Swiss specialist.

Man That’s going to be expensive.

Woman Yes, but there are 3.000 people working here. Let’s have a collection to raise the money.

Woman We’re collecting for Mr. Joyce.

Man Who’s he?

Woman He works in the Accounts Department. He had an awful crash. They are flying a surgeon in from Geneva. He’ll never work again.

Man Oh dear ... well, here’s a pound.

Mr. Joyce Hello, where is everyone?

Secretary I’ve got no idea, Mr. Joyce. How was your grandmother?

Mr. Joyce Oh, she was fine. It wasn’t a heart attack - just indigestion, that’s all. I’d better go and collect my car from the police station. You know, I’d only parked on a double yellow line while I was getting her some flowers, and they towed it away ...

(from Streamline English. Directions, by P.Viney. Unit 4)

UNIT 3

Lesson A

Vivisection

Presenter Good morning everybody. I’m Joe Templer. It’s eleven o’clock which means it’s time for another edition of Crosstalk, the phone-in programme which looks at today’s hot issues. The subject of today’s discussion is whether vivisection – that’s experimenting on live animals – is ever justified. Now if you want to take part in today’s debate, the number to ring is 01 – if you’re outside London – 833 3974. But before that, in the studio I have two guests to open the debate. They are Professor Anna Wright from Queen Margaret Hospital and Peter Savage of the Free the Animals Movement. Good morning to the both of you.

Anna Wright Good morning.

Peter SavageGood morning.

Presenter OK then, if you’d like to put your point of view first, Professor Wright.

Anna Wright Thank you. Now I must state categorically that for advances in medicine we count on being able to carry out experiments on animals. Without them, there would be no progress. We are unable to observe human beings in scientifically controlled conditions so unfortunately we have to rely on animals. Medicine has made enormous advances based on the results of vivisection. For example, our knowledge of the nervous system is largely due to vivisection. It has allowed us to find cures for many illnesses. Diptheria, smallpox and TB used to be killers in the old days but not any more. If you were bitten by a dog with rabies, you had very little chance of surviving. Now there is an antidote. Cancer recovery rates have greatly improved thanks to the work done on animals. And I’m afraid drugs have to be tested on animals prior to their release on the market to check for side effects. Nobody takes any pride in causing suffering and I can assure the listeners it is kept to an absolute minimum.

Presenter Thank you very much, Professor Wright. Over to you, Peter.

Peter Savage Thanks. I’d like to start by saying that I’m speaking on behalf of animals. On the issue of testing drugs on animals for side effects in human beings, as we know from the thalidomide case, it’s very difficult to predict what the effect of a drug will be on human beings from tests done on animals. They just don’t tell us the whole story. As for understanding the nervous system, I think most experts would agree that this could have been done equally well by careful observation and nothing more. Professor Wright points to the reduction in the number of deaths from diseases like diphtheria, TB and smallpox. This is utter nonsense because these diseases were in decline already and they’ve been on the decline primarily because of improvements in hygiene, not animal experiments. No, the whole thing is rubbish. If we look at penicillin and aspirin, two of the most famous modern drugs, these drugs were found by accident! So much for medical research! And Professor Wright’s argument completely ignores the moral dimension. The point is experiments on animals should be stopped because they are cruel and inhumane. Dogs are made to smoke cigarettes and rats and mice have shampoo and cosmetics squirted in their eyes to see what will happen. Dogs don’t smoke and mice don’t wash their hair. Very often these animals have suffered so much they have to be put down. Basically, we should take care of animals not take advantage of them.

Presenter Thanks, Peter. OK then. So it’s over to you, the listeners. Our first call ...

(from Think First Certificate, by J.Naunton. Unit 10)

UNIT 3

Lesson B

Toothache

A.Look at this article about teeth.

B.Teeth? What does it say?

A.Well, apparently they’ve found a cure for tooth decay.

B.Really? I can’t believe that’s possible.

A. Yes. It says here we all eat far too much sugar, and that’s what causes toothache.

B. I know that.

A. Yes, well. There’s these bacteria that convert sugar into acids, and they attack the teeth and make holes in them. Well, now they’ve found a vaccine to attack the bacteria. They did tests on monkeys and it’s completely safe.

B. That’s good news. How do you get the vaccine?

A. It’s not ready yet, but when it is, you’ll get it from ... Oh I don’t think it says in the article. I suppose you’ll get it from your dentist. Anyway, they’re going to give it to all kids when they’re three.

