When you believe

Many nights we've prayed
With no proof anyone could hear
In our hearts a hopeful song
We barely understood

Now we are not afraid
Although we know there's much to fear
We were moving mountains long
Before we knew we could


There can be miracles, when you believe
Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill
Who knows what miracles you can achieve
When you believe, somehow you will
You will when you believe


In this time of fear
When prayers so often prove in vain
Hope seems like the summer birds
To swiftly flown away

Yet now I'm standing here
My heart's so full I can't explain
Seeking faith and speaking words
I never thought I'd say

There can be miracles, when you believe
Though hope is frail, it's hard to kill
Who knows what miracles you can achieve
When you believe, somehow you will
You will when you believe


They don't always happen when you ask
(Oh)
And it's easy to give in to your fears
(Oh...Ohhhh)
But when you're blinded by your pain
Can't see your way straight throught the rain
Small but still, resilient voice
Says love is the relief
(Ohhh)

There can be miracles
(Miracles)
When you believe
(Lord, when you believe)
Though hope is frail
(Though hope is frail)
It's hard to kill
(Hard to kill, Ohhh)
Who know what miracles,you can achieve
When you believe, somehow you will(somehow,somehow, somehow)
somehow you will
You will when you believe

You will when you
You will when you believe
Just believe...in your heart
Just believe
You will when you believeeeeeeeeeee

7 Tips for Effective Public Speaking

Many people routinely give speeches in the course of their work or at various functions. Others do so occasionally and might not be very comfortable. They may even experience a great amount of anxiety. There are many books, classes and courses on the subject, but I've discovered some basic elements that will enhance one's speaking performance, regardless of the amount of education or training the person has received. Here are 7 helpful tips:

Tip for Public Speaking #1: Know Your Stuff

Make certain that you have a great amount of personal knowledge of your subject matter or firmly believe in your cause. This is actually a prerequisite. It will come across in your presentation, your confidence will project and you'll be perceived as an expert. If you really love what you're presenting, it will show.

Tip for Public Speaking #2: Be Organized

Have your material ready with the proper order of delivery. Using a general outline or slide presentation is fine, but this will be different than rehearsing what you're going to say word for word, which I'll explain below.

Tip for Public Speaking #3: Be Lighthearted, Have a Sense of Humor, Don't Be Afraid

I know that it's easier said than done and this is going to take some practice. Don't fear your own shortcomings and weaknesses. Use them to your advantage in any situation. Honesty can be very powerful and your ability to communicate with levity and sincerity will take you far.

Tip for Public Speaking #4: Care About Helping People

Focus upon helping the individuals in your audience. While it's usually easier and more comfortable to look off into the distance, get used to making eye contact with your audience members and convey your earnestness and warmth. This will also help you to perceive if you're coming across effectively and if they understand you. The more you're able to do this, the more you'll overcome your own anxiety and the more powerful speaker you'll become. This is truly the essence of a great speaker.

Tip for Public Speaking #5: Dress Well

Wearing suitable, tasteful attire will increase your confidence and give you added credibility. You don't need to overdress. Wear what's businesslike and comfortable, according to the circumstances or occasion.

Tip for Public Speaking #6: Consider Joining a Group

A club, such as Toastmasters could be a way of gaining speaking experience and might be valuable for a lot of people. I feel that it makes sense for those who need to develop their confidence and public speaking ability.

Tip for Public Speaking #7: Don't Write Word for Word or Rehearse!

This is closely related to tip #4 and it's called "speaking from the heart." Speaking naturally and spontaneously to the greatest extent possible goes against the grain of most conventional teaching. In our daily lives, our best presentations come not from planning what we're going to say when we get up the morning, but rather expressing what is true, honest and suitable for the moment. The best speakers are those who are genuine, but they are rare in this day and age. While it's fine to prepare the topics that are needed to be covered, it's best to speak naturally, instead of reading everything. To the extent one can do this, the better speaker he or she will become. I urge everyone to try this and to get used to doing it. Once you start to practice this method, it becomes more and more natural.

I wish you the best of success!

walkout

Fifty Days and Counting

The workers at Flemming Steel, who went on strike fifty days ago, are still striking. The walkout began when Chuck Roste, Chief Executive Officer, announced a cut in wages. The plant's employees had already agreed to a temporary decrease in wages to help keep the plant open during its financial difficulties. However, when a proposal for additional cuts was made, the workers objected, and many threatened to quit.


