2011年ESL之旅行交通购物 16 Traveling Over the Holidays

 

16 Traveling Over the Holidays

GLOSSARY

battle – the act of two or more people or groups fighting each other; one fight ina war; one of many fights

* How many soldiers and how many innocent people died in the battle?

holiday travel – the period of time in November and December aroundThanksgiving, Christmas, and other holidays, when many people traveling byplane, train, and car, so it is difficult to travel and there are many delays

* I’d love to spend Christmas with my parents, but I don’t want to deal with theholiday travel.

peak – the highest part of something; the period of time when something is verybusy and/or needed by many people

* Peak candy sales occur in the weeks before Halloween.

at all costs – no matter what is required; regardless of how difficult, challenging,or expensive something will be.

* Ahmed doesn’t understand chemistry very well, but he is determined to passthe course at all costs.

to arm – to prepare oneself for something by having all the necessary resources,especially to prepare oneself for a fight by having all the guns and other weaponsone may need

* Before you go to that boring lecture, make sure you arm yourself with coffee!

to book – to make a reservation; to make arrangements to have or do somethingat a future time

* Did you remember to book a hotel room in Detroit for next week?

flight – a trip on one airplane from one place to another

* Flying from Portland to Dallas required two flights.

seat assignment – the letter and number indicating where one should sit,especially in an airplane, train, or bus

* My seat assignment is for a window seat, but I’d rather sit in the aisle seat.

boarding pass – the official document that one shows to an airline employeewhile getting on an airplane that proves one has purchased a ticket and haspermission to travel on the airplane

* The airline can’t give travelers their boarding passes until their identification hasbeen checked.

flight status – information about whether an airplane has already arrived, willarrive on time as scheduled, or will be late

* If you check this box on the airline’s website, the flight status will be sent to yourphone automatically.

tight connection – a very short layover; a short period of time between whenone’s first plane lands at an airport and when one must get on a second airplaneleaving that airport to go to one’s final destination

* We have a really tight connection in Minneapolis, so we’ll have to run throughthe airport to get to the second plane.

to change planes – to get off of one airplane at an airport and get onto anotherplane at the same airport to reach one’s final destination

* If we have to change planes in Miami, let’s try to get a long layover so we canhave a few hours to explore the city.

snowed in – unable to leave a building or airport because the weather is badand there is too much snow on the ground

* When we heard a big storm was coming, we made sure we had lots of hotchocolate and good books to keep us entertained in case we were snowed in.

to cancel – to change plans so that something will not happen as originallyplanned

* Class was canceled today, because Professor Hathaway got sick.

to think (something) out – to spend a lot of time thinking about something,considering all the different possibilities and options

* Did you hear that Marjorie is considering dropping out of school? I hope shereally thinks it out before she makes any final decision.

worst-case scenario – the worst possibility; the most negative option with theworst consequences; of all the possibilities, the one that is least pleasant

* Gregory is very nervous about showing his book to an editor, but even in theworst-case scenario, all that will happen is that it might be rejected forpublication.

forewarned and forearmed – a phrase meaning that one is aware of the badthings that might happen and one is prepared for them

* Jose Luis is really worried that the banks might run out of cash, so he has putall his cash in a box underneath his bed. When other people tell him he’s crazy,he simply says, “Forewarned and forearmed.”

to catch (someone) napping – for something to happen while a person is notexpecting it and is completely unaware of it and unprepared for it

* Last year’s hurricane season caught us napping, but this year we have plenty ofbottled water, canned food, flashlights, and a battery-powered radio.

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COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. Why doesn’t Sabrina want to fly during the peak travel season?

a) Because it is very expensive.

b) Because the fights are too crowded and unpleasant.

c) Because her family lives nearby.

2. What does Sabrina mean when she says, “I hope you don’t have any tightconnections”?

a) She hopes Ying doesn’t have to sit next to overweight passengers.

b) She hopes Ying has enough money to buy a flight ticket.

c) She hopes Ying has enough time to board his second airplane.

