Hiking

-Hi. Sorry to disturb you, I know you’re studying, but I’d like to discuss something with you.
-Hi. No problem at all. I’ve already finished, and I wanted to call you anyway about the
weekend.
-What a coincidence! I’m calling about the same thing. I wonder if you’d like to go hiking at
the weekend. The weather has been great all week, and I’m so fed up with the cold and
rain.What do think?
-Well, I’m free on Sunday. We could go somewhere. But I don’t think we should stay outside
for long, you know how quickly the weather changes. I hate walking in the rain.
-According to the weather forecast, it’ll be sunny all day. And even if it rains, it’ll just be a
short shower.
-Well, to be honest, I’m not too keen on hiking so early in spring. I’d prefer something less
tiring. How about watching some videos? Or, if you insist on fresh air and nature, we could
go to the zoo. I haven’t been there for ages. I’ve heard an elephant baby was born last month.
It must be so cute! What do you think?
-Well, I went to the zoo last weekend with my little niece, so I’d prefer something different.
Actually, the zoo was great fun for both of us. The new aquarium is cool. It’s got all those
fantastic creatures!
-Never mind. I’ll go some other time.
-I really don’t want to be pushy, but I’ve got a great plan for Sunday. We could go to
Nagymaros by train. I’ve checked the tourist map and found a path that takes us up to the top
of the hill. From the village it’s about a 2-hour walk.
-You should rather say it’s a two-hour climb. I’m not sure I’m fit enough for that kind of
exercise.
-It’s not as bad as that. The path goes around the hillside. You won’t even notice you’ve
reached the top. We might even see deer int he forest. And the first wild flowers. The best
thing is that from the top of the hill you can see the whole Danube Bend!
-I see there’s no chance that I’ll have a quiet weekend, so let’s go to the hills. I’m just worried
about the distance. How long will it take to get back to the village?
-We’ll take another route down the hill. It’s a bit longer, but it’s very spectacular. We’ll be
enjoying the view all the way down. Altogether we’ll be walking for about 5 hours.
-No way! You’re joking! I can’t survive that. You must promise we’ll stop whenever I get
tired.
-Of course! I want both of us to enjoy the firstouting of the year. Have you got good hiking
boots? It’s the most important thing we need.
-Yes, I’ve bought a new pair. I found a good bargain in the winter sales. What else shall we
bring?
-Enough food for the day. It’s best to prepare sandwiches at home. I’ll also bring apples, and
you could pack two oranges or pears. Fresh fruit is very refreshing when you’re tired. Bring a
big bottle of mineral water or tea, too. If you drink sweet soft drinks, you’ll be thirsty again in
a minute. We should have enugh water for the day in case we lose our way.
-Now that sounds terrific!
-
A night with an English friend

Andy, I was thinking about what we should do Saturday evening. I’d like to find something
that we both enjoy.
-Whatever you suggest is OK whit me. You know this is my first time in Hungary, and
everything is new to me. I’ve been here spending three days, but I already feel at home. I
really appreciate that you’ve shown me so many things. I’m really having a great time.
-I’m happy to hear that. Let me think… We could go to the cinema. There are quite a few
films I haven’t seen. The Spanish film week is on now. If you like good European directors,
that would be a good idea. Almodovar’s latest film got excellent reviews in the papers.
-Frankly, art films are not my cup of tea. But if you really want to see it, we can go.
-That’s all right. I can go another time. Before I forget, Dani, my best friend, has just called.
He’d like us to go with him to the new skating rink Saturday evening. Would like to go?
-OK, that’s fine. I’ll watch you skate. You know, I can’t skate well. When I was five I fell and
broke my arm. As a matter of fact, I’ve been terrified of skating ever since then.
-Well, in that case I don’t think we should go to the skating rink. Forget it. How about going
to the theatre, then? There’s a new Hungarian musical. It opened a few months ago, and it’s a
great success. The only problem is that you have to book the tickets well in advance. If you
are interested, I’ll give it a try and call the box office.
-A great idea, Barbara! I love musicals. I saw Producers just before I left for Hungary. It was
absolutely wonderful! Great music, fantastic cast, and the guy in the leading role gave on a
brilliant performance that the audience went wild.
-I’m glad you like the idea. I’ll call the box office then. But what if we don’t get tickets?
Would you like to see some live music? Do you like jazz?
-Yes, I love jazz. When I’m tired I find it very relaxing to play the saxophone. I’m not quite
sure the neighbours are of the same opinion. Do you happen to know if any good bands are
playing on Saturday?
-Well, I’ve heard that the best Hungarian musicians regularly play on a boat on the river at the
weekend. My friends who have been, say these are excellent performances. Perhaps we could
go there, listen to the music, enjoy the view and have dinner at the same time.
-I would never say no to good jazz and a traditional Hungarian dinner. If you ask me, I’d
prefer the jazz boat on Saturday. We could try to book theatre tickets for another day. Let’s
have this evening out with jazz! How about that?
-It’s a deal, Andy.

