2008年ESL之旅行 11 Parts of a City（打印版）

2008年ESL之旅行 11 Parts of a City（在线收听）

11 Parts of a City

GLOSSARY

residential neighborhood – an area in a city where many people live, withmany houses and/or apartments

* We’d like to move to a residential neighborhood closer to where my wife works.

alley – a narrow street between buildings that is not used by cars very much

* It isn’t safe to walk through the alleys alone at night. Stay on the busier streets.

to lose (one’s) bearings – to get lost; to become disoriented; to not know whereone is or how to get to where one wants to go

* She was reading a book on the bus, and when she looked out the window, sherealized that she had lost her bearings and didn’t know where she was.

to go in circles – to go around without getting to where one wants to go; totravel but end up back where one started

* They rode the subway all morning to try to learn how it works, but they weregoing in circles and always ended up back in the center.

downtown – the center of a city; the central part of a city where there are many businesses and tall buildings

* Let’s meet at the café downtown on Third Avenue and Madison Street.

financial district – an area in a city where there are many banks, investmentfirms, and other businesses related to money

* Wall Street is a famous financial district in New York City.

housing project – an area where houses and/or apartments are builtinexpensively so that people who do not have very much money can live there,especially if they wouldn’t have enough money to live in other parts of the city

* The families living in this housing project make less than $35,000 per year.

historic district – an old part of town with many old buildings that have beenpreserved or kept as they used to be

* The businessman wanted to build a new restaurant in the historic district, but itisn’t allowed, so he had to change an existing old building instead.

uptown – the part of a city that is far from the center, usually where there aremany homes that are bigger and more expensive than homes in the center of the

* They bought a beautiful home in uptown, but now it will take them longer todrive to work every day.

hazy – unclear, confusing, and difficult to understand; unclear and difficult to see

* Aisha’s understanding of physics and chemistry is great, but her understandingof biology is a little hazy.

outskirts – the edge of a city, far from the center and near where the city ends

* There are a lot of trees and parks in the outskirts of the city because peoplehaven’t begun to build there yet.

city limits – the line drawn on a map around a city where the city ends and thecountryside begins

* The city ends at the river, but some people want to expand the city limits so thatthey can begin building on the other side of the river.

back road – a small, narrow, and unimportant road where cars drive slowly; nota main road

* You can reach our home in 15 minutes if you take the freeways, but if youaren’t in a hurry, take the back roads which are slower but much more beautiful.

lay of the land – layout; physical arrangement; the geography of a place; wherethings are located in an area

* How long did it take you to understand the lay of the land after you moved toLos Angeles?

like the back of (one’s) hand – a phrase used to show that one knows something well or is very familiar with something

* Drake grew up playing around in the woods, so he knows that forest like theback of his hand.

the blind leading the blind – a phrase used to show that a person who doesn’tknow how to do something is trying to show other people how to do it

* I’ve never baked a cake before and neither has Shannon. When she tried toteach me how to do it, it was like the blind leading the blind.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. Which of these might be located downtown?

a) Alleys

b) Outskirts

c) Back roads

2. What does Tanya mean by saying that she lost her bearings?

a) She lost her tools on the tour bus.

b) She felt carsick.

c) She didn’t know where they were.

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WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

bearings

The phrase “to lose (one’s) bearings,” in this podcast, means to get lost: “I triedto pay attention to where we were going, but the driver made so many turns that Ilost my bearings.” The phrase “to get (one’s) bearings” is the opposite andmeans to figure out where one is: “Some sailors are very good at getting theirbearings by studying the stars on a clear night.” Finally, the phrase “to have adirect bearing on (something)” means to affect or influence something or to be afactor in something: “Hearing two languages when you are a child has a directbearing on your ability to learn to speak those two languages well when you areolder.”

hazy

In this podcast, the word “hazy” means unclear, confusing, and difficult tounderstand: “I’m a little hazy on the concept of thermodynamics. Could youplease explain it again?” The phrase “to be hazy about (something)” means todescribe something very generally or very poorly, without providing details,especially when one is keeping something a secret: “When we asked Sarahwhere she had gone last night, she was very hazy about the details, just sayingthat she went out to have dinner with a friend.” The word “hazy” is also used totalk about air that is cloudy or dirty and difficult to see through, often because ofpollution: “The sky above the city is very hazy, but it provides beautiful sunsets!”

