2008年ESL之日常生活 06 Being Scared_在线英语听力室

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06 Being Scared

haunted² – with ghosts and/or spirits in a location, such as inside a building* All the children on this street think that the old green house is haunted.

coward³ – someone who lacks courage and doesn’t do something because he orshe is very scared* Michelle is scared of the dark, and she’s such a coward that she has to sleepwith the lights on.

ghost – the spirit of a dead person that can be seen and heard by living people* Blake believes that he has seen the ghost of his grandmother, who died 15years ago, walking around the old house.

to take any chances – to take a risk; to do something that may be risky⁴; to dosomething that may cause problems or trouble* Ezekiel doesn’t want to take any chances with his health during the flu season,so he washes his hands with hot water and soap every hour.

spooky – scary; eerie⁵; frightening, creepy; strange and unusual, causing fear* The tree branch blew in the wind, making a spooky noise each time it hit thewindow.

goosebumps – small bumps⁶ that appear on one’s skin when one is cold orscared* He was so cold that he had goosebumps all over his arms and legs.

to freak out – to become very scared in an unusual way; to act oddly, oftenbecause one is frightened* Laureline freaked out when her parents told her that she would go to a newschool next year.

horror movie – a scary movie; a movie that is designed to frighten people* A Nightmare⁷ on Elm Street is a classic horror movie.

to dare (someone to do something) – to challenge or get someone to dosomething that is very frightening, embarrassing, or difficult* The girls dared each other to run around the house at night while wearing theirpajamas.

to spend the night – to stay in a particular place for one night; to sleepsomewhere for one night * For her birthday, Rachel invited four friends to spend the night at her house.

scaredy-cat – a person who is scared of everything; a person who has nocourage* Don’t be such a scaredy-cat! It’s just a snake.

scared to death – extremely frightened and scared* Luca was scared to death when he found out that for the assignment, he wouldhave to speak in front of all of his classmates.

to chicken out – to decide not to do something because one is too scared* The three friends were going to jump out of a plane with parachutes, but one ofthem chickened out at the last minute.

to change (one’s) mind – to decide not to do something that one had beenplanning to do; to decide to do something differently than planned* Damian wanted to go to Oahu for vacation, but he changed his mind when hefound out how expensive it would be.

to have the nerve – to have enough courage to do something; to be able to dosomething even though one is very scared or frightened* I didn’t think you would have the nerve to lie to your parents about that!

brave – courageous⁸; with courage; willing and able to do something, eventhough one is scared* It was very brave of you to have gone into that burning house to save the littlegirl.

famous last words – a phrase used to show that what another person has saidis wrong and could have very serious consequences* Vicky said that the client would love our presentation. Famous last words! They hated everything we showed them, so now we have to start again from thebeginning.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS1. What is a haunted house?

a) A house that has ghosts in it.

b) A house where scaredy-cats live.

c) A house where cowards⁹ like to go.

2. What would happen if Emily chickened out?

a) She would get goosebumps.

b) She would freak out.

c) She would decide not to enter the house.

______________WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

to take chancesThe phrase “to take any chances,” in this podcast, means to take a risk or dosomething that may cause problems or trouble: “They don’t want to take any chances of not having enough money when they retire, so they are saving as much as they can each month.” The phrase “to take a chance on (something orsomeone)” means to decide to do something even though it is risky and/or mightnot work: “Even though he doesn’t have very much experience, the company decided¹⁰ to take a chance on him and hire him for the job.” The phrase “chances are that” means that something is probable or likely: “Chances are that you’ll getsick at least once this year.” Or, “Chances are that playing the violin will bedifficult at first, but it will get easier over time.”

to dareIn this podcast, the verb “to dare” means to challenge or get someone to dosomething that is very frightening, embarrassing, or difficult: “The boy’s friends dared him to steal the answers to the test from their teacher’s desk.” The verb“to dare” also means to be brave enough to do something: “We didn’t dare to tellour boss that we didn’t think his idea would work.” The phrase “don’t you dare!”

is used to warn someone not to do something: “When Harold told me that he was thinking about dropping out of school, I said, ‘Don’t you dare!’” Finally, thephrase “how dare you” is used to show that one is shocked and angry about whatanother person is doing or saying: “How dare you talk that way about yourmother?”

