Tài liệu tiếng Anh ESL POD english learning Guide

English as a Second Language Podcast www.eslpod.com ESL Podcast 201 – Making a Bet GLOSSARY back of the line – end of a line of people waiting for something, some event * We’ll never

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English as a Second Language Podcast

www.eslpod.com

ESL Podcast 201 – Making a Bet

GLOSSARY

back of the line – end of a line of people waiting for something, some event

* We’ll never get in I can’t even see the back of the line from here!

to step out of line – to leave your place in a line of people

* If you’ll hold my place, I’ll step out of line to get us some water and snacks from the store across the street

ahead of – in front of; before

* If we don’t hurry, the other team will get ahead of us and reach the finish line before we do

to flip for it – to decide a winner by using a coin; using a coin, each person

selects a side, then one person throws it in the air to see which side is up when it lands

* There are three of us and only one ticket left for the show Why don’t we flip for it?

heads/tails – the front side (heads) or the back side (tails) of a coin

* If it’s heads, he has to wash my car, and if it’s tails, I have to cook him dinner

to take the odds – to decide to take the risk or the chance

* He took the odds on that basketball game and he won for the first time in

weeks

you’re on – said when someone accepts a bet or a gamble; to agree to a contest

or competition

* You think you can beat me in a bike race around the park? You’re on!

your lucky day – you are fortunate; you have good luck

* It’s your lucky day You can buy this MP3 player for only $20

double or nothing – a bet in gambling where a player bets again to double or

cancel the debt depending on the result

* I can’t believe I lost that last game How about double or nothing?

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stakes – money or something valuable that people gamble to win or play for

* She’s playing a dangerous game at work, but the stakes are a better job and a higher salary

no matter what happens – an expression used to assure someone that

something will occur even if there are difficulties or problems

* They told us that the electricity will be back on tomorrow morning no matter what happens

that’s the idea – an expression used to tell someone that they are correct or that

they are doing something correctly; that’s right

* - Am I doing this math problem correctly?

- Yes, that’s the idea Now all you need to do is finish solving it

what do you say? – will you agree?

* I promise never to forget your birthday again if you’ll just give me another

chance What do you say?

to talk (someone) into (something) – to convince someone about something;

to get someone to do something that they don’t want to

* She tried talking Curtis into coming with us this weekend, but he said he had too much work to do

your luck will hold up – your good luck will continue

* Don’t bet that your luck will hold up If I were you, I’d take my winnings and quit now

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COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1 Ivan just won the first bet and he is now

a) standing in front of Suzanna in line

b) at the back of the line

c) standing behind Suzanna in line

2 What are the stakes for the double or nothing bet?

a) Suzanna has to get in the back of the line

b) Suzanna or Ivan has to buy a drink for the other person

c) Ivan buys two drinks for Suzanna

WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

to flip for it

The phrase “to flip for it,” in this podcast, means to decide a winner using a coin:

“They decided to flip for it to decide who will ride in the front seat of the car on the long road trip.” The verb “to flip” has several meanings “To flip through” means

to look or search through something quickly, usually something with pages: “I flipped through all of the books on this shelf but I still didn’t find the letter she was hiding.” Or, “He didn’t really read those papers He just flipped through them.”

“To flip over” means to turn over very quickly: “In the accident, the car flipped over and caught on fire.” Or, “When we all jumped on the bed, he flipped over and fell off!”

that’s the idea

In this podcast, the phrase “that’s the idea” is used when you’re confirming to someone that they’re doing something correctly: “You’ve got it now That’s the idea Soon you’ll be doing it better than I can.” We can also use this phrase to mean that this is the general meaning or method of doing something: “Making good bread isn’t easy, but that’s the idea.” A similar phrase, “to get the idea,” means to understand: “I’m starting to get the idea that you don’t want me here.”

Or, “He’s been studying those books for days but he doesn’t seem to be getting the idea.” Another phrase, “to have no idea,” means to not know at all: “I could tell that she was gaining weight, but I had no idea that she was going to have a baby!” Or, “We’re all going to the performance tonight but I have no idea what time it starts.”

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In the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, several other states also decided to make gambling casinos legal, including South Dakota and Colorado During this time, the first “riverboat casinos” were also created Riverboat casinos are casinos that are located on boats Some lawmakers thought that by putting casinos on riverboats, they could limit where casinos were located and they could also limit the time that gambling could occur by saying, for example, that gambling could only happen while the ship is “sailing,” or moving on the water Riverboat

casinos have become very popular in states located on rivers, such as Illinois, Mississippi, and Missouri Right now, there are about six states that have

riverboat gambling on about 65 boats The games allowed on these riverboats are normally the same as in any other casino

Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – a; 2 – b

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complete Learning Guide to this podcast

Today's podcast is called, “Making a Bet.” Let's get started

[Start of story]

Suzanna: Hey, the back of the line is over there

Ivan: I was here I just stepped out of line for a minute to get some cash Suzanna: Yeah, right I don’t remember you being in line ahead of me

Ivan: Come on Let’s do this We’ll flip for it If it’s heads, I win and I get to get back into line If it’s tails, you win and I’ll go to the back of the line

Suzanna: All right I’ll take those odds You’re on

Ivan: Here goes…Oh, it’s heads! I win

Suzanna: I guess it’s your lucky day

Ivan: I guess so How about going double or nothing?

Suzanna: What are the stakes?

Ivan: If it’s tails and you win, I go to the back of the line and I have to buy you a drink when we get inside If it’s heads and I win, I get back in line in front of you and you buy me a drink

Suzanna: So, no matter what happens I have to have a drink with you?

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Ivan: That’s the idea What do you say?

