Группа Learning English. Продолжение текста здесь: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/people_and_places/pdfs/people_071029_tractor.pdf
Jackie: Hello, welcome to bbclearningenglish.com. I'm Jackie Dalton… Manon It's a 31 year old German tractor and it's green, with red inside the wheels. Jackie: …and this is the Dutch actress Manon Ossevoort. Manon is travelling from Europe to the South Pole on a tractor – yes, a tractor, one of those large heavy vehicles that farmers use. She calls her tractor 'Tractor' and in this programme we'll hear about her journey so far. She's been travelling for two years through all kinds of different countries and lots of things have happened along the way… in fact, Manon ran into trouble just two days into her journey – what happened to her? Manon I started driving and the sun was shining and there were butterflies everywhere and I drove out of Holland and the second day, by accident, I drove onto the highway around Antwerp. Yeah, and I was caught my the highway police and they just took me and Tractor and arrested us. Jackie: As Manon was driving, she accidentally went onto a highway, or motorway, where it's illegal to drive a tractor because the other cars are going fast and it's dangerous. So the police arrested her. Listen again. Manon I started driving and the sun was shining and there were butterflies everywhere and I drove out of Holland and the second day, by accident, I drove onto the highway around Antwerp. Yeah, and I was caught my the highway police and they just took me and Tractor and arrested us. Jackie: LuckilyManon was soon allowed to continue her journey – a journey she'd dreamed of doing for many years. I don't know about you, but I'm still a little unclear as to why she thought it would be a good idea to go by tractor. Let's listen to her to find out. Manon My ultimate destination is the South Pole, on a tractor because the tractor makes me laugh and it symbolises this thing that if you really want to accomplish some things, you might not always be fast, but if you just keep moving, you'll always get somewhere. Jackie: Manon says the tractor is symbolic because, even though it goes slowly, it still gets you somewhere – just like in all sorts of areas of our lives, if we really want to accomplish something, - which means to achieve or do something successfully - it doesn't matter how long it make take, but as long as we do something, we can always make progress. Listen again. Manon My ultimate destination is the South Pole, on a tractor because the tractor makes me laugh and it symbolises this thing that if you really want to accomplish some things, you might not always be fast, but if you just keep moving, you'll always get somewhere. Jackie: Manon travelled through so many countries and often talked to people along the way. But how did the authorities usually react when they saw her – did they threaten her? Manon They just start laughing, and they say, come, come, come, sit down, sit down… we'll make you some tea – what are you doing? Jackie: Luckily for Manon, the authorities were welcoming – probably because they found what she's doing rather strange and they found it funny. Manon They just start laughing, and they say, come, come, come, sit down, sit down… we'll make you some tea – what are you doing? Jackie: But not every part of Manon's journey has been enjoyable so far. There are things she's come across that have made her sad. What kinds of things? Manon On my way through Holland, down through Europe, the Balkan countries, Egypt, Sudan I come to many places, which you could call, as an adult, the end of the world – places where people lose hope. You see beautiful people, local people, beautiful people working for humanitarian organisations...