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Tapescripts

Unit 8

Unit 9

frrftryfower Weil. today on World of Science, we have Dr Stevens. who is working on genetlcally engineered food, In the studio with us. Dr Stevens. ifs good to have you with us.

Dr Stewns; Ifs a pleasure to be here.

Interyfewer: Now. I understand that you are In favour of genetically modlfied foods?

Dr $¥ev»ns: Yes. thafs right. I believe that they can be extremely useful In many ways. By altering a planfs genes. or by adding certaln genes to a plant, we can help that plant to fight dlsease and protect it from belng attacked by insects.

/nferWewer Yes, fve heard that around a quarter of the com grown In the United States now has been genetlcally engineered to produce an insecticlde which makes the plant poisonous to caterplllars.

Dr Steven$: Thafs right. Caterpillars attack com and cause plants to dle. which of course means a loss of profit for farmers. By altering a single gene in the corn. we can ensure that any Caterpillar attacking the com will die. Interviewer: Hmm. I can see how it could sołve problems in the short term if caterpillars die when they try to eat the corn. However. doesn't this cause problems in the long term?

Dr Stevens: What do you mean? tnterviewer: Weil. if all the caterpillars die, there will be no butterflies. and the worfd needs butterflies because they help to spread seeds from plants and flowers. Also, there are severa) ammals which eat caterpillars, and they would go hungry if all the caterpillars die. This could cause problems all the way up the food chain.

Dr Stevofts; I see your point. yes. Of course there are drawbacks to genetic engineenng, nobody has ever said there werent What Pm trying to point out, though,

»s that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. Interviewer: In your opinton Dr Stevens: Yes. in my opinion.

Interylewer: But the only advantages you have mentioned to far are that genetic engineering can kill insects and improve farmers* incomes.

Dr Sfevensr Weil. of course it can do much morę than that Kitling insects means that the farmer can produce morę com. wheat and to on. If crops are increased. then mors people can be fed. U s as simple as that. By produong morę food. we can leed the starving people in the daveioping wortd and put an and to laminę forever. fnferWewer: Weil. Dr Stevens, you've certainly given us all • lot to think about. Unfortunatety. we‘ve run out of time today, but we hops you will |oin us again soon. And now. ifs time to go to the news desk tor an updata on...

Speaker 1 (małe - mld 50s - American)

Weil like a lot of people. I first started base-jumplng back In the 70s with a bunch of others parachutlng off Califomian cllffs. Then I moved on to high bulldings, bridges, towers, that klnd of thing. Most people think jumping off a tali buildlng is safer than leaplng out of a piane, but in fact, ifs the opposite. Think about It - tali bulldings are usually in the city centre. so when you’re comlng down you have to make surę you don't hit anythlng like another buildlng, a river or an Innocent passer-by In the Street below. I guess thafs why base-jumplng is iliegal in the States now. If I was still competlng, Pd have to go to Europę, but Pm too old now, so Pil ieave It to the klds.

Speaker 2 (fornale - mld 20s)

Pd say free dlvlng is the most physically testing and riskiest of all extreme sports - and Pm not just saying that because I do it! Basically, it means going as Iow as you can underwater on just one breath of air and without the help of any speclal diving equipment apart from a wetsuit, flippers and a maski The reason ifs said to be morę suited to women is because dlvers suffer a lot of pain and women have a higher pain threshold. The pain is actually caused by your lungs shrinklng and your ribs bendlng. I even suffered a few cracked ribs in the I beglnning. We have to train our bodies to cope with this kind of distortion, but I still know people who have had heart attacks, blackouts and burst eardrums, not to mention the odd drowningl

Speaker 3 (małe - 20s/30s)

