English Recordings

She made me aware of my own shortcomings.
Despite a number of shortcomings, the project will still go ahead.
He bravely acknowledged his own personal shortcomings.
Whatever his shortcomings as a husband, he was a good father to his children.
Like any political system, it has its shortcomings.
His face grew solemn.
Our most solemn duty is to protect the public.
I made a solemn promise that I would return.
You have all taken a solemn oath of loyalty to your country.
She solemnly promised not to say a word to anyone about it.
He nodded solemnly.
the solemnity of his words
with due solemnity
with great solemnity
the solemnity of his words
to observe the solemnities of the occasion
He was buried with great pomp and solemnity.
The footnote refers to page 26.
They referred me to the manager.
May I refer you back to my earlier remarks on this subject?
He referred to me for some advice.
He referred frequently to his notes while speaking.
Refer to the dictionary when you don't know how to spell a word.
He referred his ill temper to indigestion.
He referred his fast recovery to this new medicine he had been taking.
This style of music is generally referred to the 18th century.
What's happened never referred to none of us.
The new law does not refer to land used for farming.
For my proof I refer to your letter.
No one referred to yesterday's quarrel.
The patient made a rapid recovery.
The guard fired four shots in rapid succession.
Covid 19 is spreading at a rapid rate.
When the grand collapse starts, it is so violent and so rapid that nothing can halt it.
The rapid fire of questions was deliberate, she knew, designed to scare her into blurting out the truth.
Symptoms include a rapid pulse and dry skin.

Ours is a world in which no individual, and no country, exists in isolation. All of us live simultaneously in our own communities and in the world at large. Peoples and cultures are increasingly hybrid. The same icons, whether on a movie screen or a computer screen, are recognizable from Argentina to Zimbabwe. We are all consumers in the same global economy. We are all influenced by the same tides of political, social, and technological change.
Pollution, organized crime, and the proliferation of deadly weapons likewise show little regard for the niceties of borders; they are problems without passports and, as such, our common enemy. We are connected, wired, interdependent. Such connections are nothing new. Human beings have interacted across planet Earth for centuries. But today's globalization is different. It is happening more rapidly. It is driven by new engines, such as the Internet. Globalization is bringing more choices and new opportunities for prosperity. It is making us more familiar with global diversity. However, millions of people around the world experience globalization not as an agent of progress but as a disruptive force, almost hurricane-like in its ability to destroy lives, jobs, and traditions. Many have an urge to resist the process and take refuge in the illusory comforts of nationalism, fundamentalism, or other isms.
Faced with the potential good of globalization as well as its risks, we must identify areas where collective action is needed ― and then take that action to safeguard the common, global interest. Local communities have fire departments, municipal services, and town councils. Nations have legislatures and judicial bodies. But in today's globalized world, the institutions and mechanisms available for global action are still in an early stage of
development. Now is the time to encourage the growth of strong international bodies that can act globally.
What makes a community? What binds it together? For some it is faith. For others it is the defense of an idea, such as democracy. Some communities are homogeneous, others multicultural. Some are as small as schools and villages,
others as large as continents. Today, of course, more and more communities are virtual, as people, even in the remotest locations on earth, discover and promote their shared values through the latest communications and information technologies. But what binds us into an international community? In the broadest sense, there is a shared vision of a better world for all people as set out, for example, in the founding charter of the United Nations. There is (3)a sense of common vulnerability in the face of global warming and the threat posed by the spread of weapons of mass destruction. There is the framework of international law, treaties, and human rights conventions. There is equally a sense of shared opportunity, which is why we build common markets and joint institutions such as the United Nations. Together, we are stronger.

Some people say the international community is only a fiction. Others believe it is too elastic a concept to have any real meaning. Still others claim it is a mere vehicle of convenience, to be trotted out only in emergencies or when a scapegoat for inaction is needed. Some maintain there are no internationally recognized norms, goals, or fears on which to base such a community. News reports refer routinely to the ∥so-called international community," as if the term does not yet have the solidity of actual fact. I believe that this type of criticism is mistaken. The international community does exist. It has an address. It has achievements to its credit. And more and more,
it is developing a conscience.
There are countless examples of the international community at work, from Afghanistan and East Timor to Africa and Central America. These include international aid to victims of natural disaster, encouragement of trade
between developing and developed countries, and the prosecution of people responsible for terrible crimes against humanity. Still, there have been too many failures. Too often the international community fails to do what is needed. It failed to prevent mass
slaughter in Rwanda. For too long it reacted with weakness and hesitation to the horror of ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia. The international community has not done enough to help Africa at a time when Africa needs it most and stands to benefit most. And in a world of unprecedented wealth, the international community allows nearly half of all humanity to live on $2 or less a day.
For much of the 20th century, the international system was based on division and the hard calculations of political realism. In the new century, the international community can and must do better. I do not suggest that an era of complete harmony is within reach. Interests and ideas will always clash. But the world can improve on the last century's dismal record. The international community is a work in progress. Many strands of cooperation
have asserted themselves over the years. We must now stitch them into a strong fabric of community ― of international community for an international era.

