Extra felicity O’Dell fce

That is the end of Part 3.
Now turn to Part 4.
You will hear a discussion about their school-days
between three people, Amy, Bill and Celia. For
questions 24 to 30 choose the best answer (A, B or C). 
You now have 45 seconds in which to look at Part 4.
F
Life was so different when we were at school,
wasn’t it, Celia? 
F
You’re right. Our kids have it so easy. They were so
strict about uniform when I was at school. Now they
can more or less wear what they like.
F
Yes, at my school in Australia we had to wear the
most awful straw hats and on special occasions we
had to wear white gloves. Was it like that here in
Britain, Celia?
F
No, it wasn’t quite as bad as that at my school, Amy.
But our skirts had to touch the ground when we
knelt down and we’d have been expelled, I think, if
we’d come to school with ear-rings or make-up on.
Bill, did you have to wear a uniform?
M Yes, we did. But it didn’t bother me that much –
apart from the horrible caps that we had to wear.
Now my son isn’t allowed to wear a cap to school
and he’d really like to!
F
Yes, people are perverse, aren’t they. The worst
thing for me at school was the food, though. There
was no choice at all at school dinners and we had to
eat everything on our plate or we were in trouble.
Was that the same at your school, Amy?
F
Yes, it was, Celia, more or less. We did have a little
bit of choice but we had to clean our plates. I
remember how we used to put food into a little
cupboard in the wall beside one of the tables. It was
a cupboard holding the gas meter and we got into
terrible trouble the next time the man came to read
the meter and found a pile of rotting macaroni
cheese and cabbage.
M I quite enjoyed school dinners at our school but they
were terribly unhealthy – all chips and lots of sweet
puddings. I think they think much more about
nutrition these days.
F
Yes, perhaps, but my daughter still hates school
dinners. She complained the other day that there
was only a choice of two different flavours of ice
cream by the time she got to the head of the queue.
F
Oh, I know, Celia. They just don’t realise how lucky
they are, do they! My daughter complained the
other day that her new French teacher took off a
mark for every spelling mistake in a test. She
thought it was incredibly petty of her – and most of
the class ended up with zero marks. Including my
daughter, of course.
M Well, at least she only got zero marks. We got a very
sharp rap on the knuckles if we got less than 50 per
cent in a test. It really hurt. It seems incredible to
believe now – it’s not that long ago really and yet
things have changed so much.
F
Yeah, for the better in some ways but not in others.