Speaker 2 Well, that is the thing. You absolutely -it's compulsory - you have to have it. Interviewer Right. And what about staying in hospital? What are American hospitals like?
Speaker 2 Well, they're very good. They're very quiet and calm. Sick people need to rest and they do not
encourage large groups of people. They keep visiting hours very short. Interviewer I see. OK. Thank you. Speaker 2 You're welcome.
Unit 10 Environmental matters Listening in Passage 1
Bridget These days everyone is talking about building houses that are eco-friendly - houses that use energy as
efficiently as possible. But although there's a lot of talk about eco-houses, not many people have actually built one. Today we talk to a young couple who have done exactly that. Jacky and Lenny Carter are in their 30s with one child, and their house in west Wales is a splendid example of what an eco-house should be. I'm here now at their house and they're going to show me round it. Jacky Hi, Bridget. Lenny Welcome.
Bridget It's great to see you. It's quite cold out here. Lenny Yes, do you want to come in?
Bridget I'd love to, but can we look at the outside of the house first? Lenny Sure.
Bridget It's very attractive. It's built of timber and it's two storeys high.
Jacky Yes, we got the timber from Sweden, where they know how to build wooden houses, but it's reclaimed
wood, wood that's been used before.
Bridget I like the house a lot. So tell me more about it. When did you first start thinking about building an
eco-house?
Lenny We thought about it for years. It was our dream, really, wasn't it, Jacky?
Jacky Yes, when we met we found that we both wanted to do the same thing - build a house that used as little
energy as possible. Bridget So how did you do it?
Lenny Well, we bought a very old cottage and we knocked it down. That was the first step.
Jacky We found an architect who had some experience with eco-houses and we spent about eight months
designing the house. We used local builders and as much as possible, local materials. Bridget And those are solar panels on the roof, aren't they?
Lenny Yes. They provide hot water in summer and warm water in winter for the underfloor heating. Bridget Underfloor heating? Can we go inside and take a look? Lenny Sure.
Bridget It's lovely and warm in here. And gosh, yes, the floors do feel warm. Urn, lovely. Jacky Yes, we love the underfloor heating. And it's so cheap, compared to using electricity. Bridget So how much are your heating bills?
Jacky Very low. They've gone down by about 70 per cent. Bridget That's a lot of money you've saved. Jacky Absolutely. Let's go into the kitchen.
Bridget What a wonderful kitchen. Did you put it in yourselves? Lenny Yes, we did. It's made of reclaimed wood again.
Bridget I'd love to own a kitchen like this. Can we see the rest of the house?
Passage 2 Part 1
Presenter People are slowly returning to their homes after tornadoes hit the states of Maryland and Mississippi
yesterday. At least 30 people have died and hundreds have been injured. Thousands of people are without electricity due to the high winds and many are now homeless.
Dawn Busby, who lives with her family in Nelsonia in southern Maryland, tells her story.
Dawn We'd just had Sunday lunch and we were talking about what we were going to do that afternoon. A
neighbour rang to tell us there were storm warnings and my kids got really excited. It started pouring with rain and it got really dark.
We weren't really worried, it didn't sound as if the tornado was coming our way. But we turned on the radio and then the announcer said that there was another tornado and it was coming our way. My daughter, who's 13, got real frightened and wouldn't let go of my arm. But my husband and brother went outside to watch the storm - you could see it coming in from the east real fast - these huge black clouds. I shouted to the men to come to the basement and they came running inside. The wind was pulling at their clothes - it was really strong. Part 2
Dawn I couldn't really believe it was going to happen but then a huge black cloud suddenly appeared in the sky,
very near us, and it was coming towards our street. It was making a sound like a train. It was very loud and truly terrifying. We ran, I mean we really ran, down to the basement and there was a window there so we could watch. I was holding my daughter and my husband was holding Pete, who's only seven.
Then something amazing happened. The thing was moving towards us and I thought, \to die.\the left. None of us could believe it. We all started laughing as if something really funny had happened. I suppose in a way it had. We ran outside and the whole street was outside. Everyone was shouting and cheering and hugging each other. I've never had a day like that - ever.
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