Good morning everyone, and welcome to our outdoor survival programme. As you know, this week you’ll be learning some of the basic information and skills you need to look after yourself independently in the outdoors. These first two days we’ll be based here in the classroom, and then we’ll be taking a camping trip to put into practice some of the things you’ve learned.

I’m going to start off with the topic of food. And to start with I’ll describe just two methods which we’ll be putting into practice at our camp, and which make use of natural resources: the steam pit and the bamboo pot. I’ve got two posters here to make things clearer ... And I’ll start with the steam pit here ...

To make this you’ll need some dry sticks, some grass, some loose earth and some stones. And for this week only, some matches!

The first thing you do is to dig a shallow pit in the place you’ve chosen to do your cooking. Let’s say about twenty five centimetres deep, and thirty centimetres wide. (11) Your sticks have to be a bit wider than the pit, because you have to put a line of them along the top from one end of the pit to the other. Before setting light to these you take (12) some large stones and arrange them on top. Then you start the fire and wait till the wooden platform burns through and the stones fall into the pit. At this point, brush away any pieces of hot (13) ash from the stones - you can use a handful of grass - and then take another stick and push it down into the centre of the pit, between the stones. After that you cover the whole pit with a thick layer of (14) grass. And then you can put your food on it. wrapped in more pieces of grass, like parcels. Finally, cover the whole thing with (15) earth. You have to pat it firmly to seal the pit. Then all you have to do is take the stick out and pour a bit of (16) water into the opening that it leaves. It should take about four hours for your food to cook, as it cooks slowly in the steam that’s created inside the pit.

So ... simple but effective. The other method you’re going to practise this week is the bamboo oven. Now the steam pit is ideal in certain conditions because the heat is below ground level, for example, if there’s a strong wind and you’re afraid a fire might spread. But when it’s safe to have an open fire you can use the bamboo oven method. You get a length of bamboo, which as you probably know is hollow, and consists of a number of individual sections with a wall in-between. You use a sharp stick to make a hole in each of the dividing walls apart from the end one. Then you lean the bamboo over a fire, with the top propped up by a forked stick and the bottom sitting on the ground. You pour enough water in the top to fill the bottom section, and then (17) light a fire underneath that section to heat the water. Then you put your food inside the top section, and the (18) steam coming up the bamboo through the holes you made cooks it.

I’m going to move on now, to food itself, and talk about some of the wild plants you might cook. I’m going to begin with fungi - that’s mushrooms and toadstools. I’m sure you’ll be aware that some of these are edible, and they’re delicious, but some of them are highly poisonous. Now whether they’re poisonous or not, all fungi that you find in the wild should be cooked before eating, because that helps to destroy any compounds in them that might be mildly toxic. But be aware that (19) any amount of cooking won’t make poisonous varieties any safer to eat. Unless you can definitely identify a fungus you should never eat it. It’s not worth the risk. And you need to be really sure, because (20) some fungi that are poisonous are very similar in appearance to certain edible varieties. They can easily be mistaken for each other. So ... having said all that, fungi are delicious when they’re freshly picked, and although they are only moderately nutritious, they do contain minerals which the body needs.

I’ll move on now to leafy plants, which are generally ...

Section 2

Announcer: One of the most anticipated art events-m Christchurch is the Chanty Art Sale, organised this year by Neil Curtis. Ne»l, tell us all about it Neil: Well, Diane, this looks like being the biggest art sale yet, and the best th ng about it is that the money raised will all go to charity. So what you probably want to know first is where it is. Well, the pictures will be on view all this week, most of them at the Star Gallery in the shopping mall, but we have so many pictures this year that we're also showing some in the cafe next door, so do drop in and see them any day between 9.00 and 5.00. Now if you're interested in buying rather than just looking - and we hope a lot of you will be the actual sale will take place on Thursday evening, with sales starting at 7.30 - refreshments will be available before the sale, starting at 6.30. We’ve got about 50 works by local artists showing a huge range of styles and media, and in a minute. I'll tell you about some of them. You’re probably also interested in what’s going to happen to your money once you've handed it over well, all proceeds will go to support children who are disabled, both here in New Zealand and also in other countries, so you can find an original painting, support local talent, and help these children all at the same time.

Now let me tell you a bit about some ot the artists who have kindly agreed to donate their pictures to the Charity Art Sale.

