ESL Podcast 608 – Formatting Text

Chad: Okay, this report is finally finished.

Pamela: Oh, not quite. I’m still working on the formatting.

Chad: We used the standard formatting for this type of report. I don’t think we should play around with the text.

Pamela: Standard is boring. I want our report to be special. I’m putting a nice border on the cover, adding some shading, and centering some of the text.

Chad: No, I really think that’s a bad idea. All of the text should be flush left, and nobody else puts shading in their reports. It cuts down on readability.

Pamela: Readability is secondary to presentation. Look, I’m just putting some of the titles in caps and underlining them, adding some bullets, and putting some of the important sections in bold or italics. This will all make each page look more professional.

Chad: I don’t think it’s going to have your intended effect.

Pamela: Really?

Chad: Yes, instead of thinking we’re being professional, they’ll think we’ve gone off our rocker.

Pamela: Don’t be so stodgy. Hey, I think adding some clip art would really jazz things up, don’t you?

Chad: Oh, God!


Script by Dr. Lucy Tse
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play around 胡搞;亂來
flush => of two surfaces 兩個表面 completely level with each other 完全齊平
cut down(on) 削減
caps 大寫字母 capitals (letters)
bullet （文件中列舉時用正方形號、菱形號等開始的）
italics 斜體字
intended effect /ɪ'fɛkt/ 預期的效果
be off your rocker 發瘋；瘋狂
rocking chair 搖椅
stodgy 滯澀的；古板的；枯燥無味的
clip art 剪貼畫（計算機程序或網站中供用戶複製自用的圖像和符號）
clip 1. 剪短；修剪 2.電影片段
jazz up 使有生氣 ; 使變得有趣