Surprise Party for your sister/brother

-Albert, did you know that Petra’s going to be 18 on the 15th of May? Look at this photo. I
can hardly believe that my little sister is turning 18! She’s beautiful, huh?
-Yeah! She really looks great! But I see what you mean. Because we’ve grown up together,
she’ll always be that a lovely little girl with pigtails to me. To be honest, I had completely
forgotten about my parent’s and not very good at remembering dates. Every year I hate to try
hard not to forget my parent’s and brother’s birthday. I’m absolutely hopeless. Thanks for
mentioning her birthday. I’ll start thinking about what to get her for a present.
-Actually, I’ve got an idea. I want to me her 18th birthday memorable for her. I’m thinking of
organising a surprise party. Would you like to help?
-A surprise party? A brilliant idea! Of course, I’ll help. Petra deserves the best. She’s always
helped me with my literature essays. Don’t worry, I’m joking. She deserves a great party for a
hundred other reasons. The only problem is that I haven’t got the faintest idea how to organise
a surprise party.
-Don’t worry! I haven’t done anything like that before, either. But it can’t be so much
difficult. First, we should decide when and where the party is going to be. I talked to my mum
yesterday and she likes the idea. Luckily, Petra’s birthday falls on Saturday. My mum says we
could have the party in our garden and the living room on Saturday evening.
-That’s fie. Who shall we invite?
-We should definitely invite our common friends, Éva, Dávid and Robi. Could you call them
and tell them about the party? I know Petra’s best friends from her class, so I’ll call them.
And my parents want to invite a few close family members. I’m worried about the very mixed
company. A lot of people don’t know each other and won’t be able to talk each other. I’d
prefer to have only young people, but my mum insists on inviting the family, too.
-Don’t worry. Your parents will find a way of making the party enjoyable for everybody. I
just can’t see how it’s going to be a surprise for Petra if the guests start coming on Saturday
one after the other.
-Well, this is the biggest problem, and this is where I need your help. Perhaps you could take
her out for an ice cream around 6 o’clock, or you could call her and ask her to come over to
your house because you need help with another essay. I’m sure you’ll manage to make up
goods excuse. In the meantime, we could prepare everything in the house and in the garden.
When you get back with Petra, let’s say, at 7.30, the house will be dark, suddenly we’ll turn
the lights on, ad she’ll see flowers, the cake and decorations, an we’ll shout ’Happy Birthday’.
Can you imagine her face? It’ll be a fantastic surprise.
-It sounds pretty good. But it isn’t your idea, is it? You’ve taken it from a Hollywood movie, I
guess.
-It doesn’t matter where I got the idea from. The result is what’s important. What else do we
have to organise?
-The food and drinks, of course. Since we’re going to have quite a few people, it would be
best if everybody brought……
-Yes, it’s a very good idea. I loved your mum’s homemade cherry pie the other day. Do you
think she could make it again? My parents have offered to buy the drinks and the birthday
cake. I’ll ask the girls to design and prepare the decorations. We have more than a week; I
think it’ll be enough time to arrange everything. When you cal our friends, could you tell
them about everything? By the way, we could ask Norbi to bring his DJ equipment, you
know, he’s an experienced DJ, and we could dance as well.
-It’ getting better and better. I’m just wondering what I should get Petra. I’d like to find
something really nice for her. But I still have time it think about it.

