How to run properly

Interviewer = I

John = J

IWelcome to Sportsline. Our first guest this afternoon needs no introduction from me. He’s the marathon runner and trainer, John Haines. John, thank you for coming.

JMy pleasure.

IJohn, I believe you’re going to tell us how to run ?

JThat’s right. Well, er, just a few tips for the amateur runner. If you want to start running to keep fit, it’s worth taking it seriously. You see, how you run does make a difference. Whether you’re running a race or just for the fun of it, you’ve got to do it the right way.

ISo, um, what do you advise, John ?

JWell, first of all you must make sure you’ve got the correct body posture. You should run with your back straight and with your body leaning forward slightly.

II’ve seen a lot of people running with their head down. Is that all right

or ...?

JNo, no, no, you should keep your head up and, er, look ahead. If you’re looking down at your feet all the time, your back won’t be straight and, er, it’s just not comfortable to run like that.

II see. Er, what about the arms, John? Is there a correct way of holding them?

JEr, yes, the best way is to hold them loosely and relaxed at your sides. If you run with your arms too high, you’ll only tire your shoulders and back. And you shouldn’t clench your fists or swing your arms strongly either. Both of these use up energy unnecessarily.

IAnd lastly, what about breathing? Some people seem to breathe through their nose only, some through their mouth. Does it matter?

JWell, you should breathe naturally, that’s the main thing. You can keep your mouth open or closed, but you’ll probably find that you can only get enough air if you breathe through your mouth.

II see. Good. Er anything else important do you think?

JErm, that’s the lot, I think.

IWell, thanks for the good advice, John. I think I’ll start running too!

JWhat a good idea!

IThank you John Haines. Our next guest ...

(from Blueprint Intermediate, by B.Abbs, I.Freebairn. Unit 16)

CONSOLIDATION 3

The twelve o’clock news

1) In the late 1980’s campaigning by Junior hospital doctors exposed an unacceptable faith of the NHS.

2) There were tales of a hundred and 20 hour weeks, even of doctors falling asleep in the operating theatre.

3) The Government promised action.

4) In 1990 an agreement was struck.

5) The new deal as it’s known sets targets for reducing doctors’ hours.

6) By April the 1^st this year no doctor must be on duty for more than 33 hours a week.

7) So as the deadline approaches, has the government solved the problem which has doled the health service for decades?

The twelve o’clock news. This is Alan King.

Distillers, Britain’s biggest Scotch whiskey manufacturers, has announced it’s to axe 715 jobs and close two of its Scottish plants.

A nineteen-year-old airman has been beaten around the head, kicked and punched in Chippenham. He’d been heading back to camp at Hullavington when three youths attacked him in Malmesbury Road. The airman needed hospital treatment for cuts and bruises. Police said the attack was unprovoked: no money was stolen. They’re now appealing for help from the public.

Two women thought to be responsible for widespread credit-card fraud have failed in an attempt to swindle a Chippenham off-licence. Les Skipper reports:

The women, both in their late twenties, tried to use a stolen Access card to buy £34 worth of spirits at Roberts wine merchants in Market Place. When the store assistant decided to check the card, the women made a speedy exit. It’s thought centre for ships taking part in the infamous slave trade. At one time, there were seven miles of continuous docks along the River Mersey. The river is crossed by two tunnels, a railway tunnel built in 1886 and a road tunnel, the Mersey Tunnel, in 1934. For many years ferries were the main way across the river, which has no bridges at this point. There are also two 20^th century cathedrals: one Church of England, the other Roman Catholic. The Catholic cathedral, one of the few in the world built with an underground car park, can be seen in the lower right foreground of the picture. The famous Lime Street station can be seen just right of the centre. Liverpool is a cosmopolitan city and, to the anger of both the Irish and the Welsh, it has been called ‘the real capital of Ireland’ and ‘the real capital of Wales’, because of the large number of Liverpudians of Irish and Welsh descent. Today it is well-known for the wit and humour of its people, and its high unemployment figures. There are plans to attract tourism to the area, and to the north-west generally, by converting areas of dockland into leisure areas, parks and museums.

(from Streamline English. Directions, by P.Viney. Unit 15)

UNIT 1

Lesson B

San Francisco

From this lookout we enjoy one of the most spectacular views of San Francisco. As you can see, the city rests on a series of hills varying in altitude from sea level to 938 feet.

The first permanent settlement was made at this site in 1776 when a Spanish military post was established on the end of that peninsula. During the same year, some Franciscan Fathers founded the Mission San Francisco de Asis on a hill above the post. A trail was cleared from the military post to the mission, and about halfway between the two, a station was established for travelers called Yerba Buena, which means “the place were good herbs grow”.

For 13 years the village had fewer than one hundred inhabitants. But in 1848, with the discovery of gold, the population grew to ten thousand. The same year, the name was changed from Yerba Buena to San Francisco.

