2009年ESL之旅行交通购物 15 Describing Speed and Pace（打印版）

2009年ESL之旅行交通购物 15 Describing Speed and Pace（在线收听）

15 Describing Speed and Pace

GLOSSARY

slowpoke – a person who is very slow; a person who does not move quickly

* Stop being such a slowpoke! The sooner you finish cleaning your room, thesooner we can go do something fun.

to hurry up – to do something more quickly; to rush; to increase one’s speed

* If the taxi driver doesn’t hurry up, we’re going to arrive at the airport too late tocatch our flight.

to get a move on – to hurry; to begin moving more quickly

* We have a lot of work to do today, so let’s get a move on!

breakneck – very quick; a speed so fast that it’s dangerous

* The car came around the corner at breakneck speed and almost hit an old ladywho was crossing the street.

to trudge – to walk very slowly while dragging one’s feet; to walk slowly becauseit is very difficult or because one does not really want to go somewhere

* The kids sadly trudge to school every morning, but happily run home everyafternoon.

ruins – what is left of an old building or group of buildings with a lot of historicalinterest

* Have you ever visited the Mayan ruins in Mexico?

worth (one’s) while – worth the effort; justifying the work that was needed to getor do something that is very nice or pleasant

* You might not enjoy studying much now, but it will all be worth your while whenyou get a good job in a few years.

to pick up the pace – to increase one’s speed; to move more quickly; to hurry

* I can’t believe it took you five minutes to cut one carrot! Pick up the pace, or wewon’t be able to eat until midnight!

to dawdle – to move very slowly; to take a long time to go somewhere or to dosomething

* Little kids often dawdle while getting ready for bed, brushing their teeth asslowly as possible so that they can stay awake a little bit longer.

at a snail’s pace – very slowly

* Kumi reads books at a snail’s pace, usually reading just one page each day.

to keel over – to fall over or fall down, possibly losing consciousness, usuallybecause one is very tired or ill

* If we keep running like this, I’m going to keel over and die of a heart attack.

to sprint – to run very quickly over a short distance

* Fritz isn’t a very good long-distance runner, but he is very good at sprinting.

blinding – very impressive; making one feel awed or amazed

* Jean-Philippe’s teacher says that he has blinding musical talent.

to feel sorry for (someone) – to have sympathy or empathy for someone; tofeel bad because someone else is having a difficult or painful experience

* Did you hear that Kazu lost her job? I feel so sorry for her.

physically challenged – with a physical disability; with a body that does notwork normally because there is some injury or a genetic problem

* Norma Jean lost her arm in a car accident as a child, but even though she’sphysically challenged, she has learned how to do almost everything other peoplecan do.

mentally challenged – with a mental problem or a mental illness; with a medicalcondition that affects how one thinks, making it more difficult for a person to learnand/or communicate

* Why did you do such a stupid thing? Are you mentally challenged?

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What would you expect a slowpoke to do?

a) Dawdle.

b) Keel over.

c) Sprint.

2. Why is Sarah moving so slowly?

a) Because she wants to annoy Chiu.

b) Because her body is very tired.

c) Because she has already seen the ruins.

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WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

ruin

The word “ruins,” in this podcast, means what is left of an old building or group ofbuildings with a lot of historical interest: “The archeologists were thrilled todiscover ancient ruins in the desert.” The word “ruin” also describes a situationwhere one has lost all one’s money and/or relationships: “His ex-wife left him inruins after their divorce, when she got almost all the money.” Or, “The years oflying and cheating left their relationship in ruins.” The phrase “to go to ruin”

means for something to fall apart or be destroyed: “The house went to ruin whenno one lived in it for a few years.”

blinding

In this podcast, the word “blinding” means very impressive, or making one feelawed or amazed: “The actress gave a blinding performance in that movie.”

Something that is “blinding” can also have a light that is so bright it hurts peopleto look at it: “That sunlight is blinding, even when I’m wearing my sunglasses.” Ifone looks at something that is “blinding,” one may be unable to see for a shortperiod of time as a result: “They had to stop the car, because the blinding snowmade it impossible to see the road.” Finally, a “blinding headache” is a very badheadache that causes a lot of pain: “Eberhard had a blinding headache that wasso bad he finally decided to go to the hospital.”

CULTURE NOTE

“Track and field events” are many different athletic activities that “involve”

(include; are based on) running, jumping, and throwing. Track and field athletestry to “break records” (beat the best performance ever) in different “events”

(competitions for a specific track and field activity).

