ESL Podcast 865 – Believing in Predictions

 　　Armond: I hope that this new year will bring me better luck.

 

　　Patricia: You can find that out easily enough. My astrologer says...

 

　　Armond: Hold on. You consult an astrologer? You really believe in that nonsense?

 

　　Patricia: It’s not nonsense and, yes, I believe in it. I like getting predictions about the future and knowing what is in the stars for me.

 

　　Armond: Astrologers are charlatans² and what they tell their customers is phony. They make it all up and tell people what they want to hear.

 

　　Patricia: I don’t know how you can say that. The horoscope for my sign each day gives me warnings and helps me avoid mistakes. And when I have big decisions to make, I go for a reading. The guidance I get is invaluable³.

 

　　Armond: You’re too smart to be taken in by con¹ artists who style themselves as mystics. It’s all smoke and mirrors.

 

　　Patricia: You’re wrong. I’ll give you an example. My horoscope today said that an unpleasant person will try to shake my beliefs. It said I should just walk away.

 

　　Armond: Hey, where are you going?

 

　　Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 con   

n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的

参考例句：

• We must be fair and consider the reason pro and con.我们必须公平考虑赞成和反对的理由。
• The motion is adopted non con.因无人投反对票，协议被通过。

2 charlatans   

n.冒充内行者，骗子( charlatan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are lots of phonies and charlatans in the financial newsletter business. 干金融通讯这一行的人中间不乏骗子和吹牛大王。 来自辞典例句
• But wicked people and charlatans will go from bad to worse, deceivers and deceived. 但是恶人和行诈术的人却越来越坏，他们迷惑人，也必受人迷惑。 来自互联网

3 invaluable   

adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的

参考例句：

• A computer would have been invaluable for this job.一台计算机对这个工作的作用会是无法估计的。
• This information was invaluable to him.这个消息对他来说是非常宝贵的。