2011年ESL之日常生活 21 Waiting For Exam Results（打印版）

2011年ESL之日常生活 21 Waiting For Exam Results（在线收听）

21 Waiting For Exam Results

GLOSSARY

foregone conclusion – expected result; a result that is certain to happen

* The team from Eden Prairie has won the championship every year for 10 years,so I feel that this year’s competition is a foregone conclusion.

to fail – to be unsuccessful in an exam, test, or interview; to not achieve anacceptable level; to not receive an acceptable score or rating

* Orlando failed his driver’s license exam for the third time.

bull – nonsense; something said or written that is stupid or untrue

* What your teacher said about girls not being good at basketball is bull!

to pass – to receive an acceptable score on an exam or test; to reach anacceptable level

* If James wants to study biology in college, he has to first pass his scienceclasses in high school.

on tenterhooks – being in suspense about what will happen in the future andfeeling nervous and concerned

* Gina’s doctor tested her for cancer so she’s on tenterhooks until she gets theresults.

to psych (oneself) out – to prepare oneself mentally for a future event, usuallyone that one expects to be difficult or unpleasant

* Javier is psyching himself out for a month-long visit from his father-in-law.

to ace (something) – to excel at something; to pass an exam, test, interview orother evaluation with an excellent score or result

* When I walked out of the classroom, I felt that I had aced the test, but then Ibegan to doubt myself.

toss up – a situation in which all of the possibilities are equally likely to happen;for all options to be equally appealing

* There are dark clouds in the sky, but it’s a toss up whether it’ll rain today.

to biff (something) – to receive a very low score or rating on a exam, test,interview, or other evaluation

* Monique gave a presentation at work and biffed it. She forgot what she wasgoing to say and looked very nervous the entire time.

to pass with flying colors – to receive a high score on an exam, test, or otherevaluation

* We all knew that Kara would pass the exam for her electrician’s license withflying colors.

administration – opportunity to take a test or exam; the giving of a test or exam

* If you miss next week’s administration of the college entrance test, you’ll needto wait another six months to take it.

to bomb (something) – to receive a very low score or rating on a exam, test,interview, or other evaluation; to clearly fail

* Last time I took this test I bombed, but I’ve studied hard and don’t plan to fail itagain.

to squeak by by the skin of (one’s) teeth – to barely pass an exam, test, orother evaluation; to have a passing score or rating that is not considered good orhigh

* Kili squeaked by by the skin of her teeth when she made the school’s swimteam.

to be game – to be willing to do or to try something; to be willing to do or trysomething that may require some risk or courage

* Are you game to take sky-diving lessons with us next weekend?

there’s no sense – there is no reason to; it is useless to

* We’ve worked all night to finish this project and it’s already 6:30 a.m. There’sno sense going home now to return in an hour and a half for a new workday.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. Joel believes that Susannea) Failed the exam.

b) Should take the exam again.

c) Passed the exam.

2. What is another way to say that someone has failed?

a) He or she is on tenterhooks.

b) He or she bombed it.

c) He or she aced it.

______________

WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

toss up

The phrasal verb “toss up,” in this podcast, refers to a situation in which all of thepossibilities are equally likely to happen or for all options to be equally appealing:

“We liked both apartments equally and it’s a toss up right now which one we’llchoose.” “To toss up” can also mean to throw something into the air: “Thereferee tossed the ball up into the air and the players tried to grab it.” Or, “Theclown tossed up into the air a handful of candy and the children ran to pick up asmany pieces as they could find.” “To toss” also means to throw gently: “Toss meyour keys and I’ll move your car for you.” Finally, “to toss” can also mean to mixtogether, most often used with food: “Could you please toss that salad with somesalad dressing?

to bomb (something)

In this podcast, “to bomb (something)” means to clearly fail or to receive a verylow score or rating on a exam, test, interview, or other evaluation: “Since Ibombed the last test, I’ll need to study really hard for the next one if I want topass this class.” The word “bomb” can be used to describe something that hasclearly failed: “With only 15 of the 100 tickets sold for the play, the organizersconsidered it a bomb.” A “bomb” is an explosive device used as a weapon:

“More than 10 people were killed when a bomb exploded in the city’s downtownarea.” A “bombshell” is a big surprise or disappointment: “The news that Liamwas already married came as a bombshell to Sheila.”

CULTURE NOTE

Professions Requiring Continuing EducationFor many “professions” (jobs; fields of work), graduating college with a degree isall that is necessary to begin work. Some professions, however, require thepassing of an exam.

For example, “accountants,” people whose job is to keep and examine financialinformation and accounts, must pass an exam to be “certified” (officiallyrecognized) as an accountant allowed to do certain types of financial tasks.

“Lawyers,” people whose job it is to do legal work, must pass a “bar exam” beforehe or she can do certain types of legal work.

