Role-playing

1. Listen to the speaker and repeat after him.

2. Practice reading the following texts with the proper intonation taking into consideration extra-linguistic factors (place of communication, its subject matter, social status of speakers, etc.).

3. Define phonetic style of each sample and single out its main stylistic features.

1. Advantages of Phonetics ♫

The first and most evident advantage of phonetics is the independence it gives us. In the first place, it makes us independent of residence abroad. Even if the learner intends to go to the country where the language is spoken, it is a great advantage to him to start with a through practical knowledge of the sounds in which he is to practice himself.

Secondly, phonetics makes us independent of native teachers. It is certain that a phonetically trained Englishman who has a clear knowledge of the relations between French and English sounds can teach French sounds to English people better than an unphonetic Frenchman – still more, an unphonetic Belgian, Swiss, or Pole – who is unable to communicate his pronunciation to his pupils, and perhaps speaks vulgar or dialectal form of French himself.

Again, phonetics enables an intelligent adult to get a sound elementary knowledge of the sounds of a foreign language without any help from outside – that is, if he has an adequate phonetic analysis and transcription to work with. But the gain of a phonetic grasp of a language extends far beyond such special considerations. A secure grasp of the sounds of a language is a great strengthening of the mastery of its forms and meanings. A minute discrimination of similar sounds in closely allied languages is the surest safeguard against otherwise inevitable confusions.

Hence also the literary and aesthetic use of phonetics. Phonetics alone can breathe life into dead mass of letters which constitute a written language; it alone can bring the rustic dialogues of our novels before every intelligent reader as living realities, and make us realize the living power and beauty of the ancient classical languages in prose and verse.

Phonetics is not merely an indirect strengthener of grammatical associations; it is an essential part of grammar itself. A knowledge of sentence-stress and intonation is not only an essential part of elocution and correct pronunciation, but it is also an integral part of the syntax of many languages.

In short, there is no branch of the study of language which can afford to dispense with phonetics.

2. UK Elections ♫

TV announcer: Next month the people of the United Kingdom will be voting in a general election, and shortly the seemingly interminable political speeches and debates on radio and television will be under away.

If the Labour Party succeeds in its attempt to increase the slender majority of seats in the House of Commons that it won at the last election, it will be introducing radical new measures, including widespread nationalization of private industry, in an effort to rescue Britain from threatening economic problems.

The Conservatives, the main opposition party, will be hoping to convince the nation of the need for encouraging private enterprise; they have hopes, if the people unite under a Conservative government, of overcoming such evils as inflation, food shortages, fuel crises and a possible world-wide slump.

The Liberal party will be trying to persuade the voters that Britain can achieve economic stability and industrial prosperity only under Liberal leadership.

Meanwhile the Scottish and Welsh Nationalists may be urging the citizens of Scotland and Wales to vote for their complete independence from England and the parliament at Westminster.

3. Bedtime story ♫

Mike: Are you ready, David? Right! The Lost Coin.

One afternoon just before Christmas an old gentleman was wandering through the city centre. The gaily-illuminated shops were packed with good things and crowded with cheerful shoppers. The children were gazing in wonder at all the toys on display in the windows, and the old man was surveying the happy scene indulgently.

Suddenly in the middle of the throng he spotted a dirty little boy sitting on the pavement, weeping bitterly. When the kind old man asked him why he was crying, the little boy told him that he had lost a ten penny piece that his uncle had given him. Thrusting his hand into his pocket, the old man pulled out a handful of coins. He picked out a shiny, new ten penny piece and handed it to the child.

“Thank you very much,” said the little boy, and, drying his eyes, he cheered up at once.

An hour or so later the old man was making his way back home by the same route. To his astonishment he saw the same dirty little boy in precisely the same spot, crying just as bitterly as before. He went up to the boy and asked him if he had lost the ten pence he had given him as well. The little boy told him that actually he had not lost the second coin, but he still could not find his first ten pence.

“If I could find my own ten pence,” he said tearfully, “I’d have twenty pence now.”

Did you like that?...

Janet, he’s asleep!

4. A Picnic ♫

Tim: Exeter 78563.

Mary: Tim? This is Mary. I hope I haven’t woken you up.

Tim: Actually I got up ten minutes ago, but it’s only a quarter to nine. Why are you calling me so early on a Sunday morning?

Mary: Because the sun’s shining and there isn’t a cloud in the sky, and Alan and I are going for a picnic. Do you want to come?

Tim: It’s true we haven’t seen the sun lately, but I expect it’ll rain again soon.

Mary: No, it won’t.

Tim: Well I’ve got some work to do, but I suppose I could put it off till tomorrow. Where are you thinking of going?

Mary: Well, there’s lovely spot by the river on the road to Tiverton. There’s a big bend in the road just before you get to Stoke. You leave your car and walk across a field to the left. There are some tall elm trees by the river, and that’s where we’ll be. It’s very easy to find the place.

Tim: Yes, I think I know where you mean. I’ll come, and I might even go for a swim. Are you taking any food or drink? It’s a pity you didn’t mention it yesterday; I don’t think there’s any beer in the house.

Mary: Don’t worry. We’ve got some bottles of beer and lemonade and there’s half a chicken in the fridge.

