EC060_Guide.pdf

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 60

TOPICS

Bestselling books in the U.S., Thanksgiving traditions, to figure out, pronouncing

can vs. can’t

_____________

GLOSSARY

bestseller – a book or other product that sells many copies

* When Dr. McQuillan’s new book about his life is published, it is sure to be a

bestseller.

hardcover/softcover – a book with a cover that is made with strong paper with

cloth over it (hardcover) or a book with a soft paper cover (softcover)

* I wanted to find a copy of this book in hardcover, but the store only had one in

softcover.

Rise and shine! – Get up!, usually said to someone who is sleeping

* Okay, everybody. Rise and shine! After breakfast, we’re going to climb that

mountain!

women’s shelter – a safe place where women can go if they are afraid of being

hurt by someone in their house or if they are homeless (without a home)

* The new women’s shelter down the street will have 30 beds and will help

women who are in danger or are homeless.

engrossing – taking all of your attention; very, very interesting; so interesting

that all of your thinking is about this thing

* The movie we were watching was so engrossing, I didn’t hear the phone ring.

family dynamics – the way that people in a family interact with or affect each

other; the relationship between the people in a family

* Kyle understood his new girlfriend better after visiting her family over the

holidays and seeing their family dynamics.

prose – language in normal sentences (not poetry)

* I wonder what type of stories Shakespeare would have written if he wrote prose

instead of plays.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 60

top-notch – the best; highest quality; excellent

* Jorge is a top-notch pilot so I don’t think we need to worry about him crashing

this plane.

mob/Mafia – an organized group of criminals who are very dangerous and who

do serious crimes

* Have you seen the new play about a mob family living in St. Paul, Minnesota?

jury – a group of people, usually 12, who are responsible for making a decision

in a court case

* The jury’s decision to send the women to jail for 70 years was a surprise to

everyone.

naughty – someone who behaves badly, usually children

* Her father said, “We’re going to visit your grandparents and if you’re naughty

again, you won’t be allowed to play with your friends for an entire week.”

hyperactive – someone who is too active or has too much energy

* How am I supposed to cut your hair if you’re hyperactive and won’t sit still?

parade – a public celebration where people march (walk) along the street while

other people on the side of the road are watching and cheering

* We watched the parade from our second-story window and had a great view of

all bands and performers.

float – in a parade, a truck with a large flat area that is decorated with a display,

usually with people in costumes standing on top, as part of a celebration

* Each year, we have over 200 people help to decorate the floats for our holiday

parade.

to figure out – to solve; to find the right answer; to understand something that

wasn’t clear before

* I’ve looked at this map for over an hour and I still can’t figure out where we are!

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these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 60

WHAT INSIDERS KNOW

A Presidential Pardon...for a Turkey

A “pardon” is an official action to forgive someone for a crime they have

“committed” or done. Normally, only officials in an organization or of the

government can give pardons. The president of the United States can give

“presidential pardons” that allow prisoners to go free. Normally, people who are

on “death row” (in prison waiting to be killed for a serious crime they have

committed) hope for a pardon or a “reprieve.” Prisoners who get a “reprieve”

have their “penalty” or punishment reduced, but their crime is not forgiven.

At Thanksgiving each year, however, the President uses his presidential pardon

in a far less serious way. It is a tradition for the President to give a turkey a

presidential pardon so that it won’t be killed as part of the holiday. This lucky

turkey is allowed live the rest of its life on a peaceful farm. When the turkey is

pardoned, there is an official ceremony that takes place in the Rose Garden of

the White House (the house where the president lives). Of course, the turkey

chosen for the pardon has not committed a crime, but Thanksgiving is the holiday

when Americans eat a lot of turkeys. Some reports say that over 90 percent of

Americans eat turkey for Thanksgiving.

Pardoning a turkey has been a tradition since 1947 when President Harry

Truman pardoned the first turkey. Some people say that the tradition “dates

back” or was started by Abraham Lincoln, the 16 th president, when he pardoned

his son’s pet turkey.

