Q2e Listening & Speaking 3: Audio Script

UNIT 5

Unit 5, Behavioral Science, The Q Classroom Page 100

Teacher: Here we are at Unit 5. “What risks are good to take?” is

our question. So what are some risks that people take that
can be good? Felix?
Felix: Well, there are social risks—for example, introducing yourself
to new people.
Teacher: Definitely risky! Is it good to take social risks?
Marcus, what do you think?
Marcus: Yes, it’s good. You need to take those risks to meet new
people. If you don’t, you might not make any new friends. It
might take a few tries, but that’s OK. You can learn from your
mistakes.
Teacher: What other kinds of risks are there? What kinds of risks
do people take with their jobs? Yuna?
Yuna: Um, getting a new job?
Teacher: Sure. Changing jobs or careers can be a big risk. Is it a
good risk to take? Sophy?
Sophy: Maybe. You might lose money or cause problems for your
family. But if the new job or career makes you happy in the
long run, it could be a good risk to take. You need to think
carefully before you take that kind of risk, though. You
shouldn’t just jump into it.
Teacher: OK, so you believe in being careful about taking risks.
I can understand that.

Unit 5, Listening 1, Activity A, D Page 105, 107

Host: Writers have always had a hard time getting published. There
have always been a few writers who have published their own
books, including T.S. Eliot and the children’s book author
Beatrix Potter. The publishing industry is changing quickly, and
self-publishing may be more popular than ever. Michael
Andrews talks about the risks some writers have begun to take
to make a dream come true.
Michael Andrews: Just 20 or 30 years ago, a writer basically had one
way to get his or her book out there — through a traditional
publishing house. Yes, you could publish your own book
through a vanity press, but it was embarrassing to admit you
had stooped so low. In the typical success story, an agent sold
the book to the publisher, and the writer received a huge,

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Q2e Listening & Speaking 3: Audio Script

or at least modest, advance, followed by royalties year after

year. The publisher would provide publicity and the funds for
the author to travel around the country promoting the book.
Of course, not everyone gets published by a big house. In 1989,
John Grisham’s first novel A Time to Kill, was published by a
very small publishing company, which only printed 5,000
copies of the book. They didn’t provide any financial backing
for publicity. Grisham bought 1,000 copies himself, then spent
three months traveling around the state with the books in the
trunk of his car. He visited more than 30 libraries before he
finally sold all his copies. After that first book, he was picked up
by a bigger publisher, and is now a best-selling author. In 2002,
15-year-old Christopher Paolini wrote an adventure novel. For
the next couple of years, he revised it. At that time, his parents’
income came from a small publishing company they ran. They
liked his novel and decided to publish it themselves. Paolini
made more than 70 visits to bookstores and schools around the
country. He was never home for more than 3 days in a row.
Christopher and his parents were exhausted by the demands of
printing the book, managing the website and traveling.
Christopher’s busy schedule threatened the completion of his
second book. Fortunately, the publisher Knopf approached
them and bought the rights to the first book and two more for
five hundred thousand dollars. Brunonia Barry has also
followed a non-traditional path to publishing success. When
she finished her novel The Lace Reader, she wanted to find an
audience for the book, but she didn’t want to spend years
trying to get a publisher. She and her husband owned a small
software company. They decided to print the book themselves.
They risked their savings, spending fifty thousand dollars on
the publication and publicity. Barry approached book clubs in
her hometown and asked if they would be willing to read the
book. Readers began to learn about the book from other
readers. It started to sell and attracted a big publisher. She sold
the rights for two million.
She said that had she known the difficulty and expense of self-publishing, they
might not have done it.
Once upon a time, writers took a big risk when they self-published.
A real publisher wouldn’t consider publishing a book of a writer
who had self-published. And it was difficult to get bookstores to
stock the book or reviewers to review it. But the publishing
industry is changing. A newer publishing model is the e-book.
With a much lower cost, writers can produce an electronic copy of
their books and sell it for as little as 99 cents. The e-book can

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Q2e Listening & Speaking 3: Audio Script

expose their work to a much larger audience, or it can disappear.

One writer, Amanda Hocking, couldn’t get
an agent or publisher, so she started to publish her young adult
novels as e-books. But not all of her readers have access to e-books,
so she wants to publish them as print books.

Unit 5, Listening Skill, Part 1, Example 1 Page 109

five hundred dollars one

thousand pounds ten
thousand euros two hundred
thousand dollars five million
pounds
twelve billion euros

Unit 5, Listening Skill, Part 1, Example 2 Page 109

They risked their savings, spending fifty thousand dollars on

the publication and publicity. She sold the rights for two
million.

Unit 5, Listening Skill, Part 1, Example 3 Page 109

It was a fifty-dollar shirt.

The three-hundred-pound football player needed a larger uniform.
The four-hundred-seat stadium was too small for the crowd. It’s
a fifteen-minute bus ride to my office.

Unit 5, Listening Skill, Part 1, Activity A Page 110

1. Christopher Paolini sold the rights to his novels for five hundred thousand dollars.
2. The cheapest tickets are ten dollars.
3. The five-pound bag of sugar is three dollars.
4. The four-hundred-seat stadium was too small for the crowd.
5. That store sells five-hundred-dollar shoes.
6. We took a ten-question survey online.
7. My suitcase weighs over sixty pounds.
8. Maria found a fifty-dollar bill on the sidewalk

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Q2e Listening & Speaking 3: Audio Script

Unit 5, Listening Skill, Part 2, Examples Page 110

one; first two;

second three;
third five;
fifth
seven; seventh twenty;
twentieth thirty-four;
thirty-fourth forty-six;
forty-sixth

Unit 5, Listening Skill, Part 2, Activity C, D Page 111

1. The seventh test can be taken this week.

2. The nine students left an hour ago.
3. I ate the fifteen cookies.
4. Did you receive the sixth email I sent you?
5. Push the fourth button.