Tim: Right then. See you there in about an hour.

5. Roman Architecture ♫

Diana E. E. Kleiner: Welcome to Roman Architecture. I’m Professor Kleiner, and what I’d like to do today is to give you a sense of some of the great buildings and some of the themes that we will be studying together this semester. I think it’s important to note, from the outset, that Roman architecture is primarily an architecture of cities. The Romans structured a man-made, worldwide empire out of architectural forms, and those architectural forms revolutionized the ancient world and exerted a lasting influence on the architecture and the architects of post-classical times. This semester we will be concerned primarily with urban communities – with urban communities – and we will, in the first half of this semester, we will focus on the city of Rome, and in the second – and also central Italy, including Pompeii. And I wanted to show you, at the outset, an aerial view of Rome – you see it over here, on the left-hand side of the screen – that situates us in the very core of the ancient city. You see the famous Colosseum, the very icon of Rome, at the upper right. You see the Roman Forum, as it looks today, and you see a part of the Capitoline Hill, transformed by Michelangelo into the famous Campidoglio, as well as the Via dei Fori Imperiali of Mussolini, built by Mussolini, and the Imperial Fora.

So the city of Rome again we’ll be concentrating on, at the beginning of this semester, as well as the city of Pompeii. An aerial view of Pompeii, as it looks today. You can see many of the buildings of the city, including the houses and the shops, and also the entertainment district. This is the theater and the music hall of ancient Pompeii. The amphitheater is over here. And you can see, of course, looming up in the background, Mount Vesuvius, the mountain that caused all that trouble in 79 A.D.

So that’s the first half of the semester. The second half of the semester we are going to be going out into the provinces, into the Roman provinces, and that is going to take us – and we’re going to look at the provinces both in the eastern and the western part of the Empire – and that will take us to Roman Greece. It will take us to Asia Minor; Asia Minor, which of course is modern Turkey. It will take us to North Africa. It will take us to the Middle East, in what’s now Jordan and Syria, and it will also take us to Europe, to western Europe, to cities in France and to cities in Spain.

And let me just show you an example of some of the buildings that we’ll look at as we travel to the provinces. This is the Library of Celsus, in Ephesus, on the western coast of Turkey. This – the theater, a spectacularly well-preserved theater at Sabratha, you see on the upper right-hand side; and down here a restored view of the masterful Palace of Diocletian. We have the late Roman emperors in a place called Split, which is in Croatia, along the fabulously gorgeous Dalmatian Coast today…

6. Holiday Plans ♫

Mary: Have you had your holiday for this year yet, Jane?

Jane: Not yet, I’m taking it at the end of September.

Mary: Where are you going? Have you made up your mind?

Jane: Not really. I thought of going to Spain again, but I’ve already been there twice and I’d like to try somewhere new.

Mary: My brother’s just gone to Mexico for two weeks. I had a card from him yesterday and he seems to be having a good time. Why don’t you go there?

Jane: That’s O.K. for you well-off people, but I couldn’t possibly afford it. I’m much too hard up at the moment.

Mary: The air-fare is quite expensive, I admit, but you needn't spend a lot when you get there.

Jane: I’ve already spent a lot of money this year. My flat was done up last month, so I haven’t got much to spare for expensive holidays abroad.

Mary: Oh, I see.

Jane: Perhaps I’ll just go to Scotland or Ireland in the end. I’ve heard they’re both very beautiful, and I haven’t been to either of them.

Mary: We went to Ireland two years ago to pay Jill and her husband a visit. They’re in Dublin now.

Jane: Oh, yes, so they are!

Mary: If you decide on Ireland you can call in on them. Jill would willingly put you up for a few days, I’m sure.

Jane: That’s a good idea! I haven’t seen Jill for more than three years now and I’d like to know how she’s getting on.

7. Election Night Victory ♫

Barack Obama: Grant Park, Illinois, November 4, 2008

Hello, Chicago.If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It’s the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.

It’s the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states. We are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It’s the answer that led those who’ve been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day. It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America.

A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Senator McCain. Senator McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he’s fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader. I congratulate him; I congratulate Governor Palin for all that they’ve achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation’s promise in the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton… and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden. And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years … the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation’s next first lady… Michelle Obama. Sasha and Malia… I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that’s coming with us … to the White House. And while she’s no longer with us, I know my grandmother’s watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure. To my sister Maya, my sister Auma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you’ve given me. I am grateful to them.

And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe… the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best — the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America. To my chief strategist David Axelrod … who’s been a partner with me every step of the way. To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics … you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you’ve sacrificed to get it done. But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn’t start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause. It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation’s apathy … who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep. It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.

This is your victory. And I know you didn’t do this just to win an election. And I know you didn’t do it for me. You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime – two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century. Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us. There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they’ll make the mortgage or pay their doctors’ bills or save enough for their child’s college education.

There’s new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair. The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there.

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won’t agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can’t solve every problem. But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it’s been done in America for 221 years – block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand. What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night. This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were. It can’t happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other. Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers. In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let’s resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let’s remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.

Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too. And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand. To those – to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America’s beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.

