The story of the BBC 1

Throughout the world, even today, people listen to the BBC World Service as a reliable and honest
source of news. More recently, BBC World television has become one of the most important
international TV channels. In the next few years, there will be lots more exciting innovations for both
radio and television. Broadcasting, perhaps the greatest invention of the last century and the BBC is one
of the most important and trusted broadcasters in the world today.

The British Broadcasting Company was established in 1922. Four years later, it changed its name to
the British Broadcasting Corporation, better known as the BBC, and that is how it has remained ever
since. It was not the world's first radio station. There had already been public radio broadcasts in Britain
before 1920, and by 1922 radio stations were operating in Russia and in America. In the Soviet Union,
radio was owned, operated and rigidly controlled by the state. In the USA it was a great new adventure
for free enterprise. With its new idea of public service broadcasting, the British government chose the
middle road. From the beginning the BBC was a public service radio, but also an independent operator.
Except during the war years, it has never been controlled by the government. On the contrary, several
British government ministers have complained, over the years, that the BBC was biased against them! In
the early days of BBC radio, there was not a lot of news on the radio. There were music, drama,
discussions and children's programs; but news was not broadcast until after 7 p.m., to avoid
competition with the newspapers! In International competitions, the BBC regularly wins more
prizes than other broadcasters.
In tomorrow's world, communications and the media will become more and more important. With over
90 years of experience, the BBC is determined to remain one of the world's major players.

Women and Change 1

Many reports have been published on the conditions and rights of women throughout the world. Some
of the news in the reports is very positive. For example, 90% of all countries have official organizations
to improve the lives of women. More than half of the countries have laws to protect the rights of
women, and 90% of all countries have passed laws to give women equal pay for equal work. WHO
(World Health Organization) and UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund) have
programs to improve the health of people in developing countries, especially women and children.
Birth-control methods are now available to more than half of the women in the world. Almost half of
the children in school now are girls, a big change from the past, because in many countries education
was not available to girls.

The reports also have negative news. Although most countries have official organizations to improve
women’s lives, many of these organizations don’t do anything. Women make up 50% of the world’s
work, but they do nearly 66% of the world’s work. They do most of the domestic work – for example,
cooking and washing clothes. Millions of women also work outside the home. They have become 50% of
the workforce in many countries. For this work, however they earn about half as much as men, and of
course, they earn nothing for their domestic work.

Reports also show that there are still very few women in high government positions. In fact, only about
15% of the positions in the government are held by women. In addition more than half of the people
who can’t read and write are women. Being illiterate doesn’t mean people are not intelligent. However,
not being able to read and write does make it more difficult for people to change their lives.

The story of the BBC 2

Throughout the world, even today, people listen to the BBC World Service as a reliable and honest
source of news. More recently, BBC World television has become one of the most important
international TV channels. In the next few years, there will be lots more exciting innovations for both
radio and television. In 1936 the BBC began the world's first television service. Only a few thousand
people in the London area could receive those first flickering images, which were broadcast using a
screen of just 204 lines. Today we have 625 lines on ordinary television, and even more for HDTV.
Nevertheless, people liked what they saw, and as the number of transmitters increased, more and more
people went out to buy new television sets.
In 1937, tennis was broadcast from Wimbledon for the first time. Then in 1938, football's Cup Final
could be seen, live, by hundreds of thousands of people, for the first time ever.
Yet on September 1st, 1939, in the middle of a Mickey Mouse cartoon, BBC TV stopped broadcasting.
The Second World War had begun. It was not until June 8th 1946, on the day of the great Victory
Parade, that BBC television started again. Since then the BBC has become one of Britain's most famous
institutions. Today it has several national television channels, lots of radio channels and a growing
number of international services. It also has a very popular internet site, with news stories from Britain
and around the world. As far as program production is concerned, the BBC is Europe's biggest and most
successful exporter of audio-visual material. In International competitions, the BBC regularly wins more
prizes than other broadcasters.
In tomorrow's world, communications and the media will become more and more important. With
over 90 years of experience, the BBC is determined to remain one of the world's major players.

The story of Coca-Cola

What is the most recognizable object in the world? No, the answer is a Coca-Cola bottle. The famous
Coca-Cola bottle is almost 100 years old! Footballs and big macs are certainly part of life for lots of
people; but Coca-Cola is now a permanent part of world culture. People know and drink Coca-Cola all
over the world. It is said that the Coca-Cola bottle is the most recognized object in the world. Hundreds
of millions of people can recognize a Coke bottle by its shape, even if they cannot see it! And the famous
Coca-Cola logo is the most famous logo in the world. Unlike any other famous commercial logo, it has
not changed in 100 years! But the story of Coca-Cola is even older than that. It was in 1886 that John
Pemberton, a druggist in Atlanta, Georgia, invented a new type of syrup, using coca leaves, sugar and
cola nuts, plus a few other secret ingredients! Pemberton sold it as a medicine; and with its coca
(the source of cocaine), it must have made people feel good! Nevertheless, Pemberton's medicine was
not very successful, so he sold his secret formula to another druggist, Asa Candler. Candler was
interested, because he had another idea; he thought that Pemberton's "medicine" would be much
better if it was mixed with soda. Candler was thus the man who really invented the drink Coca-Cola. At
first he sold it in his drugstore; then he began selling the syrup to other drugstores, who used it with
their soda fountains. Candler also advertised his new drink, and soon people were going to drugstores
just to get a drink of Coca-Cola. Before long, other people became interested in the product, including a
couple of businessmen who wanted to sell it in bottles. Candler sold them a license to bottle the drink,
and very quickly the men became millionaires. The famous bottle, with its very distinctive shape, was
designed in 1916.

