A. Listen to Melissa talking about her school days. Was she a rebel or a ‘good girl’ at school? What does she do now?
B. Listen again. Mark the sentences T (true) or F (false).
1 Melissa is a teenager in the photo.
2 She used to write things on the walls.
3 She didn’t like any of the subjects at school.
4 Her least favourite subject was PE.
5 The PE teacher made them try to do difficult things.
6 She used to break the rules about the school uniform.
7 She wanted to be a doctor.
8 Her parents wanted her to be a teacher.
Answers
A
She was a bit of rebel. Now she is a primary school teacher.
B
1 T
2 F She didn’t use to write graffiti or anything like that.
3 F She liked English.
4 T 5 T 6 T
7 F She wanted to be a lawyer.
8 F They said, ‘Don’t be a teacher’.
Audioscripts
I = interviewer, M = Melissa
I How old are you in the photograph, Melissa?
M Twelve or thirteen, I think.
I Did you like school?
M Not really.
I Why not?
M Because I didn’t like any of the subjects. Well, that’s not quite true, I liked English, but that was the only lesson I used to look forward to. I didn’t like maths, didn’t like science at all, and I hated PE. I used to argue with the PE teacher all the time. She used to make us do impossible things, things we couldn’t do, like climbing ropes and jumping over the ‘horse’. I think she just wanted to humiliate us.
I Were you a ‘good girl’ at school?
M It depends what you mean by ‘good’. I didn’t smoke, I didn’t use to write graffiti on the walls or anything like that. But I was a bit of a rebel. I used to break rules all the time, and of course the teachers didn’t like that.
I What sort of rules did you break?
M Well, for example the school was very strict about the school uniform – we had to wear a blue skirt, and the skirt had to cover our knees. I used to make the skirt shorter. And then I sometimes used to wear blue socks and a black sweater like in the photographs, instead of a grey sweater, and grey socks. The teachers used to get really angry. I just thought it was silly.
I What did you want to be when you were at school?
M I wanted to be a lawyer.
I Why?
M Well, there were a lot of American TV programmes and films about lawyers at the time, and I used to think it would be fun to argue with people all day.
I So why did you become a primary school teacher?
M Lots of reasons. But I think the main reason is that both my parents were teachers and they both used to tell me, when you grow up and get a job don’t be a teacher. So as I was a rebel, I did exactly the opposite.
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