大城市小世界 Series 1 Episode 6 - He's a pest!

 　　Introduction

　　This support pack accompanies the audio soap opera 'Big City Small World'.

　　This support pack contains the following materials:

　　a pre-listening vocabulary activity;

　　the transcript¹ of the episode²;

　　a comprehension activity;

　　three language activities

　　Before you listen

　　Activity 01

　　Match the words at the top to their definitions.

　　a. energetic

　　b. fortunately

　　c. mate

　　d. mess

　　e. negotiator³

　　f. quote

　　g. trouble

　　h. upset

　　1. a dirty or disordered condition

　　2. a person who arranges a transaction⁵

　　3. disorder⁴ or disturbance⁶

　　4. disturbed emotionally

　　5. friend – colloquial⁷

　　6. full of energy

　　7. state a price

　　8. with luck

　　Transcript

　　Olivia:  Joe!  Can you stop that please!  Can you please come here and sit down!

　　Magda:  Hello there, Olivia.  Who’s this?

　　Olivia:  This is Joe – he’s my nephew.

　　Magda:  Nephew?

　　Olivia: My sister’s son.

　　Magda:  Oh!  I see.  He’s lovely!  I love children...

　　Olivia:  Yeah, they’re great until you have to look after them...

　　Magda:  You’re looking after him?

　　Olivia:  Yeah, just for today, fortunately.  My sister can’t get a babysitter.  But Joe comes to my shop quite often.  He loves it there...unfortunately!

　　Magda:  Why’s that ‘unfortunate’?

　　Olivia: Because he’s a pest, that’s why...

　　Magda:  What’s a ‘pest’?

　　Olivia:  Somebody or something which makes you angry...

　　Magda:  No!!  I don’t believe it!  He’s so sweet!  How old is he?

　　Olivia:  Four, nearly five.

　　Fadi:  Whoooaaaa!  Slow down there, little man!  Who’s this?

　　Olivia:  Fadi, meet Joe.

　　Magda:  He’s Olivia’s nephew.  And a sweet little pest!

　　Fadi:  Oh really!  I didn’t know you were Aunt Olivia!

　　Olivia:  Thank you very much Fadi.  You make me feel old. Listen, have you had a chat with Harry⁸ yet?

　　Fadi:  About work?

　　Olivia:  Yeah.

　　Fadi:  No, not yet, but I’m supposed to talk to him today.  He said he’d be in here later.

　　Olivia:  Listen, though, it’s not true what Harry was saying...

　　Fadi:  About what?

　　Olivia:  About me being upset if he can’t do the website for my shop...I don’t mind if he can’t do it!  He wanted far too much money.  I could never have afforded it.  Now it’s ok, because he thinks he’s turning me down...I don’t have to offend him by saying ‘no’! A happy result all round!

　　Fadi:  I see...so I don’t have to bail⁹ you out, after all?

　　Olivia:  No!

　　Olivia:  Joe, can you stop that please?  Come over here!

　　Fadi: ...and here he is!

　　Harry:  Alright mate!  Alright Olivia, Magda...who’s this young man?

　　Olivia:  My nephew, Joe.

　　Harry:  Hello Joe!

　　Harry:  He’s very...erm...what’s the word...energetic?

　　Olivia:  I just call him “trouble”!

　　Harry:  So, Fadi, you wanted to talk business?

　　Fadi:  Yeah, finally...well, I’ve got the all clear from my uncle, so we’re on.

　　Harry:  Great.

　　Fadi:  But...

　　Harry:  There’s always a “but”!

　　Fadi:  You’re going to have to do us a favour and come down on the price, mate...

　　Harry:  What price did I quote you?

　　Fadi:  Two thousand five hundred.

　　Harry:  Well, seeing as you’re a friend, I could come down to two thousand four hundred, but not less than that.

　　Fadi:  We can offer two thousand.  That’s our top limit.  We don’t have a bigger budget than that.

　　Harry:  Come on!  You’re joking!

　　Fadi:  Sorry mate.  It’s two thousand, or nothing.

　　Harry:  No way.  Can’t be done.  I’ve got to go now...got to go and see Johnny – he’s offered me a real job...bye all!

　　Fadi:  Oh no, do you think he’s really upset now?

　　Olivia:  I don’t think “upset” is the word....

