Przykładowe Materiały Egzaminacyjne JĘzyk angielski poziom 3 Czytanie

Listening 52

Good morning ladies and gentlemen. I’m happy to announce that this is our last meeting after the great flood in Austria. To begin with I’d like to thank you and your people for the incredibly hard work of the last three weeks. The combined operation of multinational military rescue forces from Italy, France, Denmark, Holland and Germany, which helped the civilian authorities of Austria, turned out extremely successful. However, we encountered several difficulties which should be avoided in the future. Therefore, I’ve been asked to make some comments and recommendations concerning the operating methods for different rescue services both military and civilian. Now. As you know, the torrential rains which caused many of the small streams in the Alps to turn into wild and dangerous rivers created floods in both mountainous and low-land areas of the country, and even in big towns such as Linz, which resulted in severe damage such as the undermining of roads, railways and bridges, and the flooding of all kinds of buildings in villages and towns. Ladies and Gentlemen. Speaking of the deployment of the various rescue teams during our operation. To begin with, we didn’t deploy enough troops to cope with the floods. Why was this? Well. The first estimate the civilian authorities gave us was that ten thousand people had to be evacuated. In truth, there were twenty thousand people who needed to be evacuated. Consequently, we didn’t have enough troops to deal with this. The authorities underestimated the problem. We quickly called up reserves, so we overcame this problem. Continuing on the theme of deployment. I must say that in general all the orders for all the teams deployed to specific places were clear, easy to follow, and our people knew where to go, what to do, and how to act. For example, the French and Germans reached their designated areas with great speed. However, there was a problem with the deployment of the Italian troops. They were mistakenly sent to the least threatened place, and because of this they were literally jobless for several hours. And it was a real waste because they would have been more useful elsewhere. Now, why did this happen? They were given the wrong map. Such mistakes should never happen again. Now. The civilian authorities also made mistakes. Not to wonder, given the hectic circumstances of those first few days. One such mistake affected the people of Kreuzfeld. Several families of farmers were cut off by the floods and had to remain in their households. They managed to survive the highest point of the food by climbing on the roofs of their houses from where they were evacuated by rescue teams and helicopters. What went wrong? The authorities were supposed to give out the emergency evacuation warnings and somehow Kreuzfeld was neglected. Moving on to other units. Looking at the medical teams. There was one major problem. Due to lack of accuracy in sending data concerning the number of victims, not enough places have been prepared at hospitals. Therefore, in the future, co-operation between the teams operating in the field and the hospital emergency units must be improved so as to avoid driving patients long distances. On the good side, I must admit that, because they were well supplied with vaccinations, they prevented epidemics. Ladies and gentlemen, well done indeed. As for the teams of engineers. They worked really hard to strengthen many bridges, roads and railways in the country and in the cities. They also protected several factories including three chemical plants which, if flooded, could have polluted a large area of Austria and some neighbouring countries. All these jobs proved extremely successful. Sadly though, the team of engineers neglected one place - the road by the foot of Mount Hochstein. Let me remind you that the place undermined by water turned into a trap for a family of four in a car driving along the mountain foot at night. A sudden landslide buried it. Despite fast rescue action all of them suffocated in the sludge. Now, a few words about logistics teams. The, errr.., supply of water, food, sleeping bags and blankets was very well organized. Also, shelters were full of necessary things in large quantities. Unfortunately, they were not able to supply clean dry clothes for the food victims, which soon turned out to be a real nuisance, especially for females who kept on complaining about the problem a lot. To sum up, ladies and gentlemen, let’s remember that this rescue operation did save many lives and protected a lot of property. However, there were problems which should be addressed. The most significant of these was our inability to deal with the deteriorating conditions of roads. All of them need strengthening and protecting. Neglecting this can lead not only to transport problems but may also cause loss of lives. Therefore they should become a priority for the local anti-flood centres. Once more I would like to express my appreciation for your effort and help in the job and thank you for your attention.

