English Recordings

On some issues, questions of virtue and honor are too obvious to deny. Consider the recent debate over who should qualify for the Purple Heart. Since 1932, the U.S military has awarded the medal to soldiers wounded or killed in battle by enemy action. In addition to the honor, the medal entitles recipients to special privileges in veterans' hospitals.

Since the beginning of the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, growing numbers of veterans have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and treated for the condition. Symptoms include recurring nightmares, severe depression, and suicide. At least three hundred thousand veterans reportedly suffer from traumatic stress or major depression. Advocates for these veterans have proposed that they, too, should qualify for the Purple Heart. Since psychological injuries can be at least as debilitating as physical ones, they argue, soldiers who suffer these wounds should receive the medal.

After a Pentagon advisory group studied the question, the Pentagon announced, in 2009, that the Purple Heart would be reserved for soldiers with physical injuries. Veterans suffering from mental disorders and psychological trauma would not be eligible, even though they qualify for government-supported medical treatment and disability payments. The Pentagon offered Two reasons for its decision : traumatic stress disorders are not intentionally caused by enemy action, and they are difficult to diagnose objectively.

Did the Pentagon make the right decision? Taken by themselves, its reasons are unconvincing. In the Iraq War, one of the most common injuries recognized with the Purple Heart has been a punctured eardrum, caused by explosions at close range. But unlike bullets and bombs, such explosions are not a deliberate enemy tactic intended to injure or kill; they are (like traumatic stress) a damaging side effect of battlefield action. And wile traumatic disorders may be more difficult to diagnose than a broken limb, the injury they inflict can be more severe and long-lasting.

As the wider debate about the Purple Hear revealed, the real issue is about the meaning of the medal and the virtues it honors. What, then, are the relevant virtues? Unlike other military medals, the Purple Heart honor sacrifice, not bravery. It requires no heroic act, only an injury inflicted by the enemy. The questions is what kind of injury should count.

A veteran's group called the Military Order of the Purple Heart opposed awarding the medal for psychological injuries, claiming that doing so would "debase" the honor. A spokesman for the group stated that "shedding blood" should be an essential qualification. He didn't explain why bloodless injuries shouldn't count. But Tyler E. Boudreau, a forme Marine captain who favors including psychological injuries, offers a compelling analysis of the dispute. He attributes the oppositions to a deep-seated attitude in the military that views post-traumatic stress as a kind of weakness. "the same culture that demands tough-mindedness also encourages skepticism toward the suggestion that the violence of war can hurt the healthiest of minds...Sadly, as long as our military culture bears at least a quiet contempt for the psychological wounds of war, it is unlikely those veterans will ever see a Purple Heart"

In l858, a French engineer, Aime Thome de Gamond, arrived in England with a plan for a twenty-one mile tunnel across the English Channel. He said that it would be possible to build a platform in the centre of the Channel. This platform would serve as a port and a railway station. The tunnel would be well-ventilated if tall chimneys were built above sea-level. In 1860, a better plan was put forward by an Englishman, William Low. He suggested that a double railway tunnel should be built. This would solve the problem of ventilation, for if a train entered this tunnel, it would draw in fresh air behind it. Forty-two years later a tunnel was actually begun. If, at the time, the British had not feared invasion, it would have been completed. Recently, there has again been great interest in the idea of a Channel Tunnel. If it is built, it will connect Britain to Europe for the first time in history.

Geoffrey Hampden has a large circle of friends and is very popular at parties. Everybody admires him for his fine sense of humor--everybody, that is, except his six-year-old daughter, Jenny. Recently, one of Geoffrey's closest friends asked him to make a speech at a wedding reception. This is the sort of thing that Geoffrey loves. He prepared the speech carefully and went to the wedding with Jenny. He had included a large number of funny stories in the speech and, of course, it was a great success. As soon as he had finished, Jenny told him she wanted to go home. Geoffrey was a little disappointed by this but he did as his daughter asked. On the way home, he asked Jenny if she had enjoyed the speech. To his surprise, she said she hadn't. Geoffrey asked her why this was so and she told him that she did not like to see so many people laughing at him!

