English Recordings

Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
Sugar is sweet,
And so are you.

The way we travel around cities has a major impact on whether they are sustainable. Transportation is estimated to account for 30% of energy consumption in most of the world's most developed nations, so lowering the need for energy-using vehicles is essential for decreasing the environmental impact of mobility. But as more and more people move to cities, it is important to think about other kinds of sustainable travel too. The ways we travel affect our physical and mental health, our social lives, our access to work and culture, and the air we breathe. Engineers are tasked with changing how we travel round cities through urban design, but the engineering industry still works on the assumptions that led to the creation of the energy-consuming transport systems we have now: the emphasis placed solely on efficiency, speed, and quantitative data. We need radical changes, to make it healthier, more enjoyable, and less environmentally damaging to travel around cities.

B

Dance might hold some of the answers. That is not to suggest everyone should dance their way to work, however healthy and happy it might make us, but rather that the techniques used by choreographers to experiment with and design movement in dance could provide engineers with tools to stimulate new ideas in city-making. Richard Sennett, an influential urbanist and sociologist who has transformed ideas about the way cities are made, argues that urban design has suffered from a separation between mind and body since the introduction of the architectural blueprint.

C

Whereas medieval builders improvised and adapted construction through their intimate knowledge of materials and personal experience of the conditions on a site, building designs are now conceived and stored in media technologies that detach the designer from the physical and social realities they are creating. While the design practices created by these new technologies are essential for managing the technical complexity of the modern city, they have the drawback of simplifying reality in the process.

D

To illustrate, Sennett discusses the Peachtree Center in Atlanta, USA, a development typical of the modernist approach to urban planning prevalent in the 1970s. Peachtree created a grid of streets and towers intended as a new pedestrian-friendly downtown for Atlanta. According to Sennett, this failed because its designers had invested too much faith in computer-aided design to tell them how it would operate. They failed to take into account that purpose-built street cafes could not operate in the hot sun without the protective awnings common in older buildings, and would need energy-consuming air conditioning instead, or that its giant car park would feel so unwelcoming that it would put people off getting out of their cars. What seems entirely predictable and controllable on screen has unexpected results when translated into reality.

E

The same is true in transport engineering, which uses models to predict and shape the way people move through the city. Again, these models are necessary, but they are built on specific world views in which certain forms of efficiency and safety are considered and other experiences of the city ignored. Designs that seem logical in models appear counterintuitive in the actual experience of their users. The guard rails that will be familiar to anyone who has attempted to cross a British road, for example, were an engineering solution to pedestrian safety based on models that prioritize the smooth flow of traffic. On wide major roads, they often guide pedestrians to specific crossing points and slow down their progress across the road by using staggered access points that divide the crossing into two - one for each carriageway. In doing so they make crossings feel longer, introducing psychological barriers greatly impacting those that are the least mobile, and encouraging others to make dangerous crossings to get around the guard rails. These barriers don't just make it harder to cross the road: they divide communities and decrease opportunities for healthy transport. As a result, many are now being removed, causing disruption, cost, and waste.

F

If their designers had had the tools to think with their bodies - like dancers - and imagine how these barriers would feel, there might have been a better solution. In order to bring about fundamental changes to the ways we use our cities, engineering will need to develop a richer understanding of why people move in certain ways, and how this movement affects them. Choreography may not seem an obvious choice for tackling this problem. Yet it shares with engineering the aim of designing patterns of movement within limitations of space. It is an art form developed almost entirely by trying out ideas with the body, and gaining instant feedback on how the results feel. Choreographers have a deep understanding of the psychological, aesthetic, and physical implications of different ways of moving.

G

Observing the choreographer Wayne McGregor, cognitive scientist David Kirsh described how he 'thinks with the body', Kirsh argues that by using the body to simulate outcomes, McGregor is able to imagine solutions that would not be possible using purely abstract thought. This kind of physical knowledge is valued in many areas of expertise, but currently has no place in formal engineering design processes. A suggested method for transport engineers is to improvise design solutions and instant feedback about how they would work from their own experience of them, or model designs at full scale in the way choreographers experiment with groups of dancers. Above all, perhaps, they might learn to design for emotional as well as functional effects.