By 1862 telegraph communications linked San Francisco with eastern cities, and by 1869, the first transcontinental railroad connected the Pacific coast with the Atlantic seaboard. Today San Francisco has population over almost 3 million. It is a financial center of the West, and serves as the terminus for trans-Pacific steamship lines and air traffic. The port of San Francisco, which is almost 18 miles long with forty-two piers, handles between 5 and 6 million tons of cargo annually.

And now, if you will look to your right, you should just be able to see the east section of the Golden gate Bridge. The bridge, which is more than one mile long, spans the harbor from San Francisco to Marin County and the Redwood Highway. It was completed in 1937 at a cost of $ 32 million and is still one of the largest suspension bridges in the world.

39. How long is the Golden Gate Bridge?

40. According to the tour guide, what happened in 1848?

41. What was the settlement called before it was renamed San Francisco?

42. What is the population of San Francisco today?

43. How much did it cost to complete construction of the Golden Gate Bridge?

(from TOEFL Tests, by P.Sharpe. Model Test 4. Mini-Talk 2)

UNIT 2

Lesson A

London

You will all have seen from the handouts which you have in front of you that I propose to divide this course of lectures on the urban and architectural development of London into three main sections, and perhaps I could just point out, right at the beginning, that there will be a good deal of overlap between them. They are intended to stand as separate, self-contained units. Indeed, I would go as far as to say that anyone who tried to deal entirely separately with the past, the present and the course of development in the future, would be misrepresenting the way in which the urban growth takes place.

Now by way of introduction, I’d like to try and give some indication of how London itself originated; of what developmental trends were built into it, as it were, from the very outset; and of how these trends have affected its growth. It started, of course, not as one but as two cities. The Romans built a bridge across the Thames at a point where the estuary was narrow enough to make this a practical proposition; and the encampment associated with the bridge grew up on the north bank of the river. The principal fort of this encampment was on the side now occupied by the Tower. Further to the west, at a point where the river was fordable, an abbey – the Abbey of Westminster – was founded, and two towns grew up side by side – one centred on the Roman camp, and the other on the Abbey.

Now in my next lecture I hope to demonstrate in detail that this state of affairs – this double focus, as we might call it – was of crucial importance for the subsequent growth of London as a city; and that it had, moreover, a decisive influence on the architecture associated with the city. But for the moment all I want you to do is to keep the fact of this double centre in mind, and to consider in a fairly general way what the early consequences were.

Well, the first consequence, I suppose, is that the importance of the river itself was increased. Obviously, the river was from the beginning vitally important as the link with the outside world – the route followed by almost all traffic with the Continent. But in addition to this, it was also in the first place the most important means of communication between the town centred on the Roman fort, which subsequently grew into the city of London – the city of trade and the Merchant Guilds, and the other town focused on the Abbey – the Royal City of Westminster.

That was the first, and in many ways the most vital consequence of the double centre, as we’ve called it. But now, before mentioning some of the other consequences – and there were many of them, some very important and some much less so – now, I’d like, if I may, to spend some time on this matter of internal communications, I’d like you to consider what happened as the two towns began to expand. What, do you think, the main consequences of expansion were? Well, obviously, the pressure for communication increased enormously, and the waterway itself became unable to supply the demand. And so, in addition, a road network began to develop, thus adding another physical bond between the two towns, and opening up the way for the urban proliferation which eventually cemented them together.

But it’s not the linking process that I’m concerned with just now – I shall go into this in greater detail later in the course – so let me concentrate on the growth of the land communications in early London. The chief road link was, of course, along what we now call the Strand, running from the City Bar to Charing Cross, and along the line of the Strand were built some of the great houses, such as Somerset House, which were at one and the same time in contact with the land route, and with the water route. They had road gates at the front, and at the rear their grounds reached down to water gates giving access to the river.

(from Advanced English Course, by D.Crystal, D.Davy. Part 1. Unit 6)

UNIT 2

Lesson B

Places of interest

Man: Good evening ladies and gentlemen, and welcome abroad the boat for this evening’s trip along the canal. As we sail along, I’ll be pointing out the various sights that can be seen. First of all, on my right you can see the Royal Park – the gardens come right down to the water’s edge. The palace is at the far end of the park although you can’t actually see it from here. On your left is the oldest wooden house in the town, originally built by a rich merchant and now a museum. Next to that is the famous Little Girl statue erected over 200 years ago. Now, the building on my right belongs to the Jocobsen family and is one of the finest buildings in the whole country, with many valuable treasures and paintings. Opposite on the other side of the canal is the original summer house built by King Odin and now used as a restaurant – very popular with tourists as I’m sure you all know.. Next door to that you can see the ruins of a sixteenth century church which was destroyed by fire in the last century – 1843 in fact. Now in the distance, on your right-hand side, you can see the Old Fish Market – looks rather lake a castle from here, doesn’t it – but this is where the fishermen used to unload their fish each morning for hundreds of years. Today this building is a popular flower market open all the year round. Now if you just look very quickly to your left you’ll see ... FADE

(from PET Practice Tests, by Fried-Booth Hashemi. Unit 5)

UNIT 3

LESSONS A, B

KEY

To “Mount Rainier and Olympic National Parks”.

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 1089