CULTURE NOTEA “slasher film” is another “term” (a word with a special technical meaning) for a“horror movie.” The verb “to slash” means to cut something violently with a sharpobject. Slasher films don’t always involve cutting, but they are very violent andhave many deaths, usually of teenagers. These films are created to scarepeople.

Slasher films have many things in common. First, the murderer usually kills teenagers or young people in their 20s who are “engaged in” (participating in)what some people would consider “immoral” (bad and wrong) behavior, such as taking drugs or entering a place they’re not supposed to. The murderer is usually a man who causes a lot of fear in other people. In general, the more “moral”

(showing good behavior) the characters are, the more likely they are to survivethe killer’s attacks. In most slasher movies, the “characters” (people in a movieor play) are killed one at a time, until only one girl or young woman is left alive atthe end of the movie. She alone makes many “attempts” (tries) to kill themurderer. Sometimes this character succeeds in killing¹¹ the murderer, but othertimes the murderer “escapes” (gets away) and “disappears” (leaves withoutanyone knowing where one went).

One famous slasher film, Halloween, was made in 1978. In this film, the murders happen among teenagers who are “babysitting” (being paid to take care of otherpeople’s children). Friday the 13thwas made two years later. In this movie, themurders happen at a summer camp. Four years later, A Nightmare on ElmStreet was “released” (made available to the public). In this slasher film, childrenhave nightmares¹² about a murderer named Freddy Krueger. Although themurderer exists only in nightmares, he is able to hurt and even kill the peoplewho dream about him.

______________Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – a; 2 – c

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPTWelcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 354: Being Scared.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode¹⁴ 354. I’m your host, Dr.

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

Visit our website at eslpod.com and download a Learning Guide for this episode. The Learning Guide contains all of the definitions, sample sentences, additionaldefinitions, cultural notes, comprehension questions, and a complete transcript¹³ ofthis episode.

This episode is called “Being Scared.” It’s a dialogue between Emily andStephen about going into a house that is supposed to be haunted. Let’s getstarted. [start of dialogue]

Emily: I’m not going into that house. It’s supposed to be haunted.

Stephen: Come on. Don’t be a coward. You don’t believe in ghosts, do you?

Emily: I don’t, but I’m not taking any chances. Just look at that house! It’s spooky. I’m getting goosebumps just looking at it.

Stephen: You’re only freaking out because you’ve watched too many horrormovies. It’s just a house. Now, come on!

Emily: Why are we doing this anyway? Just because your friends dared you togo in doesn’t mean you have to. This is stupid!

Stephen: I took the dare and I told them I’d spend the night in that house. Ifyou’re a scaredy-cat, you can go home right now.

Emily: And let you go in there by yourself? What kind of girlfriend would I be? I’m scared to death, but I’m not going to chicken out. Okay, let’s go before Ichange my mind.

Stephen: Really? I didn’t think you’d have the nerve. You’re braver than Ithought. Don’t worry. Nothing in there can hurt us.

Emily: Famous last words!

[end of dialogue]

Our dialogue begins with Emily saying to Stephen, “I’m not going into that house. It’s supposed to be haunted. To be “haunted” (haunted) means that there areghosts or other spirits in a building. This is a belief that some people have thatthere are people who died, and then they come back and they “haunt” a place –they stay there and they try to scare you. This is something you’ll see in a movie,for example. On Halloween, we often have what are called “haunted houses,”

and these are houses that people dress up in, and try to scare you.

Stephen says, “Come on. Don’t be a coward.” “Come on,” here, means beserious, don’t joke. “Don’t be a coward” (coward). “Coward” is someone who is afraid, someone who doesn’t have courage because he or she is scared. That’s a “coward,” it’s a negative term. Stephen says, “You don’t believe in ghosts, doyou?” This is an example of what we call in English a “tag (tag) question.” Thefirst part of the sentence is negative: “You don’t believe in ghosts,” the last part is “affirmative,” or positive: “do you?” The answer to this question is if you don’tbelieve in ghosts to say “no.” This can be very confusing; many people think thatthe answer would be “yes” if you don’t believe in ghosts. So, Stephen is sayingto Emily “You don’t believe in ghosts.” Emily doesn’t believe in ghosts, and soshe’s going to say “No, I don’t believe in ghosts.” You don’t say “Yes, I don’tbelieve in ghosts,” you say “No, I don’t believe in ghosts.” “Ghosts” are spirits ofa dead person that can be seen and heard by living people. That’s the idea,anyway.

