Hello Bez,
Many thanks and I didn’t notice the “a” -indefinite article before three because I copied from the monthly whose chief editor is a native, but sometimes I found mistakes that I am sure they got there in the printing house.
Regards:
Kati
Picture description(2)-secondary
5percangol.hu/images/source_files/KF_PD8.mp3
This is a picture of a pretty girl with long black hair in a nice peach-colored dress. She is holding a couple of colorful giftbags. She must be at a shopping mall because she is standing in a big modern place and in the backbround I can see stands filled with all kinds of things. She has probably bought some presents for her friends or family, because I think she would have simple bags if she had shopped only for herself. Nowadays it is more and more popular to do all of your shopping at huge shopping centers. You can buy your groceries, your clothes, anything for the household and all kinds of things at these places. Here you can also find post offices, cleaner’s, bank branch offices and there are many other services, all in one place. People do not have too much time and they do not have the energy to run around from shop to shop after long working hours. At shopping centers they can usually get almost everything done. Of course, if you need any other services, like the police or a mechanic, you wouldn’t be able to find it here, but maybe in a few years this will also be possible. People usually do their shopping during the weekend and at places that are open until late or all night. It is more and more popular and comfortable to pay by credit cards instead of cash. You can always do this at big shopping malls where you can also find ATMs from which you can withdraw your money. You cannot always pay by credit card at retailers, smaller stores. This is only one of the reasons why they are going out of business and more and more giant shopping centers are being built.
From Hungarian monthly: 5 Perc Angol
Picture description (3) Higher degree
5percangol.hu/images/source_files/audio0.mp3
This is a picture of a wide road with cars, a bus, motorcyclists and traffic lights. It doesn’t seem to be too crowded, especially compared to the usual situation on roads nowadays in Budapest. Traffic jams can occur at any time of the day, not only in the morning and late afternoon rush hours. There is a constant and more and more serious problem of the amount of cars on the streets, the pollution they contribute to and the lack of parking space. Because there are more cars than parking spaces and you have to pay to be able to park your car, there are continuous conflicts between drivers and parking attendants. There are also many parking lot construction projects, which many times include cutting out the few trees that have survived in the city center. I think a better solution would be to ban private cars from the center. Although there are numerous buses, metro lines, trolley buses and trams too, people still prefer using their vehicles. This is also surprising because there a number of ongoing and upcoming constructions of city areas, bridges and road repairs, all due to the lack of space for traffic, the bad state of the roads filled with potholes, and this results in neverending traffic jams and accidents. You would think drivers would want to avoid leaving for work at least an hour earlier and arriving home later. Naturally, there are many commuters who would have to travel longer hours by railway or coaches to get to their workplaces, but the Hungarian railway system is continually improving in spite of the momentary crises that affects it. You can get a driving license from age 17, so many young people drive cars. This is quite worrying because there are too many so called ‘disco-accidents’. In spite of the very strict rules against drinking and driving, there is zero tolerance, there are still a numberless accidents that result from this. Many drivers also pay no attention to red lights and ignore speed limits and pedestrian zebra crossings. Another growing concern is caused by the lack of bicycle lanes because the people who choose to protest against traffic, pollution and for a healthier life by using bikes are a nuisance to both drivers and pedestrians.
From the Hungarian monthly: 5 Perc Angol
Picture Description -basic
This is a colour photo of a mother and her baby. I think it was taken in a supermarket, because the baby is sitting in a trolley. They are at the fruits and vegetables department of the supermarket. The baby is wearing a blue T-shirt, so I guess he is a boy. The mother - who is wearing a black top - is picking up some vegetables for dinner. She is giving a tomato to the baby at the moment. Both of them are smiling. I think the baby is around 8 months old, so he is old enough to eat vegetables and fruits. Maybe he likes tomatoes, that’s why he’s so happy. Besides the tomatoes I can see a lot of different vegetables. From left to right there are green peppers, broccoli, cucumbers, cabbages and eggplants. In front of the mother I can see lemons, limes, spinach and avocados.
