Uczmy się angielskiego (mp3)

TONY BLAIR

Well, it's been a long goodbye: Tony's been saying he'll go for at least the past couple of years but has refused to give a firm (= concrete) date. That is, until now. A few days ago, looking visibly (= widocznie) relieved (ryliwd, = lżej) while making an announcement to members of his local branch (= filia) of the Labour party, he finally named the date, saying that he would go on 27th June. Now his party can choose a new leader, a new direction and hopefully make up for (= odrabiać) some of their recent losses in popularity to the Conservative Party.

So, what will Tony do next? One British bookmaker has offered 50-to-1 odds (= for) that he will become the next pope! Given (= because of) the fact that Tony isn't a catholic or a priest, I doubt that Pope Benedict's job will be at risk. More importantly, what kind of record (= effects of his work) is he leaving behind? In my opinion, Iraq is a large stain (stejn, = plama) on an otherwise (= poza tym) pretty good record. Comparing the country to what it was like ten years ago, services are working better and the place looks brighter and cleaner. People have got a new can-do attitude and are willing to try out new ideas in a way that they weren't before. Moreover, people are more liberal and open than before. All of these things have been encouraged (enkarydżd, to encourage = dodawać odwagi, zachęcić, popierać) by his government.
The man that everyone expects to take over, Gordon Brown, is certainly competent enough to do the job. But will he be able to inspire (ynspajr) people to vote for Labour? After all, he is seen as being somewhat (= nieco) grey. Moreover, will he, as a Scot, be able to keep the Scots in the United Kingdom? The Scottish Nationalist Party has been doing very well recently and it's quite possible that Scotland will break away to become an independent country within the European Union. The United Kingdom has always been an unequal (anikłyl, = nierówny) partnership, so it would be exciting to see Scotland doing well on its own.

JANET JOHNSON

As you probably know, Janet, a Nigerian woman, was brought to Poland by people traffickers (= smugglers) a few months ago: it seems these people got her into Poland by saying she was a handball player. The poor woman was then most probably sent to work in a brothel (= burdel) and badly mistreated: she has not yet said what happened to her. Finally, she was able to get out and get help. For some strange reason, she was held by the police for two weeks before she was taken to hospital, even though she was obviously (obwijysli, = clearly) in a terrible state. Furthermore, although it's good that the Polish media have reported on her situation, too many details have been published (pablyszd) on her condition. In my view (= in my opinion), this has compromised (komprymajzd) her privacy (prywyci, = prywatność).