B. What a clever idea.

(from Headway Intermediate, by J. and L.Soars. Unit 13)

UNIT 4

Lesson A

Heart attacks

Brian: This week, our resident physician, Dr Dennis Haynes, is going to talk about heart attacks.

Dennis: Well, more precisely about what we can do – anyone, that is, I’m not just talking about doctors or people with medical training – what we can do to save the lives of people who have heart attacks. Did you know that about 300 people die of a heart attack in Britain every day?

Brian: Well, I knew heart trouble was the principal cause of death, but ...

Dennis: What I’d like to make clear is that many of them could be saved if we all learnt a very simple technique.

Brian: The first symptom may be a sudden collapse, isn’t that so?

Dennis: Yes. Very often in the middle of a crowd, for example in an underground station. Now the people nearest to the person will be sympathetic and one of them will probably call an ambulance, but by the time anyone specialised arrives the victim may be dead, and in the meantime, most people are usually afraid to act, for fear of doing something wrong.

Brian: Yes. I was in that situation once, and I was terrified that if I did anything, I might kill the person. I was relieved that there happened to be a doctor in the crowd.

Dennis: Well, there’s no need to be scared if you know what to do and you may save someone’s life. In effect, if you want to stop a heart attack you have about three or four minutes to ensure three things. It may help you to remember them if we call them A, B, C – airway, breathing and circulation. Airway has to do with the fact that a person who’s unconscious may choke because, if he’s lying on his back, his head may fall forward and his tongue will press against his palate.

Brian: Isn’t that what they call swallowing your tongue?

Dennis: Yes, though that’s literally impossible. But it’s similar to what happens when we’re asleep, except that if you’re asleep, you’ll wake up rather than choke. The remedy here is simple. Just tilt back the person’s head by lifting his chin.

Brian: So that solves the airway problem, problem A. What next?

Dennis: Next, you have to make sure the person’s breathing. Lay him on his side while someone goes for help. If he’s not breathing, breathe for him by extending his neck, pinching his nose and breathing into his mouth. After a couple of breaths, you have to deal with the trickiest problem, the circulation.

Brian: Problem C?

Dennis: Yes. The best place to check the circulation is in the neck at the side of the windpipe. If there’s no pulse, you have to create one with external cardiac massage.

Brian: What’s that in simple terms?

Dennis: It means pressing on the lower part of the patient’s breastbone with both hands, just over once a second. You should squeeze rather than press hard. The idea is to massage blood out of the heart and round the body. In practice, you also need to do some mouth-to-mouth breathing, approximately two breaths for every 15 pumps.

Brian: It sounds complicated.

Dennis: No, not really. You could learn it with a few minutes’ practice. And the main thing is that once you know you can do it, you can cope with the much simpler problems you’re far more likely to come across, knowing how to deal with someone who has fainted, for instance.

(from Synthesis Advanced, by W.Fowler. Unit 6.2)

UNIT 4

Lesson B

First Aid

I = Interviewer

C = Dr Clarke

IDr Clarke, when an accident happens the people present are much more likely to be people of the general public and not members of the medical profession. Now, how good are we? I mean would you say that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing? If we’re not sure what to do, is it actually best not to do anything at all?

CWell, they’re obviously interesting and important questions. Yes, first aid is terribly important and you can save lives if the right action is taken. I’d say that uhm ninety percent of first aid is common sense, and only ten percent is specialist knowledge. If someone isn’t breathing, you must give them artificial respiration, and I think most people know how to do that. If the person is bleeding, the bleeding must be stopped. I think these things are obvious. Medical help must of course be sought and someone must decide whether the victim can be taken to hospital, or whether, given the nature of their particular accident, the victim should be left alone.

IYes, can we talk about road accidents more specifically in a moment?

C Yes.

IIs there one particular kind of accident where generally we get it wrong, we follow our common sense but it lets us down, and we do the wrong thing?

CYes, I think there are two things associated with that. On the subject of burns, for example, some people put cream or grease or butter on, and this in fact makes the burn hotter; and the other thing…

II’m sorry to interrupt. What should we do about burns, then?

CWell, you need to decide first of all how bad it is. If it is a minor burn, the best thing to do is to put the burnt area under the cold tap, or slowly pour on iced water.

II see.