One of them 15 Don Studley, who has a special interest in the art sale because his five-year-old daughter was born with a serious back problem After an operation earlier this year, she's now doing fine, but Don says he wants to offer something to help other less fortunate children. Don is totally self taught, and says he's passionate about painting. His paintings depict some of our New Zealand birds in their natural habitats.

One relative newcomer to New Zealand is James Chang, who came here from Taiwan nine years ago. At the age of 56, Mr Chang had 13 exhibitions in Taiwan before he came to live here in Christchurch so he's a well-established artist and art has been a lifelong passion for him. His paintings are certainly worth looking at - if you like abstract pictures with strong colour schemes, you'll love them.

Natalie Stevens was born in New Zealand, but has exhibited in China. Australia and Spain. As well as being an artist, she's a website designer. She believes art should be universal, and her paintings use soft colours and a mixture of media Most of her pictures are portraits so watch out - some of them may even be friends of yours.

And then we have Christine Shin, from Korea. Christine only started to learn English two years ago, when she arrived in New Zealand, but she's been painting professionally for over ten years and she sure knows how to communicate strong messages through the universal language of art She usually works from photographs, and paints delicate watercolours, which combine traditional Asian influences with New Zealand landscapes, giving a very special view of our local scenery.

Well, that's all I have time to tell you now, but as well as these four, there are many other artists whose work will be on sale so do come along on Thursday We accept cheques, credit cards 01 cash and remember, even if you don't buy a picture you can always make a donation!

Section 2

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to your very own tour of the British Library on this lovely afternoon. My name is Tony Walters and I'm your guide for today. Could I please see your tickets for the guided tour?

I'd also like to remind you that any tickets bought today do not include a visit to the reading rooms. I’m afraid we don’t do visits on Fridays - or any weekday during working hours, so as not to disturb the readers. But if you do want to see those rooms, the only day there are tours is on Sundays. So, I don't want anyone to be disappointed about that today. OK? thank you.Right. We'll start with a brief introduction As many ol you know, this is the United Kingdom's National Library and you can see that this is a magnificent modern building. It was first designed by Sir Colin St John Wilson in 1977, and inaugurated by Her Majesty the Queen more than twenty years later, in 1998.

As you can see. the size is immense and the basements alone have 300 kilometres of shelving - and that's enough to hold about 12 million books. The total floor space here is 100,000 square metres and, as I'll show you, the library houses a huge range of facilities and exhibition spaces, and it has a thousand staff members based here in the building - so, you can appreciate the scale of our operation.

In fact, this was the biggest publicly-funded building constructed in the United Kingdom last century. It is still funded by the government as a national institution, ot course, and it houses one of the most important collections in the world. The different items come from every continent and span almost 3000 years.

The library isn't a public library, though you can't just come in and join and borrow any of the books. Access to the collections is limited to those involved in carrying out research, so it's really a huge reference library for that purpose, and anyone who wants to consult any materials that are kept here can formally apply to use the library reading rooms.

Right, well, here we are, standing at the Meeting Point on the lower ground floor just to the right of the Main Entrance. I've given you all a plan of the building so that we can orientate ourselves and get an idea of where we'll be going. Now outside the Main Entrance you'll see the wide Piazza with the stunning sculpture of Newton.

The sculptor was Paolozzi, but it's based on the famous image by William Blake - and it’s definitely worth a closer look. On the other side ot the Piazza from the statue is the Conference Centre, which is used for all kinds of international conventions we'll take a quick look inside at the end of our tour.

Looking ahead of us now, you'll see that we're standing opposite the staircase down to the basement where you'll find the cloakroom, and to the left of that, we have the information desk where you can find out about any current exhibitions, the times of the tours and anything you need to know - if you don't have a tour guide. As you can see, on this lower ground floor we also have a bookshopthat's the area over to the left of the main entrance. You'll be free to browse there when we get back to the ground floor.

Now, opposite the main entrance on this floor we have the open stairs leading up to the upper ground floor. And at the top of them, in the middle of the upper ground floor, you can see a kind of glass-sided tower that rises all the way up through the ceiling and up to the first floor. This is called the King's Library, it's really the heart of the building, it was built to house the collection that was presented to the nation in 1823 by the King. You can see it from every floor above ground. When we go up there, you'll find the library's Treasures Gallery on the left. Can you find it on your plan? That's the exciting one, so we'll be visiting that first but we'll also take a look at the stamp display situated behind it, on the way to the cafe - a lot of people miss that. The Cafeteria runs along the back of the floor and, in the right hand corner, you’ll find the lifts and toilets ... ha, always good to locate them. The other main area on that floor is the Public Access Catalogue section and I’ll show you how that operates when we get up there ...