For years， villagers believed that Endley Farm was hunted. The farm was owned by two brothers， Joe and Bob Cox. They employed a few farmhands， but no one was willing to work there long. Every time a worker gave up his job， he told the same story. Farm labourers said that they always woke up to find that work had been done overnight. Hay had been cut and cowsheds had been cleaned. A farm worker， who stayed up all night claimed to have seen a figure cutting corn in the moonlight. In time， it became an accepted fact the Cox brothers employed a conscientious ghost that did most of their work for them.
No one suspected that there might be someone else on the farm who had never been seen. This was indeed the case. A short time ago， villagers were astonished to learn that the ghost of Endley had died. Everyone went to the funeral， for the 'ghost' was none other than Eric Cox， a third brother who was supposed to have died as a young man. After the funeral， Joe and Bob revealed a secret which they had kept for over fifty years.
Eric had been the eldest son of the family， very much older than his two brothers. He had been obliged to join the army during the Second World War. As he hated army life， he decided to desert his regiment. When he learnt that he would be sent abroad， he returned to the farm and his father hid him until the end of the war. Fearing the authorities， Eric remained in hiding after the war as well. His father told everybody that Eric had been killed in action. The only other people who knew the secret were Joe and Bob. They did not even tell their wives. When their father died， they thought it their duty to keep Eric in hiding. All these years， Eric had lived as a recluse. He used to sleep during the day and work at night， quite unaware of the fact that he had become the ghost of Endley. When he died， however， his brothers found it impossible to keep the secret any longer.

Whether we find a joke funny or not largely depends on were we have been brought up. The sense of humour is mysteriously bound up with national characteristics. A Frenchman， for instance， might find it hard to laugh at a Russian joke. In the same way， a Russian might fail to see anything amusing in a joke witch would make an Englishman laugh to tears.
Most funny stories are based on comic situations. In spite of national differences， certain funny situations have a universal appeal. No matter where you live， you would find it difficult not to laugh at， say， Charlie Chaplin's early films. However， a new type of humour， which stems largely from the U.S.， has recently come into fashion. It is called 'sick humour'. Comedians base their jokes on tragic situation like violent death or serious accidents. Many people find this sort of joke distasteful The following example of 'sick humour' will enable you to judge for yourself.
A man who had broken his right leg was taken to hospital a few weeks before Christmas. From the moment he arrived there， he kept on pestering his doctor to tell him when he would be able to go home. He dreaded having to spend Christmas in hospital. Though the doctors did his best， the patient's recovery was slow. On Christmas Day， the man still had his right leg in plaster. He spent a miserable day in bed thinking of all the fun he was missing. The following day， however， the doctor consoled him by telling him that his chances of being able to leave hospital in time for New Year celebrations were good. The good. The man took heart and， sure enough， on New Years' Eve he was able to hobble along to a party. To compensate for his unpleasant experiences in hospital， the man drank a little more than was good for him. In the process， he enjoyed himself thoroughly and kept telling everybody how much he hated hospitals. He was still mumbling something about hospitals at the end of the party when he slipped on a piece of ice and broke his left leg.

Firemen had been fighting the forest fire for nearly three weeks before they could get it under control. A short time before, great trees had covered the countryside for miles around. Now, smoke still rose up from the warm ground over the desolate hills. Winter was coming on and the hills threatened the surrounding villages with destruction, for heavy rain would not only wash away the soil but would cause serious floods as well. When the fire had at last been put out, the forest authorities ordered several tons of a special type of grass-seed which would grow quickly. The seed was sprayed over the ground in huge quantities by aeroplanes. The planes had been planting seed for nearly a month when it began to rain. By then, however, in many places the grass had already taken root. In place of the great trees which had been growing there for centuries, patches of green had begun to appear in the blackened soil.

In future, astronauts will be required to descend from a spaceship while it is still in space and to return to it. The ability to do this will be necessary in future flights to distant planets. Scientists are now trying to discover if this is possible. The spaceship Astra which left the earth a short time ago, will be travelling three hundred miles into space. At a certain point, the Astra will stop for a short time and an astronaut will attempt to leave the stationary spaceship and then return to it. We shall not know whether the experiment has been successful until we have received a radio message. The first message is expected to arrive at 7 o'clock this evening. By that time, the Astra will have been flying through space for seventeen hours and will have circled the earth a great many times. When the first radio messages have been received, the results of the trip will be announced immediately.

