English Recordings

guardian
After my brother's death I became the legal guardian of my niece Susan.

stern
I have not spoiled my children. I have always been a stern father.

peasant
I was born in a small village. I like peasant life.

spirits
She is a nice girl and always in good spirits.

sincere
Her apology was sincere.

similar
The two sisters are quite similar in appearance, but their characters are quite different.

idle
She believed that most men were idle good-for-nothings.

dogged
Her dogged determination made her realize her goals.

taciturn
My father is modest and taciturn by nature, but this does not mean he is unfriendly.

cunning
Be careful: he is as cunning as a fox.

crude
She is not very polite, she has crude manners.

envy
She was green with envy at my new job.

dependable
She is a most dependable employee.

To caress
They kissed and he caressed her hair.

desolate
He felt desolate after his divorce.

trait
His personality traits had made him an impopular lecturer.

cordial
You will find her friendly and a cordial hostess.

bully
I hate my form master. He is a bully.

capricious
She is absolutely unpredictable and capricious.

callous
Stalin was a callous tyrant.

undertaker
I do not want to be an undertaker.

Conscientious objector
He is a pacifist and a conscientious objector.

dissenter
In the Soviet Union dissenters were often deported to Siberia.

To mourn
They mourned their only son’s death.

vigorous
He shook my hand vigorously and introduced himself.

To wink
I winked at my son across the table.

vanity
Everyone has his own vanities and frailties.

peevish
‘What have you been up to?’ the teacher asked peevishly.

stubborn
My boss is not always easy to get on with, he can be as stubborn as a mule.

tedious
She is a bad mistress, her lessons are always tedious.

gipsy
She is a gipsy and can tell your fortune by looking at the lines on your hand.

To outweigh
His lack of talent is outweighed by his perseverance.

sensitive
Some cabinet ministers are quite sensitive to criticism.

sensible
You can rely on him, he is a sensible employee.

To loathe
The old Indian said he loathed white Americans for what they had done to his people.

To propose to
He did not propose to her, instead he suggested a LAT relationship.

shabby
The beggar was shabbily dressed.

invincible
Thetis was convinced her son Achilles was invincible.

malicious
Just be on your guard against him, he is a malicious, cruel person.

To resemble
You resemble your father very much.

Matrimony
The bishop himself united them in matrimony.

posterity
This fine collection of books should be preserved for posterity.

proprietor
I am the proprietor of this shop.

Newseditor
Who is the newseditor of the new current affairs programme?

Intrusive
I find him a most intrusive interviewer.

Distraught
The victims were distraught with grief

Point-blank
I could refuse point-blank to do the interview, but theoretically the editor has the final say.

Stage
I have got past the stage of being nervous before each broadcast.

Cuttings
Before doing an interview our reporter always studies the relevant cuttings.

To probe
She is famous for her probing documentary films.

To sneer at
This is not to be sneered at.

Trash
Stop watching that TV trash.

Ingrained
There is a deeply ingrained prejudice against so-called ‘soaps’.

Assiduous
She has always made assiduous efforts to produce quality programmes.

To thrive on
You seem to thrive on hard work.

Ratings table
What is the position of that quiz on the ratings table?

To emphasize
The chairman of the broadcasting company emphasized that good programmes were an absolute must.

Fringe theatre
He is a fringe theatre playwright.

Scrutiny
All programmes are coming under close scrutiny, before cutting down the budgets.

To tune in to
A lot of viewers tune in on the new quiz

Locatable
Turville is a badly locatable hamlet.

To trace
The documentary films traces the origin of the Labour Party.

Decade
In the past decade there was a boom in cable television.

To pull one’s leg
The producer tried to pull my leg.

Mischievous
There were mischievous rumours about the newscaster.

Video ‘nasty’
Video ‘nasty’ should be forbidden by law.

Privy to
The viewers were not pricy to all the facts.

Notion
The notion of their watching that kind of programmes at the age of ten is too ridiculous for words.

Inflammatory
It was not just the inflammatory title that provoked the film censorship board.

To prosecute
The TV reporter was prosecuted.

Stealthy
Forty per cent of young viewers watch videos by stealthy means on their parents’ video recorder.

Grist
It is quite a task to produce your daily grist of copy

To conceal
Everything had been recorded by concealed cameras.

Aerial
You need a special aerial to receive these channels.

To compile
This programme was compiled and presented by Dorothy Tate.

Gruesome
I really hate these gruesome scenes of violence on television.

To omit
The teacher omitted all broadcasts other than educational.

Heading
Where will you put the heading of the programme on the acknowledgements?

Essay
His essay applies children’s television as much as to children’s books.

Trivial
Why do you get angry over such trivial programmes?

Resistance
There has been strong resistance to showing blue movies on television.

Denominator
Some critics say that television reduces everything to the lowest common denominator.

Cosy
They are mainly interested in cosy family programmes.

Squeamishness
Crossroads slipped out of the top ten probably due to the squeamishness of some viewers

To allow for
Have they allowed for the viewer’s young age?

Screen
This play is just right for the screen.

Cute
The young star was always wearing cute dresses on the screen.

