English Recordings

At moments when they are about to deliver yet another item of miserable news, government ministers tend to intone the now-familiar mantra that we are all facing "tough decisions". It has become a verbal tic, rather like the use of "Inshalla" in Arabic countries.

Yet the real tough choices are not for Tories – toughness is part of their marketing package, after all – but for decent, good-hearted liberals living in difficult times.

Here, for example, is a perfect moral conundrum. A blow in favour of books for children has been struck, supported by the National Trust for Literacy and involving the former children's laureate Michael Morpurgo. On the other hand, the campaign involves a deal between McDonald's and a Murdoch publishing company, and, if successful, could well encourage unhealthy eating and childhood obesity.

It is a straightforward moral choice. The McDonald's chain is aggressively marketing its £2.20 Happy Meals by offering free books, nine million of them, as incentives. In the past, the company has been in trouble for encouraging children to pester their parents by offering toys with its burgers or nuggets. Last year, Happy Meals were banned by a court in Santa Clara County in California in order "to prevent restaurants from preying on children's love of toys to peddle high calories, high fat, high sodium kids' meals."

Now, cunningly, McDonald's has changed the bait to books. It is cynical, the Campaign Director of the Children's Food Campaign has said, a touch desperately. It should not be the role of a fast-food chain to encourage literacy.

Yet cynicism, of course, is what happens in a market-led society. The National Literary Trust was quite right to take a deep breath, hold its nose and support the initiative. Having revealed last month that one in three children does not have a single book at home, the organisation knows better than most that now is not time for squeamishness.

Local councils are closing libraries. The minister responsible, Ed Vaizey, is being utterly feeble. Bookshops are losing their place on the High Street. It is children in relatively deprived areas who are paying the highest price, slipping into a world in which the imagination never extends beyond a computer game.

Where are these readers most likely to be found? Scoffing Happy Meals, of course. If a hard-eyed corporation cleverly exploits the fact that children are being deprived of all that books and stories offer, then to oppose it, from a position of privilege, is hypocritical and snobbish.

Maybe the young readers will be a little tubbier than they would otherwise have been, but at least they will be reading. While government ministers are wringing their hands about children's literacy while doing nothing, a fast food chain is cashing in. We should be grateful.

Spare us 'cultural exports' like Clarkson

The many defenders of Jeremy Clarkson are probably right. In his way, he and his work are perfect reflections of a kind of England rarely reflected in the mainstream media.

Unfortunately that England is crass, vulgar and faintly shaming. It is also represented by Top Gear around the world.

In a recent programme, the presenters went to India. The Prime Minister, a pal of Clarkson's, appeared in it. There were jokes about lavatories, getting the trots, and various pathetic and ignorant references to the local culture.

With quiet dignity, the Indian High Commissioner has complained to the BBC, referring to "the hurt sentiments of a large number of people". The undertakings given by the BBC, and believed, in their innocence, by the Indian authorities, had been cheerfully ignored.

There has been no apology yet, and even if one is made, that process has become utterly devalued by repetition. This man, according to the BBC chairman Lord Patten, is "a leading cultural export". How very embarrassing that is.

A Comprehensive Guide to Construction Supply Chain Management Develop a highly efficient construction supply chain management (CSCM) solution that decreases risk and increases profitability. This authoritative volume provides proven strategies for the lean construction approach, including just-in-time purchasing, supplier evaluation, subcontractor selection, subcontractor relationship management, equipment acquisition, information sharing, and project quality management. There are numerous illustrations and ready-to-use forms-and a step-by-step economic evaluation for equipment acquisition. Construction Purchasing and Supply Chain Management explains how to achieve maximum integration with upstream and downstream supply chain members using the latest technologies. You will be able to establish a strategic CSCM framework to meet the budgetary and scheduling goals of any project. This comprehensive, step-by-step guide to CSCM is useful for project owners, design engineers, architects, prime contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and construction managers involved in construction projects throughout the world. Discover how to: Ensure the on-time and cost-effective delivery of materials,equipment, and services Effectively negotiate with suppliers and subcontractors Manage superior subcontractor and supplier relationships Evaluate and select suppliers based on their value-added capabilities Analyze and negotiate subcontracting services Plan for, purchase, and lease construction equipment Leverage technology, safety measures, and information sharing to increase productivity and profitability Understand the components of horizontal and vertical construction supply chain operating models

Getting what you want - even if you are the boss - isn't always easy. Almost every organization, big or small, works among a network of competing interests. Whether it's governments pushing through policies, companies trying to increase profits, or even families deciding where to move house, rarely can decisions be made in isolation from competing interests both within the organization and outside it. In this accessible and straightforward account, Hans de Bruijn and Ernst ten Heuvelhof cast light on multi-stakeholder decision-making.Shunning simplistic model talk, they reveal the nuts and bolts of decision-making within the numerous dilemmas and tensions at work. Using a diverse range of illustrative examples throughout, their perceptive analysis examines how different interests can either support or block change, and the strategies available in managing a variety of stakeholders. This insightful text provides both depth of understanding and a wealth of advice. It is invaluable reading to students working in business and management, public administration and organizational studies, plus practitioners - or actors - operating in a range of contexts.

