public synchronized Utterance pend(){
  Utterance utterance=null;
  while (list.size() == 0) {
    try {
      wait();
    }
 catch (    InterruptedException ie) {
      return null;
    }
  }
  utterance=(Utterance)list.removeFirst();
  notify();
  return utterance;
}

public synchronized Utterance pend ( ) { Utterance utterance = null ; while ( list . size ( ) == 0 ) { try { wait ( ) ; } catch ( InterruptedException ie ) { return null ; } } utterance = ( Utterance ) list . removeFirst ( ) ; notify ( ) ; return utterance ; }
blocks until there is an utterance in the queue .
