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A journalist has a strange story to tell.
I've never been a superstitious person ... never believed in ghosts or things like that. But, two years ago, something happened which changed my attitude. I still can't explain it ... somehow I don't think I ever will be able to.
I was living in Frankfurt ... in Germany ... where I was a financial journalist. A very good friend ... one of my closest friends... we'd been at university together ... was coming over from England by car to see me. He was supposed to get there around six in the evening ... Saturday evening.
I was at home in my flat all that afternoon. At about three in the afternoon, the phone rang. But ... but when I answered it, there was nobody there ... on the other end, I mean. Nobody. The phone rang again just a few minutes later. Again, nobody was there ... I couldn't understand it. Just a few minutes later, there was a knock at the door. I was in the kitchen, making some coffee. I remember I was just pouring the boiling water through the filter when I heard the knock. I opened the door and there was my friend ... Roger, that was his name. Roger. He looked a bit ... strange ... pale ... and I said something like 'Roger, how did you get here so early?' He didn't answer ... he just smiled slightly ... he was a bit like that. He didn't say very much ... I mean, even when I'd known him before, he often came into my flat without saying very much. And ... well ... anyway, I said 'Come in' and went back to the kitchen to finish pouring the coffee. I spoke to him from the kitchen, but he didn't answer ... didn't say a word ... and I thought that was a bit ... strange ... even for Roger. So I looked round the door, into the next room, where I thought he was sitting ... and ... and he wasn't there. The door was still open. I thought for a moment that he'd gone down to the car to get his luggage ... and then I began to wonder where his girlfriend was. She was coming with him, you see, from England.
Well, then the phone rang again. This time there was somebody there. It was Roger's girlfriend, and she sounded ... hysterical ... At first I couldn't understand her. She was still in Belgium, several hundred kilometers away ... and she told me that she was in a hospital ... she and Roger had been involved in a car crash, and ... and Roger had just died ... on the operating table ... just a few minutes before.
It was early afternoon, and the beach was almost empty. It was getting hot now. Most of the tourists were still finishing their lunch back at the hotel, or taking their afternoon siesta in the air-conditioned comfort of their rooms. One or two Englishmen were still lying stretched out on the sand, determined to go home with a good suntan, and a few local children were splashing around in the clear shallow water. There was a large yacht moving slowly across the bay. The girl was on board. She was standing at the back of the boat, getting ready to dive. Jason put on his sunglasses and casually wandered down towards the sandy beach.
1. Four, nine, seventy-seven
Fourth of September, nineteen seventy-seven
2. Twenty-four, eight, sixty-three
Twenty-fourth of August, nineteen sixty-three
3. Seven, seven forty-three
Seventh of July, nineteen forty-three
1. Ten sixty-six
2. Seventeen seventy-six
3. Eighteen one
4. Nineteen eighteen
5. Two thousand
6. Fifty-five B.C.
1. O-two-o-two, two-seven-four-one-four
2. O-one-four-eight-three-two-nine-double one
3. O-three-o-four-two-three-eight-double seven
4. O-one-double four-one-double four-double six
5. O-four-seven-three-five-eight-nine-o-five
1. R.S.V.P. (French, meaning "Please reply.")
2. et cetera (Latin, meaning "and so on")
3. care of
4. approximately
5. p.p. (Production Phase)
6. i.e. (Latin, meaning "that is")
7. e.g. (Exempli gratia. = For example.)
8. P.T.O. (Please turn over.)
9. Limited
10. Co. (Company)
11. versus
12. P.S. (postscript)
13. VIP (Very Important Person)
14. Great
15. Avenue
16. Road
17. Street
18. Gardens
19. Square
20. Park
21. Crescent
22. A.D. (Anno Domini)
23. B.C. (Latin, before Christ)
24. a.m. (ante meridiem)
25. p.m. (post meridiem)
26. MP (Member of Parliament)
27. BBC (the British Broadcasting Corporation)
28. VAT (Value-Added Tax)
29. TUC (Trades Union Congress)
30. AA (Automobile Association/Atomic Age/Associate in Arts)
31. RAC (Royal Aero Club)
32. PC (Personal Computer)
33. EEC (European Economic Community)
Man: I see that dreadful women's liberation group was out in Trafalgar Square yesterday. Hmm. In my opinion, they all talk rubbish.
Woman: But you can't really believe they all talk rubbish.
Man: Of course, I can. I consider that it is unfeminine to protest.
Woman: But you can't really believe it's unfeminine to protest.
Man: Women should be seen and not heard.
Woman: But you can't really believe that women should be seen and not heard.
Man: Certainly. It's my belief that a woman's place is in the home.
Woman: But you can't really believe that a woman's place is in the home.
Man: Yes. And she should stay there. Women should look after men.
Woman: But you can't really believe women should look after men.
Man: Created to feed and support them. That's what they were. I'm certain that women are intellectually inferior to men.
Woman: But you can't really believe women are intellectually inferior to men.
Man: Not only inferior, but I know they can't do a man's job.
Woman: But you can't really believe they can't do a man's job.
Man: Yes, Maggie. That's my firm belief. But don't tell your mother I said that.
George's mother was worried about him. One evening, when her husband came home, she spoke to him about it.
"Look, dear," she said, "you must talk to George. He left school three months ago. He still hasn't got a job, and he isn't trying to find one. All he does is smoke, eat and play records."
George's father sighed. It had been a very tiring day at the office.
"All right," he said, "I'll talk to him.
"George," said George's mother, knocking at George's door, "your father wants to speak to you."
"Oh!"
"Come into the sitting room, dear."
"Hello, old man," said George's father, when George and his mother joined him in the sitting-room.