Many track and field events are “races” (competitions to see who can dosomething most quickly). “Sprints” (very fast runs over short distances) rangefrom 50 meters to 400 meters. Middle-distance events range from 600 meters to3,000 meters, and long-distance events include the 5,000 and 10,000 meterraces. “Road races” cover longer distances, up to and including the “marathon”

(a 42-kilometer race).

There are also “hurdle events” where runners have to jump over “hurdles”

(barriers in the path of a runner). In “relay events,” runners work together as ateam, running part of the race and then “passing” (giving with one’s hand) ametal “baton” (stick) to the next runner.

The field events are divided into throwing and jumping events. There are fourtypes of throwing events. Athletes can throw a “discus” (a heavy, round, flatobject, a “hammer” (a heavy metal bar attached to a wire and a handle), a“javelin” (a very long “spear” (pointed stick)), or a “shot put” (a heavy metal ball).

There are also four jumping events. Athletes can compete in the “high jump”

(jumping over a horizontal bar), the “pole vault” (using a long stick to help oneselfjump over a horizontal bar), the “long jump” (running and then jumping as far pasta line as one can), and the “triple jump” (running and then doing one hop, onestep, and one jump to go as far past a line as one can).

______________

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

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 535: DescribingSpeed and Pace.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 535. I’m your host, Dr.

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

You can support this podcast by going to our website and either becoming anESL Podcast member or making a small donation. These audio podcasts arefree, but they are supported by your memberships. If you become a member,you can receive our Learning Guides, which are 8- to 10-page written guides forevery current episode of ESL Podcast that will help you improve your Englisheven faster. Take a look at our website under the Learning Guide section forsome more information.

This episode is called “Describing Speed and Pace.” It’s a dialogue betweenChiu and Sarah that uses a lot of vocabulary we use to describe how fast or howslow things go. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Chiu: Come on, slowpoke, hurry up! We’ll never get to the top of the hill if youdon’t get a move on.

Sarah: There’s no way you’re going to get me to move at breakneck speed. I’vegone up at least 500 steps already, and my legs are about to fall off. Tell meagain why we’re trudging up this hill?

Chiu: It’s the only way to the ruins and the view from there will really be worthyour while. Trust me. Pick up the pace or we won’t get there before sunset!

Sarah: It’s not like I’m dawdling here. I may be moving at a snail’s pace, but thisis as fast as I can manage without keeling over. If you’re in such a hurry, youcan sprint up there by yourself. Go ahead. Impress me with your blinding speed.

Chiu: I’m not about to leave you here all by yourself.

Sarah: Why? Do you feel sorry for me?

Chiu: Yes, I always feel sorry for the physically challenged.

Sarah: Oh, yeah? Better physically challenged than mentally challenged!

[end of dialogue]

Our dialogue begins with Chiu saying to Sarah, “Come on, slowpoke, hurry up!”

A “slowpoke” (slowpoke – one word) is an informal, somewhat insulting term todescribe someone who moves very slowly, who doesn’t move very quickly. It’s asort of thing that you might hear children say to each other: “You’re such aslowpoke! Why can’t you run faster?” Oh, wait a minute; that’s what they usedto say to me! Anyway, “slowpoke” is someone who moves very slowly. So, Chiuis telling her to “hurry up,” to go faster, to increase your speed. He says, “We’llnever get to the top of the hill if you don’t get a move on.” “To get a move on” isanother informal expression meaning to hurry, to begin moving more quickly. It’ssomething a parent might say to their child: “Hey! Let’s get a move on, we haveto leave here by eight o’clock.”

Sarah says, “There’s no way you’re going to get me to move at breakneckspeed.” Something that is “breakneck” (breakneck – one word) is something thatis very quick, something that is so quick – so fast that it’s dangerous. It’s sodangerous you could, if you fell, break your neck; I think that’s the general idea.

Sarah says, “I’ve gone up at least 500 steps already, and my legs are about tofall off.” The expression “my legs are about to fall off” means she’s very, verytired. She says, “Tell me again why we’re trudging up this hill?” “To trudge”

(trudge) means to walk very slowly because, perhaps, it’s very difficult to walk up,or because you really don’t want to be doing what you’re doing, walking in thedirection you’re walking.