Suzanna: Okay, you talked me into it Let’s see if your luck will hold up

Ivan: I’ve got a good feeling it will

[End of story]

The podcast today is entitled, “Making a Bet.” To make a bet, “bet,” means that you are saying to someone that you have a certain prediction about what will happen in the future and if what you think - your prediction - happens, then you win the bet And, if what you predict doesn't happen, you lose the bet Usually, a bet is with money You say to someone, “I'll bet you ten dollars that it rains

tomorrow.” You are saying that if it rains tomorrow the other person has to give you ten dollars, and if it doesn't rain you have to give him ten dollars

In dialogue, we have two people, Suzanna and Ivan, who are waiting outside of what is probably a popular bar or pub or dance club, and Suzanna says to Ivan,

“Hey, the back of the line is over there.” What happened is that Ivan was coming into the line where they were waiting to get in to the club or bar To go to the back of the line means to go to the end of the line So, if someone says, “The back of the line is over there,” they're saying you have to go to the end of the line You cannot come here, close to the front of the line, where Suzanna is standing Ivan says, “I was here I just stepped out of line for a minute to get some cash.” Ivan is saying that he was standing in line - and to stand, “stand,” in line means

to wait in line - he was standing in line and then he stepped out of line To step,

“step,” out of line means to leave the line, to go somewhere away from the line The line, of course, are the people, the line of people who are waiting to get in

Suzanna says that, “Yeah, right,” when Ivan tells her that he had “just stepped out of line.” The expression, yeah right, with that intonation, with that

pronunciation, means that she does not believe him It's an informal way of

saying I don't believe you I don't think that's true “Yeah, right,” Suzanna says,

“I don’t remember you being in line ahead of me.” To be ahead of someone,

“ahead,” one word, means to be in front of them So, to be ahead of a person in

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Ivan says, “Come on Let’s do this.” Come on means be reasonable, try to agree with me, try to see things my way He suggests to Suzanna that they make a bet He says, “We’ll flip for it.” To flip, “flip,” for something means to flip

a coin And, you take a coin, such as a quarter or a dime or a nickel, which are American coins made out of metal, and you put it on your hand and with your thumb, you throw the coin up in the air and it goes around and around and

around and then it comes down Well, when he says to “flip for it,” means let's flip a coin to decide “If it’s heads,” he says, “I win and I get back into line If it’s tails, you win and I’ll go to the back of the line.” A coin has two sides One side, which has the picture, usually, of a president or a famous person In England, it would be a picture of the Queen That's the heads because it shows the head of

a person The other side is called the tail of the coin, or we usually use the

plural, tails So, when someone says, “If it's heads,” meaning if the side that has the head on it is the side that lands up, then you win If it's tails, if the back of the coin is the one that you can see when it stops and you catch it with your hand, then that means, in this story, that Suzanna wins So, heads I win, tails you win

Well, Suzanna says, “All right,” she agrees to this She says, “I’ll take those odds You’re on.” To take those odds, “odds,” means that I accept what you are saying The odds are the chances that you can win something For example, if you are flipping a coin, the odds are 50-50, 50 percent chance that you will get heads or 50 percent chance that you will get tails So, she's saying, “I will take those odds,” means I will accept your bet Another way of saying I accept is to say you're on You're, “you're,” which is short for you are, you are on, you're on means I agree

Well, Ivan flips the coin and it's heads, which means that he wins Notice that the expression is it's heads, that means that the heads side of the coin was the one that was on top Suzanna says, “I guess it’s your lucky day.” - your lucky day

To be lucky, “lucky,” means to have good fortune, to have things that go your way, we might say, that are good things that are happening to you So, it's his lucky day

Ivan says, “I guess so How about going double or nothing?” Double or nothing

is an expression we use in betting when someone loses a bet, or wins a bet, and the person says, “let's now bet twice the amount” - two times the amount of the first bet So, let's say you are betting someone five dollars and you win the bet, if

he says, “I'll bet you double or nothing,” or “let's go double or nothing,” that

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means that you flip the coin again, in this case, and if you win he owes you ten dollars, and if he wins you owe him nothing

Suzanna says, “What are the stakes?” The stakes, “stakes,” plural, are the things that you will win, the money or the whatever it is that you will win if you win

or if what you have to give the other person if you lose Usually the stakes are money We have an expression, high stakes When we say the stakes are high

we mean that they are very expensive or there is a lot that you have to give if you lose The opposite would be low stakes

Ivan tells Suzanna that the stakes are that if it's tails and Suzanna wins he has to

go to the back of the line, and he has to buy her a drink when they get inside Notice there are two things he has to do In the original bet he was just going to

go to the back of the line, but since it's double or nothing, he has to do something more What he'll have to do is go to the back of the line and buy her a drink If it's heads and Ivan wins, he gets to go back into line in front of Suzanna, and Suzanna has to buy him a drink

Suzanna says, “So, no matter what happens I have to have a drink with you?” The expression, no matter, “matter,” what happens, means in both

circumstances, in both situations, or in any situation - it doesn't matter if she wins

or loses, there's no difference, she still has to have a drink with Ivan Of course, Ivan is hitting on Suzanna To hit, “hit,” on someone means that you are

romantically interested in them and you try to get to know them, and you try to perhaps get their telephone number, or get them to go and have a drink or have coffee with you This is something that you would do, of course, only if you were single If you're married, you shouldn't be hitting on anyone, I don't think!

Ivan then says, “That’s the idea.” So, he answers Suzanna's question about having to have a drink with her by saying, yes, that's my intention That is what I want to happen That's the idea That's what I was planning He then says to Suzanna, “What do you say,” meaning, do you agree to this bet? Do you agree

to having a drink with me? And here, of course, is the most important part of the dialogue when Suzanna says, “No! You're a loser! Get away from me!” No, actually Suzanna doesn't say that! A loser, “loser,” is a slang term meaning someone who is not very attractive or someone who does things wrong all the time Someone who is not a person that you would want to date or be in a

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But, our story has a happy ending because Suzanna says, “you talked me into it.”

To talk someone into something means that you convince them, you get them to agree with you And, Suzanna says that, “you,” Ivan, have “talked me into it” - you have convinced me Then she says, “Let’s see if your luck will hold up.” The expression, to have your luck hold, “hold,” up, two words, means that it will

continue To hold up, here, means to continue, so she's saying let's see if you continue to be lucky since you bet the first time and you won And, Ivan says, very confidently as you would expect, “I’ve got a good feeling it will” - means I think that my luck will continue

Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a native rate of speech

[Start of story]

Suzanna: Hey, the back of the line is over there

Ivan: I was here I just stepped out of line for a minute to get some cash

Suzanna: Yeah, right I don’t remember you being in line ahead of me

Ivan: Come on Let’s do this We’ll flip for it If it’s heads, I win and I get to get back into line If it’s tails, you win and I’ll go to the back of the line

Suzanna: All right I’ll take those odds You’re on

Ivan: Here goes…Oh, it’s heads! I win

Suzanna: I guess it’s your lucky day

Ivan: I guess so How about going double or nothing?

Suzanna: What are the stakes?

Ivan: If it’s tails and you win, I go to the back of the line and I have to buy you a drink when we get inside If it’s heads and I win, I get in back in line in front of you and you buy me a drink

Suzanna: So, no matter what happens I have to have a drink with you?

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Ivan: That’s the idea What do you say?