Section 2

Rob: Joanne?

Joanne: Hi you must be Rob Nice to meet you. So, I hear you're planning to visit Australia.

Rob: Yeah and I really wanted to talk to you because I was thinking of spending some time in Darwin and my sister told me you're from there.

Joanne: That’s right.

Rob: So tell me about it.

Joanne: Well .. where shall I start . . well, Darwin's in what they call the ’top end’ 'cause it’s right up at the northern end of Australia and it’s quite different from the rest of Australia in terms of cultural influences - in fact it’s nearer to Jakarta in Indonesia than it is lo Sydney, so you get a very strong Asian influence there. That means we get lots of tourists - people from other parts of Australia are attracted by this sort of international, cosmopolitan image. And as well as that, we've got the same laid back atmosphere you get all over Australia - probably more so if anything, because of the climate. But, what a lot of the tourists don't realise until they get there is that the city's also got a very young population .. the average age is just 29, and this makes the whole place very buzzy. Some people think that there might not be that much going on as far as an and music and dancing and so on are concerned, because it's so remote. I mean, we don't really get things like theatre and opera in the same way as-cities down in the south like Sydney, for example, because of the transport expenses. But in fact what happens is that we just do it ourselves lots of people play music, classical as well as pop, and there are things like artists groups and writers groups and dance classes - everyone does something, we don't just sit and watch other people.

Rob: You said it's very international?

Joanne: Yeah, they say there's over 70 different nationalities in Darwin. For instance, there's been a Chinese population there for over 100 years we've even got a Chinese temple. It was built way back in 1887, but erm, when a very bad storm a a cyclone in fact hit Darwin in the 1970s it was almost completely destroyed. The only parts of the temple that survived were part of the altars and the stone lions, but after the storm they reconstructed it using modern materials. . it’s still used as a religious centre today, but it's open to tourists too and it’s definitely worth going to see it. Oh and as far as getting around goes, you'll see places that advertise bicycles for hire, but I wouldn't recommend it. A lot of the year it's just so hot and humid. Some tourists think it'll be fine because there's not much in the way of hills, and the traffic's quite light compared with some places, but believe me, you're better off with, public transport it's fine, and not expensive. Or you can hire a car, but it's not really worth it.

Rob: What's the swimming like?

Joanne: Well, there are some good beaches, but the trouble is that there's this nasty creature called the box jellyfish and if it stings you, you're in bad trouble. So you have to be very careful most of the year especially in the winter months.. You can wear a lycra suit to cover your arms and legs, but I wouldn't like to risk it even so, personally. And there are the salt water crocodiles too. I mean, I don't want to put you off. there are protected swimming areas netted off where you'll be safe from jellyfish and crocs, or there are the public swimming pools, they're fine of course.

Rob: So which places would you specially recommend?

Joanne: Well, one of the most popular attractions is called 'Aquascene'. What happens is every day at high tide hundreds of fish come in from the sea - all different sorts, including some really, big deep-sea fish - and some of them will even take food from your hand. It's right in the middle of town, at the end of the Esplanade. It's not free - I think you have to pay about five dollars but it's definitely something you have to experience. Then of course Darwin has a great range of food, being such a cosmopolitan place. And if you don't have lots to spend, the best place to go is to Smith Street Mall where they have stalls selling stuff to eat, there's all sorts of different things including south-east Asian dishes, which I really like. You'd think there'd be plenty of fresh fish in Darwin as it’s on the coast, but in fact because of the climate it mostly gets frozen straight away, but you can get fresh fish in the restaurants on Culien Bay Marina - it's a nice place to go for a special meal and they have some good shops in that area too. What else, well, there's the botanic garden: it’s over a hundred years old and there's lots to see an orchid farm, rainforest, a collection of palm trees, erm. a wetlands area  you can easily spend an afternoon there. That's at Fannie Bay. a couple of kilometres out to the north. Then, if you've got any energy left in the evening, the place to go is Mitchell Street that's where it all happens as far as clubs and music and things are concerned - you'll bump into lots of my friends there! Talking of friends, why don’t I give you some email addresses, I'm sure they …

Section 2

Good morning, folks, and welcome to the Information Round-up on your own local radio station. This is Larry Knowles talking to you this morning or Tuesday 25th May .. And the first term coming up is a reminder to you all out there about Canadian Clean Air Day - which is on June 6th.

