Unit 5 / Listening 1B

 

Tom: Well, here we are then. Dominica . And very glad to be here at last. It was such a long flight!

Gina: The stopover was long. Six hours in Miami airport. That's a long time to hang around doing nothing.

Tom: It was all right for you. You just curled up and went to sleep.

Gina: I know. I can sleep anywhere. Buses, trains, waiting rooms. I always try to sleep when I'm travelling, unless the scenery is fabulous. When you sleep it's a bit like magic: you close your eyes and when you open them you're in a different place. Just think: only yesterday we were in The Blue Monkey in LA and now here we are in Dominica .

Tom: I don't know how you manage. I find it so difficult to sleep on planes.

Gina: Did you watch the film till the end? I started, but I think I fell asleep after ten minutes.

Tom: It was really boring. But I watched it all the same. I don't think I slept more than half an hour in the whole flight. What time is it now?

Gina: Local time is 16.15, outside temperature 32 degrees. There's a lovely blue sky, and I want to see Dominica . Let's go!

Tom: Wait, we need to change some money first.

Gina: Oh yes. US dollars are no use here. We need Caribbean dollars.

Tom: What's the exchange rate, do you know?

Gina: The US dollar is worth more than the Caribbean dollar. One US dollar is worth roughly three Caribbean dollars. That means that an English pound is worth about four and a half Caribbean dollars.

Tom: It all sounds rather confusing. But you seem to be good at maths. I think I'll leave you to handle our finances.

Gina: I don't know if that's wise. I'll probably transfer all your money into my secret bank account in Switzerland . And you won't even notice until you get back home and try to use your bank card and the cash machine says, ‘Sorry! Gina's got it all!'

Tom: And Caroline will say, ‘I told you so!' I phoned her while we were waiting in Miami . She's very suspicious of you, you know.

Gina: Really? Why?

Tom: Well, she thinks I'm travelling around the world with a beautiful woman having a good time. Which I suppose is true, in fact.

Gina: I'm having a good time too. This is turning out to be quite a mystery.

Tom: It certainly is. I just hope Ben's all right.

Gina: Me too. But I'm optimistic. Dominica 's a very small island. I'm sure we'll find him soon and we can all celebrate together.

Tom: Let's hope so. The best place to start is with Michael Faringdon. According to his secretary, he booked into the Dragonfly Resort near Roseau . He's on holiday there with his daughter Jessica. I tried to book in there myself but unfortunately they're full. We'll have to go somewhere else.

Gina: Right. We'll change some money and then we can take a taxi to Roseau . We'll drop our luggage at the hotel and start looking for Faringdon.

Tom: Correction. We drop our luggage, I sleep for two hours and then we start looking.

Gina: All right. But two hours maximum, OK? If you're not awake then, I'll wake you up myself.

Tom: That suits me. I can think of worse sights to wake up to. Let's go.