EC121_Guide.pdf

English as a Second Language Podcast

www.eslpod.com

ENGLISH CAFÉ – 121

TOPICS

Convenience stores, eating and drinking noises, colleague versus associate

versus fellow, to sign in versus to sign off versus to sign on versus to sign up

_____________

GLOSSARY

slushee – a thick, cold drink made by freezing soda or another sugary drink and

ice, often sold in convenience stores

* On hot summer afternoons, she likes to buy a slushee from the convenience

store near her house.

bulletproof glass – very strong glass that bullets cannot be shot through, often

used to protect employees against robberies in banks and stores

* After the robbery, the bank decided to install bulletproof glass to protect anyone

who works with cash.

armed robbery – an attempted or actual robbery where the thief has a gun and

threatens to shoot it, or shoots it

* During our employee training, we were told that during an armed robbery, it is

best to give the robber whatever he or she asks for.

taboo – something that people are not supposed to do for religious or cultural

reasons

* In the U.S., it’s usually taboo to ask other adults their age and how much

money they make.

to chomp – to eat food noisily; to move one’s teeth up and down noisily while

eating something

* Kai likes to chomp on crackers while she is studying.

to crunch – to eat noisily, crushing hard food between one’s teeth

* He likes to crunch hard candies instead of sucking on them.

to smack – to use one’s lips to make a loud kissing noise, often while eating

* The little girl smacked her lips in pleasure while eating her ice cream.

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.

English as a Second Language Podcast

www.eslpod.com

ENGLISH CAFÉ – 121

to wolf down – to eat something very quickly

* Polly had only five minutes before her class would begin, so she wolfed down a

sandwich and then ran to the building.

to slurp – to drink something very noisily from a glass, spoon, or straw

* My mother taught me that it isn’t polite to slurp while eating soup.

to dribble – to have a small amount of liquid fall out of one’s mouth, usually

while one is eating or drinking

* When the little boy tried to talk while eating, some milk dribbled out of his

mouth.

colleague – co-worker; a person whom one works with, usually in the same

office or business

* Are you friends with very many of your colleagues?

associate – a person with whom one does business, but who isn’t necessarily

employed in the same business or organization; a member of a law firm or other

business

* Every December, she sends holiday cards to her closest business associates.

fellow – a student who has received a scholarship or a research or teaching

position

* Have you met the new teaching fellow in the biology department?

to sign in – to register; to put one’s name on a list to show that one has arrived

or attended an event

* Please sign in by writing your name and email address on this piece of paper,

and then go to the conference room.

to sign off – to end a radio transmission or television broadcast by saying

goodbye or goodnight

* The news reporter signed off by saying, “That’s all the news we have for

tonight. Goodnight, everyone.”

to sign on (for something) – to enroll or become a part of something; to enlist

oneself, especially as an employee; to agree to participate in something or do

something

* Zeb signed on to lead the marketing committee.

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.

English as a Second Language Podcast

www.eslpod.com

ENGLISH CAFÉ – 121

to sign up (for something) – to agree to participate in something or do

something, often by signing your name on a list

* Why did you decide to sign up for the school choir?

_____________

WHAT INSIDERS KNOW

Clerks

Clerks is a 1994 “comedy” (funny movie) written and directed by Kevin Smith. It

is about two “store clerks” (the employees who make sales and take customers’

money in a store). The “main character” (the person whom a movie is mostly

about) works in a convenience store and the movie is about the “comic-tragic”

(funny and sad) things that happen to him that day while he is working at the

store.

In one of the funny “scenes” (a part of a movie where things happen in one

place), a customer wants to buy a package of cigarettes. Another man in the

store shows this customer a picture of a smoker’s dirty “lungs” (the part of a body

that processes oxygen), and the customer decides to buy “chewing gum” (a

flavored, chewy thing that it put in one’s mouth for flavor but not swallowed)

instead. People who hear the conversation “accuse” (say that someone has

done something wrong) the clerk of selling death and they begin to throw

cigarettes at him. Later, everyone “finds out” (learns) that the man with the

picture of the smoker’s dirty lungs was actually a chewing gum salesman!

The movie was made with a very “modest budget” (with little money) of less than

$30,000 and was “shot” (filmed) in black and white in only 21 days. The director,

Kevin Smith, had to sell his “belongings” (the things that one owns) and use his

credit cards to get enough money to make the film. He was working full-time and

slept very little while the movie was being shot. Because there was so little

money, many of the director’s family members and even Kevin himself are actors

in the film.

