Listening report, BBC radio PDF

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Listening report for grammar classes, lvl C2. Contains mistakes....

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Zuzanna Krüger Linguistics and Information Science 3

Name: Course: Group:

Listening Report no. 2 Month:

November

Title of series: Title of programme: Source: Date: Topic Area:

The Forum Lifting the Lid: the History of the Toilet BBC World Service Radio 12 November 2018 History https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3cswpsx

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Content The programme's premise is to review the history of toilets. It analyses how sanitary instalments have been invented and reinvented across the centuries and geographical latitudes to suit human needs and prevent environmental contamination; starting from ancient Greece and Rome, ending on contemporary struggles with the disposal of human waste. The earliest surviving evidence for humans building and using toilet systems was found in the Indus Valley Civilization (so the territories of modern India and Pakistan) circa 3000 BC. They had a clever design – drilled holes would lead all the filth to a big tank. It seems that a similar pattern was followed by other ancient civilizations of the same period, f.ex.: Egypt, Thailand, Scotland and the Greek island of Crete, NB where archaeologists discovered one of the first flush toilets. Nevertheless, probably the most recognizable ancient civilization, when it comes to its sanitary inventions, is the 1-2nd cen tury CE Rome. It is believed that the earliest Roman house toilets, dated for the 8-5th century BC, were constructed of wood which is the reason why there are no remainings of them left. However, a few hundred years after wooden toilets, stone toilets had been brought to life. Their size and building materials were standardized across the whole polis. In public toilets there was a little channel that ran at the feet of the toilet to rinse off the sponge stick – a tool used by people to clean themselves. It is im portant to mention there were no partitions between the seats which means there was no privacy for the users. Perhaps Roman togas and tunics with their length would cover up enough of the body to make it less intimidating. It is known that some of the Roman public toilets had even 50 seats in a row; historians conclude it might have been functioning as a place of social meet ings and gatherings. Even though this feat of human engineering has not evolved dramatically since the ancient times, there are over two billion people around the world that still do not have access to facilities with running water. They live from the cradle to the grave in an environment of increased risk of contracting a disease that might have been prevented with proper sanitary conditions. (382 words) Language (1)

from the cradle to the grave – If something affects you from the cradle to the grave, it affects you throughout your life. The bond of brotherhood was one to last from the cradle to the grave.

(2)

feat of engineering – If you refer to an action, or the result of an action, as a feat, you admire it because it is an impressive and difficult achievement. A racing car is an extraordinary feat of engineering.

(3)

disposal of human waste – getting rid of waste matter discharged from the body

(4)

geographical latitude – the position north or south of the equator measured from 0° to 90°

(5)

environmental contamination – harmful chemicals present in soil, air and water...