Section 2.
Task 1. Bearded Lady.
Tell me, Mrs Clark, how did you come to be a bearded lady?
Well, it all began when I started growing a beard.
Mm, and when was that exactly?
Just after my fourth birthday, I believe. Really?
as early as that? didn't you see a doctor?
Oh, yes, my parents took me to a dozens of specialists.
And what did they have to say?
They just told me to shave.
That's all the advice they could give?
So you started shaving?
Well, I was too young to be allowed to use a razor, and electric razors weren't even thought of in those days,
so my dad used to shave me once a week before going to church on Sundays.
And when did you stop shaving?
Oh, that would haven been when I was around 15.
You see it was growing at an enormous rate, something like five inches a day.
I mean you could almost see it growing and it was so thick, I mean a razor or scissors were no use.
So you... let it grow?
Well, it was taking so much time trying to keep it down and I was just wasting my time fighting a losing battle.
So I thought...I'll just let it grow, and that's when I came to work in the circus.
I was spotted by a talent scout.
Do you ever cut you beard now?
Oh, yes, every week I chop off a few feet.
I have to cut it or I fall over it if I don't remember to wrap it around my waist.
What about the circus?
How did you find it at first, being stared at all day?
Well, I must admit it was a bit un-nerving at first... what with people gaping at you as though you were a goldfish in a bowl.
I used to feel like saying, it's all right, dear, it's not that unusual, you know.
It's only a bit of extra hair.
It's not another head or something.
But you get used to the pointing and laughing in the end.
Don't hardly notice it any more.
Even the jokes don't upset me now.
It's a bit boring in fact after 30 years, just sitting here all day being stared at.
But still there's always the breaks, and then The Ten Foot Woman and the Midget from next door come in for a cup of tea and a chat, that passes the time nicely.
Would you say there were any advantages to having a 15 foot long beard?
Well, my husband says it keeps his toes warm on cold nights.