That’s the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we’ve already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that’s on my mind tonight is about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She’s a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old. She was born just a generation past slavery a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn’t vote for two reasons – because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin. And tonight, I think about all that she’s seen throughout her century in America – the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can’t, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: yes we can.

At a time when women’s voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach out for the ballot. Yes we can. When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can. When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that we shall overcome. Yes we can. A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.

America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment. This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope.

And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can’t, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

Thank you; God bless you, and may God bless the United States of America.

8. King Henry IV (Act III, Scene I) ♫

OWEN GLENDOWER: Sit, cousin Percy; sit, good cousin Hotspur,
For by that name as oft as Lancaster
Doth speak of you, his cheek looks pale and with
A rising sigh he wisheth you in heaven.

HOTSPUR: And you in hell, as oft as he hears Owen Glendower spoke of.

OWEN GLENDOWER: I cannot blame him: at my nativity
The front of heaven was full of fiery shapes,
Of burning cressets; and at my birth
The frame and huge foundation of the earth
Shaked like a coward.

HOTSPUR: Why, so it would have done at the same season, if
your mother’s cat had but kittened, though yourself
had never been born.

GLENDOWER: I say the earth did shake when I was born.

HOTSPUR: And I say the earth was not of my mind,
If you suppose as fearing you it shook.

OWEN GLENDOWER: The heavens were all on fire, the earth did tremble.

HOTSPUR: O, then the earth shook to see the heavens on fire,
And not in fear of your nativity.

9. A Date for the Theatre ♫

Mike: Hello, Jack. Why the rush? Where are you going?

Jack: Hello, Mike. I’m on my way to meet Joyce at the station. We’re having dinner at a Chinese restaurant and then we’re off to the theatre.

Mike: Do you often go to the theatre?

Jack: Yes, Joyce and I usually go at least once a fortnight; sometimes more. Do you ever go?

Mike: Yes, but I don’t often find time these days. There are so many other things to do.

Jack: True, true.

Mike: Listen, perhaps Janet and I can arrange to meet you and Joyce one Saturday evening. We can have dinner together and go on to a theatre.

Jack: That’s a good idea.

Look, I forget the name of the play, but there’s a good comedy on at the Theatre Royal next week. If you like, I can book four seats for next Saturday.

Mike: All right. I’m meeting Janet later this evening so I can make sure that she’s free next Saturday. I’ll ring you tomorrow to confirm if we are coming.

Jack: Fine. I must fly now. It’s six o’clock already and Joyce’s bus arrives at ten past. She hates waiting around and I don’t want to spoil everything by upsetting her before we start our evening.

Mike: I’ll phone you tomorrow then. Give my regards to Joyce. Have a good evening.

10. Monologue ♫

Er … good evening. Er … good evening to one and all. Welcome to our February meeting. Erm … and welcome of course to our… to our regular members and attenders and several faces er … I can see out there not too familiar to me and if you’re new and here for the first time a great welcome, and I hope you may consider joining us on a … on a more permanent basis.

Erm … before I introduce tonight’s speaker there’s er … one important reminder. Erm … next month’s meeting at the same time will be our annual general meeting and er … on that occasion we’re hoping for a good and spirited attendance and there are some urgent pieces of business to attend to on that occasion. Er … first and foremost and probably the most important is to elect a new secretary. Er … Jane Parks has served us marvelously for I think it’s about three years now – er … our present secretary – she’s leaving to take up a post in Glasgow. We wish her well, er … and any suggestions for replacing Jane before that meeting would be most welcome.

Erm … several committee members have also expressed a wish to stand down, for one reason or another pressure of business and so on, and will need to be replaced so there’ll be elections for them. Erm … also, and this is rather a sad note the treasurer tells me that me must seriously consider increasing subscriptions – not a … not a happy thing to suggest at this time of the year – but we erm … we are in fact, er … going into red in a rather serious way. So erm … that’s something to bear in mind for next month’s meeting.

11. St. King “Dreamcatcher” (Chapter 8 Roberta) ♫

With her hair now all gray, a widow at fifty-eight (but still a birdie-woman who favored flowered print dresses, those things hadn’t changed), Duddits’s mother sat in front of the television in the ground-floor apartment in West Derry Acres which she and her son now shared. She had sold the house on Maple Lane after Alfie died. She could have afforded to keep it – Alfie had left plenty of money, the life insurance had paid out plenty more, and there was her share of the imported auto-parts company he’d started in 1975 on top of that-but it was too big and there were too many memories above and below the living room where she and Duddits spent most of their time.

Above was the bedroom where she and Alfie had slept and talked, made plans and made love. Below was the rec room, where Duddits and his friends had spent so many afternoons and evenings. In Roberta’s view they had been friends sent from heaven, angels with kind hearts and dirty mouths who had actually expected her to believe that when Duddits started saying fut, he was trying to say Fudd, which, they explained earnestly, was the name of Pete’s new puppy – Elmer Fudd, just Fudd for short. And of course she had pretended to believe this.

Too many memories, too many ghosts of happier times. And then, of course, Duddits had gotten sick. Two years now he’d been sick, and none of his old friends knew because they didn’t come around anymore and she hadn’t had the heart to pick up the phone and call Beaver, who would have called the others.

