English Recordings

I need 3 bottles. Is it free ?
3 for free.

Where is the mailbox?

Hello, this is a test-goodbye.

She sells seashells by the seashore.
The seashells she sells are seashells I'm sure.

Today, it is June 16 2010 and it is the first day I am wriing into my diary. Why did I decide to write into my diary. Well, I have heard several times that writing is a good method to improve a language you learn. I have never focused on it before but I am very curioust about it. I have watched some polyglots and they talked about this method to learn languages.
Anyway, I got up at 2:30p.m., because I went to bed pretty late last night because I was chatting with some people on "SharedTalk" up to 6a.m or something like that. Before I was asleep, I listened to English a bit and then I changed to German. I even slept weaing my headphones. But I woke up at 10a.m because my German podcast still played.
Anyway, when I got up at 2:30p.m., first of all, I turned on my computer and looked at
LingQ phorum what was new there. Maybe 10 minutes later, my housemate went to my room
in order to print a page because he wanted to post a packet with something he sold on "amazon". We chatted a little bit about routine stuff. Then I checked new emails which I got. Well, I did not get any interesting emails. Time really flied and it was maybe 4p.m when I realised that my tutor would go in 30 minutes. I was hungry because I did not have any meal, so I went to the kitchen to make fried eggs. It was made in 5 minutes. It is really fast food, I ate it as quickly as I could and after that my tutor came. We had our conversation together about several interesting topics. I told him about targets in languages and about brushing up my German and about finding a job. He finished at university and he is looking for a job. SO he told me that he practised some questions which he could be asked on the interview on Thursday. I am curious about his interview. We should have our conversation on Friday, so he might talk about his interview. He told me that he would go to Thailand on July 10 2010 for a month. So I will not be having any conversations with him for the whole month. By the way, he said that the writing is a good method learning languages as well and he recomended me what to talk about. Because, I did not know what to talk about before.
Anyway, after the conversation ended at 6pm, then my tutor left my house and after that I chated with some friends on skype. One hour later, I had my German conversation with Reinhard for a hour. It was quite good. I wrote my first text in German and we discussed this text in our conversation. He told me what mistakes I did.
After this conversation, I watched some episodes of Friends. I really like watching that series.
Anyway, It seems to be quite long text for my first day writing to my diary :) I just want to say that I went to bed quite late, something about 5am in the morning.

45.
There are many everyday misunderstandings which are classified as “folk” understandings. And not just plain folk hold these misconceptions. Aristotle developed an entire theory of physics that physicists today find odd and amusing. For example, Aristotle thought that moving objects kept moving only if something kept pushing them. Today’s physicists say, “This is nonsense. A moving object continues to move unless some force is used to stop it.” Yet anyone who has ever pushed a heavy box along a street knows that Aristotle was right: If you don’t keep on pushing, the movement stops. Aristotle’s theory may be bad physics, but it describes reasonably well what we can see in the real world.

“Folk” understandings, such as Aristotle’s explanation about moving objects, often sound sensible to many people, even though they are incorrect

46-48.
PersonA
Since people generally like what they are good at, I propose that our children focus on areas in which they excel. To this end, we should test our children’s aptitudes in various subject areas during their last year of elementary school. For example, if a child scores well in science, he or she would then attend middle and high schools which specialize in science. Such a system would prepare students for employment after high school as well as further specialized study at university. There is plenty of time in life for people to follow other interests. School should be a time for students to develop their strengths because today’s world requires specialists, not generalists.

PersonB
I think it is rather unfair to decide our children’s career paths based on the results of an aptitude test taken when they are 11 or 12 years old. Areas which children are considered good at in sixth grade may not be the same ones in which they excel by the end of their senior year. Secondary school should be a time for expanding horizons―not limiting them. The only thing students should be required to do is to study a broad range of subjects throughout middle and high school. By the end of high school they would have a much better idea of what they would like to study at university. The time for specialized study is in university and graduate school, not earlier.

49-50.
Tennis is in some trouble. People seem to be losing interest in the game. One major reason for this is that the men’s professional game has lost some of its appeal. The pro game has become a contest of strength, where powerful hitters with their high-tech rackets dominate. At Wimbledon, for example, Britain’s Greg Rusedski hit the ball at 138 mph, the fastest recorded serve for the tournament. As a result of this speed, very few points last more than three shots―serve, return and winning point.
In short, the game has little action. Top male players play for an average of only four minutes per hour on grass, according to recent studies. The hope is that the introduction of the new, bigger ball will cause first-class games to be dominated again by play involving skill and artistry remindful of players like Bjorn Borg, Jimmy Connors and John McEnroe.
Not everyone is in favor of using the big ball, however. Some players, such as hard hitting, six-time Wimbledon champ Pete Sampras, call the change “simply ridiculous.” Also, aside from modifying the current game, there is some concern that players may suffer arm and ligament injuries as they swing harder trying to draw more speed out of the ball.

42.
The old Sumerian cuneiform could not be used to write normal prose but was a mere telegraphic shorthand, whose vocabulary was restricted to names, numerals and units of measure. A related limitation was that few people ever learned to write this early script. Knowledge of writing was confined to professionals who worked for the king or temple. On the contrary, Greek alphabetic writing was a vehicle of poetry and humor, to be read in private homes. The first preserved example of Greek alphabetic writing, scratched onto an Athenian wine jar of about 740 B.C., is a line of poetry announcing a dancing contest: “Whoever of all dancers performs most gracefully will win this vase as a prize.”