Listening 53
Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce myself. My name is col. Brown and I’m chief of the peace support mission in Angola. First of all, let me welcome you all to the Luanda and congratulate you on being selected for this mission. This is going to be just a short briefing to make you acquainted with the problems we face here in our area of responsibility and to tell you what tasks we carry out here. After this briefing, you will be deployed to various places around the country and, once you are there, you will receive a detailed briefing about your individual tasks and responsibilities. So, let me start by telling you a few general things about our peace mission here in Angola. Our mission started six years ago. Our main task is, and I’m sure you’ve received information about this already before leaving the country, is to increase stability in the region. And I’m happy to say that we are being quite successful in our mission. I am sure that your support and your experience will help us work even more efficiently. Even though we have managed to achieve quite a lot, unfortunately not all the problems have been solved, and we still face new ones which keep cropping up all the time. At the moment, the biggest threats we have to deal with are from trafficking in drugs and trading in arms. Let me tell you a little bit first about drug trafficking and arms trading and how they are linked. About six months ago, we broke up the biggest drugs cartel in the region. A great success! Well, that’s what we thought. Unfortunately, it only resulted in an increased number of smaller drugs trafficking organisations. And these are now looking for protection. And who do they turn to? The paramilitary organisations. So now these organisations are earning a lot of money protecting the drug traffickers. And what do they do with this money? They buy guns. I hope you can now understand why we are concerned with these two interrelated problems. Now that you have some insight into two of our main concerns, here let’s move on to things that we do to help ease the tension. The most essential thing we do is training. We offer our expertise to the local armed forces in the hope that one day they will be able to take over from us. In fact, an exercise jungle fever is going to be held in Angola soon. We can’t give you the full details yet as these things are still under negotiation. However, one thing is certain and that is we will be responsible for organisational matters and an outside party will provide the actual training. We have been trying to arrange this for quite a long time now and finally I can share the good news with you. We have received a formal confirmation from the CEA, the Counter-drug Enforcement Agency, that they will be happy to provide us with their professional help. We are all very much looking forward to their assistance. So, that’s fighting the drugs trade and training the local forces. What else do we do? Peace-support missions have a long history of providing humanitarian assistance, and we are happily continuing that tradition. Last year, we provided emergency assessment and fire-fighting assistance to help the Angolan forces extinguish nearly 250 wild fires. In the most recent disaster, which was only last month, we provided emergency assistance that included the movement of 560 personnel and 160 tons of supplies by helicopter. During this last intervention, a serious problem emerged. Some service members [were] left high and dry far away in the jungle and were not able to get back to the units for a few days. There was a problem with our command, control and communications. That’s our C4. What went wrong? The answer is simple. We didn’t know were they were. They radioed in their position, but unfortunately they were using the wrong codebooks. We couldn’t decode their message. We subsequently discovered that half the unit were using one set of codebooks and the other half a completely different set. Fortunately, we sorted that problem out. That is a very important lesson for us, as for us here in this distant country our own security is of paramount importance. And I must say, we are committed to providing the best possible protection to our forces. One such measure is the establishment of Red Teams. This action was taken after a terrorist attack on one of our observation positions. To avoid a similar situation, security assessment will be carried out on a continuous basis and the Red Teams will be responsible for this. So, be prepared for people snooping around and questioning your guards. So, ladies and gentlemen, I hope that you know what to expect and I hope your stay here will be safe and peaceful and very productive for our hosts. If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact your immediate CO, and thank you very much for you attention.

