NARRATOR:
You will hear two students, Kathy and Graham, planning a university display about 19th century British life and literature.
NARRATOR:
First, you have some time to look at questions 21 to 24.
NARRATOR:
Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 24.
CATHY:
Let's make sure we've both understood the assignment.
CATHY:
For the university open day, we need to plan a display about British society and literature in the middle of the 19th century.
GRAHAM:
Other people will locate the materials and assemble everything.
GRAHAM:
At this stage, our job is simply to produce the plan.
CATHY:
Do you know who the display is meant to attract?
CATHY:
I couldn't tell whether the main audience was English students or people studying other subjects.
GRAHAM:
That was the arrangement in previous years, but hardly anyone attended.
GRAHAM:
This time, it's part of an open day intended to improve the university's profile.
GRAHAM:
It will be advertised across the city so local residents can see what happens here, and details are being sent to people who may apply to study next year.
CATHY:
Current students and teaching staff will probably visit as well, won't they?
GRAHAM:
Probably, but we've specifically been asked to focus on those other two groups.
CATHY:
We don't have to represent every 19th century writer, do we?
GRAHAM:
The choice is ours.
GRAHAM:
Why don't we base the whole display on Charles Dickens?
CATHY:
His name and novels are still widely recognized, and many people have watched screen adaptations even if they haven't read the books.
CATHY:
He gives us an accessible way into the period.
GRAHAM:
His fiction also exposed the terrible living conditions faced by much of the population.
GRAHAM:
He hoped that drawing attention to those problems would push society to respond.
CATHY:
Did he campaign in any other ways?
GRAHAM:
He supported education and other reforms and delivered public speeches.
GRAHAM:
But I think we should leave those activities aside and concentrate on what he published.
NARRATOR:
Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 25 to 30.
NARRATOR:
Now listen and answer questions 25 to 30.
CATHY:
Shall we now match one aspect of Victorian life with each novel?
GRAHAM:
I've brought a chronological list of the novels, assuming you'd accept my Dickens idea.
CATHY:
Fortunately for you, I did.
CATHY:
The Pickwick Papers came first, in 1836.
CATHY:
It sold extremely well and was adapted for the stage almost immediately.
GRAHAM:
There's another useful detail.
GRAHAM:
One character repeatedly falls asleep, and a medical disorder was later named Pickwickian Syndrome after the book.
CATHY:
Let's make medicine the theme and support it with quotations.
GRAHAM:
Next comes Oliver Twist.
GRAHAM:
Poverty is an obvious possibility, but perhaps we can choose something less predictable.
CATHY:
Oliver is trained to steal instead of going to school.
CATHY:
We could use that to show how few poor children received formal education and how they learned elsewhere.
GRAHAM:
Which book follows?
CATHY:
Nicholas Nickleby, perhaps.
CATHY:
Nicholas teaches at an appalling school.
GRAHAM:
True, but he also joins a travelling theatre company.
GRAHAM:
Let's use the book to explore theatre and other forms of entertainment, so the display isn't entirely about hardship.
GRAHAM:
In Martin Chuzlewit, the main character travels to the United States, doesn't he?
CATHY:
And Dickens himself had visited America the previous year, so his own journey influenced the novel.
GRAHAM:
The book also deals strongly with selfishness, which could lead into social justice.
GRAHAM:
Actually, that's too broad.
GRAHAM:
Your travel idea is more focused, so we'll keep it.
CATHY:
Bleak House was next, and it's the one I like best.
GRAHAM:
Its attack on the legal system is extremely sharp.
CATHY:
It is, but Esther's experiences might offer a better theme.
CATHY:
She is treated badly by the woman she later discovers is her aunt, becomes happy while managing her guardian's household, and eventually marries and receives a home of her own.
GRAHAM:
Yes, that gives us a clear account of a woman's life.
CATHY:
Then we could use little Dorrit.
CATHY:
Mr. Dorrit spends years in a debtor's prison.
GRAHAM:
Like Dickens's father, I think.
GRAHAM:
What if we concentrate on the moment Mr. Dorrit inherits a fortune and begins behaving as though he has always belonged to the wealthy classes?
CATHY:
Now we need to decide what material will illustrate each theme, and that may be the difficult part.
NARRATOR:
That is the end of part three.
NARRATOR:
You now have one minute to check your answers to part three.