Skysurflng is really a combination of skydiving, snowboarding and gymnastics, so you have to be good at all three to be successful at it. Skysurfing is different from $kydiving and just plain old parachuting because you're jumping out of a piane with a skateboard I attached to your feet, and during freefall you have about a minutę to pertorm acrobatic stunts, which is where the gymnastics comes in. The only real danger with skysurfing is if you jump with somebody else. I was I jumping once with a cameraman who was filming my I stunts for a commercial. He got too close at one point and we almost collided. You have to be careful because ii you hit heads and are knocked unconscious. you might not wake up in time to open your chutel

Speaker 4 (małe - 40s)

l've been ice-climbing for over ten years now and fd been mountaineering and rock-climbing for ten years before that. I prefer ice-climbing though - ifs much morę of a thriłli A lot of mountaineers and rock-climbers think Ice-climbers are nuts. especially ones like me who prefer to go solo - that is, without a ropę or a climbing matę. Don't forget fd been climbing for a long time before I tried it, fd climbed Everest and lived to tell the tale. Most people need a team mato, someone they can trust,

because at the end of the day your Me te in their handa and vice versa - thera*e no room for mistakes. Ifs probably because ice-climbing requires so much experience and skill that so few climbers are ever killed - if they didn’t know what they were doing, they wouldn’1 be doing itl

Speaker 5

IVe tried a lot of extreme spofts. but in my opinion, nothing can beat white water rafting. Ifs so thrłlling to be thrown about by crashing water. bouncing off rocks and rushing down fast-flowing rivers. It is risky. of course. and you need to work together as a team if you don‘t want to be overtumed or smashed against the rocks. Thafs why I only ever go rafting with people I know really well. You need to be able to communicate perfectly. to trust each other and to know that everyone is pulling their weight.

Mr Jackson: Oh yes. After tha* came me most «hocMnQ part. The drtver got out of the red car and startwJ shouting at the bus drW. as S « was a»fhenn drW% fautt, when anyone with eyes m ther need codto see < wasn’t. It was terrible. I‘ve nowy seen anyrhmg like rt. tf you ask me -

Policeman: Thank you. Mr Jackson, you ve been a great help. Woułd you be prepared to coma to the poface station to make a statement «1 we need any mgre Information?

Mr Jackson: Of course. of course That wouid be no trouble at all. ShaR I give you my phone number? Policeman: Yes. piease.

Mr Jackson: Right Ifs 555793. You can cafl me any time before 9pm. Tm ałways happy to help the pdGce force.

Policeman: Well. we do appredate that Mr Jacfcsoa Thank you.

Unit 10

Policeman: Now. I understand you witnessed the accldent, sir?

Mr Jackson: Thafs right. I saw everything. It was terrible! Policeman: I expect it was. sir. Could I take your name, piease?

Mr Jackson: Of course. Ifs Jackson. Arthur Jackson. I live at 37 Vine Street.

Policeman: Right. And what do you do for a living, Mr Jackson?

Mr Jackson: Pm an accountant.

Policeman: I see. Can you tell me where you were when the accident occurred?

Mr Jackson: I certainly can. I was on the comer of Millfield Road there, posting some letters. I enjoy the walk from my house to the letter box usually, but today it wasn’t very pleasant at all.

Policeman: I can imagine. So, you were facing the road when the accident occurred?

Mr Jackson: Absolutely. I told you, I saw everything. Policeman: Well, could you tell me what exactly you saw? Mr Jackson: Oh yes. I saw the tour bus there, pulling out of the public car park. I remember wondering where the tourists were from. We get so many here and I -Policeman: Yes, you saw the tour bus, and then ...

Mr Jackson: Ahem. Yes. Then I saw the red car there. speeding round the comer. It was going ever so fast and I thought to mysełf anyone going that fast is heading for trouble, so -

Policeman: What happened next, Mr Jackson?

Mr Jackson: Well, you can see what happened. The red car crashed into the tour bus - it didn*t have time to stop, you see. The driver wasn*t even looking. If you ask me, racing along like that -

Policeman: Thank you, Mr Jackson. Did anything happen after that?