C = Counsellor

K = Kate

L = Luki

C: Hi there, Kate. Come on in. How are you today?

K: Fine thanks.

C: Hi, Luki. Hows things?

L: OK.

C: Well, as I explained on the phone, Im a Counsellor here at the Student

Services section of the university and Im interviewing overseas students to

help me draw up a guide for new students so Id be grateful if you could tell

me a little about your time since youve been here in Cambridge.

K: Right.

L: Good idea.

C: Now, Kate lets start with you. OK, um this is your second semester isnt

It? Could you tell us something about your first impressions of the town

when you arrived?

K: Yeah well first of all I was struck by how quiet it is here in the evening

Repeat

C: Yes, I suppose Cambridge is a quiet place. Where did you live when you first

arrived?

K: Well, I went straight into student accommodation; it was a kind of student

hostel.

C: Ah right, so you didnt have to worry about doing your own cooking or

anything like that?

K: No, but sometimes I wished I had! The food at the hostel was awful.

C: Oh dear. But how were the other students?

K: To be honest I haven't managed to make many friends even though the place

is full. People seem to keep to themselves; they're not really very friendly.

C: Oh I'm sorry to hear that. Well, what about the actual course? You're

studying ... uh?

K: I'm doing a Masters by coursework in Environmental Studies.

C: Ah, right, and how are you finding that?

K: Yeah, well, it's been pretty good really. I've enjoyed the course, but I feel

there hasn't been enough contact with the lecturers. They all seem to be

incredibly busy. The only chance I've really had to talk to them was on the

field trip.

C: Well that's no good. Could anything be done to improve the course in your

opinion?

K: Well ... I think it would be helpful to have meetings with lecturers on the

course. Say once a fortnight - something like that.

C: Regular meetings. Yes that could certainly help. Now Kate, we'll come back.

to you in a minute, but I'd just like to ask Luki some questions.

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C: Luki, Where are you from?

L: I am from Indonesia.

C: And how did you find Cambridge when you first arrived?

L: Well, I like it here. I think the city is very beautiful.

C: What about your accommodation? Was that OK?

L: Yes, OK. At first I stayed with a family for three months. They were very

kind to me but they had three young children and I found it difficult to

study

C: Right, I see.

L: So after three months I moved out and now I live with two other students in

a student house. It's much cheaper and we like it there.

C: Good, and what about your studies? What are you studying?

L: I'm doing a Bachelor of Computing.

C: Computing. I see. Um, apart from the language difficulties, if you can

separate them, how have you found the course?

L: OK, but ...

C: Yes, go on.

L: Well, the main difficulty for me is getting time on the computers in the

computer room. It's always busy and this makes it very hard to do my

practical work.

C: Yes, I'm sure it would. Can you reserve time in the computer room?

L: No, you can't ... but it would certainly help if we could reserve computer

time.

C: Yes. I'll look into that and see if something can't be done to improve things

over there. Now let's go back to Kate...

SECTION 2

Radio presenter:

Well, last week we talked about buying camping equipment and today I'd like to

talk to you about buying a bicycle. A simple enough exercise, you might imagine,

but there are lots of things to look out for to make sure you get the best deal for

your money.

Well, the range of bicycles is enormous - there are racing bikes, touring bikes,

mountain bikes or just plain ordinary bikes for riding round town. They vary

enormously in two basic ways: price and quality. This means that the choice you

make will probably be determined by the amount of money you want to pay, your

own personal needs, what is actually available or a compromise of all three things.

However, in broad terms you can spend anything from $50 to $2,000 on a bike so,

you'll need to know what you are looking for.

Single speed cycles - that is bikes with no gears, are really only suited to short,

casual rides. Their attraction is their simplicity and reliability. After years of

neglect they still manage to function, though not always too efficiently. If it's basic

transport you're after then you can't go wrong.

Three speed cycles on the other hand are all that is really necessary for most

town riding, going to the shops and things like that. Like the single speed bike

they are simple and reliable. If you are going to be going up and down lots of

hills, then you'll probably want something more efficient.

Five and ten speed bicycles are best suited to riding over long distances or hilly

terrain and to serious touring, so if it's serious touring you're interested in, get a five

or ten speed bike. However it's worth remembering that the difference in price

between a five and ten speed cycle is usually very little and so it's well worth

paying that little bit extra to get the ten speed one. So I would tend to recommend

the ten speed bike as the price is similar - however you'll be getting better

quality components.