Now she sat in front of the TV, where the local news folks had finally given up just breaking into her afternoon stories and had gone on the air full-time. Roberta listened, afraid of what might be happening up north but fascinated, too. The scariest part was that no one seemed to knowexactly what was happening or just what the story was or how big it was. There were missing hunters, maybe as many as a dozen, in a remote area of Maine a hundred and fifty miles north of Derry. That part was clear enough. Roberta wasn’t positive, but she was quite sure that the reporters were talking about Jefferson Tract, where the boys used to go hunting, coming back with bloody stories that both fascinated Duffits and frightened him.

Were those hunters just cut off by an Alberta Clipper storm that had passed through, dropping six or eight inches of snow on the area? Maybe. No one could say for sure, but one party of four that had been hunting in the Kineo area really did seem to be missing. Their pictures were flashed on the screen, their names recited solemnly: Otis, Roper, McCarthy, Shue. The last was a woman.

Missing hunters weren’t big enough to warrant interrupting the afternoon soaps, but there was other stuff, too. People had glimpsed strange, varicolored lights in the sky.

12. World Forecast Summary ♫

Here is the world forecast summary for today, August 13. First for the eastern Pacific. Tropical storm Hector is gaining strength and looks like it may turn into a hurricane. It is presently located about 710 miles south-west of Cabo San Lucas in Mexico and is moving slowly westward toward Hawaii. At present it had winds of around 65 mph.

In the central Atlantic hurricane Alberto is moving into colder Atlantic waters and losing strength. This trend should continue for the next 48 hours. Alberto’s maximum winds are now down to 90 miles per hour, gusting up to 11. That’s still strong if it was near land but right now it’s located about 980 miles west of the Azores and moving north-eastward at 18 mph.

In the western Pacific tropical storm Ewiniar is only 230 miles south-east of Tokyo and it’s moving northwards at about 15 mph. It’s strengthened a bit, with gusts to 60 mph but it’s also expected to begin to weaken as it heads out to sea.

In Australia a weak storm and its associated cold front is bringing scattered showers to Brisbane and Sydney and steadier rainfall to Melbourne and Adelaide. It will clear up by mid-week.

Finally for Europe, showers around Great Britain and in the northern Alps down to Florence and up into Western Australia. Otherwise not a bad European summer; highs in the 80s in most of Europe and up into the 90s in Spain.

13. Monologue ♫

In today’s lecture we’ll begin with an overview of the impact of tourism on the societies and cultures of the host area, then we’ll look at some case studies.

One model for the socio-cultural impact of tourism has been provided by Doxey – you’ll find a reference in your reading list. He called his model the ‘Irridex’ – that’s a contraction of ‘irritation index’ and it attempts to show how the attitudes of local people to tourists and tourism change over the years.

In fact, studies have highlighted quite a few positive effects of tourism. For example, Doxey’s model doesn’t look at the effects on the tourists themselves – they may well benefit from increased understanding of the host society and culture. Then, traditional crafts in the host area may be revitalized because tourism provides new markets such as the souvenir trade, for example, so instead of these traditional skills being lost, local people are encouraged to develop them. There may also be more long-lasting changes, which actually lead to the empowerment of both groups and individuals in the host area. For example, tourism creates openings for employment for women, and through giving them a chance to have a personal income; it allows them to become more independent.

In addition, because tourism tends to work through a very few languages that have world-wide usage, those working in the tourist industry may be encouraged to acquire new languages, and this will empower them through providing wider access to globalized media, and improving their job prospects in a wider context. Right, now we’ll take a short break there and then we’ll look at a couple of case studies and see how far the points we’ve discussed so far apply to them.

14. Sea or Air? ♫

Susan: Are you looking forward to your trip to Canada, Julie?

Julie: I can’t wait to see Canada, Susan, but I’m scared stiff of the journey. My husband insists on flying, but I want to sail. Planes make me nervous.

Susan: There’s nothing to be frightened of. How many planes fly across the Atlantic every day?

Julie: I’ve no idea. Hundreds, I suppose.

Susan: And how often do you hear of a crash?.. Once or twice a year?

Julie: Yes, but aero planes fly so high and fast that once is enough.

Susan: Look, there are more road casualties per day than air deaths per year. Air transport is really safe compared with road transport.

Julie: I’d still prefer to go by sea. Ships may not travel fast but at least you can relax. I’d love a trip on a luxury liner like the Queen Elizabeth II.

Susan: It’s fine if you’re a good sailor, but have you ever travelled far in a rough sea?

Julie: No. I’ve only been in a boat once. I sailed down the River Thames on a sightseeing tour... But in any case I’d rather be sea-sick than dead.

15. The Growth of Asia and Some Implications for Australia ♫

Talk at Australian Investment Conference (Sydney – 19 October 2009)

Philip Lowe (Assistant Governor):

Thank you very much Paul and good afternoon to all. It’ a … it’s a pleasure for me to be here this afternoon. As you all know, the last 18 months has been an extremely challenging period. Late last year we saw risk aversion sweep around the world. Global capital markets virtually shut down, confidence in many financial institutions was shaken to its core. Global industrial production collapsed, and so did the value of world trade. The result of all this has been the worst global downturn since the early 1930s.

