Practice English Listening B1 Exercises – The right job for you

1   F (Joe applied without telling Jake.)

2   F (They worked very hard and practised a lot.)

3   T

4   F (They practised their pitch the night before and they prepared the furniture they needed.)

5   T

6   F (They were the first contestants.)

7   T

8   F (Contestants aren’t allowed to meet the Dragons before they go on.)

I = interviewer, J = Joe Kenyon

Part 1

I   Whose idea was it to go on the programme?

J   It was my idea. I applied without telling my business partner Jake. Of course, I never really expected to get on it. But then they phoned me from the BBC and said, ‘You’re on the programme,’ so that’s when I told him.

I   Did you spend a long time preparing your pitch?

J   Yes. We worked really hard, and we practised a lot so that we knew the pitch word for word. The evening before the show, we actually went for a run – up in Manchester, where it’s filmed – and we went running together, just repeating the pitch over and over again.

I   How did you feel when you arrived at the Den?

J   Erm, well, we were told to get to the set at about eleven o’clock, the night before, because you had to prepare everything in advance, like any furniture you need, things like that. It was freezing cold, and we were exhausted – we didn’t get back to our hotel until the middle of the night – and a car came to pick us up a few hours later, at half five in the morning.

I   What time did you actually do your pitch?

J   Erm, half past eleven. So we were lucky because we were the first in that particular programme.

I   Why lucky?

J   Because we didn’t have to wait too long. The other contestants spent ages just waiting around. Some of them – the ones who are on last – had to wait twelve hours!

I   Did you meet the Dragons before you went in to do the pitch?

J   No. You’re not allowed to. Like, if you go to the toilet before you go on, someone has to escort you in case you meet a Dragon. So the first time you see them is when you go into the Den.

C

They were offered a job, not investment in their business.

D

1   He smiled at her to help himself to relax, but she just stared at him to make him feel nervous.

2   Jake forgot his first words, which he never usually does.

3   Four of the Dragons said, “I’m out,” to show that they weren’t interested in investing.

4   Peter is incredibly tall – more than six feet – which makes him scary.

5   Peter owns a big chain of camera stores called Jessops.

6   Peter offered them a job, which has never happened on Dragons’ Den before.

Part 2

I   What were the Dragons like?

J   Well, they’re obviously told by the producers to be really unfriendly and aggressive. So I remember thinking, when the doors opened, and we walked in, what I wanted to do was just to smile at one of them. That was my way of making myself relaxed. And I looked at Deborah Meaden because she was in the middle, and I smiled at her, but she just, you know, stared at me, stony faced, to make me feel nervous. And it worked.

I   Did you think you made a good presentation?

J   Yeah, we did. But Jake, who usually never gets anything wrong, he forgot his first words, and he just never does that. So we both thought, when he got the introduction wrong, that it was going to go badly, but it didn’t.

I   So what happened after you’d made your pitch?

J   Yeah, well, four of the Dragons said, “I’m out.” They said they weren’t interested. So, we were feeling pretty depressed, pretty negative.

I   And then?

J   The last Dragon was Peter. And he’s kind of scary – he’s incredibly tall—over six feet. And at first, he really criticized us. But then he told us he had a big chain of camera stores called Jessops and they were starting online printing and photo framing as part of their business. And then he said, “I’ve got 15 guys in Hong Kong trying to do what you guys are doing, but you guys are doing it better. I’m going to offer you both a job.”

I   Were you very surprised?

J   Totally, because it had never happened on the show before. In ten years they’d never offered someone a job.

I   So, he offered you jobs, just like that?

J   Well, his offer was that he wanted to have our business, and for us to work with him at Jessops.

I   With a good salary?

J   Very.

I   So, what did you do?

Joe and Jake decided not to accept the jobs because it wasn’t a good time and they were enjoying running their own business. Yes, they think it was the right decision, and they don’t regret it.

Part 3

J   It was very stressful because we knew we had to make a decision immediately. So Jake said, “Yes, let’s take the jobs,” but I said, “You don’t want to work for Jessops.” And he stayed silent and I said, “I don’t want to work for Jessops.” I mean neither of us were in a position where we could have dropped everything and gone and worked for Jessops full-time. It was completely… it was ridiculous.

I   So you said no?

J   That’s right.

I   Have you ever regretted saying no?

J   No, not for a second. It was still in the early days for us then, so we were still kind of having fun and enjoying running our own business. And things worked out well for us. Frame Again was successful, and eventually we sold the business this year.

I   But not to one of the Dragons?

J   No, but that would have been perfect!

A 4   B 2   C 1   D 5   E 3

Ja = Jake Hayman, J = Joe Kenyon

Ja   Good morning. I’m Joe and this is Jake. Oh no, I’m sorry, I’m Jake and this is Joe, and we’re here to tell you about our new product, Frame Again.

J     Frame Again is an online service for printing and framing your photos. It’s easy to take a photo, but it’s difficult to print and frame it attractively. With Frame Again, it couldn’t be simpler. First, you upload your photo to the Frame Again website, right from your phone, tablet, or computer. Then you choose the colors of your frame. Then we print, frame, and deliver your photo to you the very next day. It’s quick and it’s easy. The product’s great, and the service is great.

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J     One photo, printed, framed, and delivered to your door, will cost £12.99.

Ja   Our slogan is “Printed, framed, and delivered in 24 hours.”