1.Travel A : This is really a fascinating city! B : Yes, this city is thousands of years old and has quite a history! A : I really love this temple we are visiting. B : As you enter the temple, please remove your shoes as the others are doing. A : It is so quiet here. B: Yes, they are showing respect to their gods. People come here to pray and meditate. A: I noticed that the women all have some sort of head covering. B: It is a tradition that women cover their heads while in the temple. A: I noticed that all of the people were eating with their hands at dinner last night. B: Yes, that is another custom that people practice here. 2 .Hotel reservation A:I would like to make a hotel reservation. B: What day will you be arriving? A: I will be arriving on May 14th. B: How long will you be staying? A: I need the room for 3 nights. B: How many people will be staying in the room? A: I will be staying in the room alone. B: Would you like a smoking or nonsmoking room? A: We need a nonsmoking room. B: We have booked a room for you. Please be sure to arrive before 4:00 on your check-in date. 3.Conversation over telephone Hello, Tom speaking. Hi Tom, this is Mary. Is your brother in? No, he’s at the cinema. Can I take a message? Yes, could you tell him to call me back, please? Sure. Thanks. Bye. Bye. 4. Asking for direction Kate: Excuse me! How do I get to the post office? Mary: Sorry, I’m not from around here. Kate: Do you know where the closest bank is? Mary: If you cross the street, you’ll find a bank there! Kate: Thank you. Mary: Don’t mention it. 5. Shopping Louise: Hey, Julia…Look at those desserts! How about baking some cookies today? Julia: Hmm…Yeah, that’s a great idea! While we’re here, let’s pick up the ingredients. Louise: OK, what do we need? Julia: The recipe calls for flour, sugar and butter. Oh, and we also need eggs and chocolate chips. Louise: Why don’t you get the dairy ingredients? You’ll find those in the refrigerated section in the back of the store. I’ll get the dry ingredients — they’re in aisle 10. Julia: Great! Let’s meet at the checkout. Louise: OK. See you there. Movie review P. K P. K. is a comedy of ideas about a stranger in the city, who asks questions that no one has asked before. They are innocent, child-like questions, but they bring about catastrophic answers. People who are set in their ways for generations, are forced to reappraise their world when they see it from PK's innocent eyes. In the process PK makes loyal friends and powerful foes. Mends broken lives and angers the establishment. P. K.'s childlike curiosity transforms into a spiritual odyssey for him and millions of others. The film is an ambitious and uniquely original exploration of complex philosophies. It is also a simple and humane tale of love, laughter and letting-go. Finally, it is a moving saga about a friendship between strangers from worlds apart. Experience Finally I have seen the beautiful city of Paris. DAY 1: Arrive in mid morning and after checking in at the hotel went to see the Army Museum. It was a beautiful museum and properly laid out, but of course my favorite was the Tomb of Napoleon. It is indeed very beautiful and interesting to see. Went back to the hotel and put on heavier jacket it was cold and decided to see Arch de triomphe. We used the elevator to go to the top. The view from the top was breathtaking. There was little platform were a lot of people poses for a picture since it has the view of the Eiffel tower in the background. lovely!!!!! Day 2: We headed to the Notre Dame that morning, walk around the grounds for a bit take pictures and just enjoy the grounds filled with lovely and lively crowds. The lines were long but it does move very fast. And again more picture taking inside the lovely cathedral. Stopped at a coffee shop. It was already 2 in the afternoon took the bus and head to St. Chapple line was long and very slow since they just open after lunch break. 3rd stop for the day was the Orsay museum since they were open late that day and even if it was past 6 the lines were still long, but since i have the museum pass we went right through. Just go to line C which says with reserve tickets or museum pass. It was worth the visit though. Day 3: This is Eiffel tower day. Since I was aware that there was a lift problem we try to get there early before the ticket office opens up. And " Oh my" looks like all the tourist in Paris was thinking the same way i did. The lines were very long and it was really slow as in really slow. It was already 2 in the afternoon when I get the ticket and waited about another half an hour to get to the elevator. It is better to take pictures on the second floor because it was not so crowded. The summit with all the people going up there gets very cramp. But it was worth once we we're up there. Next stop Louvre they have late closing on Friday so we headed there. We already made up our mind to see just the Monalisa and stayed for another hour more after seeing the painting. The room was crowded and why not the famous lady is there. Tiny painting though compared to the other massive paintings in the room. Since it was starting to get dark we headed to see the tower lit at night. Took the bus 72 heading for St Cloud and what a surprised the route was like a mini tour of Paris. It starts at Hotel de Ville, passes by louvre, Pont Neuf, Place de la Concorde, Grand Palais. We did not reach the other end because we get off at Pont Alma to watch the Eiffel illuminate. Day 4: Versailles trip. Arrive midday at the castle, All visitors with the museum pass and with other tickets have one line and have to go through the security. After passing security get a audio guide which was free and head inside the castle. Versailles was breathtaking! Just go there and see for yourselves if it is in your plan to visit the castle. It is not hard to look for even if it is outside Paris. We skip the garden though. Day 5: What can i say this was going back home. Paris is lovely but even lovelier at night when it is all lit up. So romantic. Maybe someday we could back to visit again! Presentation 7 Memorable Ways To Open A Speech Or Presentation After hours of preparation, the moment to deliver your speech has arrived. You’re standing before the podium, all eyes on you, with confidence that no one could take away. Then you begin… “Hello, everyone. Thank you for having me. My name is ______ _______, and I am going to be speaking to you today about _______. To begin, _______ is important because…” Suddenly people begin shifting in their seats, checking their phones, reading the program, talking to one another and doing anything but paying attention to you. Your opening often determines how long the audience will “tune in” to your presentation. If you bore your audience right from the start, there is little chance that your message will effectively get across. How do you effectively open a speech or presentation to prevent this from happening? Here are seven effective methods to open a speech or presentation: 1. Quote Opening with a relevant quote can help set the tone for the rest of your speech. For example, one that I often use to open a presentation dealing with public speaking: “It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.” – Mark Twain 2. “What If” Scenario Immediately drawing your audience into your speech works wonders. Asking a “what if” question invites the audience to follow your thought process. “What if we were all blunt? How different would our everyday lives be? What would happen if we said what was on our minds, all day every day?” 3. “Imagine” Scenario A similar method, but more relevant for sensational examples. It puts your audience members directly into the presentation by allowing each member to visualize an extraordinary scenario. “Imagine jumping out of a skydiving plane and discovering your parachute doesn’t work. What memories would flash before you? Now imagine the parachute opened. How differently would you act when you landed?” 4. Question Ask a rhetorical or literal question. When someone is posed with a question, whether an answer is called for or not, that person intuitively answers. “Who wouldn’t want to live on an exotic island?” 5. Silence A pause, whether two seconds or 10 seconds, allows your audience to sit and quiet down. Most audiences expect a speaker to begin immediately. An extra pause brings all the attention right where you should want it – on you. 6. Statistic Use a surprising, powerful, personalized statistic that will resonate with the audience to get your message across right away. It has the potential to trigger the audiences’ emotional appeal. “Look to your left. Now look to your right. One of your seatmates will ___________.” “In this room, over 90 percent of us are going to _________.” 7. Powerful Statement/Phrase A statement or phrase can catch the audience’s attention by keeping them guessing as to what you’re about to say next. Implementing the silence technique afterwards also adds to the effect. “We can not win. We can’t win…” (Pause) “… That’s what every newspaper in the country is saying.”