Chiu says, “It’s the only way to the ruins and the view from there will really beworth your while.” So, Sarah and Chiu are obviously visiting some tourist area,and they’re going up to see some ruins. “Ruins,” as a plural noun (and it isalways used, in this sense, as a plural noun), is what is left of an old building orgroup of buildings, usually something that is very old, something that is ofhistorical interest. So when you go to Rome, in Italy, you can see the ruins of theForum, a famous area in the center part of Rome. You can see what remains ofthe old buildings from the ancient Romans of 2,000 years ago. “Ruin,” however,has a couple of different meanings in English, both as a verb and a noun. Take alook at our Learning Guide for some additional explanations.

Chiu says that it will be worth your while. The expression “to be worth yourwhile” means that it is worth the effort; if you do it, it will have something verypleasant or nice at the end that will justify what you are doing – that will be a good reason for doing what you’re doing. Chiu says, “Trust me (have trust inme). Pick up the pace or we won’t get there before sunset!” “To pick up thepace” (pace) means to increase your speed, to move more quickly, to hurry up.

It’s similar to “get a move on,” although “get a move on” is usually a command.

Here, he’s also using the expression as a command, “pick up your pace,” but itcould be use otherwise. For example: “The cyclist picked up per pace in trying towin the race.” She decided to go faster.

Sarah says, “It’s not like I’m dawdling here.” “It’s not like” means I am not – I amnot dawdling. “To dawdle” (dawdle) means to move very slowly, to take a longtime to do something or to go somewhere. It’s a criticism to say someone isdawdling; they’re wasting time, they’re not moving as fast as they could becausethey’re lazy or for whatever reason. Sarah says, “I may be moving at a snail’space, but this is as fast as I can manage without keeling over.” A “snail’s pace”

means very, very slowly. A “snail” is a small animal that has the reputation formoving very slowly. So, “to move at a snail’s pace” means to move very slowly.

She says, “this is as fast as I can manage (as fast as I can walk) without keelingover.” “To keel (keel) over” is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to fall over or falldown because you are very tired, or perhaps because you are very sick – very ill.

Somebody once said to me, “Hey, Jeff. You should run a marathon,” the 26-plusmiles that people race sometimes, and I say, “If I ran a marathon, I wouldprobably keel over after the first two miles,” meaning I would be so tired that Iwouldn’t survive – which is probably true!

Sarah says, “If you’re in such a hurry, you can sprint up there by yourself.” “Tosprint” means to run very quickly over a short distance. In the Olympics, theyhave a competition for the runner who can run the fastest 100 meters. We callthese runners “sprinters,” they run very fast, but for short distances. Theopposite would be a “long distance runner,” someone who can run for miles andmiles. Sarah tells Chiu he can sprint up there by himself. She says, “Go ahead.

Impress me with your blinding speed.” “Blinding,” here, means very fast, veryimpressive, making you amazed at how fast or how well someone doessomething. “Blind” has a couple of different meanings in English; take a look atthe Learning Guide for some additional explanations. Here, it means veryimpressive.

Chiu says, “I’m not about to leave you here all by yourself.” I’m not going to letyou be by yourself, I’m going to stay with you. Sarah says, “Why? Do you feelsorry for me?” Do you have sympathy for me? Do you feel badly because I amexperiencing something difficult or painful? Chiu says, “Yes, I always feel sorryfor the physically challenged.” This is a joke. “To be physically challenged”

means that your body is not able to do what other bodies can do because of some injury or perhaps you were born with a certain disease or illness.

“Physically challenged” is a term that is fairly new; you will also hear people talkabout “physical disabilities,” that means something similar. The older term forthat would be “handicapped,” which is still used. People talk about thehandicapped parking spaces; these are special spaces that are supposed to beused only for people who have some physical disability – who are physicallychallenged in some way.

Sarah says, “Oh, yeah? Better physically challenged than mentally challenged!”

She says, “Oh, yeah?” meaning “you think so?” Usually we use that expressionwhen you’re angry with someone or you’re about to reply to someone’s insult.

She replies to Chiu’s insult – Chiu’s joke by saying, “Better physically challengedthan mentally challenged,” meaning it is better to be physically challenged – tohave a physical disability than to be mentally challenged. “Mentally challenged”

is someone who has some sort of mental illness, someone who has a medicalcondition that prevents them from being able to think properly. Once again, thisis a more modern, more recent term. It’s probably used more now as a joke thanas an actual description. Somebody says, “Why did you do such a stupid thing,are you mentally challenged?” meaning do you have some sort of intellectualproblem. It can be use, basically, to say that someone is dumb, but the moretechnical meaning is someone who would have a mental illness or somethingthat makes them unable to be able to reason and think as a normal human beingwould be able to do.

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