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2006). Posting of

these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 60

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

You're listening to English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café

number 60.

This is the English Café episode number 60. I'm your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan,

coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los

Angeles, California.

On this Café, we're going to talk about some of the best-selling books in the

United States, the most popular fiction and nonfiction books. We will also be

going over a little bit about Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving traditions in the

United States. And as always, we'll answer a few questions. Let's get started!

Be sure to visit our website at eslpod.com to get a list of the words that we are

going to be talking about today. You can also get on our website a complete

transcript of this episode of English Café, and that includes not just the words,

but the definitions, additional sentences using these words as well as additional

cultural notes related to today's podcast.

Our first topic today is going to be bestsellers, and a bestseller, all one word,

“bestseller,” is a book that is very popular, that is one of the books that has sold

the most copies. And in most places, the best-selling books are divided into

hardcover and softcover, fiction and nonfiction. A hardcover book, “hardcover,”

one word, is a book that has a cover on it - the cover is what is on the outside the

book - that is made usually of some hard material, a type of cardboard or very

thick paper. And, that would be a hardcover book. Usually they're bigger books,

and they are the first kind of book that a publisher - someone who makes books -

releases.

The opposite of a hardcover book would be a softcover book, “soft,” softcover.

And a softcover book, you can guess, does not have a hard cardboard front and

back, but it has just a softer paper cover. Softcover books are usually cheaper,

lighter and smaller than hardcover books. Hardcover books and softcover books

are divided into fiction and nonfiction. Fiction, something that isn't true, and

nonfiction, things that are true.

The top book currently in the United States, one of the bestsellers in fiction, is a

book called “Rise and Shine.” Rise, “rise,” and shine, “shine.” These of both

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 60

what we would call command forms of the verb, or imperatives, and it's when you

are telling someone to do something. Rise means get up, usually said to

someone who is in bed sleeping. Shine means to have a bright light on

something, but shine can also means that you do a good job, that you are

excellent at what you do, or that you are completely awake and ready to do a

good job. So, the expression, rise and shine, is something you might to

someone who was still in bed sleeping. It's something a mother might say to her

children, “Rise and shine kids! Today is Monday. You have to go to school,”

which I think is wonderful when the children go to school. Especially the children

who live next to me here in my house in Los Angeles, because they're very noisy

during the week, so school is a good place for them.

Well, “Rise and Shine” is a book about a woman; her name is Anna Quindlen,

“Quindlen,” not related to me, McQuillan. And, it's a novel, or a fictional story, a

novel that is about a woman who works in a women's shelter. A women's

shelter, “shelter,” is a place for women who perhaps don't have a home to live in.

It is often for women who are in a marriage or a relationship where there is some

violence and they need a safe place to go. The government has some shelters,

mostly, however, private organizations - churches, other groups - have women's

shelters and these are places where women can go to be safe.

This is a novel about a woman who works in a women's shelter. One person

described this novel as “engrossing.” To be engrossing, “engrossing,” means

that you get very involved in it, that it is very, very interesting. You can't put it

down, we would say, you can't stop reading. And it's a novel about what one

person calls, “family dynamics.” Dynamics, “dynamics,” are, in this case, the way

that two people or a group of people react, communicate, talk to each other.

Family dynamics are the way that you get along with someone else in your

family, or don't get along with someone else in your family.

It is a well-written book. One reviewer - someone who writes about books - says

that, “The prose is top-notch.” The prose, “prose,” just means the writing. We

also have that term, prose, to mean something that is not a poem. You can have

a poem like Shakespeare's poems or Jeff McQuillan's poems: “Roses are red,

violets are blue. The sky is sunny and so are you.” Thank you, I just...I just

made that up. I just invented that poem. Prose is the opposite of poetry. It's

sentences that are meant to tell a story usually. The reviewer says the writing, or

the prose, in this book is top-notch, “top-notch.” Top-notch means the very best,

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2006). Posting of

these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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