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WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

at all costs

The phrase “at all costs,” in this podcast, means no matter what is required,regardless of how difficult, challenging, or expensive something will be: “Sharonis determined to make the business successful at all costs, even if it meansworking 80 hours a week.” The phrase “at cost” is used when someone sellssomething for the same price he or she paid for it: “When Jodi was learning todecorate cakes, she sold them to her friends at cost, but now she has her ownbusiness and sells the cakes for profit.” The phrase “to bear the cost” means tobe responsible for paying for something: “If we increase the number of teachersat the school, who is going to bear the cost of their salary and benefits?”

to think (something) out

In this podcast, the phrase “to think (something) out” means to spend a lot of timethinking about something, considering all the different possibilities and options: “Iwish we’d thought it out more before we decided to buy that luxury car.” Thephrase “to think (something) through” has the same meaning: “Take a few daysand think it through before making a decision.” The phrase “to think (something)over” means to spend a lot of time thinking about something, but not necessarily to reach a decision or conclusion: “They’re still thinking over our offer.” Finally,the phrase “to think (something) up” means to have a new, creative idea that noone has thought of before: “Who thought up that new marketing campaign?”

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CULTURE NOTE

Airport LoungesAn “airport lounge” is a special room or “suite” (group of rooms) in an airport thatonly certain people have access to. Most lounges are owned by the airlines, and“frequent fliers” (people who fly often on a particular airline) can receive accessto those lounges, which provide special services to make travel more enjoyable.

Typical lounges have comfortable chairs, large television screens, and Internetaccess. Some offer an “open bar” where travelers can get “complimentary” (free)drinks and snacks. A few lounges have large bathrooms where the travelers cantake a shower, or beds where travelers can rest comfortably.

“These days” (recently), airlines are competing with each other by offering more“luxurious” (fancy; meeting people’s needs and desires) lounges. Some of theselounges include full “gourmet” (very nice food) restaurants with “celebrity chefs”

(very famous cooks). Other “high-class” (fancy, special, and expensive) loungesoffer “full” (complete; comprehensive) “spa services” such as massages,“manicures” (services to improve the appearance and health of one’s hands andfingernails), pedicures (services to improve the appearance and health of one’sfeet and toenails), and “facials” (services to clean one’s face and improve theskin).

Other lounges offer “business centers” where business travelers can accessprinters, faxes, and other tools they need to “stay connected” (continue tocommunicate) with their office while traveling. The nicest lounges even offertheir travelers “private offices” (offices with a door that closes). Lounge staffmembers can also help travelers make arrangements, such as restaurantreservations, “shuttle services” (transportation to and from the airport), and hotelreservations, as well as tours.

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

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 746: TravelingOver the Holidays.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 746. 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. Go there to download a Learning Guide for thisepisode and take a look at some of the other courses we have our website.

This episode is called “Traveling Over the Holidays.” It’s a dialogue betweenSabrina and Ying using vocabulary that we might use in talking about travelingduring a busy season such as Christmas or Thanksgiving. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Sabrina: You look like you’re getting ready for battle.

Ying: In a way, I am. I’m flying home next week to be with my family over theholidays and you know what holiday travel is like.

Sabrina: I’ve flown during peak travel season before, and now, I try to avoid it atall costs.

Ying: Well, I can’t this year, so I’m arming myself for the experience. I bookedmy flights back in September and I have my seat assignment. I’ll print out myboarding passes before I head for the airport, and I’ll keep checking the flightstatus to make sure the flight is on time.

Sabrina: I hope you don’t have any tight connections.

Ying: I change planes in Chicago, but I have two hours in between flights. I’mhoping that’ll be enough.

Sabrina: What’s in that huge bag?

Ying: Those are my supplies. If I get snowed in or if my flight gets cancelled, I’mready to spend the night in the airport.

Sabrina: Wow, you really thought this out. You’re ready for the worst-casescenario.

Ying: Forewarned and forearmed. You won’t catch me napping!

