English Café 248

Topics: Area 51 and Roswell; American Cities: Baltimore; that versus which; right away versus straightaway

Words:
conspiracy theory
civilian 平民；老百姓；庶民
tight-lipped => not willing to talk about something 口緊的；緘口不語的；守口如瓶的
UFO
extraterrestrial （故事中的）天外來客，外星人，外星生物
to recover
cultural center
Midwest
philanthropist 慈善家；樂善好施的人
refurbished
black history
Super Bowl
that
which
right away
straightaway

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conspiracy /kən'spɪrəsɪ/ => a secret plan by a group of people to do something harmful or illegal 密謀策劃;陰謀

refurbish 再磨光;刷新
Bowl 碗；缽；盆 |（橄欖球主要賽季之後強隊之間的）季後賽

straightaway immediately; at once 立 即；馬上

I am late for my English class which strats at four o'clock.
紅色為獨立子句，黑色為相依子句。
which 連接關係子句。
使用which 前面可以有逗點 ; 使用that前面不用逗點

right away => 美國用法
straightaway => 英國用法

ESL Podcast 594 – Competition and Prizes

Olga: Are you going to take me on, or are you chicken?

Apollo: Me chicken? No way! Bring it on!

Olga: Okay, but get ready to get trounced. I’m going to teach you a thing or two about how this game should be played. Ready for some humiliation?

Apollo: Stop trash-talking and get over here. What are we playing for? How about 20 or 30 dollars?

Olga: Those stakes are too high. Let’s say that the champion will get bragging rights.

Apollo: Bragging rights?! If I can’t have a cash prize, I was hoping for at least a trophy or a medal.

Olga: Yeah, right. You want a medal for winning at thumb wrestling?!

Apollo: As far as I’m concerned, thumb wrestling should be an Olympic sport!

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take somebody on （運動或比賽）同某人較量；反抗；與某人戰鬥
chicken 膽怯；懦弱；怯懦
Bring it on 儘管來吧
trounce => to defeat somebody completely

humiliation => Humiliation is the embarrassment and shame you feel when someone makes you appear stupid, or when you make a mistake in public.丟臉;羞辱;蒙羞

stake /stek/ 賭注
steak /stek/ 牛排
brag 吹噓；自吹自擂
cash prize 獎金
thumb /θʌm/
wrestling /'rɛslɪŋ/ 摔跤運動
As far as I’m concerned 就我而言;依我看

ESL Podcast 593 – Staying Home from School

Carin: We’re going to be late for school. Hurry up!

Hwan: I’m not going to school today. I’m sick.

Carin: You’re not sick. You’re playing hooky. You’re not going to put one over on Mom. She’ll know you’re faking. Get up! Let’s go!

Hwan: No, she won’t, and why are you giving me such a hard time? It’s not like you’ve never played hooky before.

Carin: I may cut class now and then, but I have a foolproof way of doing it so I don’t get caught.

Hwan: You mean you forge notes from Mom to let you get out of class for doctor’s appointments and things like that. I know all about that.

Carin: Who told you?

Hwan: I keep my eyes and ears open. I pick things up.

Carin: If you know so much, then you should know that pretending to be sick never works. Mom will make you go to school anyway. There are better ways to get an excused absence.

Hwan: How? I have a test in biology today and I have to get out of it. Help me!

Carin: I suppose I could, out of the goodness of my heart.

Hwan: Come on. If you do, I’ll owe you one, a big one.

Carin: All right. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. Here’s what you have to do...
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playing hooky 逃課
to put one over on 欺騙某人；愚弄某人
to fake 偽造;捏造;冒充
cut class 逃學
foolproof 使用簡便的；完全可靠的；萬無一失的
forge 偽造；假冒
appointment 約會；預約；約定
excused absence 請假
absence /'æbsṇs/ 缺席；不在
I owe you one 我欠你一個人情
to owe /o/ 欠（情）

You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours
used to say that if somebody helps you, you will help them, even if this is unfair to others

English Café 247

Topics: Psycho and Alfred Hitchcock; The Gettysburg Address; to get the most out of versus to take advantage of; who versus whom; status quo

Words:
thriller
to adapt 改編;改寫
proprietor /prə'praɪətɚ/
swamp 沼澤（地）
to trace
turning point 轉折點；轉機；轉捩點
cemetery /'sɛməˈtɛrɪ/（尤指不靠近教堂的）墓地，墳地，公墓
dedication （教堂的）獻堂禮；（建築物等的）落成典禮
to keep (one’s) spirits up 振作精神
founding fathers 開國元勳
to prevail
patriotic /ˈpetrɪ'ɑtɪk/ 愛國的
to get the most out of =>(whole) 最有效地使用
to take advantage of =>(part) 利用 ; 欺騙;佔...的便宜
who
whom
status quo /ˈstetəs 'kwo/ 現狀；原來的狀況

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Psycho /'saɪko/ 精神病患者；精神病
to adapt 使適應，使適合（新用途、新情況）
The proprietor of a hotel, shop, newspaper, or other business is the person who owns it.
nomination 提名；推薦；任命；指派
Gettysburg Address (美國前總統林肯一八六三年的)蓋茨堡演說
Address 演說；演講
civil war 南北戰爭
impression 印象；感想
struggle 奮鬥；努力；爭取
dedication 獻身；奉獻
devotion 奉獻；忠誠；專心；熱心
to prevail /prɪ'vel/ 普遍存在；盛行；流行
perish /'pɛrɪʃ/ 死亡；暴死
continent 大陸；陸地；洲
hollow 使平面凹陷；使中空

ESL Podcast 592 – Dealing with Website Hackers

Valerie: You’ll never guess what happened over the weekend.

