2011年ESL之日常生活 05 Making Controversial Comments（打印版）

2011年ESL之日常生活 05 Making Controversial Comments（在线收听）

05 Making Controversial Comments

GLOSSARY

news commentator – a person whose job is to talk about current events orpolitics, usually on a TV or radio program

* If you have such strong opinions about what’s happening, maybe you shouldbecome a news commentator so you can tell other people what you think.

to be fired – to lose one’s job; to be told one no longer needs to work in aparticular organization or position

* Can employees be fired for using drugs during their personal time?

inflammatory – something that makes other people very angry; something thatcauses strong, negative reactions

* The website was blocked because it contained too much inflammatory material.

to make a mountain out of a molehill – to exaggerate; to treat a small problemas if it were much more important than it actually is

* I know you’re angry about what Jake said, but don’t make a mountain out of amolehill! I’m sure he didn’t mean to upset you.

albeit – although; a word used to modify what one has just said, making it lessforceful

* It was a beautiful wedding ceremony, albeit a very wet one since it startedraining heavily as they said their vows.

controversial – something that many people have strong opinions about andcannot agree on

* The town’s decision to ban smoking in bars and restaurants was verycontroversial.

offensive – something that causes other people to become very angry and upsetor to feel insulted

* The way you assume that all women enjoy cooking and cleaning is veryoffensive.

to mark (one’s) words – to listen to what someone is saying; to pay attention towhat someone is saying

* Mark my words, this is going to be the worst storm this region has everexperienced.

up in arms – active and agitated; with a lot of excitement and/or anger directedat someone or something, making people want to take action or fight

* When the police decided to begin using video cameras to issue speedingtickets, many drivers were up in arms.

head on a platter – an informal phrase used to talk about someone who needsto be punished for something, often by losing his or her job

* If you ruin these negotiations, I’ll have your head on a platter.

to blow over – to lose importance over time; for an argument or situation to nolonger be important, often because people have forgotten about it

* I know your wife is angry right now, but if you wait a few days, I’m sureeverything will blow over.

tempest in a teapot – a situation where many people become angry or upsetover something that is not really very important

* The bride started screaming that the roses were the wrong shade of yellow, butit was really a tempest in a teapot. Nobody else could even see the difference incolor.

to get away with (something) – to not be punished for one’s bad actions; to notbe punished for breaking a law or rule; to not experience the negativeconsequences of one’s actions

* Sarah’s little sister always gets away with things that Sarah would have beenpunished for.

bet – an arrangement where Person A agrees to pay or do something if PersonB is correct, and Person B agrees to pay or do something if Person A is correct

* Let’s make a bet: If I’m right, you’ll wash the dishes all week, but if you’re right,I’ll take care of the kids on Saturday.

to eat (one’s) words – to admit that one was wrong; to say that one’s earlierprediction was incorrect

* Conchita said her nephew would never graduate from college, but he made hereat her words when he went on to earn his Ph.D.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What does Vivian think should happen to the news commentator?

a) He should be burned alive.

b) He should lose his job.

c) He should pay a fine.

2. What does Vivian mean when she says, “Mark my words”?

a) She wants William to listen to what she is saying.

b) She wants William to take notes while she is speaking.

c) She wants William to record their conversation.

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WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

offensive

The word “offensive,” in this podcast, refers to something that causes otherpeople to become very angry and upset or to feel insulted: “Do you thinkmagazines with photos of naked women are offensive?” When talking aboutsports, the word “offensive” is related to attacking and earning points, notdefending oneself against the other team: “The coach taught us some great newoffensive techniques that helped us destroy the other team’s defenses.” In themilitary, an “offensive” is an effort to attack the enemy: “This was the site of amajor offensive in World War II.” Finally, the phrase “to take the offensive”

means to attack and criticize another person before he or she can do the samething: “If you don’t take the offensive and start saying bad things about youropponent, he’s going to do it to you first.”

to blow over

In this podcast, the phrase “to blow over” means to lose importance over time, orfor an argument or situation to no longer be important, often because peoplehave forgotten about it: “Everyone thought their argument would blow over, butnow it’s two years later and they still aren’t talking to each other.” The phrase “toblow up” means to be destroyed by an explosion: “Can using a cell phone near agas pump really cause a gas station to blow up?” The phrase “to blow up at(someone)” means to become very angry and start shouting at someoneunexpectedly: “I’m sorry I blew up at you, but I was really angry” Finally, thephrase “to blow up in (one’s) face” means for one’s plans to suddenly not workout: “Olga thought she had done a good job planning the conference, but theneverything blew up in her face.”

CULTURE NOTE

Most Americans watch TV news programs on weekday mornings or evenings,but some prefer to watch Sunday morning news shows. Here are three of themost popular Sunday morning news shows.