Listening 54
Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Army Mountain Rescue Operation Centre. My name is Major Edwards and I am the commander of a company specialising in search and rescue in mountainous terrain. I will be giving the first talk. May I first thank you for attending this meeting, and may I extend special thanks to those representatives of the Polish, Czech and Slovakian mountain rescue teams, who have made great efforts to get here. As you know, the purpose of this meeting is to improve co-operation between army and civilian mountain rescue teams. This is very important since, as you know, there have been times when we, in the army, have been asked to help out the civilian rescue teams and we haven’t been working too well together. We must improve this situation. Well, in order to illustrate the problems we have been having and possible methods of overcoming them I will refer to a real rescue operation that happened recently in which the army were called in to give assistance. Now, on the morning of January the 25^th, a group of over 20 students accompanied by their tutor left the youth hostel they were staying at and set off to hike in the mountains. They were all experienced hikers and were very well prepared and equipped for the trip. Now, the weather conditions when they set off were quite good. However, it had been snowing heavily the night before, and there was a risk that the upper part of the mountain path wouldn’t be clear. Additionally, so much fresh heavy snow high in the mountains increased considerably the danger of avalanches in the area. The resident guide from the youth hostel had mentioned the threat to the group and had suggested changing the route. However, the group ignored the warning and decided to keep to the original plan. All went well for the first three hours of their walk. Then, it started to snow. Walking got more difficult and visibility worsened. However, they continued on for over two hours until reached the highest point of their descent. It was then that they decided to turn back. As they were doing so, they heard a loud rumbling noise behind them. Instinctively, they started running. A moment later an avalanche overcame them and several of the group disappeared into the snow. Those still standing started searching for the missing members, while the tutor used his mobile to call the nearest civilian mountain rescue team and ask for help. Unfortunately, he was unable to give their exact location because all the land marks were hidden by snow. The Central Civilian Mountain Rescue Centre alarmed all its sections to form a rescue party. This was soon assembled and the rescue operation soon got on the way. Unfortunately, they didn’t inform the military rescue teams. This was a big mistake. If they had done, we could have sent out one of our specially equipped helicopters to help. Instead, they decided to use their own helicopter. This set out twenty minutes after the emergency call was received and began its search. What was happening with the group of students had been overcome by the avalanche? Well, thankfully they did some training in mountain survival techniques and they were able to locate the missing friends by using probes to push down through the snow. However, several of the group were injured and not able to move. They decided to stay where they were and wait for rescue. However, during the avalanche, they had lost their flares and weren’t able to signal where they were. This was especially difficult as a civilian rescue helicopter had to rely on sight only. It was only at nightfall when they civilian helicopter had to return to base that the civilian rescue team called in us, the military search and rescue team. We were able to send out our helicopter within ten minutes from receiving their call. Within half an hour, we had located the missing group. And how had we done that, even though it was dark? Well, we used our thermal indicators. The human body gives out heat all the time and the heat profile is very easy to spot against the cold background of a freezing cold mountain. We were able to airlift the whole group to safety in less than one hour. I think the civilian rescue teams should really invest in thermal indicators. Ladies and gentlemen, this was just one example of what can happen when civilian rescue services don’t cooperate with their military counterparts. Luckily, in this example, no lives were lost. However, we may not be so lucky next time. So, I hope you pay attention to the series of talks you are going to hear today, that will help us to work more closely together.
Listening 55
Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you for coming here so early in the morning. As you are going to escort a convoy to our two bases in the mountains, I will give you some of the rules and regulations concerning escorting convoys and some advice in case of unexpected difficulties. Now, the first problem you may encounter is a breakdown of one of the vehicles. There are two possible solutions. If the failure is beyond repair, you cannot do much. Just secure the site, report and wait for the evacuation team. If it is determined that the vehicle can be repaired within one hour, you just secure the site, repair it and continue your task. However, even if the vehicles are operational again, you can't carry on before checking one thing which is essential in such cases. That is communication. Remember, communications between the trucks and our headquarters here must be maintained all the time the mission is being carried out. Secondly, the halt of the convoy owing to some technical failures like engine overheating or a flat tire can bring about problems with local people. Unavoidably, when the convoy stops, a crowd of people immediately assemble around the vehicles. Initially, they are just curious but seeing large amounts of food, locals may become violent and aggressive, and they may begin taking containers from the vehicles and fleeing the area. If something like that happens to you, the convoy commander should withdraw the other vehicles from the area as quickly as possible. You should also use possible means to prevent people from looting material and supplies. You’re allowed to show weapon, fire into the air. Yet, remember, you aren’t allowed to use deadly force. Another problem which may need a solution during the operation is a way of conduct in case of collisions. If a lead vehicle collides with another car or truck, there are two procedures which you are obliged to follow. The first one concerns the case where there are no injured people. You just continue the convoy without stopping. However, if there are victims you are forced to stop, secure the site and provide first aid. Next, you place the injured on the convoy and complete the mission. The commander should arrange for medical treatment at the convoy destination or the nearest safe area. Yet, one thing to be remembered - if a civilian suffers injuries, you are only allowed to go on, provided you have found a family member who can accompany the victim. What I also want to emphasise in my briefing is the fact that providing security to a convoy is a dangerous mission and the threat of enemy attacks cannot be disregarded. The ones which frequently occur during such operations are sniper fire and ambushes. In case a sniper fires on the convoy, seek cover in the vehicles, drive as fast as safety allows out of the area. You must refrain from shooting back unless you are forced to stop the convoy. You can ask what if one of you is wounded by a sniper? I know instinctively you would like to fire back. But remember this is not your priority, the safety of the convoy is. So speed up, leave the site fast and avoid shooting. If there is an ambush, the procedure is similar, you should also continue to move if possible. Yet, you have permission to immediately return controlled fire to break contact. What's more, the ambush may force you to employ ground and aviation Quick Reaction Forces. When you’re trapped and can’t move on, don’t hesitate - call QRF. And then use all necessary force, including deadly force, to defend the convoy against an attack or threat of an attack. In conclusion, I have just briefed you on some possible dangers during convoy missions and on expected ways of handling them. You’ve been informed how to act if there are breakdowns, collisions, sniper fire and ambushes. On the whole, we avoid engagement with aggressors. Only in case of an ambush, we may be forced to stop in order to get involved in direct fighting with the enemy. Otherwise, do not stop and try to provide security through speed. Your job is to deliver the supplies, not to become engaged with the enemy. And now, at the end, let me give you some detailed information. Your convoy will consist of three cargo vehicles…

