One

Man: How was your trip to Japan?
Woman: Oh, it was fantastic.
Man: Did you use the public transport there? I’ve heard that Japanese trains are great…
Woman: I did, actually. But you won’t believe what happened. Japanese train companies are very strict when it comes to timetables, but the train I was on departed a bit too soon. To my surprise, in the evening I heard the train company spokesperson make a statement about it on the news.
Man: Oh, really? On the news? What did he say?
Woman: He said they were very sorry for what had happened and would make sure that in future all trains would leave precisely according to the timetable. Just imagine, my train left just 20 seconds ahead of schedule!

Two

Woman: Have you ever burnt something while cooking? That’s what happened to a woman in Sydney who decided to heat up some chicken for dinner. But what she didn’t know was that her husband had put $15,000 in the oven. So when she heated the chicken, she accidentally burnt the money. Her husband got it for selling his sports car two weeks before. He thought the money would be safe in the oven because his wife almost never used it!

Three

Woman: You love playing basketball, don’t you? So, how did it all start?
Man: When my parents moved to the USA, I was nine. I wasn’t happy at my new school because I didn’t know anybody. So my parents told me to think of a hobby where I could get to know other children. I chose basketball because it was a team game. I was quite fit and I got into it immediately. Soon I became very good at it, but I never thought about basketball as a possible career. It was just fun and I’m still in contact with the people I met on the court years ago.

Four

Man: Harry Krame from New Jersey has finally returned a poetry book to his school library. He borrowed it when he was a student 53 years ago. Recently, Harry discovered the book by chance when he was cleaning his basement and he immediately went to give it back. Normally students pay 10 cents per day when they keep a book for too long, so that would be about $2,000 for a book returned 19,345 days late! However, the school librarian decided that Harry’s case was special and she did not charge him for the late book.

Five

Man: What’s the problem?
Woman: I’ve got a flat tyre. I drove out of my garage and after about five minutes I felt that something was wrong. I stopped in a supermarket car park to check the tyre and then came straight here.
Man: I hope you didn’t damage the wheel. How far did you drive?
Woman: Well, just under a mile. Can you help me?
Man: I’m a bit busy at the moment, so you will have to leave your car here for a day. One of my workers can take you where you want to go.
Woman: That’ll be great, thanks!

Six

Woman: I’m standing here with the sheriff of Marion City. It’s here that an unusual object which was stolen last year has just been found. Sheriff, can you tell our listeners the whole story?
Man: Well, we’ve managed to find a stolen hot air balloon. The owner reported it missing over a year ago during the Hot Air Balloon Festival in Reno, Nevada. We found it yesterday at the World Air Games which were organised in our town.
Woman: What did you do after you found it?
Man: We put it on a truck and transported it back to its owner.