Helen, and Simon love organising events and outings for their friends and classmates. But sometimes the events they’ve organised don’t work out because of the weather. Listen to these three conversations between the four friends and then answer the questions.
Conversation 1
Helen: Have you seen the weather forecast for tomorrow?
Simon: Yes. It doesn’t look good at all.
Helen: I’ve checked it out online and on TV and things look pretty bad.
Simon: What did the latest forecasts say? I checked this morning before I went to school.
Helen: It’s been great weather all day today so can you believe that they’ve forecast heavy rain for tomorrow?
Simon: What are you going to do?
Helen: Well, we can’t have a barbecue on the beach in the pouring rain. I think I’m going to have to ring everyone and cancel.
Simon: How many said they’d come?
Helen: Fourteen from our class and I’d asked two friends from the tennis club.
Simon: I agree that we should cancel. We can organise it again next weekend or the weekend after and keep our fingers crossed about the weather. I’ll help you ring round if you want.
Conversation 2
Simon: Have you paid the deposit for the sailing lessons on Sunday?
Helen: Yes. The yacht club wouldn’t accept a booking without a deposit. I paid the lot when I booked and I was going to collect it from everyone on Sunday.
Simon: How many have you booked for?
Helen: Ten of us. Mike couldn’t make up his mind so I told him to forget it.
Simon: Good. We’ll have more fun without him anyway. He’s been very moody since he finished with Catherine.
Helen: Yes, but what are we going to do about the weather?
Simon: What about the weather?
Helen: The forecast says there are going to be gale force winds all day on Sunday.
Simon: Really?
Helen: Some friends from my science class booked some lessons at the yacht club last tmonth. They all turned up to find everything had been cancelled because it was too windy.
Simon: Did they get their money back?
Helen: Yes, but that’s not the point. Some of them had had to travel a long way to get to the club and felt very upset when the lessons were cancelled.
Simon: Well, I suggest that you call the club on Sunday lunch time and ask what’s going on. If the lessons are cancelled, we can pass the word around before people set off.
Helen: Good idea. I’ll do that. I’ll give everyone a call tonight and tell them to wait until they hear from me on Sunday before they set off.
Conversation 3
Simon: I think we might have a problem about the hike next Saturday.
Helen: Why? What’s happened?
Simon: Well, it’s the weather. They’ve forecast strong sun and a very high temperature for the whole weekend.
Helen: We will just have to take lots of water, sun block and make sure we all wear hats.
Simon: I don’t think it’s as simple as that.
Helen: What do you mean?
Simon: Have you ever done a hike in extreme heat? It’s just not a sensible thing to do.
Helen: Oh, I don’t think it will be as bad as that.
Simon: I don’t want any one to get sun stroke or heat exhaustion.
Helen: It’s only a short hike. We’re not doing a marathon.
Simon: Dad says I should cancel. Some of his friends did the same hike one Saturday when it was hot last month and one of the guys passed out and they had to send for an ambulance. A doctor said they were stupid for going on a hike when the sun was so strong in the first place.
Helen: I was looking forward to Sunday. I’ve bought some new hiking boots.
Simon: I’m the organiser and I don’t want to be blamed if one of us is taken ill. The best thing is to call it off this time and wait until the weather gets a bit cooler.
Helen: Okay. I suppose you’re right.