华尔街中级英语学习教程第3课：找人Act4 (MP3和文本下载)

ROWLAND: Well, I'm here at Southampton Eastleigh Airport on the South Coast of England. It's a small airport with destinations for their flights to the Channel Islands of Guernsey and Jersey, to Alderney, to Paris, to Amsterdam, to Edinburgh and Glasgow, and many other places as well. I'm now going to wander round and chat to some of the passengers.

ROWLAND: Sir, if I could just interrupt you for a second. Have you just come off a plane? Are you just going on a plane? Where are you going?

CANADIAN: Just come off a plane. Came in from Canada.

ROWLAND: From Canada?

CANADIAN: From Canada.

ROWLAND: Which airport did you fly into?

CANADIAN: We flew into Heathrow.

ROWLAND: And are you flying from this airport today?

CANADIAN: My mother is flying from this airport today. To Belfast.

ROWLAND: Do you fly a lot?

CANADIAN: I did at one time. Yes. A few years ago I used to fly almost every week. But not any more. No.

ROWLAND: How did you find your flight over from Canada?

CANADIAN: Wonderful. Tremendous flight.

ROWLAND: What makes the difference between a good flight and a bad flight, then?

CANADIAN: The service. We came over on a 747. That was the first time I'd ever been on a 747. It was quite a treat. The service. The food was good.

ROWLAND: Thank you, sir.

CANADIAN: Thank you very, very much.

ROWLAND: Now, a family has just got off the plane. Where have you just flown from?

WOMAN: We've just flown from Guernsey

ROWLAND: How long was the flight?

WOMAN: Just over half an hour

ROWLAND: Did you enjoy it?

WOMAN: Yes, it was super. A bit bumpy coming down to land.

ROWLAND: Are you used to flying?

WOMAN: No, not at all. I've only done it once before

ROWLAND: And you are here with your daughter, hello how old are you?

LITTLE GIRL: Nine

ROWLAND: And what did you think of the flight?

LITTLE GIRL: It was a bit scary when we bumped in the air but apart from that it was alright

ROWLAND: so a bit of turbulence I think they call that don't they?

LITTLE GIRL: Yeah

ROWLAND: But it was alright the rest of the time

LITTLE GIRL: Yeah

ROWLAND: well I’m glad you had a good holiday, thank you fro talking to us.

WOMAN: OK thanks.

LITTLE GIRL: thanks.

ROWLAND: Well, I'm now in the airport lounge and a lady here waiting to fly, I presume?

WOMAN: Yes, I am. I'm going to Jersey.

ROWLAND: Have you flown before?

WOMAN: Many times.

ROWLAND: Do you find a difference in service between one airline and another?

WOMAN: No. No. I only ever fly with one. Purely because they have more flights available and fly on more days. So, it's more convenient for me and I like the service I get.

ROWLAND: This is a small and very friendly airport. Do you like the service here?

WOMAN: I've never had any problems with it. They have certainly improved it. It's nice now. It's what it is, it's a small, friendly airport. Yeah, I find everybody helpful.

ROWLAND: Jolly good. Have a good flight.

WOMAN: Thank you very much.

ROWLAND: Now, two people who've just come off a plane. Where have you come from?

HUSBAND: We've come from Alderney.

ROWLAND: In the Channel Islands?

HUSBAND: Yes.

ROWLAND: Presumably one of the advantages of flying from a small airport like this that there is a very quick check-in and check-out time?

HUSBAND: Yes. Oh, it is very much quicker than going from one of the major airports. There you've got to queue up for customs and all that sort of thing, whereas here, I mean, you're through in no time at all. There's no problems here, whatever.

ROWLAND: Well, thank you very much for talking to us. I hope you've had a nice holiday.

HUSBAND: Yes, we have. Thank you.

WIFE: Thank you.

ROWLAND: Now, sir, are you about to fly?

BUSINESSMAN: Not today. No. Not from Southampton.

ROWLAND: Now, so you're seeing someone off are you?

BUSINESSMAN: Yes. Yes. My colleague travels from Southampton to Paris.

ROWLAND: Do you fly a lot yourself?

BUSINESSMAN: Indeed. Yes. Um, once per month.

ROWLAND: That's for business?

BUSINESSMAN: For business to Paris, to Lyon to Dijon

ROWLAND: How do you find flying these days? Is the service generally getting better?

BUSINESSMAN: Yes. It's, it's good, it's very convenient. It's quick. Connections in Europe are excellent and generally for the UK it's improving also.

ROWLAND: Do you find that there is quite a difference between the standard of service of one airline and another?

BUSINESSMAN: To a point, although all European airlines now are of good quality. For the business traveller it's efficient.

ROWLAND: What about the cost of air travel?

BUSINESSMAN: Can be expensive, but cost is relative to one's need.

ROWLAND: And what do you think makes a difference between a good flight and a bad flight?

BUSINESSMAN: Generally air crew, the efficiency, the speed in and out of the airport. It's, it's a means to an end a flight.

ROWLAND: Have you ever missed a flight?

BUSINESSMAN: Uh, not, not missed, but very recently I arrived at Charles de Gaulle with maybe fifteen minutes to catch the flight, and credit to Air UK who helped me immensely to get through and catch the flight home. It was the last flight of the day, nine-thirty.

ROWLAND: I bet you were glad you made it.

BUSINESSMAN: Very pleased.

ROWLAND: Thank you very much indeed. Have a good flight, sir.

ROWLAND: Jackie Daniels, you're the sales and marketing manager here at Southampton Airport. What's it like working at an airport?

JACKIE: I've been at Southampton for three years now and I find it's a very exciting environment to work in. We're also quite a small team of people here, so there's very much a good team spirit. Everybody helps each other out.

ROWLAND: How do passengers react when a flight has to be delayed?

JACKIE: The frequent flyers are normally, um, pretty good. They're sympathetic, they understand the reasons. Having said that, if it happens a bit too often they're also fed-up.

ROWLAND: What are the most common causes of a delay?

JACKIE: The main ones we see here will be, um, the weather. The Channel Islands can have quite a lot of foggy days. There can also be air traffic control delays. And certainly when it comes to peak summer the skies are very busy with everyone going on holiday.

ROWLAND: So, what's the most important thing about working at an airport? What's you're main consideration?

JACKIE: It's got to be customer service. Um, if it wasn't for the passengers we wouldn't have a job and so our main role here is to make people's transfer through the airport and their flight as pleasant as possible.

ROWLAND: I've left the air terminal now, as you'll hear, and I'm standing next to the runway where an Air UK flight is just going through its pre-flight checks before take-off, and that's where we'll finish our visit to Southampton Airport.