43.
Environmental psychologists have long known about the harmful effects of unpredictable, high-volume noise. In laboratory experiments, people exposed to 110-decibel bursts of noise experienced a decrease in their ability to solve problems. However, when subjects either could predict when the bursts of noise would occur or had the ability to terminate the noise with a “panic button,” the negative effects disappeared. We are not always fortunate enough to enjoy a work environment free of noise pollution. But when we feel we are in charge of our noisy environments, we may no longer suffer from anxiety and poor performance.

44.
An Eskimo once told European visitors that the only true wisdom lives far from mankind, out in the great loneliness, and can be reached only through suffering. The great loneliness―like the loneliness a caterpillar endures when she wraps herself in a silky cocoon and begins the long transformation to butterfly. It seems that we too must go through such a time, when life as we have known it is over and yet we don’t know who we are supposed to become. All we know is that something bigger is calling us to change. And though we must make the journey alone, and even if suffering is our only companion, soon enough we will become a butterfly, soon enough we will taste the joy of being alive.

39.
The breadfruit is a round or oval fruit that grows on the tropical islands in the Pacific Ocean. It grows on a tree that reaches a height of about 12 meters and bears shiny dark green leaves, which are over 31 centimeters long. The fruit is first green in color. Then it turns brown, and if allowed to ripen fully, becomes yellow. Usually, breadfruit is gathered before it ripens and is cooked on hot stones. The pulp of breadfruit looks and feels much like new bread. When mixed with coconut milk, it makes a delicious and nourishing pudding.

40.
Researchers at Solar Impulse in Lausanne, Switzerland, are developing a solar-powered, single-pilot aircraft that they hope will fly around the globe in 2010. In order to generate enough electricity from solar electric panels on the tops of its wings, the craft will need a wingspan of 80 meters; at the same time, however, its weight cannot exceed 2,000 kilograms. Meeting these conditions requires pushing the limits of materials and design, and making highly efficient electrical components, batteries and power management systems. The new craft’s basic design emerged from computer models built with help from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne. A test model is scheduled to be completed in 2006, followed by manufacture in 2007 and the first test flight in 2008.

41.
The most satisfying and expressive drawing is done with the active engagement of the entire body. Your hand is connected to your whole arm, the arm to the torso, supported by your feet on the floor. To awaken the active engagement of your whole body in drawing, try the following: Begin by drawing small circles in space with each of your fingers. Then move your hands in circles around the wrist. Next, make bigger circles with your forearms. And finally, make giant swinging arm circles. Now you see how your entire body can be used in the activity of drawing.

36.
Most helpful to the calm and peaceful atmosphere that the two-year-old child needs but cannot produce for himself/herself is the presence of comforting music, in almost any form. Mother’s singing can help. Chanting a request, such as “Time to come to breakfast,” may be more effective than simply saying the request. Records, especially nursery rhymes, are just the thing for those periods at the end of the morning or afternoon when children are often easily irritated. Some children, especially boys, like to have their own music players and may play these for very long periods of time.

37.
Everyone has instincts, and listening to your inner voice is always a good idea. But when you’re making a decision, following your instincts is necessary but not sufficient. Learning how to use your instincts as a guide in decision making requires effort. After all, no one’s instincts are always correct; so how do you know when to follow them and when to ignore them? Following your instincts could lead you to make impulsive decisions that you may regret later. The key is to learn how to use your instincts to support, not dictate, your decisions. Use your experience to analyze the situation. Your past experience gives you the basis for judging whether your instincts can be trusted.

38.
When you clean out your storage room, don’t throw out any “junk” until you determine its potential as a collectible. In fact, what often appears to be a piece of worthless old junk may very well be quite valuable. For instance, people often sell old record albums, bottles and books for pennies only to see them resold for tens or hundreds of dollars as parts of larger collections. Rarer cases involve people selling paintings that were actually painted by famous painters. Therefore, before you have a garage sale, call an antique dealer to help you separate the valuable from the worthless junk.

33.
The room was warm and clean, the curtains drawn, the two table lamps lit―hers and the one by the empty chair opposite. On the sideboard behind her, two tall glasses, soda water, champagne. Now and again she would glance up at the clock, but without anxiety, merely to please herself with the thought that each minute gone by made it nearer the time when he would come. There was a slow smiling air about her. When the clock said ten minutes to five, she began to listen, and a few moments later, punctually as always, she heard the car approach and stop outside. The car door closed, and her heart beat faster as the footsteps passed the window.

34.
Disharmony enters our relationships when we try to impose our values on others by wanting them to live by what we feel is “right,” “fair,” “good,” “bad,” and so on. If they do not accept our values, we become annoyed and angry. However, we must realize that no one is obligated to change just to meet our expectations of how we feel they should act. People may disturb or anger us, but the fact that not everyone objects to their behavior indicates that the problem is probably ours. We need to see things as they are, not as we would like them to be.

35.
Villagers heard a deer barking in the distance, but they were not the only ones to hear it. A leopard, stretched full-length on a large tree branch, heard it, too. The leopard raised its head and then got up slowly. Deer were its natural prey, but there weren’t many left in this area. So the leopard began to attack dogs and cattle in the village. After several attacks, the villagers no longer allowed their cattle to wander far, and at night they were securely locked into their barns. Favorite dogs, used to walking around the village at night, were now called indoors before sunset.