Self assessment on listening 2

http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/health-report.cfm

I have listened a podcast "Debating the Teen Brain". It wasn't difficuilt to understand, but I have listened twice. I have read a text after lestening, because I wanted to see spelling of unknown words. There was some new words for me: prefrontal, cortex, equip and some other. I enjoyed lestening because there was some new information. As I said in previuos post it is very useful that we can listen online, because we can prepare for our english exam.

Self assessment on listening

http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2007-10-30-voa1.cfm
I have listened a pod cast “How to Build a House with Bales of Straw“. It was easy, because speakers talked slowly and clearly, so I listened only once, and I didn’t need to read. I enjoyed listening, because I have heard some new information for me. I have learned some new words: thickness, bale, adobe and other. I think this listening online was very useful for me, because I can’t hear English around me, so it’s very good that there is a possibility to improve my English through the internet.

Alcatraz penitentiary

Nowadays Alcatraz is one of the biggest tourist magnets in San Francisco. Alcatraz prison is in island, which is a mile from the mainland. From the mid 1930's until the mid 1960's, Alcatraz was America's most security prison, for the nation's most incorrigible inmates. It was very hard to escape from this prison because the water of San Francisco Bay is very cold and if a person fall in, there is little chance to survive.
Living conditions weren’t very good. Upon arrival at Alcatraz new prisoners were assigned to a private cell and provided with only life’s most basic necessities: clothing, food, water and medical care. There were 336 cells. Each cell was 5 feet by 9 feet. Cells at Alcatraz had a small sink with cold running water, small sleeping cot and a toilet. Most men could extend their arms and touch each wall within their cell. Inmates were required to observe a strict silence policy, only being allowed to talk during meals and recreation. Visitation rights had to be earned and all visitors had to be approved by the warden. Sending and receiving letters was also a privilege. A highly regimented schedule meant prisoners were woken at 6:30am, cleaned their cells and marched single file down the main corridor in silence to the mess hall for breakfast. Following breakfast, the prisoners were then given their work assignments for the day.
There have been many famous inmates in Alcatraz: George "Machine Gun" Kelly; Robert Stroud, who was better known to the public as the "Birdman of Alcatraz. The most famous inmate probably was Al Capone, who spent about 4 years in this prison. This time wasn’t easy for him. Capone got into a fight with another inmate in the recreation yard and was placed in isolation for eight days. While working in the prison basement, an inmate who was standing in line waiting for a haircut exchanged words with Capone and stabbed him with a pair of shears. Capone was admitted into the prison hospital and released a few days later with a minor wound.
Alcatraz is very famous because of escapes. Over the 29 years (1934-1963) that the Federal prison operated, 36 men tried to escape. 23 were caught, 6 were shot and killed during their escape, and 2 drowned. 2 of the men who were caught were later executed for their role in the death of a correctional officer, 5 men missing and presumed drowned. The most famous escape from Alcatraz was in 1962. Frank Morris and Brothers John and Clarence Anglin vanished from their cells and were never seen again. They have made their way out of prison using spoons and a homemade raft. They put dummy heads - made of a mixture of soap, toilet paper and real hair - in their beds to fool prison officers making night-time inspections. They then cut through the back of their cells with sharpened spoons. The group escaped out of the vents in the back of their cells and into the utility corridor. Then they proceeded onto the roof and down to the bay. They used a makeshift raft of driftwood and raincoats sewn together to make pontoons in order to float away from Alcatraz.
In 1963 the decision to close Alcatraz was made by US Attorney General Robert Kennedy. Alcatraz desperately needed repair from extensive salt-water and air corrosion at a time when budgets were being cut. At three times the operating expenses of other penitentiaries, Alcatraz was simply too costly to keep open. The isolation (and hence lack of natural resources) that had made the island such an attractive site for a maximum-security prison ultimately sealed its fate.