Meet the Press was created by NBC in 1947. It is the “longest-running” (shownon TV for the greatest number of years) American TV show. The current “host”

(leader of a show) is David Gregory. Meet the Press “comprises” (is made up of)interviews with national leaders on important issues in economics, “foreignpolicy” (how countries interact with one another), and politics. Sometimes thereis also a “roundtable discussion” (a discussion among three or more people withdifferent opinions) on the same topic, where people comment on the interview.

Beginning with J.F. Kennedy, every U.S. president has “appeared” (been seen)on the show.

Face the Nation was first shown by CBS in 1954. In the half-hour show, a“moderator” (a person who leads a discussion without expressing an opinion orbias) interviews important “figures” (leaders; individuals) in the news and thenprovides some commentary afterward. The show is filmed in Washington, D.C.

and is dedicated almost “exclusively” (entirely; without anything else) to politics.

This Week is the Sunday morning news show on ABC. It “premiered” (began;was first shown) in 1981. It has roundtable discussions like the other shows, butit also has special features. For example, in the “In Memoriam” feature, the hostmentions recent deaths of important “newsmakers” (people involved in currentevents and business). In the “Sunday Funnies” feature, the show shares someof the best jokes from “late night television” (shows airing late in the evening)during the past week.

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

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 669: MakingControversial Comments.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 669. 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. You can download a Learning Guide for thisepisode, and all of our current episodes by going there and becoming an ESLPodcast member to help support this podcast.

This episode is called “Making Controversial Comments.” It is a dialoguebetween Vivian and William using a lot of vocabulary that would describecomments or remarks – things that you say – that would make other peopleangry. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Vivian: That news commentator should be fired for making such inflammatorycomments. At least I won’t watch this show again until she is.

William: As usual, you’re making a mountain out of a molehill. She was justexpressing her opinion, albeit a controversial one.

Vivian: Her opinion is offensive. Mark my words: Before the end of the week, alot of people will be up in arms calling for her head on a platter.

William: I doubt it. It’ll all blow over. It’s just a tempest in a teapot.

Vivian: No way. She’ll never get away with it.

William: Oh, yeah?

Vivian: Yeah.

William: Do you want to make a bet?

Vivian: Sure, I’ll take that bet. What does the winner get?

William: Just the pleasure of seeing the other person eat her words.

[end of dialogue]

Every country, every culture, has things – topics that you can talk about, andother topics that it would not be good to talk about with people you don’t knowvery well. In the United States, in most businesses you don’t have a lot of peopletalking about religion or politics; those are two areas that can be verycontroversial, topics that people have strong opinions about. Well, in thisdialogue Vivian and William are describing someone on the television, a newscommentator who has controversial opinions, who makes controversialstatements or comments.

Vivian begins by saying, “That news commentator should be fired for makingsuch inflammatory comments.” A “news commentator” is a person who givestheir opinion about the news on a television or radio or, I guess, podcast programas well. Vivian thinks the news commentator should be fired, meaning theyshould lose their job, they should be told they can no longer work at thatcompany. Why? Because they made inflammatory comments. “Inflammatory”

is something that makes other people very angry, something that would cause avery negative reaction. Vivian says, “At least I won’t watch this show (thistelevision program) until she is.” So, the news commentator was a woman.

William says, “As usual, you’re making a mountain out of a molehill.” This is anold expression: “to make a mountain (a very large thing) out of a molehill”

(molehill – one word). A molehill is very small, so if you’re making a mountainout of a molehill, you’re making something that isn’t very important, somethingthat isn’t very significant, and acting as if it were a huge, big problem. The verbwe would use here is “to exaggerate” – to exaggerate the problem, to say this isa horrible thing, it’s the worst thing in the world. That’s to make a mountain out ofa molehill. A “mole” (mole) is a small animal that digs into the ground, and sowhen it comes up out of the ground it digs dirt and the dirt comes up and you cansee a little hill where the mole goes in and out. That’s the origin of that particularterm.

William says, “As usual, you’re making a mountain out of a molehill.” “As usual,”

if William is the husband, is not a very good thing to say. You see, when you’rehaving an argument with your wife or your husband you don’t want to say thingslike “as usual” because then you get the person even more angry. You get themangrier because now you’re talking about things they do all the time rather thanjust what happened today. A little marriage advice from me to you, orrelationship advice – girlfriend, boyfriend, that sort of thing. Don’t say “as usual”

unless it’s a positive thing.

William says the news commentator “was just expressing her opinion, albeit acontroversial one.” “Albeit” (albeit) is a less common way of saying “although.”

It’s a word used to modify what you had just said, making it a little less strong.