CThis should be done for about ten minutes, and it stops the heat from spreading. However, if it is a bad burn, what we call a third-degree burn, don’t touch it, you really should get for this kind of burn expert help immediately. Cover the burn very lightly with something clean like a sheet or a, or a handkerchief and then go straight to a hospital. The other thing people do is to give drinks, especially alcoholic drinks, which means that if the patient needs an operation, we can’t give an anaesthetic.

ISo, it’s better not to give any drinks at all.

CCertainly not alcoholic drinks. If the patient complains of thirst, he should wash his mouth with water and not swallow.

IThis is very useful. Now back to road accidents. Could you give us some general advice on what to do at the scene of a car accident?

CYes, three things. First of all you should check that the victims are breathing. I mean if they’re not, give artificial respiration. The most common injuries in car accidents in fact are fractures and bleeding, so the second thing to do is stop the bleeding. Thirdly, er … very important don’t move the victim unless it’s absolutely necessary. I mean, if any bones are broken, the injury could be made much worse by moving the victim. You should keep them warm, loosen any tight clothing, and try to reassure them. They’ll probably be suffering from shock, so just stay with them until expert help arrives. It’s a very good thing to do.

IRight, I see. Now, of course, there are a lot of accidents we haven’t had time to talk about. But do you think it’s worth while for the general public to find out about them, and find out how they can help.

CSure, sure, yes, yes. I do indeed. I mean, I would advise people to find out as much as they possibly can. I mean, many of us freeze and panic when faced with a crisis. So, you know, why not learn about basic first aid?

IDr Clarke, thank you very much.

(from Headway Intermediate, by J. and L.Soars. Unit 8)

UNIT 5

Lesson A

Down the pub

To drink or not to drink? Britain is famous for its pubs, and the British are traditionally regarded as a nation of beer-drinkers. But now all this is changing, says Chris Foulkes, an editor of wine books at a London publishing house. Michelle asked him to tell us about the latest trends in British drinking habits:

I N T E R V I E W

I think the image of Britain as a beer-drinking country is out of date. Britain now is drinking wine at an ever-increasing rate, at the expense of beer and of hard spirits.

What can you attribute this change to? Are they becoming, are British people becoming more cosmopolitan?

Yes, they’re becoming more sophisticated; they travel far more, this generation, than their parents or their grandparents. Also people drink at home far more; they entertain at home. I think a lot of the interest in wine is in parallel with the interest in cooking, because British people are far more interested in what they eat and drink than they were 30, 40 years ago.

Yet the pub seems to have stayed and probably will stay the centre of a community, centre of, of different neighbouhoods, and a place where people meet. Or do you think that the current wine-bar trend is going to overtake the local pub?

Well, wine bars and pubs are different places. You go to them for different reasons. The pub, I think, is a wonderful institution, and every time I go to Europe I think it is wonderful to be in Europe, but it is a pity there are no pubs. Because pubs are good places where you can eat or drink totally casually; everybody uses them. As you say, they have a strong neighbourhood content. Wine bars are more for eating, more for younger people; women go to wine bars far more freely and readily than they go to pubs. So there’s still a certain amount of masculinity about a pub.

I believe there’s a new law that’s going to come into effect in the summertime, when pubs will be able to stay open all day long. Do you think this is a good thing?

There’s (sic) two schools of thought about this. Some people think it will spoil the atmosphere of the pub. But I think it’s a good thing, because it will accentuate, increase a trend towards pubs being more cosmopolitan. Pubs are increasingly serving non-alcoholic drinks and food, because it’s belatedly been realised that you can’t drink and drive. The British have been rather slow to catch on to the fact that you’ll crash your car if you drink too much. But in the last year or 18 months, we’ve found more pubs serving non-alcoholic drinks, and it is all of a sudden now possible to drink a non-alcoholic drink without being seen as somebody with a medical problem or somebody who has strange tastes.

But on the other hand, I’ve read that in this trend towards becoming more continental, more sophisticated, many of the old-fashioned pubs are being redecorated. They’re getting a new look, the sort of trendy, Yuppie kind of look. Do you think that’s going to change the attitude towards pubs?

Well, this has been going on for 20 or 30 years, ‘cause the brewers love spending money on their pubs, to try to make them more fashionable. But the British public, I think, apart from a few youngsters, stubbornly stick to the old-fashioned kind of pub. And it’s noticeable in London that the chain of pubs which is extremely simple and has bare floorboards and has real ale, is the most successful chain of all, and you can hardly get through the door in the evenings.

(from English Super Plus 2, by H.Sommers, V.Vermes. Unit 2A)

UNIT 5

Lesson B

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 1251