Unit 5, Listening 2, Activity A, D Page 111

Reporter: Scientists often have a reputation for being intelligent, but not necessarily
brave. You may picture them in white coats in a lab somewhere, looking through
microscopes or doing experiments with beakers and tubes. But science, by its very
nature, is about taking risks. Scientists solve problems, explore mysteries, and
investigate the world around us. While this sometimes takes them into a laboratory,
it often takes them out into the world, to the very edge of what is known. As a result,
they often put themselves at risk.

Think about the dangers the natural world poses – terrible storms like hurricanes
and tornadoes, extreme climate and terrain found in deserts or at the Arctic Circle,
the shifting of the earth itself causing earthquakes and erupting volcanoes. The more
scientists can learn about these phenomena, the better they can make predictions
and protect us.

Paul Flaherty is a flight meteorologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration’s Aircraft Operations Center at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa,
Florida. He often flies aircrafts through a hurricane’s center, or eyewall. According to
Flaherty, everyone on his crew understands the risks that come with this job, but
they know the information they are able to collect and get to forecasters,
researchers, and the public far outweighs the risks. As a meteorologist, he’s
fascinated with all types of weather, but fascination alone isn’t enough to allow you
to keep taking risks. On a previous trip in 2005, he and his crew tracked Hurricane
Katrina for 5 nights before she made landfall. After seeing the damage Katrina
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Q2e Listening & Speaking 3: Audio Script

caused firsthand, and after knowing his crew’s efforts played a big role in getting
over 1 million people out of harm’s way, he never again questioned why he takes
these risks. Every time he flies, the data collected helps researchers better
understand these storms. He says if he and his crew didn’t accept any risks in the air,
the public would have more risks on the ground. One way hurricane hunters lower
their level of risk is by identifying risks, and rating them according to how serious
they are and how likely they are to happen. If a mission is too risky, they find
another way to get the information. One new invention that may help is the drone.
A drone is a plane that flies itself. It can fly longer than planes with crews and this
can help in studying storms.

Another scientist used to taking risks is Tina Neal, a volcanologist with the U.S.
Geological Survey who is based in Alaska. Most people assume that the greatest risk
to volcanologists is in working around active volcanoes. Neal says that while that is
dangerous at times, she has always erred on the side of caution. They spend a lot of
time thinking about their safety working around an active volcano, even making
maps that locate areas where they can go and where they can land the helicopter.
She thinks the greater risks have to do with the environment and their mode of
transportation. Especially in Alaska, they face difficult and dangerous weather and
bears, and they use helicopters, small airplanes, and sometimes boats to get to the
volcanoes. On a trip-by-trip basis, these are greater risks.

According to Neal, volcanology, especially the field part of the science, has more risks
than other types of science that are done in office or most lab settings. Taking risks
is essential at times to getting the job done. Her career in volcanology has been very
rewarding. She thinks any job that allows her to discover, travel, and help make the
world a safer place is worth doing.

So science and risk taking often go hand in hand. Many scientists continue to do
research even after they retire, often taking on new challenges. So even as they get
older, scientists prove they can still take risks.

Unit 5, Pronunciation, Examples Page 119

1. I’d already finished the test when the teacher collected our papers.
He’d eaten at that restaurant before.
We’d often talked about getting married.
You’d left when we got there.
She’d written her email before she received mine.
2. Had you heard from him by the time you left?
Had everyone finished the test by two o’clock?
3. I hadn’t finished my phone call by the time the train arrived. They
hadn’t gone to the mall before they ate dinner.

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Q2e Listening & Speaking 3: Audio Script

Unit 5, Pronunciation, Activity A, B Page 119, 120

1. He’d worked at a bookstore.

2. We left when it started raining.
3. They answered the questions.
4. I’d eaten my lunch.
5. You’d already taken the test.
6. She hadn’t worked there.
7. It hasn’t started to rain.
8. Had he found it?
9. Have you called Alex?

Unit 5, Speaking Skill, Activity A Page 121

Man: I’m going to talk about a time I took a risk and it turned out
well. I’d always wanted to learn to speak Japanese. When I
was in high school, I started to take classes in Japanese. By
the time I graduated from college, I had studied the language
for eight years, but I still couldn’t speak it very well, so I
decided to go to Japan to study. I didn’t know anyone there.
My grandmother had given me money the year before, so I
used that for the trip. Before I left, I’d done some research on
language schools. I stayed in Japan for three months and met
some great people there. My Japanese improved a lot. By the
time I finally returned to my country, I had become fluent.

Unit 5,Unit Assignment, Consider the Ideas Page 122

Man: Some risks are worth taking. I took one huge one, but it turned
out to be the best thing I think I’ve ever done in my life. I lived
in Reading in England and after several failed attempts at
backpacking through Europe (Amsterdam, Paris...) I was
starting to give in. I took a 9 ‘til 6 office job in an accounts
department, spent most of my money on shopping and going
out, and basically led a “normal” life.
Something was missing, though, and I couldn’t work out what. I
had a nice house, a good job, a good social life with lots of
friends. I decided that to work out what was missing I needed
to leave what I had. I chose to leave it to destiny and got out a
world map. I closed my eyes and moved my hand over the map,
put my finger down, and opened my eyes. It had landed on

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Q2e Listening & Speaking 3: Audio Script

Italy. I decided that if I was going to go to Italy, the best place to

start was the capital. Two weeks later, I was on a plane to Rome. I
couldn’t make up my mind whether I was brave or stupid...or
maybe both.

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