Listening 56
Good morning, gentlemen. Nice to see the press again. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m
Lt Col James Campbell, commander of the 1^st Battalion of the Royal Scots, The Highlanders. This press briefing shouldn’t last too long. So, let’s move on. Now, the purpose of this briefing is to bring you up to date on our Battalion’s actions during the first 72 hours of our presence in Bosnia. First, I will focus on the actions undertaken by A Company, and then I will move on to D company. But, I must say that the troops of A Company caused quite a stir when they arrived in Bosnia. Not that the locals were surprised at seeing SFOR soldiers. They’ve had many opportunities to see soldiers before. No, it was because of their appearance. They are Ghurkhas. And I think that they didn’t expect soldiers in the British Army to look the way they do. A Company – the Ghurkhas – have started patrolling remote and isolated rural areas that can be found on higher altitude. They are paying particular attention to the mountain passes. Now, they’ve been allocated this patrol, not because we want to punish them by sending them out into the cold, but because they are used to higher altitudes. So, that’s A Company. What about D Company? Well, D Company have been involved in a search-for-weapons action. The decision to take this action was taken by Company commander Maj Jamie Brody after hearing shots north of their SFOR base at Prijedor. He thought these shots, and those who had fired them, were a possible threat to the security of the base and he had to investigate. Maj Brody sent 2^nd Lt James Steward leading the men of 13 Platoon and a sniffer-dog team out on patrol. As soon as they hit the area where the shots had been fired, the dogs sniffed something in a barn. This turned out to be anything but ordinary. It took the Royal Engineers all night to dig up a cache of weaponry which included – let me just refer to my notes – included 100 large-caliber artillery shells, mortar rounds, anti-tank missiles, sniper rifles, hand grenades and small arms ammunition. All buried under the floor of a barn. Well, this particular cache of arms is of interest to intelligence. So, we sent the whole lot of to the weapons specialists for them to find out where the weapons came from. I cannot tell you their final result. However, I am authorized to tell you that they were not from the former Soviet Union. All I can tell you is that they came from Central Europe. I’d like to tell you of another action by D Company, and that involved the rescuing of a woman. The woman, 70 years of age, was found when the soldiers were making a sweep of the area north of Prijedor. She was found on a small farm in the mountains, curled up on a makeshift bed. She had fractured her leg eight days before while tending her animals. The woman had no electricity and no running water. Neither did she have money to pay for treatment at the nearest hospital – a 15-mile-walk away. Well, the Company commander called for a helicopter, and the old woman was evacuated to hospital in Prijedor. Doctors in the casualty department treated the wound and put her leg in plaster. No money exchanged hands. Now, the soldiers naturally became very interested in what would happen to the old woman. Most of them could be her grandsons. They declared that until Nevenka, that’s the woman’s name, could fend for herself again, they would help her in her household duties. I personally have no objections to this. On the contrary, I’m all in favor of it. I think the old woman’s case has helped increase morale in D Company. They are much more involved in their work now. I think the whole story is a great example of how we are helping out here in Bosnia. Well, that’s about all for now, so, any questions?