CULTURE NOTE

American cities are responsible for providing “basic services” (things like water,electricity and garbage pick-up) within their city limits. The city provides the basic things that people need for their homes and “maintains” (keeps in good condition)the roads. Because most people live within the city limits, businesses also find“advantages” (benefits or good things about something) to being located withinthe city limits because that is where their “customers” (the people who buy things from a business) live.

However, there are “disadvantages” (bad things about something) to being withinthe city limits, especially for businesses. A business that “operates” (works ordoes business) within the city limits must pay city “taxes” (money paid to thegovernment). But a business that is located in the “unincorporated area” (thearea outside of the city limits) does not have to pay city taxes. This can be a bigadvantage, helping businesses to be more “profitable” (making more money).

In addition, businesses in the unincorporated area are not “subject to” (do nothave to follow) city “ordinances” (local laws). For example, if there is a city ordinance against smoking in bars, then a bar within the city limits cannot let its customers smoke, but a bar in the unincorporated areas can let its customers smoke. “Likewise” (in the same way), if there is a city ordinance that makes itdifficult for businesses to get a “liquor license” (permission to sell alcohol),businesses outside the city limits may be able to sell alcohol more easily.

When deciding where to live or open a business, it is important to considerwhether the advantages of being in a city, such as basic services and a goodlocation, “outweigh” (are greater than) the disadvantages, such as paying highertaxes and being subject to city ordinances.

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

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 398: Parts of aCity.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 398. I’m your host, Dr.

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

We have a website at eslpod.com. Go there today and download a LearningGuide for this episode, a special 8 to 10 page guide that gives you all of thevocabulary, definitions, sample sentences, additional definitions, comprehensionquestions, cultural notes, and a complete transcript of every word we say on theepisode.

This episode is called “Parts of a City.” It’s a dialogue between Tanya andDarren using vocabulary that we have to describe different parts of a city. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Tanya: We’ve been here for three days and I’m still getting lost.

Darren: Here’s a map. These are the residential neighborhoods. See? This is where we’re staying.

Tanya: I know, I know. But where were we today? The tour bus went down somany alleys that I lost my bearings after 10 minutes. I thought we were going incircles.

Darren: Look, we drove through downtown first, past the financial district. Next,we drove past the housing projects to the historic district.

Tanya: I remember all that.

Darren: Okay, then. From the historic district, we drove through uptown. Gotthat?

Tanya: Yeah, that’s where things get a little hazy. How did we get to theoutskirts of town? One minute we were in uptown, and the next minute, we wereat the city limits.

Darren: We took one of the back roads along here. See? Now do youunderstand the lay of the land?

Tanya: Yup, definitely. Ask me anything. I know this city like the back of my hand.

Darren: No, thanks. That’s like the blind leading the blind!

[end of dialogue]

Our dialogue begins with Tanya saying to Darren, “We’ve been here for threedays and I’m still getting lost.” Tanya and Darren are new to this city, perhapsvisiting. They’ve been there for three days. Darren says, “Here’s a map. Theseare the residential neighborhoods. See?” So, Darren is pointing at the map. “Residential neighborhoods” are places where people live, an area of the city where many people live, usually with many houses and/or apartment buildings. “Residential” refers to the people who live in a particular place; the noun is “resident.”

“This is where we’re staying,” Darren says. Tanya says, “I know, I know. Butwhere were we today? The tour bus went down so many alleys that I lost my bearings after 10 minutes.” So, they are visiting; they’re on a tour bus, or wereon a tour bus that “went down so many alleys.” To “go down” just means to driveon, or drive through. An “alley” (alley) is basically a small street in between twolarger streets; there are buildings on either side of the alley. The alley is notused for normal traffic; it’s where a car can go to park in the back of a building forexample. Some cities have alleys in their residential neighborhoods; some cities have them in some places and not others. In my neighborhood, the block – thearea I live on – doesn’t have an alley, but the next block does have an alley. A“block,” of course, is a section of a city surrounded by four streets. To “lose yourbearings” means to get lost, to not know where you are. The word “bearing” has a couple of different meanings; take a look at the Learning Guide for someadditional explanations.

So, poor Tanya got lost; she didn’t know where she was today on the tour bus. She says, “I thought we were going in circles.” The expression “to go in circles”

means to go around a certain place, but not where you want to go. It’s like youstart in one place, and you travel around, and you finally come back to that sameplace because you don’t know where you’re going. That’s “to go in circles.”

