Due to fog we regret that changes have been made to the scheduled departures. Flight LH302 is now due to leave at 10:00. Frankfurt airport is closed and this fight will be diverted to Wiesbaden. Flight BA314 will now leave at 10:20 and Flight AI411 at 10:25. Please await further announcements.

　　"Hello. This is John. I'm afraid I can't make it this evening. I've asked Peter to meet you but he can't get away from work until twenty past six. It seems better if you met at 6:50 at the entrance to Waterloo Station."

　　... Well, you know there have been a lot of changes over the last few years. In fact, since 1978 the population has increased to about a quarter of a million. Unemployment is much better than in some cities. Now it's about five and a half per cent.

　　Yes, but in 1978 it was only about three per cent.

　　It's not bad, as I said. But there have been changes at the airport since we found oil. Since 1978 the number of aeroplane passengers has increased from 980,000 to 1,400,000. And over these last few years, from 1978 until now, the number of helicopter passengers has also increased enormously. It was 220,000 in 1978, but since then it's increased to 600,000.

　　This time last week Roy Woods, a bus conductor from Streatham, in South London, was worried about money. He owed twenty pounds to his landlady in rent. Today he is rich, for last Saturday he won 120,000 pounds on the football pools.

　　Last night he was interviewed on television by reporter Stan Edwards.

　　Edwards: Well, Mr. Woods, what are you going to do now? Are you going to give up your job on the buses?

　　Woods: Yes, I'm going to finish at the end of the week.

　　Edwards: And what other plans have you got?

　　Woods: Well, I'm going to buy a house.

　　Edwards: Have you got a house of your own now?

　　Woods: No, no, we live in a furnished flat.

　　Edwards: Have you got a car?

　　Woods: Yes, I've got an old Ford, but I'm going to buy a new car ... and my wife says she's going to have driving lessons!

　　Today, I'm going to tell you how to make stir-fried beef with ginger. This typically Guangzhou dish is one of the quickest and tastiest ways to cook beef. The ginger adds spiciness. Serve it with ham and bean sprouts soup. See page 64.

　　Ingredients: 350 grams of lean beef steak.

　　Quarter of a teaspoon of salt.

　　Two teaspoons of light soy sauce.

　　Two teaspoons of dry wine.

　　Half a teaspoon of sesame oil.

　　One teaspoon of corn flour.

　　One slice of fresh ginger.

　　One table spoon of oil.

　　One table spoon of chicken stock or water.

　　And half a teaspoon of sugar.

　　First, you put the beef in the freezing compartment of the refrigerator for twenty minutes. This will allow the meat to harden slightly for easier cutting.

　　Then cut it into thin slices of about one and a half inches, that's three and a half centimetres long.

　　Put the beef slices into a bowl. And add the salt, soy sauce, wine, sesame oil, and corn flour, and mix well.

　　Let the slices soak for about fifteen minutes.

　　Meanwhile, finely shred the ginger slice and set it aside.

　　Heat a wok or large frying pan and add the oil.

　　When it is very hot, stir-fry the beef for about two minutes.

　　When all the beef is cooked, remove it, wipe the wok or pan clean and re-heat it.

　　Add a little oil and stir-fry the ginger for a few seconds.

　　Then add the stock or water and sugar.

　　Quickly return the meat to the pan, and stir well.

　　Turn the mixture onto a plate, and serve at once.

　　Julie has just arrived at Bob's house. She has bought a new camera. She wants Bob to show her how it works.

　　Julie: You're a good photographer, Bob. Can you have a look at this camera and show me how it works?

　　Bob: Yes, of course. It isn't difficult. But first you have to buy a film.

　　Julie: (scornfully) I know that. Here's the film.

　　Bob: Right. Now first you have to open the film compartment. Just press the release. Then you have to put a film cartridge in the compartment. Close it carefully. After that you have to push the lever until you see number 1 in the counter window. And then all you have to do is this look through the viewfinder and press the button. It's very easy.

　　Julie: Thank you, Bob. Let's try it. I'm going to take your photograph, so say 'cheese'.

　　Yes, I agree. Lovely breakfast. Very nice. Excellent coffee, especially, don't you think? Anyway, as I was telling you, it happens to me every time I go to a new place: I always end up paying twice or three times as much as I should for the first ride. But last night was the worst ever. The train got in at about eleven, so I felt lucky to get one—though it looked a bit old and battered. But he was so polite—and you don't get much of that these days: 'Let me take your bags,' he says. 'No trouble,' he says. 'It's a hot, sticky night,' he says, 'but don't worry, madam, it's air-conditioned,' —and it was, surprisingly— 'just relax and I'll get you there in no time.' So we went for miles down this road and that road and he pointed out all sorts of buildings and other sights that he said I'd appreciate when I could see them properly in the morning. And he told me that though this was one of the few cities in the world where a woman could go at that time of night on her own and nothing to fear, even so, it was a good thing I'd taken a registered vehicle, because you never knew, did you? Though I couldn't see any special registration number of anything, and I didn't think to make a note of his licence plate—and it wouldn't have made any difference, I don't suppose. So here I am. And as you can see, if you look out of the window, that's the station! Just across the road! Anyway. Well, it's a lovely hotel, isn't it? Are you on holiday too?

　　My problem is with my mother, who is now well over seventy and a widow and becoming very fragile, and she really needs my help. But where she lives, in the country, there's no work available for me—I'm a designer—and she can't come and live with me because she says she doesn't like the climate because it's too bad for her rheumatism, which is actually true—it's very cold here. And if I go and work there as something else where she lives, perhaps as a secretary, it means we have to take drastic drop in salary. So I don't really know what to do.