RhinoSpike : English Recordings

by PaulaGyG on Sept. 4, 2014

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Short Text - Physical Description for Young ESL learners ( recorded by kpulido ), Western American

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Short Text - Physical Description for Young ESL learners ( recorded by ohmygoats ), Southern English

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by babethloizeau on Sept. 4, 2014

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Bullying ( recorded by Izabelmaria ), American English, Brazilian Portuguese

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MISSION : You’ve met Joe’s acquaintance, a Canadian from Ontario, on Skype. He is the same age as you and he complains about being constantly bullied by one of the pupils from his class (insulted, threatened, handled roughly…).
You send him a message in which you give him pieces of advice to try to get off this situation. Unfortunately, he doesn’t understand French… but English very well !
You will give him at least 3 tips and will finish your message in a reassuring way.

by Asteriafeas on Sept. 3, 2014

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There is a problem that will touch us all – men, women and children – in the not too distant future, a problem that resolves itself into a question: what is education for? At the moment most of us can answer that fairly practically and without too much soul-searching. On the lowest level education is for enabling us to cope in an adult world where money must be added up, tax forms filled in, numbers looked up in telephone directories, maps read, curtains measured and street signs understood. On the next level it is for getting some kind of job that will pay a living wage.
But we are already peering into a future so different from anything we would now recognize as familiar that the last of these two educational aims may become as obsolete as a dodo. Basic skills (reading, writing and arithmetic) will continue to be necessary but these, after all, can be taught to children in from one to two years during their childhood. But education with a view to working for a living, at least in the sense of earning daily bread, may well be on its way out right now for the majority of us. Then the question ‘what is education for?’ becomes much more complex. Because what the future proclaims is: an education is an education is an education.
In other words, our grandchildren may well spend their lives learning as, today, we spend our lives working. This does not simply involve a straightforward substitution of activity but a complex transformation of motive. We work for things basically unconnected with that work – usually money, prestige, success, security. We will learn for learning’s sake alone: a rose is a rose because it is and not what we can get out of it. Nor need any cynic doubt that we shall not wish to work without there being any obvious end in view. Already, adult education classes are overcrowded – one friend of mine teaching French literature says she could have had 10 pupils for every one she has.
Nevertheless, we still live in a very competitive society and most of us will need to reshuffle the furniture of our minds in order to gear our children towards a future in which outer rewards – keeping up with the Joneses – become less relevant than inner and more individual spurs. The existence of competition has always meant doing things because they win us some essentially unconnected advantage but the aim of the future must be to integrate the doing with its own reward, like virtue.
Oddly enough it is in America, that citadel of competitiveness, that the first experiments in this change of mind are taking place. In that New World, there are already organisations set up to examine ways in which competitiveness can be replaced by other inner-directed forms of rewards and pleasures. Take one interesting example in a Foundation whose aim is to transform competitive sport. A tug-of-war, as we all know, consists of one team pitting its strength against another team. The aim is to tug the opposing team over a line and, by doing so, win.
In the brand-new non-competitive version, things are very different. There are still two teams on either end of a rope but now the aim is not to win but to maintain the struggle. As the two teams tug, any individual on either team who senses a coming victory must let go the winning end of the rope and rush over to lend his weight to the other side, thus redressing the balance, and keeping the tug-of-war going as long as possible. If you actually imagine doing this, the startling fact that emerges is that the new game offers more possibilities of individual judgement and skill just because victory is not the aim and the tug-of-war is ended only by defeat of those judgements and skills. What’s more, I think most people would get more pleasure out of the neo-tug than the old winners-take-all concept.
So could it be for learning. Most of us at some time or another, have glimpsed one of the real pleasures of education – a sort of one-person chase after an elusive goal that pits You only against You or, at the very most, against the discoveries of the greatest minds of other generations. On a more humble level, most of us have already got some pleasurable hobby that we enjoy for its own sake and become expert in for that enjoyment. In my own stumbling efforts, since last year, to learn the piano, I have seen the future and it works.
From an article by Jill Tweedie in the Guardian

Recordings

AN EDUCATION FOR LIFE? ( recorded by nicolekristen ), American

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by KendallRae9 on Sept. 2, 2014

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by Mely on Sept. 2, 2014

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Prom Queen ( recorded by cnay3034 ), American (California)

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How do you become a middle school prom queen?
The crowning of the Prom Queen and Prom King is the high point of every school Prom. The Prom is a very special night in every teen's life. Here is some advice in order to truly become Prom Queen material.
First, you must be intelligent and work hard.
You must also be organized and be involved in various events.
You must conduct yourself with elegance and style.
You must pay attention to others.
Of course, you can also be yourself: being friendly is the best way to make people love you!

by m47ch on Sept. 1, 2014

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Letter 2 ( recorded by cody_108 ), American

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Letter 2 ( recorded by BenS ), North East America

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Letter 2
Your local hospital has advertised for people to do unpaid work helping at the hospital. You would like to do some work at the hospital in your free time. Write a letter to the hospital.
In your letter
- explain why you would like to do unpaid work at the hospital
- say what type of unpaid work you would be able to do
- give details of when you would be available for this work

Dear Sir:

I am very interested in your advertisement and eagerly hope that you could give me an opportunity to work.

I want to volunteer to work in the hospital so I can learn about doctors and nurses. I am a sophomore majoring in clinical medicine, and have much free time during the summer holiday. Additionally, there are good working conditions in your hospital, such as central air-conditioning and clean washrooms. Ultimately, I hope to work in the hospital after I graduate from my university.

