English Recordings

Small boats loaded with wares sped to the great liner as she was entering the harbour. Before she had anchored， the men from the boats had climbed on board and the decks were son covered with colourful rugs from Persia， silks from India， copper coffee pots， and beautiful handmade silverware. It was difficult not to be tempted. Many of the tourists on board had begun bargaining with the tradesmen， but I decide not to buy anything until I had disembarked.
I had no sooner got off the ship than I was assailed by a man who wanted to sell me a diamond ring. I had no intention of buying one， but I could not conceal the fact that I was impressed by the size of the diamonds. Some of them were as big as marbles. The man went to great lengths to prove that the diamonds were real. As we were walking past a shop， he held a diamond firmly against the window and made a deep impression in the glass. It took me over half an hour to get rid of him.
The next man to approach me was selling expensive pens and watches. I examined one of the pens closely. It certainly looked genuine. At the base of the gold cap， the words 'made in the U.S.A' had been nearly inscribed. The man said that the pen was worth $50， but as a special favour， he would let me have it for $30. I shook my head and held up five fingers indicating that I was willing to pay $5. Gesticulating wildly， the man acted as if he found my offer outrageous， but he eventually reduced the price to $10. Shrugging my shoulders， I began to walk away when， a moment later， he ran after me and thrust the pen into my hands. Though he kept throwing up his arms in despair， he readily accepted the $5 I have him. I felt especially pleased with my wonderful bargain —— until I got back to the ship. No matter how hard I tried， it was impossible to fill this beautiful pen with ink and to this day it has never written a single world！

It has been said that everyone lives by selling something. In the light of this statement， teachers live by selling knowledge， philosophers by selling wisdom and priests by selling spiritual comfort. Though it may be possible to measure the value of material good in terms of money， it is extremely difficult to estimate the true value of the services which people perform for us. There are times when we would willingly give everything we possess to save our lives， yet we might grudge paying a surgeon a high fee for offering us precisely this service. The conditions of society are such that skills have to be paid for in the same way that goods are paid for at a shop. Everyone has something to sell.
Tramps seem to be the only exception to this general rule. Beggars almost sell themselves as human being to arouse the pity of passers-by. But real tramps are not beggars. They have nothing to sell and require nothing from others. In seeking independence， they do not sacrifice their human dignity. A tramp may ask you for money， but he will never ask you to feel sorry for him. He has deliberately chosen to lead the life he leads and is fully aware of the consequences. He may never be sure where the next meal is coming from， but his is free from the thousands of anxieties which afflict other people. His few material possessions make it possible for him to move from place to place with ease. By having to sleep in the open， he gets far closer to the world of nature than most of us ever do. He may hunt， beg， or stead occasionally to keep himself alive； he may even， in times of real need， do a little work； but he will never sacrifice his freedom. We often speak of my even， in times of real need， do a little work； but he will never sacrifice his freedom. We often speak of tramps with contempt and put them in the same class as beggars， but how many of us can honestly say that we have not felt a little envious of their simple way of life and their freedom from care？

Start the car.
Drive carefully.
Drive on the right.
Obey the traffic signs.
Join the motorway.
Reduce speed on the road.
Drive carefully on the motorway.
Join the motorway by the acceleration lane.
You have to pay at the toll station.
Brake when you see a give-way sign.
Slow down when it's raining.
You have to concede right of way at a give-way sign.
Slow down when you come to a pedestrian crossing.
Halt when you see a Stop sign.
When the traffic lights are on green you have to move on.
Accelerate to join a motorway.
Don't go over the speed limit.
The purpose of radar is to control speed.
I've been breathalysed.
I have to pay the fine.
I'm going to overtake that car.
The unbroken line means that overtaking is forbidden.
I'm going to park in the garage.
You have to reverse in order to park.
We're going to stop to fill the tank.
We're going to stop at the next service station.
Does your car run on diesel or petrol?
We're going to stop for petrol.
My car has had a breakdown.
Call the breakdown service when you have a breakdown.

At a village fair, I decided to visit a fortune-teller called Madam Bellinsky. I went into her tent and she told me to sit down. After I had given her some money, she looked into a crystal ball and said: 'A relation of yours is coming to see you. She will be arriving this evening and intends to stay for a few days. The moment you leave this tent, you will get a big surprise. A woman you know well will rush towards you. She will speak to you and then she will lead you away from this place. That is all.' As soon as I went outside, I forgot all about Madam Bellinsky because my wife hurried towards me. 'Where have you been hiding ?' she asked impatiently. 'Your sister will be here in less than an hour and we must be at the station to meet her. We are late already.' As she walked away, I followed her out of the fair.

Our dog, Rex, used to sit outside our front gate and bark. Every time he wanted to come into the garden he would bark until someone opened the gate. As the neighbours complained of the noise, my husband spent weeks training him to press his paw on the latch to let himself in. Rex soon became an expert at opening the gate. However, when I was going out shopping last week, I noticed him in the garden near the gate. This time he was barking so that someone would let him out ! Since then, he has developed another bad habit. As soon as he opens the gate from the outside, he comes into the garden and waits until the gate shuts. Then he sits and barks until someone lets him out. After this he immediately lets himself in and begins barking again. Yesterday my husband removed the gate and Rex got so annoyed we have not seen him since.