Yet, despite what has been an incredibly difficult international backdrop the Australian economy has been surprisingly resilient. Amongst the major developed countries of the world Australia is the only one that has not recorded a negative year-ended growth rate during the global downturn. And somewhat remarkably it’s also the only one that has not recorded a drop in its export volumes over the past year.

There are a number of reasons for this relatively good performance; I think they are now pretty well understood. The timely and large adjustments to both monetary and fiscal policy have been important. So too has the healthy state of the banking system. The depreciation we saw at the second half of last year was also important. And last, but certainly not least, has been Australia’s trade links with Asia, and in… and in particular China, have been very important. Rather than go over this ground again today, I’d like to lift my gaze a bit beyond the current immediate outlook for both the economy and interest rates to focus on a medium-term structural issue. While it’s always a bit treacherous doing that given the very large uncertainties involved, and it’s important we periodically do that if we are to appropriately plan for the future.

My central theme is that there are reasonable grounds for considerable optimism about the prospects for the Australian economy over the decade ahead. There are a number of reasons for this, but the one that I would like to focus on today is our growing trade links with Asia.

Over the past decade this’ been a very significant shift in economic weight from the advanced economies of the world on the one hand to the emerging world on the other, particularly those in Asia. This shift has picked up recently, with many of the advanced economies weighed down by the problems in their financial systems. But more importantly for Australia, this shift has much much further to run and it’s likely to have profound effects on our prospects and on the structure of our economy. And in my time today, I would like to talk about some of the changes that we are seeing and I think we will see.

16. Conversation ♫

– Hi, Kate, how are you getting on?

– Hey, what are you doing here? I didn’t expect you until later.

– Well, I’ve already finished everything I had to do at work so I thought I’d come back and help you. I know you’ve had a busy day.

– I’ve had an extremely busy day. And it hasn’t finished yet.

– Did you remember we’ve got Paul and Hannah for dinner tonight?

– Yes, I did.

– Have you got everything you need?

– Well, I’ve already done the shopping but I haven’t bought the wine yet.

– Oh, I’ll do that.

– Have you picked up the children yet?

– No, I haven’t done that yet. They are still at school.

– Ok, well, I’ll get them when I buy the wine.

– No, they’ve got their sports club, so they’ll be there until about six. You’re more important here. Have you collected the car from the garage yet? It should be ready by now.

– No … no, I haven’t. I’ll go to the garage later. Now, what’s next?

– Well, the kitchen is clean but you could check the bathroom for me.

– Ok. Have you thrown away the pile of newspapers in the front room?

– No, they are still lying on the table.

– I’ll take out the rubbish as well.

– I’ve already done that. Now … I haven’t started cooking yet and it’s getting late. When you’ve got the wine can you lay the table? Here’s the tablecloth and knives and forks … and mend the television?

– All right.

– It still doesn’t work. Oh and wrap up your mother’s birthday present.

– It still needs wrapping paper. And turn on the heating. It’s getting quite cold in here.

– Oh, dear. It’s one of those days.

17. BBC World News – Iceland Volcano ♫

Conditions on the ground immediately downstream of the volcano are extremely difficult. A lot of ash is falling. Approximately ten centimetres of volcanic dust has settled on the ground.

Visibility is down to just a few metres and the authorities are using specially modified vehicles, armoured personnel carriers to visit and check on people who remain in the area. But the top of the ash cloud reaching into the sky has lowered. It is no longer registering on weather radar and scientists estimate its maximum height is now around three to four thousand metres.

Much less ash is now being released into the atmosphere compared to the beginning of this eruption and scientists say they believe the volcanic activity may now be entering a different phase.

Lorna Gordon, BBC, Iceland

18. The American Novel since 1945 ♫

Amy Hungerford: Last time I finished up my lectures on Wise Blood by trying to draw together three different ways of reading the novel into one interpretative framework, and what I ultimately argued was that the New Critical formal unity of the novel that is epitomized, I think (in a somewhat, perhaps, heavy-handed way), in Chapter 7 of the novel – that’s book-ended by the symbol of the blinding white cloud – that it’s that unity, in a sense, that replaces the bodily unities that are always blown apart in O’Connor’s fiction. And, in a certain way, what you see is a fiction that is personified in that way, that it takes on the qualities and the values of the person, and for O'Connor that means the person understood in a religious framework as something with transcendent meaning and transcendent value and, indeed, a transcendent life.

There is a very different image of the personified word in Lolita, and I’m going to refer now to an essay, a 1992 essay, by the British novelist Martin Amis. He compares the prose style in Lolita with a muscle-bound man, a man whose body is bulked up purely for aesthetic reasons, for only the purpose of looking a certain way, that the bodybuilder is not that person who's going to go out and use their muscles to do some job. It is simply there to be looked at, to be oiled up and presented and displayed. That’s how Amos describes the prose style of Lolita.

So, I want you to keep that image in your mind. The question of the relationship between the person and the aesthetic in Lolita is going to be at the heart of my overarching argument about the novel.