Listening 57

Ladies and gentlemen, let me welcome you to my seminar on supply problems in the British Army and attempts to solve them. So, let me introduce myself, I’m Lieutenant Colonel Hopkins and, as I said, today I will talk about supply problems in the British Army and about some research that has been done to find ways of solving these problems. Let me start by giving you a little background. Troops in Iraq complained about problems with supplies. Basically, there were two main problems, and these were – packs weren’t going to the right places and even when the packs arrived, they often contained the wrong equipment. Let me tell you a little story to illustrate one embarrassing consequence of this problem. In Iraq, the American soldiers called our British troops ‘the borrowers’, which didn’t go down too well with our soldiers. And why did they give them this name? Well, quite simply, they borrowed things. Obviously, something had to be done about this, so a research team, based in the Logistics Department of the MoD and under my command, started to investigate the reasons for these problems. And obviously to find a solution to the problems. So, what was the reason for supply packs going to the wrong places? Well the answer is quite simple, and should really have been predicted. Troops and bulk supplies of kits are sent to war zones independently. This practice was found to be much cheaper and therefore very appealing to the top command. Unfortunately, it is fraught with difficulties when it comes to delivering equipment to units. You can imagine the situation at the dockside, trying to sort out which pack goes to which unit? Now, what was the reason for the second problem – the packs not containing the right equipment? To answer that we have to look at how supply packs are sent to troops. Well, they are prepared by a Quarter Master back in the UK. Time is not a problem. He has enough time to make up the kits, but he doesn’t have enough information. He has to ask himself what to put in the kits and quite often he comes up with the wrong answer. And because of this a lot of useless things get shipped off and the kits, when they finally meet up with the troops, don’t contain the things that they really need. So these are the main reasons why the shortages of wartime kit happen. But they could soon be a thing of the past if we adopt a radical new supply system. And this is where our solution to the problem comes into its own. Our solution is primary equipment packs – PEPs for short. These PEPs would contain a month’s-worth of combat equipment and would be prepared on the basis of solid research. Of course, there will have to be different kinds of packs for different situations. We plan to have individually tailored packs for jungle, desert, mountain, and arctic conditions. Now, when will all this be ready? Well, this is an innovative approach and it will be some time before the project gets to a final stage. We had had hopes that we would be able to present first kits of this kind by the end of the year. The research however proved to be more complex than we at first thought. In order to predict the contents of the kits we have had to make detailed studies of soldiers’ requirements with precise data gathered during previous wars and training exercises. Unfortunately, this research has not finished yet and will involve much more effort ….so, not earlier than the spring of next year. I know that this is long. But I can’t see a way of getting there earlier. We mustn’t forget that this plan, if endorsed, is going to face a number of problems. However, there is one major problem, one that will take a complete change in ways of thinking if it is to be overcome. And that is the military attitude to supplies. And what is that attitude? Well, the big army chiefs have always said, “Well, our supply system may not be all that good, but we always win the war anyway”. This is an attitude that we will have to change. Of course, this new approach to supplying our troops does have its opponents. But we are prepared for criticism. And what do they say? Well, as I said, our system depends on predicting what a soldier will need when he arrives in an area of operation. That way we can prepare his PEP, that’s his preliminary equipment pack, in advance. Our critics, however, argue that it is impossible to predict what a PEP should contain. Well, I disagree. As I have already mentioned we are going to scientifically determine what the contents of the kit should be for a range of battle settings by carrying out extensive research. So, there we are. Those were the problems in supplies to the British Army and that was our solution to those problems. Now, I would be very happy to take any comments you may have on this solution.

