Transcript

LIBRARIAN:      What kind of books do you like to read? Here’s a list to look at

ANGELA:          Oh, it’s varied from time to time, but I always like to relax and learn about other countries I might visit one day. I don’t like anything too heavy or serious and love lessons about animals and the environment. I’m not really into sports very much.

LIBRARIAN:      Anything else?

ANGELA:          Oh..I do like entertaining at home, you know, dinner parties, I suppose you have something for me in that line. The pictures in those books always make me hungry. Although they never turn out exactly like they look in the books.

LIBRARIAN:      Fine. I think that’s all I need now.

That brief outline takes us to the beginning of the twentieth century, and now we’ll turn to housing.

At the beginning of the century, living conditions for the majority of working people in East London were very basic indeed. Houses were crowded closely together and usually very badly built, because there was no regulation. But the poor and needy were attracted by the possibility of work, and they had to be housed. It was the availability, rather than the condition, of the housing that was the major concern for tenants and landlords alike.

Few houses had electricity at this time, so other sources of power were used, like coal for the fires which heated perhaps just one room. Of course, the smoke from these contributed a great deal to the air pollution for which London used to be famous.

A tiny, damp, unhealthy house like this might well be occupied by two full families, possibly including several children, grandparents, aunts and uncles.

Customer: Thanks. And are there lots of places to go to around here?

Railperson: Oh..Yes. You can enjoy many days out. And there’s the Merthyr mining museum, which is only half an hour from Trebirch by train. Children will find it as fascinating as any theme park and they can ride in the original miner’s lifts and the coal trains. There are special excursion tickets which include entrance fees. Mainline trains also offer direct services to Bristol, where you can visit the docks or spend a great day out with the children in the zoo, which is set in the parkland that used to surround the old castle. Special family away-day fares are available for this service now during the school holidays. Alternatively, you can be in Birmingham in only an hour and a half, where there’s lots to see and do including the new and internationally-acclaimed climbing wall built on the side of the old aquarium. We will also be running a special service to Newport when the new science museum opens next year, as we anticipate a lot of visitors in the opening weeks, I’d advised you to call early to book your tickets. Is that OK?

Customer: Yes, thanks.

Student: I expect it will take me a while to find what I need. There’s such a lot here

Librarian: Yes, there is. But if you need help getting started, this term we are running three study skills workshops.

Student: Oh? What are they on?

Librarian: Er…Let me see.. The first one’s on resources. Yes, here it is. How to use the library’s resources. That includes everything, not just the print and other technical resources.

Student: That sounds useful. Is there anything about how do use the Internet?

Librarian: Er..Let see. The one on the Internet for beginner was last term. This term it’s on finding research material online.

Student: That sounds interesting, too. What’s the last one?

Librarian: It’s the workshop on dissertation.

Student: What do you mean? How to write one?

Librarian: No. It’s more to do with academic writing conventions, you know, writing bibliography, how to refers to sources in your text, that sort of things. Anyway, here’s the leaflet with the information about all three.

Student: Thanks a lot. That would be very useful.

Librarian: You’re welcome

Vocabulary:

• dissertation (noun): luận văn
• academic writing conventions: các quy cách trong trình bày bài viết học thuật