What will life look like in 2050? We asked our readers on science-blogs.com to give their vision of the future. Have a look at the answers!

1. Holographic Feedback TV, by Mark (27, California)
Simple holograms already exist today, and “virtual reality” games are already popular. But with “holographic feedback TV”, we will be able to smell and touch the things that we see on TV. Watching programs will become interactive and immersive.

2. Robotics, by Jamila (18, India)
A lot of factories already use robots, because they never get sick, they can work 24 hours a day, and they don’t go on strike. By 2050, robots will be able to drive, cook or clean. They will help (or replace?) humans in many places: factories, schools, hospitals, shops, offices, and homes..

3. Entertainment, by Grace (22, Sydney)
Activities and hobbies will become simulated. With the creation of high-performance “virtual reality headsets”, people will simply connect online and they will be able to join “digital” birthday parties, concerts, or family dinners! It will be easier to stay in touch with your family and friends who live around the world.

4. Water, by Adam (30, South Africa)
Demands for water will increase 10 times between now and 2050. Some scientists predict that water will cause wars if we don’t act now. Millions of people will be forced to leave their home-country if they want to survive.

1. In Washington, you'll find the most delicious apples in the United States.
2. In California, you'll enjoy the tastiest grapes in the country.
3. In Texas, You'll get the greatest steak in the USA.
4. Do you want to taste the best green Jell-O ever? If so, then Utah is your next destination !
5. The spiciest Chillies are to be found in New Mexico !
6. Mmmmm! This Corn is from Nebraska for sure, it is the most savory corn I've ever tasted.
7. Last time I was in Wyoming, I had the most finger-licking buffalo burger of my life!
8.Trust me in Alaska, you'll have the biggest King Crabs you've ever seen!
9. In Louisiana, they cook the most succulent craw fish!
10. In Florida they grow the most beautiful oranges!
11. The best pizzas in the country ? you'll find them in New York for sure.
12. In New Jersey, I had the fattest hot dog ever!
13. In Missouri, I had the most refreshing Ice Cream of my life!
14.In Maine, I had the freshest lobster.
15. If you go to Minnesota you have to taste their Blueberry Muffins, they are the most delectable cakes I've ever tasted.

Competence. Plan and conduct a passage and determine position.
Knowledge, understanding and proficiency.
Celestial navigation. Ability to use celestial bodies to determine the ship’s position.
Terrestrial and coastal navigation.
Ability to determine the ship’s position by use of: 1 landmarks 2 aids to navigation, including lighthouses, beacons and buoys 3 dead reckoning, taking into account winds, tides, currents and estimated speed.

Thorough knowledge of and ability to use nautical charts, and publications, such as sailing directions, tide tables, notices to mariners, radio navigational warnings and ships’ routeing information.
Electronic systems of position fixing and navigation.
Ability to determine the ship’s position by use of electronic navigational aids. Echo-sounders.
Ability to operate the equipment and apply the information correctly. Compass – magnetic and gyro.
Knowledge of the principles of magnetic and gyro-compasses.
Ability to determine errors of the magnetic and gyro-compasses, using celestial and terrestrial means, and to allow for such errors.
Steering control system.
Knowledge of steering control systems, operational procedures and change-over from manual to automatic control and vice versa. Adjustment of controls for optimum performance.
Meteorology.
Ability to use and interpret information obtained from shipborne meteorological instruments.
Knowledge of the characteristics of the various weather systems, reporting procedures and recording systems. Ability to apply the meteorological information available.

I’m Kate.
I’m William’s wife. We’ve got two sons, George and Louis and a daughter, Charlotte, and we love children! My parents are Carol and Michael Middleton. I’ve got a sister, Pippa and a brother, James. They’re great!

I’m William.
My grandmother is the Queen and my grandfather was a prince, Prince Philip.
I’ve got one brother, Harry.
My father is Prince Charles. My mother, Diana, died in 1997 in an accident. My stepmother is Camilla.

