Name : Fitrah Al Amir

Class : PBI D

A) Hello! and welcome to this recording brought to you

by the British Council

"Records", by great Duncan. Paul Hunn of North London holds the world record for the loudest burp. He
can burp at a volume of over 118 decibels, John Evans of Sheffield can balance 62 books on his head and
Peter dowd's world of Northampton can eat an entire three course meal consisting of soup, Sausages,
beans. Mashed potatoes and prunes in only 45 seconds. When the world famous Guinness Book of
Records was first published in 1955 its intended purpose was to solve arguments about sporting
statistics. Sports still figure highly in the modern version of the book, but each year more and more
surreal achievements Edge their way in. The farthest distance a strand of spaghetti can be fired out of a
man's nose 19 centimeters. The largest number of venomous Cobra has kissed consecutively by one
man 11. We're all familiar with inspiring stories about a young athlete who discovers a sport that he or
she loves, trains hard and Rises through the ranks of professional competition to become a world class
sport star anything can trigger off an interest British Olympic cyclist Jason Kweli had never even
considered competing professionally until a leisurely afternoon cycling with his girlfriend's brother in law
changed his mind. Five years and a lot of training later. He won gold and silver medals at the 2000
Sydney Olympics. Are the holders of the more bizarre records motivated in the same way, most record
holders seem to think so Ken Blackburn who holds the world record for keeping a paper airplane in the
air describes his early interest in the field. I've always liked air planes at about 10 years old. I discovered
some paper airplane books with good flying planes. I began trying to design my own paper airplanes
based on the aerodynamic principles in book. Not real a planes, at 15. My parents bought me a Guinness
book. The time Aloft record was 15 seconds. My planes were closed. So I had a goal. As a college student
can finally achieved his goal recognition as the world's most successful paper plane maker. since then,
he has broken his own world record several times. Gordon Kate's those record-breaking achievement is
having kissed the heads of eleven deadly cobras in a row is a professional snake Handler whose ability to
read snake's body language gave him the courage to attempt this dangerous feet. Kevin Cole the world's
most talented man in the field the firing spaghetti out of his own nose started with an interest in firing
noodles out of his nose for fun and slowly worked his way up to full sized spaghetti. Some might argue
that a lot of these records are pointless, but is there really any difference between being the most
successful athlete and being the most successful paper plane builder some records especially sporting
records are widely viewed as being of great importance, even though they don't necessarily add
anything to Humanities lot other than providing us with entertainment. More people are interested in
say Athletics than in Cobra kissing, but does that make an athletic record breaker more important?
Everyone likes to have their achievements recognized and there is no greater recognition than being
named as the best in the world in your chosen field. Perhaps you're reading this and thinking about a
special talent of your own that you'd like to be well known for or perhaps you're thinking that you could
fire a strand of spaghetti out of your nose for a much longer distance than 19 centimeters. Whatever
your talent there's a high chance that someone holds the world record for it. With the right amounts of
skill and practice perhaps the next world record holder could be you personally I hope to beat the record
currently held by her and rukiya Van Andel Sheba at a hundred and fourteen years old. She's the oldest
person alive. We hope you've enjoyed this recording to find out more about the British Council and the
services we offer contact your local British Council Office or go to WWW.BRITISHCOUNCIL.ORG "bye for
now".

B) Hello! welcome to this recording brought to you

by the British Council.