Listening 58

Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen, let me introduce myself. I am colonel William Word from the US Air Force Security Committee, and I have been asked to brief you on the subject of aviation security following the events of 9/11. Before the tragedy, both the aviation security authorities and the public opposed using extreme security measures. However, knowing that any aircraft can now be turned into a weapon, we must create advanced security systems for aviation. I am going to present to you today several intended actions which are to improve safety standards in air travel. First of all, the recent hijackings happened because the intruders gained easy access to the aircraft cockpit. Therefore, we have to secure it much better. The idea of posting an armed guard who would watch the cockpit door throughout the flight could be a solution, but unfortunately, not a very realistic one. But the thing we can certainly do is install stronger locks on the inside of the cockpit doors. They should stop potential terrorists from entering the cockpit or at least make it more difficult. Nowadays, these doors are weak and flimsy, and can be easily forced open by a determined adult. The strengthened doors should be of help, but no one can guarantee that a terrorist will not find a way to enter the cockpit. For this reason, we must make sure the pilots inside it have a chance to react and protect themselves. Before 9/11, no one could imagine pilots armed with weapons in the cockpit. Since then, many people have demanded the introduction of such extreme measures. However, there are opponents of arming pilots. They say that the use of guns may cause damage to the cockpit equipment and put the plane’s safety at risk. Instead of traditional weapons, they suggest introducing an electric paralyzer. Apart from the obvious advantage of not damaging the cockpit they won’t cause the death of the intruder. Another issue we will have to focus on is the fact that the airline industry must change the procedures of employment of their staff. All personnel seeking employment should undergo a criminal record check. Moreover, there should be a careful examination of all paper documents they submit. Currently, all such documents are a real threat to security. They can be easily stolen or lost, however their weakest point is that widely available scanning and photocopying technology makes them easy to forge. Such false documents can be easily detected if the documents are verified electronically. In the IT era, there are many electronic means of identity verification. One of them is the Computer-Assisted Passenger Prescreening System – or CAPPS. The system provides two kinds of information. First, it determines whether the individual passenger boarding an aircraft poses a security threat. There’s also a second advantage of CAPPS. In case of an emergency situation on board, the captain will know if there are doctors, policemen, bomb specialists, et cetera, on the flight who could be asked for assistance. In other words, the system includes data about passengers‘ special abilities. We recommend that CAPPS be used on all domestic and international flights in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. Another form of attack that the aircraft can be subjected to is a chemical/biological agent attack and we must prepare our planes for that possibility as well. There are two things we can do. First, the aircraft must be equipped with air quality monitors that can activate an alarm in the cockpit if the presence of chemical/biological agents is detected. Secondly, once danger is clear, it is important that personnel is safe and lands the aircraft. To make that happen they must be provided with new full-vision oxygen masks. However, if people do not know what to do, these two safety measures can be useless. To prevent it, airlines should first of all provide adequate security training for the crew. As for baggage security, we recommend that the Federal Aviation Authority impose standard limits on carry-on baggage, for example 10 kilos per person only. This should be done in order to let security screeners, now usually working in a hurry and often not checking the luggage contents carefully enough, provide more detailed examination of items. We also strongly support increasing the number of bags subjected to search and recommend using explosive detection systems. We believe incorporating all these measures into routine procedures will considerably increase air-travel security. Thank you very much for your attention today. I would be pleased to respond to any questions that you may have.

Listening 59
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is captain Brown and I’m the Public Information Office representative. I would like to welcome you to the press briefing following talks between the chiefs of the Navy and the Coastguard. I would also like to apologise to you for the delay, but, as you know, the meeting lasted much longer than planned. Ladies and gentlemen, today’s talks were focused on tightening the cooperation between the Navy and the Coastguards in view of increasing dangers to the national security both on land and at sea. The chiefs discuss some threats the forces have been familiar with for years. Namely, smuggling contraband, drugs and illegal immigrants. However the heads of the Navy and the Coastguard devoted most time and attention to another aspect of security violation, particularly dangerous nowadays – smuggling portable missiles. This is due to the increasing involvement of terrorists in trading and purchasing them after September the 11^th. To be able to fight the terrorists more effectively, the Navy and the Coastguard need to improve many things. One of the main issues to concentrate on is better and more affective use of communication means. Although the navy and the Coastguards are well equipped with modern communications systems that are reliable and work with great speed, in most cases the information obtained stays within the branch which should not be the case. So, what can be done to cooperate successfully both off-shore and on land. Well, both forces should exchange the information as quickly as possible. No wonder the chiefs have decided to give this idea priority and green light to improve it immediately. Of course, this isn’t the only area for improvement. After lengthy discussions, it has been discovered that some procedures used by both forces in sea operations differ considerably. This unnecessary stretches the time of each intervention. It is essential that the Navy and Coastguard deal with the problems as quickly as possible. And it has been agreed that the only way to achieve this aim is to sort out the differences in see procedures. It will take some time, but the unification has to take place. Moreover, it has to happen soon. A board of experts form both forces will be set up to deal with this in the nearest future. Another problem which requires further changes is connected with cooperation on the coasts, namely in the area of monitoring cargo ships and crews in harbours and maintain their security. Unlike airports, much bigger seaports are more vulnerable to unwanted activates including terrorist attacks. This is due to easier access to the ports from both land and the open see. This improvement cannot be achieved without allocating additional funding and manpower by both forces. Only this will insure more effective harbour protection. The chiefs of both forces also discuss the frequency of joint exercises. So far, they have been conduced twice a year. However, this has been considered insufficient. Therefore, since June 2005 their numbers will increase. However, the details still need to be specified. There’s more new things to be implemented to the training events organised by both the Navy and Coastguards, that is inviting external experts to contribute. The new ideas from them will definitely be very beneficial and they will help to improve the efficiency of both forces even further. Ladies and gentlemen, we are happy to announce that the ongoing process of testing a new ship for the forces has been successfully completed. Groups of joint forces specialists were working on two independent projects. A new deep water ship, in short DWS, and a modern patrol boat – PBX5. Eventually, the decision has been made to launch only one of them, and that is the patrol boat. Due to the lack of funding, the introduction of the DWS will be delayed. As you can see, the meeting was a very fruitful one, indeed, and many solutions have been reached on various issues. So, ladies and gentlemen, let’s keep our fingers crossed that everything runs smoothly. Thank you very much for your attention. If you have any questions, please, do not hesitate to ask them now.