Hello, I have made an important decision:
This year, I'm going to CHANGE MY LIFE. I'm going to tell you all about my new year's resolutions!
My first resolution..well..this one is the most difficult for me. I would like to stop smoking. I started smoking when I was 19 years old and now that I am 34 years old, I think it's time for me to stop. I am a very determined person so I think I can do it.
My second resolution... hum I ‘m planning to be more organized. I'm really really absent-minded and extremely messy. Every week I lose something: my keys, my phone. It's horrible. My house is not tidy at all and I need to change that.
My third resolution... I think I'm going to travel around the world. I would like to visit China, Spain, France, Australia and I never take the time to do it. My sister lives in Paris so I will also take some time to visit her.
My 4th resolution... uh, let me think...I intend to go to the gym more regularly because I'm really lazy, and I spend too much time watching TV series and science fiction films. So this year, I will do more sport.
I ‘ve also decided to spend more time with my friends and family because I work a lot and I don't see my friends and family much.
My sixth resolution...hum... I ‘m thinking of eating more healthy food because I go to fast food restaurants 3 or four times a week and I know it's not a good habit. I really love eating , I hate doing the cooking and I usually don't have the time to do the cooking so fast food restaurants are usually the perfect solution for me.
My seventh resolution is to learn to play the guitar. I think it's a really cool instrument and I really like singing, so I think I will try and learn how to play it.
And my last resolution is ...I promise I will keep all my resolutions ... for at least two weeks!!!

There were still around half a million enslaved Africans in the colonies when the Declaration of Independence was issued in 1776, stating that "All men are created equal."
Almost one in every six people was enslaved.

More than 10 million African slaves were brought to the Americas by force from Africa. About half a million of these enslaved Africans were sold in what is now the United States.

Slaves were packed into dirty, overcrowded ships and carried like cargo across the Atlantic Ocean. They were chained together and given little food and water. This dreadful journey took about four months. Many slaves died of disease and starvation. The African “slave trade” was banned in 1808 but slavery continued in the United States.

Slaves were sold at slave markets in the American colonies. Slave traders were looking for the healthiest, strongest slaves. Many families were broken apart. Husbands and wives were separated. Children were taken from their mothers.

Slaves had no rights. They were their master’s property. They could not own property, travel without a pass, or even legally marry. It was also against the law for slaves to learn to read or write, although some did secretly.

Some slaves worked in cities, others on small farms on large plantations. The largest crop in the South was cotton. Plantation owners made their fortune growing crops like tobacco, rice, and sugar.

Slaves did backbreaking work in fields, some worked in kitchens and homes, as maids, cooks and weavers, others as craftsmen and carpenters or blacksmiths.

Slaves on plantations usually lived together in small cabins. They were often given little to eat and forced to work from dawn to dusk, even when they were sick.

Slaves were chained so they wouldn't run away or whipped for breaking a rule. Sometimes the worst punishment was to be sold to another plantation far from their families. Being sold was a constant fear among slaves since it could happen when their owners died or needed more money.

By 1860, almost four million enslaved African lived in the South. Only 25 percent of white Southerners owned slaves, but most supported slavery because it was so important to their economy. Slavery was abolished in the North in 1770 but continued until the end of the American Civil War.

The Civil War was fought between the North (the Union) and the South (the Confederacy) over slavery. The Civil War lasted four years and resulted in massive losses on both sides.

Nearly 180,000 free blacks and runaway slaves fought on the side of the North, or the Union.

The Emancipation Proclamation, signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, declared the freedom of all slaves in the Confederacy.
Slavery had been abolished in the United States by December 1865.

I have got a goldfish.
I haven't got a snake.
I have got one sister and two brothers.
I have got one brother and two sisters.
I haven't got any brothers.
I haven't got any sisters.
I haven't got any sisters and brothers.
I have got long straight brown hair.
I have got short curly brown hair.
I have got a long nose and a small mouth.