From Hungarian monthly: 5 Perc Angol
Picture description-secondary
5percangol.hu/images/source_ … F_PD6a.mp3
In this picture I see a young couple. They are comfortably sitting on a sofa in the livingroom. They are looking at a thick magazine or some kind of album with pictures. They probably have shared interests and they are spending their free time together. Reading together can be a very good way to relax after work or in your free time. But lots of people prefer to watch TV or movies at home or at the cinema. There is an open laptop on their coffee table between two red mugs. Maybe later they will watch a movie on it. They might also look for some programs in the city, like concerts or theatre performances. However, not many young people go to the theatre nowadays and they almost never go to the opera or to see a ballet performance, for example. Instead it is more popular to spend hours in front of the Internet. We seem to forget that we could choose from a variety of hobbies. Listening to music, playing some instrument, painting, going to the library to borrow books, horse-riding, taking dancing lessons and so many more.
From Hungarian monthly: 5 Perc Angol
Picture description (3) -higher degree
5percangol.hu/images/source_files/FF_PD1.mp3
In this picture I can see a fighting couple and between them is their son covering his ears with his hands. He probably doesn’t want to hear his parents shouting at each other. Unfortunately, this is not a very surprising situation because it reminds me of the fact that the number of divorces is increasing year by year. First of all, it is more and more fashionable to remain single and unmarried as long as possible. Everybody is building their careers, living their lives, enjoying their freedom and they do not believe in long-lasting marriages or relationships as much as the earlier generations did. In addition, many of those people who were brave enough to marry and have a family have divorced after a couple of years or are thinking of it at present. This results in many single parents or middle aged people with no kids at all. And children who experience a divorce will probably not believe in the institution of marriage either. So, we are heading towards a world of many single and perhaps lonely people. No wonder nations are dying out. It is interesting, however, that this is mainly characteristic of western and industrialized countries. Even in these countries, it is more likely that more children will be born in a family that has a lower life standard than in one where they could afford having a larger family. Perhaps in a poorer family, where many generations have to live together, the concept of ‘family’ is stronger and they value it much more. In families such as these, the older generations, the grandparents, are also paid more attention to and they are respected and cared for. In western countries it is more commonplace that the grandparents go to a nursing home, the parents are divorced, lead individual lives and the children live on their own from a very young age. Perhaps because it can be afforded. It does not seem to strengthen family ties.
Thankfully, there are always exceptions and sometimes people do find the right kind of partners, have children and bring them up to respect the elders and learn from their wisdom. This way, they are raised to respect ‘the family’, are less likely to turn to drugs, to turn into criminals or lonely sad people and can be the type of people that are a hope to a nation.
From Hungarian monthly: 5 Perc Angol
Hello everyone,
I enjoy listening your recordings. I am learning a lot of different accents. Hope to talk to you guys.
Julius
Humorist Phyllis Diller Dies at 95
By STEPHEN MILLER
Nobody had ever seen anything quite like Phyllis Diller.
Ms. Diller, 95 years old, who died Monday, pretty much invented the category of female standup comic.
“Honey, I know lots of women are funny,” she told the Baltimore Sun in 1964. “The only difference is they haven’t got my kind of guts. I send out for a bucket of guts every morning.”
More
Speakeasy: Her Wittiest Lines
Sporting fright wigs and a long cigarette holder, hiding her figure beneath multicolored muu-muus, Ms. Diller captivated audiences with self-deprecating and outrageous humor delivered with brass at breakneck speed. Her honking laugh could stop traffic.
But it was the jokes that most startled audiences—a direct assault on the idyllic American family that populated the airwaves in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Of her husband—“Fang”—“Fang is the cheapest man alive. On Christmas Eve, he puts the kids to bed, fires one shot and tells them Santa committed suicide.”
And of her cooking: “I do dinner in three phases. Serve the food, clear the table, bury the dead.” “I can make a TV dinner taste like radio.”
A one-time ad-writer, she was more or less pushed on stage by her husband after he decided that she was funnier than anyone on TV. Ms. Diller became a perfectionist and guided her own career with iron determination. Like her mentor Bob Hope, she kept a filing cabinet full of gags—50,000 of them.