"Royalty", everything you ever needed to know, about some of the Kings of England. Alfred the Great,
king of England 849 to 901. Actually, he was only really king of Essex Kent and Wessex and Overlord of
the rest of the kingdoms of the land. Edgar, King of England 944 to 975. The younger son of King
Edmund and great grandson of Alfred the Great, King Edgar was reprimanded by Archbishop Dunston
for seducing a nun. Edread, King of England rained 946 to 955. Little is known of King Edread save that
he died of a fatal Quincy, a disease of the throat, in A.D 955. Ethelred the second king of England, Circa
968 to 1016. Son of Edgar by his second wife L- Threeth with his baptism was marked by him urinating in
the front. It gives the wrong impression to call him ethelred the unready. He was called read less from
his inability to recognize good read or cancel. Canute, King of England Circa 1994 to 1035. The son of
sweyn forkbeard king of Denmark Canute claim the English Throne at the age of 19 on Swain's death. He
is remembered chiefly for his attempt to hold back the waves in his ring. The penalty for an adulterous
was to Forfeit both nose and ease. Edward the Confessor King of England Circa 1005 to 1066. Son of
ethelred the unready and brother of Hardy knut who invited him to England in 1041. During his Reign,
There was a by law in Gloucester to protect gloucestershire women from marauding Welshman. Harold
the second king of the English circuit 1026 to 1066 Brother in law of Edward the Confessor no relation of
Harold the first known as Harold the hair foot after the Battle of Hastings in 1066 King harald's body was
identified by a tattoo over his heart, it read Edith and England. He died on his birthday. William the
Conqueror King of England 1027 to 1087 It was an illegitimate child. His wife Queen Matilda was only
four foot 2 inches in height making her the shortest Monarch England has ever had William the
Conqueror died in 1087 when he burst open his bowels after being thrown on the pommel of his saddle.
William The second King of England 1056 to 1100 William Rufus or the Red King like his predecessor and
Father William the Conqueror met his end in an accident. Out hunting with his friend Walter tirel, the
Kings last words on spotting a deer were "shoot Walter shoot as if it were the devil". Walter shot but the
arrow ricocheted off a tree and killed the king. The first king of England 1068 to 1135. Third surviving son
of William the Conqueror and the only one to have been born in England had he been a dwarf the yard
would be much shorter than it is today for he it was who decreed that he yard would be the length of his
own arm from finger to nose. He died in 1135 from a surfeit of lamprey's. Be like fish to which the King
was evidently partial. Henry II King of England 1133 to 1189 son of Geoffrey of Anjou who was the
second husband of the empress Matilda or Maud daughter of Henry the first of England In 1176 Henry II
ordained the amputation of the right hand and right foot of anyone convicted of robbery, murder,
arson, or false coining. You so ask the mission from Adrian the fourth the only English Pope to conquer,
Ireland. Richard the first king of England 1157 to 1199 affectionately known as Coeur de Leo the Lion
Heart Rich of the first is the nearest thing England has ever had to an absentee landlord. He spent only
six months of his 10 year Reign actually in England and his Queen berengaria is the only English Queen
never to have been In England Wounded while besieging the castle of shalu's in 1199 Richard need not
have died had not the surgeon. So rankled the wound in trying to extract the arrow that it mortified and
brought on the end. Source all information from the ultimate irrelevant Encyclopedia by Bill Hartson and
Jill Dawson. We hope you've enjoyed this recording to find out more about the British Council and the
services we offer contact your local British Council Office or go to WWW.BRITISHCOUNCIL.ORG "bye for
now".

