Reading and speaking practice.

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Hy Evylinda
I just would like to give you a short reply because we will be a week off for hollidays.
Cheers Urs

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'Do we have to have a car?'

My whife asked me three years ago.
That's what my post is about but I also would like to tell you what we did during our hollidays - it has got something to do with it.

Cheers
Urs

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What can you do to combine work, family and children?

Of course, this is a question which would fill easily several threads, but nevertheless I would like to share some ideas with you about it.

Cheers Urs

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part two

[Evylinda]

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Please listen to my recording and respond with a voice message too. Many thanks.

[Evylinda]

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This is a photographic view of the city where I live.
Legaspi City, at its background is the majestic MAYON Volcano.
This volcano is the region's pride and a popular symbol
of the Philippines.



It is the most near-perfect cone in the world.
It also happens to be one of the world's most active volcanoes.
Since its first recorded eruption in 1616, the volcano's fury
has been felt nearly a hundred times.
Tourists, however come whenever an eruption occurs because of the nightly lava glow!



Visitors can actually view it from the famous ruins of Cagsawa,
a town which was thoroughly obliterated during the volcano's most fierce eruption in 1814.

Visitors can also go midway up to the slopes to the Resthouse Complex offering
a dramatic view of the coastline.

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The regions pride and fear

Hello Evylinda
You posted us two amazing photos of your home town - but one of them is quite disturbing! Did you grow up in this place? Are you therefore accustomed to the permanent threat that loures behind the city?
For me, it's a mystery how you cope as an inhabitant and as a a society of this wonderful place, always at risk to be severly damaged by the volcano's mighty, powerful and presumably very unpredictable eruptions?
You must belong to a fearless sort of people, indeed, Evylinda!

Do the seysmologysts in the Philippines pay very close attention to any sign of a new possible outbrake? And what are the plans of the authorities to rescue the people in case of need? I very much wonder. Or could it be that the fury of the volcano is not that outrageous most of the times, since tourists seem to visit quite often during an outbrake?

You have certainly been asked theese questions a hundred times, I guess.
So feel free to answer them here on this thread or, otherwise, let us stay in a state of gloomy admiration and slight horror, asking ourselves what it would be like to live in your place!
I wish you a very nice day.
Urs

P.s:
In the mean time I took my post off the thread - out of fear that I would rob the boys and girls of Yuri's class off the chance to start a conversation with you about this thrilling topic... but then found out that you have posted it here on this thread.

So let me put it back again and ask instead:

Could you post the pictures on the other thread 'Don't be shy' too? I'm sure the kids would love it!

Cheers
Urs

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Many thanks, Evylinda, for your warm reply. I listened to your response several times in order to pick up all the vocabulary and write it down on little cards I use to memorise words and expressions.

Because I very seldom need my English for my work - except I have to make a request for, let's say, a round shaped glass which they produce in Finnland, I'm not so good at this kind of vocabulary - so, many many thanks that you took your time to answer my post!

May I get back to you later? I will be jogging for the next two hours and probably there will be no time left tonight for going online. But on monday, I can assure you, I will reply to you duely.

Have a nice evening!

Urs

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Hy Evylinda
Guess what we did in our hollidays? We went to a Museum which displays 400 cars!
It was the childrens choice in Mulhouse (France) out of three possibilities. The other ones had been: a museum of the Electricity and a Museum of Trains...

I have to say that it was really fascinating. I would like to post some pictures and give a comment. I won't start with the very beginning of the car history but a little later, at the years when cars still resembled coaches but had decent motors and so people started to enjoy the drives and the new cars became fancy symbols of the modern times and velocity...



In the early years of the twentieth century, a few firms started to produce series of cars for the market and meant to be bought by middle class people. They were much smaller but much more brightly painted as the distinguished cars!



But most of the cars were bought by rich people, like this one:



This Maserati drove up to 180 km/hour - you see, the racing cars were highly demanded in the roaring twenties (the car was produced in 1930).

But what really astonished me was a very small car called "l'oeuf" (the egg) produced in 1942 by a man called Arzens who was an architect but designed all kinds of things such as cars as well. The car was battery-operated - imagine this!



Arzens drove it himself and later put in a 5 PS fuel-motor as well.
The next picture shows another car of his, a extremely stream-lined limousine named "La Baleine", produced in 1938.



Of course they had a few modern cars on display as well, like this one:



It is a Bugatti Veyron and is actually the fastest sports car produced in a small serie.
It's speed limit is 406 km/hour (where can you drive this fast, except on a racing course?) and it accelerates from 0 to 100 km/hour in 2,5 seconds (you need to first pass a G-Test like an Austronaut or a jet pilot to train not to loose consciousness on this wild ride!).

Nowadays, the fascination for cars has turned out to be problematic. Cars are still useful of course for many things but also cause serious troubles in terms of enviromental dammages. The more cars that circulate on this planet, it is to fear, the bigger are the serious influences on our climat. Cars are not the only reason to blame for the changes but they are likely to get much more widespread in the next few years.

But the younger generation in many Western Countrys tend to a slight change of heart. It is no longer a real "must" to have a car on your own. This doesn't mean you shouldn't use one when neccessary, but can as well take the train, go by bus or take your bike.

I recall vividly the many discussions of us kids with my father who stuck to have a car for all purposes and still takes the train only if he can't avoid it. O.k., we were a bit unfair with him at the time, since we did innumerous exciting excursions by car with him like canoeing, skying, going on Hollidays to foreign countrys and so on, shame on us, but kids like arguments but lack insight sometimes...

I hope that there are enough decent people around, who are aware of the danger we might get into if we go on driving the same kind of cars and to the same extent like today. It will be neccessary to set up roules and laws which restrict the use of gasoline and other carbon generating energies by taxes and restrictions, I guess, to achieve the major task to save the planet.

I don't think we could forbid people to buy a car but we need to restrict on carbon dioxyd emissions urgently - so that in 30 years time people still are allowed to drive around.

Cheers Urs

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The small joys in live - like balancing

Hi there Evylinda

I would like to try again - so this is another "go" at free speach, which still is difficult for me. It is about the small joys in live and has got something to do with training your body.

Cheers Urs

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part two

[Cgk]

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Hi Urs,

I absolutely adore the look of old cars! I mean, I'm not really "into cars" or anything, but whenever I see a real old model of the 1920s - 1950s, it makes my head turn. There are a lot of car collectors / re-builders of hot rods and historic cars in America. I've been to a car show in New York State. My friend Chris and his Dad buy old cars and rebuild them and show them there. They prefer models of the 1950s.

I've never seen a "l'oeuf" before. I never even knew it existed. What an amazing little car! It would get a lot of attention when driving down the road, lol. I still love the old Rolls Royce. Thank you so much for posting these pics.

As pretty and cute as the old cars look, I'm glad they've progressed in safety and comfort, and are becoming more and more environmentally friendly over the years.

Claudia
_________________
In the land of the ignorant, the biggest fool is king.