Small boats loaded with wares sped to the great liner as she was entering the harbour. Before she had anchored， the men from the boats had climbed on board and the decks were son covered with colourful rugs from Persia， silks from India， copper coffee pots， and beautiful handmade silverware. It was difficult not to be tempted. Many of the tourists on board had begun bargaining with the tradesmen， but I decide not to buy anything until I had disembarked.
I had no sooner got off the ship than I was assailed by a man who wanted to sell me a diamond ring. I had no intention of buying one， but I could not conceal the fact that I was impressed by the size of the diamonds. Some of them were as big as marbles. The man went to great lengths to prove that the diamonds were real. As we were walking past a shop， he held a diamond firmly against the window and made a deep impression in the glass. It took me over half an hour to get rid of him.
The next man to approach me was selling expensive pens and watches. I examined one of the pens closely. It certainly looked genuine. At the base of the gold cap， the words 'made in the U.S.A' had been nearly inscribed. The man said that the pen was worth $50， but as a special favour， he would let me have it for $30. I shook my head and held up five fingers indicating that I was willing to pay $5. Gesticulating wildly， the man acted as if he found my offer outrageous， but he eventually reduced the price to $10. Shrugging my shoulders， I began to walk away when， a moment later， he ran after me and thrust the pen into my hands. Though he kept throwing up his arms in despair， he readily accepted the $5 I have him. I felt especially pleased with my wonderful bargain —— until I got back to the ship. No matter how hard I tried， it was impossible to fill this beautiful pen with ink and to this day it has never written a single world！

It has been said that everyone lives by selling something. In the light of this statement， teachers live by selling knowledge， philosophers by selling wisdom and priests by selling spiritual comfort. Though it may be possible to measure the value of material good in terms of money， it is extremely difficult to estimate the true value of the services which people perform for us. There are times when we would willingly give everything we possess to save our lives， yet we might grudge paying a surgeon a high fee for offering us precisely this service. The conditions of society are such that skills have to be paid for in the same way that goods are paid for at a shop. Everyone has something to sell.
Tramps seem to be the only exception to this general rule. Beggars almost sell themselves as human being to arouse the pity of passers-by. But real tramps are not beggars. They have nothing to sell and require nothing from others. In seeking independence， they do not sacrifice their human dignity. A tramp may ask you for money， but he will never ask you to feel sorry for him. He has deliberately chosen to lead the life he leads and is fully aware of the consequences. He may never be sure where the next meal is coming from， but his is free from the thousands of anxieties which afflict other people. His few material possessions make it possible for him to move from place to place with ease. By having to sleep in the open， he gets far closer to the world of nature than most of us ever do. He may hunt， beg， or stead occasionally to keep himself alive； he may even， in times of real need， do a little work； but he will never sacrifice his freedom. We often speak of my even， in times of real need， do a little work； but he will never sacrifice his freedom. We often speak of tramps with contempt and put them in the same class as beggars， but how many of us can honestly say that we have not felt a little envious of their simple way of life and their freedom from care？

Start the car.
Drive carefully.
Drive on the right.
Obey the traffic signs.
Join the motorway.
Reduce speed on the road.
Drive carefully on the motorway.
Join the motorway by the acceleration lane.
You have to pay at the toll station.
Brake when you see a give-way sign.
Slow down when it's raining.
You have to concede right of way at a give-way sign.
Slow down when you come to a pedestrian crossing.
Halt when you see a Stop sign.
When the traffic lights are on green you have to move on.
Accelerate to join a motorway.
Don't go over the speed limit.
The purpose of radar is to control speed.
I've been breathalysed.
I have to pay the fine.
I'm going to overtake that car.
The unbroken line means that overtaking is forbidden.
I'm going to park in the garage.
You have to reverse in order to park.
We're going to stop to fill the tank.
We're going to stop at the next service station.
Does your car run on diesel or petrol?
We're going to stop for petrol.
My car has had a breakdown.
Call the breakdown service when you have a breakdown.