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.

English as a Second Language Podcast

www.eslpod.com

ENGLISH CAFÉ – 121

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 121.

This is the English Café episode 121. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming

to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles,

California.

Our website is eslpod.com. If you go there, you can download an 8 to 10 page

Learning Guide for this episode. You can also take a look at our ESL Podcast

Store and our new ESL Podcast Blog, where we give you some additional help in

learning English throughout the week.

In this Café, we’re going to talk about convenience stores: what they are, where

you find them, why they’re such an important part of American culture. We’re

also going to talk about some eating and drinking noises, some of the vocabulary

related to common, everyday activities like eating and drinking. And as always,

we’ll answer a few of your questions. Let’s get started.

Our first topic, in this Café, is “convenience stores.” A “convenience store” is a

small store or shop that usually has long shopping hours; that is, they’re open for

a long time. Many convenience stores are open 24 hours a day. Convenience

stores are small stores usually found at a gas station, for your car, or along a

very busy street or busy road. The most popular and famous convenience store

in the United States is a chain, that is, a collection of stores – there are lots of

them – and this is called “7-Eleven.”

7-Eleven was originally started, under a different name, back in 1927. Since that

time, there have been lots of other companies that have started convenience

stores. Some convenience stores are owned by individuals – they’re not part of

a larger company. Many of them are part of a large company, like 7-Eleven. 7-

Eleven stands for “7 days a week, open ’till 11,” I believe, was their original

motto. 7-Eleven is now owned by a Japanese company, and you can find 7-

Eleven stores in, I believe, 12 or 14 different countries, including Japan.

The things you buy at a 7-Eleven or at a convenience store are very similar. If

you go from one store to another, you will find pretty much the same items – the

same products for sale. They’re a place where you can buy milk and bread,

soda – what we might call “soft drinks.” “Soft drinks” is another word for soda;

Coca-Cola is a “soft drink.” You can also find cigarettes; you would be able to

buy coffee and candy bars.

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.

English as a Second Language Podcast

www.eslpod.com

ENGLISH CAFÉ – 121

Convenience stores are famous now also for selling what some stores call a

“slushee,” 7-Eleven calls them a “Slurpee,” and a “slushee” or a “Slurpee” are

drinks that are made with ice and some sort of flavoring, and you can get them in

any – many different flavors. But, a Slurpee or a slushee is cold and it’s good on

a hot day, for example. It’s basically a kind of sweet drink with crushed ice.

Slurpees are very popular – were very popular when I was growing up, back in

the 1970s, as a drink that you would have during the summertime.

Convenience stores will also sell other things; they’ll sell magazines and

newspapers. You can usually find doughnuts and maps at a convenience store.

Convenience stores are not places where you want to shop for your regular food

every day. That’s because the prices at convenience stores are higher than at a

regular supermarket, but they are convenient. They’re easy to get to; they have

a small parking lot that you can go in quickly, buy what you want, and get out

quickly. So, they are places for snacks, places to buy food – maybe if you are on

a long trip and you want to bring some food with you, or if you need to buy

cigarettes or something like a Slurpee.

Convenience stores sometimes sell beer and wine, sometimes they don’t; it

depends on which state you are in. In different states you have different laws. In

California, you can buy liquor – beer and wine – at a convenience store. In other

states, such as New Jersey or Pennsylvania, you can’t.

One of the problems of working at a convenience store is that it sometimes is not

safe. Because these stores are often open 24 hours day, they are what we

would call “easy targets” for armed robbery. A “target” is something that you are

going for – something you are trying to hit, something you are trying to get.

“Armed robbery” is when someone takes a gun and points it at you and asks you

for your money. In some convenience stores, it’s become so dangerous that the

store has put bulletproof glass. This is especially common if you go to a gas

station in the United States, where there are often small convenience stores as

well. The “cashier,” the person who takes your cash – takes your money – the

cashier works behind a bulletproof glass. When we say it’s “bulletproof,” we

mean you could shoot a gun and the bullet would not go through, this for the

safety and security of the people who work there. You will also find bulletproof

glass in most banks, or least a lot of banks especially in a place like Los Angeles,

where there’s more crime.

Convenience stores also sell lottery tickets. Each state has its own laws about

lotteries. “Lotteries” are when you buy a ticket, and if your ticket number is called

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.

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: