ESL Podcast 581 – Reading a World Map

Greg: What are you doing with that map and that globe?

Julianna: I’m trying to keep track of Carmen as she travels from country to country. I just got another postcard from her today.

Greg: I’m not sure I like the idea of my daughter traveling around the world with a group of people for three months. It’s not safe.

Julianna: She can take care of herself. You know she’s the adventurous¹ type. Give her a compass and she can find her way around anywhere. Help me find Nauru on this map. I don’t even know what continent it’s on. I was never any good at geography.

Greg: All right. You look above the equator² and I’ll look below it, but couldn’t you just look it up on the Internet? It would be easy to find the latitude³ and longitude⁴ of this place.

Julianna: This is more fun. I sort of feel like I’m on an adventure myself.

Greg: I can’t make heads or tails of this map. It’s not to scale and this legend is all wrong!

Julianna: It doesn’t matter. We just need to find the place name, and then I can put a pin in this map showing where’s she’s been.

Greg: I have a better idea. I’ll look it up on the Internet and get you all of the vital statistics⁵ you’d want, like its location, okay?

Julianna: Forget it. Sometimes it’s more fun doing things the hard way.


Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 adventurous   

adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的　

参考例句：

• I was filled with envy at their adventurous lifestyle.我很羨慕他们敢于冒险的生活方式。
• He was predestined to lead an adventurous life.他注定要过冒险的生活。

2 equator   

n.赤道，（平分球形物体的面的）圆

参考例句：

• Singapore is near the equator.新加坡位于赤道附近。
• The United States is north of the equator.美国位于赤道以北。

3 latitude   

n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区

参考例句：

• The latitude of the island is 20 degrees south.该岛的纬度是南纬20度。
• The two cities are at approximately the same latitude.这两个城市差不多位于同一纬度上。

4 longitude   

n.经线，经度

参考例句：

• The city is at longitude 21°east.这个城市位于东经21度。
• He noted the latitude and longitude,then made a mark on the admiralty chart.他记下纬度和经度，然后在航海图上做了个标记。

5 statistics   

n.统计，统计数字，统计学

参考例句：

• We have statistics for the last year.我们有去年的统计资料。
• Statistics is taught in many colleges.许多大学都教授统计学。