Flemming Steel has been trying to handle this problem for the past several years. At one point, there was even talk of closing down the plant.

Employees were faced with a choice of either losing their jobs or accepting wage cuts. Chuck Roste explains: "Foreign competition has nearly shut us down. We couldn't have predicted the effect of this competition. Under the circumstances, there just wasn't any other choice but to lower salaries."

Hank Wiskowski, who represents the employees, disagrees: "The management should have seen how the industry was changing. If they had been more aware of the strength of the competition, we would all be in the plant now, working."

So far negotiations have been unproductive. The two sides agree on one thing, though.

Neither Flemming Steel nor the strikers want the plant to close down. As one striker's wife says, "If it weren't for the plant, many people in this region wouldn't be able to make a living. If it weren't for the loyalty of the workers until now, the plant would not have survived as long as it has."

It seems that Flemming will either have to find a solution to its problems or close its doors for good.

Restaurant Reviews

Recommendations

- Is the food good here?
- I believe so. Betsy and Paul eat here all the time.
- In that case, I'm certain the food is horrible.
- What do you mean?
- Have you forgotten? Their recommendations are always terrible.
- I suppose you're right. We'd better go somewhere else.

Going Out

Lunch

- Wow! That lunch was delicious.
- Yes, it was. I'm full.
- Well, I've got to get back to work.
- Me, too.
- I'll speak to you soon. Take it easy.
- Thanks. Take care of yourself.
- Bye.
- See you.

Nice Meeting You

Nice Meeting You

- I have to go. I have a meeting.


- Bye, Dan. It was nice to have met you.
- It was nice meeting you, too. Take it easy.
- I hope we see each other again soon.
- Me, too. By the way, I wonder if you could take care of the check.
- Wait! Dan! Just a minute.

A Helping Hand

Do You Need Help?

- Ma'am, do you need help lifting your stroller onto the bus?


- No. I'm fine, but thanks, anyway.
- Then at least let me help you carry those bags.
- No, thanks. I can really manage by myself.
- Please. I enjoy helping people.
- Well, OK, young man. You can lift those heavy bags for me.

Problems At Work

Quitting

- Are you thinking of quitting?

- Why do you ask?
- I heard someone say that you were planning to leave.
- They were wrong.
- Well, I'm thinking of quitting, myself!
- You're kidding! I'm very sorry to hear that.
- Don't be. I hate this place!
- Yes. There's too much gossip.

Sport And Fitness

Ten Miles


- I just ran ten miles! I'm exhausted.
- You shouldn't have run so far.
- And now I'm going to do some weight lifting!
- By yourself?
- Yes.
- You shouldn't lift weights without a partner nearby. It's dangerous.

Divorced

- Tony and I are getting divorced.


- You're kidding! I'm very sorry to hear that.
- Don't be. We've both decided that we don't love each other anymore.
- Well, as long as you both feel the same way,
I suppose divorce is the best thing.

A Short History of Money

What kind of money do you use in your country?
How do people know how much money is worth?

Money makes the world go round," sang Liza Minelli in the hit musical Cabaret. But have you ever wondered just how long money has existed? The history of money is a fascinating one.

The word "money" comes from the Latin word moneta, which derives from the Temple of Hera the Moneta in ancient Rome. It was here that the Romans minted their money. However, the origins of money are much older. According to current records, the concept of money dates back at least 75,000 years. This speculation is based on a discovery in the Blombos Caves in South Africa. Like the Romans in the Temple of Hera, prehistoric peoples used the Blombos Caves to create their own money: shells of a pea-sized snail called Nassarius Kraussianus. These snail shells were turned into necklaces and used to trade.

Such shells form the earliest example of commodity money. Commodity money can include any commonly available commodity that has value. Apart from shells, this could be anything from livestock to whales' teeth. Spices were used as commodity money for hundreds of years. Even today, in the absence of other types of money, people have occasionally used commodities as money. In the Solomon Islands, shells are still in circulation. Turned into large necklaces, shells are then used during marriage proposals, where a father may charge twenty shell money necklaces for his daughter's hand in marriage.