In case you weren't around for the last one, this is a chance for Canadians everywhere to focus on the problems of air pollution and to actually try to do something to help reduce the problem.

How many Canadians do you think die annually because of air pollution? 2000? 3000? Well, the rate is a staggering 5000 and, it's likely to grow - unless we do something. And, it's this concern with your health that's the driving force behind the government campaign that is sponsoring Clean Air Day.

So what causes air pollution in the first place? Well, the transportation sector accounts for 27 percent of all greenhouse gases produced in Canada. It’s also the biggest source of that thick, polluted air tram traffic fumes that we call smog. And it's the tiny particles and ground-level ozone in smog that are the main causes of health problems, and even deaths, across the country. Of course, it's worse in the big cities ... but researchers have only recently realised that all you need are low levels of air pollution to seriously damage your health, so we're all at risk.

So. what can we do to fight air pollution? Well, it should be pretty obvious by now that the way we get to and from work every day can have a big impact on the air we breathe. So the easiest action you can take on Clean Air Day is to accept what we call the ‘CommuterChallenge' and get to work on foot or by cycling for a change. If you have to use your car, try 'car pooling' and share the drive, or better still, use public transit. If everyone tries this for just one day, you'll be amazed by the difference it can make to the air in our towns and cities.

But, there's more you can do to improve air quality. For example, you can plant trees. And if you don't have a garden, then you can do your bit in other ways. For instance, did you know that modern, improved wood stoves can reduce wood smoke by as much as 80-90 percent? So you can make a big difference if you upgrade the appliances you use in your home.

The government is also working hard on your behalf to clean up our air. Its priority is to reduce the emissions that cause smog and they have dear plans to get there. Last year, Canada and the United States agreed to reduce emissions on both sides of the border between the two countries and they plan to reach their targets in the next few years.

The government's also taking action to get cleaner fuels, it's already reduced the sulphur contained in gasoline, and it hopes to reach the reduction target for sulphur in diesel by next year. But the measures don't just focus on the motorist - the federal government's also working to reduce emissions from power plants and factories right across the provinces.

You can find out all about government action and all the plans for Clean Air Day events.

Fergus: And now here’s Jasmine, who’s come to tell us about this week’s charity.

Jasmine: Hi Fergus. This week I’m going to talk about Forward thinking and their plans for the Colville Centre.

So, in the recent years people have realized how useful the arts can be within healthcare. (11) The idea behind Forward thinking is to use the arts to promote wellbeing. The charity develops projects for people with special needs and health problems, and also delivers training to healthcare professionals in using the arts, as well as supplying them with information and advice. Forward thinking doesn’t just run art and craft classes to distract people who are ill, or recovering from illness, but arranges longer-term projects and courses, as it’s been shown that the arts can bring all sorts of positive changes in patients, including (12) benefits such as shortening the length of stay in hospital and reducing the amounts of medicine they need.

Fergus: I see.

Jasmine: Forward thinking has experience of working with a broad range of people from young adults with learning difficulties to older people in homes or daycare centres, and people with physical disabilities.

The organization’s been around since 1986, and it gradually expanded during the 1990s. Then, in the new millennium, it was decided to find a memorable name, (13) so it’s been operating as Forward thinking for several years, er, in fact since 2005.

It’s quite a locally based charity, mainly for people in (14) the southern part of this region, which includes all rural and urban communities outside the city of Clifton, which has its own organization. There are of course some similar charities in other parts of the country, in London and so on.

Fergus: Mm. And what’s the present fundraising in aid of?

Jasmine: Yeah. Well, the charity needs funding in order to buy the Colville Centre. This is a former village school, which was built in 1868. It was modernized and refurbished by the present owners last year, so (15) it’s ideal for art classes and for small social events, performances, seminars and so on. Forward thinking is fund-raising to purchase the building so they can use it to continue running classes and so on for the general public and eventually also for some of the people they help.

Fergus: Right, so can you give us a few ideas about what classes people might do there? Is it all art classes?

Jasmine: Um, well, there are some very good art classes, but there are lots of other things going on as well. So, for example, there’s ‘Learn Salsa!’ with Nina Balina’s team. They say that salsa is an easy dance to learn. It’s also an excellent form of exercise, according to Nina, and (16) that class is for both men and women, of course. It’s ideal for beginners and what they call ‘refreshers’. That’s £100 for ten sessions.