Interviewers quickly found out that she considered herself a gourmet cook, that she kept an immaculate house, dressed tastefully, had successfully raised five kids, and that she considered herself quite attractive.
When her looks began to fade, she undertook extensive plastic surgery and, inevitably, made it part of her act: “I’ve had so much work done, no two parts of my body are the same age.”
As a young woman, she insisted, Phyllis Driver had wanted a family and had no thoughts about performing anything but a piano recital. Her father was an insurance agent in Lima, Ohio, and Ms. Diller studied music at a Chicago conservatory. She later attended Bluffton College in Ohio and was married in her senior year to Sherwood Diller. They moved to San Francisco.
Ms. Diller soon produced five children and stayed home to care for them while Mr. Diller held a series of jobs, none for long.
With her family in financial straits, Ms. Diller found work as a society columnist for a local newspaper, then an ad-copy writer and a newswriter at radio station KROW in Oakland, where the staff included Art Linkletter and Rod McKuen. She also dabbled as a comic by performing for charity groups. She said she gained confidence after reading a self-help book called “The Magic of Believing.”
At her husband’s urging, in 1955 Ms. Diller first took the stage at The Purple Onion, a small San Francisco nightclub. Her act was an immediate hit and the booking stretched to over a year. Soon she was performing in clubs across the nation. The New Yorker in 1958 called her “a girl with a song in her heart and an addle in her pate.”
The Fang character in her jokes was her most autobiographical creation, and the couple divorced in the mid-1960s.
During the 1960s, Ms. Diller was as popular as any comedian in the country and appeared often on TV. She made several movies opposite Bob Hope, who featured her in his TV specials and took her on a USO tour in Vietnam. Mr. Hope once called Ms. DIller “the Liz Taylor of ‘The Twilight Zone.’”
She later incorporated the piano into her act and performed with more than 100 orchestras.
Announced as “Dame Illya Dillya,” she wore a billowing outfit with a white fur and made a show of removing long gloves while seated at the piano. After a lengthy bout of preliminary clowning with the concert master, Ms. Diller would surprise audiences with a competent rendition of a Beethoven piano concerto.
She kept up a punishing tour pace for decades before retiring in 2002. But she kept performing into her 90s with recurring characters on soap operas and “Family Guy.”
“You know you’re getting old when your blood type’s been discontinued,” she told The Wall Street Journal in 2005.
Please listen to my recording and respond with a voice message too. Many thanks.
The Wall Street Journal/US
Comedian Rode Wit and Outrageousness to Stardom
Nobody had ever seen anything quite like Phyllis Diller.
Ms. Diller, who died Monday at the age of 95, created her own brand of female comedy and performed it on an equal footing with male comics of national stature.
Everett Collection
Phillis Diller, in the 1960s.
“Honey, I know lots of women are funny,” she told the Baltimore Sun in 1964. “The only difference is they haven’t got my kind of guts. I send out for a bucket of guts every morning.”
Sporting outlandish wigs and a long cigarette holder, hiding her figure beneath multicolored muu-muus, Ms. Diller captivated audiences with self-deprecating and outrageous humor delivered with brass at breakneck speed. Her honking laugh could stop traffic.
But it was the jokes that most startled audiences —amounting to a direct assault on the idyllic American family that populated the airwaves in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Of her husband—“Fang”—“Fang is the cheapest man alive. On Christmas Eve, he puts the kids to bed, fires one shot and tells them Santa committed suicide.”
And, of her cooking: “I do dinner in three phases. Serve the food, clear the table, bury the dead.”
More
View Slideshow
Everett Collection
Phyllis Diller and Bob Hope entertained U.S. troops.
Speakeasy: Her Wittiest Lines
A one-time ad-writer, she was more or less pushed on stage by her husband after he decided that she was funnier than anyone on TV. Ms. Diller became a perfectionist and guided her own career with iron determination. Like her mentor Bob Hope, she kept a filing cabinet full of gags – 50,000 of them.
