Chris' dating dilemma
If you WEre a boy, could you imagine your sister taking your place on a date with a girl, dressed as a boy? This brother-sister date-swap is the story line of a new Songbirds drama serial called Brother-Sister, Sister-Brother that begins tonight at 9.30pm on Radio 4 (FM 97.6).
Chris and Christine are twins who look alike except for the fact that Chris is a boy and Christine is a girl. They are very close to each other and when Chris is too ill to go out on a date with a girl, he arranges for Christine to dress up as a boy and take his place.
Below is the first part of Brother-Sister, Sister-Brother for you to read either before or while listening to the programme.
Chris: That's her ... over there.
Mark: With the long hair?
Chris: Yes.
Mark: And she lives in your block?
Chris: Yes. She moved here last year.
Mark: Last year.
Chris: What d'you think she'll say?
Mark: Don't know.
Chris: Do you think she'll say 'yes'?
Mark: Ask her.
Chris: What if she says 'no'?
Mark: She won't, she'll say yes.
Chris: D'you think so?
Mark: (Pause) She's a pretty girl.
Chris: That's the problem, I bet hundreds of boys want to go out with her.
Mark: (Laughing) Hundreds?
Chris: Well you can see how pretty she is.
Mark: She is pretty.
Chris: I bet if I asked her to go out with me she'd look straight through me and walk away.
Mark: No she won't.
Chris: She'll pretend she hasn't heard what I said.
Mark: I don't think she'll do that.
Chris: What shall I say to her?
Mark: Just ask her.
Chris: What, just walk up to her and say: 'Hi Michelle, do you want to go out with me on Saturday?'
Mark: What's wrong with that?
Chris: I couldn't.
Mark: Why not?
Chris: I'd die.
Mark: How else are you going to ask her?
Chris: Write her a note?
Mark: You could do.
Chris: No. She'll think that's silly.
Mark: Why?
Chris: Well I see her almost every day in the lift ... or around the estate ... so why should I write to her?
Mark: Ask her then.
Chris: I know, you could ask her for me!
Mark: Me?!
Chris: You could say: 'Excuse me Michelle ... my friend Chris wants to go out with you on Saturday.'
Mark: It will seem a weird if I ask.
Chris: No it won't.
Mark: She doesn't know me.
Chris: She doesn't know me!
Mark: She knows you better than me ... I don't even live on the estate.
Chris: That doesn't matter.
Mark: I think you should ask yourself, Chris.
Chris: Ask for me Mark ... please.
Mark: I don't want to ... I'd feel silly.
Chris: Why? It's easy, you just ask her if she'll go out with me and then tell me the answer.
Mark: It's better if you do it.
Chris: I won't know what to say.
Mark: I've just told you, ask her if she wants to go out with you ... it's simple. What floor does she live on?
Chris: Twenty-second.
Mark: Well if you get in the lift and go up with her, you'd have enough time to ask her out.
Chris: What if there are other people in the lift?
Mark: When do you see her?
Chris: She gets off the minibus on the corner at about five and walks to the estate the side way. Then sometimes I see her going to the supermarket or over to the shopping centre.
Mark: You could wait for her, offer to carry her bags and then ask her out.
Chris: I've never actually spoken to her before.
Mark: So how come you know her name?
Chris: I heard her talking to someone in the lift and they called her Michelle.
Mark: Look, she's coming this way ... now's your chance Chris ... ask her ... Go on.
Chris: If she says 'no' I'll die.
Mark: Go on.
Now listen to the rest of Brother-Sister, Sister-Brother and answer the following:
1. Chris uses an idiom meaning to start communicating, to create a friendly atmosphere. This idiom is ...
a) to see red
b) to break the ice
c) to catch a cold
d) to eat humble pie
2. Fill in the gaps. When Chris describes the girl he likes to his sister Christine he describes her as: 'Not very (a) _____ and she's got (b) _____ hair and a (c)_____ pretty face.'
Answers: 1b; 2 (a) tall (b) long (c) round