Suzanna: Okay, you talked me into it Let’s see if your luck will hold up

Ivan: I’ve got a good feeling it will

[End of story]

The script for today's podcast was written by Dr Lucy Tse, our lucky scriptwriter Remember, you can email us at eslpod@eslpod.com if you have questions or comments about this podcast From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan Thanks for listening We'll see you next time on ESL Podcast

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ESL Podcast 202 – At the Gas Station

GLOSSARY

gas prices – the amount of money you pay to buy one gallon of gasoline, the

fuel put into cars to make them run

* A lot of people are choosing not to go on vacation this summer because gas prices are too high

through the roof – very high; higher than people thought possible

* I read that during World War II, many people couldn’t buy meat because prices were through the roof

gas station – a place that sells gasoline, the fuel that makes cars run

* This gas station sells gasoline, and also drinks and snacks

to fill up – to put something in a space until the space is full

* Could you hand me those empty bottles so I can fill them up with water?

tank – a container or an object, usually made of metal, that holds large amounts

of liquids or gas

* Those large round containers over there are the city’s water tanks

full-service – a part of a gas station where a gas station employee puts gasoline

into your car and takes your money for payment

* I like to use the full-service option when it’s raining so I won’t get wet

self-service – getting gasoline and making payment at a gas station on your

own, without the help of a gas station employee

* It costs less to buy gas using self-service than full-service at most gas stations

pump – the machine at a gas station where you buy gas

* Can you help me with this? I don’t think this pump is working

out of order – not working; broken

* We were in the bathroom so long because three out of the four sinks were out

of order

pay inside – being required to go into the gas station building or store to pay for

the gas you buy

* She was sure she was going to be late for work if she had to pay inside for gas

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pay at the pump – to pay for gasoline by using a bank card or credit card at the

pump, or the machine that gives gas

* Some of the independent gas stations don’t have the option to pay at the pump

to swipe – to slide; to move your credit card through a machine quickly to make

a payment

* After the clerk told me the total amount for my purchases, I swiped my credit card through the machine

cap – a removable top to a container to keep things from spilling or falling out

* After pouring a glass of orange juice, he didn't put the cap back on correctly and juice spilled everywhere

grade – a score given to something to show its level or quality

* My father only eats at restaurants that get a grade of A from the state health department

unleaded gas – a type of gasoline; the most common type of gasoline sold at

gas stations in the U.S

* I told him to be sure to buy unleaded gas because any other type may hurt the car’s engine

nozzle – the smallest part of the end of a hose, tube, or pipe

* Be careful! I think you just broke the nozzle off the garden hose

to top off – to add to something that is already full

* She planned to top off the five-course meal with three different kinds of cake

receipt – a piece of paper that shows the items someone bought and the price

* She told me that I couldn't return the shoes I bought last week without the original receipt

squeegee – something used to clean windows; a T-shaped object with a strip of

sponge on one side to clean and a piece of rubber on the other side to wipe the water off windows

* After cleaning them with some soap and a squeegee, the windows looked brand new

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1 How did the person in the story pay for the gas he bought?

a) He went inside and gave money to the cashier

b) A gas station employee took his credit card at the full-service pump

c) He swiped his credit card at a self-service pump

2 After filling his tank with gas,

a) the man bought some snacks

b) the man cleaned his windows with the squeegee

c) the man pushed the button for the grade of unleaded gas

“The cat swiped at the ball and made it roll under the sofa.” A similar term,

“sideswipe,” is used to describe when one car hits another on its side: “Coming home in the rain, another car sideswiped mine, and now, the passenger door doesn’t open properly.” Used in an informal way, “to swipe” can also mean to steal: “The boy was caught trying to swipe all of the candy from the jar when the owner wasn’t looking.”

cap

In this podcast, the word “cap” means a cover or a top to a container: “If I don't find the cap, I'm going to have to throw out this jar of peanut butter.” “Cap” can also be used as another word for hat: “Baseball caps are worn even by people who don't play baseball.” The word can also be used to mean a restriction or a limit on something: “She knew she had to put a cap on her spending if she wanted to save enough money for a new car.” In this way, it can also be used as

a verb, “to cap”: “The football players went on strike last year because the

management wanted to cap their salaries.” Finally, “to cap off” can also be used

to mean to add something special at the end of something: “To cap off her long list of victories, the lawyer won a very difficult case just before she retired.”

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CULTURE NOTE

In most cities in the U.S., people depend on their cars, rather than public

transportation, for their everyday life Public transportation is run by the

government and usually includes buses, subways, and trains With the exception

of a few big cities such as New York, Boston, and San Francisco, many people think that public transportation is not convenient enough to use everyday, to go work or school, or to travel around town However, too many cars on the road cause poor air quality, or “air pollution,” which affects people’s health Having fewer cars on the road also means fewer “traffic jams,” where cars move very slowly or are stopped on the road

In the past 30 years, the government, private organizations, and businesses have been trying to get people to drive their cars less Many of these are

“incentive” programs that reward people for using other types of transportation For example, many large cities have “carpool lanes,” or a lane on a road or

freeway just for people in cars with at least two or three people During “rush hour,” or the time of day when the roads are the busiest, people who drive in carpool lanes are less likely to be caught in traffic jams

Some companies are encouraging their employees to carpool by giving them different types of incentives For instance, employees who carpool may get a special parking “permit,” or pass, that allows them to park in the most convenient parking spaces at work

Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – c; 2 – b

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Today's podcast is going to be about going to a gas station to get some gas Let's go!

[Start of story]

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my friends Steve and Liz, and I thought this would be a good weekend to drive up to Santa Barbara to see them Gas prices have been through the roof, but I decided to take the short road trip anyway Before getting on the road, I went to the gas station to fill up my tank

I drove past the full-service pump and parked at the first self-service one I got out of the car and saw that there was an “out of order” sign telling customers to pay inside I wanted to pay at the pump so I got back into the car and pulled up

to the next one Luckily for me, this one was working

I swiped my credit card and took the gas cap off I pushed the button for the grade of unleaded gas I wanted and put the nozzle into my tank There was a sign on the pump that read, “Do not top off.” After the tank was full, I replaced the nozzle and pressed the button for a receipt Right when I was about to leave,

I noticed that my windows were dirty, so I got the squeegee and some paper towels and cleaned them Now, I was ready for my drive up north

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We begin the story by me saying that, “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my friends Steve and Liz, and I thought” that this weekend would be a good one “to drive up to Santa Barbara to see them.” Santa Barbara is located about an hour north of Los Angeles It's a city like Los Angeles that is on the Pacific Ocean It's

a small city compared to Los Angeles, but it's very popular for people to go on the weekend because it's nice, it's small and it's close to Los Angeles So, if you want to go somewhere for a short holiday, for a couple of days, it's very close and convenient I also mention in the story that I am going “to drive up to Santa Barbara.” We usually say drive up when we are going somewhere north, and drive down when we are going somewhere south So, here I'm driving up to Santa Barbara That tells you that it is north of where I am

