Group 7

12 Short






English





Lessons








Group 7









Dr Allen Brown

Cambridge Paperbacks

www.CambridgePaperbacks.com

First published by Cambridge Paperbacks 2019



© Allen Brown 2019

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system without
permission in writing from the author.



Disclaimer

Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the
information in this book was correct during preparation and printing, the
author and publisher hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any errors
or omissions.

Read this First

Welcome to the seventh set of 12 Short English
Lessons. These are designed for anyone learning

English. Audio is also available and details for how the

get the audio file are shown at the end of this flipbook.


Ideally you would read the text in this flipbook and

listen to the audio at the same time. By doing this you
will get a better understanding of the pronunciation

发音 of English words and the flow of the sentences.


Since this is a flipbook, you will able to access its

contents very easily as the Contents pages will point

to each lesson.


The words used in these Short Lessons are used in

every day English and these lessons should help the
readers to increase the number of English words they

can use in their every day speaking.


Happy learning.


Allen Brown
Cambridgeshire

Contents


Lesson 73 .............................................................................. 2
Lesson 74 .............................................................................. 4


Lesson 75 .............................................................................. 6
Lesson 76 .............................................................................. 8

Lesson 77 ............................................................................ 10

Lesson 78 ............................................................................ 12

Lesson 79 ............................................................................ 15

Lesson 80 ............................................................................ 17

Lesson 81 ............................................................................ 19

Lesson 82 ............................................................................ 21

Lesson 83 ............................................................................ 24

Lesson 84 ............................................................................ 28

Lesson 85 (Bonus)............................................................... 31












1

Lesson 73


In the photo you can see what is known as a full

English breakfast. You will observe the quantity of
food is huge for one person. It should be stated from

the outset this breakfast is in fact very unhealthy.

























It consists of fried eggs, pork sausages, baked beans,

fried mushrooms, fried bread and bacon. So as you
can see there is a lot of protein in the breakfast but

also quite a lot of carbohydrate as well.


The question is, what makes this unhealthy? There are
a number of things; to begin with the pork sausages

and the bacon are processed foods and have a lots of



2

added chemicals, for example the bacon has added

salt which makes it particularly unhealthy especially
for people over 50 who need to reduce their salt

intake.

The fat content of the sausages is usually far too high,

but that's what makes them taste so nice. Since most

of the food in the English breakfast is fried in fat, this
makes it very unhealthy.


I usually eat about three English breakfasts in one

year, however having said that it's really, really is very
yum. Unfortunately there are far too many people in

England and also America that eat this breakfast every
day - not good.


The English breakfast certainly leads to unnecessary

weight gain together with the very unhealthy way the

food is prepared, but it is still very nice to eat.




This completes Lesson 73.









3

Lesson 74


I have already talked about most of the instruments

of the symphony orchestra. However there are a few
I haven't mentioned that are only

used occasionally. The photo shows
a bass clarinet which is much bigger

than the ordinary clarinet and

produces very low pitch notes. You
can see the mouth piece with a

single reed on the right hand side of

the photo.

It is true to say that anyone who can

play the clarinet can also play the

bass clarinet with a little extra
practice. The layout of the keys is the

same, the only difference being four
extra keys which the player can

easily master.




The bass clarinet came into use in the symphony

orchestra in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
The French composer Hector Berloiz (1803 - 1869)

4

used it in a number of his big orchestral pieces. The

second photo shows Berloiz.

























The bass clarinet sometimes appears in film music.

Listening to film music you find the bass clarinet when
the composer wants to increase the thrill, like when

something is slowly approaching.


It has to be said the bass clarinet is scored into
orchestral pieces because of the low pitch notes it

produces. The higher pitch notes sound almost the

same as an ordinary clarinet. In the following audio
track you can hear the wonderful low notes the

instrument produces.



5

Lesson 75


In this lesson we shall be practicing more English

pronunciation. After you hear each sentence, I want
you to repeat it.


If there are any words you don't understand, make a
note of them and look them up later.


I very often come across English words that are new

to me.

It is at times like these we should all join together to

give a united front.


I should like to reserve a table for four in your
restaurant please.


There have been many changes in the market, I am

not sure whether we shall continue to make a profit.

Mr Wang is expected this afternoon, make sure there

is a parking space for his car.

Did you know he has left his wife and ran off with his

secretary?


