Topic Three: Family Life

Dictation 5

The Adams Family

The Adams live in the suburbs of Glasgow. They are an extended family: a mother, a father, five children, grandparents and their domestic animals. Mr Adams is a farmer as both of his parents. Old Mr and Mrs Adams, are always on the farm. They like their cows, sheep, horses and geese and are responsible for feeding them.

The Adams' children don't go to school as they are little. Polly and Sam are four-year-old twins. Fred is five. Ann is three and Alice is just a toddler. They are all good friends and enjoy playing with their dog. The dog's name is Jake. He loves running and jumping. The boys enjoy riding their bikes. Fred is fond of watching television but Sam hates doing it because he thinks this pastime boring.

Mrs Adams is a school teacher. She teaches music to boys and girls. She has a lot of talented pupils though some of them are rather naughty. Many of them can play the piano, guitar or violin wonderfully and enjoy singing Scottish folk songs. They like to listen to Mrs Adams who plays various musical instruments greatly.

Dictation 6

My Aunt Emily

Of all my relatives, I like my Aunt Emily best. She's my mother's youngest sister. She has never been married, and she lives alone in a small village near Bath. She is in her late fifties, but quite young in spirit. She has a fair complexion, thick brown hair which she wears in a bun, and shrewd hazel eyes. She has a kind face, and when you meet her, the first thing you notice is her lovely, radiant smile. Her

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face is a little wrinkled now, but I think she is still attractive. She is the sort of person you can always turn to if you have a problem.

She likes reading and gardening, and she goes for long walks over the hills with her dog, Spot. Aunt Emily is a very active person. Either she's constantly making or repairing something or helping others. She does shopping for old-aged pensioners in the village. She is extremely generous, but a bit quarrelsome with the people who don't agree with her. I hope that I will be cheerful and contented as she is when I am her age.

Topic Four: Jobs and Occupations

Dictation 7

David the Teenage Tycoon.

Teenager David Bolton has just put eight thousand pounds in the bank – after only six months of part-time work as a computer consultant. He is an electronics expert from South London who has fast established a reputation as one of the country's top troubleshooters – the person to turn to if no one else can manage.

David is in his late teens. His first steps to fame and fortune he began being only nine when his parents bought him a computer. He soon learned to program it and started saving money to buy a better one. However, only a year ago he decided to get serious about computing. He went to a night school to study how to write business programmes, and did a correspondence course with an American college.

David got in touch with computer sellers, who were so impressed by his knowledge that gave him software worth more than three thousand pounds. In return he has to send them a monthly report saying what he has done and what his plans are. He helps companies by suggesting which computers they should buy, and by writing individual programmes for them.

He can work more quickly than many older professionals. In one case, he went to a foreign firm where their programmers had worked

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for six months and couldn't find the problem. David solved it in five days' time.

How could David reach such success? He himself answers this question: "You have to be ambitious, efficient, and versatile and believe that you are the best."

Dictation 8