2011年ESL之旅行交通购物 10 Attending an Auction_在线英语听力室

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10 Attending an Auction

GLOSSARY

auction – an event or place where things are sold to the person who is willing topay the most for them

* A lot of fine art is sold at auctions because it would be difficult to put a price tagon the pieces.

auctioneer – a person whose job is to lead an auction, announcing what is forsale and identifying who is willing to pay the most money

* If you want to buy something, make sure the auctioneer can see and hear you.

podium – a small raised area that is a little higher than the surrounding floor,where a speaker stands so that he or she can be seen by the audience, and/or awooden stand the speaker stands behind and places books or notes on so thathe or she can read the notes while facing and speaking to the audience

* Whenever he approaches the podium, he gets really nervous, his heart ratespeeds up, and his hands begin to sweat.

gavel – a wooden hammer held in one’s hand and hit against a table to geteveryone’s attention, especially in a courtroom

* The judge hit her gavel on the table to get everyone’s attention.

bidding – the process of many people taking turns announcing how much theyare willing to pay for something until only one person is willing to pay the finalprice

* Some people get too excited during the bidding and they end up spending moremoney than they had planned.

lot – a group of objects that are sold together

* They saved a lot of money by buying baby clothes in lots on eBay.

reserve – the minimum price at which something will be sold

* The car didn’t sell because nobody was willing to pay more than $5,000 and thereserve was $7,500.

opening bid – the amount proposed by the auctioneer to begin bidding on aparticular item, so that the first bid is equal to that amount and all other bids mustbe higher

* If the opening bid is too low, the bidding process can take a long time.

auction block – the raised surface where objects are displayed as they are soldat an auction

* Are bidders allowed to go up to the auction block and take a closer look at whatthey’re bidding on?

on behalf of – doing something for another person, especially someone who isnot able to do something at a particular place and time

* I am honored to accept this award on behalf of all our team members.

absentee – someone who cannot be present; someone who is not able to be ata particular place and time to participate in some meeting or activity

* Our state allows absentee voters to vote by mail.

paddle – a flat round or square piece of wood or plastic with a handle, held in theair with one’s hand, usually marked with a large number so that one can place abid at an auction

* If the auctioneer sees your paddle in the air, she’ll assume you’re bidding onthe item she’s talking about.

going, going, gone – a phrase used by an auctioneer when he or she thinksonly one person is still bidding, indicating that the opportunity to bid will end andnobody else will be able to buy something

* I hear $235. Is that the final bid? Going, going, gone to the lady in the blue hat.

commission – the percentage of a sales price that one receives for helping tosell something

* The clerks at this store work on commission, so they’re always eager to helpshoppers make a purchase.

or else – a threat; a phrase used to show another person that he or she must dowhat one is asking, or there will be negative, unspecified consequences

* Jennifer said to her little brother: “Give me back my diary, or else!”

on the chopping block – at risk of losing one’s job or life, referring to the pieceof wood that used to be used when cutting someone’s neck to separate the headfrom the body

* If this presentation doesn’t go well, I’ll be on the chopping block!

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What is in the auctioneer’s hand?

a) The podium.

b) The gavel.

c) The paddle.

2. Why doesn’t Martin want to bid on the first lot?

a) Because he thinks the auctioneer is asking for too much money.

b) Because he isn’t interested in that lot.

c) Because he doesn’t have enough money.

______________

WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

lot

The word “lot,” in this podcast, means a group of objects that are sold together:

“This auction catalog describes all the lots in great detail.” The phrase “(one’s)lot in life” refers to one’s situation, especially when it is not a good or happy oneand when one does not have much or any control over it: “Do you really thinkpoverty is your lot in life?” The phrase “to draw lots” or “to cast lots” means todecide who will do or receive something by having each person take one ofseveral pieces of paper or an object from a container, where one is different fromall the others: “Nobody wanted to give the first presentation, so they decided todraw lots.” Finally, a “lot” can refer to a piece of land: “Do you know if anyone’splanning to build a house on that empty lot?”

paddle

In this podcast, the word “paddle” means a flat round or square piece of wood orplastic with a handle, held in the air with one’s hand, usually marked with a largenumber so that one can place a bid at an auction: “Who was bidding with paddlenumber 146?” A “paddle” is also a piece of wood with a wide end and a longhandle, placed in the water and used to move a boat forward or backwards:

“Rowing the canoe paddles all afternoon made his arms very sore.” Finally, a“paddle” can be a special attachment for an electric mixer, used for stirringdough: “Don’t forget to scrape the paddle attachment every few minutes whileyou’re making the cookie dough.”

CULTURE NOTE

Common Types of AuctionsThe most common types of auctions in the United States are “English auctions,”

where bidders can see who the other bidders are, and they start with a low price,“working up” (increasing the amount of the bids) until only one person is willing topay the highest price for the item.

The opposite of an English auction is a “Dutch auction,” where the auctioneerbegins with a very high price and “gradually” (slowly) lowers it until someone iswilling to buy the item.