I continue the story by saying that, “Gas prices have been through the roof.” The gas price is the amount of money you pay for gasoline Right now, in the United States, it's about 50 dollars a gallon, or least it seems like 50 dollars a gallon When we say the prices for something have been through the roof, “roof,” we mean that they've been very high, very expensive The roof is the covering on your house It's the top of a house or a building So, through the roof would be very expensive, very high

Even though the “Gas prices have been through the roof, I decided to take the short road trip anyway.” A road, “road,” trip is when you take a trip or a vacation

by car, when you drive somewhere “Before getting on the road,” that is before I started driving, “Before getting on the road, I went to the gas station to fill up my tank.” Your tank, “tank,” is the part of your automobile, your car, where the gas is stored, where you put the gas To fill up means to make full, and we use that two word verb, fill up, when we are talking about a car and gasoline Someone may

go into to the gas station and say, “Fill 'er up,” meaning fill my car up with gas Well, I go to the gas station to fill up my tank First, I drive “past the full-service pump.” To drive past means to drive beyond something, to continue driving, not stopping And here, I'm not stopping at the full-service pump The pump,

“pump,” is what we call the machine that you drive up to in a gas station where you get your gas The verb, to pump, means to take something out of - usually to draw something out of the ground or out of another big tank Gas stations have very large tanks underneath the ground, and you have to pump the gas, or get the gas out of the tank into your car's gas tank So, we can use that verb, to

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Well, here I'm pumping out gas, and the machine that does this is also called a pump, as a noun The full-service pump is the pump where someone from the gas station who works for the gas station will put the gas into your car In most gas stations in the United States the majority of the pumps are not full-service, meaning no one will help you put the gas into the car You have to do it yourself

If you drive up to a full-service pump, an employee from the gas station will pump

it for you However, you pay more for gas at a full-service pump than you do at a self-service pump A self-service pump is one where you get out of your car and you pump your own gas That is, you put your own gas into your tank

Well, I went to the self-service one because I am cheap I don't like to spend more money than I have to “I got out of the car and saw that there was an 'out

of order' sign.” When we say something is out of order, “order,” we mean that it's not working, that it's not functioning properly In this case, it says that the

customer has “to pay inside.” So, what is out of order, what is not working, is the credit card machine that you can buy your gas from The pump is working but the credit card machine is not Each pump at the gas station has its own credit card machine that you can use so that you don't have to go inside the building in order to pay But, if you see a sign that says, “pay inside,” that means you have

to take your credit card into the building and give it to them with Well, that is not very convenient for people, so most gas stations have credit card machines on the pump itself Well, this one wasn't working, and because, “I wanted to pay at the pump, I got back into” my car and I drove up, or I “pulled up to the next one.”

To pay at the pump means that you can use your credit card and you don't have

to go inside the building

Well, “Luckily for me,” I say, the next pump had a credit card machine that “was working.” So, “I swiped my credit card and took the gas cap off.” To swipe,

“swipe,” is a verb, which we use when talking about putting your card, your credit card, into a credit card machine Usually in a gas station, you take the card and you put it in and then you pull it out very quickly That's swiping your card, when you take your card and put it through a credit card machine We use that verb, to swipe

Well, “I swiped my credit card and I took the gas cap off.” The gas cap, “cap,” is what is keeping the gas from coming out of your gas tank in your car It's a round piece of plastic usually that you put on the top of your gas tank, just like you would put a top onto a bottle If you have a bottle of ketchup or a bottle of soda

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pop, like Coca-Cola, the top of the bottle has a cap and that prevents the liquid inside from coming out Well, a gas tank also needs a cap, and you take the cap off in order to put the gas into the tank “I pushed the button for the grade of unleaded gas I wanted.” There are different grades of gasoline in an American gas station Usually there are three grades The cheapest grade - and

remember, I'm very cheap - is the unleaded gas Unleaded, “unleaded,” gas is a type of gasoline We would say it is a grade, “grade,” of gasoline We often use that word when we are talking about quality It's the same word that we use in school to talk about the quality of a student's work If you get a grade of A that means that it is a very high quality work I never got very many grades of A in school

I wanted the lower quality of gasoline - the unleaded gasoline – so “I pushed the button for” that particular grade, and I took the nozzle of the pump and put it “into

my tank.” A nozzle, “nozzle,” is a noun, which means the part of the gas pump that you put into the opening of your tank so the gas will go in The pump is a machine, a square box, usually about five or four or five feet tall, and it has a hose on it, “hose,” which is a long, round tube through which the gas is pumped And, at the end of the hose is a nozzle and that's what you put into your gas tank

to get the gas in

Well, “There was a sign on the pump that read, 'Do not top off.'“ To top, “top,” off, “off,” two words, means to try to fill your gas tank until it is completely full This is something that gas stations do not like because if you try to get it

completely full, you may spill gasoline on your own car and on the ground, which,

of course, could be dangerous, so they ask you “not to top off.” You can fill your tank up, but you can't try to get it completely full “After the tank was full, I

replaced the nozzle,” that is, I took the nozzle out of my gas tank and put it back into the pump, and I “pressed the button for a receipt.” In American gas stations, the credit card machine will ask you if you want a receipt after you stop pumping your gas, after you put the nozzle back into the pump, which tells the machine that you are done pumping gas A receipt, “receipt,” is a little piece of paper that tells you how much gas you bought

“Right when I was about to leave, I noticed that my windows were dirty” - the windows of my car - “so I got a squeegee and some paper towels” to clean it A squeegee, “squeegee,” is something that you use to clean your car windows It

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one side, and on the other side, it has a blade, “blade,” which is a thin piece of plastic And, if you put the plastic against the window, it will take the water off

So, you use the squeegee, which is usually on a stick, maybe a one or two foot stick, and you use the sponge to wash your window and then you flip it over and you use the blade of the squeegee to dry your windows And, of course, you also can use some paper towels Well, “Now, I was ready for my drive up north.” Now let's listen to the story, this time at a native rate of speech

[Start of story]

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen my friends Steve and Liz, and I thought this would be a good weekend to drive up to Santa Barbara to see them Gas prices have been through the roof, but I decided to take the short road trip anyway Before getting on the road, I went to the gas station to fill up my tank