School

-I think it was a good idea to enter the competition. As our school is really special,it won’t be
difficult tom make a great project.
-First, we should plan what we to include. Remember, it has to be a ten-pages essay written in
English.
-We could start with the most important charecteristics of our scholl. We should say that it is
int he centre of MK. and that it is a 4 year secondary school with 600 students.
-It is also important that it is a combined gramar and vocational school. The students
attending the vocational school maths, biology, English and German.
-Then we’ll have to say something about the history of the school.There’s a very good history
ont he school homapage in –Hungarian,we can translate the most important partss into
English.
-By the way, did you know that our English teacher is the granddaughter of the founder of our
school? Wr could conduct an interview with her and include it int he project?
-Sounds good to mr. If we include a tape, the film could start with footage of the school from
the outside and then we could film the classrooms, the gym and the assembly hall with the
teachers and students.
-I hope they’ll like that the project includes a film, too. What else shall we write about the
school?
-We are expected to write about the school’s traditions, too. We should leave out our best
tradition, A weekend at School, which we organise each spring.
- Well, let me see what we did last year. There were drama performances in three languages,
the Best Joke notest, a Dance Show, a Fig Quize, late-night movies and The Prettiest Ear
beauty contest. It was great fun!
- I’m not sure we should write about the beauty contest. Doesn’t it sound stupid?
- Not at all, because it shows both the serious part and the fun part of school life. I think it’s
important to mention the school camp in Bükk, too, where the students spend 2 weeks in
summer.
- There’s another important question in the project. What makes our school special?
-Well, to me the best feature of our school is the good atmosphere. The teachers are ready to
discuss important things with us, they ask for our opinions and they really take us seriously.
We make decisions together. The School Council is not just a name, it plays an important part
in school life. Personally, I think that’s why we have very few conflicts with teachers and why
we don’t mind spending our free time with them sometimes.

Wedding present

Examiner: Would this item be a good weeding present?

Candidate: I don’t feel the set of golf clubs would be a suitable wedding
present because it’s customary to get a couple useful household goods to help
them furnish their new house. The yoga classes wouldn’t be the best choice
either because there’s much more money available to spend, and besides we’re
not sure that the couple could go to the classes together. I think any of the other
four gifts would be appropriate.
Examiner: What do you think is an appropriate gift from work colleagues?
Candidate: Personally, I feel that the set of crystal glasses or the China dinner
service are very appropriate gifts from colleagues. These gifts could be used by
the couple for their own meals and also for entertaining guests at home. It is
appropriate for colleagues to buy something that can be used for entertainment. I
would get them the set of crystal glasses.
Examiner: Will the gift be a nice memory of their friends in the office?
Candidate: I think the gift will be a nice memory of their colleagues because
they will drink from these glasses on special occasions and perhaps they will
remember that their colleagues got them these glasses to make their happy
moments or special occasions even nicer.

