NARRATOR:
You will hear Trevor and Stephanie discussing a course on children's literature.
NARRATOR:
First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 25.
NARRATOR:
Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 25.
TREVOR:
You wanted to ask me about the children's literature course I'm doing, didn't you?
STEPHANIE:
I'm considering taking it next year, but I wanted to know a bit more about it first.
TREVOR:
As you probably know, it lasts for a year.
TREVOR:
There are six compulsory modules, and the one I found especially interesting looked at the purpose of literature written for children.
STEPHANIE:
So, whether stories are simply meant to entertain, or whether they should teach children as well?
TREVOR:
And whether that teaching is factual, giving children knowledge about the world, or ethical, passing on values.
TREVOR:
What interested me was that authors themselves may not realize what values their stories communicate.
TREVOR:
A child in a story might get into trouble after ignoring an adult, for example, which suggests that children should always do as they're told.
STEPHANIE:
I see what you mean.
TREVOR:
That module showed me how strongly stories can influence children as they grow up.
TREVOR:
In fact, it encouraged me to try writing a children's story myself, just as a personal project.
TREVOR:
I know I couldn't match hugely popular books such as the Harry Potter series.
TREVOR:
They're excellent.
TREVOR:
And even younger readers like my seven-year-old niece enjoy them.
STEPHANIE:
I'm particularly interested in illustrations.
STEPHANIE:
Does the course cover those?
TREVOR:
Yes, there's a module on pictures, including the way they can sometimes be central to a story.
STEPHANIE:
I can still picture some frightening illustrations I saw when I was little, even after all these years.
STEPHANIE:
Images can be every bit as powerful as words.
STEPHANIE:
I've always loved drawing, and I'd like to work as an illustrator after the course, so that module should be very useful.
TREVOR:
I'm sure it will.
TREVOR:
We considered comics in that module, too, although I don't think they have the same value as books.
TREVOR:
With words, readers have to form the scenes in their own minds, whereas a comic provides the images for them.
STEPHANIE:
But children already receive so much visual information from television, games, and similar media.
STEPHANIE:
Some of them wouldn't attempt a conventional book at all, so comics can perform a genuinely useful role.
TREVOR:
You mean reading a comic is preferable to reading nothing?
TREVOR:
Yes, I suppose you're right.
TREVOR:
I still think it's unfortunate when children never read books.
STEPHANIE:
Does the course also discuss books written specifically for girls or for boys?
TREVOR:
Yes, that's another module.
TREVOR:
For a long time, many English-language stories showed boys having adventures while girls remained at home playing with dolls.
TREVOR:
I was astonished by how many books were directed at one sex only rather than at both.
TREVOR:
Naturally, that reflected the society in which those books were produced.
STEPHANIE:
It sounds as if you would recommend the course.
NARRATOR:
Before you hear the rest of the conversation, you have some time to look at questions 26 to 30.
NARRATOR:
Now listen and answer questions 26 to 30.
TREVOR:
Have you been reading many children's stories to help you decide whether to enroll?
STEPHANIE:
I've gone back as far as the late 17th century, although I know children's stories existed before then.
TREVOR:
Does that include Perot's fairy tales such as Cinderella and The Sleeping Beauty?
STEPHANIE:
They're significant because nothing quite like them had appeared before.
STEPHANIE:
They established a new kind of story.
STEPHANIE:
I also read The Swiss Family Robinson.
TREVOR:
I haven't read that one.
STEPHANIE:
The English title makes Robinson sound like the family's surname.
STEPHANIE:
A closer translation would be The Swiss Robinsons, because the story concerns a Swiss family shipwrecked in a situation resembling Robinson Crusoe, the title of a novel published a century earlier.
STEPHANIE:
Have you read Hoffman's The Nutcracker and the Mouse King?
TREVOR:
Isn't that the story that inspired Tchaikovsky's ballet The Nutcracker?
STEPHANIE:
That's the one.
STEPHANIE:
Some parts of it are rather strange.
TREVOR:
I hope you've read Oscar Wilde's The Happy Prince.
TREVOR:
It's probably my favorite children's story.
STEPHANIE:
It's unexpected because Wilde is mainly known for his witty plays, while The Happy Prince is deeply moving.
STEPHANIE:
I had a much harder time with Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
STEPHANIE:
There are three long volumes, and I stopped after the first.
TREVOR:
Even so, it's enormously popular.
STEPHANIE:
Yes, but The Happy Prince drew me in immediately.
STEPHANIE:
Whereas The Lord of the Rings demanded more effort than I was willing to give it.
TREVOR:
That wasn't my experience.
STEPHANIE:
Another book I've read is War Horse.
TREVOR:
That's set during the First World War, isn't it?
TREVOR:
War seems an unlikely subject for a children's story.
STEPHANIE:
Exactly, but it has been very successful.
STEPHANIE:
Have you read any?
NARRATOR:
That is the end of part three.
NARRATOR:
You now have one minute to check your answer.
