The English-Speaking Union Awards

BBC Learning EnglishLondon LifeThe English-Speaking Union AwardsCallum: Hello, I'm Callum Robertson and this is LondonLife.
　　One of the most famous buildings in London is BuckinghamPalace and perhapsLondon's most famous residents are the Royal Family.TheQueen and her husband Prince Philip, The Duke of Edinburghfor whom Buckingham Palace is their official London home,as well as representing the United Kingdom are alsoinvolved in many charities and other organisations.One ofthose charities is the English-Speaking Union, or the ESUand last week their annual awards were presented atBuckingham Palace by the Duke of Edinburgh.
　　The day before the awards were presented I spoke² toElizabeth Stokes the Director of Education of the English-Speaking Union to find out more about the ESU and theawards. I asked her first about the history of the ESU.
　　When was it foundedand what was its aim? Listen out for that information.
　　Elizabeth StokesThe English-Speaking Union was originally founded in 1918and it was post the First World War and the idea was topromote international understanding and friendship throughthe use of the English Language.
　　Callum: The ESU was founded in 1918, after the end of theFirst World War and its aim was to use the English languageto encourage friendship and understanding around the world.
　　Originally the ESU was established in Britain and NorthAmerica. Elizabeth goes on to explain how it has expandedsince then. She uses the nounremit – the organisations' remit³. A remit is a word forwhat an organisation¹ hasLondon Life  ? BBC Learning EnglishPage 1 of 3bbclearningenglish.comresponsibility for. She talks about how the organisation'sremit has grown, they have become responsible for morethings.
　　How many English-Speaking Unions does she say there are nowaround the world?
　　Elizabeth StokesThe English-Speaking Union was originally founded in 1918and it was post the First World War and the idea was topromote international understanding and friendship throughthe use of the English Language. We really feel that thisis vitally important nowadays and really our remit hasgrown, originally it was between 1918 as a link betweenEngland and America, the idea of fostering⁴ understandingbetween the two countries but we now have ESUs on all fivecontinents. We have nearly 50 internatonal ESUs. They docome together once a year for an international conferenceand the idea really is to promote international friendshipand understanding through the medium of the Englishlanguage.
　　Callum: Now there are nearly 50 ESUs around the world onall five continents who meet every year. The goal is stillto promote international understanding and I asked how theydid this.
　　Elizabeth StokesWe have international conferences, we hold cultural events,we run a book award annually⁵ for the Duke of EdinburghEnglish Language Book Award and the President's Award whichrewards new technologies in English Language Teaching. Wealso have a centre for speech and debate which runs aSchool Mace⁶ competition and we have university debatingcompetitions as well.
　　Callum: The activities of the English-Speaking Unioninclude cultural events, debating competitions in schoolsand universities and awards for books and new technologiesin English Language Teaching and it is these awards thatwere to be presented the following dayElizabeth StokesTomorrow afternoon the Duke of Edinburgh has kindly⁷ allowedus to use Buckingham Palace for our annual awards ceremony.
　　The Duke of Edinburgh will be presenting the Duke ofEdinburgh English Language Book Award and the President'sAward to books which we feel are outstanding and innovativein the field of English Language Teaching. Following thoseawards being giventhe winners of our school awards including the SchoolDebating competition and the national Public Speakingcompetition will also come up and receive certificates fromthe Duke of Edinburgh.
　　Callum: The Duke of Edinburgh presented the awards foroutstanding and innovative⁸ books. Outstanding means of veryhigh quality, very special and innovative means original,using new and interesting ideas. One of these awards is thePresident's Award for technology. Elizabeth told me aboutthis year's winner. What kind of product was it and wherewas it created?
　　Elizabeth StokesThe winner this year was Space Search, a CD-ROM designedfor 9-10 year olds and it's a game by which they learnEnglish as they kind of go through the game and we're quiteexcited by this award as the winners are a very smalllanguage school from the Basque Country, and they're veryexcited to be coming to the Palace tomorrow.
　　Callum: The winner of the President's award was a CD-ROM, acomputer based Language Learning game. It was developed bya small school in the Basque Country. They were lookingforward to their day at Buckingham Palace as was ElizabethStokes herself.
　　Elizabeth StokesOh it should be a very exciting event, I mean for thewinners to come and have their work honoured, for the booksto be kind of promoted by the Duke of Edinburgh. It shouldbe a really exciting day.
　　Callum: That's all from this edition of London Life.

1 organisation   

n.组织，安排，团体，有机休

参考例句：

• The method of his organisation work is worth commending.他的组织工作的方法值得称道。
• His application for membership of the organisation was rejected.他想要加入该组织的申请遭到了拒绝。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 remit   

v.汇款，汇寄；豁免（债务），免除（处罚等）

参考例句：

• I hope you'll remit me the money in time.我希望你能及时把钱汇寄给我。
• Many immigrants regularly remit money to their families.许多移民定期给他们的家人汇款。

4 fostering   

v.培养，促进( foster的现在分词 )；收养，养育

参考例句：

• Our school is dedicated to fostering interdisciplinary talents. 我校致力于培养复合型人才。 来自辞典例句
• Economic conditions fostering speculation in land have driven land values to a lofty level. 助长土地投机的经济状况把土地价格推向极高的水平。 来自辞典例句

5 annually   

adv.一年一次，每年

参考例句：

• Many migratory birds visit this lake annually.许多候鸟每年到这个湖上作短期逗留。
• They celebrate their wedding anniversary annually.他们每年庆祝一番结婚纪念日。

6 mace   

n.狼牙棒，豆蔻干皮

参考例句：

• The sword and mace were favourite weapons for hand-to-hand fighting.剑和狼牙棒是肉搏战的最佳武器。
• She put some mace into the meat.她往肉里加了一些肉豆蔻干皮。

7 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

8 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。