[end of dialogue]

Sabrina begins by saying, “You look like you’re getting ready for battle.” “Battle”

(battle) is when two people, or usually two groups of people are fighting, such astwo different armies from different countries; it’s a big fight. Sabrina says thatYing looks like he’s getting ready for battle. Ying says, “In a way, I am.” “In away” means in some manner; sort of I am. “I’m flying home next week to be withmy family over the holidays (that is, during the holidays) and you know whatholiday travel is like.” Holiday travel in the United States usually refers to themonths of November and December. In late November we have theThanksgiving holiday, and in December it’s the Christmas and Hanukkahholidays. So when people refer to holiday travel, they’re usually talking aboutone of those two events.

Sabrina says, “I’ve flown during the peak travel season before, and now, I try toavoid it at all costs.” “Peak” (peak) is the highest part of something. We can talkabout the peak of the mountain. There’s a famous peak in Colorado called PikesPeak. Well, this is the peak travel season, so it’s the busiest travel time, and thatis what Sabrina is talking about. She says that she’s flown, meaning she hasflown in an airplane – “flown” (flown) is the past participle of the verb “to fly.” “Ifly,” “I flew,” in the past,” “I have flown.” Well, Sabrina has flown during the travelseason – the peak travel season – and now she tries to avoid it – get away fromit – at all costs. “At all costs” means no matter what is required, regardless ofhow difficult or challenging it is. “I’m going to make sure I pass my test tomorrowat all costs.” I’ll do anything – well, almost anything – to pass my exam.

Sabrina tries to avoid traveling during the peak travel season at all costs. Yingsays, “Well, I can’t this year, so I’m arming myself for the experience.” “To arm”

(arm) as a verb means to prepare yourself by having all the necessary things youneed. Usually, it refers to someone who is going to be fighting, and “to armyourself” means to have a gun or perhaps a sword or a knife. In fact, we callthings that you can use to harm other people – weapons – we often call them“arms,” in the plural. The verb “to arm,” then, means to have, to get yourself oneof these weapons. Of course, Ying isn’t actually bringing a gun on the plane;that’s not allowed in most airlines. However, he is getting himself ready. Hesays, “I booked my flights back in September and I have my seat assignment.”

“To book” (book) means to make a reservation, to make arrangements. “I booked a flight,” that’s a very common expression meaning I made reservationson an airplane to go somewhere. “Flights” (flights) are trips on an airplane fromone place to another. “Be careful you get to the airport on time so you don’t missyour flight.” That is, you don’t miss your airplane that is going to be leaving. So,“flight” can mean the travel between one place and another. Sometimes it’s usedinformally to mean simply the airplane that you are getting on. Of course, youcan’t go somewhere unless you get on the airplane, so they’re related. Yingbooked his flights back in September. “Back in” means way back, severalmonths ago. Now it’s November or December; if he’s speaking about somethingthat was a long time ago or a while ago, then you can use this expression “backin.” Back in the 1960s, when I was born, there were no podcasts. True!

Ying says that he has his seat assignment. In most airplanes they give you aspecific seat to sit in. A “seat” is like a chair on an airplane. The airplane hasdifferent “rows,” lines of seats. Each row has a number, and each seat typicallyhas a letter. So if you’re in 22A, you’re probably sitting in row 22; A is usually awindow seat, a seat next to the window, and so forth. Ying says, “I’ll print out myboarding passes before I head for the airport.” A “boarding pass” is an officialdocument, usually a piece of paper, although now some airlines – somecompanies have cell phone apps that you can use, but a boarding pass is sort oflike your official ticket to get onto the plane. It’s not the same as the ticket, butit’s basically your permission to board the plane. “To board” means to get on anairplane. So, Ying has his boarding passes and he’s going to check his flightstatus to make sure the flight is on time. The “status” of something is the state orcondition, the situation involving that thing. “Flight status” would be whether theplane will be leaving at the time it’s supposed to leave – on time – or whether it’slate.

