Gold First Coursebook Audio Script
Unit 7 Speaking Focus Activity 2
Track 1.24
Stefano: Well, I’m not absolutely certain what the place on the right is but it could be an
underwater hotel. The other one seems to’ve been built in the trees and is a
hotel too. The underwater hotel looks quite luxurious, whereas the treehouse
appears to be more basic; but it’s eco-friendly and it would definitely be less
expensive to stay at.
It must be an interesting experience to stay at both of them, although I’d
imagine the treehouse might not be such fun in bad weather. The hotel under
the sea must feel a bit weird and scary at first, I think. Having said that, it would
be wonderful to watch the fish without having to get wet.
Of the two, I think the treehouse would be more enjoyable to stay in because,
although the underwater one would be the experience of a lifetime, guests would
probably always be wondering what would happen if something went wrong.
Unit 7 Speaking Focus Activity 4
Track 1.25
Narrator: 1
Stefano: Well, I’m not absolutely certain what the place on the right is.
Narrator: 2
Stefano: It could be an underwater hotel.
Narrator: 3
Stefano: The other one seems to’ve been built in the trees.
Narrator: 4
Stefano: The underwater hotel looks quite luxurious.
Narrator: 5
Stefano: The treehouse appears to be more basic.
Narrator: 6
Stefano: It would definitely be less expensive to stay at.
Narrator: 7
Stefano: It must be an interesting experience to stay at both of them.
Narrator: 8
Stefano: I’d imagine the treehouse might not be such fun in bad weather.
Unit 7 Listening Focus Activity 2
Track 1.26
Speaker: breathtaking
inspirational
luxurious
magnificent
mysterious
peaceful
remote
spiritual
Unit 7 Listening Focus Activity 4
Track 1.27
Examiner: You will hear a woman called Olivia Rees talking on a travel programme about a
place called Shangri-la.
Presenter: … and now here’s Olivia Rees, continuing our series on mysterious and mythical
places.
Olivia: Today we turn to Shangri-la. The word Shangri-la is now a synonym for an
earthly paradise and is used all over the world as a name for hotels, restaurants
and holiday homes.
But the name actually comes from a novel called Lost Horizon. This was
published in 1933 and enjoyed huge popularity at the time. The author, the
English novelist James Hilton, also wrote several other successful novels and
screenplays. Very little was known about Tibet in those days; it was a remote
and mysterious place. But in the years leading up to the Second World War,
people were only too keen to forget their troubles and read a fantasy about
somewhere that was peaceful and harmonious.
The story of Lost Horizon concerns a group of travellers whose plane crashes in
Tibet. Here they are found by guides who lead them up a steep mountain to the
valley of Shangri-la. The location of the fictional lost valley is never precisely
given, but on its last fateful flight the plane appears to be heading northwest to
Afghanistan across the Himalayas, and Hilton clearly imagined that it landed
somewhere in the west of Tibet, for which no detailed maps existed.
The book describes how in Shangri-la there is no war or violence and people
don’t believe in material wealth. The monastery in Shangri-la has a magnificent
library containing the world’s greatest works of literature in every language; a
place where all the wisdom of humanity is contained. This monastery’s built in
the shadow of a white mountain, which Hilton describes as ‘the loveliest
mountain on earth’ – so perfect it hardly seems to be real. In Shangri-la the
weather enables the inhabitants to live for over 150 years. In short, it’s Hilton’s
idea of paradise on earth.
Hilton had been inspired by articles published in National Geographic magazine
during the 1920s by early travellers to Tibet. These provided fascinating,
detailed descriptions of the scenery and the Buddhist way of life there. Hilton
himself actually travelled no further than the British Library to research the
location of Lost Horizon. But many, many people have since travelled to the
region to try and find exactly where Shangri-la is set and to discover more about
Buddhism.
Hilton may also have been inspired by the ancient Tibetan legend of Shambhala.
According to this legend, Shambhala was a kingdom, cut off from the outside
world, where the people also lived in peace and harmony and which was also
dominated by a magnificent white mountain. These similarities aren’t accidental
– and aren’t an indication that Hilton had run out of ideas. It’s clear he was very
attracted by Tibetan values and wanted to include an authentic Tibetan idea of
how a perfect society should be run.
Many villages in the border area of Tibet, Yunnan and Sichuan have long claimed
to be the original setting of Lost Horizon but in 2002, the county of Zhongdian
renamed itself Shangri-la in order to attract investment in the tourist industry.
This provides a better living for the inhabitants of Zhongdian and means they’re
no longer so reliant on the tea trade for survival. Thousands of tourists visit
every year to see the monastery which they believe could’ve been the inspiration
for Hilton’s monastery in Shangri-la.
But although there’s a relaxed pace of life and things seem very peaceful,
visitors to modern-day Shangri-la may find it doesn’t live up to their
expectations as there are several major differences to the Shangri-la described
in Lost Horizon. For one thing, there’s no mountain which matches Hilton’s
perfect mountain. And for another, you won’t find anyone much over the age of
one hundred living there.