I drove past the full-service pump and parked at the first self-service one I got out of the car and saw that there was an “out of order” sign telling customers to pay inside I wanted to pay at the pump so I got back into the car and pulled up

to the next one Luckily for me, this one was working

I swiped my credit card and took the gas cap off I pushed the button for the grade of unleaded gas I wanted and put the nozzle into my tank There was a sign on the pump that read, “Do not top off.” After the tank was full, I replaced the nozzle and pressed the button for a receipt Right when I was about to leave,

I noticed that my windows were dirty, so I got the squeegee and some paper towels and cleaned them Now, I was ready for my drive up north

[End of story]

The script for today's podcast was written by the talented Dr Lucy Tse

Remember to visit our website at eslpod.com There you can find a complete Learning Guide to this podcast episode It contains all of the vocabulary we just discussed, the definitions, additional explanations about these topics, culture notes and the complete transcript of this podcast

From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan Thanks for listening We'll see you next time on ESL Podcast

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ESL Podcast 203 – Text Messaging

GLOSSARY

to text – to send a text message to someone

* I texted my friend to tell him where to meet us so we could all go to dinner together

I M @ lib wher r u? – “I am at (the) library Where are you?”

* When Megan didn’t arrive by 8:30, Tim texted her the message, “I M @ lib wher r u?”

template – something that is a sample or a model that someone can change and

use for their own purposes

* The template we used to build our website uses red as a background color, but

I changed it to yellow

to make up – to invent; to create

* All he said was he that he couldn’t come tonight Don’t make up a story in your head about the reasons why

to compose – to write something

* Could you please wait a minute while I finish composing an email?

setting – the part of something that can be set, changed, or adjusted according

to someone’s preference

* She changed the settings on her alarm clock so that she could wake up to her favorite CD playing

predictive text mode – a setting for text messages that allows the machine to

complete words for you as you enter the first letters in a word

* Predictive text mode makes it easier for me to text people quickly

normal tap mode – a setting for text messages that allows you to enter your

own words instead of having the words completed for you by the machine

* I don’t use normal tap mode very much anymore unless I’m texting a list of names

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character – any text that takes up one space in a text message; usually letters,

numbers, and symbols

* This screen has a limit of 200 characters I hope my message is short enough

to fit

symbol – a character that is not a number or a letter; a small picture that

represents something else

* The logo for that company was created as a symbol of their long history

screen – the area on an electronic device where you can see the characters

* My computer screen stopped working so I can’t see what I’m typing!

capital letter – a letter used to begin sentences and names, for example, “W”

and “D.”

* This sentence begins with the capital letter, “T.”

option – a type of setting that can be turned on or off, or changed; a choice

* When you purchase this camera, you have the option of paying just $20 more for a photo printer

abbreviation – a shortened version of a word

* Do you know what the abbreviation for Texas is? I’m not sure if it’s TX or TS

to get up to speed – to be able to do something that you are learning as well as

others

* He just started sailing two weeks ago, so please help him to get up to speed

to not make (any) sense – to be difficult to understand; not to be logical

* It doesn't make any sense to take the elevator when the stairs are faster

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1 Why does Jenny text Richard?

a) Instead of the library, Jenny wants to meet at the café

b) Jenny can’t meet Richard at the library after all

c) Richard hasn’t arrived and Jenny wants to know where he is

2 What kind of message did Richard send to Jenny?

a) He sent her a message with predictive text

I know you’re making it up.” The phrase can also be used to mean to stop

fighting and to be kind to one another again: “After fighting for two days, Bill and Stephanie made up at lunch today and said that they would never fight again.” A similar phrase, “to make up for something,” means to do something nice for someone after you’ve made a mistake or done something bad: “To make up for running over her bicycle with his car, he bought her a new and better one.”

different from other people or strange in some way If there is someone who does strange things for no reason, he might described as “a character”: “I didn’t know that Lia’s brother was such a character until I met him last week.” It’s common to hear people say, “he/she is quite a character.” From this, people will know that this person is a little different or is unique

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1 used for part of a word that

sounds like “one”

cnt cannot or can’t

2 to, two, or too g2g or gtg got to go; must leave

4 for, or part of a word that

sounds like “four”

nm never mind; forget what I

said before

8 used for part of a word that

sounds like “eight”

thx thanks or thank you

Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – c; 2 – b

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Remember to visit our website at eslpod.com for more information about this podcast and for a complete Learning Guide to this episode The Learning Guide

is an eight to ten page PDF file that you can download It will give you all of the vocabulary, the definitions, additional vocabulary and definitions that we don't talk about on the podcast, as well as cultural notes and a complete transcript of

everything that we say on the podcast

Today's episode is called, “Text Messaging.” Let's get started

[Start of story]

I was supposed to meet Jenny at the library, but I was late Jenny texted me: “I

M @ lib wher r u?”

I’m not very good at texting so I used a template to say I was going to be late When I arrived at the library, Jenny laughed at me because she knew I didn’t know how to text

Richard: I don’t know how to use this thing The phone kept making up words for me

Jenny: That's because you were composing in predictive text mode You have

to change your settings to normal tap mode so only the characters you want show up in the screen

Richard: Okay, but everything still shows up in capital letters

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Jenny: You can change the option by pressing the button See? The screen will show you what kind of letters or numbers you can get, and you keep pushing the button until the one you want comes up

Richard: What about the symbol you used in your message?

Jenny: You press the 1 button or the 0 button for those I use them as

abbreviations to save time when I am texting I always use the symbols “@” and

“&” for “at” and “and.” Simple words like “you,” “are,” and “be” can be spelled with the letters “u,” “r,” and “b.” It saves time

Richard: Thanks I think I’ve got it, but it’ll take some practice for me to get up to speed

Jenny: No problem Each time I get a strange message that doesn’t make any sense, I’ll know it’s from you

[End of story]

Today's episode is called, “Text Messaging.” Text messaging is something that you can do on your cellular phone normally - your mobile phone - and it means to send a message like an email but through your telephone to someone else who has a cell phone or a mobile phone The word text, “text,” just means that it is something that is appearing on your screen or on a piece of paper as writing

So, you are writing someone a message, instead of calling them and talking to them you can send them a message on your cell phone This is very popular, especially among younger adults and teenagers I have to say that I don't think I have ever text messaged anyone Notice that we use that expression as a verb

To text someone, or to text message someone, is a verb which means to send them a text message

Our dialogue begins with Richard saying that he “was supposed to meet Jenny at the library.” They had made plans to meet at the library, but he was late Jenny texted him She sent him a text message, which said in regular English, “I am at the library Where are you?” But the actual letters that Jenny used were not the same as you would use in a normal English sentence If you know something about text messaging, you know that people use letters and other signs and

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for, “am” in a text message This would be a good podcast to go to our website and look at the script for the podcast You can see the script for the dialogue by clicking on the name of the podcast on our web page, and there you can see how Jenny spelled how she typed in her text message

She said, “I M,” and then she used a symbol [@] And a symbol is something that, in this case, is not a letter like A, B, C - it's not a number like 1, 2, 3 - it's something different This symbol means “at.” But continuing with Jenny's

message she says, “I am at,” and instead of saying the library, instead of typing that in her text message, she simply said lib, “lib.” That meant the library - lib was short for library, and people do that when they send text messages, I guess They shorten words so they don't have to type as much

She then said “wher r u,” but she didn't spell it like we would normally She

spelled where, “wher.” Where is actually “where” in normal English, but in text message English you can shorten it The verb are is normally spelled “are,” but

in a text message it's just the letter “r,” And you is not “you” in text message English, it's the letter “u.”