Then another class is called ‘Smooth Movers’, it’s with Kevin Bennett and (17) it’s for you if you don’t have the same energy levels as you used to when you were a teenager, it’s a gentle exercise class, geared to the needs of whoever is in the group in a particular session. And Kevin is qualified to teach classes to people getting over injuries and so on, and balance training. That’s £60 for ten sessions.

Then there’s a day called ‘Art of the Forest’, with Jamie Graham, where you discover Upper Wood, a short walk from the Colville Centre, and learn how to design in 3-D with natural materials. It’s an unusual and exciting way to be creative.

Jamie is an artist, with a background also a country park ranger. (18) For this day, youngsters must be accompanied by a parent or guardian and the costs are: adults £40, under-14s £10, but it’s best value at £80 for a family of four.

The next one is ‘The Money Maze’, and this is (19) a series of talks by Peter O’Reilly, an independent Financial Adviser. He gives advice on family finances, things like everything parents need to know about managing the costs of bringing up children, sending them to university, and actually, also, about care for elderly relatives. It’s £10 per talks, which will all go to support Forward thinking.

And as a final example of what’s on offer, there’s ‘Make a Play’. (20) That’s for 8-14s and this activity is such a hit that it usually sells out within days of being announced. Basically what you do is write, rehearse and perform a play in just two days and it doesn’t require any previous experience. I gather there’s lots of fun and silliness along the way and the best bit perhaps is that there’s a performance for family and friends at the end. It’s just £50 for two days.

Fergus: Pretty good range of activities, I think. And all raising money for a good cause.

Jasmine: Yes! And the all-important contact details are: or write to me…

Welcome to the Selmore Public Library which as just been reopened after major refurbishment. This tour will introduce you to the building and its services. At any time you can stop the tour. We enter by the café and our tour begins at the issue desk.

If you stand between the information dest and the issue desk and look at the opposite wall, you will see shelves of book in the left-hand corner. (11) This is where you will find a large number of novels and short stories.  They are arranged alphabetically. If you’re looking for something in particular and it’s not on the shelf you can reserve it. The next area, directly opposite the issue desk, (12) is a section where people can study. The library provides computers for users free of charge on the next floor beside the reference books but this area is for people to use their own laptops. You should ask for the internet passcode at the information desk.

In the right-hand corner of this floor there is a café. A selection of daily newspapers is always available there but you can also take magazines into the café to read while you have a drink. (13) You will find these on the racks to the left of the café and there is a large selection. They are for reference only and cannot be borrowed but you are welcome to photocopy any articles of interest. We ask you fiction or any other books from the shelves into the café.

Next to the café is the exit door leading to the stairs and escalator to the other floors. The largest collection of books in the library is fiction (14)  and the next largest is non-fiction which is in the corner of this floor opposite the café.  These can all be borrowed as opposed to the reference books on the next floor, most of which cannot be taken out of the library – but they can be photocopied. There are several photocopiers available for this purpose downstairs in the basement. To one side of the issue desk is a door leading onto a gallery. This was added to the library as a public space where talks are given once a week on a Saturday by visiting authors of both fiction and non-fiction. (15) It also houses the biography section. There are notices advertising the talks in the study area.

Any books that you want to borrow should be taken to the issue desk. Before we leave this floor I will give you some information about using the library. There are also helpful notices by the information desk.

To join the library and take books out, you need a membership card. Take your passport or identity card, as well as proof of your home address, to the information desk and you will be issued with a card. (16)  After a period of two years, all readers are required to go to the desk with a document that has their name and current address on it so the library can keep up-to-date records of where people are living. There’s no charge for this but any lost cards are charged at £5.

If you can’t find the book you want on the shelves, you can reserve it. If it’s in another library in the city, we can usually get it for you within a week. If someone else has borrowed it, it can take a few weeks. (17) Either way, we notify you by phone or email when the item is available to be picked up.  We will hold it for you for five days.

Books can be borrowed for fourteen days and can be renewed for a further two weeks. Children’s books also have a two-week borrowing period. The same system exists for CD-ROMs and CDs but (18) DVDs, both children’s and adult’s, can only be borrowed for up to seven days. It isn’t possible to renew them. Some reference books can be borrowed but normally only for one day, so 24 hours.

