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English Audio Request

Smilik
446 Words / 1 Recordings / 0 Comments
Note to recorder:

Could you read this text at a natural pace, please?
If you are interested, this text is a little bit modified text from a book called Outcomes UpperIntermediate

"It's like living in a police state, living here", her 15-year-old son screamed as he stormed out of the room. The event that had sparked that explosion of anger had been a simple question about what time he thought he might be back from a party, but apparently, in his eyes, such queries turned his mother into some kind of evil dictator.

Sadly, this wasn't the first time he'd made his feelings about being asked questions - or being interrogated, as he puts it. His mother has tried discussing it with him by pointing out, for instance, that if he really were living in a police state, he'd be under constant surveillance for a start - they'd have cameras set up in his bedroom and his phone calls, texts, e-mails would be constantly monitored, he'd be stopped and searched on a regular basis and he might well have been arrested by now and perhaps even tortured on suspicion of subversive activities. Of course, none of this makes any difference to him. He is, after all, 15.
This latest incident, though, did get her thinking. If he's always going to accuse her of being a dictator, she might as well start acting like one. Maybe, then he'll appreciate how soft she's been up till now: from now on, she is going to punish all the household crimes he has been getting away with for so long. No longer will she tolerate her son stealing the small change from her bedside table; never again she turn a blind eye as he smuggles girlfriends into the house in the evening; and no more will she put up with him emotionally blackmailing her. She is sick and tired of being told that he wishes he'd never been born when he doesn't get what he wants or that he won't be able to study
unless he's allowed to spend a weekend away with his friends.

Maybe, she vowed never to subject her son to the kind of strict discipline her parents subjected her or simply because she is the product of a fairly liberal age, but she's generally avoided anything approaching rules. From now on, she'll be laying down the law. Any minor offenses will be met with appropriate penalties. First, there'll be a curfew, then seven days' detention. Later they may move onto the confiscation of personal property such as iPods and TVs. Finally, there'll be perhaps the worst kind of torture a 15-year-old can imagine: any girl foolish enough to visit will be dragged into the front room and shown pictures of her darling son as a child. That should surely be enough to make him change his ways.

Recordings

  • Lay Down the Law ( recorded by Marek_09 ), Australian

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    "It's like living in a police state, living here", her 15-year-old son screamed as he stormed out of the room. The event that had sparked that explosion of anger had been a simple question about what time he thought he might be back from a party, but apparently, in his eyes, such queries turned his mother into some kind of evil dictator.

    Sadly, this wasn't the first time he'd made his feelings about being asked questions - or being interrogated, as he puts it. His mother has tried discussing it with him by pointing out, for instance, that if he really were living in a police state, he'd be under constant surveillance for a start - they'd have cameras set up in his bedroom and his phone calls, texts, e-mails would be constantly monitored, he'd be stopped and searched on a regular basis and he might well have been arrested by now and perhaps even tortured on suspicion of subversive activities. Of course, none of this makes any difference to him. He is, after all, 15.
    This latest incident, though, did get her thinking. If he's always going to accuse her of being a dictator, she might as well start acting like one. Maybe, then he'll appreciate how soft she's been up till now: from now on, she is going to punish all the household crimes he has been getting away with for so long. No longer will she tolerate her son stealing the small change from her bedside table; never again will she turn a blind eye as he smuggles girlfriends into the house in the evening; and no more will she put up with him emotionally blackmailing her. She is sick and tired of being told that he wishes he'd never been born when he doesn't get what he wants or that he won't be able to study
    unless he's allowed to spend a weekend away with his friends.

    Maybe, she vowed never to subject her son to the kind of strict discipline her parents subjected her to or simply because she is the product of a fairly liberal age, but she's generally avoided anything approaching rules. From now on, she'll be laying down the law. Any minor offenses will be met with appropriate penalties. First, there'll be a curfew, then seven days' detention. Later they may move onto the confiscation of personal property such as iPods and TVs. Finally, there'll be perhaps the worst kind of torture a 15-year-old can imagine: any girl foolish enough to visit will be dragged into the front room and shown pictures of her darling son as a child. That should surely be enough to make him change his ways.

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