As I am highly skilled in computer software, such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint; I could help doctors organize medical documents on computers. I could also accompany patients to take exams, chat with them, and make use of my medical knowledge to guide them on how to have a healthy diet and prevent disease. Moreover, I may help the staff maintain the order in the out-patient department by guiding patients to register, make appointments, and arrange them to check in.

At present, I can do the volunteer work from Monday to Friday. I believe that I can complete any task very well, and I’m keen to meet with you for an interview.

Best Wishes,
Lili

by m47ch on Sept. 1, 2014

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Letter 1 ( recorded by aford ), unspecified accent

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Letter 1
You have been doing some volunteer work to help your local community
However, now you are unable to continue doing this work.
Write a letter to the manager of the organization where you have been working.
In your letter
 describe the work you have been doing
 explain why you can no longer do this work
 recommend another person who is interested in the work

Dear Mr. Wang:

I regret having to write this letter, but I am afraid that I’m leaving here next Friday， because I will learn English in Beijing for six months.

I have worked in your group for almost three years, and I’m quite fond of this work. I enjoy helping the elderly resolve some simple medical problems, and sometimes we discuss health issues. During this job, I made many friends and gained lots of knowledge from them. Moreover, my medical skills have improved to some extent. In addition, people there such as Mr. Chen, Miss Gong and other people are all friendly, so I think that I am rather lucky to be a member of this organization.

Don’t worry about the work what I am doing currently in the community. Ms. Jiang, my colleague, would like to fill my shoes when I leave. She is warm-hearted, well-experienced, and also lives in our community. So I am sure that she will complete this task very well. You could contact her by e-mail or phone.
Best wishes,
Mary

by m47ch on Sept. 1, 2014

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TOPIC 2 An important letter ( recorded by hammerli ), Canadian English

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by m47ch on Sept. 1, 2014

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Topic 1 Website

Describe a useful website that you like to visit.
You should say:
l What this website helps you to do
l What the contents of the website are (or were)
l How (and when) you first found (or found out about) this website
l How often you go to this website
l And explain how (or why) this website helps you.

As for me, the CNKI website is very useful. It is the largest medical database with research papers recently in 30 years including the traditional Chinese medicine and the West medicine, and it also covers different subjects, such as internal medicine, surgery and gynecology.
Ms Jiang had introduced the website to me when I was busy completing my degree paper 9 years ago. The time of graduation quickly approached, but we had to book the seat in line for searching relative papers for limited library resource and inconvenient copy machine. When I was complaining in my supervisor’s office, Ms Jiang told me that I might seek help from CNKI website, and showed me how to use it by herself. Following her instruction step by step, only entering 2 or 3 key words, and restricting the publish date, I quickly found out what papers I wanted. Then I could print or download them depending on different conditions. It was so convenient that I was able to quickly complete my thesis.

After graduation, I still sometimes visit the website for papers, research projects and answers to clinical question. In general, I would like to visit it twice a week. Certainly, I would browse the webpage more frequently if I fall in difficulty in job. For example, when I met a patient with dizziness, we still couldn’t find out the real cause and relieve her distress after a period of examinations and treatments. Then I tried to search the answer from CNKI. Finally, I fortunately found out a paper on this disease, and following the author’ theory, I prescribed some herbs. Seven days later, her dizzy symptom was obviously disappeared.

In conclusion, browsing this webpage, I acquired a lot of medical knowledge and resolved some clinical problems. It has beneficial effect on my work and I am quite fond of it.

Recordings

Topic 1 Website ( recorded by baghwallah ), Received Pronunciation

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Topic 1 Website

Describe a useful website that you like to visit.

You should say:
- What this website helps you to do
- What the contents of the website are (or were)
- How (and when) you first found (or found out about) this website
- How often you go to this website
- And explain how (or why) this website helps you.

As for me, the CNKI website is very useful. It is the largest medical database with research papers over 30 years, including traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine, and it also covers different subjects, such as internal medicine, surgery and gynaecology.

Ms Jiang introduced the website to me when I was busy completing my degree paper, nine years ago. The time of graduation quickly approached, but we had to book a seat in line for searching relative papers due to limited library resources and an inconvenient copy machine. When I was complaining in my supervisor’s office, Ms Jiang told me that I might seek help from CNKI website, and showed me how to use it by myself. Following her step by step instructions, only entering 2 or 3 key words, and restricting the publication date, I quickly found out the papers I wanted. Then I could print or download them depending on different conditions. It was so convenient that I was able to quickly complete my thesis.

After graduation, I still sometimes visit the website for papers, research projects and answers to clinical questions. In general, I like to visit it twice a week. Certainly, I will browse the webpage more frequently if I fall into difficulties in my job. For example, when I met a patient with dizziness, we still couldn’t find out the real cause and relieve her distress, even after a period of examinations and treatments. Then I tried to find the answer from CNKI. Finally, I found out a paper on this disease, and following the author’s theory, I prescribed some herbs. Seven days later, her dizziness symptoms had obviously disappeared.

In conclusion, browsing this webpage, I acquire a lot of medical knowledge and resolve clinical problems. It has a beneficial effect on my work and I am quite fond of it.

by Jhon on Aug. 31, 2014

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Voz Pasiva ( recorded by alshay7 ), American English- Southern California

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