English Recordings

by MICHAEL DICKINSON
The guns sound out in salute, the bells ring out in the air,
The royal Duchess of Cambridge has given birth to an heir!
Prince William and Kate are overjoyed and blissfully happy
They have their longed-for offspring – in a clean white nappy!

Woman: Alright, we've got the popcorn, we've got the DVDs. Let the Ray Harryhausen marathon begin.
Man: Which one should we start with? I vote Jason and the Argonauts.
W: Absolutely, bring on the sword-wielding skeletons. Which reminds me, I saw an interesting documentary on Harryhausen a while back. It had some fun facts about his work on that scene.
M: Oh, I can just imagine. It must have been a painstaking job.
W: To say the least. According to the documentary, Harryhausen spent four and a half months doing the stop-motion animation for that sequence. In the parts where all seven skeletons are on screen fighting the three live actors, he could only average around 13 frames a day. That's about a half second of film.
M: I love that. Knowing how difficult it was to create that scene, how much meticulous work went into it, makes me appreciate the finished product all the more.
W: Yeah, and I love how people like Harryhausen have created amazing fantasies with ordinary real-world materials, not CGI.
M: Exactly, like the way they used oysters and other pieces of seafood to create the innards of the facehugger in Alien. I was completely fooled when I saw that movie, I never would have guessed.
W: Same here. Say, how about 1930s horror movies for our next marathon? I haven't seen The Invisible Man in ages.
M: Sure, that's one of my favorites. Do you know how they created the illusion that the star; Claude Rains, was invisible?
W: No, how?
M: The director dressed Rain in black velvet and filmed him against a black velvet background.
W: Classic!

A．Do we have everything? 　　
B．I think so. Let's take a look one more time. 　　　
A．Good idea.

A．I've got to go!　　　　
B．Wait! Do you have everything? 　　　　
A．Yes, I do. See you later.

A．This is the newest model. It's 20% off today.
B．I see. Let me think about it.
A．This deal is good for today only. You can't beat this price.

A．Should we get it today or go home and think about it?
B．I think we should get it today. You can't beat this price.
A．I agree.

A．Oh, man. I just washed my car. 　　　
B．You should put your car in the garage. 　　　　　
A．Too late. It's not my day.

A．I burned my toast and spilled coffee on my shirt.
B．Oh, no. What a morning.
A．I know. It's not my day.

A．Let's talk to dad about it.
B．Wait. He just got back from a long trip. The timing is not right.
A．OK. I'll wait for a few days.

A．We should start looking for a house soon.
B．Interest rates are bad now. The timing is not right.
A．Do you think so?