Section 1
    CALL CENTRE OPERATOR: Platinum Card Service. Rebecca speaking. How may I help you?    CALLER: I've got a few problems with my credit card account.    OPERATOR: Okay. What is your credit card number?    CALLER: Let's see. It's here somewhere. Ah, here it is.    OPERATOR: Can I just take the card number, please?    CALLER: Yes, it's 6992.    OPERATOR: 6992.    CALLER: 3443.    OPERATOR: 3443.    CALLER: 1147.    OPERATOR: 1147.    CALLER: 8921.    OPERATOR: 8921. Right. Can I just check that? Ahm, 6992 34431147 8921.    CALLER: That's it.    OPERATOR: And your name?    CALLER: Carlos da Silva.    OPERATOR: I just need to check a few details for identification and security, if you'll bear with me.    CALLER: That's okay.    OPERATOR: And what's your postcode?    CALLER: SE1 8PB.    OPERATOR: SE1 8PB.    CALLER: That's it.    OPERATOR: Vauxhall Close, London?    CALLER: Yes. That's right.    OPERATOR: And the house number?    CALLER: Ahm, 43.    OPERATOR: And can you give me your date of birth?    CALLER: 13th of the 7th,'63.    OPERATOR: And one further check, if I may? Can you give me your mother's maiden name?    CALLER: Yes. It's Moore.    OPERATOR: Is that M. O.O. R. E.?    CALLER: Yes. That's it.       CALLER: Yes. Now, can we get on with this?    OPERATOR: Yes, Sir. Certainly. I'm sure you'll appreciate that all these checks are necessary for security reasons. So what exactly is the problem?    CALLER: Problems.    OPERATOR: Okay.    CALLER: Well, first, mmm, your computer seems to have gone mad. I sent you £500 and on the statement for the account it shows that I only paid £300.    OPERATOR: Yes. The account does only show £300 was paid ...    CALLER: Well, I paid the £500 in at the bank and I have my receipt. And my bank statement shows that £500 has been taken from my account.    OPERATOR: Oh. I see. What I'll do is check with the bank and see what they say.    CALLER: Okay.    OPERATOR: You said there was something else?    CALLER: Yes; as if that wasn' t enough. My account shows that £107.27 was paid to a company called Pan Express. I don't know who this is ...    OPERATOR: Let's have a look. Well, ... it is genuine.    CALLER: I can assure you it's not mine.    OPERATOR: It was made on the evening of the 12th of May. Maybe it's a restaurant bill you forgot about?    CALLER: There's no way that .... Oh wait, hold on ...    OPERATOR: Yes?    CALLER: It's okay. I've just realized what it is. It is a restaurant bill. Erm ... the name of the company is different from the name of the restaurant. My mistake. I'm sorry.    OPERATOR: That's okay. Was there anything else?    CALLER: I don't know if I dare ...    OPERATOR: What is it anyway?    CALLER: Mmm. Well, it's mmm ... the amount of interest seems to have gone up.    OPERATOR: Mmmm. If you look at your statement for April, you'll see that the rate went down from 16.27% to 14.99% that month.    CALLER: Oh, yes you're right.    OPERATOR: Was that everything?    CALLER: Yes. Basically, it is.    OPERATOR: Okay.    CALLER: And can you check my payment?    OPERATOR: Oh yes. I'll do it. Can I phone you back?    CALLER: I'll be at home for the next two hours. I have to leave at 11.    OPERATOR: Right. What's your number?    CALLER: 020 7989 7182.    OPERATOR: Hold on 020 7979.    CALLER: No, it's 7989 and then 7182.    OPERATOR: So it's 020 7989 7182.    CALLER: Yes. That's it.    OPERATOR: Okay. I'll phone you straight back.    CALLER: Thanks. Bye.