C) The Invention of Nothing

by Chris Rose

My husband is a very important man, He is a scholar. That means he is studies things, all kind of things.
He study science, mathematic, astronomy,medicine, and philosopy, as well as of the things.At list he
tells me not his studies them.To me, it seems that he spends more time sitting in a café talking to other
scholars. I don’t know if they are studying or not. To me, it looks like they are chatting. But I don’t know,
I’m only a woman. I look after our family, and I am not a scholar. I do not go into the café in town and
spend hours talking with other men. I stay at home and look after our children and prepare food. When I
am not preparing food or looking after children, I like to read books. I like to read books of adventure
stories, of traveller’s tales, of poetry. I like books that make me wonder and be amazed at the world we
live in. I like books that take me far away from our town and the desert on one side and the sea on the
other.We live in a town that lies between the sea on one side, the desert on the other, and a river to
each side of us. They call our country Mesopotamia, the land between rivers. Because our town is a
port, and because it has two rivers, there are often many people from other lands here. My husband
says he meets men from India, from China, from Europe and from Africa. People from all over the world
come to our town. Often they come to buy or sell things, but they also come to talk, to meet other
people, to share ideas and opinions, to think about different ways of seeing the world. When a lot of
people from different countries and different cultures meet, new ideas are born. At night I lie awake on
our bed thinking. “What are you thinking about?” my husband asks me. “Nothing” I reply. My husband
shakes his head in despair. “Women!” he says. “They think about nothing!” My husband often brings
back books when he goes to his meetings with other scholars. He stays awake at night pretending to
read them. I say “pretending” because I know he doesn’t read them really. Sometimes I go in to his
study late at night and I find him asleep, snoring with a book open in front of him. When I wake him up
he says how interesting the book he’s reading is. I ask him to explain it to me, to tell me about it, but he
says that women don’t understand such things. I let him go back to sleep and take the books for
myself.Some of them are very interesting. There are collections of stories from all around the world.
They make me think. They make me think about lots of things. And the books about arithmetic from
Greece and India, and the books about astronomy and navigation from Europe and Africa, they make me
think about nothing. “How many numbers are there?” I ask my husband. He likes it when I ask him
questions. It makes him feel wise and intelligent.“Nine hundred and ninety nine thousand nine hundred
and ninety nine” he answers.“And if I add one more?”“Then the world will end” he says. I don’t believe
him.“How many stars are there?” I ask him. He doesn’t know. “Where does the land end and the sky
begin?”, “What happens if a ship sails until the end of the sea?”My husband can’t answer any of my
questions. He thinks I’m stupid because I ask them. “Is ‘nothing’ a number?”“Of course it isn’t!!” he
replies. “How can ‘nothing’ be a number? If a merchant has five horses, then he sells five horses, how
many horses does he have?”“No horses, but lots of money.”“If I buy ten aubergines from the market,
then I eat ten aubergines, what do I have?” “A fat stomach”. We laugh. He thinks I’m stupid. His answers
are right if we only think of merchants, traders, salesmen and market people. His answers are right as
long as we think of money and buying things and eating things. I understand this. But when I read the
books about philosophy that he brings back from his meetings, I think that there is more than this. I
think that the world cannot be explained in terms of buying and selling things. We cannot describe the
world as if it were only a huge market. “Nothing” is not a number that is good for people who buy and
sell things. But if you want to be a navigator, if you want to travel and discover other countries, if you
need to know where the sea ends and the sky begins, you need different numbers.I am helping my
children to learn. We practice counting. We count all our fingers, then our toes too. Five fingers on each
hand. Ten fingers all ogether. Five toes on each foot. Ten toes all together. “What comes next?” asks my
son. “What comes after ten fingers and ten toes?” “Then you have to start again!” I tell them. My son
hides all his fingers and makes a fist. “How many fingers?” he asks me.“None!” I reply. But how can
“none” or “nothing” be “something”?At night, when it’s cool I walk out into the desert because I like to
be alone. I draw numbers in the sand. I draw a line for “one”, two lines for “two”, three for “three" and
for “nothing”? What should I draw for “nothing”? I put a coin down in the sand, then I remove it. It
leaves a small, empty circle in the sand. This is it sifr, empty. Zero.My sign looks like a plate after
someone has eaten all the food. It looks like a cage when all the animals have gone. It looks like a sack
with all the grain taken from it. It is nothing, and it is also something.I write down my symbol on paper. I
write down an explanation of what it means. I write down why it will be useful to geographers,
mapmakers, travellers, astronomists, navigators, scientists, philosophers and poets. I put the piece of
paper in one of the books my husband takes back to his meetings in the cafe. The next day, my husband
comes back from his meeting at the cafe looking very happy. He tells me that he has just made an
important discovery. Some of the other men in the cafe were very interested in the piece of paper in the
book. He will probably become famous, he tells me, rich and famous. “History will remember me as a
great mathematician.”I go out into the desert at night again. I try to count all the stars in the sky. I can’t
decide how many there are, and what number could ever possibly describe them.I will be ignored by the
important men in the cafe meetings. I will be forgotten by history. Perhaps that was because I invented
something. I invented nothing.