EC086_Guide.pdf

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 86

TOPICS

Famous Americans: Frank Gehry

Memorial Day, odd one out, as good as it gets. film versus movie

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GLOSSARY

architect – a person who designs buildings; a professional whose job is to make

plans for the design, style, and size of buildings

* Katrina wants to be an architect, because she loves drawing and she is

fascinated by tall office buildings.

iconic – something that is well known, respected, and connected with an

important idea

* Machu Picchu is an iconic example of the architecture of the Incas.

blueprint – a plan that is written on paper in blue ink for building something, like

a house, office, or machine

* The Applegates are very excited to see the blueprints for their new house this

afternoon.

model – a small version of a building, usually made of plastic or wood, so that

people can understand what the finished building will look like

* Inside the doctor’s office, there is a model of the new hospital that is being built

in Springfield.

to observe – to celebrate; to participate in the traditional activities for a holiday

or religious event

* Every September 1 st , the post office is closed to observe the Labor Day holiday.

to commemorate – to do something to remember an important historical event

or a person from the past

* The Vietnam Memorial in Washington, D.C. commemorates the American

soldiers who died in the Vietnam War.

military service – the period of time when a person works in the U.S. Army,

Navy, Marines, or Coast Guard

* Soldiers who lose an arm or leg during a war often have to end their military

service early.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 86

cemetery – a place where dead bodies are buried

* Which cemetery is Uncle Dave buried in?

grave – the place where one dead body is buried

* She and her sister put flowers on their mother’s grave every month.

picnic – a meal eaten outdoors, usually while sitting on a blanket on the grass at

a park or another beautiful spot

* Every Sunday, the O’Reilly family makes sandwiches and has a picnic at the

park.

race track – the oval-shaped dirt path or paved road that is used by runners,

horses, or cars that compete to see who is the fastest

* Most runners prefer to run on dirt race tracks because they don’t hurt their

knees as much as paved race tracks do.

lap – one trip around a race track

* This race track is about one-quarter () mile long, so we’ll need to run 8 laps

for the two-mile race.

odd one out – one that is different from the other people or things in a group;

one that is unlike other people or things

* Virginia is the odd one out in her group of friends, because she is the only one

who doesn’t like rock music.

as good as it gets – the best that something will be; the maximum; not able to

get any better

* After a long, stressful week at work, having a good meal with your good friends

is as good as it gets.

film – a story with audio and video of moving pictures, usually lasting 1-2 hours;

a good quality movie

* Have you seen the National Geographic film, March of the Penguins, about

penguins in Antarctica?

movie – a story with audio and video of moving pictures, usually lasting 1-2

hours, often more entertaining than educational or artistic

* My favorite movies are romantic comedies, but Marco likes to watch horror

movies.

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

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 86

WHAT INSIDERS KNOW

NASCAR

When most people hear the word “sports,” they usually think of basketball,

football, baseball, or soccer. But recently, more and more people are thinking of

car racing as a professional sport.

NASCAR, the National Association for Stock Car Automobile Racing, was

founded in 1948. In the past, it was best known in the Southeastern United

States. Today, however, it is becoming increasingly popular throughout the

“entire” (whole) country.

NASCAR organizes more than 1,500 races “annually” (each year). Three of the

main racing “series” (groups of many races) are the NEXTEL Cup, the Busch

Series and the Craftsman Truck Series (this racing series uses pickup trucks

instead of cars).

Just how popular is car racing? It has become the second most popular

professional sport that Americans choose to watch on TV (professional football is

#1). NASCAR races are “broadcast” (shown on TV) in more than 150 countries.

NASCAR “claims” (to say that something is true) that it has 75 million fans. And

17 of the 20 “most-attended” (with the most people coming to watch) sporting

events in the U.S. are NASCAR races.

Many companies “sponsor” NASCAR races, meaning that they give money to the

races so that their company names and “logos” (small pictures that represent a

company) are shown on the racetrack, on the cars, and on the drivers’ clothes.

