English Recordings

Life is Not a Fairy Tale
by Rizwan Ahmed Memon

Qasim, a ten-year-old boy, always believed in luck. In last five years, he had won many competitions at his school, including a marathon, singing competition, and a pie-eating contest. His father often told him to be optimistic, but also work hard.

One day, at his school, the principal announced that there would be a quiz show. Hearing that Qasim whispered into his friend’s ear, who was sitting beside him, “And I will be the winner!” “I hope so.” replied his friend. Thinking that the luck would be on his side as always, Qasim did not prepare much for the show. His parents were looking forward to seeing another prize in his hands. “The quiz show is nearing. Are you preparing for it?” said his father. Qasim in an annoyed manner replied, “Oh, come on, Dad! Let me play the video game.” His father said, “What about the quiz?” “I will win. You will see,” said Qasim. “Well, son you better wake up and smell the coffee. Everything doesn’t come without hard work,” said his father.

The competition day came and all the students and their parents gathered. Qasim was nervous, as he was not prepared. The quiz show started and from two teams the team leader was supposed to answer. Qasim was his team’s leader. The questioner asked, “Who gave the speech 'I Have a Dream'?” Qasim had not studied his history book. He remained silent, but his opponent gave the correct answer: Martin Luther King. On most of the questions, Qasim remained silent, for he had not studied. The questions were from different subjects from his syllabus. Everybody laughed at Qasim, and his mom and dad were very disappointed. Qasim lost the quiz program.

At night, Qasim came into his parent’s room and said, “I am sorry.” His father encouraged him and said, “You work hard. Do not rely only on luck.” His mother further added, “Look, son, life is not a fairy tale that has some magic in it, which will fix everything. On the contrary, life is all about action. If you rest, you rust.” Qasim gave his word to the parents and said he would always work hard and would not rely just on luck.

Steve: Hi, Annie. What a surprise! How are you?
Annie: Hi! I'm doing well. What's going on?
Steve: Nothing much. By the way, these are my friends from the UK. Mr. and Mrs. Smith and their children, Robert and Alice.
Annie: Nice to meet you.
The Smiths: Nice to meet you too.
Steve: How's your daughter doing?
Annie: Oh, she's doing great. She's applying for college right now. By the way, we're going to have a block party on Sunday.Can you come?I invite you with your friends.
Robert: Wow! We'd love to. What do we take with us? Where is it?
Annie: It's going to be in the park.It's a potluck, so you can bring a salad, if you like.
Steve: Oh, I'll bring salad.
Robert: Are we going to do anything else?
Annie: Yeah. We've got some games planned. You know, things like a three-legged race, horseshoes, Frisbee throwing, some relay races, stuff like that.
Alice: It all sounds so fun.
Annie: Yeah,it’s a great way to get to know some of the neighbors!

1. I could hardly contain my excitement.
2. I get on a roll
3. I hope it won't rain any longer.
4. Oh, you're that guy who's been calling
5. They suffered from a flood.

[meanings]
1. 전 흥분을 거의 가라앉힐 수가 없었어요.
2. 나 탄력받았어요
3. 이젠 비가 더 이상 오지 않으면 좋겠어요
4. 아, 당신이 전화주셨던 분이군요
5. 그들은 홍수로 수해를 입었어요(고통을 받았어요).

1. Now that I have finished my diary, I can go to bed.
2. Take a dip in the clear, blue waters or paddle in the shallows.
3. The flood warning was issued this morning
4. A bunch of speeding cars were caught on the unmanned camera.

[meanings]
1. 이제 일기도 다 썼으니, 잠자리에 들 수 있겠네요.
2. 맑고 푸른 바다에서 수영하거나 얕은 곳에서 물장난을 하세요.
3. 오늘 아침에 홍수 경보가 발령되었어요.
4. 과속 차량들이 무인 단속 카메라에 무더기로 적발됐어요.

This animal lives in a stable. The animal loves galloping and he can win prizes.

This animal lives in a shed. He loves eating grass and he can moo.

This animal lives in a burrow. He digs it to the underground. This is your teacher’s pet too.

1. Today I was going to foot the bill.
2. Can I see this shirt in a different color?
3. Because of the heavy rain, the river overflowed
4. I think Sam really took a fancy to you!

[meanings]
1. 오늘은 내가 내려고 했는데.
2. 이 셔츠 다른 색상으로 볼 수 있나요?
3. 폭우 때문에 강물이 넘쳤어
4. 내 생각엔 샘이 너에게 정말 호감을 가지고 있는 것 같아!

an unpaid internship
applicants
apply for a job
assess the skills of a candidate
biased data
conscious biases in recruitment
deep-rooted prejudices
downgrade candidates
flawed information
hiring and firing
jobseeker
recruiters
review job applications
secure an interview
sort through CVs
tech-driven recruitment
technology can backfire
technology has hindered his search
trustworthy
your CV stands out from millions of others

When you stand in front of Hogwarts Castle, you can see the Gryffindor Tower on your right and the Ravenclaw Tower on your left.
The Gryffindor dormitory is in the Gryffindor Tower.
If you go into the middle courtyard you can see the astronomy Tower in front of you. That's where the Headmaster's office is.
Behind the Astronomy Tower, on the left, there is the Entrance Hall and on the right, there is the Great Hall.
Behind the Entrance Hall there is the Grand Staircase and next to the Grand Staircase, on the right there's the Hospital Wing.
The Greenhouse is down the corridor, on the left of the Grand Staircase.
In the right corner when you stand in front of the castle, you can see the Hufflepuff Tower.
Near the lake, at the back of the castle, in the right corner, there is the Slytherin Tower.
Between the Hufflepuff Tower and the Slytherin Tower, there is the garden gate.
The owlery is a round room next to the Gryffindor Tower.
When you stand in front of Hogwarts Castle, behind you, on your right, there is Hagrid's hut, and on your left, there is the Quidditch pitch.

Go to an ocean. Look at the sand. You might see a crab.
A crab is flat. A crab is not fat. It has a shell and ten legs. Two legs have claws.
The claws can jab at fish. Crabs can live in water. Crabs can live on land.

This pond freezes in the winter.