1. Аудирование: понимание основного содержания прослушанного: #249844

Speaker A. I love both giving and getting flowers as a gift. I think flowers create a certain mood. You feel some special atmosphere because they look and smell beautiful. You can also show how you feel about the person who you give flowers to. A bouquet of flowers is also a good gift for any occasion, especially when you don’t know exactly what present may be good for this or that person. I can’t think of a situation in which flowers may be inappropriate.

Speaker B. Of course, I know that a lot of people like it when they get a bouquet of flowers. Still, I don’t understand such people. You see, this bouquet will look fresh and beautiful only for a couple of days and then it’s just thrown away and it seems to me there are better ways of spending your money if you want to show a person how much you care for him or her. Besides, I do think flowers are overpriced these days. They shouldn’t cost so much.

Speaker C. I guess everybody is happy to get a bouquet of flowers, but still I feel very sad when I see them fade and lose their beauty after a couple of days. I hate to throw them away. It feels like such a waste. Still, I want to give and get flowers as a present, and I’ve come up with a perfect solution. Pot plants. They are not that expensive, and they last long, and they make you happy for several years if you are lucky to have green hands. A great idea, really.

Speaker D. I think there are a lot of strange ideas about giving and getting flowers as presents. For example, a lot of people think that only women love flowers and it’s a bad idea to give flowers to a man. I think it’s wrong. Men can love flowers too. They also say that it’s not worth giving kids flowers, but I can’t understand why. My dad always gives my younger sister a bouquet of roses for her birthday. She’s only five years old, but she loves getting flowers.

Speaker E. I love getting flowers as a present. People say that these flowers will soon die, but I don’t agree with them here. First of all, I’m fond of photography. I take many pictures of every bouquet I get, and then choose the best one to add to my collection, so the memories of these bouquets will always stay with me. I also use dying flowers for my other hobbies, like making soap or pictures, so I can’t agree with the idea that giving flowers is wasteful.

Speaker F. I love flowers, but I don’t like to get them on special occasions only. You know, like Valentine’s Day, and everyone is rushing to the shops to buy a bouquet of flowers. Or like when you have a birthday, and at the end of the day there are 10 or even more bouquets of flowers in your house. I like to get flowers unexpectedly, without any obvious or sufficient reason. Just a nice gesture, just a way to show how much you really care for a person.