They do this because they want the 75 million fans to become customers of their

companies.

Some people don’t like NASCAR because they think the races are bad for the

environment and unsafe for the drivers, but most Americans enjoy the “thrill”

(excitement) of watching the car races, whether at the race track or on TV.

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

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 86

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

You're listening to ESL Podcast's English Café number 86.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast's English Café episode 86. I'm

your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational

Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

On this Café, we're going to talk about one of the most famous architects in the

United States, someone from here, or living here, in Los Angeles, a man by the

name of Frank Gehry. We're also going to talk about an important national

holiday in United States, Memorial Day. And as always, we'll answer a few of

your questions. Let's get started.

If you visit our website, you will find a Learning Guide for this episode, as you can

for all of our episodes – almost all of our episodes. Go to www.eslpod.com for

more information.

Our first topic today is going to be a very well known architect, not just here in the

United States but in the world. An “architect” is someone who designs, or plans,

what a building will look like. Buildings in general are sometimes called

“architecture.” In order to become an architect, you have to study architecture.

Frank Gehry was born, originally, in Canada – in Toronto – but he has lived in

Los Angeles for many years, since the 1940s. He studied at the local college

here, the Los Angeles City College, and then moved over and got his Bachelor's

degree the University of Southern California, which is where I got my Doctorate

degree. So, we're good friends, Frank and I – not really!

Gehry is probably most famous for a museum that he designed in Bilbao, Spain,

called the Guggenheim Museum. Now, you may know that the Guggenheim

Museum is actually one of several Guggenheim art museums. This particular

commission by Gehry was consider his most interesting, and definitely his most

famous. When we talk about an architect having a “commission” (commission),

we mean the agreement, or contract, that he had with some organization to

design a building for them.

The Guggenheim Museum, as I say, is the most famous museum; I'm sure you

have seen pictures of it. It has very bright metal called “titanium” on the outside.

“Titanium” (titanium) is a very strong metal. It looks a little like silver, or at least it

can.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 86

But Gehry is also famous for some buildings here in Los Angeles. There's a

building that looks a little like the Guggenheim Museum in Spain, called the Walt

Disney Concert Hall. A “concert hall” is a place where you can go and hear

music – musical concerts. In this case, the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra

plays at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

You probably recognize the word “Disney.” Walt Disney and his wife gave a lot

money to build this concert hall. Walt Disney was famous for being an

“animator,” someone who made animated movies – cartoon-like movies – and

now he's famous for having given money to build this beautiful concert hall in

downtown Los Angeles. If you ever visit Los Angeles, you will definitely want to

see Walt Disney Concert Hall.

But as I said before, his most of iconic work is the Guggenheim Museum in

Bilbao. When we say something is “iconic” (iconic), we mean that it is what

people recognize to be someone's particular style. It is something that is

considered “representative,” it represents his work. It's considered one of the

best examples of his particular work.

When I first moved to Los Angeles back in the early 1990s, many years ago, I

remember going downtown and visiting one of the art museums, the Museum of

Contemporary Art in downtown Los Angeles. And there they had a model of the

Walt Disney Concert Hall, as well as blueprints for the new building. This was

before the building had been built.

A “model” (model), in this case, means a very small copy of what the building will

look like. By very small, I mean maybe two or three feet. So, you build a model

to show people what the building will look like. We could describe a model like

this as being a miniature version of the building. “Miniature” (miniature –

sometimes informally pronounced “min-a-ture”) is something that is very small;

something that is smaller than the normal size for an object.

They also had, at this exhibit that I visited many years ago, the blueprints for the

concert hall. The term “blueprints” (blueprints – one word) refers to the drawings.

They're usually big pieces of paper that show where all the different parts of the

building will go. Whenever you build a house or a large building, you need to

have blueprints. They're called “blueprints” because they are often printed in a

blue ink, but the term refers to a plan for how you are going to build this building.

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2007). Posting of

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

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