Project management is of critical importance in construction, yet its execution poses major challenges. In order to keep a project on track, decisions often have to be made before all the necessary information is available. Drawing on a wide range of research, Managing Construction Projects proposes new ways of thinking about project management in construction, exploring the skills required to manage uncertainty and offering techniques for thinking about the challenges involved. The second edition takes the information processing perspective introduced in the first edition and develops it further. In particular, this approach deepens the reader's understanding of the dynamics in the construction project process - from the value proposition inherent in the project mission, to the functioning asset that generates value for its owners and users. Managing Construction Projects is a unique and indispensible contribution to the available literature on construction project management. It will be of particular benefit to advanced students of construction and construction project management, as well as contractors and quantity surveyors. Reviews of the First edition: A massive review of the art and science of the management of projects that has the great virtue of being a good read wherever it is touched. It spills the dirt on things that went wrong, elucidates the history so you can understand the industry's current stance, draws on other countries experience and explains the latest management processes. Throughout it is liberally sprinkled with anecdotes and case histories which amply illustrate the dos and don't for practitioners wishing to deliver projects on time to expected quality and price. A valuable book for students and practitioners alike. -John D Findlay, Director, Stent This is a valuable source for practitioners and students. It covers the A-Z of project management in a confident contemporary manner, and provides a powerful and much needed conceptual perspective in place of a purely prescriptive approach. The engaging presentation introduces a range of challenges to established thinking about project management, often by making comparisons between practices in the UK and those of other countries. -Peter Lansley, Professor of Construction Management, University of Reading A refreshing and unique study of information management and its impact upon international construction project management...The book is well presented and written, logical and succinct and is flexible enough to allow readers to either read from start to finish or to dip into selected chapters. This book deserves to be an established text for any construction or civil engineering under - and/or postgraduate course. -CNBR, 25th November 2003 Generous use is made of anecdotes and case histories throughout to support the theory. the book illustrates the mistakes made by others, and the means to deliver projects on time and to cost. -Building Services Journal, April 2004

(Feb 25TH.2011)• Hi, everyone, how are you? ?
• These days / Recently, the temperature has been VERY low
• We have had freezing weather for some days now.
• It has been below zero （=The temperature has been below zero)for several days / for a few days / for a couple of days already。
• Below are Korean and Chinese audio for yesterday’s entry.
• If you are interested, you can listen to them, but I’m afraid it’s too long and fast for you.
• Take care, and don’t catch a cold!

==Dictionary / sample sentences -•below zero temperatures / subzero temperatures
• We have had freezing weather for weeks.
•Today's temperature is ^10 below zero[minus 10 degrees].
• The temperature fell[dropped; went down] below zero[the freezing point].

Dec.1st 2011)<a bunch of beautiful flowers> Today morning, I felt so easy/relieved and better,since I didn`t need to get up early.
Finally I had finished /completed my work as a substitute homeroom teacher for three monthes.To tell the truth, that class`s homeroom teacher would have liked to extend her contract, but I felt three monthes were enough for meI had learned a lot through those kaleidoscope kids.Throughout those days / During that time/,I felt again that there`s nothing more important than educating the children, as you know.I felt again that educating children is the most important thing, as you know. ♥The picture is a bunch of beautiful flower that I received today.

A Festival for the Dead is held once a year in Japan. This festival is a cheerful occasion, for on this day, the dead are said to return to their homes and they are welcomed by the living. As they are expected to be hungry after their long journey, food is laid out for them. Specially-made lanterns are hung outside each house to help the dead to find their way. All night long, people dance and sing. In the early morning, the food that had been laid out for the dead is thrown into a river or into the sea as it is considered unlucky for anyone living to eat it. In towns that are near the sea, the tiny lanterns which had been hung in the streets the night before, are placed into the water when the festival is over. Thousands of lanterns slowly drift out to sea guiding the dead on their return journey to the other world. This is a moving spectacle, for crowds of people stand on the shore watching the lanterns drifting away until they can be seen no more.

It must have been about two in the morning when I returned home. I tried to wake up my wife by ringing the door-bell, but she was fast asleep, so I got a ladder from the shed in the garden, put it against the wall, and began climbing towards the bedroom window. I was almost there when a sarcastic voice below said,' I don't think the windows need cleaning at this time of the night.'
I looked down and nearly fell off the ladder when I saw a policeman. I immediately regretted answering in the way I did, but I said, 'I enjoy cleaning windows at night.'
'So do I,' answered the policeman in the same tone. 'Excuse my interrupting you. I hate to interrupt a man when he's busy working, but would you mind coming with me to the station ?'
'Well, I'd prefer to stay here,' I said. 'You see, I've forgotten my key.'
'Your what ?' he called.
'My key,' I shouted.'
Fortunately, the shouting woke up my wife who opened the window just as the policeman had started to climb towards me.

When the Ambassador of Escalopia returned home for lunch, his wife got a shock. He looked pale and his clothes were in a frightful state.
'What has happened ?' she asked.
'How did your clothes get into such a mess ?'
'A fire-extinguisher, my dear,' answered the Ambassador drily. 'University students set the Embassy on fire this morning.'
'Good heavens!' exclaimed his wife. 'And where were you at the time ?'
'I was in my office as usual,' answered the Ambassador. 'The fire broke out in the basement. I went down immediately. of course, and that fool, Horst, aimed a fire-extinguisher at me. He thought I was on fire. I must definitely get that fellow posted.'
The Ambassador's wife went on asking questions, when she suddenly noticed a big hole in her husband's hat. 'And how can you explain that ?' she asked.
'Oh, that,' said the Ambassador. 'Someone fired a shot through my office window. Accurate, don't you think ? Fortunately, I wasn't wearing it at the time. If I had been, I would not have been able to get home for lunch.'