No one can avoid being influenced by advertisements. Much as we may pride ourselves on our good taste， we are no longer free to choose the things we want， for advertising exerts a subtle influence on us. In their efforts to persuade us to buy this or that product， advertisers have made a close study of human nature and have classified all our little weaknesses. Advertisers discovered years ago that all of us love to get something for nothing. An advertisement which begins with the magic word FREE can rarely go wrong. These days， advertisers not only offer free samples， but free cars， free houses， and free trips round the world as well. They devise hundreds of competitions which will enable us to win huge sums of money. Radio and television have made it possible for advertisers to capture the attention of millions of people in this way.
During a radio programme， a company of biscuit manufacturers once asked listeners to bake biscuits and send them to their factory. They offered to pay $10 a pound for the biggest biscuit baked by a listener. The response to this competition was tremendous. Before long， biscuits of all shapes and sizes began arriving at the factory. One lady brought in a biscuit on a wheelbarrow. It weighed nearly 500 pounds. A little later， a man came along with a biscuit which occupied the whole boot of his car. All the biscuits that were sent were carefully weighed. The largest was 713 pounds. It seemed certain that this would win the prize. But just before the competition closed， a lorry arrived at the factory with a truly colossal biscuit which weighed 2，400 pounds. It had been baked by a college student who had used over 1，000 pounds of flour， 800 pounds of sugar， 200 pounds of fat， and 400 pounds of various other ingredients. It was so heavy that a crane had to be used to remove it from the lorry. The manufacturers had to pay more money than they had anticipated， or they bought the biscuit from the student for $24，000.

One of the most famous sailing ships of the nineteenth century， the Cutty Sark， can still be seen at Greewich. She stands on dry land and is visited by thousands of people each year. She serves as an impressive reminder of the great ships of past. Before they were replaced by steamships， sailing vessels like the Cutty Sark were used to carry tea from China and wool from Australia. The Cutty Sark was one the fastest sailing ships that has ever been built. The only other ship to match her was the Thermopylae. Both these ships set out from Shanghai on June 18th， 1872 on an exciting race to England. This race， which went on for exactly four exactly four months， was the last of its kind. It marked the end of the great tradition of ships with sails and the beginning of a new era.
The first of the two ships to reach Java after the race had begun was the Thermopylae， but on the Indian Ocean， the Cutty Sark took lead. It seemed certain that she would be the first ship home， but during the race she had a lot of bad luck. In August， she was struck by a very heavy storm during which her rudder was torn away. The Cutty Sark rolled from side to side and it became impossible to steer her. A temporary rudder was made on board from spare planks and it was fitted with great difficulty. This greatly reduced the speed of the ship， for there was a danger that if she traveled too quickly， this rudder would be torn away as well. Because of this， the Cutty Sark lost her lead. After crossing the Equator， the captain called in at a port to have a new rudder fitted， but by now the Thermopylae was over five hundred miles ahead. Though the new rudder was fitted at tremendous speed， it was impossible for the Cutty Sark to win. She arrived in England a week after the Thermopylae. Even this was remarkable， considering that she had had so many delays. These is no doubt that if she had not lost her rudder she would have won the race easily.

The tiny village of Frinley is said to possess a 'cursed tree'. Because the tree was mentioned in a newspaper, the number of visitors to Frinley has now increased. The tree was planted near a church fifty years ago, but it is only in recent years that it has gained an evil reputation. It is said that if anyone touches the tree, he will have bad luck; if he picks a leaf, he will die. Many villagers believe that the tree has already claimed a number of victims. The vicar has been asked to have the tree cut down, but so far he has refused. He has pointed out that the tree is a useful source of income as tourists have been coming from all parts of the country to see it. In spite of all that has been said, the tourists-have been picking leaves and cutting their names on the tree-trunk. So far, not one of them has been struck down by sudden death!

A woman in blue jeans stood at the window of an expensive shop. Though she hesitated for a moment, she finally went in and asked to see a dress that was in the window. The assistant who served her did not like the way she was dressed. Glancing at her scornfully, he told her that the dress was sold. The woman walked out of the shop angrily and decided to punish the assistant next day. She returned to the shop the following morning dressed in a fur coat, with a handbag in one hand and a long umbrella in the other. After seeking out the rude assistant she asked for the same dress. Not realizing who she was, the assistant was eager to serve her this time with great difficulty, he climbed into the shop window to get the dress. As soon as she saw it, the woman said she did not like it. She enjoyed herself making the assistant bring almost everything in the window before finally buying the dress she had first asked for.

We often read in novels how a seemingly respectable person or family has some terrible secret which has been concealed from strangers for years. The English language possesses a vivid saying to describe this sort of situation. The terrible secret is called 'a skeleton in the cupboard'. At some dramatic moment in the story， the terrible secret becomes known and a reputation is ruined. The reader's hair stands on end when he reads in the final pages of the novel that the heroine a dear old lady who had always been so kind to everybody， had， in her youth， poisoned every one of her five husbands.
It is all very well for such things to occur in fiction. To varying degrees， we all have secrets which we do not want even our closest friends to learn， but few of us have skeletons in the cupboard. The only person I know who has a skeleton in the cupboard is George Carlton， and he is very pound of the fact. George studied medicine in his youth. Instead of becoming a doctor， however， he became a successful writer of detective stories. I once spend an uncomfortable weekend which I shall never forget at his house. George showed me to the guestroom which， he said， was rarely used. He told me to unpack my things and then come down to dinner. After I had stacked my shirts and underclothes in two empty drawers， I decided to hang one of the tow suits I had brought with me in the cupboard. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of two suits I had brought with me in the cupboard. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it suits I had brought with me in the cupboard. I opened the cupboard door and then stood in front of it petrified. A skeleton was dangling before my eyes. The sudden movement of the door made it sway slightly and it gave me the impression that it was about to leap out at me. Dropping my suit， I dashed downstairs to tell George. This was worse than "a terrible secret'； this was a read skeleton！ But George was unsympathetic. 'Oh， that，' he said with a smile as if he were talking about an old friend. 'That's Sebastian. You forget that I was a medical student once upon a time.'