Группа Learning English. Транскрипт всего подкаста сюда не умещается. Продолжение текста здесь: http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/webcast/scripts/private_lives/private_lives_4.pdf
Clip Angela Simpson When I spoke to my mother about joining the police service she was dead set against it because of the fact that I’m female and I’m black and because of all the negative publicity that the police had had in her era when she actually came to the country so she was totally dead set against me joining. Sue: In Private lives today we meet Angela Simpson. Angela is 29 years old, and she was born and brought up in Leeds, a large city in the north of England. Angela is a police officer, and she has special responsibility for recruiting young people from ethnic minorities who are interested in a career in the police service. During the programme, we’ll hear Angela talk about where she lives, and what she enjoys doing on a typical night in and a typical night out. She also talks about her family, and she describes how she thinks being a police officer has changed her over the years. First, we learn a little about Angela’s background and her childhood in a multicultural suburb of Leeds. Clip Angela Simpson My parents came to England in the 1960s, early 1960s from Jamaica, and I remember living in the Harehills area of Leeds which I really enjoyed as a child because of the fact that I distinctly remember that on my left there were neighbours who were Irish and from there we had people who were Sikh, Hindu, Pakistani, African-Carribbean all in this long street. I remember at school, it was quite a multicultural environment the fact that I had friends from different backgrounds and different walks of life and for me I have really happy childhood memories it wasn’t until really I started working where I felt like I was in the minority. Sue: Angela began her working life at Customs and Excise - a British government department which is responsible for collecting duty on imported goods for example. She had an administrative job and she was bored. When she decided she wanted to become a police officer, her mother tried to discourage her, fearing her daughter would face racial prejudice and sexual discrimination. Angela wasn’t put off - although the training was tough, and she says she found it especially difficult, since she was from an ethnic minority background. After training school, Angela became a foot patrol officer, and her day-to-day duties included dealing with shoplifters, domestic incidents and road accidents. She worked in a different part of Leeds from where she was brought up and she explains why. Clip Angela Simpson I would never ever work in the area that I was brought up in which is Leeds in the Harehills area because of the fact that I do know a lot of people that I went to school with, a lot of people who have been in trouble as well and just from some of the comments that have been said when I’ve been out with my friends, especially if somebody doesn’t like somebody from the police force then they’re going to say negative things about you. And I’ve got to think of my family as well who still live in that area which is the most important thing to me regardless of the job really so I would never, ever work in Leeds where I was brought up. Sue: Angela is no longer a foot patrol officer “on the beat” - on duty, walking the local area she was responsible for. She enjoys her new role as a recruiting liaison officer, and she’s working very hard to attract young people from ethnic minority backgrounds into the police service. However, Angela is clear that her police work on the beat - some of it with people whose living conditions shocked her because they were so poor - made her a more confident, committed officer and a stronger person. ...