Bill: What?

Valerie: Our website was attacked by hackers, and nobody could access it.

Bill: You’re kidding! What did they do?

Valerie: They got access to our server and embedded some malicious code that caused the site to be redirected to their own website.

Bill: But I thought our site had really good security. Didn’t we hire a programmer last year to encrypt the database and patch any vulnerabilities?

Valerie: That’s what we should have done. So now, we’re paying the price.

Bill: The site seems to be back up, though.

Valerie: Yeah, we brought in a specialist on Friday and she’s been working on it 24/7. Let’s hope she puts in the security measures we should have had all along, and this will never happen again.

Bill: Right, at least until some creative hacker comes up with a new way to wreak havoc.

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24/7 (twenty-four seven) If something happens 24-7, it happens all the time without ever stopping. 24-7 means twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

paying the price 付出代價
wreak havoc 肆虐
wreak /rik/ 造成(巨大的破壞或傷害)
havoc /'hævək/ 大損壞；大破壞；浩劫
come up with (針對問題等)想出;提供

ESL Podcast 591 – Handling a Traffic Stop

I was having a great day until I saw the police car behind me with its loud siren and lights flashing. I pulled off the road and waited for the officer to approach my car.

Officer: May I see your driver’s license, proof of insurance, and car registration, please?

Lindsay: Let me get them out of my glove compartment. Here they are. What did I do wrong, officer?

Officer: Didn’t you see that stop sign back there?

Lindsay: Stop sign? What stop sign? I didn’t see any stop sign.

Officer: Sit tight and I’ll be right back.
...
I guess he was running my driver’s license and license plate numbers to make sure there are no outstanding warrants for me or for my car. He came back after a few minutes.
...
Officer: You ran a stop sign back there and I’m going to have to give you a citation.

Lindsay: Is that really necessary, officer? I’m really sorry I ran the stop sign and I’ll be more careful next time.

Officer: I suppose I could let you off with a warning, just this once.

Lindsay: Oh, thank you so much!

Officer: Drive more carefully in the future.

Lindsay: I will. I definitely will.
...
Phew! That was close. Good thing I tossed the incriminating evidence out the window before I pulled off the road!

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siren 警報器
pulled off the road 駛向路邊短暫停車
approach verb:(在距離或時間上)靠近，接近 noun:(待人接物或思考問題的)方式，方法，態度
glove compartment (汽車前排座位前放小物件的)雜物箱
glove 手套
compartment (傢具或設備等的)分隔間，隔層
Sit tight =>to stay in the same situation, without changing your mind or taking any action
plate 盤子;(車輛的)號碼牌
license plate numbers 車牌號碼
warrant 執行令；授權令
citation => ticket
let you off 放過你
incriminating evidence 罪證
he was running my driver’s license 在這邊的"run"意思是"check"
toss => throw someting
Here they are (Here it is) 東西在這
I suppose = I guess

ESL Podcast 590 – Paying Airline Fees

ESL Podcast 590 – Paying Airline Fees

Justine: So that’s the plan. We drive to San Francisco, then to Portland, then to Seattle, and then to Vancouver.

Howie: What? Why are we driving to Vancouver instead of flying?

Justine: Haven’t you noticed all of the fees the airlines are tacking on these days? First, there were the fuel surcharges and now, there is a whole slew of added fees.

Howie: Like what?

Justine: Well, there’s a checked baggage fee, for one. On some airlines, you have to pay to check just one bag, and each additional bag is another fee. If you have oversize or overweight bags, that’s another fee.

Howie: Okay, I don’t like fees either, but I don’t think that justifies driving all the way to Vancouver.

Justine: Well, let me tell you about some of the other fees. Do you want a snack or a meal on the flight? You’re going to have to shell out for those now. Do you want to fly standby? Yes, it used to be free, but not anymore. Do you want to make your reservation by phone instead of on the Internet? That’s another fee. Do you want a pillow or a blanket for your long flight? Okay, but that’s another fee!

Howie: Okay, don’t get worked up. I see what you mean. They really know how to nickel and dime you. Once we add all of those fees to the base fare, I guess flying isn’t such a good deal. But do you really want us to drive three days to get to Vancouver?

Justine: What’s the problem with driving?

Howie: Oh, I don’t know, maybe it’s the fact that I only have a week for vacation? As soon as we get to Vancouver, we’ll have to turn back!


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fuel 燃料
tack on 添附 to add someting
surcharge 額外費用
a whole slew of something = a lot of someting
slew 許多
baggage=laggage 行李
justify => to provide a reasonable explanation for something
snack 點心 snake 蛇
shell out 付款 => to pay for something(通常是指不想付款卻必須付)
fly standby 機位補位
pillow 枕頭
blanket 毯子
work up 激動

to nickel and dime(someone)
一點一滴的小事或微不足道的服務，都要收費

nickel =>五分錢
dime /daɪm/ => 十分錢

fare 車費；船費；飛機票價