EC081_Guide.pdf

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 81

TOPICS

Earth Day; Dr. Seuss books; pronouncing sin, sing, hit, heat, and hate; about six

o’clock versus around six o’clock; what I wouldn’t give versus what I would give; I

couldn’t care less versus I could care less

_____________

GLOSSARY

to observe – to celebrate a holiday

* Each December, Christians observe Christmas and Jews observe Hanukkah.

activist – a person who believes very strongly in something and tries to make

society and the government change in certain ways to support those beliefs

* Martin Luther King, Jr. was a strong activist for the equal treatment of African

Americans in the U.S.

grassroots – community-based; something that is formed by individual people

working together, not by a large corporation or organization

* Grassroots organizations usually don’t have very much money, but the people

in those organizations have a lot of enthusiasm for what they do.

agenda – a list of things that people or an organization want; the purpose for an

organization to exist

* The organization’s agenda includes making school lunches healthier and not

allowing soda and junk food to be sold at elementary schools.

to model (something) on (something else) – to make something similar to

something else; to use something else as the basis for creating something

* We want to model our adult reading program on one that has been very

successful in New York City.

in the wake of (something) – after; following something; coming after

something

* In the wake of last year’s terrible airplane accident, many people are scared to

fly.

illustrator – a person who draws pictures for a written text, such as a book; an

artist who draws pictures to go with writings

* Who is the illustrator for this children’s book?

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 81

pen name – a name used by an author who does not want to use his or her real

name on a book or story

* Samuel Langhorne Clemens’ pen name was Mark Twain when he wrote a very

famous book called “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”

to rhyme – for two or more words to have the same sound in their last syllable.

* Cat, bat, rat, and sat are all words that rhyme with mat.

around/about (X) o’clock – at approximately X o’clock; near a time, but not

exactly at that time

* I might be a little bit late, but let’s try to meet at the library around six o’clock.

at (X) o’clock sharp – at exactly X o’clock, no earlier and no later

* Students have to arrive to class at three o’clock sharp tomorrow. If they’re even

two minutes late, the teacher won’t let them take the test.

What I wouldn’t give… – a phrase used to show that one wants something very

much and would do many things to get it, if possible

* What I wouldn’t give to know why Hattie decided not to marry Luis!

I couldn’t care less about… – a phrase used to show that something is not very

important, or that one has no interest in something

* I couldn’t care less about what Jenny had for dinner last night. Why does she

always talk about such unimportant things?

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these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 81

WHAT INSIDERS KNOW

Classic Detective Novels: Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys

Many children and teenagers like to read “detective novels,” or books about the

people (usually police officers) who have to “investigate” (research) crimes to find

the criminal. Some “classic” (very famous and good-quality) detective novels

include the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys “series” (a group of many books with

the same characters).

The " Nancy Drew Mystery Stories " series was written for children and teenage

girls. Nancy Drew is the “heroine,” or main female character, in each book.

Nancy is a teenager who is very good at solving “mysteries” (stories where no

one knows who did something bad or committed a crime). There are more than

100 books in the series, which began in 1930. The "Nancy Drew" books were

originally written by Mildred A. Wirt Benson, but later many other people began

writing them. Many movies and computer games have also been made about

Nancy Drew and her adventures.

" The Hardy Boys " series was written for children and teenage boys. Two

teenage brothers, Frank and Joe Hardy, are the “heroes” (main male characters)

in the books. Their father is a detective, and the boys often help him with his

work. The original series was written under the pen name of Franklin W. Dixon

from 1927 to 1979, but it continued as the " Hardy Boys Mysteries" from 1979 to

2005. There are almost 200 books in the series.

The "Nancy Drew" and "Hardy Boys" series are an important part of American

culture and a large number of Americans read them when they are young.

Because these books were written for children and teenagers, they may be good

choices if you’re interested in improving your English reading and you like

mysteries. In recent years, lower level books written for children such as " The

Nancy Drew Notebook " series still keeps the same characters, but are written at

a lower English level. In these books, Nancy Drew is younger—she’s a child and

not a teenager. These lower level books may be a good place to begin, if the

regular series are too difficult.