It’s not that common in spoken English, it’s not even that common in writtenEnglish, but you will hear it sometimes. It basically means “although.” So, thewoman was just expressing her opinion, although a controversial one. It was anopinion, but it was something that would make other people perhaps angry; itwas a very strong opinion.

Vivian says, “Her opinion is offensive.” Something that is “offensive” issomething that is inflammatory; it’s something that makes you very angry, itmight even make you feel insulted. If someone says, “All blonde haired peopleare stupid,” well, that’s an offensive statement. You are insulting people whohave blonde hair, and of course I used to have blonde hair, so – when I had hair– so that’s offensive to me. Although if you said all bald men are very handsome,are good looking, now that is not offensive. That is just stating the facts, thetruth. Right?

Vivian says that this woman’s opinion was offensive. “Mark my words,” she says.

This expression, “Mark my words,” means listen very carefully to what I amsaying. It is often used when you are going to make a prediction aboutsomething, to guess what will happen in the future, and that’s what Vivian does.

She says, “Mark my words: Before the end of the week a lot of people will be upin arms calling for her head on a platter.” A couple of common expressionsthere: “Before the end of the week,” say Friday or Saturday. The week in theUnited States begins on our calendars on Sunday. In other countries, the weekbegins on Monday. So, you have to be careful when you’re looking at a calendarin English, an American calendar at least, because the week begins on Sundayand ends on Saturday. Vivian says, “Before the end of the week a lot of peoplewill be up in arms.” The word “arms” can mean the things on your body thatcome out of your shoulders, but “arms” also mean “weapons,” things used to hurtother people. “To be up in arms” means, in this case, to be very excited, oftenangry at something. It’s an expression that is used to show that people are readyto fight because they’re so mad, they’re so angry. It’s as if they were gettingguns in order attack you. “Up in arms.” People will be up in arms calling for thenews commentator’s head on a platter (platter). A “platter” is a large plate thatyou put food on to bring to someone else. This expression actually comes fromthe Christian Bible, from the New Testament, when John the Baptist, who wasJesus’ cousin, was arrested and…I won’t tell you the whole story, but basicallywhen he was killed his head was chopped off, it was removed from his body andput on a platter and brought to the, at that time, queen of Judea. Well, this expression, like a lot of expressions from the Bible, has become part of commonspeech – the way we talk, and in this case it means that she is going to bepunished for something. In this case, as in most cases, it would mean to loseyour job or to be punished very strongly or severely.

William says, “I doubt it (he doesn’t think she’s going to be fired). It’ll all blowover.” “To blow over” is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to become lessimportant over time. This is especially used for arguments, because in timepeople sort of forget about what they were fighting about. That is the meaning of“to blow over.” There are some other meanings with those words that can befound in the Learning Guide.

So, William says he thinks this controversy is a tempest in a teapot. A “teapot”

(teapot – one word) is something that you put tea into – hot water and tea, youcombine them in a teapot. A “tempest” (tempest) is a large storm, something thatwould happen in a large lake or an ocean. There was a played by Shakespearecalled The Tempest – wonderful play! It’s about what happens after a largestorm has ended. A “storm” is when you have lots of rain and wind, that sort ofthing. So, “to have tempest in a teapot” is very similar to “to make a mountainout of a molehill.” That is, it’s not possible to have a tempest – a huge storm – ina little, small area, and that’s another way of saying that you are becoming moreangry than this really deserves; you’re making it more important than it is.

Vivian says, “No way (she does not agree at all). She’ll never get away with it.”

The expression “to get away with (something)” means that you do somethingwrong but you are not punished; you don’t have any what we might call negativeconsequences for your actions or of your actions. “To get away with(something)” means that you do something wrong but no one catches you andyou’re never punished.

William says, “Oh, yeah?” and Vivian says, “Yeah.” Notice in informal speech weuse “yeah” to mean “yes.” But the expression “Oh, yeah?” means do you reallythink so, meaning you don’t agree with that person, and Vivian says, “Yeah.”

William says, “Do you want to make a bet?” That is, do you want to each saythat we will give the other person money if the other person wins the argument.

“Do you want to make a bet?” Vivian says, “Sure, I’ll take that bet,” meaning yes,I accept your offer of a bet, “What does the winner get?” William says, “Just thepleasure of seeing the other person eat her words.” “To eat your words” meansto admit that you are wrong. It’s like the words that come out of your mouth, youhave to take them and put them back into your mouth. In fact, we even use thephrasal verb “to take back what you said,” meaning to withdraw it, to say “I waswrong.” So, “to eat your words” is to admit, to confess that you were wrong about something that you said. This is something I do all the time in mymarriage! So, Vivian asks what the winner will get, and William says, “Just thepleasure of seeing the other person eat her words.” That is, there’s no moneyinvolved in the bet, it’s just the satisfaction of knowing that you were correct.

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