In a “sealed-bid” auction, each bid is “presented” (submitted) in a “sealed”

(closed with glue so that other bidders cannot see it) envelope and the item issold to the highest bidder. In a sealed-bid auction, each bidder can present onlyone bid.

“Silent auctions” are very common for “charity events” or “fundraisers,” which areauctions that are designed to “raise” (gather) money for important “causes”

(efforts to change society in some way), such as feeding the poor or saving“endangered species” (types of animals of which few are still living). In achartable silent auction, people or businesses “donate” (give something withoutreceiving money) goods and services and those items (or descriptions of them)are placed on a table with “sheets” (pieces) of paper where bidders can writedown their bidding number and the price they are willing to pay. Bidders canreturn to that table and “revise” (change; edit) their bid if they see that otherpeople are bidding “higher” (in a larger amount) than they are. At a specifiedtime, the bidding is closed and the highest bid on each piece of paper is thewinner.

______________

Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – b; 2 – a

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 703: Attending anAuction.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 703. I’m your host, Dr.

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

Our website is eslpod.com. Download a Learning Guide for this episode, andhelp support this episode by becoming a member of ESL Podcast.

This episode is called “Attending an Auction.” An “auction” is where you try tobuy things by offering or saying that you will pay more money than the otherpeople. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Diane: This is so exciting! I’ve never been to an auction before.

Martin: Sit down. It’s about to start. The auctioneer is on the podium with hergavel and she’s ready to start the bidding.

Diane: Are you bidding on the first lot?

Martin: No, the reserve is too high. See? The opening bid is over 10,000dollars. I’m not surprised. Items of that quality don’t appear on the auction blockvery often.

Diane: What are those people doing on the phone?

Martin: They are bidding on behalf of people who can’t be here, the absenteebidders. Hey, stop waving that paddle around! The auctioneer is going to thinkthat you’re placing a bid.

Diane: Oh, sorry. Listen, the price is up to 30,500 dollars. Going, going, gone!

The auction house is going to make a nice commission on that one. This is somuch fun!

Martin: Shhh! I’m going to bid on the next lot. Where is the paddle?

Diane: The paddle?

Martin: Yeah, the paddle. Where did you put it?

Diane: I had it just a minute ago.

Martin: Find it, or else I’m putting your head on the block.

Diane: The auction block?

Martin: No, the chopping block!

[end of dialogue]

Our dialogue begins with Diane saying to Martin, “This is so exciting! I’ve neverbeen to an auction before.” An “auction” (auction) is a place where things aresold to people who will pay more than the other people who are there. You cango to an auction for art, for cars, for land, for really anything that can legally besold. That’s an auction. I say, “I’m going to pay 10 dollars,” you say, “I’ll pay 11dollars,” I say, “Okay, I am going to pay 12 dollars,” and so forth.

Martin says to Diane, “Sit down. It’s about to start.” An auction – many auctions,anyway, are held in a room and there are people sitting there, and each person isgiven a number on something called a “paddle,” which we’ll talk about in asecond, and they hold that number up if they want to buy the item. Martin saysto Diane, “Sit down. It’s about to start. The auctioneer” – the person whose job itis to lead the auction, to announce what’s being sold, and to ask people howmuch they want to pay – “The auctioneer is on the podium with her gavel.” A“podium” (podium) is an area that is higher up than the surrounding floor, wherea speaker will stand so that people can hear him or her. Professors in college orteachers in high school often have podiums; they put their paper on the podiumand they stand behind it facing or looking out toward the class. The auctioneerhas something called a “gavel” (gavel). A “gavel” is like a small hammer –wooden hammer that you hit against the table to get people’s attention. In acourtroom, where there is a judge, the judge typically has a gavel. At an auction,a gavel’s purpose is to indicate that the thing that they are selling has been sold,that you cannot try to buy it after that point. Martin says the auctioneer is readyto start the bidding. “Bidding” comes from the verb “to bid” (bid). “To bid” is tosay that you are going to pay a certain amount of money for something at anauction. “Bidding” is the process of many people taking turns announcing howmuch they’re willing to pay for something. Here in the United States, the mostpopular online auction is eBay (eBay).com. People say, “I’ll give you 10 dollars,”

“Oh, I’ll give you 10.50,” “Okay, I’ll give you 11 dollars.” Those are two different people; you wouldn’t, you know, want to bid against yourself. That is, offer priceshigher than your own price. That would be crazy!

Speaking of crazy, Diane says, “Are you bidding on the first lot?” Here, the word“lot” (lot) means a group of objects – a group of things that are sold together atan auction. “Lot” has a lot of different meanings; take a look at our LearningGuide for more explanations.