Interviewers found out she considered herself a gourmet cook, that she kept an immaculate house, dressed tastefully, had successfully raised five children, and that she considered herself quite attractive.
When her looks began to fade, she had extensive plastic surgery and, inevitably, made it part of her act: “I’ve had so much work done, no two parts of my body are the same age.”
As a young woman, she insisted, Phyllis Driver had wanted a family and had no thoughts about performing anything but a piano recital. Her father was an insurance agent in Lima, Ohio, and Ms. Diller studied music at a Chicago conservatory. She later attended what was then Bluffton College in Ohio and was married in her senior year to Sherwood Diller. They moved to San Francisco.
Ms. Diller soon had five children and stayed home to care for them while Mr. Diller held a series of jobs, none for long.
With her family in financial straits,Ms. Diller found work as a society columnist for a local newspaper, then as an ad-copy writer and as a writer at radio station KROW in Oakland. She recalled the the staff there included Art Linkletter and Rod McKuen. She also dabbled as a comic by performing for charity groups. She said she gained confidence after reading a self-help book called “The Magic of Believing.”
At her husband’s urging, in 1955 Ms. Diller first took the stage at The Purple Onion, a small San Francisco nightclub.
Her act was an immediate hit and the booking stretched to over a year. Soon she was performing in clubs across the nation. The New Yorker in 1958 called her “a girl with a song in her heart and an addle in her pate.”
The Fang character in her jokes was her most autobiographical creation, and the couple divorced in the mid-1960s.
During the 1960s, Ms. Diller was as popular as any comedian in the country and appeared often on TV.
She made several movies opposite Bob Hope, who featured her in his television specials and took her on a USO tour in Vietnam. Mr. Hope once called Ms. DIller “the Liz Taylor of ‘The Twilight Zone.’”
Ms. Diller later incorporated the piano into her act and performed with more than 100 orchestras.
Announced as “Dame Illya Dillya,” she wore a billowing outfit with a white fur and made a show of removing long gloves while seated at the piano. After a lengthy bout of preliminary clowning with the concert master, Ms. Diller would surprise audiences with a competent rendition of a Beethoven piano concerto.
She kept up a punishing tour pace for decades before retiring in 2002.
But she kept performing into her 90s with recurring characters on soap operas and “Family Guy.”
“You know you’re getting old when your blood type’s been discontinued,” she told The Wall Street Journal in 2005.
US astronaut Neil Armstrong dies
US astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon, has died aged 82. A statement from his family says he died from complications from heart surgery he had earlier this month.
He set foot on the Moon on 20 July 1969, famously describing the event as “one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”. US President Barack Obama said Armstrong was “among the greatest of American heroes - not just of his time, but of all time”.
Last November he received the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest US civilian award. He was the commander of the Apollo 11 spacecraft. More than 500 million TV viewers around the world watched its touchdown on the lunar surface. Armstrong and fellow astronaut Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin spent nearly three hours walking on the moon, collecting samples, conducting experiments and taking photographs. “The sights were simply magnificent, beyond any visual experience that I had ever been exposed to,” Armstrong once said.
Mr Aldrin told the BBC’s Newshour programme: “It’s very sad indeed that we’re not able to be together as a crew on the 50th anniversary of the mission. I will remember him as a very capable commander.”
Apollo 11 was Armstrong’s last space mission. In 1971, he left the US space agency Nasa to teach aerospace engineering. Born in 1930 and raised in Ohio, Armstrong took his first flight aged six with his father and formed a lifelong passion for flying. He flew Navy fighter jets during the Korean War in the 1950s, and joined the US space programme in 1962.
Correspondents say Armstrong remained modest and never allowed himself to be caught up in the glamour of space exploration. “I am, and ever will be, a white-socks, pocket-protector, nerdy engineer," he said in February 2000, in a rare public appearance.
In a statement, his family praised him as a “reluctant American hero” who had “served his nation proudly, as a navy fighter pilot, test pilot, and astronaut”. The statement did not say where Armstrong died. He had surgery to relieve four blocked coronary arteries on 7 August.
From: 5 PERC ANGOL Hungarian monthly.
