English Listening B2 Episode 13 -
Fill in the Blanks Exercise
Chloe: What’s that book ?
Amelia: It’s about astronomy – black holes, …
Chloe: Hmm, not exactly , but I suppose you like that sort of thing. Me, I like to relax .
Amelia: It’s just I read this article online .
Chloe: Uh-huh?
Amelia: It was about . She discovered these things called pulsars which are like … well, they’re an .
Chloe: Uh-huh ... She?
Amelia: Yeah, yeah, her name’s Jocelyn Bell-Burnell. She’s a . Well, that’s the thing, that’s what . There aren’t many women in that area.
Chloe: But hang on, she ?
Amelia: Yeah, she was a at the time, but the guy who was her supervisor .
Chloe: You’re kidding?
Amelia: No, he .
Chloe: So who did you say ?
Amelia: Jocelyn Bell-Burnell.
Chloe: But I’ve never of her.
Amelia: Well, no. That’s the point. On this website it talks about … well, it’s got a whole lot of information on people like her … you know, people who work and don’t get the credit or don’t . It was .
Chloe: Yeah, I bet there are a lot of .
Amelia: I mean, she really is an . Even when she was at high school, they weren’t going to let her …
Chloe: When was this?
Amelia: Back .
Chloe: Really? Even in the fifties?
Amelia: Yeah. And then at the end of the year, she of her class! And when she was doing her PhD and made her amazing discovery, she had a and was having to manage a whole lot of things in her , too. I mean, she was really determined, but . And then, when the newspapers wanted to interview her, they didn’t want to , they just asked a lot of stupid questions about her height, her clothes, .
Chloe: That’s terrible, isn’t it? So, is that a that you’re reading?
Amelia: Well, no, it’s just a book .
Chloe: Astrophysics? Just? So, you’re going to become … what? A or something?
Amelia: Well, no … I don’t know. The thing is … after I read the article, I found an interview with Jocelyn Bell-Burnell online. And she was talking about how even today there still aren’t many women who go into science and .
Chloe: So now you want to go back to university and do a ?
Amelia: Maybe. But, you know, why not? I’ve always at science and I used to .
Chloe: But are you really prepared to study and ?
Amelia: Yeah, I .
Chloe: Well, you’ve always been motivated, . And stubborn …
Amelia: But I’m still … doing some reading, that kind of thing.
Chloe: Well, actually … good on you. Why not – take a risk? I admire that.
Amelia: Yeah. Actually, that’s what she says in the interview: ‘Be prepared to – you’ll probably surprise yourself.’ And she said something else very simple about women wanting to be scientists: ‘!’ And I thought, yeah, why shouldn’t I?
