You will hear an extract from a talk given to a group who are going to stay in the UK.
你将听到一段演讲的节选，该演讲是给一些将要呆在英国的人准备的。
Good evening, and welcome to the British Council.
晚上好，欢迎来到英国文化委员会。
My name is John Parker and I've been asked to talk to you briefly about certain aspects of life in the UK before you actually go there.
我是John Parker，在你们去英国前，我被邀请来简单地跟你们讲讲英国生活的方方面面。
So I'm going to talk first about the best ways of making social contacts there.
那么我首先要讲的是在那里建立社会关系的最好方法。
Now you might be wondering why it should be necessary.
你或者会疑惑为什么要讲这个。
After all, we meet people all the time.
毕竟，我们一直都在与人交往。
But when you're living in a foreign country it can be more difficult,
但是当你在外国生活的时候这会变得更困难一些，
not just because of the language, but because customs may be different.
不只是因为语言的不同，更是因为风俗会不一样。
If you're going to work in the UK you will probably be living in private accommodation,
如果你是要去英国工作，你可能会独自居住，
so it won't be quite so easy to meet people.
那么要与人交往就没那么容易了。
But there are still things that you can do to help yourself.
但你仍然能做一些事情来弥补。
First of all, you can get involved in activities in your local community, join a group of some kind.
首先，你可以参与当地社区的活动，加入一些社团。
For example, you'll probably find that there are theatre groups who might be looking for actors, set designers and so on.
比如，你可能会发现有剧组在招募演员、舞台设计等等。
Or if you play an instrument you could join music groups in your area.
如果你玩乐器的话，你可以加入你附近的音乐社团。
Or if you like the idea of finding out about local history there'll be a group for that too.
如果你想要探索当地历史，也会有那样的社团。
These are just examples. And the best places to get information about things like this are either the town hall or the public library.
这都是些例子。想要获得信息最好的去处要么是市政厅，要么是公共图书馆。
Libraries in the UK perform quite a broad range of functions nowadays –
英国的图书馆现在功能很强大，
they're not just confined to lending books, although that's their main role of course.
它们不仅局限于借书，虽然借书是它们最主要的功能。