EC089_Guide.pdf

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 89

TOPICS

Airport X-ray machines, Guinness Book of World Records, to be under siege, to

run like butter, girlfriends, to trade up

_____________

GLOSSARY

checkpoint – a place where one’s documents and/or things are looked at closely

for security

* When we drove past the checkpoint, the police officer asked to see my driver’s

license and car registration.

to scan – for something to be “read” by a machine so that the machine takes a

picture of what is inside

* The doctor took an X-ray scan of Wilson’s leg to see whether it was broken.

pat-down – a police officer or security officer putting one’s hands on another

person’s clothing to feel whether that person is hiding a gun or another weapon

under his or her clothing

* Usually male police officers do pat-downs of men, and female police officers do

pat-downs of women.

metal detector – a piece of electronic equipment that makes a loud sound if the

person walking through it is carrying or wearing anything made of metal

* Don’t forget to take the coins out of your pocket before you walk through the

metal detector.

privacy – without other people’s knowledge of personal information about

oneself

* Some Americans feel like you’re violating their privacy if you ask very personal

questions, like how much money you make or how much you weigh.

strip search – the act of a police officer or security officer asking another person

to take off his or her clothes to see if that person is carrying weapons or drugs

* Have you ever had to take off your clothes for a strip search?

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 89

wand – an electronic device that is held in one’s hand and waved over another

person which will make a noise if that person is carrying or wearing anything

made of metal

* The wand beeped when it passed over Jodie’s hand, because she had

forgotten to take off her wedding ring.

to go off – for a machine to make a loud noise to alert someone of something

* The smoke alarm often goes off when they’re cooking because they usually

burn their food.

reference book – a book that lists a lot of information, such as a dictionary,

encyclopedia, atlas, or telephone directory

* Which reference book should I look in for information about Nebraska?

brewery – a place where beer is made, or a company that makes beer

* They went on a tour of the brewery and learned how beer is made there.

to compile – to put together many different pieces of information to make

something else

* The students compiled information from more than 30 articles to write their

research papers.

hit – a movie, song, or book that is very popular among most people

* The Harry Potter books are a hit among readers worldwide.

trivia – information that is interesting, but not very important; useless facts

* In the United States, Trivial Pursuit is a popular game that tests players’

knowledge about history, science, media, pop culture, and sports.

to run like butter – to operate very smoothly and without problems

* The business is running like butter, so the owner feels comfortable taking a

one-week vacation.

girlfriend – a woman who one is involved with romantically (but not yet married

to); a woman’s female friend

* Carol and her girlfriends were surprised to hear that Paul had a new girlfriend.

to trade up – to exchange or sell something that one has or owns to get

something bigger or better, often used for cars or houses

* Three years ago we bought a small house. We hope to trade up to a larger one

in about five years.

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

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 89

WHAT INSIDERS KNOW

Americans in the Guinness World Records

Guinness World Records, previously known as the Guinness Book of World

Records, is a reference book that is published “annually” (every year), and has

lists of “records” (something that is the best, biggest, smallest, fastest, slowest,

etc. of its kind) for almost everything! Some of the records are very unusual.

Here are some interesting American records in Guinness World Records :

• The “highest earning” (making the most money for one’s work) female singer

of all time – Madonna

• The youngest person to visit the North and South Poles – Jonathan Silverman

• The person with the tallest “Mohawk” (hair that stands up in a line on the top

of one’s head) – Aaron Studham

• The largest wall of “bubbles” (balls of air that are made with soap) – Pacific

Science Center in Seattle, Washington

• The most bubbles inside each other (9) – Hollywood, California

Some people will do almost anything to have their name in the book. In fact,

Guinness decided to stop listing “eating and drinking records,” “heaviest cat,” and

many other records because people were doing very unsafe things to make

those records. For example, some people were drinking deadly amounts of

alcohol to get into the book.

November 9 is International Guinness World Records Day, when thousands of

people in many countries try to “break” old records, meaning that they try to beat

a previous record. In one year, Americans made over 10,000 “claims,” or

statements that they had made a new record. That’s about 30 per day!

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

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 89

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

You're listening to ESL Podcast's English Café number 89.

This is ESL Podcast's English Café episode 89. I'm your host, Dr. Jeff

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

beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Remember to visit our website at eslpod.com and download a Learning Guide for

this episode that contains all the vocabulary, definitions, cultural notes, additional

definitions not discussed on the podcast, and a complete transcript of this

episode.

In this episode, we'll talk about airport X-ray machines, part of airport security,

and what that means for those who travel. We're also going to talk about the

Guinness Book of World Records, and what you can find in there. And as

always, we'll answer a few questions. Let's get started!

As you know, many airports in the United States and in other countries have

more security now. They are more careful about checking people before they

come into the airport. One of the newest ways of doing that is using an X-ray

machine when you go through the security checkpoint. A “checkpoint”

(checkpoint – one word) is when you have to stop and have your luggage – your

bags – checked to make sure that you are not carrying anything dangerous.

Right now, if you go to an American airport you will have to walk through a metal

detector. This is a machine that “detects,” or checks, to see if you have any

metal objects like a gun, for example. The officers or guards will also take your

bags and put them in an X-ray machine. An “X-ray machine” is one that allows

you to see through the outside material to look at anything that might cause a

problem.

Well, they are now thinking about, in some American airports, of making humans

goes through a special X-ray machine, it's called a “body-scanning machine.”

“To scan” (scan) means to look at. You can also use the verb “to scan” to mean

to look at something very quickly, but here it means to look at your body with this

machine.

Traditionally, if the police or security officers think that you might have some

dangerous object after you walk through the metal detector, they may do what's

called a “pat-down” (pat-down). A “pat-down” is when the officer takes his or her

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

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 89

hands and puts them on the outside of your body and touches your body from

the top down to the bottom of your legs to see if you have anything dangerous

that you are hiding. The X-ray machine is supposed to replace these pat-downs,

and make it more efficient for the security officers to look at your body and see if

there is any dangerous object on it.

Some people are against these new machines. They think that they are a

violation of the privacy – their personal rights of people not to have someone

looking at their body. The word “privacy” (privacy) comes from the word

“private,” and it means secret or not letting anyone else know about your own

personal things.

Other people say that it's better than trying to pat down everyone, or doing strip

searches. A “strip search” is when you go into a special room and you have to

take your clothing off completely. Some people are saying that the X-ray

machine would be a better way to do this. Right now, however, there are only a

couple of airports in United States that are testing this new system, so it's still

something very new and experimental.

Typically, when you go into a U.S. airport and you go to the security checkpoint,

you have to put your bags through the X-ray machine. You have to take your

shoes off and your jacket off and put those through the X-ray machine, usually.

Then you walk through the metal detector that sees, or checks, to see if you have

any metal objects. And then, if you have a metal object on you, if the metal

detector goes off, then you have to be checked more carefully.

When we say the metal detector “goes off,” we mean it makes a sound or an

indication that you might have some metal on you, and that is when the security

officer will do a pat down. Or, sometimes they have a special hand metal

detector called a “wand” (wand), and they take this wand, which is maybe a 12-

inch or 16-inch piece of metal like a stick, then they put it around your body –

they go up and down your arms and your legs to make sure that you don't have

any metal objects on you.

If you do have to go through security at an American airport, it's very important

not to try to make a joke with the security officers. Don't try to be funny; they

don't like that, and they usually give people more problems if you try to be funny.

So, just be serious and walk through, and you shouldn't have any problems, at

least at the security checkpoint.

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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