Hundreds of skaters take to route of Eleven Cities Tour skating marathon
(9 Feb 2012) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of frozen canal in Hindeloopen
2. Various of skaters
3. Various of the Museum of Skating
4. Wide of old skates
5. Close of a pair of old skates
6. Wide painting of the Elfstedentocht race from 1924
7. Close of a competitor
8. SOUNDBITE (Dutch ) Gauke Bootsma, local skating official:
We were very sceptical from the very beginning. There are some places with only five to six centimetres of ice. You can't let 16,000 people skate in such conditions
9. Mid of a skating poster
10. Various of skaters
11. SOUNDBITE (Dutch) Siebe De Boer, 69 year old skater:
It's a pity that is not going to happen, but we have to be down to earth. Actually it was almost obvious. It never happened in 12 towns that we had 10 days of constant freezing.
13. Close of skaters legs
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Jisk Schuurmans, a Frisian farmer visiting from his home in Canada:
That's everything. That's the top from Friesland. It can't be better than this
15. Low shot of skaters on a frozen canal
STORYLINE
A day after organisers ruled that ice was too dangerous for the legendary 125-mile (200-kilometre) Elfstedentocht race to go ahead, hundreds of skaters took to the route in The Netherlands on Thursday.
The event usually attracts 16,000 skaters, but the organising committee - the Frisian Eleven Cities Association - only allows it to go ahead when ice across the entire route is six inches (15 centimetres) thick.
Often, ice is thick enough on one part of the track but not others - this week, it was too thin almost everywhere.
In the city of Hindeloopen, local skating official Gauke Bootsma said organisers had been very sceptical from the beginning.
There are some places with only five to six centimetres of ice. You can't let 16,000 people skate in such conditions, he said.
The race was last staged in 1997 and its winner, farmer Henk Angenent became an overnight celebrity.
Skating in winter is a way of life for the Dutch, who learn as young children by pushing chairs around frozen ponds to help them keep their balance.
That deeply ingrained love of skating is part of the reason for the Elfstedentocht's popularity.
Another is its rarity - it has only been staged 15 times since the inaugural race in 1909.
Speculation about a possible Elfstedentocht reached fever pitch this week after an Arctic snap froze canals, rivers and lakes across the country.
Hotels throughout the northern province of Friesland sold out and the country's military was set to be deployed to control crowds expected to reach up to two (m) million.
At a nationally televised press conference on Wednesday the association's chairman Wiebe Wieling disappointed the nation when he said the race would not go ahead.
It got a royal seal of approval in 1986, when heir to the Dutch throne Crown Prince Willem-Alexander completed the grueling race, registering under the name W.A. van Buren to shield his true identity.
Jisk Schuurmans, a Frisian farmer visiting from his home in Canada, struggled to put into words the race's mythical appeal to the Dutch national psyche.
It's everything, he said.
You can't get any better than this.
SkaterSiebe de Boer, 69, pulled up at a bridge 20 kilometres (12 miles) into his 30-kilometre (18-mile) skate and said he was disappointed, but also showcased a typically Frisian level head.
It's a pity that it's not going to happen, but we have to be down to earth, he said.
wacky
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Netherlands | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Netherlands
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written
language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
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SUMMARY
=======
The Netherlands (Dutch: Nederland [ˈneːdərlɑnt] ( listen)) is a country located mainly in Northwestern Europe. Together with three island territories in the Caribbean (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba), it forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The European portion of the Netherlands consists of twelve provinces and borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing maritime borders in the North Sea with Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The five largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht (forming the Randstad megalopolis) and Eindhoven (leading the Brabantse Stedenrij). Amsterdam is the country's capital, while The Hague holds the seat of the States General, Cabinet and Supreme Court. The Port of Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe and the world's largest outside Asia.'Netherlands' literally means 'lower countries', referring to its low land and flat geography, with only about 50% of its land exceeding 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) above sea level. Most of the areas below sea level are the result of land reclamation beginning in the 16th century, resulting in large areas known as polders that amount to nearly 17% of the country's territory. With a population of 17.25 million living within a total area of roughly 41,500 square kilometres (16,000 sq mi), of which the land area is 33,700 square kilometres (13,000 sq mi), the Netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Nevertheless, it is the world's second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products after the United States, owing to its fertile soil, mild climate, and intensive agriculture.The Netherlands was the third country in the world to have representative government, and has been administered as a parliamentary constitutional monarchy since 1848, with a unitary structure. A policy of pillarisation historically segregated society and institutions between Catholics, Calvinists and socialists, but Dutch society is today one of the most cosmopolitan in the world. The country has a long history of social tolerance and is generally regarded as a liberal country, having legalised abortion, prostitution, and euthanasia, while maintaining a progressive drug policy. The Netherlands abolished the death penalty in 1870, allowed women's suffrage in 1917, and became the world's first country to legalise same-sex marriage in 2001.
The Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G10, NATO, OECD, and WTO, as well as a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. It hosts several intergovernmental organizations and international courts, many of which are centered in The Hague, which is consequently dubbed 'the world's legal capital.' Its mixed-market advanced economy had the thirteenth-highest per capita income globally. One of the world's most prosperous countries, the Netherlands ranks among the highest in international indexes of press freedom, economic freedom, human development, and quality of life. Its strong performance is owed in large part to a generous welfare state that provides universal healthcare, public education and infrastructure, and a range of social benefits. It is also known for its polder model, the country's leading socioeconomic model based on consensus decision-making.
Netherlands | Wikipedia audio article
This is an audio version of the Wikipedia Article:
Netherlands
Listening is a more natural way of learning, when compared to reading. Written
language only began at around 3200 BC, but spoken language has existed long ago.
Learning by listening is a great way to:
- increases imagination and understanding
- improves your listening skills
- improves your own spoken accent
- learn while on the move
- reduce eye strain
Now learn the vast amount of general knowledge available on Wikipedia through
audio (audio article). You could even learn subconsciously by playing the audio
while you are sleeping! If you are planning to listen a lot, you could try using
a bone conduction headphone, or a standard speaker instead of an earphone.
You can find other Wikipedia audio articles too at:
In case you don't find one that you were looking for, put a comment.
This video uses Google TTS en-US-Standard-D voice.
SUMMARY
=======
The Netherlands (Dutch: Nederland [ˈneːdərlɑnt] ( listen)) is a country located mainly in Northwestern Europe. Together with three island territories in the Caribbean (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba), it forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The European portion of the Netherlands consists of twelve provinces and borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing maritime borders in the North Sea with Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Germany. The five largest cities in the Netherlands are Amsterdam, Rotterdam, The Hague, Utrecht (forming the Randstad megalopolis) and Eindhoven (leading the Brabantse Stedenrij). Amsterdam is the country's capital, while The Hague holds the seat of the States General, Cabinet and Supreme Court. The Port of Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe and the world's largest outside Asia.'Netherlands' literally means 'lower countries', referring to its low land and flat geography, with only about 50% of its land exceeding 1 metre (3 ft 3 in) above sea level. Most of the areas below sea level are the result of land reclamation beginning in the 16th century, resulting in large areas known as polders that amount to nearly 17% of the country's territory. With a population of 17.25 million living within a total area of roughly 41,500 square kilometres (16,000 sq mi), of which the land area is 33,700 square kilometres (13,000 sq mi), the Netherlands is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Nevertheless, it is the world's second-largest exporter of food and agricultural products after the United States, owing to its fertile soil, mild climate, and intensive agriculture.The Netherlands was the third country in the world to have representative government, and has been administered as a parliamentary constitutional monarchy since 1848, with a unitary structure. A policy of pillarisation historically segregated society and institutions between Catholics, Calvinists and socialists, but Dutch society is today one of the most cosmopolitan in the world. The country has a long history of social tolerance and is generally regarded as a liberal country, having legalised abortion, prostitution, and euthanasia, while maintaining a progressive drug policy. The Netherlands abolished the death penalty in 1870, allowed women's suffrage in 1917, and became the world's first country to legalise same-sex marriage in 2001.
The Netherlands is a founding member of the EU, Eurozone, G10, NATO, OECD, and WTO, as well as a part of the Schengen Area and the trilateral Benelux Union. It hosts several intergovernmental organizations and international courts, many of which are centered in The Hague, which is consequently dubbed 'the world's legal capital.' Its mixed-market advanced economy had the thirteenth-highest per capita income globally. One of the world's most prosperous countries, the Netherlands ranks among the highest in international indexes of press freedom, economic freedom, human development, and quality of life. Its strong performance is owed in large part to a generous welfare state that provides universal healthcare, public education and infrastructure, and a range of social benefits. It is also known for its polder model, the country's leading socioeconomic model based on consensus decision-making.