Today, you’re not going to see much of that. What I want to do today – since we have three lectures on Lolita – what I want to do today is simply to begin to open the text for you: to give you some ways of reading it; to alert you to certain kinds of questions; to ask you some overarching questions; and also to just get you thinking and into the texture of the novel. First, I want to ask you though, what do you think of this so far? I just want to hear from you. What are you responses? Who really hates this novel so far? Anybody? Yes. Okay. Why do you hate this novel?

Student: I guess it’s because of the fact that he’s doing something that’s really not good, and it almost seems like he’s trivializing it.

Amy Hungerford: Uh huh. What about it trivializes that crime?

Student: I guess it’s just that there’s no moral lens that we’re looking at it through. It’s just his view of the world.

Amy Hungerford: Uh huh. Okay. So, Humbert’s lack of a moral vocabulary to understand what he’s doing makes it seems like it’s trivialized. Okay. Other thoughts on this? Who else is really put off by this subject matter? Even if you like the novel, who else is really put off by this? Yes…

19. An extract from “Pride and Prejudice” by J. Austen ♫

And when the party entered the assembly room it consisted only of five all together – Mr. Bingley, his two sisters, the husband of the eldest, and another young man.

Mr. Bingley was good-looking and gentlemanlike; he had a pleasant countenance, and easy, unaffected manners. His sisters were fine women, with an air of decided fashion. His brother-in-law, Mr. Hurst, merely looked the gentleman; but his friend Mr. Darcy, soon drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, and the report which was in general circulation within five minutes after his entrance, of his having ten thousand a year. The gentlemen pronounced him to be a fine figure of a man, the ladies declared he was much handsomer than Mr. Bingley, and he was looked at with great admiration for about half the evening, till his manners gave a disgust which turned the tide of his popularity; for he was discovered to be proud; to be above his company, and above being pleased; and not all his large estate in Derbyshire could then save him from having a most forbidding, disagreeable countenance, and being unworthy to be compared with his friend. He was the proudest, most disagreeable man in the world, and everybody hoped that he would never come here again. Amongst the most violent against him was Mrs. Bennet, whose dislike of his general behaviour was sharpened into particular resentment by his having slighted one of her daughters.

Elizabeth Bennet had been obliged, by the scarcity of gentlemen, to sit down for two dances; and during part of that time, Mr. Darcy had been standing near enough for her to overhear a conversation between him and Mr. Bingley, who came from the dance for a few minutes to press his friend to join it.

20. American Educators Consider Later High School Start Times ♫

This is Shep O’Neal with the VOA Special English Education Report.

Radio announcer Shep O’Neal:

Medical research is leading American education officials to consider having high school classes start later in the morning. The research says teenagers are more awake later at night than adults are. When teenagers stay up late at night they have problems learning early in the morning.

Researchers in the state of Rhode Island measured the presence of the hormone melatonin in peoples’ mouths at different times of the day. Melatonin causes people to feel sleepy. They found that melatonin levels rise later at night in teenagers than they do in children and adults. And they remain at a higher level in teenagers later in the morning. They say this shows that teenagers have difficulty learning early in the morning. Yet most school systems in the United States begin high school classes at about seven o’clock.

A few school districts have made some changes. In nineteen ninety-six, school officials in Edina, Minnesota changed high school opening from about seven thirty until eight thirty. Two years later, the nearby city of Minneapolis did the same. Teachers there reported that students were no longer sleepy in class and were happier. And staying in school later in the day did not seem to be a problem for students who had jobs after school.

Health experts say teenagers need between eight and nine hours of sleep a night. Students who do not get enough sleep are likely to be late for school, fail to do their homework, fall asleep in class and have trouble taking part in class discussions. Yet some adults oppose changing school start times. School district officials say it is not possible to carry high school and elementary students on buses at the same time. And parents of young children do not support having elementary schools start earlier in the morning. They say it would require young children to wait for school buses in the dark.

Others do not support a later start time because they say it would limit the time for practicing sports after school. However, the Minnesota schools found that this did not hurt school sports competitions. More American school districts are discussing the possibility of changing high school start times. Researchers and teenagers say they cannot make the change quickly enough.

21. Statement ♫

September 28, 2005 (San Jose, California)

– Good morning. My name is Judy Liegman, I am a 5-th grade bilingual teacher for the Sunnyvale school district. And I am here because I feel that the CTA union has gone too far this time. I am outraged by their apparent assumption that we teachers should be an obedient and docile source of funding for any political purpose that union officials happen to set their minds to. This contemptuous attitude toward us teachers is manifested clearly in their assault on our freedom of speech and personal property, in the form of an arbitrary additional dues assessment, in order to finance their political agenda.

Our earliest Founding Documents in this country make it clear that no person should be required to forfeit the fruit of his or her labor to fund the political objectives of others. We teachers need to have the protections of the Constitution in the face of coercive, intimidating power. I had a taste of the CTA’s tactics of intimidation last Thursday when we announced our lawsuit in Sacramento. I could not believe my ears when a large crowd of union operatives began to scream at us and chant at the top of their voices. The bedlam did not abate for the entire 20 minutes we attempted to share our concerns with the public.

I am especially disgusted with the stealthy way the CTA officials planned the timing of the vote to add this extra dues burden onto us teachers. Apparently union officials made their decision on June 11 – the time when we teachers are working at full speed to finish the school year, completing our grades and report cards, filling out endless paperwork, cleaning and ordering our classrooms, and saying good-bye to the students who have learned to love and trust us during the past school year.