"Your father's very worried about you," said George's mother. "It's time you found a job."
"Yes," replied George without enthusiasm.
George's mother looked at her husband.
"Any ideas?" he asked hopefully.
"Not really," said George.
"What about a job in a bank?" suggested George's mother, "or an insurance company perhaps?"
"I don't want an office job," said George.
George's father nodded sympathetically.
"Well, what do you want to do?" asked George's mother.
"I'd like to travel," said George.
"Do you want a job with a travel firm then?"
"The trouble is," said George," I don't really want a job at the moment. I'd just like to travel and see a bit of the world."
George's mother raised her eyes to the ceiling. "I give up," she said.
A manager is talking about the prevention of shoplifting.
Well, I manage a small branch of a large supermarket, and we lose a lot of money through shoplifting. I have to try to prevent it, or else I'll lose all my profits. A lot of shoplifting is done by young people, teenagers in groups. They do it for fun. They're not frightened so we have to make it difficult for them. Obviously a supermarket can't have chains or alarms on the goods, so we have store detectives, who walk around like ordinary shoppers, otherwise they'll be recognized. We have big signs up, saying 'shoplifters will be prosecuted,' but that doesn't help much. We've started putting cash desks at all the exits, we've found we have to do that, or else the shoplifters will walk straight out with things. Of course, that worries the ordinary shopper who hasn't found what he wanted. We also use closed-circuit television, but that's expensive. In fact, all good methods of prevention are quite expensive, and naturally, they make our prices more expensive, but it has to be done, otherwise shoplifting itself will make all the prices much higher, and the public doesn't want that!
Principal: We are very honored to have Tania Matslova here today. It is only ten o'clock and Tania has already done two hours of practice. And she kindly agreed to watch your rehearsal after that. She is very interested in the training of young dancers and wants to ask questions. Don't forget, however, that Miss Matslova has two performances today. She must not get too tired ... Miss Tania Matslova.
Tania: Good morning. We're going to be very informal, aren't we? Why are you standing? Move some chairs. Let's sit in a circle.
(sound of chairs being moved, excited voices and piano music)
Tania: That's better. I can see you now. And I want to congratulate you. Your rehearsal was very professional. I was impressed by your technique and your feeling for the music. I remembered myself twenty years ago. Do you think twenty years is a long time? It all depends. You must look forward to twenty years of practising six hours every day. Twenty years of traveling uncomfortably. Twenty years of going to bed instead of going to parties. Do you look forward to this discipline? I didn't know how difficult my life was going to be, but I wouldn't change it. The important thing is ... I'm still dancing. For me, dancing is living. I'm so sorry. I'm talking too much. Would you like to ask me some questions?
James: I would. I'm really worried about my career, Miss Matslova.
Tania: Please call me Tania. What's your name?
James: James, Tania.
Tania: So, James. Why are you worried?
James: I love dancing but I hate changing in cold dressing rooms. I don't mind practising every day. In fact, I like it, I enjoy exercising. But I'm fed up with going to bed early every night and refusing invitations to parties. I like travelling ... but not if it's uncomfortable. I'm confused. Do you think I should carry on?
Tania: It depends what you want, James. Would you rather go on dancing or would you rather live a normal, ordinary life?
James: I want to do both.
Tania: That, my dear James, is impossible. I'm fed up with getting up early. I'm tired of travelling. I've always hated leaving my family for weeks or months. But ... I'm a dancer and I look forward to dancing as long as I can. What can I say? If you don't want to be a professional dancer more than anything else, you'd better change your plans.
James: Thank you, Miss M ... er, Tania. Your advice was really helpful. I can see now that just being keen on dancing isn't enough for a career.
Principal: I'm quite sure you are all grateful to Miss Matslova for spending so much time with you.
Tania: James, please let me know what you decide to do. I think you are very talented but that isn't enough. It depends what you want. And that applies to all of you. You must make up your minds.
Jacqueling got out of the bus and looked around her. It was typical of the small villages of that part of the country. The houses stood in two long lines on either side of the dusty road which led to the capital. In the square, the paint was peeling off the Town Hall, and some small children were running up and down its steps, laughing. On the other side there were a few old men sitting outside a cafe playing backgammon and smoking their pipes. A lonely donkey was quietly munching the long dry grass at the foot of the statue that stood in the center of the square. Jacqueling sighed.
Due to fog we regret that changes have been made to the scheduled departures. Flight LH302 is now due to leave at 10:00. Frankfurt airport is closed and this fight will be diverted to Wiesbaden. Flight BA314 will now leave at 10:20 and Flight AI411 at 10:25. Please await further announcements.
"Hello. This is John. I'm afraid I can't make it this evening. I've asked Peter to meet you but he can't get away from work until twenty past six. It seems better if you met at 6:50 at the entrance to Waterloo Station."
... Well, you know there have been a lot of changes over the last few years. In fact, since 1978 the population has increased to about a quarter of a million. Unemployment is much better than in some cities. Now it's about five and a half per cent.
Yes, but in 1978 it was only about three per cent.
It's not bad, as I said. But there have been changes at the airport since we found oil. Since 1978 the number of aeroplane passengers has increased from 980,000 to 1,400,000. And over these last few years, from 1978 until now, the number of helicopter passengers has also increased enormously. It was 220,000 in 1978, but since then it's increased to 600,000.
This time last week Roy Woods, a bus conductor from Streatham, in South London, was worried about money. He owed twenty pounds to his landlady in rent. Today he is rich, for last Saturday he won 120,000 pounds on the football pools.
Last night he was interviewed on television by reporter Stan Edwards.