The concept of commodity money helps us to understand how today's money was invented. Commodity money, as we have seen, derives from things considered valuable to the community. In some early cultures the principle of barter had been used. "We're both farmers; I grow wheat, you grow fruit. So let's trade my wheat for your fruit." However, there are problems with barter. For instance, we can only trade when fruit and wheat are both available at the same time. So the concept of money was born. Now I can buy your fruit with a couple of shells, which we both accept as having value. You in turn can use the shells to buy wheat. Simple.

So as we see, barter systems usually develop into a system of commodity money that is determined by value. Value is determined by either need or scarcity. In prisons, for example, cigarettes are often used as a system of currency. Why? Because they are scarce and prisoners don't have normal money. So cigarettes have a symbolic value over and above what they are worth as paper and tobacco. This example shows how money can be pretty much anything that people agree is tradable.

Moreover, what most forms of commodity money had in common was usability; easy to store, count and carry around. So, given these criteria, you can imagine what the next development in the history of money involved. Coins? Exactly. Gold and silver had been used as commodity money for thousands of years, usually in the form of rings or bracelets. However, it was the Lydians - who lived in an area that now lies in Turkey - who began making gold and silver coins around 560 to 660 BC.

Gold and silver became the standard commodities by which the value of other goods was decided. It was a short step from here to the birth of the next form of money: representative money. In this system, unlike commodity money, the material that the money is made of has little or no intrinsic value; unlike the kinds of currency used in the commodity system. Paper money is a good example of representative money. Such paper currency was originally backed by a bank's promise to redeem it for a given weight of precious metal, such as silver. This is the origin of the term British Pound; it was a unit of money backed by a pound of sterling silver. For much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, many currencies were based on representative money through the use of the gold standard. The price of gold determined just how valuable the piece of paper in your pocket was worth.

With time, people decided that using gold to determine value was a bad idea. Why not just let government determine that, say, this coin or bank note was legal tender? Hence the next development: fiat money. Fiat is Latin for "let it be done." In other words, money became valuable, not because it had a value like gold, but because governments and the law determined its worth. A recent example of fiat money is the European Euro.

The last chapter in the history of money (so far) is credit money. Perhaps a better name for this would be virtual money, since it is nothing you can get your hands on, and it's a very long way from that cave in South Africa. Try getting prehistoric man to understand the notion of credit.

As for the future, well, that's anyone's guess. Care to place your bets? I'll give you two shells...

Doctor

Mom: Chad came by to see how you were.
Lully: Chad? He only just saw me three hours ago. What did he think was going to happen to me in three hours?

Mom: Oh, he's a conscientious doctor, isn't he?
Lully: Yes, he is. He's just a fine doctor and not a bad-looking one, either.
Mom: Oh, he's all right.
Lully: Do you know if he's coming to Helena's party tomorrow night?
Mom: Oh yes, he said... oh never mind.
Lully: What, Mama?
Mom: Nah, he's just teasing me.
Lully: What did he say?
Mom: Well, he just said he'll go if I go. He was just joking, of course.
Lully: What? So good old doctor Chadwick's in love with my mother!
Mom: Shhh, Lully, lower your voice. He's not.
He's just...
Lully: Flirting with you, that's what.
Mom: Don't make fun, Lully.
Lully: Oh, Mama, I wouldn't make fun of you about something like this. You deserve to have some love in your life.
Mom: I wouldn't go so far as to call it "love."
Lully: Call it whatever you want, Mama, but enjoy it.

Get Ready for a Hot Date

1. Take either a bath or a shower two hours before your date.

2. If you want to polish your nails, do so now. Choose a nail color that expresses your personality. Let dry.
3. Plug in iron and wait for it to heat. In the meantime, choose clothes for the evening. Iron clothes.
4. Put on makeup (if you wear it). Tell yourself you are beautiful at least ten times.
5. Wait for your date, or leave in time to meet him.
Here are two last things to remember:

If it's a blind date, don't go alone.
If he turns out to be a nightmare date, don't give up hope. There are always plenty more fish in the sea!

Recommendations

- Is the food good here?
- I believe so. Betsy and Paul eat here all the time.
- In that case, I'm certain the food is horrible.
- What do you mean?
- Have you forgotten? Their recommendations are always terrible.
- I suppose you're right. We'd better go somewhere else.

good restaurant

A Seafood and Steak Surprise

"Are you sure I look OK?" asked Raoul hesitantly.
"You look fine, Raoul!" said Steve, Raoul's roommate. "You should have left already.
You don't want to be late for your first date
with Marcy!"