Now the next thing we need to look at is size. Buying a cycle is like buying

clothes, first of all you find the right size and then you try it on to see if it fits.

Contrary to what you might imagine, the size of the cycle is not determined by the

size of the wheels (except in children's cycles), but by the size of the frame. So

you'll need to measure the length of your legs and arms to get a frame that is the

right size for you.

Well, that's all from Helpful Hints for today ...

SECTION 3

F = Fiona

M = Martin

F: Hi there, Martin. How are you going with your Australian studies tutorial

paper?

M: Oh good. I've finished it actually.

F: Lucky you. What did you do it on? I'm still trying to find an interesting topic.

M: Well after some consideration I decided to look at the history of banana

growing in Australia.

F: (surprised) Banana growing!

M: Yes, banana growing.

F: (sarcastically) Fascinating, Im sure!

M: Well its not as boring as youd think. And I wanted to tie it in to the

work Ive been doing on primary industries and the economy. Anyway I bet

there are a few things you didnt know about bananas!

F: Such as?

M: Such as the fact that bananas were among the first plants ever to be

domesticated.

F: Oh, really?

M: Yes, theyre an extremely nourishing food.

F: I suppose youre going to tell me the whole history of banana growing now

arent you?

M: Well, itd be a good practice run for my tutorial next week. Ill do the same

for you some time.

F: OK. Fire away. So where were these bananas first domesticated?

M: According to my research, the Cavendish banana, which is a type of banana

and the first type to be cultivated here, actually originated in China but they

had a fairly roundabout route before they got to Australia.

F: You mean they didnt go straight from China to Australia?

M: No, they didnt. It seems that in 1826, bananas were taken from South China

to England.

F: I suppose they would have made a welcome addition to the English diet.

M: Yes, Im sure. Well apparently there was an English Duke who was

particularly fond of bananas and he used to cultivate them in his hothouse,

which is where you have to grow them in England, of course, because of the

cool climate and they became quite popular in the UK. So he was the one

responsible for cultivating the Cavendish banana which was then introduced

into Australia.

F: I see. And weve been growing them ever since?

M: Yes.

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F: Are they hard to grow?

M: Well, yes and no. To grow them in your garden, no, not really. But to grow

them commercially you need to know what you're doing. You see you only

get one bunch of bananas per tree and it can take up to three years for a tree

to bear fruit if you don't do anything special to it. But this period is greatly

reduced with modern growing methods, particularly in plantations where you

have perfect tropical conditions.

F: Right! So what are you looking at? One year? Two years?

M: No, no, around 15 months in good conditions for a tree to produce a bunch of

bananas. And once youve got your bunch you cut the bunch and the plant down.

F: So how do the trees reproduce then?

M: Well, bananas are normally grown from suckers which spring up around the

parent plant, usually just above the plant. They tend to like to grow uphill

or at least thats the common wisdom.

F: So that's why banana plantations are usually on hillsides, is it?

M: Yes. They grow best like that.

F: That's interesting!

M: If you plant them in rich soil and give them plenty of water at the beginning

of summer, then they should be well advanced by the beginning of winter

when growth virtually stops. But in a country like England, theyre hard to

grow, although you can grow them in a hothouse.

F: But in Australia, its not difficult?

M: No, though even here, the growers put plastic bags around the bunches to

protect them and keep them warm. If you go up to the banana growing

districts, youll see all these banana trees with plastic bags on them.

F: But how do they stop the bananas going bad before they reach the shops?

M: Well, the banana bunches are picked well before the fruit is ripe. Once you

cut the bunch, the bananas stop growing but they do continue to ripen. The

interesting thing is that once one banana ripens, it gives off a gas which then

helps all the others to ripen so they pretty much all ripen within a few hours

of each other.

F: Amazing! So do we export lots of bananas overseas, to Europe and Asia for

instance?

M: Well, oddly enough, no. I believe New Zealand takes a small proportion of

the crop but otherwise theyre mostly grown for the domestic market, which

is surprising when you think about it because we grow an enormous number

of bananas each year.

F: Yes, well thank you for all that information. Im sure the tutorial paper will

go really well you certainly seem to have done your research on the subject.

M: Lets hope so.