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these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 81

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

You're listening to ESL Podcast's English Café number 81.

This is ESL Podcast's English Café episode 81. I'm your host, Dr. Jeff

McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in

beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Visit our website at eslpod.com and take a look at some of the new features we

have on our website. You can also take a look at our ESL Podcast Store, which

has some additional courses for you. You can also download the Learning Guide

for this episode, which contains the vocabulary, definitions, sample sentences,

cultural notes and a complete transcript of this episode.

We're going to start today by talking about Earth Day, and what that is in the US

and in other countries. We're also going to talk about a very famous American

author, named Dr. Seuss. And as always, we'll answer some of your questions.

Lets get started!

April 22nd is Earth Day in the United States, and in many other countries. Earth

Day, which was originally called “Environmental Earth Day,” was started by a

senator - a US senator, one of the government representatives in the United

States. Every state has two senators, and the senator here was Gaylord Nelson,

who was a senator from the state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin is next to Minnesota,

in the north-central part of the US.

The first Earth Day was on April 22nd, 1970. It is a celebration and a reminder of

how important it is to take care of the earth. When we talk about

environmentalism, we are talking about people who are concerned about the

water and the air and the land, and making sure that we keep these things clean.

It started here in the United States and it moved to other countries as well. It's

now observed, or celebrated, each year by more than 175 countries. Notice the

use of that verb, “observed.” “We are going to observe Christmas on December

25th,” or “We are going to observe Memorial Day on the last Monday in May.”

When we say we “observe a holiday,” or “observe a special day,” we mean that is

the day we are going to celebrate or participate in the activities for that special

day or holiday.

Senator Nelson was what we would call “an activist” - “an environmental activist.”

“An activist” (activist) is somebody who is very interested in one particular topic,

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 81

and tries to get people to support him - to try to get political support. Normally,

this comes from what we would call “the grassroots.” The expression

“grassroots” (grassroots) means from the bottom; the root (root) of something is

the part of, for example, a tree that is underneath the ground. It's like the

foundation. So, “the grassroots level” means from the average person, not

directed from somebody high up in the government.

So, many activists try to get support at the grassroots level. In this case, Senator

Nelson was trying to get support for the environmental agenda. The word

“agenda” (agenda) is one we use to mean the important issues for that topic. So

for the environment, the environmental agenda may include keeping the water

clean or stopping global warming.

The celebration of Earth Day was somewhat interesting because it was modeled

on the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s and 70s. When we say it was

“modeled (modeled) on something,” we mean that was the example that was

used. You could, for example, say, “I am modeling my podcast - my new

podcast - on ESL Podcast.” So, I'm going to take ESL Podcast as an example,

and create a new podcast. I'm not, but that's an example how you would use this

expression “to model something on something else.” So, the Earth Day was

originally modeled on the protests - the people who were against the American

involvement in Vietnam in the 1960s and 70s.

Now, Earth Day is celebrated as a way of reminding us why it is important to take

care of the earth. It is something that has caused changes in laws here in the

United States in the wake of the first Earth Day, meaning after the first Earth Day

or something that was caused by the first Earth Day. That's the expression “in

the wake (wake) of.” After that first Earth Day, or in the wake of the 1970 Earth

Day, the US government passed some important laws to try to protect the water

and the land and the ocean and the air.

Now, Earth Day is, as I said, observed in more than 170 countries. If you are

interested, you can go to earthday.org and get more information. Of course, it's

important to protect our environment, and Earth Day is a good reminder of that.

Our second topic is somewhat different; it's not a political topic. It's a topic about

children, and actually about one of the most famous authors - American authors -

of books for children, and that is man who we call Dr. Seuss (Seuss).

Every American child knows who Dr. Seuss is, and has read Dr. Seuss's books.

Dr. Seuss's real name was Theodore (Theodore) Geisel (Geisel). He died, oh,

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these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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