unit 18 Problems
3 Problems on holiday
Hello.How are you?
Great.I've seen lots of interesting things.
I'm really enjoying it.
Yes,it's a nice place,isn't it?
Yes,lovely.So what are you doing today?
Oh,I've lost my passport,
so I need to go to the Embassy and see if I can get a temporary one.
Oh no! Where did you lose it?
I'm not sure.The last time I remember having it was in the bank the other day.
Have you been back there to see if anyone's handed it in?
Yes,I went there yesterday,but they didn't have it.
How annoying!
Yes,it's real pain.Anyway,listen,I must go.
The Embassy opens at ten and I want to get there early.
Yes,sure.Well,good luck.I hope you sort it all out.
Yes,thanks.
7 Key word:sort out
Yesterday I went to the bank to get some money out of the cashpoint.
There are two machines next to the bus stop where I catch my bus into town.
I got to the bank and there were two people waiting at eachmachine,
so I had to decide which queue to join.
I was worried because I knew the bus could come at any moment,
so I wanted to join the faster queue.
I joined one with an old lady and a young man in front of me.
The young guy finished quickly and we moved forward.
I started thinking I'd made the right decision.
The old lady then started looking in her bag for her purse.
As the queue next to me moved forward,
I thought abut changing,but I couldn't see ab bus coming and anyway,
just at that moment,a couple arrived and started queuing up for the other machine.
'Never mind,'I thought.
'I only have to wait for one person and the old lady has found her purse.'
Unfortunately,though,she had also found several cheques,
which she wanted to pay into her account.
She put her card in and keyed in her PIN number.
The machine seemed very slow
and I suddenly noticed a bus at the end of the road.
The old lady took the envelope and put her cheques in,
but then she dropped one.
I picked it up for her and put it in the machine.
I could see the bus coming to the stop before mine.
The old lady finally finished!
'I'm going to make it,'I said to myself.
I keyed in my number and asked for fifty pounds.
I waited and a message came up:
'Sorry.This machine is temporarily unable to dispense money.'
I wanted to scream!The bus was already leaving the stop before mine.
I looked over at the three people waiting in the other queue
and asked if I could jump in ahead of them.
'My bus is coming,'I tried to explain.
'I need the money to get the bus.'
They just looked at me as if I was an alien.
'No,you'll have to wait like everyone else,'one of them replied.
I Joined the end of the queue.My bus left without me!
In this kind of situation,
there should be a law that makes everyone form just one queue.
This is what happens in the post office and it works well.
Everyone is treated fairly.
Until that law is introduced,though,
the world will continue to be divided into two groups:
the people like me,who always choose the wrong queue,
wait for ages and never get what they want,
and the people who never have any problems in life.
They just jump queues,
because they know someone on the door of a club
or they have a friend who is standing near the front
or because they're just beautiful and some stupid man lets them push in,
because he thinks they like him(but they don't).
Queuing,however,isn't always a problem.
I met one of my best friends in q queue.
I was 14 and my favourite band Take That were doing a tour.
I started queuing for tickets the night before they came on sale.
There were lots of us there and the girl sitting next to me was called Rachel.
She was really nice.
She shared her food and drink with me.
She saved my place in the queue when I had to go to the toilet
and she was just good fun.
We've been friends ever since.
3 While you listen
Conversation 1
Hi,I wonder if you can help me with this.
What's the problem with it?
I'm not really sure.It's just not working properly.
When you press record,the red light doesn't come on and then,
it works,the film usually comes out looking very strange.
OK.Let me have a look at it..oh,it's very dirty.
How long have you had it?
Quite a while now.Maybe four or five years.
Right.That's quite a long time.And when was the last time you cleaned it?
Cleaned it? I didn't know I had to!
I've never really cleaned it.I don't know how to do it.
Ah-ha!Well,that could be part of the problem.
Let's open it all up and give it a good clean,
and see if that makes any difference.
OK.Great.Thanks.Can I leave it with you?
Yes,of course.It should be ready later on today,
if you want to come back later to collect it.
Conversation 2
Hi,thanks for coming.
That's OK.Where is it?
Just through here in the kitchen.There you are.
Right,OK.And what's the problem with it?
I'm not really sure.
It's making a funny noise when it goes round
and I think it's leaking somewhere because
water keeps coming out from underneath here.
I see.And how long've you had it?
Almost four years now and I've never had any problems with it before.
No,it's a very good make.
They don't usually break down.
Let's start with the noise.
Do you always check there's no money in your pockets before you put things in?
Wll...um..I try to,of course,but it's possible I miss some sometimes.
Well,that could be it,then.
Sometimes coins get stuck just here and start making a horrible noise.
Let's open this up and have a look,OK?
And then we'll worry about the leak.
Conversation 3
So what's wrong with it?
I've no idea!I've tried turing it on and off,
but nothing happen at all.
I've tried pressing all these buttons here,
but that didn't make any difference.
I've even tried changing the batteries in the remote control use with it,
but that didn't help either.I really don't know what to do.
How long have you had it?
Just a couple of days.
I only bought it last Saturday and the man in the shop
told me it was the best brand you can buy.
It makes me really angry.
OK.OK.Calm down and let's have a look at it.
It's all connected up OK.
I know.I checked all that earlier.
It's very strange.
Let's start from the beginning with it,then.
OK.Oh,look-you idiot!! What?What have I done?
You haven't plugged it in over here,have you!
I'm not surprised it hasn't been working!
Oh no.I'm really sorry.I've completely wasted your time,then!
Oh well,never mind.You live and learn,I suppose.
Yes,maybe..but it's a really stupid mistake,isn't it?
You can say that again!