Quick response

I mentioned earlier about the practice so-called "quick response". It is commonly featured in books published in Japan about interpreting training. It refers to the task of reading aloud without interruption between the two one word in language A followed by an equivalent in language B. What is the value of the practice if any? I don't know. In any case, I found the book ニュース英語のキーフレーズ8000 the other day at the bookshop. Originally published in 2002 and reprinted in 2005, it already stands as an "old manual". The latest release in the same vein boast 10,000 words covering two many fields. This 8000 wordbook is focused on economy, finance, industry and business over 33 fields, It comes with two audio CD where each chapter words are voiced over in Japanese first and English with a lag of about 3 seconds between each. Not all 8000 words are recorded but it may be exploited as a training tool of sort for self-learning or teaching. The book itself offers under each main word a list of related or extended vocabulary plus examples. Unfortunately, the sentences are not recorded. There seems to be no end to the craze for 単語 books here in Japan. The record 10,000 words version could be soon be flattened down by a mega 15,000 door stopper.