EC161_Guide.pdf

English as a Second Language Podcast

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 161

TOPICS

Registering to vote and efforts to get out the vote; the G.I. Bill; growl, groan, and

mutter; personnel and other collective nouns; to be fond of (someone/something)

_____________

GLOSSARY

election – the period of time when people vote for laws or for people who want to

be chosen to work in important government jobs

* More than 60% of voters voted for a new law to make it illegal to talk on a cell

phones while driving.

mandatory – required; not optional

* The meeting for all new employees is mandatory and anyone who cannot

attend will have to talk to their supervisor.

to register to vote – to put one’s name on the official list of people who want to

vote

* Since we just moved to Nebraska last month, we need to register to vote in this

state if we want to vote in the next election.

to fill out – to write information on a piece of paper; to complete a form with

one’s information

* Don’t forget to fill out this form with your name and contact information before

you leave.

democracy – a type of government that the United States and many other

countries have, where people decide who will represent them in the national

government

* We learned about the beginnings of the American democracy in history class.

to get out the vote – to try to get more people to vote in important elections

* To help get out the vote, our group is visiting each house in our neighborhood

to remind people of the election next week.

voter drives – voter registration drives; organized efforts to get many people to

* In college, I ran a voter drive to get more college students to vote.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 161

soldier – a person who fights in the army, navy, air force, or marines; someone

who is a member of the armed forces and who fights for and defends a country

* Many people believe that soldiers who are hurt in war should be taken care of

by the government.

veteran – a soldier who had fought in a war; a soldier who participated in a war

in the past

* Today, we honor our veterans for their bravery and service to the country.

benefits – good things that people, especially employees, get other than salary,

such as insurance, paid vacation time, and opportunities

* The pay in my new job isn’t that high, but the benefits are terrific.

economy – the financial system in a country, including all the things that are

made, bought, and sold

* There are a lot of people without jobs when the economy is weak.

social legislation – a group of laws that help the people living in a country to

have better living conditions

* This year, the lawmakers didn’t pass much social legislation and were criticized

for ignoring the needs of the poor.

growl – to make an angry, low, rough sound

* The dog growled as the mail carrier walked up to the house.

groan – to make a long deep sound when unhappy or in pain

* My children groaned when I told them that we would not be taking a summer

vacation this year.

mutter – to speak quietly and unclearly, often when complaining about

something

* The professor heard students in the back of the classroom muttering when she

told them about their new 20-page assignment.

personnel – a group of people who work in a business or organization, such as

a factory or office

* The personnel in this office are all required to attend training next week.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 161

to be fond of (someone/something) – to have a great liking for someone or

something; having a strong liking or affection for someone or something

* Carl is too fond of candy and cookies, and has gained 20 pounds in the past

year.

_____________

WHAT INSIDERS KNOW

Absentee Voting

On Election Day, people go to “polling places” where voting machines are set up

to “cast” (give; register) their vote. What if you can’t go to your polling place on

that day?

Americans who cannot cast their vote at the polling place can request an

“absentee ballot.” An “absentee” is someone who is supposed to or expected to

be at a particular place but who is not there or cannot be there. An absentee

ballot allows a person to cast his or her vote by mail.

A person who wants an absentee ballot must request it “ahead of time” (before

the event). A ballot is mailed to the voter and he or she “marks” (writes or make

indications on) their ballots. They may do this with a pen or pencil, or the ballot

may be a “punch card” that requires the voter to push out a small square of paper

next to the law or person they want to vote for. Then, the voter mails the ballot

back to the state.

Absentee ballots are useful for people who are living “abroad” (in a foreign

country), such as those “serving” (working) in the military. About half of the 50

states allow “no excuse absentee voting,” where no reason is required to request

an absentee ballot so anyone can request one. In most states, voters may

request “permanent absentee ballot” status, which means that the state will send

the voter an absentee ballot every time there is an election.

Each state has different laws about when and how absentee ballots are counted.

Many states count them on Election Day, while others count them within a few

days after. Absentee ballots have become very popular in many states. In

California, for example, about 25% of ballots cast since 1993 have been

absentee ballots.