Computer

- Hannah, I need your help. I was working on my history project yesterday. I’ll have to hand
in a printed version, so I was working ont he computer. You can’t believe how slow it is! We
should buy a more up-to-date one soon. Will you help persuade Mum and Dad to buy a new
one as Christmas present for both of us:
- As a matter of fact, I wanted to suggest something similar. Did you know that our TV is 15
years old? And the video has broken down again. Kati’s just promised to lend me ’Friends’ on
DVD, but we haven’t got a DVD player. She’s got the whole series! I’d so much like to see it!
Quite honesty, I’d prefer a new TV set and a DVD player instead of the computer.
-You’re forgetting that you’ll also need the computer for school work soon. It’s not just that
the old one is slow, buti f we buy a newer and faster one with more memory, we can have an
Internet connection, too. You can ’t imagine what you can do with the Internet! For example,
if you had to fin dall the Hungarian scientists who have won the Nobel Prize, you’d be sitting
int he library for hours! If you have an internet connection, you just click on one of the search
engines, write in what you’re looking for, and you’ll get a list of results in a few seconds. I’m
not saying that it is as simple as that, but you’ll learn how to use it vey quickly. And we could
play fantastic games, too!
- So it’s about the games, isn’t it? All your friends are playing games, and you don’t want to
be left out.
- Are you kidding? What I need is fast word processing and the internet. At university I won’t
be able to survive without them. To tell you the truth, I wouldn’t mind the games either, but
they’re not the most important thing.
-If we got a new computer, we could store digital photos, too.
-Well, at least you’ve started to see the advantages. I’m absolutely certain it would very
quickly become a problem for me to get time on the computer. You’d be sitting in front o fit
for hours, chatting with your friends.
- That’s not fair, Tom. I see my friends almost every day. I can see your point but I still prefer
the DVD player and the TV. The computer would too expensive, anyway.
-Don’t forget that you can watch DVDs on a good computer. The old TV will survive for
another year.
- I didn’t know that. Could I really watch DVDs?
- Yes, of course. And you can set the language of the films, too. We could watch the film sin
English, and, if it’s too difficult, we can read the Hungarian subtitles. So, will you help me
persuade Mum and Dad?
-Ok. Let’s get the computer. We can try to talk to them int he evening. I hope they’ll be in a
good mood when they get home.
 Cleaning

-         Pat, this is the last clean cup in the house. After breakfast I’ll do the washing up.
Could you help me a bit with the other jobs around the house? I think you’ll agree we
need to do some cleaning and go to the supermarket if we want to survive without my
parents.

-         Yes, of course I’ll help you. Just tell me what I should do.

-         We’ll need some food for the evening, we should tidy up the rooms, water the plants
and feed the dog and the goldfish. We also need some clean clothes.

-         Perhaps I could feed Sam and the goldfish and water the plants. I love your dog and
I’d love to take him for a walk, too. If you don’t mind, I’ll take him after breakfast,
and on the way of home I could do the shopping, too. It’s not a problem for Sam to
stay outside the supermarket for a few minutes, is it?

-         No, not at all.It’s a great idea. Could you bring milk, orange juice, bread and a dozen
eggs? That’s all we need.

-         I think we’ve run out of mineral water and yoghurt, too.

-         Yes, you’re right. Get two bottles of mineral water and a few cartons of yoghurt, too
please. And thanks a lot, Pat. You’re a great help. In the meantime I’ll do the washing-
up, load the washing machine, and tidy the rooms. This way we’ll be ready by 10
when Johanna’s coming to pick us up. You haven’t forgotten about the trip to Lake
Balaton, have you? I’m sure we’re going to have a great time.

-         Of course, I haven’t. But I had forgotten the name of the lake. Actually, I loved the
photos you showed me the other day. Well, we should hurry up if we want to finish
before Johanna gets there. Anyway, I like your idea of getting rid of the most
important jobs quickly. Sharting the household chores like that will make life easier.
Let’s do the same every morning.

-         Agreed. And this way my parents won’t find a pigsty when they return.

-         Yes, that’s important, too. I just hope they speak English at the supermarket.

-         You’ll find everything on the shelves. Otherwise, ask the shop assistants. They could
use a little practice in speaking English anyway. Ask younger people, they can usually
speak English.

-         Ok. Where’s the food for Sam and the fish?

-         On the top shelf in the cupboard in front of you.