The news is so depressing these days.



6

Have you had enough to eat or would you like me to

make you another sandwich?

How many people are you expecting to attend the

dinner party this evening?


I fear that something dreadful has happened to him,
he is never as late as this.


We all expected far more of him as he is a very
talented performer.


The results so far have been very encouraging and we

believe the project will be a success.

I am so pleased that you have been able to join us for

lunch.




This completes Lesson 75














7

Lesson 76


One of the interesting products you see in shops

these days are coloured crayons or coloured pens or
coloured pencils. You can see in the photo an example

of different coloured pencils.
































The reason why I have chosen this theme for an

English lesson is the fact that there are far more
colours than there are well known names for them.

The simple colours of the rainbow; red, orange,





8

yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet are only a small

range of colours that actually have simple names.

Those of you who have a colour printer will know the

names of the four basic colours, they are black,
yellow, cyan and magenta. Although it can be argued

that black is not a colour, it is the absence of colour or

light.

Here are some unusual English names of colours:











You may want to look these up in your Chinese
dictionary to see what these shades of colours look

like. Notice also the pronunciation of these words.


In computer science it is customary to have colours
24
represented by 2 to the power of 24, 2 . Which is
over 16 million different colours, whether the eye is

able to distinguish between this huge range of colours
is debatable.


This completes Lesson 76



9

Lesson 77


Every home should have easy chairs. They are needed

to relax on after a busy day, after you've had dinner
and put the children to bed. A typical easy chair is

shown in the photos. So how do
you select an easy chair?

Appeal - whether you like the

appearance of the chair. The
shape, colour of the fabric are

important.


Of course the true test is
comfort. After you decide you

like the look of the chair you need to try it out for

comfort. Is it too hard or too soft? Does it give your
back good support? These are

all questions that you are able
to answer within a very short

time after sitting in the chair.


The Easy Chair may have extra
features as shown in the

second photo. Here you can

see the chair extends and is referred to as a recliner.

10

This chair does have one big disadvantage, after

making yourself comfortable you will be fast asleep
within minutes.


To add to the comfort it is
customary to add cushions as you

can see in the third photo. The

cushions have the effect of
customising the chair for your

particular needs. In effect they

help to profile the chair to your
body shape.


Instead of buying a
single chair you

would probably buy a

suite comprising two
easy chairs and a sofa

as you can see in the

fourth photo. It all
depends on how much space you have in your living

room.


This complete Lesson 77



11

Lesson 78


I have already talked about the wind section and brass

section in a symphony orchestra, I want to talk about
the string section. In the first photo you can see an

entire symphony orchestra you will observe the
majority of the players are in fact string players.
















String players comprise violins, violas, cellos, double
basses and at least one harp.


We shall start with the violins and

the violas. These string instruments
are shown in the second

photograph, you will notice the
viola is slightly larger than the

violin. Going back to the first photo,

the players on the left-hand side of
the conductor (who is standing in



12

the middle) are violin players. Whereas the viola

players are behind the bank of cellos which are on the
right hand side of the conductor.


In a modern symphony orchestra there are more
violin players than any other instrument. In fact the

violins are divided into two sections referred to as the

first and second violins.

As you can see from the second photo both

instruments have four strings and before the

instruments can be played the strings have to be
tuned. To obtain proficiency in playing the violin or

viola it takes many years of practice, many hours a
day.


During the 17th and 18th century there was a region

in Italy known as Cremona where many string

instruments were made. The three famous families of
makers were Stradivari, Guarneri and Amati.


The viola being a larger instrument produces lower
notes than the violin and generally the sound is much

darker as we say in English.





13

When playing these instruments, they are placed
under the chin and a bow drawn across the strings to

generate the sound as you can see in the third photo.


You can hear the sounds these instruments make the
following audio tracks.





This completes Lesson 78.










14

Lesson 79


In this lesson I am going to talk about the cello, which

you can see in the first photo.















The modern symphony orchestra has many cellos as
you can see in the second photo, they are on the right-

hand side of the conductor. The cello is quite a large

string instrument and as shown in the first photo the
player positions the instrument between their legs.


Like the violin and viola, the cello

is also played with a bow which
is dragged across the strings.

Most cellos have four strings but
it is not unusual to find some

instruments with five strings.