The last thing we teachers are paying attention to, at a time like that, is the possibility that our union officials might be positioning themselves to start seizing an additional $60 from each of us, beginning with the new school year!

So here we teachers stand, all 335,000 of us in California, still not having been given a disclosure of the forced dues deduction that will show up on our paychecks in two days. To most, it will come as a big surprise to learn that millions of dollars have been taken from them to fight a political battle.

I am sure that a large number of my fellow California teachers share my desire for political autonomy, for the freedom to make our own choices, issue by issue, candidate by candidate, where we want to put our own money to work in the public forum.

Individual convictions, although not considered important by the California Teachers Association officials, are an essential element of our democracy, and they must be protected and guarded with great care. For this reason, we beg the court to put a “wall of separation” between the union and our pocketbooks!

Our basic freedoms are at stake, and it is high time that a limit is set on the power that union officials wield over our professional and financial lives. Thank you.

22. Conversation ♫

Janet: I’ve just come across an old photograph album of my mother’s in this drawer. Come and have a look, Mike.

Mike: Gosh! Is this a picture of you as a baby? You were quite cute then. It’s a shame you’ve grown up.

Janet: Don’t be nasty! Look, here’s a photo of my sister Paula when she was still in the fourth form at school. That’s an old boyfriend of hers beside her.

Mike: She looks a bit young for boyfriends – but I suppose she takes after you – you always used to have a different boyfriend whenever I saw you in those days.

Janet: Look who is talking! I remember looking through some of your old photos a while ago – and I found a whole collection of pictures of different girlfriends of yours.

Mike: Look! Here’s an old photo of your mother. Didn’t she look like you then?

Janet: Yes, everyone says we are very alike.

Mike: What a ridiculous hat she is wearing!

Janet: It’s not ridiculous at all. It was the height of fashion – then.

Mike: Something has just occurred to me – if your mother looked like you twenty years ago, you’ll probably look just like her in twenty years time…

Janet: So?

Mike: So… er… well… Look, a picture of young David!

23. Introduction to Psychology ♫

Paul Bloom: What we’ve been talking about so far in the course are human universals, what everybody shares. So, we’ve been talking about language, about rationality, about perception, about the emotions, about universals of development, and we’ve been talking about what people share. But honestly, what a lot of us are very interested in is why we’re different and the nature of these differences and the explanation for them. And that’s what we’ll turn to today.

So first, we’ll discuss how are people different, different theories about what makes you different in a psychological way from the person sitting next to you, and then we'll review different theories about why people are different. And this is the class which is going to bother the most people. It’s not dualism. It’s not evolution. It’s this because the scientific findings on human psychological differences are, to many of us, shocking and unbelievable. And I will just try to persuade you to take them seriously…

How happy are you? This is also such a good topic it's going to get its own class. The very last class of the semester is devoted to happiness and the question of what makes people happy, what makes people unhappy, and what makes people differ in their happiness. If I asked you to rank how happy you are from a scale of 1 to 10, the numbers would differ across this room. And there are different theories as to why.

Your success and failure in life – this is somewhat interesting because you could study this in more or less objective ways. We don’t have to ask people. We could look at your relationships, how they begin, how they end, your job satisfaction. We could look at your criminal records. Some of you are going to see time. Most will not. Some of you will get into little troubles all through your life. Some of you already have seen the inside of a police station, possibly a lineup. Others couldn’t go near such a thing. What determines that? And at the root of all human differences are two main factors. And so, I want to talk about the two main interesting factors. One is personality. The other is intelligence. And this is what – these are the differences I’ll talk about today first from the standpoint of how do we characterize them, how do we explain them, and then from the standpoint of why these differences exist in the first place.

24. “The Season” by Ivy Russell ♫

¯Oh, ˈdo you re‘member
When ‘springtime was ‚here,
The ↗snowdrops and ↗catkins,
The ˈbirds’ ˙songs ˈso ‚clear?

Oh, ˈdo you re ˆ member
The ˈlong ˙summer _\ hours,
The ˈhum of the _\ bees
And the _\ scent of the _\ flowers?

¯And ˈdo you reˈmember
When “autumn came ˌround,
ˈHow ‘leaves ‘red and _\ yellow
ˈLay ‘thick on the _\ ground?

But ˌnow it is ˇ winter,
The ↘branches are ‘bare;
There’s ‘ice on the ˌpuddles
And ‘frost in the ˌair.

¯I ˈplayed in the ‘sunshine,
I ↘played in the _\ snow,
And "which is my ‘favourite?
I ‚really ˙don’t ‘know!

25. Sports News ♫

And now to round up on today’s sporting fixtures. The soccer season is still two weeks away but there were a number of special matches which may give us some hints about future performance. Here are the results of friendly matches:

Lazio		Aston Villa
Leeds United		Athletic Bilbao
Newcastle		Everton
Ajax		West Ham
Ipswich Town		Blackburn Rovers
Arsenal		Chelsea
Manchester United		Manchester City
Real Madrid		Middles borough

The match between Liverpool and Parma was postponed.