The origin of Blue Jeans 1

Blue jeans are the most popular type of clothing in the world; but they are not modern! In fact, jeans
have existed for over 140 years. In 1996, someone found some very old clothes in an old mine in
Nevada, USA; they included a pair of dirty old jeans. Today, those jeans are very valuable, and they are
now in the Levi Strauss Archival Collection, in San Francisco. The jeans, which are over 120 years old, are
the oldest pair of Levi's 501 jeans in the world.
They are almost the same as a modern pair of 501's; there are just some small differences in the
detail. For instance, today's 501's have two back pockets, the old pair just had one. Jeans were the
classic clothes of the American West. In 1853, a young tailor from Germany, called Levi Strauss, began
working in San Francisco; Levi sold thick canvas to miners; the miners used the canvas to make
tents. One day, a miner told Levi that he could not find trousers that were strong enough for work in the
gold mines. Levi decided to make some trousers out of canvas. Very soon, he had sold all the canvas
trousers he had made! They were just what miners wanted.
However, the canvas was rather heavy and stiff. Levi therefore began to look for a different textile; soon
he found a heavy textile from France; it was called serge de Nimes. Americans just called this de Nimes,
and this name soon got reduced to denim. Denim was a bit lighter than canvas, but it was very strong; it
was ideal for miners. However, original denim was almost white, and miners did not like the color! Their
denim trousers got dirty as soon as they began working! Levi Strauss therefore decided to use colored
denim, and he chose dark blue. In 1873, he began to make denim trousers with metal rivets to make
them stronger. This was a radical new idea: "Blue jeans" had arrived!

The origin of Blue Jeans 2

Blue jeans are the most popular type of clothing in the world; but they are not modern! In fact, jeans
have existed for over 140 years. In 1996, someone found some very old clothes in an old mine in
Nevada, USA; they included a pair of dirty old jeans. Today, those jeans are very valuable, and they are
now in the Levi Strauss Archival Collection, in San Francisco.

In 1853, a young tailor from Germany, called Levi Strauss, began working in San Francisco; Levi sold
thick canvas (a very strong form of cloth) to miners; the miners used the canvas to make tents. Levi
decided to make some trousers out of canvas. Levi's jeans were so popular, that his company got bigger
and bigger; soon, other firms were making blue jeans too. Miners liked them, but so did cowboys and
other working men. Blue jeans became classic American working trousers.
After the Second World War, jeans became popular all over the world. Today, blue jeans are made over
the world – most of them in Asia. Very few jeans are now made in the USA, because of the cost: but it is
still possible to buy blue jeans that are made in San Francisco.... if you have a lot of money to spend.
Today there are hundreds of different brands of jeans. Many top fashion brands, like Armani or
Benetton, make their own blue jeans. But for real authentic jeans, "Levi's" are still the most popular
brand. In America, everyone wears jeans as leisure wear. Some people wear jeans all the time, even for
work. But Americans are perhaps less formal than other nations. At the "G7" summit in Denver, in 1997,
American President Bill Clinton gave all his visitors jeans, for a "Western evening". Tony Blair, the British
Prime Minister, put them on, but other European leaders, including Chancellor Kohl of Germany and
Jacques Chirac, the President of France, refused. Some people still think that jeans are not respectable
clothes!

Women and Change 2

“Women hold up the sky.” This is an old Chinese saying. However, research suggests that perhaps
women do more than their share of “holding up the sky.” 90% of all countries have official organizations
to improve the lives of women. WHO (World Health Organization) and UNICEF (United Nations
International Children’s Emergency Fund) have programs to improve the health of people in developing
countries, especially women and children. Many reports have been published on the conditions and
rights of women throughout the world. Some of the news in the reports is very positive. In developing
countries, where three quarters of the world’s population lives, women produce more than half of the
food. In Africa, 80% of all agricultural is done by women. In some parts of Africa, this is a typical day for a
woman. At 4:45a.m., she gets up, washes, and eats. It takes her a half hour to walk to the fields, and she
works there until 3:00p.m. She collects firewood and gets home at 4:00. She spends the next hour and a
half preparing food to cook. Then she collects water for another hour. From 6:30 to 8:30, she cooks.
After dinner, she spends an hour washing the dishes and her children. Finally, around 9:30 p.m., she
goes to bed.

