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Here it comes

Here is a nice little sequence involving the future, the present and the past. Notice that the first two use the simple present tense and the last uses the past. For the first frame we could also have used the present progressive: "The future is coming."

sequence – a set of related things that happen or are arranged in a particular order

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Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 06:00 AM

Sick joke

Some people have a strange idea of what is fun.

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Porn prankster held

MOSCOW: Russian police said on Tuesday they had arrested a prankster who hacked into a computer system to show a pornographic movie on a giant advertising screen, causing havoc on a busy Moscow thoroughfare.

The two-minute clip, displayed on a video screen above a main road south of the Kremlin, caused midnight traffic jams and a frenzy of excitement across the Russian blogosphere.

Police said the hacker gained control of the screen by breaking into an online company’s server in the volatile southern region of Chechnya as ‘‘he didn’t think the police would go looking for him there’’.

The 40-year-old man said he wanted to ‘‘give people a laugh’’.

Rossiya-24 television said an elderly motorist suffered a heart attack at the wheel after watching the scenes. REUTERS

porn(ography) – the practice of showing or talking about sexual activities in a very obvious way that is intended to make people sexually excited
prankster – someone who plays tricks on other people
hack – to use a computer to connect to someone else’s computer secretly and often illegally, so that you can find or change information on it
havoc – a situation in which there is a lot of damage or destruction, or in which something cannot continue in its normal way because of problems
thoroughfare – a main road through a place
frenzy – a state of uncontrolled activity or emotion
blogosphere – the imaginary place on the Internet where people’s blogs go so that other people can read them and react to them
volatile – able to suddenly change or become more dangerous
elderly – (of a person) old

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 06:44 AM

Looking for a job

Couldn't the man in the story get any other kind of job? Couldn't he have been a high school teacher, for example? Read the story and you might be surprised too.

To download audio file, right click here

S Korean scientist gets the brush-off

SEOUL: A jobless scientist in South Korea with a doctorate in physics, desperate for work as the economic slump bites, applied for a street sweeper’s job but was rejected.

It wasn’t because he was overqualified for such a menial position – the 36-year-old simply lacked the physical ability, local officials said yesterday.

He wasn’t the only highly educated applicant for five street-sweeping jobs in Seoul’s Sangseo district. Among the 63 who applied were 11 university graduates.

But brawn overcame brains.

Applicants had to carry two 20kg sandbags on their shoulders before dashing 25 metres with another.

The scientist, identified only as Kim, was three seconds too slow in the dash.

brush-off – rude an unfriendly behaviour that show that a person is not interest in someone – in this case for a job
desperate – feeling or showing that you have little hope and are ready to do anything
slump – a period when a country’s economy or a business is doing very badly
reject – to not refuse to accept or consider something
menial – (of work) boring or dirty; considered to be of low status
brawn – physical strength
dashing – running very quickly

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 06:23 AM

Heavy flier

Who do you think has the more reasonable position, the man or the airline?

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Too fat to fly

LOS ANGELES: Kevin Smith says he’s ‘‘way fat’’, but that shouldn’t stop him from flying.

The director and actor says a pilot ejected him from a Southwest Airlines flight from Oakland to Burbank, California, because he didn’t fit properly in a single seat.

Smith raised a stink about the incident on his Twitter page on Sunday, saying: ‘‘If you look like me, you may be ejected from Southwest Air’’.

Southwest says customers must be able to fit safely and comfortably in one seat or make other arrangements.

After a storm of angry online comments, the airline issued a ‘‘heartfelt apology’’ to Smith. AP

eject – to force out
raise a stink – to make a loud complaint
incident – something that happens, especially something bad
arrangements – plans for doing something, in this case, for getting a flight
storm – a situation in which many people are upset or excited
apology – a statement that tells someone that you are sorry for doing something wrong or for causing a problem

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 06:04 AM

Dirtying the air

Instant communication is great, but it does have some negative aspects. Here's one.

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Text offender sought

WELLINGTON: Telecom New Zealand, the country’s biggest telecommunications company, said yesterday that it was carrying out a ‘‘thorough and urgent’’ investigation to find the person who sent abusive text messages to at least five customers.

The hunt began when a woman in the North Island city of Wanganui said that after making a complaint to Telecom, she received a message apparently from a customer service representative saying ‘‘f**k you.’’