"I'm leaving, I'm leaving! See you later," said Raoul.

"Hope you have a good time."

"I hope so, too," answered Raoul nervously.

They'd decided to go out for dinner. The restaurant they were going to was called "Sam's Seafood And Steak House" and was one of a chain of new restaurants. Although neither Raoul nor Marcy had ever been there before, they'd heard that the restaurant was having a half-price student special. "I hope you have an appetite tonight," Raoul told Marcy in the car. "I've heard that this restaurant has a huge seafood buffet and an All-You-Can-Eat Shrimp Special."

"Sounds great!" said Marcy. "I'm starving!"

When they arrived at the restaurant, it was crowded and very noisy.

"I guess we should have made a reservation," said Raoul.

After waiting almost an hour, they finally got a table. Unfortunately, it was in the smoking section. Not only that, but the tablecloth and silverware didn't look very clean.

Finally, the waiter came to take their order. "I'll have the roast beef, well-done, and corn on the cob," said Marcy. "And I'll have the All-You-Can-Eat Shrimp Special," said Raoul.

"Something to drink?" asked the waiter.

"Two mineral waters," said Raoul.

After a very long wait, their dinner arrived.

"This roast beef is awfully rare," said Marcy.

"And these shrimp have a strange, bitter flavor," complained Raoul. "Let's ask the waiter for our check."

On the way home, both Raoul and Marcy had stomachaches.

"It must have been that roast beef," said Marcy.

"And those awful shrimp!" cried Raoul. "If we had just gone out for a pizza, we would have enjoyed ourselves so much more!"

The next day, Raoul saw a review of
"Sam's Seafood And Steak House" in the college newspaper. It said, "We do not have a single compliment for this terrible restaurant! Whatever you do, don't go to "Sam's Seafood And Steak House!"

"Now they tell us!" cried Raoul, holding his stomach.

Past Form Of Modals: Review

Review

- I'm worried. Jack should have been on that train.
- He must have taken a later train.
- Well, he could have called!
- He may have left a message. Let's call home and check.

A happiest day

The Day I Met Mick

I'll never forget the day I met Mick Starlight. It began like a nightmare; everything went wrong. First, my alarm clock didn't ring. I must have forgotten to plug it in. I woke up late, and


I can't stand being late! Then I took a shower and of course, there was no hot water! I quickly got dressed, and ran out of the house without breakfast, still wanting to make it in time for class.
On my way to the university, I must have been driving too fast. A policeman signaled to me to stop. I was nervous, but when he came over, he smiled. He was really cute! Then I realized that
I must have looked a mess.

Not only hadn't I had time to put on any makeup, but I also hadn't ironed my shirt or dried my hair. I could have died of embarrassment. However, I smiled back at him, anyway.

"Was I driving too fast, Officer?" I asked.

"I'm afraid so," he answered.

I didn't know what to do then, so I just told him
I was sorry. Luckily, he was very nice, and only gave me a warning.

I soon reached the intersection where I had to turn. Looking up, I saw a beautiful sports car coming up behind me. As I got to the corner, the light turned red.
I stopped, but the sports car didn't, and went right into me! I couldn't believe it!

How could he have been so stupid, whoever he was? Fortunately, I was fine, but my car wasn't.

I stepped out of the car and was preparing to shout, when I saw the driver of the sports car. It was Mick Starlight! He felt so bad about my car that he not only paid for the repairs, but he also gave me tickets to his next concert! And of course, I never did make it to class.

words and expressions today

catch up: reach the point where someone else is

recognize (v)

1. know who someone or something is

in common (~)

shared with someone else


embrace (v)

put your arms around someone



intersection (n)

the place where something meets and crosses something else

Friday review

Some of these stories were about complicated things like the scientific research - or electricity generation. Let's take a closer look at some of the words and processes involved.

First, let's return to the scientists who are studying the effect of cocoa on the body.

Could it really be healthy?