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2008). Posting of

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

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 161

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 161.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café episode 161. I’m

your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational

Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Visit our website at eslpod.com. You can download this episode’s Learning

Guide, an 8 to 10 page guide we provide for all of our current episodes that gives

you some additional help in improving your English. You can also take a look at

our ESL Podcast Store, with additional courses in daily and business English, as

well as our ESL Podcast Blog, where several times a week we provide even

more help in helping you increase your language proficiency.

On this Café, we’re going to talk about how Americans register to vote and the

things that people and organizations are doing to get more Americans to vote in

the elections. We’re also going to discuss something called the G.I. Bill, why that

is important and what it is. The G.I. Bill was very important in giving Americans

money to go to school after World War II, and we’ll talk a little bit about why that

was important in U.S. history. And as always, we’ll answer a few of your

questions. Let’s get started.

As you probably know, this year is an election year in the United States. An

“election” is a period of time when people vote for laws or for candidates. A

“candidate” is someone who wants to be chosen to work for the U.S. or state

government, or local government. This year, in 2008, Americans will vote for,

among other things, the next president of the U.S., so I’m sure you have seen a

lot of news stories about the elections.

In the United States, almost all U.S. citizens can vote. The only “exceptions,” or

times when you can’t vote or are not allowed to vote, is if you are less than 18

years old, so children and teenagers can’t vote; or if you have broken some

important laws; or if you are what is called “mentally incompetent,” meaning that

you have some sort of mental disease that prevents you from being of normal

intelligence. These are the only exceptions, everyone else can vote. Voting is

not mandatory, however, in the U.S. “Mandatory” means required or not

optional. It is mandatory in the U.S., for example, to go to school when you are

between the ages of, I believe in most states, 6 and 16, but it is not mandatory

(or required) to vote. There’s no penalty – there’s no punishment if you don’t

vote. Americans can choose whether or not they want to vote in any election.

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

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 161

They don’t have to pay a “fine,” or any money to the government if they don’t. In

some countries this is different; in some countries you’re required to vote, but

that’s not true in the United States.

If you are an American citizen and you decide you want to vote in an election, the

first thing you need to do is register to vote. To “register” means to put your

name on an official list of people who are able to vote, we would say who are

“eligible” (eligible) to vote. This is fairly simple or easy to do. In most states, you

simply fill out a piece of paper called a voter registration card. To “fill out” means

to write information on this card. You usually have to provide your name (your

legal name), your address (where you live), other basic information. You have

to, of course, be a citizen of the United States. Then you give this piece of paper

to the government; you can mail it in. Sometimes you will find people who are

collecting this information (these cards) even on the street in a busy area. We’ll

talk about that in a second. So you register to vote by filling out a voter

registration card, and that card is different for each state. So if you move from

one state to another, you have to fill out a new card for that state. There is no

national voter registration in the United States; everything is done by the

individual state.

It’s easy to register to vote, because, in part, we want people to vote. The United

States is a “democracy” which is a type of government where the people decide

who are going to be the leaders of the country. Unfortunately, many Americans

don’t vote. They don’t think it’s important, they don’t think that their vote is

important.

Interestingly, if you look at the number of people who are registered to vote, what

we would call voter registration, it’s about 75 percent. That means three out of

every four Americans is officially registered to vote in their state. But “voter

turnout,” or the number of voters who actually go and vote in an election, is

much, much smaller. We use the expression “turn out” when we are talking, in

this case, about people who actually go to vote, meaning they leave their house

or their business on the election day, and they go to the place where they vote.

The place where you vote is sometimes called the “polls” (polls). The polls are

places where you can go and vote in an election. Usually they’re a school or a

church or a public building of some sort, and there are thousands, perhaps

millions, of these “polling places,” or places where you can vote in the election

throughout the country.

Now it’s also very popular for people to vote by mail, and in many states you can

just send in your vote. We have this here in California. I don’t have to go to the

These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2008). Posting of

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

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