Candidate: In the first picture I can a man keeling down in a garden. He is dressed very
casually and he seems happy and cheerful. I think gardening is one of his hobbies and he is
taking care of his plants.
In the other picture, there is a man in the office. He is dressed in a suit so I suppose he is a
businessman. He is talking on the phone and he looks very stressed or worried.The two
pictures are very different. Ithink they show the difference between a stressful day or lifestyle,
and a relaxing way of spending your time.
Examiner: Which one of these two men do you believe leads a healthier lifestyle?
Candidate: Obviously, the man in the first photograph leads a much healthier lifestyle as we
can see him. You can also tell by his body shape too;and he isn’t angry like the man in the
other picture.
Examiner: Do you think that stress can damage one’s health?
Candidate: Yes, a stressful lifestyle can certainly contribute to damaging one’s health. I read
some articles that said that stress can provoke cancer or other ilnesses.When people are
stressed they often eat very quickly or badly and this is clearly not good for their health. I
think it is obvious that when you are relaxed you have a better life.
Examiner: Which one of these two men can you relate to more and why?
Candidate: My daily routine depends on the time of year. It is different during the winter
and the summer. I prefer my routine during the summer so I’ll tell you about that. In the
summer, I go to my parent’s beach house. I always get up early in the morning and take my
dog for a walk and then I have breakfast alone or with my parents. Then I either go swimming
or sailing all morning or sometimes all day. In the evening I usually go into the village with
friends or else we have beach parties. The most important thing is that I don’t have to go to
school. When thereis school I think my life is quite stressful because I have to get up very
early, I often have exams, tests and this stresses me sometimes.

American camp
 

-         Have you thought about the ad I showed you at school? I’m rather serious about
working at that summer camp in America. Should we apply?

-         Well, it’s a very exciting idea to spend 6 weeks in the United States. It’s just that I’m
not sure if my english is good enough to work with american kids. But, on the other
hand, it would be a great opportunity to improve my English.

-         You know, if we apply, theyâ019ll invite us for an interview. thatâ019s how they
decide if somebody is suitable for the job. Let’s try it! What do we have to lose? I’d
like to brush up my English , too.

-         Well, you’re right, I think, Will they ask us what kind of job We’d like to do?

I haven’t got the faintest idea. But they probably will. The ad says they need sports and
games instructors, art instructors, shop assistants and kitchen staff. They might also
take into consideration what kind of experience we have in these areas, and how good
our English is.
-         And I think they’ll try to find out if we have the right qualities to be able to work with
children. I mean, if we are reliable, patient, friendly, open-minded, things like that.

-         Well, we don’t have to worry about that. You’ve got two younger brothers, and I’ve
seen you playing with them and helping them with their homework. You’ve learnt
how to be patient and how to solve conflicts. As for me, remember, I worked with
primary-school children at Lake Balaton last summer. I loved the kids. I looked after
them all day, played with them, organised games, and we even staged Winniw the
Pooh.

-         Yes, we should speak about all these experiences at the interview. Let’s decide which
job we’d like to do. If you ask me, I wouldn’t like to work in the kitchen. Peeling
potatoes all day is out of the question.

-         Don’t be too picky. But I must admit, working kitchen help is the last thing I’d like to
do, too. We Won’t be able to practise English if we’re washing the dishes all day,
anyway.

-         How do you feel about working in the shop? I wouldn’t mind that. It’s interesting and
you can meet a lot of people.

-         Actually, I don’t find it very intersting. I’d prefer to work with the children. You

know I can play the guitar and the violin, and I’ve already taught music to children. I
could teach the kids how to play the guitar. I’m rather good at drawing and painting,
too. So, my first choice is the job of art instructor.

-         That sounds good. I’ll ask for the job of sports and games instructor, then. I’m a good
swimmer, and I’m on the school’s basketball team. I’m just a bit worried about
working with native speakers. Will I be able to understand the kids? They speak so
fast. And how will be fine. Just be friendly, and don’t lose your temper. We’ll get used
to the kids in a few days. Another impotant thing is that we should always stick to the
rules. You know, looking after children is a huge responsibility.

-         Absolutely. We should ask which part of the States the camps are in. And we should
also find out about the dates, the visa and the travelling arrangements, too.

-         Definitely. We can ask about them at the interview.

Do you know how to apply?

-         No, but we can find out about it easily. Let’s call the phone number in the ad.