Listening 60

Ladies and gentlemen let me welcome you to Nato’s mission in Afghanistan. Before you are given detailed instructions about your tasks I would like to give you some information about our mission here. As you already know the Nato mission here in Afghanistan is called ISAF, which stands for International Security Assistance Force. Nato took over command and coordination of ISAF in August 2003 and has been quite successful in its achievements here. I have to stress that this is a very important mission as it is the first one outside the Euro-Atlantic area in NATO’s history. Initially, the mission was restricted to providing security in and outside Kabul, but the Area of our responsibility has been gradually growing and at present the Alliance provides security assistance in 50% of Afghanistan’s territory. The main role of our mission is to assist the government in Afghanistan in maintaining security and finally in providing safe environment for the event which is to take place in September that is a free and fair parliamentary election. We all know that this cannot be achieved without spreading the rule of law and doing anything we can to reconstruct the country. Right now you probably need some information about the structure of the force here in Afghanistan. It consists of three main components. The first one is the Isaf headquarters. It is situated in Kabul and its main task is operation-level direction. It also plans the support to the Kabul Multinational Brigade. I guess that, I don’t have to add that, as the headquarters, it liaises with the United Nations assistance mission in Afghanistan. The headquarters also assist this organisation in its work. The second component of the force is the Kabul International Brigade which is ISAF’s tactical headquarters. It is responsible for planning and conducting patrol operations on a day-to-day basis. And finally, the last component is the provincial reconstruction teams called PRTs. Nato is currently leading nine PRTs in the north and the west of the country but their number will increase when the mission spreads to southern provinces of the country in 2006. As I have already told, you assisting the government and providing security is our primary goal. Now, let me tell you how we do it. To ensure security in the country ISAF troops conduct 20 to 50 patrols in Kabul and its surrounding areas each day. Over a third of patrols is carried out jointly with Kabul City Police. However Outside Kabul patrol activities are provided by NATO–led PRTs. Another very important task for the troops here is helping the Afghan Government in the removal and storing of over 7000 heavy weapons such as tanks and artillery which belonged to different armed factions in the country. Storing them safely in government-controlled sites is of grave importance, as in the long run they can be used to equip the Afghan army. This is a very important step towards the further development of a capable National Army. In addition to all those activities, ISAF is helping to train the units of the new Afghan national army. We also help in rebuilding schools or restoring water supplies and many other civil-military projects. I hope that you found this short introduction useful. Now, take a short break and proceed to further briefings during which you will find out all the necessary details concerning your deployment and tasks. Thank you for your attention.