Enchanting
She is quite an enchanting actress.

Gratified
The producer was gratified with the result of his film.

Newscaster
Newscasters do a lot more than just reading the news.

Random
Random shots are never taken.

Dentists always ask questions when it is impossible for you to answer. My dentist had just pulled out one of my teeth and had told me to rest for a while. I tried to say something, but my mouth was full of cotton-wool. He knew I collected birds' eggs and asked me whether my collection was growing. He then asked me how my brother was and whether I liked my new job in London. In answer to these questions I either nodded or made strange noises. Meanwhile, my tongue was busy searching out the hole where the tooth had been. I suddenly felt very worried, but could not say anything. When the dentist at last removed the cotton-wool from my mouth, I was able to tell him that he had pulled out the wrong tooth.

My name is 000. I am a senior at 000 University and majoring in Sociology with a double major in Financial engineering. Maybe, you would be curious why I chose Financial engeneering as a double major. I can say, I just want to know how the real world work not theoretical world. I would like to start my career in strategy department when I graduate from the university this summer.

When I 'm not busy studying in the library, I like to climb a small mountain. I usually go alone because I love to walk quietly with thinking other things. It makes me feel comfortable and relaxed. However, except it, I used to go with my friends to work out. Especially, I and my friends really love to play table tennis so, we do it almost every day.

These days, I am absorbed in board game "Baduk", sometimes called as "Go". It's ancient Chinese board game and one of the game that human can still defeat computer. I can play through the internet with people from the world, however, I am sad because there is no one around me.

And many people think tat I am very quiet and reserved person because I rarely hang out in downtown. I agree half and disagree half. I am very quiet and reserved but only for those who are not close to me. Once I get close, I become very active and cheerful. OK, this is end of my introduction. Thanks.

There was a tine when the owners of shops and businesses in Chicago that to pay large sums of money to gangsters in return for 'protection.' If the money was not paid promptly， the gangsters would quickly put a man out of business by destroying his shop. Obtaining 'protection money' is not a modern crime. As long ago as the fourteenth century， an Englishman， Sir John Hawkwood， made the remarkable discovery that people would rather pay large sums of money than have their life work destroyed by gangsters.
Six hundred years ago， Sir Johan Hawkwood arrived in Italy with a band of soldiers and settled near Florence. He soon made a name for himself and came to be known to the Italians as Giovanni Acuto. Whenever the Italian city-states were at war with each other， Hawkwood used to hire his soldiers to princes who were willing to pay the high price he demanded. In times of peace， when business was bad， Hawkwood and his men would march into a city-state and， after burning down a few farms， would offer to go away protection money was paid to them. Hawkwood made large sums of money in this way. In spite of this， the Italians regarded him as a sort of hero. When he died at the age of eighty， the Florentines gave him a state funeral and had a pictured with as dedicated to the memory of 'the most valiant soldier and most notable leader， Signor Giovanni Haukodue.'

After her husband had gone to work. Mrs. Richards sent her children to school and went upstairs to her bedroom. She was too excited to do any housework that morning， for in the evening she would be going to a fancy-dress part with her husband. She intended to dress up as a ghost and as she had made her costume the night before， she was impatient to try it on. Though the costume consisted only of a sheet， it was very effective. After putting it on， Mrs. Richards went downstairs. She wanted to find out whether it would be comfortable to wear.
Just as Mrs. Richards was entering the dinning room， there was a knock on the front door. She knew that it must be the baker. She had told him to come straight in if ever she failed to open the door and to leave the bread on the kitchen table. Not wanting to frighten the poor man， Mrs. Richards quickly hid in the small storeroom under the stairs. She heard the front door open and heavy footsteps in the hall. Suddenly the door of the storeroom was opened and a man entered. Mrs. Richards realized that it must be the man from the Electricity Board who had come to read the metre. She tried to explain the situation， saying 'It's only me'， but it was too late. The man let out cry and jumped back several paces. When Mrs. Richards walked towards him， he fled， slamming the door behind him.

A public house which was recently bought by Mr Ian Thompson is up for sale. Mr Thompson is going to sell it because it is haunted. He told me that he could not go to sleep one night because he heard a strange noise coming from the bar. The next morning, he found that the doors had been blocked by chairs and the furniture had been moved. Though Mr Thompson had turned the lights off before he went to bed, they were on in the morning. He also said that he had found five empty whisky bottles which the ghost must have drunk the night before. When I suggested that some villagers must have come in for a free drink, Mr Thompson shook his head. The villagers have told him that they will not accept the inn even if he gives it away.

When a plane from London arrived at Sydney airport, workers began to unload a number of wooden boxes which contained clothing. No one could account for the fact that one of the boxes was extremely heavy. It suddenly occurred to one of the workers to open up the box. He was astonished at what he found. A man was lying in the box on top of a pile of woollen goods. He was so surprised at being discovered that he did not even try to run away. After he was arrested, the man admitted hiding in the box before the plane left London. He had had a long and uncomfortable trip, for he had been confined to the wooden box for over ten hours. The man was ordered to pay 345 for the cost of the trip. The normal price of a ticket is 230 !