26. Special News Release ♫

Jane: Suffolk police have issued a warning about two prisoners who escaped from Holsley Bay Prison near Woodbridge today. We are going over to our reporter on the scene Oliver Johnson. Hello there Oliver.

Oliver: Good evening, Jane. Yes, I’m standing outside the perimeter fence of Holsley Prison where earlier today two men, described as ‘dangerous’ by local police, escaped whilst returning from a work duty outside the prison. Fred Burke is forty-nine and currently in his six year of an eleven year sentence for armed robbery and manslaughter. During that robbery of a jeweller’s one man was fatally injured. Burke is one metre eighty tall, of medium build with short, dark hair, brown eyes and a tattoo of a snake on his left forearm. The other prisoner is Ken Murray who is fifty-six, bald with a well-trimmed grey beard and a scar on his left cheek. He is only one metre seventy tall but weighs 100 kilos. Murray is serving twelve years for the brutal murder of his wife some five years ago. The police say that if you see either of them you should not approach them. Instead you should ring the following number: 01464 723955. This is Oliver Johnson returning you to the studio.

27. Teenage Crime ♫

Presenter: Welcome to ‘The World At Large’. Today we are looking at the problem of teenage crime in the United States. Our guest, Professor Louise Green is British, but she has worked at universities across America. She has been investigating how to prevent crime among young people. Professor Green, is this a desperate situation?

Prof Green: It is certainly a big problem. In the States, over two million kids under 18 are responsible for serious violent crime every year. The figure is much bigger if you include nonviolent crimes.

Presenter: What kind of crimes do teenagers usually commit?

Prof Green: Unfortunately there are many. Shoplifting, mugging, arson, vandalism... and in very extreme cases, rape and murder.

Presenter: Do you think there is a solution?

Prof Green: There isn't one single solution. After all, there is a difference between a kid who is shoplifting and a kid who possesses a gun and is prepared to use it. All crimes are not the same, so the solutions to them won't be the same either. But some people believe that things can be done to stop kids from considering a life of crime in the first place.

Presenter: What can be done?

Prof G: Well, the first thing is obvious. If a teenager is happy at home and at school, then he or she probably won't get into serious crime; it is important to keep in regular communication with our children. The problems start when the kids stop communicating.

Presenter: Are there any other signs?

Prof G: Yes. If, for example, a child is into violent games or is cruel to pets, parents and teachers may worry. Some kids also write about their feelings of violence and isolation, or perhaps they are very interested in guns or knives. If you see signs like this, it's a possibility your child is going wrong.

Presenter: But we can't watch our children 24 hours a day.

Prof G: No, of course not.

Presenter: So how can we prevent them from committing crime when they are away from us, at school or with friends?

Prof G: There is no easy answer. Some people think that experiencing life in jail can help kids have a better idea of the consequences of crime. Of course, they don’t go to a real jail, but a military-style boot camp. Boot camps are still quite experimental in the US, but statistics suggest they are more effective than ordinary detention centres.

Presenter: How do boot camps work?

Prof G: They are similar to military training camps. Kids learn about the reality of prison life. They have to work and exercise hard. They live without all their usual comforts: there's no TV or fast food or music. Ex-offenders educate kids about their experiences in jail. Kids hate boot camps – and this is – important. Basically, it's a big shock for them.

Presenter: Do you personally believe that boot camps are the solution to the problem?

Prof G: I think they can work on ordinary kids. Kids who sometimes get into trouble at school, but who aren't really bad kids, can learn from the experience.

Presenter: But what happens if...

28. Public Relations Regulations ♫

– Good morning. My name is Dr James Gower, and I’m an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Relations at the University of Canberra, Australia. Today I’m going to focus on regulations affecting the practice of public relations. That is to say, I’ll be looking at some of the factors that may affect, or compromise, the way public relations practitioners operate in their day-to-day activities, including the consequences of breaking the rules. Don’t misunderstand me; I don’t want to imply that public relations practitioners often engage in misleading or fraudulent behaviour, but, as we know, in all aspects of society, there must be some regulation.

To some degree, all public relations practitioners today need to be aware of how their actions, anywhere in the world, affect, and are perceived by their clients. It’s fair to say that because of advances in communications technology public relations has become much more complex. Not only that, but globalization means that public relations practitioners now need to be more aware of government regulations in the country or countries where they operate. For example, under the law, the practitioner may be liable not only for their own actions, but also for those of their clients or those who take them on as consultants or advisors. A case in point in the USA, where PR personnel can be held legally liable, if it’s discovered that they’ve advised on, or supported an illegal activity of a client or employer.

As I said earlier, this lecture will focus on the regulations affecting PR standards and responsibilities. In an attempt to try to keep the discussion reasonably simple, I’m going to summarize some of the many areas of law that PR practitioners may meet in their work. I’ll conclude briefly with the policies and procedures required for maintaining standards in the industry.

29. The Lost Tie ♫

Mike: Have you seen my new tie, Mum?

Mother: Which new tie?

Mike: The red one I bought in London a couple of weeks ago. I wore it to the dinner party at the Dawsons’ place on Saturday and I haven’t worn it or seen it since.

Mother: No, I don’t think I’ve seen it this we