"More than 500 million TV viewers around the world watched its touchdown on the lunar surface. "
On 20 July 1969 we were with our friends among this 500 million TV viewers. This was the first occasion when the whole world could see a very fascinating moment when the Apollo 11 touched the Moon. It was very exciting. In those days only few people have a TV set so we went to the Reformed pastor’s flat and his room was full of chairs and the half of the villagers were there. It was fantastic! Everybody rejoiced. But an old man started speaking: What! You don’t say that our God let shoot aimlessly in the Heaven! -and he came out from the room.
The solar system
Crescent moon
Full Moon
Galaxy / The Milky Way
New Moon
Planet
Eclipse
Asteroid
From :5 Perc Angol Hungarian Monthly
CHECKING IN AT A HOTEL
5percangol.hu/images/source_ … tel_02.mp3
Man: Hello. We have a reservation for tonight.
Receptionist: Can I have your name, please?
Man: Paul and Victoria Smith.
Receptionist: Paul and Victoria Smith. I’m sorry, but I can’t find it. When did you book the room?
Man: I booked it two weeks ago via Internet.
Receptionist: Let me check it again. Yes, I found it. A double room for three nights.
Man: Yes, that’s right. The price includes breakfast as well, doesn’t it?
Receptionist: Of course. The restaurant is open from 7 am to 10 am for breakfast. And here is your key, room 147.
Man: Is it on the first floor?
Receptionist: Yes. The elevator is over there, next to the entrance.
Man: Thank you.
Receptionist: … and I need your documents.
Man: Are the passports all right?
Receptionist: Of course.
Man: … and we’d like a wake-up call tomorrow morning at 7.15.
Receptionist: Certainly. A wake-up call tomorrow morning at 7.15. Enjoy your stay!
5percangol.hu/images/source_ … tel_03.mp3
EXTENDING YOUR STAY
Receptionist: Reception. Good morning. How can I help you?
Woman: Good morning. My name’s Amanda Cook. I’m calling form room 317. I wonder if I can extend my stay for two more nights.
Receptionist: Just a moment, please, madam. All right. I´ll extend your reservation until Wednesday.
Woman: When do I have to check out?
Receptionist: You have to check out till noon. Would you like me to arrange you an airport-transfer for Wednesday?
Woman: No, thank you. I’ll get a taxi.
Receptionist: Anything else, madam?
Woman: Oh, yes. There are no clean towels in my room. Could you please have them changed?
Receptionist: Certainly. I’ll send a maid up to your room right away.
Woman: … and one more thing. Can I ask for an extra blanket?
Receptionist: Certainly.
Woman: Thank you very much.
Receptionist: All right, madam. Enjoy your stay.
Amanda Cook: Thank you.
Receptionist: You´re welcome
CHECKING OUT
5percangol.hu/images/source_ … tel_06.mp3
Receptionist: Good morning, Sir!
Man: Good morning!
Receptionist: May I help you?
Man: Yes. I’d like to check out.
Receptionist: Certainly. Can I have your name and room number, please?
Man: My name is Peter Goodman, and my room number is 404. Here is the key.
Receptionist: Did you have anything from the minibar?
Man: Yes, a small packet of peanuts and a can of beer.
Receptionist: All right … and here is your bill, 190 pounds.
Man: Hm, what’s the 9 pounds for?
Receptionist: That’s for the phone calls you made from the room.
Man: Oh, yes. I’ve nearly forgotten.
Receptionist: How would you like to pay?
From 5 Perc Angol Hungarian Monthly
Man: In cash.
Receptionist: Here is your receipt.
Man: Thank you. Good bye.
Receptionist: Good bye.
USEFUL PHRASES
May I help you?
I’d like to check out.
Certainly.
Can I have your name a room number?
Here is the key.
Did you have anything from the minibar?
Here is your bill.
What’s the 9 pounds for?
I’ve nearly forgotten.
How would you like to pay?
Here is your receipt.
