SO_PI_U2_DVD.doc

  Pre-intermediate Unit 2 DVD Script

P = Presenter     JS = Justin Saunders      RS = Rebecca Saunders

W1 = 1st woman     W2 = 2nd woman

P:              Tonight on The Money Programme. Are you fed up of travelling to work               on packed commuter trains? Are you tired of being sat in endless traffic               queues? Well, now there’s an alternative. More and more people are               choosing to live abroad and commute to their jobs in Britain like this.               It’s cheap houses in Europe and budget flights that are changing the               way we live. We’re following some of the lucky people who’ve moved               across the channel but still earn their living here. They’re Britain’s               dream commuters.

              It’s the end of the working week and Justin Saunders is heading home.

JS:              Bye everybody. See you next week then.

W1:              See ya.

P:              He runs an online map company near Reading.

JS:              I get fed up with the traffic. There’s just so many cars on the road. It’s               been a tiring, tiring week, ah … but I’m glad to be going home.

P:              But his home is a little further away than most. Justin’s part of Britain’s               new breed of Euro commuters.

W2:              Boarding starts at six o’clock and the gate number will be on the               screens in Departures.

P:              He flies from Gatwick to his house in south west France. And Justin’s               not alone. He’s one of a group of commuters who take the same flight               to Toulouse every week.

P:              There’s a hotel operator, an IT worker, a charity manager and a BT               consultant. Only this week they’ve got one more: me. It’s straight off.               No time for shopping with these guys.

P:              So why did you decide to make this move in the first place?

JS:              We basically decided to move to France for the better quality of life. We               thought … we looked on the internet and we saw properties available               much cheaper than in Britain. We were fed up with the commuting and               the traffic.

P:              But what’s the cost of the commute?

JS:              When I book the flights early enough, I’m paying something like 38               pounds return.

P:              Justin’s life is in a village in south west France, an hour’s drive from               Toulouse Airport and over 700 miles from his Hampshire office.

RS:              Daddy’s home.

JS:              Where’s Georgie?

RS:              She’s asleep.

JS:              She’s asleep.

RS:              So, how was the flight?

JS:              Oh, not too bad. Nice to be back home, though.

P:              It’s morning in the French village of Albas, beside the River Lot, and               Justin Saunders seems pretty happy.

RS:              That’s the house down there. With the terrace.

P:              The one just here with the river view.

RS:              The river view, yeah.

JS:              We’re still pinching ourselves. Is this really real? We’ve just               transformed our lifestyle.

P:              Well, wouldn’t you commute by plane for this?