So, Jenny sends this text message, and I say that “I’m not very good at texting,” that is sending text messages, “so I used a template to say I was going to be late.” A template, “template,” is a model that you can use or change When we talk about text messaging, it's a list of common messages or common

expressions that you can select on your cell phone so you don't have to type them out

Well, “I used a template to say I was going to be late.” When I got to the library,

“When I arrived at the library, Jenny laughed at me because she knew I didn’t know how to text.” I said to her that, “I don’t know how to use this thing The phone kept making up words for me.” To make, “make,” up, “up,” two words, is a verb that means to invent, things that you didn't, in this case, plan The phone was making up words It was inventing words It was coming up with words It was putting words on the screen almost by itself And, Jenny said the reason that my phone was doing that was because I was “composing in predictive text mode.” To compose, “compose,” as a verb means to write, to think about and to write We use this verb, to compose, often when we are talking about a letter or

a message We also use this verb when we are talking about music We say that, for example, J.S Bach was a person who composed beautiful music The

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person that composes music is called a composer But here, compose means to write, and Jenny says that I was “composing in predictive text mode.”

The word predictive, “predictive,” comes from the verb to predict, “predict.” To predict means to guess something, to guess something about the future, to say what will happen So, the adjective, predictive, means that the phone guesses,

in this case, what word you are going to try to type, because the phone is like a little computer and it has memory of what common words that people use So, when you have a text messaging telephone, cell phone, it will often have this predictive text mode A mode, “mode,” is a way of doing something So, when

we say it's in predictive text mode that means that the phone will try to guess what you are going to say, so you may only type or press the first two or three letters of a word and it will guess what you want

Jenny says that Richard has “to change” his “settings to normal tap mode.” Your settings, “settings,” are the rules, if you will, that your computer uses, or your cell phone uses We talk about settings to mean things that you can change about a machine For example, on your computer you can make the screen bright or you can make it dark, light or dark, bright or not bright You can change the colors on your computer screen These are settings, variables that you can change, things that you can change about the machine so that will perform or act differently Normal tap, “tap,” mode is the opposite of predictive text mode It's when the computer doesn't guess what you want You have to put in every letter that you want to send in your text message The word tap, “tap,” as a verb, means to press To tap also can mean to touch something lightly “He was tapping his fingers on the top of the desk.” He was touching his fingers, hitting the desk with his fingers lightly Jenny says that if Richard uses normal tap mode only the characters he wants will appear, or show up, on the screen The characters,

“characters,” are the letters and the numbers The screen is the little thing that you can view the message on on your telephone

Well, Richard says, “everything still shows up in capital letters.” Everything on the screen appears in capital letters Capital, “capital,” letters are letters that are large or big We sometimes call these upper case letters, upper case, “case,” letters For example, in English your name begins with a capital letter, or an upper case letter The opposite - the small letters would be lower case letters

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Jenny says that, “You can change the option by pressing the button.” The

option, “option,” is the the way that something is done, the mode or the manner that something is done “The screen,” she says, “will show you what kind of letters and numbers you can get, and you just keep pushing the button until the one you want comes up,” or appears

Richard asks about the symbol that Jenny used in her message Remember a symbol, “symbol,” is something that is not a number or a letter And, Jenny explains that on her phone, you press the number one or the number zero button for those special symbols She uses “them as abbreviations to save time.” An abbreviation is a short form of a word or expression Jenny says she always uses the symbol at [@], which is an “a” with a circle around it, and ampersand [&], “ampersand.” Ampersand is that funny symbol that sort of looks like the number eight Jenny also explains that simple words like you, are and be are often spelled with just the letter “u,” “r” and “b.”

Richard thanks Jenny and says that he thinks he's “got it,” or he thinks he's understood it, “but it’ll take some practice for” him “to get up to speed.” The expression, to get up to speed, means to be able to do something as well as someone else, or as well as an expert, to get better at something, to get up to speed If you are learning, for example, how to play a musical instrument, and you want to play with someone else who is very good, you may have to practice

in order to get up to speed, to be as good as them

Jenny says, “No problem Each time I get a strange” text “message that doesn’t make any sense,” she'll “know it’s from” Richard To not make any sense,

“sense,” means that it is not logical or that it doesn't have any meaning because, it’s done, in this case, incorrectly

Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a native rate of speech

[Start of story]

I was supposed to meet Jenny at the library, but I was late Jenny texted me: “I

M @ lib wher r u?”

I’m not very good at texting so I used a template to say I was going to be late When I arrived at the library, Jenny laughed at me because she knew I didn’t know how to text

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Richard: I don’t know how to use this thing The phone kept making up words for me

Jenny: That's because you were composing in predictive text mode You have

to change your settings to normal tap mode so only the characters you want show up in the screen

Richard: Okay, but everything still shows up in capital letters

Jenny: You can change the option by pressing the button See? The screen will show you what kind of letters or numbers you can get, and you keep pushing the button until the one you want comes up

Richard: What about the symbol you used in your message?