Emily says, “I don’t (believe in ghosts), but I’m not taking any chances.” Theexpression “I’m not going to take any chances” means I’m not going to take arisk, I’m not going to do something that might cause me more problems ortrouble. Emily says, “Just look at that house!” The expression here, “just look,”

or “just listen to this,” is a way of saying you haven’t looked or listened carefully enough, you’re not understanding what I’m saying; it’s a way of emphasizing yourpoint.

She says, “Just look at that house. It’s spooky.” “Spooky” (spooky) means scary; something that is strange and unusual that causes you fear is “spooky.” Emily says, “I’m getting goosebumps just looking at it.” “Goosebumps”

(goosebumps – one word) are little bumps that appear on your skin when you areeither cold or scared. So you look at your arm, and you see these little bumps;you can feel them on your skin. “To get goosebumps” means to either be scaredor to be cold, here it means to be scared. There was actually a series of books – there is a series of books very popular with elementary school children,especially boys. The series is called Goosebumps; it’s like the Harry¹⁵ Potterseries in that it’s about some things that are scary – haunted things, spooky things. Very popular series among young boys, and the English is fairly easy. There are actually some ESL adults that read these easier novels because theEnglish is easier for people to understand. That’s “goosebumps.” Well, Emily says she’s “getting goosebumps just looking at the house.” Shedoesn’t even have to go into it, just looking at it gives her goosebumps. Stephensays, “You’re only freaking out because you’ve watched too many horrormovies.” “To freak out” is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to become very scared, to act very strangely usually because you are frightened – you arescared of something. Someone says to you “don’t freak out,” means don’t getexcited – don’t be scared by what I am going to tell you or show you. Emily’s been watching too many horror movies. A “horror movie” is a scarymovie that’s supposed to frighten people. Emily says, “Why are we doing this anyway? Just because your friends dared you to go in doesn’t mean you haveto.” “To dare someone to do something” means to challenge someone, to getsomeone to do something that might be frightening, or embarrassing, or difficult. This is something that children and adolescents, teenagers sometimes do. “Idare you to go to that beautiful woman and ask her for her telephone number” –“I dare you to” can be very scary! The word “dare,” as well as the expression “totake any chances,” have a couple of different meanings; take a look at ourLearning Guide for some additional explanations.

Stephen responds, “I took the dare and told them I’d spend the night in thathouse.” Notice “dare,” here, is used as a noun: “I took the dare” – I accepted thechallenge. “I told them I would spend the night.” “To spend the night” means tosleep somewhere for one night. Stephen says to Emily, “If you’re a scaredy-cat,you can go home right now.” A “scaredy-cat” is a person who’s afraid ofeverything, who has no courage, who’s always scared. It’s a term that you wouldprobably hear children use, more than anything. “Don’t be a scaredy-cat” youmight say to your friend.

Emily says she’s not going home. “What kind of girlfriend would I be?” she says. “I’m scared to death, but I’m not going to chicken out.” To say you’re “scared todeath” means you’re extremely scared, you’re very frightened. “To chicken out”

is a two-word verb meaning to decide not to do something because you’re tooscared, because you’re a coward, because you don’t have courage. Once again,it’s considered a negative thing, “to chicken out ,” to not do something becauseyou’re too scared.

Emily says, “let’s go before I change my mind” – let’s go before I decide to dosomething different, to not go in the house, in this case. Stephen says, “Really? I didn’t think you would have the nerve.” “To have the nerve” (nerve) means tohave courage to do something, to be able to do something even though you arescared or frightened. Stephen says to Emily, “You’re braver than I thought.” “Tobe brave” means to be “courageous,” to have courage. It’s the opposite of beinga coward or being scared. Stephen says, “You’re braver than I thought” – you’remore brave than I thought. “Don’t worry. Nothing in that house can hurt us.

Emily says at the end, “Famous last words!” This expression, “famous lastwords,” is used to show that what somebody has said is probably wrong, andthere will be some serious consequences – some negative things that willhappen in the future. For example, you say to your friend, “My wife is going tolove this new vacuum cleaner to help her clean our carpets,” and your friendsays, “Famous last words!” meaning you’re probably wrong, and your wife is going to hate the vacuum cleaner. He’s right, you should never give your wife avacuum cleaner as a gift!

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

[start of dialogue]