PATRICK EMMETT: It was about 10 years ago in the jungles of Central America that scientists first suspected the humble cocoa bean might be more than just a raw material for one of the world's favourite sweets. They were looking into why some of the local Indians had an unusually low rate of cardiovascular disease. In fact, their blood pressure would hardly go up as they got older. The common link was they drank large amounts of a concoction made from cocoa beans.

ASSOC PROF JON BUCKLEY, UNISA: There's a growing body of evidence that it does have cardiovascular benefits, and people are looking at its effects on peripheral blood flow and also brain blood flow and the potential benefits for cognitive function, and so there are a lot of health benefits and people are starting to identify potentially new health benefits.

PATRICK EMMETT: Thousands of kilometres away from the jungle John Davison and his team at the University of South Australia are looking into just how good cocoa can be for us. The special ingredient in cocoa is flavonols, antioxidants which make blood vessels dilate so blood flows easier. What the UniSA researchers are studying is whether that may even help people lose weight.

ASSOC PROF JON BUCKLEY: We noted in people who are overweight or obese that they have impaired dilatory function. So say if you're obese and you go for a walk then the blood vessels that supply the blood to your active muscles won't dilate as freely as they will in someone who is not obese. So you have to carry this extra weight and at the same time you're less able to provide adequate blood flow to the muscles, so you are at a double disadvantage.

PATRICK EMMETT: To do their study the scientists will use ultrasound to measure how much blood flows through an artery.

They'll then use this machine to measure fat levels. Over a 12-week period the subjects will then drink a special cocoa drink every day and do a moderate exercise program.

The scientists will then see whether drinking more cocoa has helped some of the group lose more weight.

So cocoa is a dark brown powder that comes from cocoa beans.

Cocoa beans grow on the cacao tree, which grows in Central America.

Cocoa is very popular, because it's used to make chocolate.

Most people know that chocolate is not very healthy, because it's full of sugar. But scientists think that maybe cocoa is good for you.

Where scientists first get that idea from?

PATRICK EMMETT: It was about 10 years ago in the jungles of Central America that scientists first suspected the humble cocoa bean might be more than just a raw material for one of the world's favourite sweets.

They were looking into why some of the local Indians had an unusually low rate of cardiovascular disease. In fact, their blood pressure would hardly go up as they got older. The common link was they drank large amounts of a concoction made from cocoa beans.

It was about 10 years ago in the jungles of Central America. That's where the cacao tree grows.

Scientists thought that the cocoa bean might be more than just a raw material for the world's favourite sweets.

A raw material is an ingredient. It's something that's not cooked yet.

Cocoa is a raw material for the world's favourite sweets - chocolates.

A sweet is anything made from sugar.

It can be a dessert, or something like a lolly.

OK, so the Indians of Central America have very low rates of cardiovascular disease, heart disease.

And they drink amounts of a concoction, or mixture, made from cocoa beans.

Scientists thought there might be a link between these two things. So they set up the study.

Now, let's take a look at a town taking part in a very different type of science.

In Taralga, in NSW, the government has decided to set up a wind farm in order to produce electricity without polluting the environment.

LORRAINE ROSS: We're looking at seeing what our options are and we will fight. You don't lay down for speculators.

PAUL MISKELLY: The swish, swish, swish noise from a wind farm can become a thump, thump, thump sound, and it's there all the time that the wind is blowing, and if you're trying to sleep at night, it's relentless.

So not everyone's happy with the wind farm.

Listen to this man again.

PAUL MISKELLY: Community division has already occurred here. There are some who speak of those of us who object to this as simply being sour grapes, that we're not getting any money for it so we're not going to get anybody else get any money for it.

He says there is community division - there is disagreement in the town of Taralga.

He says some people think the disagreement is simply sour grapes.

Sour is the opposite of sweet.

Sour grapes describes someone who is angry just because they haven't got what they want, they haven't got something their way.

But he says it isn't sour grapes. He says there are real reasons to not want the wind farm. Listen.

PAUL MISKELLY: The swish, swish, swish noise from a wind farm can become a thump, thump, thump sound, and it's there all the time that the wind is blowing, and if you're trying to sleep at night, it's relentless

He says the swish swish swish noise can become a thump thump thump sound.

Swish and thump are both onomatopoeic words - words that sound like the thing they are describing.

Sometimes the turbines go swish, but at other times they go thump.

And that's not good if you're trying to sleep.