The library opening hours have been changed slightly. Instead of opening late on Wednesday evenings till 8PM, we will be closing at 6, as on other weekdays, (19) but we will close at 7 instead of 5.30 on Saturdays and a new development – we are going to open on Sunday mornings from next month – 9 to 1. We are closed on public holidays and notices are posted in the library about these.

Before you go upstairs, please note that if you are going to the exhibition area on the third floor, large bags are not allowed. (20) There are lockers beside the reference area on the second floor where you can deposit them. If you need change, you can get that from the information desk on the first floor.

Now press ‘pause’ and proceed to the second floor. When you reach the top of the stairs press ‘play’.

Tutor: We’re very pleased to welcome Professor Isaac Nebworth to our tutorial group today and he’s come to share one of his pet passions with us – City traffic and our western dependence on the motor car. I believe questions are quite welcome throughout.
Professor: Thank you. Well, I know you’re all very familiar with the super highway here in Melbourne. But do super highways automatically lead to super wealth, as our politicians would have us believe? I think not.
Tutor: Can you give us an example of what you mean exactly?
Professor: Sure. Well, by continuing to encourage this dependence on the motor car, (21) we simply create more congestion and more urban sprawl.  And you can see that here in Melbourne right under your nose.
Student: Excuse me. I would just like to say that I feel the sprawl is part of the city. (22) The freeways mean people can enjoy the benefits of living away from the centre, on larger blocks with gardens, but still be able to drive back into the city centre for work or entertainment.
Professor: Well I’m not convinced that people want to do that. And is our money being well spent? It may be OK for you now but come back to me in five years’ time! Let’s take City Link, for example, the new freeway here in Melbourne.
Student: Well, I use the freeway all the time. I think it’s great.
Professor: Ah yes, but it cost 2 billion dollars to build, and you could have gotten ten times the value by putting the money into public transport. (23) If you give the automobile road space, it will fill that space, and you’ll soon find you’ll be crawling along your City Link.
Tutor: But surely, you cannot simply blame the car. Some of the blame must rest with governments and city planners?
Student: Well there is an argument, surely, that (24) building good roads is actually beneficial because most new cars these days are highly efficient – they use far less petrol than in the past and emissions of dangerous gases are low. Old congested roads, on the other hand, encourage traffic to move slowly and it’s the stationary cars that cause the pollution and smog, whereas good roads increase traffic speeds and thus the amount of time cars are actually on the roads.
Professor: Well… this is the old argument put forward by the road lobby but, for me it’s clear cut. Roads equal cars which equal smog. Public transport is the way to go.
Tutor: Now, on that topic of public transport, I read somewhere recently that Australia isn’t doing too badly in the challenge to increase the use of public transport.
Professor: Better than America, granted, but by comparison with Canada, it’s not so good. For instance, if you compare Toronto with the US metropolis of Detroit only 160 kilometres away, in Detroit only 1% of passenger travel is by public transport whereas in Toronto it’s 24% which is considerably better than (25) Sydney which can only boast 16%.
Tutor: Well I think it’s encouraging that our least car- dependent city is actually our largest city. 16% of trips being taken on public transport in Sydney, isn’t too bad.
Professor: But it’s a long way behind Europe. Take both London and Paris for instance, where 30% of all trips taken are on public transport.
Tutor: Well, they do both have an excellent underground system.
Professor: (26) And Frankfurt comes in higher still at 32%.
Tutor: I understand that they’ve been very successful in Copenhagen at ridding the city of the car. Can you tell us anything about that experiment?
Professor: Yes indeed. Copenhagen is a wonderful example of a city that has learnt to live without the motor car. Back in the 1960s they adopted a number of policies designed to draw people back into the city. For instance (27) they paid musicians and artists to perform in the streets. They also built cycle lanes and now 30% of the inhabitants of Copenhagen use a bicycle to go to work. Sydney by comparison can only boast 1% of the population cycling to work.
Student: It could have something to do with all the hills!
Professor: Then they banned cars from many parts of the city and (28) every year 3% of the city parking is removed and by constantly reducing parking they’ve created public spaces and clean air.
Student: Really!
Professor: There are also freely available bicycles which you can hire for practically nothing. And of course, they have an excellent public transport system.
Student: Well, that’s all very well for Copenhagen. But I’d just like to say that some cities are just too large for a decent public transport system to work well. Particularly in areas with low population, because (29) if there aren’t many people using the service then they don’t schedule enough buses or trains for that route.
Professor: I accept that there is a vicious circle here but people do need to support the system.
Student: And secondly (30) the whole process takes so long because usually you have to change, you know, from bus to train – that sort of thing , and that can be quite difficult. Ultimately it’s much easier to jump in your car. And often it turns out to be cheaper.
Professor: Sure, but cheaper for whom, you or society? We have to work towards the ideal and not give in all the time because things are too difficult. Anyway, let's move on to some of the results of the survey.