USEFUL WORDS
to check out
to check in
room number
a packet of peanuts
a can of beer
bill
to make a phone call
to forget
to pay in cash
to pay by credit card
receipt
Checking in at a hotel -useful expressions and words
USEFUL PHRASES
We have a reservation for tonight
Can I have your name, please?
When did you book the room?
Let me check it again.
A … room for … nights.
The price includes …, doesn’t it?
Of course.
Is it on the … floor?
The elevator is over there.
I need your documents.
Are the … all right?
I’d like a wake-up call. – Szeretnék egy ébresztést kérni.
Enjoy your stay! – Kellemes itt tartózkodást!
USEFUL WORDS
reservation
to book
via Internet
to check
single/double/twin/triple room
apartment/suite
to include
over there
next to … -
wake-up call
to enjoy
Extending your stay-useful expressions and words.
USEFUL PHRASES
How can I help you?
I’m calling from … .
I wonder if I can extend my stay.
Just a moment, please.
I’ll extend your reservation until … .
When do I have to check out?
You have to check out till … .
Would you like me to arrange you … ?
I’ll get a taxi.
There is/are no … in my room.
Could you have it/them changed?
I’ll send a maid up to your room right away. – Felküldök egy szobalányt azonnal a szobájába.
Can I ask for an extra … ? – Kérhetnék még egy …?
Certainly. – Természetesen.
Enjoy your stay! – Kellemes itt tartózkodást!
You’re welcome. – Szívesen.
USEFUL WORDS
to call
I wonder if …
to extend
to check in
to check out
to arrange
towel
to have something changed
maid
right away
blanket/pillow/sheet/duvet
Hotels dialogues are from 5 Perc Angol; Hungarian monthly
5percangol.hu/cikk/notw_-_ch … astronaut/
Liu Yang: China’s first female astronaut sent into space
China sent Liu Yang - its first woman astronaut - into orbit on Saturday, along with two others, to achieve the country’s first manual space docking. Shenzhou-9 is China’s fourth manned space mission and blasted off on schedule at 6:37 p.m. local time from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center the Gobi desert in the northwest of the country, according to Agence France-Presse. Chang Wanquan, commander-in-chief of China’s manned space program, said the rocket had entered orbit and declared the launch a “complete success.”
Liu, a 33-year-old air force pilot, Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang will dock with a prototype space lab created last year in a major step toward building a larger, more permanent space station by 2020, reported the Guardian. The astronauts will be there for about a week, with two living and working inside the module to testlife-support systems and one remaining in the capsule to deal with any emergencies.
“I believe that we can achieve this goal of a permanent space station by 2020, because we already have the basic technological capability,” Zhou Jianping, the chief designer of China’s manned space engineering project, told reporters before the launch, according to Reuters. The launch was seen on state television and showed the three astronauts waving from the cabin until moments before the blast-off, reported Reuters. A red sign with the Chinese symbol forgood fortune hung behind them.
source: Global Post
astronaut[| ˈæstrənɔːt]
orbit [ˈɔːbɪt]
to achieve [tə əˈtʃiːv]
space docking [speɪs ˈdɒkɪŋ]
manned space mission [mænd speɪs ˈmɪʃn̩]
to blast off [tə blɑːst ɒf]
commander-in-chief [kəˈmɑːndə ɪn tʃiːf]
rocket [ˈrɒkɪt]
to declare [tə dɪˈkleə]
launch [lɔːntʃ]
air force pilot [eə fɔːs ˈpaɪlət]
to dock [tə ˈdɒk]
major step toward [ˈmeɪdʒə step təˈwɔːd]
life-support system [laɪf səˈpɔːt ˈsɪstəm]
capsule [ˈkæpsjuːl]
to deal with something [tə diːl wɪð ˈsʌmθɪŋ]
permanent space station [ˈpɜːmənənt speɪs ˈsteɪʃn̩]
basic technological capability [ˈbeɪsɪk ˌteknəˈlɒdʒɪkl̩ ˌkeɪpəˈbɪlɪti]
to wave [tə weɪv]
good fortune [ɡʊd ˈfɔːtʃuːn]
From : 5 perc Angol Hungarian monthly