Jenny: You press the 1 button or the 0 button for those I use them as

abbreviations to save time when I am texting I always use the symbols “@” and

“&” for “at” and “and.” Simple words like “you,” “are,” and “be” can be spelled with the letters “u,” “r,” and “b.” It saves time

Richard: Thanks I think I’ve got it, but it’ll take some practice for me to get up to speed

Jenny: No problem Each time I get a strange message that doesn’t make any sense, I’ll know it’s from you

[End of story]

The script for today's podcast was written by one of our college interns, Clara Asuncion So, thank you Clara for that interesting dialogue

That's all we have time for today From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff

McQuillan Thanks for listening We'll see you next time on ESL Podcast

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ESL Podcast 204 – Using Visuals in a Presentation

GLOSSARY

pointers – advice; suggestions

* After Clara gave me some pointers on driving, I passed the road test without any problems

visuals – anything that people can see, such as a picture or display, usually

used to make something else clearer or interesting

* Our manager liked the new report, but he suggested that we add more visuals

slide – a small picture that is usually put into a projector or that is projected so

that it can be made bigger for others to see

* In this next slide, you’ll see a painting by Pablo Picasso

pie chart – a type of visual with a circle that is divided into parts, each part

having a different meaning

* Do you think you can create a pie chart showing how much money each

company has given to help build the new hospital?

bar chart/graph – a type of visual with thick lines (bars) that shows how much

there is of each thing

* By looking at this bar graph, you can see that we had 300 new customers in

2000 and 500 new customers in 2005

to represent – to substitute for something else; to take the place of something

* Can you tell me what this line represents on the map?

slice – a small piece cut from a larger piece, such as a slice of pie, cake, or

bread

* That cake smells so good Can I have a slice?

X-axis/Y-axis – in a graph, the range from left to right (X-axis) or from bottom to

top (Y-axis)

* On this graph, the X-axis represents the months of this year and the Y-axis represents how many products we’ve sold

increment – a regular increase or addition

* In her contract, her salary will go up in 10 percent increments every year

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trend – a general direction in which something is changing or developing

* The trend in American television is toward more and more reality shows

line chart – a type of visual with lines going left to right, showing whether

something has gone up or down, usually over time

* If you follow the blue line on this line chart, you’ll see that the number people who drive on this road has increased a lot over the past 10 years

to change (one’s) mind – to make a different decision than you made before; to

change the decision you made before

* I wish I could change your mind about climbing that dangerous mountain by yourself

flip chart – a large pad of paper that is held together at the top so that each

page can be turned over at the top

* Let me write your suggestions on this flip chart so everyone can see them

to turn (one’s) back on – to turn so that your back is facing someone else; to

ignore or to refuse to help someone who is expecting your help

* The photographer told the model to turn her back to the camera and to look over her shoulder

audience participation – when the audience is invited by the presenter or

performer to do something that becomes part of the presentation or performance

* We’ll need some audience participation during this three-hour presentation or everyone will fall asleep

token – a thing that is given or done for someone to show one’s feelings

* As a token of my love for her, I plan to give her these roses

to treat – to pay for someone else, usually for their food and drink

* Did you hear? Dr Jeff McQuillan has invited all of his listeners to dinner and he’s treating!

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1 Rosa plans to use these visuals for her presentation:

a) Pie chart, bar graph, and flip chart

b) Pie chart, line graph, and flip chart

c) Pie chart, video, and flip chart

2 When does Rosa plan to use the flip chart?

a) During the first part of the presentation

b) While she is introducing herself to the audience

c) During the second part of the presentation

on a smooth, usually metal surface: “When Yolanda was only 3-years-old, she was too scared to come down on the slide by herself.” This word can also be a verb used to mean to move along a smooth surface: “When Jim got to the

restaurant, he told me to slide down on the seat so he could sit down next to me.”

to treat

In this podcast, the verb “to treat” means to pay for someone else, usually when you are doing something together with them: “If you let me treat you to dinner, you can treat me to a movie.” A very common phrase you’ll hear is, “it’s my treat,” meaning I will pay for you It can also be used to mean how you behave toward someone else: “Why do you treat me like a child when I’m already 25 years old?” Or, “When we stayed with friends after the fire, they treated us with kindness and patience.” This verb can also be used to mean to give medical care: “There was a nurse at the scene of the big accident and she treated some people who were badly hurt before the ambulance arrived.”

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CULTURE NOTE

In U.S business presentations, especially training presentations where

employees are being given information or being taught something new,

presenters usually use some type of audience participation A presenter may ask the audience to do an activity as an “ice breaker” as a way to introduce themselves and to make those in the audience feel comfortable with each other

An example of an ice breaker activity is when there are people from different companies attending one presentation, and the presenter asks each person to introduce themselves to the rest of the group Another ice breaker activity would

be for people to “pair up,” or to have two people work together, to ask each other

a list of interesting questions This way, people from different companies,

organizations, or departments can “network,” or make useful business

connections with other people

Audience participation can also be used to “enliven,” or make more interesting, a long presentation Presentations that are highly technical or that present a lot of information may use audience participation to give the audience a chance to talk about the new information they’ve heard or to ask questions

Some companies and organizations use audience participation for “team

building.” Team building is usually a set of activities that a company does to improve communication and to have better working relationships among its employees Many companies in the U.S think that team building is very

important in order to “retain,” or keep employees from leaving the company, and

to get them to do their best work

Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – a; 2 – c

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Remember to visit our website at eslpod.com There you can fine a complete Learning Guide to this podcast It’s a 10-page guide that includes all of the vocabulary, the definitions, additional vocabulary and definitions that we don’t discuss on the podcast, as well as a complete transcript of this episode

Today’s podcast is called “Using Visuals in a Presentation.” Let’s get started [Start of story]

Rosa: Thanks a lot for offering to give me some pointers on how to use visuals for my presentation I’ve never given a presentation like this before

Milo: I’m glad I can help What do you plan to use?

Rosa: Well, I plan to show these slides for the first part of the talk First, I have this pie chart that shows the types of services our company provides Then, I have this bar graph to show how the company has grown in the past 20 years But, I’m not really sure how to talk about them

Milo: Okay, first, when you’re using a chart, make sure you explain what each part represents For example, on this pie chart, I would explain that each slice of the pie represents a percentage of the business Then, for this bar chart, I’d make sure to tell the audience what the X-axis and Y-axis stand for, and what each increment represents That way, the trend that the company is following is clear Are you planning on using this line chart, too?