Tony: So how did you get on with your school-based research, Phoebe?

Phoebe: Well, it was exhausting but really valuable.

Tony: Good. What was the specific focus you chose?

Phoebe: My title is ‘Attitudes towards study among eleven-twelve year-old pupils’.

Tony: Right. And what made you choose that focus?

Phoebe: Well, that’s a bit difficult ... lots of my classmates decided on their focus really early on.. .mainly on the basis of what they thought would help in their future career, you know, in their first year’s teaching.

Tony: So that’s what helped you decide?

Phoebe: Actually, it was that I came across a book written by experienced teachers on student attitudes and that motivated me to go for the topic.

Tony: So what were your research questions or issues?

Phoebe: Well I wanted to look at the ways students responded to different teachers particularly focusing on whether very strict teachers made teenagers less motivated.

Tony: And, from your research, did you find that was true?

Phoebe: No, not from what I saw you know, from my five days’ observation, talking to people and so forth.

Tony: OK ... We’ll talk about the actual research methods in a moment, but before that, can you briefly summarise what your most striking findings are.

Phoebe: Well, what really amazed me was the significant gender differences, I didn’t set out to focus on that but I found that boys were much more positive about being at school ... girls were more impatient, they talked a lot about wanting to grow up and leave school.

Tony: Very interesting.

Phoebe: Yeah ... it is. From doing the research it was clear to me that you might start out to focus on one thing but you pick up lots of unexpected insights.

Tony: Right. Did you get any insights into teaching?

Yes, certainly. I was doing a lot of observations of the way kids with very different abilities collaborate on certain tasks, you know, help each other and I began to realise that the lessons were developing in really unexpected ways.

Tony: So what conclusion do you draw from that?

Phoebe: Well, I know it’s necessary for teachers to prepare lessons carefully but it’s great if they also allow lessons to go their own ways.

Tony: Good point. Now, I’m really pleased to see you doing this - analysing and drawing conclusions based on data.

Phoebe: But surely this isn’t proper data ...

Tony: Because it’s derived from such small-scale research? Well, as long as you don’t make grand claims for your findings, this data is entirely valid.

Phoebe: Hmm .

Tony: I like the way you’re already stepping back from the experience and thinking about what you’ve learned about research ... well done.

Phoebe: But I know I could have done it better.

Tony: As you become more experienced you’ll find ways to reduce the risk of difficulties.

Phoebe: OK.

Tony:          So, let’s look in more detail at how you gathered your data. Let’s start with lesson observation.

Phoebe:      Well, it generally went quite smoothly. I chose my focus and designed my checklist. Then teachers allowed me into their classes without any problems, which surprised me. It was afterwards that the gruelling work started!

Tony:          Yeah, it’s very time consuming, isn’t it? Making sense of...analysing ... your observation notes.

Phoebe:      Absolutely. Much more so than interview data, for example ... that was relatively easy to process, though I wanted to make sure I used a high-quality recorder ... to make transcription easier and I had to wait until one became available.

Tony:          Right. And did you interview some kids as well?

Phoebe:      In the end, yes, I talked to ten, and they were great. I’d imagined I’d be bored listening to them, but.. .

Tony:          So it was easy to concentrate?

Phoebe:      Sure. One of the teachers was a bit worried about the ethics, you know, whether it was right to interview young pupils, and it took a while for him to agree to let me talk to three of the kids in his class but he relented in the end.

Tony:          Good. What other methods did you use?

Phoebe:      I experimented with questionnaires, but I really regret that now. I decided to share the work with another student but we had such different agendas it ended up taking twice as long.

Tony:          That’s a shame ... it might be worth you reflecting on ways you might improve on that for future projects .

Phoebe:      You’re right, yeah.

Tony:          OK.

Phoebe:      And the other thing I did was stills photography. I didn’t take as many pictures as I’d hoped to .

Tony:          Lack of time?