Section 2
    PRESENTER: And now let's hear what Mr Gold has to say about kicking the habit of smoking. It was connected with wanting to change your life and your desire to become an actor. Is that right, Mr Gold?    MR GOLD: Mm. Yes.    PRESENTER: So can you tell our listeners a bit more about how you managed to give up?    MR GOLD: Mm. Well, I enrolled on a variety of evening courses, where I found I wasn't able to do the warm-up sessions. Bending down to touch my toes made me breathless. Even though I hated to admit it, the problem wasn't so much my sitting around all the time, but my 15 to 20 a day smoking habit.    If I'd been able to limit myself to three or four cigarettes a day, there'd have been no problem, but I was seriously addicted. And I'm talking about waking up at 3 a.m. dying for a cigarette, or, in the days before 24-hour shopping, driving across London at night to buy a packet of cigarettes when I ran out. But above all, my addiction meant making sure I never ran out, at the expense of everything else, including necessities.    PRESENTER: So what did you do?    MR GOLD: The thought of all my past attempts to give up just wouldn't go away. This was something that had constantly been on my mind, especially first thing in the morning with the chest pains, coughing fits and headaches. Not to mention the frequent colds and throat infections. But I couldn't imagine life without smoking.    I also enjoyed my life. But the thing I longed for most was to escape the trap of a job I was bored with. I knew what I wanted, and I understood something else too. This time I was going to keep my little plan a secret.       MR GOLD: On 1st July I managed to get through 24 hours without a single cigarette. The next day I got to 48 hours. Then I aimed for a hundred, five hundred, a thousand. Easy! It was my own little private game, and I was winning it. If anyone mentioned they hadn't seen me smoking I simply said I was cutting down. I had to be sure of success. Eventually, a month passed and I felt safe enough to 'come out'. I'd lost count of the number of hours I'd gone without a cigarette. All I suffered was a couple of bad headaches and then I was set for my most healthy year ever - not one single cold for over twelve months.    MR GOLD:   I now realize that the secret of my success was to look upon this as an exciting adventure, a way of helping me to become an actor. And because nobody knew what I was up to, I never once feared the accusation of having no willpower if I failed. With the right attitude, the whole thing turned out to be a lot easier than expected. I finally did get into much better physical shape, go to drama school and become a professional actor.    PRESENTER: Very interesting indeed! I'm sure we all wish we had Mr Gold's determination! Well, thank you very much Mr Gold, and I hope our listeners will learn from the experience you and our other guests have talked to us about today, and perhaps find their own road to success.
Section 3
    TUTOR: Ah, Frances and Steve, Hi. Now, before we start the tutorial ... am I right in thinking that you haven't heard about Lorraine?    FRANCES: No. What about her?    TUTOR: Mmm, she's already left.    STEVE: What?     FRANCES: Well, she hasn't told anyone!    TUTOR: You sound surprised. Weren't you half expecting it?    FRANCES: Yes, but she could at least have told us, though. We've been on the course together for the past three years and it would have been nice to know. She always was the sort to keep herself to herself.    STEVE: Yes. I know what you mean. Did she give any reason?    TUTOR: Well, she got that job.    FRANCES: What??    TUTOR: Yes, and she's been given permission to leave as there's only a week to go before the end of the course. But she'll be back for the exam week.    FRANCES: Oh, well. We'll just have to catch her on the mobile after the class.    TUTOR: She's gone back to Wales first.    FRANCES: Oh, dear.    STEVE: We'll get hold of her on the mobile.    TUTOR: She did say that it might not be possible to contact her for a couple of weeks.    FRANCES: Oh, okay. If that is what she wants.       TUTOR: Right. To work! We're here to look at your assessment marks for your course work. I take it you haven't seen them yet.    FRANCES/STEVE: No, not yet.    TUTOR: Well, you'll both be pleased. In fact, very pleased.    STEVE: Yes?    TUTOR: Frances. You have come out with the top mark in the year.    FRANCES: Oh!    TUTOR: You have, in fact, got a starred First.    STEVE: Wow.    TUTOR: Aren't you pleased, Frances?    FRANCES: Yes. I'm just speechless.    STEVE: And what about me?    TUTOR: Well, Steve, you got a First as well.    STEVE: I don't believe it!    TUTOR: You might have done even better, but there were a few faults with the 5,000 word project you did on traffic management.    STEVE: And what about the book review we had to do?    TUTOR: Yours was, I can safely say, the best we have ever had.    STEVE: You're kidding!    TUTOR: I'm not. In fact, you have won the departmental prize for the piece. It is a pity really that your project wasn't of the same calibre.    STEVE: It's still not bad at all, though. Is it?    TUTOR: It certainly isn't. What do you think were the faults with your project?    STEVE: I just wasn't very happy with the conclusion and I got myself in a bit of a twist with the argument about road pricing.    