The sounds created by the cello
can be very dark and very


15

attractive. Unfortunately, it takes many years of

practice before the player can develop a beautiful
tone with the instrument, for so many years the tone

is very poor.

Someone who is good at playing the cello is called a

cellist.


The famous German composer JS Bach wrote a set of
six suites for the cello and every accomplished cellist

learns how to play the suites. Here is a website with

all six cello suites.




https://costanzabach.stanford.edu




As you can see from the second photo there is a big

cohort of cellists in a modern symphony orchestra. It
can be said that if you become an accomplished cellist

you will be able to find a job in an orchestra without

any problem. Here is a sample sound of the cello.

This completes Lesson 79.





16

Lesson 80


In this lesson I shall be taking about the double bass.

In the now familiar photo of a symphony orchestra
you can see all the double basses on the extreme right

hand side next to the wall.















The second photo shows a player holding his double

bass. You will notice the instrument is also played with
a bow just like the other string instruments.


The pitch of the sound made by

the double bass is very low and
adds the foundation to the

audio soundstage of the
orchestra. One of the big

problems with the double bass

is transport, it is very difficult to
carry and move around because it is so big. When a



17

Symphony Orchestra is on tour, a lot of the carrier

space is taken up with the double basses.

The double base is usually played as part of the string

section of the orchestra, however there are some
concertos for the double bass, where a double bass is

the solo instrument accompanied by the orchestra.


These concertos are very few and far between. This
phrase means, there are not very many of them and

they are rare.


There was a time when only men played the double
bass, but as we have become more progressive, we

find more women are now playing the instrument. It

is not uncommon to see women double bass players
in a symphony orchestra.


The double bass has also
been taken up by jazz

players, and it quite often

found in a jazz piano trio
where you will have a piano,

a double bass and drums. The double bass is usually

plucked, as the bow is not used in a jazz piano trio as
you can see in the third photo.

18

Lesson 81


The last string instrument I want to talk about is the

harp as shown in the first photo. Most symphony
orchestras have at least one harp and you can see a

single harp on the extreme left-hand side of second
photo which you have seen a few times now.
















Also known as the pedal harp or concert harp, the
instrument has 47 strings and each time the

instrument is played the strings normally have to be

tuned. A person who plays the harp is called a harpist;
tuning their harp is a daily task they have to perform.


The harp has a very long history and was first made
many thousands of years ago. Although the overall

shape has changed the fundamental design has

remained the same; stretched strings when plucked
will vibrate to produce a distinctive tone.



19

The concert harp has seven pedals as

you can see in the third photo. Each
pedal has three positions. The pedals

allow the player to change the pitch

of the strings and their use is actually
quite skilful. It is a skill that a harpist

must learn in order to become a
proficient player of the instrument.


There is a famous concerto for flute

and harp written by Mozart, it is a
delightful work and if you

wish to listen to it open up

the following webpage,









https://musopen.org/music/2399/wolfgang-

amadeus-mozart/flute-and-harp-concerto-in-c-

major-k299297c/

Here is an sample of the sound produced by the

concert harp.



20

Lesson 82


In this lesson I shall be talking about instruments that

are found in the percussion section of the symphony
orchestra. In particular those instruments which have

a tightly stretched skin surface. Generally speaking
these are called drums of some sort or another.


The main feature of most percussion instruments is

that they are struck with a mallet to create different
sorts of sounds. Many percussion instruments are

tuned, by this I mean they have a distinctive pitch.























1. Typani: you can see a set of typani in photo 1, these
were first used in the symphony orchestra in the

eighteenth century. In those days there would have



21

been only two typani in an orchestra. Today you

would have a minimum of four and you will notice
from the photo each typani has a pedal which allows

the pitch of the instrument to change during

performance. Here is typical typani sound.

2. Bass drum: as you can see in

photo 2, this instrument is big
and can produce very loud

sounds and this what it sounds

like.

3. Tambourine: known all over

the world and as you can see in
photo 3 it has a stretched skin on

one side and the little cymbals

embedded in the frame. Here is a
typical tambourine sound.


4. Snare drum: this is usually

associated with the military music and
is also found in pop music drum kits. A

typical snare drum is shown in photo 4

and here is an example the sound
produced by this instrument.