Listening 61
Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen. Welcome to Iraq, the city of Fallujah. I hope you've already got used to your new living conditions and you're ready to take over your duties. However, before you move in action, I'd like to summarise briefly the overall situation in Fallujah. First of all, I would like to express our great satisfaction regarding the very effective co-operation of the coalition forces fighting to stabilise the situation in the city. Initially, we had here two battalions of Iraqi forces fighting alongside US soldiers. Yet, as you know, after the recent increase in bomb and IED, called improvised- explosive-devices attacks, which resulted in a big number of casualties, one more international battalion has been deployed. So, that’s why you’re here and once more I’d like to welcome you. As I said, we co-operate smoothly and, on the whole, the operation here is going well. We will continue to press the enemy until we have, in fact, returned Fallujah to its inhabitants. Now, I can say, we occupy 80% of the city. It may sound very optimistic; however, there’re still places in that part of the city where there could be caches of weapons and ammunition. So, there is still the need, and we will keep doing it for the next month, to search each house. So, as you can see, the inside of the city is almost under control. Yet, there is another much more serious danger we must not ignore. Recently, there have been some indications that the rebels are trying to reinforce the fight from the outside of Fallujah. We’ve already taken some measures to counteract this. First of all, we have set up additional checkpoints on the outskirts and we believe that it will be a good solution to prevent the rebels from getting inside the city. In case it fails, we’re planning to increase the frequency of reconnaissance patrols outside the city. The next issue I’d like to inform you about is the detainees. Their number is changing from day to day, and it can be higher any minute. Anyway, for the time being, we have captured a hundred and fifty-one people who are kept in our detention camps. Unfortunately, there has been criticism that the American forces arrest people and keep them in custody without reason. Well, I would like to stress that in this case this information is groundless as all the detainees, who will have to be fully checked later, were stopped by Iraqi forces only. Another problem which is also of our concern here is the humanitarian situation. I’m happy to say that in this respect some things have already been done as well. Fourteen well-equipped trucks with medicine and blood have already reached the destination here in Fallujah. We guaranteed their absolute safety. Also, a team of doctors and other medical personnel are setting up a hospital in the centre. They will need specilized equipment and here comes the task of our forces. The equipment is waiting at the airport in Baghdad and it will be transported in a special convoy, which we must secure. Finally, you must remember one important fact. The Iraqi prime minister has put some restrictions into effect for the town of Fallujah. One is the curfew which lasts from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. The other, which is a temporary rule and hopefully will be lifted soon, is the one that says that civilians must not leave the city. If they need to do so, they are obliged to have special permission. We don’t want to intimidate the locals in any way, we just want to make sure that they’ll stay at home and won’t become victims of suicide attacks. Our task is to ensure the rule is obeyed by all inhabitants. So, this is just a brief outline of the situation in Fallujah. Now that you’ve got familiar with it, let me tell you what your duties will involve in detail….


Listening 62
Thank you, gentlemen. I know some of you have travelled a long way and I appreciate that. First of all, I’d like to apologize for being late. I had to attend a disciplinary hearing. Some silly bugger decided to attack the cook. As you know, I’m here to debrief you on the operation we held recently at Drawsko. The one where the Polish forces were joined by their counterparts from Britain and Germany. As you know, this was a follow-up to the joint French-Italian-Polish operation we held in March on Solsbery Plain. Now, that was a complete disaster. Fortunately, the one we’ve just held was much better. A great improvement. Now, the object of the exercise, as you well know, was for the Polish and the British forces to combine, enter, and secure a village which had been deserted by the enemy. Sort of clear away booby traps and look for snipers, that sort of thing. The Germans were to play remnants of the opposition army that had been left behind to delay the operation, so that their troops had a chance to escape. Now, we were blessed with a typically freezing Polish day, which meant that ground conditions were nice and hard – none of that horrible mud we get in England – and the advance went well. The first problem we encountered was, of course, the snipers. Now, you really must have your wits about you when you get out of the personnel carriers. We lost one man because he thought he was out on a Sunday stroll, just got out too slowly. Now, you must remember to get out quick and dash straight for cover. We don’t want casualties when soldiers are leaving personnel carriers. Well, the snipers were dealt with extremely well. Everyone of them was captured after a very well carried out house to house search. And I’m quite glad to say that no civilian was accidentally killed by some trigger-happy Tommy, or Tomek either. The village was completely secured by 10 am. Nice work. But, what happened with the setting up of operational Head Quarters. It tool twice a long as it should have done. The location was decided on quick enough. Getting the officers into the building was no problem. But, were was the communications? What’s the use of operational HQ without contact with the outside world? That must be done quicker next time. So, the village was captured, operational HQ set up and the operation was over with in good time. Very well done. An excellent show. Right. Well, that’s about it. As I said much better than last time, but still room for improvement. Thank you.

Answer Key
Reading

Directory: plik -> file -> Do pobrania - Mat. Egzaminacyjne -> Angielski
Angielski -> Two texts. For questions 1 to 6
plik -> March 4th-8th 2000; ustroń, poland