TUTOR: By and large, your overall conclusions were okay and I would say that your thoughts on road pricing were quite original. The problem was more with the actual end. It was a bit disappointing. You started off well, but then it ended rather suddenly as if you got fed up with it.    STEVE: Yes. I did kind of stop fairly abruptly. I couldn't think of much to say, even though I knew it was important.    TUTOR: Yes. That section needed a bit more work on it. But as I said, by and large it was very good. And Frances. Your project was excellent, so much so that we think you should take it further and perhaps do a PhD or at least an MPhil. What do you think?    FRANCES: I hadn't really thought about it. I've just been concerned with getting through this final year and getting all the course work and exams out of the way.    TUTOR: I can understand that, but I do think that you ought to consider it seriously. If you perform as well in your exams as in your project work you are on course for a first.    FRANCES: Do you think that I'd get funding for it?    TUTOR: Well, any grant will be discretionary, but you have as good a chance as anyone else - I'd even say a much better one.    FRANCES: Mmm.    TUTOR: If you do get a first, it will be the only one we've had in this department for three years. And I'd be happy to be your supervisor.    FRANCES: Thanks! I'd like that. Do you think I should start applying for it now or wait until after the exams?    TUTOR: I think you must really start thinking about it as soon as you can. And Steve, what about you? Have you thought about going on to do research?    STEVE: I have thought about it, but I have a job lined up if I get a good degree and, quite honestly, I am fed up with not having enough money to do the things I would like to do.    TUTOR: I can understand that. Is there anything that either of you would like to talk about?    STEVE: Yeah. I have a couple of things I'd like to ask, if you don't mind.    TUTOR: Okay. We have roughly twenty minutes left. So Steve, would you like to go first?    STEVE: Right , ammm ...
Section 4
    Good morning, my name is Dr Mervin Forest and I specialize in management techniques and training. I've been invited here today to talk to you about the cost to the economy of bad management ... and what I would like to dwell on first is an area that has recently been exercising everyone and that is coercion in the workplace, or to put it more simply, bullying.    It has been estimated that bullying at work costs the British economy up to four billion pounds a year in lost working time and in legal fees. And with the problem apparently on the increase, it is time that managers took on board what is happening. I would like to think that what is perceived as bullying is nothing more than lack of experience, insecurity or lack of awareness on the part of managers, and not a conscious effort to attack someone, but that is perhaps a case of, of ... my being naive, or over-hopeful.    Before we break up into groups to look at the first task on the handout you've got, I'd like to give you a start with some of the main bullying methods that have been identified so far. Basically, what I'm going to do here is to give you examples of one or two points. Can you all read the OHP clearly? Yes? Right. Off we go.     The first item on the list is giving people tasks which managers themselves cannot do and which are, therefore, impossible to achieve. This is, in fact, a very common strategy used by managers to 'manage' their subordinates. It gives certain people a false sense of security as they watch others failing while they try to a task! This is not bad management; it is just plain stupid. All targets and goals set should be easily achieved within a realistic time-scale.    Sending memos to someone else criticizing the performance of a task where the individual has no way of replying is another common technique; especially when the manager concerned does not reply or makes it impossible for subordinates to contact him or her by not answering the telephone or not replying to e-mails. This is not the style of a sound manager, but rather the antics of someone with emotional problems. If you behave like that, don't expect your staff to respect you.    And now the technological bully. It is interesting how all tools designed to help can be turned into dangerous weapons. The 'urgent e-mail' bully is fast becoming a problem in the office. Employees turn on their computers to be faced with a string of badly worded e-mails, making instant and often unrealistic demands, which reveal the hysteria mode of management. Have you ever felt a sense of dread before looking at your e-mail, even your personal messages? All companies should develop a company strategy whereby there is an a-mail code of practice, with offensive messages being forwarded to a designated person for appropriate action.    I would now like you to break up into groups and brainstorm other bullying techniques which you think you may have experienced and, perhaps, if you are honest, which you have been party to. I can think of at least nine more bullying strategies. I would also like you to consider ways in which you think that each of the techniques on your list can be countered.    Is everyone clear as to what the task is? Yes? Okay. You have got twenty minutes to do this.