Today for show and tell, I’ve brought a hockey stick that I’ve had for 10 years. It’s meaningful to me because my parents gave it to me on my16th birthday. It was the best birthday present ever because hockey is my favourite sport and I have played it since I was 7.
It’s yellow and black and made of carbon fibre so it’s quite light and very flexible. It’s really cool and I love playing with it.
I generally play hockey twice a week, and I sometimes have a match on Saturday afternoons.
Also, I like to watch NHL games on TV with my brother. NHL stands for National Hockey League and it’s the main professional hockey league in North America. Hockey is very popular here in the US. My favourite team is the Pittsburgh Penguins. They won the Stanley Cup in 2017.

Interesting Facts:
There are about 7000 languages in the world.
Most Languages of the world have no written form.
The Holy Quran is available in more than 100 languages.
One language dies about every fourteen days.
Deaf people use sign language to communicate.

Older children often pick on younger ones.
The parents picked out the name for their newborn baby.
My cousin picked up some Italian after his three months stay in Italy
The bus stopped to pick up two passengers.
The children were picking at the food on their plates.
We walked along the beach picking up pebbles and shells.
He went there to pick up some information.
I pick up my daughter from school.
Jenny is always picking on me.
He picked out the best for himself.

Jack Johnson is an American singer, a professional surfer and an environmental activist.
He was born in Hawaii in 1975.
He became a singer after a surfing accident that almost killed him when he was 17 years old. To pass the time as he recovered in hospital and at home, he played the guitar for hours and hours, and he started singing. He composed his first album in 2001. He started giving concerts in small coffee shops but he says that he had never dreamt of becoming a famous singer. Since 2001, he has sold 25 million records and he has made 7 albums. His music genre is soft, acoustic rock; he says that his inspiration comes from singers like Bob Dylan, Bob Marley, the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix or Ben Harper.
Jack Johnson is the exact opposite of a rock star: he is quiet, humble, and not interested in being a celebrity. For him, being a singer is not about “sex, drugs and rock’n roll”. The three things that he enjoys most in life are: spending time with his family, playing music with his friends on the beach, and surfing the local Hawaiian waves.
Jack always wears the same uniform, on the beach or on stage: a t-shirt, shorts and flip-flops. Hawaii is Jack’s home, the place where he finds peace and inspiration.
In 2000, Jack Johnson got married to Kim, his college girlfriend. They have three children, two boys and a girl. Jack says that the secrets to his success are: surfing, and his wife.
Today, Kim is Jack’s manager and together, they have created a foundation to support environmental education. Jack is particularly concerned with the plastic problem facing Hawaii: because of the ocean currents, local beaches have become littered with garbage from all over the world. Jack has composed songs about the environment for children, like for example “The 3 R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle”.
He says the most difficult thing for him is to balance his life as an artist, an environmental activist and a father.
Some of his most famous songs are: Good People, Better Together, or Upside Down.
In 2006, he interpreted the song “We’re gonna be friends” but he didn’t compose it; it was written by an American rock band called “The White Stripes”.

--Already recorded, thanks!--

My ex-partner and I have a five-year-old son. Recently, I discovered that she has been breaking lockdown rules by taking him to visit her elderly parents.
I sympathise with anyone who needs family contact during the lockdown. I am sure we all feel the same way. But this is a serious breach of trust, as well as putting our son at risk.
We have not had a good relationship since separating, but I genuinely believed the lockdown had led to better communication and more cooperation. We have been moving our son safely between the two houses.
If I raise this with her, I am likely to get an angry and defensive reaction. The best approach might be just to let her carry on doing it and hope for the best, but that goes against my protective instinct as a parent. What should I do?

Do you hold yourself accountable for her death or for working with Damien Darhk?