　　Fadi:  We can go a bit higher actually...I was just trying to be a tough negotiator.

　　Magda:  A bit too tough, I think.

　　Olivia:  You should never mix work and friendship, anyway.

　　Magda:  And you probably shouldn’t have a business meeting in a café!

　　Fadi:  Oh no.  What a mess.  I’d better go.  Hang on..where’s my...where are my....I can’t find my mobile!  Or my keys!  Has anyone seen them?

　　Magda:  Let’s look under the seats...they must be here somewhere...

　　Fadi:  I can’t see anything.

　　Magda:  No sign.

　　Olivia:  How strange...hang on a minute, my nephew’s been terribly quiet for the last five minutes...what’s he up to...Joe!!!

　　After listening

　　Activity 02

　　Choose the correct word(s) in each sentence.

　　1. Olivia is Joe’s nephew / aunt.

　　2. Joe is well / badly behaved.

　　3. Joe is four / five years old.

　　4. Olivia wants / doesn’t want Harry to do her website.

　　5. Fadi’s uncle has agreed to pay exactly / more than two thousand pounds.

　　6. Olivia thinks it is a bad / good idea to do business with a friend.

　　Activity 03

　　Complete the sentences with the names in the table. One of the names is used two times.

　　Fadi

　　Harry

　　Joe

　　Magda

　　Olivia

　　1. ....................is Olivia’s nephew.

　　2. ....................likes children.

　　3. Joe visits ....................’s shop.

　　4. ....................has arranged to meet Harry at the café.

　　5. ....................thinks it is a bad idea to talk business in a café.

　　6. ....................leaves the café upset.

　　Activity 04

　　Find a word in the tapescript that means the opposite of:

　　1. horrible

　　2. fast

　　3. young

　　4. earlier

　　5. sad

　　6. lazy

　　7. lower

　　8. loud

　　Activity 05

　　Fill the gaps with one of the verbs from the table.

　　Bail / bail

　　Come / come

　　Look / look

　　Sit / sit

　　Slow / slow

　　Turn / turn

　　1. I can’t come out tonight, I have to .................... after my brother.

　　2. Please .................... down, I can’t understand what you are trying to say.

　　3. .................... here for a moment and help me please.

　　4. I had to .................... the job offer down because I don’t want to travel so far.

　　5. If you get into trouble, don’t expect me to .................... you out!

　　6. .................... down here and I’ll bring you a coffee.

　　Answers

　　Activity 01

　　1. d; 2. e; 3. g; 4. h; 5. c; 6. a; 7. f; 8. b

　　Activity 02

　　1. aunt; 2. badly; 3. four; 4. doesn’t want; 5. more than; 6. bad

　　Activity 03

　　1. Joe; 2. Magda; 3. Olivia; 4. Fadi; 5. Magda; 6 Harry

　　Activity 04

　　1. lovely; 2. slow; 3. old; 4. later; 5. happy; 6. energetic; 7. higher; 8: quiet

　　Activity 05

　　1. look; 2. slow; 3. Come; 4. turn; 5. bail; 6. Sit

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 episode   

n.（作品的一段）情节，插曲，系列事件中之一

参考例句：

• The episode was a huge embarrassment for all concerned.这段小插曲令所有有关人员都感到非常尴尬。
• This episode remains sharply engraved on my mind.这段经历至今仍深深地铭刻在我的心中。

3 negotiator   

n.协商者，谈判者；(票据、支票等)背书人

参考例句：

• They have placed great trust in him as a negotiator. 他们完全信赖他进行谈判。
• The negotiator acted as liaison between labour and management. 谈判者充当劳资双方的联络人。

4 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

5 transaction   

n.处理，交易，相互作用

参考例句：

• He was twenty dollars in pocket by the transaction.他在这笔生意中赚了20美元。
• He left the transaction of the matter to his secretary.他把这件事交给秘书办理。

6 disturbance   

n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调

参考例句：

• He is suffering an emotional disturbance.他的情绪受到了困扰。
• You can work in here without any disturbance.在这儿你可不受任何干扰地工作。

7 colloquial   

adj.口语的，会话的

参考例句：

• It's hard to understand the colloquial idioms of a foreign language.外语里的口头习语很难懂。
• They have little acquaintance with colloquial English. 他们对英语会话几乎一窍不通。

8 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

9 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。