Departmental Dictations Exercise-44: 80 WPM & 400 Words

We can see, therefore, that the common expressions a long life and a short life have real meaning only when thought of in relation to the life of the man in the street the number of years on which insurance companies base their figures. But we seem at present ready to ask questions and willing to hear the answers so let us ask one or two further questions. What do the words long and short mean when used in regard to distances? What do we mean when we say a place is near or far, when we say a thing is of light weight or is heavy when we say that we are moving more or less quickly? What do we mean when we say that an object is great or is small? We find that all these expressions have real meaning only when one object is considered in relation to some other object. Nothing can be long or short, big or small, light or heavy of itself. It can be these things only when considered in relation to some other object. The life of a man is short almost beyond measure when considered side by side with the life of man upon earth past and future. So, too is any distance we have upon earth short beyond measure when considered side by side with the distances which are beyond the earth. If we move round the earth in a straight line the biggest distance we can cover is about 25 thousand miles. But, if we look far far out beyond the earth we are faced with distances in relation to which 25 thousand miles are as nothing. The most distant object of which observations can at present be made is thought to be 140 million light years away from the earth. Light, as we know, moves at 1,86,000 miles a second which it is agreed is a considerable rate. One light year is the distance which light covers moving throughout the year at a rate of 1,86,000 miles a second. When, therefore, it is stated that something is at the distance from us of 140 million light years, a distance is represented which it is beyond our powers to picture. Our earth is large if measured by other objects upon the earth, but it is a small thing of no importance whatever when measured by objects outside the earth when measured by the size.