Beyond passing an exam, many of these same professionals are required to get“continuing education.” “Continuing education” is formal study required by thegovernment or a professional licensing organization after one has already startedworking in a profession. These professionals must receive a certain amountand/or type of continuing education every year or at regular “intervals” (periods oftime that has the same amount of time in between, such as every two years orevery six months).

The idea behind continuing education is to make sure that people in theseprofessions stay “up to date” (knowledgeable about current events and the latestimprovements) about laws, “regulations” (rules), and “developments” (newinformation and improvements) in their field. These requirements “differ” (aredifferent; are not the same) from state to state, but most require “documentation”

(official papers) “verifying” (officially showing) that someone has completed acertain number of “credit hours,” or hours of a course or training. Many schoolsor organizations providing this training are “private” (not government run), butthat have received permission from a government agency or an officialorganization to provide training or education.

______________

Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – c; 2 – b

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 730: Waiting forExam Results.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 730. I’m your host, Dr.

Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development inbeautiful Los Angeles, California.

Visit our website at eslpod.com. Download this episode’s Learning Guide, an 8-to 10-page guide we provide for all of our current episodes.

This episode is a dialogue between Joel and Susanne. They’re talking about aschool test, an exam that they took, and waiting for the results of that exam tosee if they passed it or not. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Joel: Did it come?

Susanne: No, it’s not in today’s mail. Why do I bother, anyway? I know it’s aforegone conclusion. I’ve failed.

Joel: That’s bull! I know you passed. You’re just on tenterhooks waiting aroundfor the results to arrive and you’re psyching yourself out.

Susanne: No, I’m not.

Joel: Don’t you remember that when you came home after taking the exam, youthought you had aced it?

Susanne: I did, but that was before I started thinking about all of the questions Igot wrong. Then, I thought it was a toss up whether I passed or not. Now thatI’ve had even more time to think about it, I’m sure I biffed it.

Joel: See what I mean? You’ve been psyching yourself out for weeks. Youstudied really hard and I have no doubt that you passed with flying colors. Allright, you’re not going to hear today, so let’s get your mind off of the exam, okay?

Susanne: All right. How?

Joel: You can help me study for the exam. I’m taking it at the nextadministration. I have no intention of bombing it or even squeaking by by theskin of my teeth – like some people.

Susanne: Very funny. Okay, so maybe I’m psyching myself out – a little bit.

Okay, I’m game. Where do we begin?

Joel: With all of the ones you thought you got wrong.

Susanne: What?!

Joel: There’s no sense wasting all that worrying. And if you did fail it, you’ll needto get ready to take it again.

Susanne: Gee, thanks!

[end of dialogue]

Joel begins by saying, “Did it come?” meaning did something arrive. We’re notsure what it is, but we find out a little bit later. Susanne says, “No, it’s not intoday’s mail (the mail that arrived today). Why do I bother, anyway (meaningwhy do I worry about it)? It’s a foregone conclusion. I’ve failed.” A “foregoneconclusion” is a result that is certain to happen or an expected result. “The teamfrom Albert Lee High School has won the championship every year for 10 years,so this year’s result is a foregone conclusion,” meaning it’s obvious Albert LeeHigh School will win again. Well, the foregone conclusion that Susanne believesis true is that she has failed. “To fail” means to be unsuccessful in anexamination, a test, or an interview, when you don’t pass. “To fail” is theopposite of “passing.”

Joel says, “That’s bull!” (bull). “Bull” is a polite, shorter way of saying a vulgarexpression. The full expression is “bull (shit),” but that’s not a very nice thing tosay, so sometimes in more polite conversation we just say “bull.” If somebodysays something to you and you think it’s wrong or they’re lying or it’s nonsense,you’ll say, “Oh, that’s bull.” It’s kind of strong however. You would never that ina formal conversation – never say it to your boss if you still want your job! Joelsays, “I know you passed (you were successful). You’re just on tenterhookswaiting around for the results to arrive and you’re psyching yourself out.” “To beon tenterhooks” (tenterhooks – one word) means to be in suspense about whatwill happen in the future; to feel nervous or concerned about something that willhappen.

Joel says that Susanne is on tenterhooks because she is waiting around; she iswaiting for the results of her exam to arrive and she’s psyching herself out. “Topsych (psych) yourself out” is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to prepareyourself mentally for something that is going to happen, usually something that isdifficult or unpleasant. “To psych yourself out” usually means that you arethinking about it, and because of the way you are thinking about it you will fail;you will not do well. You can psych someone else out; you can say things tothem that will make them think about a situation or a problem or a game that willcause them to lose because of what you said. This is different than “to bepsyched.” “To be psyched” means to be prepared, to be thinking aboutsomething but looking forward to it, happy about it. There’s a third expression,“to be psyched up,” which is similar to the expression “to be psyched.” “To bepsyched up” means to be ready for something. But, “to be psyched out” usuallymeans that you are thinking negatively, and because of that will not succeed.

