Clickable dictation at various speeds is available at the bottom of this page. The transcript of the dictation appears here as well.
Note that this take is a bit short at the higher speeds (100 and above) for testing. Shorthand tests, to be of any value, should be at least three minutes long. The older tests were five minutes; really old, ten full minutes at a given speed.
Shorterhand Skills for the Future, Pitman Publishing Corporation, 1974, p 103, 109, and115
Theory Practice
Our firm is not operating at capacity because of a shortage of capital. The amount of money we have on deposit is getting progressively smaller each month so that our ability to buy new equipment is cut down.
We tried to get a loan from our bank, but the assistant manager informed us that no loan could be extended unless we were able to supply more collateral. However, we have been told that the money we need might be obtained elsewhere if we were willing to pay a higher rate of interest for it. We shall endeavor to find out more about this.
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We have available in our store several boxes of carbon paper that you should find very desirable for your work. When you use this paper, you have the feeling that you are using the best and, when you begin filing the copies that you have made, you will be amazed at how difficult it is to tell the carbon copy from the original.
You may elect to purchase various sizes of this paper to fit any of your needs. This carbon paper is now on sale at a price that is well below our usual price.
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We have received word from our creditors about the decline in the prices of our exports. This may eventually mean that we shall not be able to meet our obligations on time. We had hoped to accomplish our goal of increasing our export trade and we felt that prices of our goods would remain the same for at least six months. It will, therefore, not be our fault if we have to delay payments because of this decline in export prices.
We have adopted the necessary measure to prevent too much loss in our export trade.
For more information on shorthand speed building, click here.
Instructions for Self-Dictation Practice:
Copy and paste the above article into a word-processing document, using double or triple spacing and 12- or 14-pitch type.
As always, be sure to check your shorthand dictionary for correct outlines before "drilling"!
Dictation Practice:
Note that the material was counted and recorded for dictation at 100; all other speeds were copied from the 100 take and electronically adjusted and may therefore sound unusual.
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The dictation material above is copyrighted, all rights reserved.