Martin says, “No,” he’s not bidding on the first lot, “the reserve is too high.” The“reserve” at an auction is the minimum price at which something will be sold. So,I give my computer to the auctioneer, I say to him, “Sell this computer, but I willnot accept anything less than 400 dollars.” That’s the reserve, the 400 dollars,the minimum I will accept. The auctioneers typically keep a percentage forthemselves, of course, usually around 30 percent I think. Anyway, Martin says,“The opening bid is over 10,000 dollars.” The “opening bid” is the bid that theauctioneer proposes or suggests as the first price. After the auctioneer suggestsa price and someone says, “Okay, I’ll pay that,” the auctioneer doesn’t suggestany other prices. They will, instead, ask people if they’re willing to pay more. Soif you say, “I’m going to pay 10,000 dollars,” I’ll say, “Okay, 10,000 dollars. Do Ihear 11,000?” “Do I hear” means is there anyone who will say they will pay11,000, and someone may say yes. You say, “Okay, 11,000, 11,000, 11,000.

Do I hear 12,000? 12,000, 12,000, 12,000…” For some reason, auctioneers liketo talk and repeat things very fast.

So in our story, the opening bid is over 10,000 dollars for the first lot. Martinsays, “I’m not surprised. Items of that quality don’t appear on the auction blockvery often.” The expression an “auction block” refers to a raised area where youcan see the thing being displayed – the thing that is being sold. In general, theexpression means available at an auction or to be auctioned.

Diane says, “What are those people doing on the phone?” Martin says, “Theyare bidding on behalf of people who can’t be here.” “On behalf of” means to dosomething for someone else. So if there’s an auction in Paris, and I can’t bethere, I send a friend of mine, and the friend will bid on something and talk to meon the phone and say, “Do you want to pay 11,000?” and I say, “no,” or “yes,”

and then that’s how I can participate in the auction. He says – Martin – theabsentee bidders are talking on the phone. The “absentee” is the person whoisn’t there; they are absent. “To be absent” is the opposite of “to be present.” Ifyou’re “present,” you’re here; if you’re “absent,” you’re not here. At school, wetalk about people being present in class or absent from class. Notice, present“in” class, absent “from” class; the prepositions are different. So, these are“absentee bidders,” people who are not physically there.

Martin says, “Hey, stop waving that paddle around!” “To wave” is to move backand forth in the air. A “paddle” is a flat, round or square piece of wood that has anumber on it. If you are familiar with the game of ping-pong, or table tennis, theball is hit with a small paddle. It looks little like that kind of paddle. It has ahandle on it where you can pick it up with your hand, and if you hold it up in theair that tells the auctioneer that you’re willing to pay that higher price. So, theauctioneer doesn’t know your name, but he can see your number, and he writesthat number down saying, “Okay, that person will pay 11,000.” Well Diane, thedummy, she starts waving the paddle around. Martin says, “The auctioneer isgoing to think that you’re placing a bid.” “To place a bid” means the same as “tobid,” to say that you will pay a certain price for something.

Diane says, “Oh, sorry. Listen, the price is up to 30,500 dollars. Going, going,gone!” After the auctioneer decides that no one else will pay a higher price, he orshe will say that phrase, “going, going, gone,” and when they say “gone,” theytake the gavel, the little hammer, and they hit the table to indicate that that item issold. Diane says, “The auction house (the company that runs the auction) isgoing to make a nice commission on that one.” A “commission” is a percentageof the sales price that you receive for selling a certain thing. We talk aboutpeople at stores “working on commission,” meaning they will get a percentage ofthe price. Many salesmen and saleswomen are working on commission.

Diane says, “This is so much fun!” Martin indicates for her to stop talking, to bequiet. He says, “Shhh! I’m going to bid on the next lot,” the next group of things.

“Where is the paddle?” he asks. Diane says, “The paddle?” Martin says, “Yeah,the paddle. Where did you put it?” Where did you place it? Diane says, “I had itjust a minute ago.” She had the paddle just 60 seconds ago. Martin says, “Findit, or else I’m putting your head on the block.” “Or else” is a phrase used to showanother person that you have to do what I am telling you to do or there will benegative consequences. You don’t even have to say what those negativeactions will be. You might say, “Give me my pen back, or else,” meaning if youdo not give me my pen back bad things will happen to you. Of course, somepeople will say, “Or else what?” asking specifically. “Or else, I will punch you inthe nose,” I will hit you in the face.

In this case, Martin says if Diane can’t find the paddle, he’s going to put her headon the block. The “block” is also a term we can use to talk about when they usedto kill people by cutting, or “chopping” we would say, off their head. We wouldcall the place where you put your head down the “chopping block.” It would be alarge piece of wood that would hold your head until the person chopped it or cut itoff. Well, that’s what Martin is saying he’s going to do to Diane, which of course would be illegal in most countries. You can’t just go killing people! Diane says,“The auction block?” She’s confused; she’s not sure where her head will be.

Martin says, “No, the chopping block!” which is what we just explained. Ingeneral, the expression “on the chopping block” means that you are riskingsomething valuable; you may lose something valuable. Or a company might say,“The employees are on the chopping block,” they are in risk of losing their jobs.

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