Luyện nghe Tiếng Anh - Tape 2: First Day At School (Kèm file nghe)

 Thẩm Tõm Vy AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH LISTENING AUDIO SCRIPT 2 
LISTENING TO AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH (2) 
First Day At School 
8*8*8 
Gabi: Greg, Linda said you grew up in the country. Where did you go to 
school? 
Greg: Well, at first I went to a school in a small town called Nullawil in 
Victoria. You know I can remember my first day as though it were 
yesterday. Mum bought me a little case to take to school, and of course I 
got teased because cases were supposed to be for girls only in those 
days. 
Vince: [LAUGHS] 
Greg: I remember being very angry and tossing it down on the gravel and 
virtually ruining it. I never did use that case again. 
Gabi: Hm, I bet your mum was pleased. 
Linda: I hated my first day at school. I couldn't believe Mum would leave 
me with all these strangers. She dressed me in my best dress, a really 
bright pink one with huge blue ribbons on it. Everyone else looked so 
drab and dirty and teased me for being different. I was so angry at Mum. 
Gabi: Oh, I think children are better prepared these days because they go 
to pre-school. Gosh, I remember my first day at school in Australia. I mean 
here I am, a five-year-old child, just arrived from Hamburg and I couldn't 
speak English. 
Linda: Oh. 
Gabi: I was so miserable I had nobody to talk to. We changed schools five 
times before I settled down. Greg, did you like your frrst school? 
Greg: Yeah, it was all right but it was, you have to understand that it was a 
very small school, stuck out in the desert. I mean the school yard was 
underdeveloped, of course, and there were scrubby trees and the ground 
was littered with sand and bark and that's what we used to play in during 
the school recess. 
Vince: Oh, how many ah kids went to this school? 
Greg: Ooh, let me see. There weren't many. It was, it was a very small 
school. I think it was was only about twelve but there were different 
classes so the teacher had to, well, one teacher had to teach all seven 
classes at the same time. 
Gabi: Wow! 
Greg: So it was quite a feat for country school teachers in those days. 
Linda: Mm. 
Vince: Oh no let me tell you. It still happens. Even in the city. Teachers... 
Linda: What? 
Vince: Yes, overcrowded classes, composite classes. It's ridiculous. Did you 
go to the ah, the local high school? 
Greg: Ah, no, well Mum thought I'd get a better education from a private 
school. So I went to a boarding school in Ballarat, Victoria, and I boarded 
there during the school term and came home during my holidays. 
Vince: How about that, ha? It's a classic case of the public system versus 
the private system. 
Greg: Not really. It cost Mum and Dad a fortune to send us there but ah 
they were making good money at the time. And you have to understand 
the public school in the country was very under-resourced then. 
Linda: Mm, our kids are at public school now, though, because we think 
that they're just as good. Private schools are 
just so very expensive, and I think we'd do better saving for when they're 
at university. 
Gabi: Oh that's a great idea. My children are only small but I think I 
should start saving for their education now. 
Linda: Mm. 
~~~~~ 
Notes. 
(1) Ballarat /ˈbổləˌrổt/ is a city located on the Yarrowee River in the Grampians region 
of Victoria, Australia. The city is approximately 105 kilometres (65 mi) west-north-west of 
the state capital, Melbourne, with a population of some 102,230. It is the third largest 
population for an inland city in Australia. Locals are known as 'Ballaratians'. 
(2) Nullawil is a locality in Victoria, Australia, located approximately 302 kilometres (188 
mi) from the state capital, Melbourne. At the 2006 census, Nullawil had a population of 
237. 
 Thẩm Tõm Vy AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH LISTENING AUDIO SCRIPT 2 
Ballarat, Australia 
Nullawil Highway