Sabrina says, “I hope you don’t have any tight connections.” A “connection,”

when we talk about airplane travel, is when you fly to one airport, you get off yourplane, you get into a different plane, and travel to the next airport. So, it’sstopping in one airport on the way to another airport. So, if you’re flying from LosAngeles to New York, you may make a stop in Chicago, and you may have tochange planes. That would be called “making a connection.” A “tightconnection” is when you don’t have very much time to get the next flight. Let’ssay you fly into Chicago at 12 o’clock noon, and you have to be on another planeleaving for Atlanta at 12:30. Well, you only have 30 minutes to get to your nextplane; that would be a very tight connection.

Ying says, “I change planes in Chicago, but I have two hours in between flights.”

So, he has lots of time before his next plane will leave. “I’m hoping that’ll beenough.” I’m hoping that will be enough time. Sabrina says, “What’s in that huge bag?” What’s in that huge piece of luggage, we might also say. Ying says,“Those are my supplies.” “Supplies” are the things you need to do somethingelse; often it relates to food. Ying says, “If I get snowed in or my flight getscancelled, I’m ready to spend the night at the airport.” If you are “snowed in” youare unable to leave the airport because it is snowing so much the planes can’ttake off or land; they can’t leave the ground because there’s too much snow. “Tohave your flight canceled” means that the airplane will not go; the airline says no,we’re not going to fly that plane today. That is having your flight canceled. It’s aterrible thing; it happens, then you have to find a new plane to get on – a newflight to take.

Sabrina says, “Wow, you really thought this out.” “To think (something) out” is aphrasal verb meaning to spend a lot of time thinking about something: a problem,and how you’re going to solve it. Sabrina says, “You’re ready for the worst-casescenario.” A “scenario” is a possible situation, something that might happen.

“Worst-case” would be the worst possible thing that could happen. So forexample, if you are flying and you get snowed in and you can’t leave the airportfor two days, that might be considered a worst-case scenario, a situation thatwould be the worst possible one you could have.

Ying says, “Forewarned and forearmed.” “To be forewarned” means that youknow about something bad that’s going to happen before it happens; someonetells you, someone warns you. “Forearmed” means to be armed or to beprepared before it happens. The more common expression is “forewarned isforearmed,” if you know about it, then you can prepare for it. But it’s alsopossible to say, as Ying says, “forewarned and forearmed,” he’s both of thosethings. He knows something bad might happen and he’s prepared. He says,“You won’t catch me napping!” “To nap” (nap) means to sleep a short timeusually some time in the middle of the day. In the afternoon, perhaps, you napfor 10 or 15 minutes. You go into a chair or lie down on a couch and you fallasleep. “To catch (someone) napping,” however, means to find someone who issleeping and therefore unprepared. So the expression “to catch me napping”

would mean to find me unprepared, to be in a difficult situation and I wasn’t readyfor it. Ying says, “You won’t (you will not) catch me napping!” He will be, in otherwords, prepared.

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

[start of dialogue]

Sabrina: You look like you’re getting ready for battle.

Ying: In a way, I am. I’m flying home next week to be with my family over theholidays and you know what holiday travel is like.

Sabrina: I’ve flown during peak travel season before, and now, I try to avoid it atall costs.

Ying: Well, I can’t this year, so I’m arming myself for the experience. I bookedmy flights back in September and I have my seat assignment. I’ll print out myboarding passes before I head for the airport, and I’ll keep checking the flightstatus to make sure the flight is on time.

Sabrina: I hope you don’t have any tight connections.

Ying: I change planes in Chicago, but I have two hours in between flights. I’mhoping that’ll be enough.

Sabrina: What’s in that huge bag?

Ying: Those are my supplies. If I get snowed in or if my flight gets cancelled, I’mready to spend the night in the airport.

Sabrina: Wow, you really thought this out. You’re ready for the worst-casescenario.

Ying: Forewarned and forearmed. You won’t catch me napping!

[end of dialogue]

You won’t catch our scriptwriter napping! She’s always prepared with awonderful script, the wonderful Dr. Lucy Tse.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Comeback and listen to us again here on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse,hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan, copyright 2011 by the Center for EducationalDevelopment.