Rosa: No, I changed my mind about that I think it’s a little confusing, but your tips on the other charts are really helpful I have this flip chart, too, that I’m

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supposed to use but I’m not sure how I don’t want turn my back on the audience during the presentation

Milo: The second half of the presentation includes some audience participation, right? Then, I think it’s fine to use it during that part of the talk Any other

or graphs or charts or a PowerPoint presentation – all of these would be visuals

Well, our dialogue begins with Rosa telling Milo that she is thankful that he is offering to give her some pointers on how to use visuals in her presentation A pointer, “pointer,” means a tip or some advice on how to do something Usually,

we use this term, pointers, when someone understands how to do something in a general way, but needs perhaps some additional help or some tips on improving what they are doing

Rosa said that she’s never given a presentation similar to this one before Milo says he’s glad he can help; he asks Rosa what she plans on using in her

presentation Rosa says, “Well, I plan,” or I intend, “to show these slides for the first part of the talk A slide, “slide,” is one frame, usually nowadays in a

PowerPoint presentation So, if you have used Microsoft PowerPoint or other similar software, you know that each page is something that you can show

people on a computer or you can put it up on a screen – a blank area that

everyone can see it – that individual page is called a slide when it’s part of a PowerPoint presentation

In the old days, back before we had computers, one of the more popular ways to show things was to have a slide projector If you needed to show pictures to a

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showed the picture up on the screen, that would be used to look at each one of these slides Now we use the term mostly to refer to pages in a PowerPoint or similar presentation

Rosa says that she has a couple of different kinds of graphics that she’s going to use A graphic, “graphic,” is similar to a visual, but it usually refers to a chart or a graph or a table Rosa says that she has a pie, “pie” chart that shows different types of services that her company provides A pie chart is what it sounds like; it’s a round circle – looks like a pie that you would eat The pie is cut into

sections; the sections, or the pieces of the pie represent a certain percentage, usually A bar graph, “bar graph,” two words, is when you have a set of lines, usually they’re vertical, but they could be horizontal – they could go up and down

or side to side – and the tall lines represent more of something and the short lines represent less of something Usually they’re lines that are maybe a quarter

or a half inch thick – a couple of centimeters thick – and they show sometimes different colors on the bar graph to represent different products or different

concepts that you are trying to show So, a bar graph helps show how much you have of something

Milo explains to Rosa how you would use these different kinds of charts and graphs Milo says it’s important if “you’re using a chart to explain what each part

of the chart represents.” When we say it represents something, we mean that it stands for, or it is supposed to show you how much of something there is So, you may have a chart that has the color red for product A and the color blue for product B, and if it’s a pie chart, you may show what percentage of people buy product A versus product B So, each part represents, or stands for something in

a graph or chart

Milo explains that on a pie chart “each slice of the pie represents a percentage of the business.” A slice, “slice,” of the pie is a same as a piece of a pie It’s a section, or a part of the pie We use that word, slice, when we are talking about things that are round that you eat So for example, you can have a slice of pizza – pizza is usually round – and a slice would be something that looks like a

triangle with a round base – a round end, and we use that word for pies as well Well, this is a pie chart, so we’re going to talk about a slice of the pie chart We don’t eat the pie chart, unless you’re really hungry! You can also use that word, slice, when you’re talking about a piece of cake, for example, even if the cake is not round Any kind of food that you can cut up into smaller pieces could be referred to as a slice

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A bar chart is something that tells you how much you have of a certain thing, and

it has two different lines that indicate how much you have of something One line

is called the X-axis, and the X-axis is the horizontal line – it’s the line that goes from side to side The Y-axis – and axis is “axis,” usually it’s hyphenated, x-axis, y-axis – the Y-axis is the one that is vertical – that goes up and down And, on a bar chart, the Y-axis will usually have some numbers that tell you how much of something there is – what that bar represents – the quantity For example, it could be percentage, and you would have on the Y-axis 25, 50, 75, 100, and then you would look at how tall the bar was and you would see what percentage

it was based on the marks, or the signs or indications on the Y-axis

The difference between each of the marks is called an increment, “increment.”

An increment is the distance or amount or difference between each mark on the Y-axis So, in our example, the increment was 25 percent because you have 25,

50, 75, 100 Each mark is 25 percent higher or more than the one below it Milo says that it’s important to have these indications on the X and Y-axis so people can understand the trend that the company is following Trend, “trend,” is the same as direction So, is the trend going up, or is the trend going down? Is the company getting better, or is the company getting worse?

Milo also asks Rosa if she plans on using a line chart A line, “line,” chart is a chart that has lines that indicate, usually, how something is changing over time And, you may have, for example, how much money the company made in the last five years And, on the X-axis – the one that is horizontal – you would have the years, and on the Y-axis – the one that goes up and down, the vertical line – you would show how much money the company made each year In a line chart you could follow and see if it goes up or down Hopefully, it will go up!

Rosa says that she’s not going to use a line chart; she said she changed her mind To change you mind means to change your opinion, to decide to do

something different Rosa said that she changed her mind She thinks the line chart is too confusing, but she thanks Milo for his other pointers, his other tips Rosa also says that she has a flip chart A flip, “flip,” chart is not the same as a pie chart or a line chart A flip chart is a big piece of paper, sort of like a big notebook Usually it’s blank paper and it is, maybe, three feet high and two feet wide, and it’s what you can use to write on So, if you are talking to a big group,

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marker or pen You can write notes and information for the people who are listening to you so they can see it

She says, however, that she doesn’t want to turn her back on the audience in her presentation To turn your back on someone means that you turn around so that you’re not looking at them, that they can only see your back That’s to turn your back on the audience Milo says that the second part of the presentation is supposed to have some “audience participation.” Audience participation means that the people who are listening to the presentation can ask questions or make comments He suggests to Rosa that she can use the flip chart during the

second half of her talk Her talk, of course, is just another word for her

presentation

Rosa thanks Milo and offers to take him “to lunch as a token,” “token,” “of

thanks.” A token is a sign of thanks It’s a way of expressing thanks Someone may say, “Take this as a token of my appreciation.” It’s usually a gift, or

something you give someone to thank them for doing something for you Milo says that Rosa doesn’t “need to treat,” but he would be happy to go to lunch with her When we say that someone is going to treat, “treat,” you to lunch, we mean they’re going to pay, and Milo is saying you don’t have to pay for my lunch, but I will be happy to have lunch with you

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a native rate of speech

[Start of story]

Rosa: Thanks a lot for offering to give me some pointers on how to use visuals for my presentation I’ve never given a presentation like this before

Milo: I’m glad I can help What do you plan to use?

Rosa: Well, I plan to show these slides for the first part of the talk First, I have this pie chart that shows the types of services our company provides Then, I have this bar graph to show how the company has grown in the past 20 years But, I’m not really sure how to talk about them

Milo: Okay, first, when you’re using a chart, make sure you explain what each part represents For example, on this pie chart, I would explain that each slice of the pie represents a percentage of the business Then, for this bar chart, I’d

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make sure to tell the audience what the X-axis and Y-axis stand for, and what each increment represents That way, the trend that the company is following is clear Are you planning on using this line chart, too?

Rosa: No, I changed my mind about that I think it’s a little confusing, but your tips on the other charts are really helpful I have this flip chart, too, that I’m

supposed to use but I’m not sure how I don’t want turn my back on the audience during the presentation

Milo: The second half of the presentation includes some audience participation, right? Then, I think it’s fine to use it during that part of the talk Any other

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