4. Аудирование: поиск запрашиваемой информации в интервью: все задания

Presenter: My first question is about the difference between translation and interpretation. Which one is more difficult? 

Liza: Well, an interpreter is someone who translates spoken words in two directions. An interpreter should be able to act spontaneously. Since most of the time, specialists work without any reference material or resources. Interpreters are also a bridge between two or more people, as the specialist has to translate the tone, emotions and intentions of the speakers. And that’s not easy. 

Ayla: It’s great that you’ve asked me that question. I guess I want to be a voice for the kids. I mean, it sounds quite artificial, but I want to make music that I would have wanted to hear when I was 14. When I was that age, I would listen to artists and think, wow, I feel represented by that. I feel inspired by that. I want to be that person that kids can listen to and feel energized by because they’ve never felt like they had someone that they could listen to and see themselves in before.

Presenter: Thank you, we are glad you could come. Our listeners are usually outdoor lovers, so my questions will be mostly about your experience of nature and family. But first Bob, tell us a bit about your business please, since it is a big part of who you are I understand. 

Bob: Ten years ago, my brother and I took over my dad’s company that makes fishing equipment. We make everything that you need to go out into a lake or river and catch any kind of fish. You can buy our products in any fishing store in the country.

Michelle: Years ago, psychotherapy helped me deal with the anxiety. I’ve also used a tape on excellence to calm my nerves before I perform live. And when I’m really nervous, I say ‘Let go and let God.’

Paul: I’m proud of each and every one of my achievements, from winning the 2007 Academy Award for Best Leading Actor to two Best Actor Oscars, though I’ve been nominated five times in total.

Presenter: We can now see your debut novel in every book store. How does it feel?

Alyson: Honestly, it’s sort of surreal. 

Judy White:  The content and structure of ‘If I Knew’ almost had a life of its own. I wrote the last story first and knew it was going to be the last story, but really had no idea what would come before. I just started writing the stories pretty much out of sequence, and I would send them to my agent as they were completed. I was simultaneously working on another novel at the same time. I still didn’t know if it was going to be a novel or a story collection until the manuscript was finished, and then the linked stories made the most sense, particularly within the location they have in common. I liked the idea of stories about these connected lives that didn’t necessarily have neat conclusions and might haunt readers a little after they’ve finished reading. This seems to have been achieved, according to some of the reviews.

Maggie: When I was nine years old, I started playing the piano. I was obsessed. I needed to play for several hours every day. But I wasn’t great, though I was good and I had tremendous passion. I didn’t have any real technical skill, so no matter how much I practised I was never going to be able to really play in front of people. I had tremendous stage fright. Still, the piano was the beginning of me going, “I need an outlet. I need a vehicle.” And then from music, I joined the drama club in high school. I got on stage and I went, “Oh wow. No stage fright.” I couldn’t do public speaking, and I couldn’t play the piano in front of people, but I could act. I found that being on stage I felt, “This is home.” I felt an immediate right thing, and the exchange between the audience and the actors on stage was so fulfilling. I just went, “That is the conversation I want to have.” It was unequivocal. There was nobody acting in my family, but there didn’t need to be. I just understood what I wanted to do at once.

Presenter: That’s interesting. Why did you start this one?

Brenda: My reason for starting this project was to challenge myself to build a whole world, including the characters, environments and props, as well as key story moments. However, it was also partially because I enjoy coming-of-age stories that involve character development, growth and a journey of self-discovery.

Vanessa: I started writing when I was still a child. I produced a newspaper at the age of six. The first edition was written in blue crayon.

Presenter: You will be speaking on establishing the pace and plot of a novel and the coming How to Get Published conference, which is going to be a truly important event for writers from all over the world.

Kim: Not really. It’s funny, but I am first a mother and a wife, and then an actress. You know, I see this as a job and not as a lifestyle. It is what I am good at, and it brings money. Good money, of course. But this job doesn’t own me.

Peter: It was a mutual decision because it was a very natural thing to do. I love the game, and was the best player in our area. So, I joined the university team.

John: You know, it takes hours to witness and capture those exciting and unpredictable moments of the underwater world. I mean, I probably have thousands and thousands of photos of the rear ends of fish swimming away. To take a picture of fish is really a question of waiting and looking and thinking what they’re about to do. In our brief time underwater, every underwater photographer is always after that moment. And that moment is a product of time, persistence, knowledge of how the fish is behaving, and of course, the most important ingredient, which is luck.

Lisa: Basically, stress is what happens when people operate at the edge of their capacities. Think of weightlifting. You cannot build muscle unless you strain those muscles. Similarly, you cannot get smarter unless you are doing work that is uncomfortably difficult. Numerous research shows that almost everyone who takes a new job that is hard feels stressed because of it. But six months later, they are better and smarter than they were six months prior.

Presenter: You’re currently spending much time editing other writers’ work for American short fiction. How does it affect your own work? 

Stacey: I think my time at American Short Fiction had a huge impact on my learning curve as a writer. I started volunteering as a reader there while I was still in grad school and for the next seven years or so I read dozens of submissions a month. For some reason it is so much easier to see the flaws in our own work after we’ve seen them in someone else’s. My primary agenda though was always whether or not I thought the story would be a good fit for the journal, but subconsciously I was probably filing away plenty of things to steal.

Peter: I would say it is opening your heart to the person you are trying to make friends with. Going out together is not so important as being sincere. Having much in common is not as important as believing in the goodness of others. You can’t form any connection if you mistrust others.

Carl. People hear Connecticut and think of white picket fences, but in fact, Bridgeport is the ninth most dangerous city in the United States. All the people I had around me were poor or had some criminal past.

Presenter: In your book, you also discuss character motivation and how conflict is the soul of dialogue. Can you tell us about this?

Alice: In real life, we try to avoid conflict. We want to have pleasant, friendly conversations with friends and strangers alike. In a screenplay, watching nice people have nice conversations is boring. A screenwriter can’t just have her characters talking. They have to be talking about something that’s at stake in a scene.

Paul: Well, I grew up in Birmingham in the UK and I think I was born with a pencil in my hand. Ever since I can remember, I’ve been drawing. My dad and mum always supported both me and my brother in doing what we liked the most.