Well that's English Bites for this week. Don't forget to visit our website for more on all this week's stories.

10 Tips to Study Smart and Save Time

I recently got my marks back from University. My grade point average was a 4.2 out of a possible 4.5, resting between an A and a perfect A+. In itself, this isn’t an incredible achievement. But I managed to do this while spending only a fraction of the time studying than many of the people I knew.

Is it just natural talent? Perhaps. I’ve always had a knack for understanding concepts and learning new ideas. But I also believe the way I learned the information played a role. Instead of cramming last minute or memorizing details, I try to organize information in a way that makes it easier to recall.

This strategy of organization I label holistic learning. Holistic learning is simply the process of organizing information into webs, that interconnect ideas. Instead of forcing ideas into your skull, you focus on the relationships between information. Linking ideas together to see the whole, instead of just the parts.

Building an Understanding

Learning is a process similar to building a house. You aren’t fed the complete picture. Limitations on communication prevent the instantaneous transmission of knowledge. Instead you listen to lectures, read textbooks and take painstaking notes to try and comprehend a subject.

You are fed building supplies, bricks, mortar and glass. It is up to you to assemble the building. Unfortunately, most learning strategies fall into two basic types:

1. Memorization - Instead of building anything you simply stare at each brick for several minutes trying to record its position.
2. Formulas - This is the equivalent to being blind, fumbling around a new house. You can’t see the building itself but you learn to come up with simple rules to avoid walking into walls.

There is nothing particularly wrong with either of these strategies, assuming they aren’t your entire strategy. The human brain isn’t a computer so it can’t memorize infinite sums of knowledge without some form of structure. And formulas no longer work if the questions they are designed to solve change scope.

Learning Holistically

The alternative strategy is to focus on actually using the information you have to build something. This involves linking concepts together and compressing information so it fits in the bigger picture. Here are some ideas to get started:

1. Metaphor - Metaphors can allow you to quickly organize information by comparing a complex idea to a simple one. When you find relationships between information, come up with analogies to increase your understanding. Compare neurons with waves on a string. Make metaphors comparing parts of a brain with sections of your computer.
2. Use All Your Senses - Abstract ideas are difficult to memorize because they are far removed from our senses. Shift them closer by coming up with vivid pictures, feelings and images that relate information together. When I learned how to do a determinant of a matrix, I remembered the pattern by visualizing my hands moving through the numbers, one adding and one subtracting.
3. Teach It - Find someone who doesn’t understand the topic and teach it to them. This exercise forces you to organize. Spending five minutes explaining a concept can save you an hour of combined studying for the same effect.
4. Leave No Islands - When you read through a textbook, every piece of information should connect with something else you have learned. Fast learners do this automatically, but if you leave islands of information, you won’t be able to reach them during a test.
5. Test Your Mobility - A good way to know you haven’t linked enough is that you can’t move between concepts. Open up a word document and start explaining the subject you are working with. If you can’t jump between sections, referencing one idea to help explain another, you won’t be able to think through the connections during a test.
6. Find Patterns - Look for patterns in information. Information becomes easier to organize if you can identify broader patterns that are similar across different topics. The way a neuron fires has similarities to “if” statements in programming languages.
7. Build a Large Foundation - Reading lots and having a general understanding of many topics gives you a lot more flexibility in finding patterns and metaphors in new topics. The more you already know, the easier it is to learn.
8. Don’t Force - I don’t spend much time studying before exams. Forcing information during the last few days is incredibly inefficient. Instead try to slowly interlink ideas as they come to you so studying becomes a quick recap rather than a first attempt at learning.
9. Build Models - Models are simple concepts that aren’t true by themselves, but are useful for describing abstract ideas. Crystallizing one particular mental image or experience can create a model you can reference when trying to understand. When I was trying to tackle the concept of subspaces, I visualized a blue background with a red plane going through it. This isn’t an entirely accurate representation of what a subspace is, but it created a workable image for future ideas.
10. Learning is in Your Head - Having beautiful notes and a perfectly highlighted textbook doesn’t matter if you don’t understand the information in it. Your only goal is to understand the information so it will stick with you for assignments, tests and life. Don’t be afraid to get messy when scrawling out ideas on paper and connecting them in your head. Use notes and books as a medium for learning rather than an end result.