There are many programs to help people improve their agricultural skills. However, for years, these
programs provided money and training for men but not for women. Now this is changing. International
organizations and programs are helping women, as well as men, improve their agricultural production.
Clearly, women’s lives have changed in many ways. Some of these changes have been positive, giving
many women legal rights and better living conditions. Ideally, in the future, more and more women will
benefit from new opportunities, good education, and legal rights.
 The Hardest Language

People often ask which the most difficult language to learn is and it is not easy to answer because there
are many factors to take into consideration. Firstly, in a first language the differences are unimportant as
people learn their mother tongue naturally, so the question of how hard a language is to learn is only
relevant when learning a second language. A native speaker of Spanish, for example, will find
Portuguese much easier to learn than a native speaker of Chinese, for example, because Portuguese is
very similar to Spanish, while Chinese is very different, so first language can affect learning a second
language. The greater the differences between the second language and our first, the harder it will be
for most people to learn. Many people answer that Chinese is the hardest language to learn, possibly
influenced by the thought of learning the Chinese writing system, and the pronunciation of Chinese does
appear to be very difficult for many foreign learners. However, for Japanese speakers, who already use
Chinese characters in their own language, learning writing will be less difficult than for speakers of
languages using the Roman alphabet.

Apparently, British diplomats and other embassy staff have found that the second hardest language is
Japanese, which will probably come as no surprise to many, but the language that they have found to be
the most problematic is Hungarian, which has 35 cases (forms of nouns according to whether it is
subject, object, genitive, etc.) This does not mean that Hungarian is the hardest language to learn for
everyone, but it causes British diplomatic personnel, who are generally used to learning languages, the
most difficulty. However, Tabassaran, a Caucasian language has 48 cases, so it might cause more
difficulty if British diplomats have to learn it. No language is easy to learn well, though languages which
are related to our first language are easier.

Leaving Home 1

"An Englishman's home is his castle"; so says an old proverb. "Home" is perhaps the most important
thing in a person's life. Yet in Britain's teenage culture, home has long been seen as a place to leave,
rather than a place to live. And while the age of independence is, for many young people, becoming
later and later, the desire for independence is developing at a younger and younger age. Leaving home
for the first time has always been a difficult turning point in life; today the difficulties are perhaps
greater than ever before. Almost every 16-year old has thought about leaving home. Many teens dream
about leaving home: but the reality can often be much harder than they imagine. Many have been
thinking about it, off and on, for years; some have been dreaming of independence since they were
twelve, or even younger. Leaving home is part of the teenage dream.
Recently, a survey of "Young People's Social Attitudes" asked British teenagers for their opinions about
leaving home. Forty-nine per cent of 12-15 year olds thought that teenagers should be allowed to leave
home at the age of 16; another 12% said 17, and 8% said "when they want". Only 23% of young
teenagers thought that they should be obliged to live at home until they were 18! Yet the teenage
dream seems to conflict with the experience of real life; when the same question was put to 18 and 19-
year olds, almost half replied that teenagers should not leave home before the age of 18. Nevertheless,
leaving home is part of the process of growing up. Many teenagers leave to go and study or train or look
for a job in a different town or city, returning home when the money runs out. Others leave because
they just want to get out. 16-year olds who leave school with few or no qualifications find it very hard to
get jobs; indeed, in some British cities, particularly in the North, finding work is almost impossible for
unqualified people.

Leaving Home 2

"An Englishman's home is his castle"; so says an old proverb. Yet in Britain's teenage culture, home has
long been seen as a place to leave, rather than a place to live. Nevertheless, leaving home is part of
the process of growing up. Many teenagers leave to go and study or train or look for a job in a different
town or city, returning home when the money runs out. Others leave because they just want to get out.
Most, especially younger ones are happy to go home again later; for a small number, leaving home is
a definite break. Every year, thousands of young people in Britain leave home in search there are indeed
more jobs in London than in most other cities, they are not always good jobs, and the dream of leaving
home and finding a job often turns out to be just that; a dream. Many return home; some become
homeless. A survey of "Young People's Social Attitudes" asked British teenagers for their opinions about
leaving home. Forty-nine per cent of 12-15 year olds thought that teenagers should be allowed to leave
home at the age of 16 Homelessness is not a new problem, and there are many associations that help
homeless people of a better or more exciting life; many of them go to London, attracted by the bright
lights, the night life, the youth scene and the hope of finding work. 16-year olds who leave school with
few or no qualifications find it very hard to get jobs; indeed, in some British cities, particularly in the
North, finding work is almost impossible for unqualified people, especially young people. And although,
overall, less people keep coming to London in search of a new life, the number of young people doing so
has gone up sharply; their reasons for coming have changed too. London's biggest homeless charity,
Center point, reported that causes of homelessness among teenagers have changed ; instead of leaving
home because of "pull factors" more young people now leave home because of "push factors", victims
of broken homes, poverty or physical aggression.