Phoebe:      It’s pretty easy just snapping away ... but I wanted each snap to have a purpose, you know, that would contribute to my research aims and I found that difficult.

Tony:          Well, that’s understandable, but remember...

Section 3

Olivia:     Hi, Joey. How are you doing?  I heard you were sick.

Joey:     Oh, hi, Olivia. Yeah, I had a virus last week, and I missed a whole pile of lectures, like the first one on the Great Books in Literature where Dr Castle gave us all the information about the semester project.

Olivia:     i can give you copies ot the handouts, I've got them right here.

Joey:     That’s OK. I already collected the handouts but I'm not very clear about all the details... I know we each have to choose an individual author ... I think I'm going to do Carlos Castenada ... I'm really interested in South American literature.

Olivia:     Have you checked he's on the list that Dr Castle gave us? We can't just choose anyone.

Joey:     Yeah. I checked, it's OK Who did you choose?

Olivia:     Well, l was thinking of choosing Ernest Hemingway, but then I thought no, I'll do a British author not an American one, so I chose Emily Bronte.

Joey:     OK .. and first of all it says we have to read a biography of our author I guess it's OK if we just look up information about him on the Internet?

Olivia:     No, it's got to be a full-length book I think the minimum length's 250 pages . there's a list of biographies, didn't you get that?

Joey:     Oh right I didn't realise we had to stick with that. So what do we have to do when we've read the biography?

Olivia:     Well, then we have to choose one work by the writer .. again it's got to be something quite long, we can't just read a short story.

Joey:     But I guess a collection of short stories would be OK?

Olivia:     Yes, or even a collection of poems, they said, but I think most people are doing novels. I'm going to do Wuthenng Heights, I've read it before but I really want to read it again now I've found out more about the writer

Joey:     And then the video . . we have to make a short video about our author and about the book. How long has it got to be?

Olivia:     A minute

Joey:     What? Like, sixty seconds? And we gotta give all the important information about their life and the book we choose ...

Olivia:     Well you can't do everything I wrote it down somewhere ... yes, Dr Castle said we had to ’find or write a short passage that helps to explain the author's passion for writing, why they're a writer' So, we can back this up with reference to important events in the writer's life if they’re relevant, but it’s up to us really. The video's meant to portray the essence of the writer's life and the piece of writing we choose.

Joey:     So when we read the biography, we have to think  about what kind of person our writer is...

Olivia:     Yes . and the historical context and so on. So for  my writer, Emily Bronte, the biography gave a really strong  impression of the place where she lived and the countryside  around.

Joey:     Right, I'm beginning to get the idea.

Joey:     Er can I check the other requirements with you?

Olivia:     Sure

Joey:     The handout said after we'd read the biography, we had to read the work we'd chosen by our author and choose a passage that's typical in some way that typifies the author's interests and style.

Olivia:     Yes, but at the same time it has to relate tc the biographical extract you choose there's gotta be some sort of theme linking them

Joey:     OK. I'm with you

Olivia:     And then you have to think about the video.

Joey:     So are we meant to dramatise the scene we choose?

Olivia:     I guess we could, but there's not a lot of time for that ... I think it’s more how we can use things like sound effects tc create the atmosphere, the feeling we want.

Joey:     And presumably visuals as well?

Olivia:     Yeah, of course - I mean, I suppose that's the whole point of making a video but whatever we use has to be historically in keeping with the author. We can use things like digital image processing to do it all

Joey:     So we can use any computer software we want?

Olivia:     Sure. And it's important that we use a range - not just one software program That's actually one of the things we're assessed on.

Joey:     OK.

Olivia:     Oh, and something else that’s apparently really important is to keep track of the materials we use and to acknowledge them

Joey:     Including stuff we download oft the Internet presumably?

Olivia:     Yeah, so our video has to list all the material used with details of the source in a bibliography at the end.

Joey:     OK And you were talking about assessment of the protect did they give us the criteria? I couldn't find anything on the handout.

Olivia:     Sure He gave us them in the lecture. Let’s see. you get 25 percent just for getting all the components done that’s both sets of reading, and the video. Then the second part is actually how successful we are at getting the essence of the work, they call that ’content’ and that counts for 50 percent Then the last 25 percent is on the video itself, the artistic and technical side.

Joey:     Great Well, that sounds a lot of work, but a whole lot better than just handing n a paper. Thanks a lot, Olivia

Olivia:     You're welcome.