Darren says to Tanya, “Look, we drove through downtown first, past the financialdistrict.” “Downtown” is the center of a city, the central part where there are many buildings and businesses. Some downtowns have a lot of people who livethere, who have apartments and condominiums. In New York City, Manhattan is a place like this. In Los Angeles there are people who live downtown, but it’s nota very popular area, at least traditionally. The “financial district” is an area in thecity we there are many banks, other businesses related to money; so forexample, a company that buys and sells stocks, a bank, these would all be foundin the financial district. “Finance” is the noun; it just means money, in this case.

Darren says, “Next, we drove past the housing projects to the historic district.” A“housing project” is an area of homes or apartments, usually apartments that arebuilt often by the government for people who don’t have very much money togive them a place to live. Sometimes they’re just called “the projects.” Whensomeone refers to “the projects” or a “housing project,” the idea is that the peoplewho live there are poor. There’s also an association with the word that makes people think perhaps of crime, of a not safe area.

They drove through the housing projects to the historic district. “Historic” comes from “history,” the older part of a town. In Los Angeles, we don’t really have ahistoric district like cities in the eastern part of the U.S. – in Boston, Philadelphia,New York to some extent. Los Angeles is a relatively new city; at least largeparts of the city are relatively new compared to other cities in the east. Tanya says that she remembers going through to the historic district. Darrensays, “Okay, then. From the historic district, we drove through uptown.” “Uptown” (one word) is a part of the city that is not close to downtown, usually where there are more expensive homes. Often a richer neighborhood might becalled “uptown.” Not every city has an area that is called “uptown.” Where I’mfrom, Minnesota, there is an uptown in Minneapolis – an area called that becauseit had some, and does have some very nice, expensive houses there, andapartments. St. Paul doesn’t have an uptown; neither does Los Angeles,although we have areas, of course, with very expensive houses – just not where Ilive!

So Darren says, “From the historic district, we drove through uptown. Got that?”

he asks, meaning do you understand. Tanya says, “Yeah, that’s where thingsget a little hazy” (hazy). “Hazy,” in this case, means unclear or confusing, difficultto understand. “Hazy” has a couple of different meanings; you know where youcan go, to our Learning Guide for some additional explanations.

Tanya, then, is a little unclear or confused; she says, “How did we get to theoutskirts of town?” The “outskirts” (outskirts – one word) is the edge of a city, farfrom the center. Usually, it’s where the city’s border is, where the city ends and becomes something else. “Outskirts” usually implies it is part of a less populatedarea; we might say, simply, “the edge of town” – the outskirts. Tanya says, “Oneminute we were in uptown, and the next minute, we were at the city limits.” “Oneminute” means at one point, and then very soon after they were at another pointin the city – place in the city. “City limits” is the border of the city; it’s where thecity ends. In most towns in the United States – at least if you’re on a largefreeway, but even in a smaller road – as you enter the city, as you cross the city limits, there’s usually a sign with the name of the city and the population of thatcity. Usually those numbers don’t change very much; they change them aboutonce every 10 years.

Darren says, “We took one of the back roads along here. See?” Once again,Darren is pointing at the map. The “back roads” are small, usually not veryimportant roads where the cars have to drive more slowly. It’s the opposite of themain road, or it could be used to mean the opposite of a freeway – the slower,smaller roads.

Darren says, “Now do you understand the lay of the land?” The expression “lay (lay) of the land” means the geography of a place, where things are. Wherethings are located in an area, that’s the “lay of the land.” We can sometimes usethis expression when talking about a situation or a company. If you are new tothe company, it will take you a while to get the lay of the land, meaning who’s important, who’s not important, who works where, and so forth. At the Center forEducational Development, the lay of the land is very easy – I am right on thebottom!

Tanya says, “Yup (meaning ‘yes’), definitely.” She definitely understands, sheunderstands. “Ask me anything. I know this city like the back of my hand.” This is an expression we use when we are very familiar with something, when weknow exactly where everything is. I know St. Paul like the back of my hand – Iknow where everything is.

Darren says, “No, thanks. That’s like the blind leading the blind!” This, again, is an old expression. Someone who is “blind” cannot see, so you would not want tohave someone who is blind leading another person – helping another personwho was blind, because neither of them would know where to go.

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