22

5. Tam tam: one of my personal favourites and a tam

tam is shown in photo 5, it is effectively a very big
gong. This instrument produces a wonderful sound

that lasts for several seconds after it has been struck

by a mallet. This is what it sounds like.




This completes Lesson 82











23

Lesson 83


Continuing from the previous lesson, I shall be talking

about more percussion instruments that are found in
a modern symphony orchestra. In particular

instruments on which you can play tunes. These
instruments are also struck with a mallet and

sometimes the player may be holding four mallets at

the same time. A lot of practice is therefore needed to
perform well on these instruments.





























1: xylophone: this instrument has a set of very hard
wooden blocks of different sizes and when they are

struck they produce a musical note. You can see an


24

example of a xylophone in photo 1. The wooden

blocks are laid out in the same way as a piano
keyboard. Should be wondering, this is what a

xylophone sounds like.


























2: vibraphone: on this instrument there are metal bars
of different sizes as shown in photo 2 and when struck

by a mallet they produce a musical tone. Underneath

each metal bar there is a reverberation chamber
which takes the shape of a metal tube. This is what

the vibraphone sounds like.


3: marimba: in many respects the marimba is very
similar to the vibraphone, except it has hard wooden

blocks and not metal bars. It also has a reverberation


25

chamber underneath each block. Here is an example

sound from a marimba.


























4: glockenspiel: this instrument also has metal bars of

different sizes as you can see in photo 4, each bar
when struck by a mallet makes its own individual

sound. The glockenspiel sounds very much like a
children's toy as you hear in this sample.


















26

5: tubular bells: these comprise metal tubes of

different length as you can see in the photo 5. When
struck with a mallet tubular bells make a very

distinctive chime like tone. It must be said that they

are not used very often, but are still part of the
modern symphony orchestra. This is what tubular

bells sound like.































This completes Lesson 83








27

Lesson 84


This is the last lesson where I shall be talking about

percussion instruments that are found in a modern
symphony orchestra. As a general rule, if something

can be struck with a mallet and it makes a sound then
you can call it a percussion instrument. There are

many instruments in the percussion section and I shall

be talking about five more of them.

1. Cymbals: these are metal

discs which produce a very

loud clashing sound when
they are banged together.

Although they can be played

very softly as well. In photo 1
you can see a pair of

cymbals, but it is not uncommon to have one cymbal
which is then struck with a mallet. This is what the

cymbal sounds like.


2. Triangle: a very modest instrument, the skill set
needed to play a triangle is based on a good sense of

timing - knowing when to strike it. Photo 2 shows a




28

triangle. The following is the

sound made when the metal rod
is strikes all sides in rapid

succession.




3. Cowbells: you can see in

photo 3 a set of cowbells and
these are struck with a mallet.

They make a hollow sound as

you hear from this sample.




4. Castanets: of Spanish
origin, traditionally the

castanets are played by

women flamenco dancers.
They are made of wood and

have a distinctive sound

and they are always played
in pairs. I'm sure you will like the following sound of

castanets being played.





29

5. Maracas: these come

from Latin America and
are used extensively in

Latin dance rhythms. As

you can see in photo 5,
they come in pairs and

consist of a wooden shell
filled with hard beads. This

is what Maracas sound like.




To round off this English lesson, we shall end with

several percussion instruments all playing together.







This completes the Lesson 84














30

Lesson 85 (Bonus)


This lesson is all about the piccolo which is shown in

the photo. It is the smallest instrument in the
woodwind section but does not appear too often in

the symphony orchestra. It produces very high pitch
notes and is usually heard well above the other

instruments in the orchestra.













The piccolo was scored in Beethoven's sixth
symphony. This symphony was written in early years

of the nineteenth century. The third movement

portrays a thunderstorm and the piccolo is clearly
heard above the rest of the orchestra.


Normally the piccolo is played by one of the flute

players as it's true to say, if you can play an orchestral
flute, you can also play the piccolo. So you have the

extremes, the piccolo being the smallest instrument

of the orchestra and the double bass being the largest
instrument.

31

No doubt you are curious

as to the sound the
instrument makes. Here is

an example of the rich

tone produced by the
piccolo.















This completes Lesson 85



















32

There is an audio recording of the author reading each

lesson which is available on request from the
following address.


[email protected]




Please include your sales number as without it we

cannot send the audio files.




There are seven groups of lessons available


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Saying which flipbooks you want to buy.







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