Telecom spokesman Nick Brown said initial investigations showed that similar messages may have been sent to four other customers from an eTXT website, which allowed a computer user to send a text message to a cell phone. dpa

offender – someone who has done something wrong
urgent – needing to be dealt with immediately
abusive – using offensive or insulting language
initial – first
investigation – the process of trying to find out all the details or facts about something in order to discover who or what caused it or how it happened

Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 06:12 AM

	Mainly for fun
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For the first frame we could also have used the present progressive: "The future is coming." sequence – a set of related things that happen or are arranged in a particular order To download audio file, right click here Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 06:00 AM March 15, 2010 Sick joke Some people have a strange idea of what is fun. To download audio file, right click here Porn prankster held MOSCOW: Russian police said on Tuesday they had arrested a prankster who hacked into a computer system to show a pornographic movie on a giant advertising screen, causing havoc on a busy Moscow thoroughfare. The two-minute clip, displayed on a video screen above a main road south of the Kremlin, caused midnight traffic jams and a frenzy of excitement across the Russian blogosphere. Police said the hacker gained control of the screen by breaking into an online company’s server in the volatile southern region of Chechnya as ‘‘he didn’t think the police would go looking for him there’’. The 40-year-old man said he wanted to ‘‘give people a laugh’’. Rossiya-24 television said an elderly motorist suffered a heart attack at the wheel after watching the scenes. REUTERS porn(ography) – the practice of showing or talking about sexual activities in a very obvious way that is intended to make people sexually excited prankster – someone who plays tricks on other people hack – to use a computer to connect to someone else’s computer secretly and often illegally, so that you can find or change information on it havoc – a situation in which there is a lot of damage or destruction, or in which something cannot continue in its normal way because of problems thoroughfare – a main road through a place frenzy – a state of uncontrolled activity or emotion blogosphere – the imaginary place on the Internet where people’s blogs go so that other people can read them and react to them volatile – able to suddenly change or become more dangerous elderly – (of a person) old Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 06:44 AM March 13, 2010 Looking for a job Couldn't the man in the story get any other kind of job? Couldn't he have been a high school teacher, for example? Read the story and you might be surprised too. To download audio file, right click here S Korean scientist gets the brush-off SEOUL: A jobless scientist in South Korea with a doctorate in physics, desperate for work as the economic slump bites, applied for a street sweeper’s job but was rejected. It wasn’t because he was overqualified for such a menial position – the 36-year-old simply lacked the physical ability, local officials said yesterday. He wasn’t the only highly educated applicant for five street-sweeping jobs in Seoul’s Sangseo district. Among the 63 who applied were 11 university graduates. But brawn overcame brains. Applicants had to carry two 20kg sandbags on their shoulders before dashing 25 metres with another. The scientist, identified only as Kim, was three seconds too slow in the dash. brush-off – rude an unfriendly behaviour that show that a person is not interest in someone – in this case for a job desperate – feeling or showing that you have little hope and are ready to do anything slump – a period when a country’s economy or a business is doing very badly reject – to not refuse to accept or consider something menial – (of work) boring or dirty; considered to be of low status brawn – physical strength dashing – running very quickly Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 06:23 AM March 12, 2010 Heavy flier Who do you think has the more reasonable position, the man or the airline? To download audio file, right click here Too fat to fly LOS ANGELES: Kevin Smith says he’s ‘‘way fat’’, but that shouldn’t stop him from flying. The director and actor says a pilot ejected him from a Southwest Airlines flight from Oakland to Burbank, California, because he didn’t fit properly in a single seat. Smith raised a stink about the incident on his Twitter page on Sunday, saying: ‘‘If you look like me, you may be ejected from Southwest Air’’. Southwest says customers must be able to fit safely and comfortably in one seat or make other arrangements. After a storm of angry online comments, the airline issued a ‘‘heartfelt apology’’ to Smith. AP eject – to force out raise a stink – to make a loud complaint incident – something that happens, especially something bad arrangements – plans for doing something, in this case, for getting a flight storm – a situation in which many people are upset or excited apology – a statement that tells someone that you are sorry for doing something wrong or for causing a problem Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 06:04 AM March 11, 2010 Dirtying the air Instant communication is great, but it does have some negative aspects. Here's one. To download audio file, right click here Text offender sought WELLINGTON: Telecom New Zealand, the country’s biggest telecommunications company, said yesterday that it was carrying out a ‘‘thorough and urgent’’ investigation to find the person who sent abusive text messages to at least five customers. The hunt began when a woman in the North Island city of Wanganui said that after making a complaint to Telecom, she received a message apparently from a customer service representative saying ‘‘fk you.’’ Telecom spokesman Nick Brown said initial investigations showed that similar messages may have been sent to four other customers from an eTXT website, which allowed a computer user to send a text message to a cell phone. dpa offender – someone who has done something wrong urgent – needing to be dealt with immediately abusive – using offensive or insulting language initial – first investigation** – the process of trying to find out all the details or facts about something in order to discover who or what caused it or how it happened Posted by Terry Fredrickson at 06:12 AM
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March 16, 2010

Here it comes

To download audio file, right click here

March 15, 2010

Sick joke

To download audio file, right click here

Porn prankster held

March 13, 2010

Looking for a job

To download audio file, right click here

S Korean scientist gets the brush-off

March 12, 2010

Heavy flier

To download audio file, right click here

Too fat to fly

March 11, 2010

Dirtying the air

To download audio file, right click here

Text offender sought