NARRATOR：

Listen to a conversation between two students.

MALE STUDENT：

Susan! What happened to your arm?

FEMALE STUDENT：

It's my wrist, actually-I sprained it last weekend.

And I'm kind of upset about it, because I'm supposed to play the violin in my string quartet's big concert next week.

We've been practicing for weeks.

And we've already sold a bunch of tickets.

MALE STUDENT：

Oh, sorry to hear that. What are you gonna do?

FEMALE STUDENT：

Well, I was thinking about trying to play anyhow.

I mean, I really don't want to let the other three group members down.

Plus the doctor said my wrist should be feeling better by then.

MALE STUDENT：

OK, so... problem solved, right?

FEMALE STUDENT：

Not exactly—I'm worried that I'm gonna be out of practice.

Like, I haven't been able to play the violin since I sprained my wrist.

What if I don't play well?

I'd make the rest of the group sound bad.

MALE STUDENT：

Why don'tcha get somebody else to take your place?

FEMALE STUDENT：

Well, there's only one other person I know of who could do it, and that's Jim.

He's a great violinist, and I'm sure he'd say yes....

The thing is, he's not very reliable.

I mean, I'm in the orchestra with him and he's always showing up late for rehearsals.

MALE STUDENT：

[comprehending—pronounced like a long “oh”] Oooh... so you're not sure you can depend on him.

FEMALE STUDENT：

Exactly. And we have less than a week left to rehearse for the concert.

We'd really need him to show up on time for all our rehearsals.