Susanne says, “No, I’m not,” I’m not psyching myself out. Joel says, “Don’t youremember that when you came home after the exam, you thought you had acedit?” “To ace (ace) (something)” usually means to pass an exam or a test bygetting an excellent score, perhaps even a perfect score. I very rarely acedexams when I was in school! Susanne says, “I did (I did think that I aced theexam), but that was before I started thinking about all of the questions I gotwrong. Then, I thought it was a toss up whether I passed or not.” A “toss up” isa situation in which all of the possibilities are equally likely to happen. A “toss up”

is when you can’t decide, when there are different possibilities, and they all lookgood. “Toss” has a couple of different meanings in English; take a look at theLearning Guide for some additional explanations.

Susanne says that she then thought it was a toss up whether she passed or not;she couldn’t decide. “Now that I’ve had even more time to think about it, I’m sureI biffed it.” “To biff” (biff) means to do very poorly, to do a poor job at something.

“I biffed the exam” means I failed it; I didn’t do very well. “To biff” can also meanto fall or to fail at some sort of sporting event or sporting activity. “The hockeyplayer skated down the ice and biffed,” he fell. That’s another use of that word.

Both ideas are similar; they relate to failure, when you biff. “He approached abeautiful woman at the bar, but he biffed when he started talking to her.” Thatcould mean that he fell down or it could mean that he failed. And if he fell down,well, he definitely failed! Not a good way to impress a beautiful woman to falldown in front of her.

Well, back to our story. Susanne says that she’s sure she biffed her exam. Joelsays, “See what I mean? You’ve been psyching yourself out for weeks. Youstudied really hard and I have no doubt (meaning I’m absolutely sure) that you passed with flying colors.” “To pass with flying colors” means to receive a highscore on the test, to do very well. “All right,” Joel says, “you’re not going to heartoday, so let’s get your mind off of the exam, okay?” “To get your mind off of(something)” means to stop thinking about something that you are worried aboutor that you are, we would say, “obsessing over,” thinking about constantly, overand over and over again, like when you biffed talking to the beautiful girl at thebar!

So, Susanne says, “All right. How?” How are we going to get my mind off of theexam? Joel says, “You can help me study for the exam. I’m taking it at the nextadministration.” An “administration” of an exam is an opportunity to take theexamination – to take the test. If you want to go to college in the United States,you often have to take the Scholastic Aptitude – I guess they call it ScholasticAchievement Test, the SAT. Or if you study at a college and you’re from anothercountry, you may have to take the TOEFL exam, Test of English as a ForeignLanguage. There are many different administrations of these exams; they givethem in different places at different times.

Joel says, “I have no intention of bombing it or even squeaking by by the skin ofmy teeth – like some people.” “To bomb (bomb) (something)” means to get avery low score on something, usually an exam or a test, to clearly fail. It couldbe, however, you clearly fail something else, like that girl at the bar: “I bombedwhen I tried talking to her.” Your friend says, “How did it go?” “Oh, I bombed,” Idid terribly. “Bomb” has a number of meanings in English, however. Some ofthem – not all of them – some of them are in the Learning Guide.

Joel says that he is not going to squeak by. “To squeak by” means to pass anexam or pass some sort of challenge but just barely, by a very small amount. Todo something “by the skin of your teeth” means something similar to do it but justbarely, to be successful by a very small amount. Joel combines these two similarideas by saying “to squeak by by the skin of his teeth.”

So, Susanne says, “Very funny,” because Joel is saying that that’s what Susannedid. She says, “Okay, so maybe I’m psyching myself out – a little bit. Okay, I’mgame. Where do we begin?” “To be game” means to be willing to try somethingor do something, especially something that may be a little risky or that you havenever done before. “I’m game” means I’m willing to do it. Susanne says, “Wheredo we begin?” And Joel says, “With all of the ones you thought you got wrong,”

meaning he wants to go over all of the questions that Susanne thinks she gotwrong on the exam. Of course, this is not a very good way to get Susanne’smind off of the exam, which is what Joel is supposed to be doing.

Susanne can’t believe what Joel is saying; she says, “What?! Joel says, “There’sno sense wasting all that worrying.” The expression “there’s no sense” meansthere is no reason to, or it is useless to. “There’s no sense talking to her, she isalready married.” Well, Joel says, “There’s no sense wasting all that worrying,”

meaning since Susanne has been worrying about the exam, she should try to dosomething constructive with it – something useful with it. Joel says, “And if youdid fail it (if you did fail the exam), you’ll need to get ready to take it again.”

Susanne then says, “Gee, thanks!” But she says it a way that means theopposite. “Gee, thanks” is what we say when someone tells us something thatthey think may be useful but we know is not. For example: “Well, you don’t havea date tonight. But at least you can watch baseball on television.” You mightsay, “Gee, thanks!” meaning it’s not really the same; it’s not as good as having adate tonight. Although for me, I would probably prefer to watch baseball!

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.