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ESL Podcast English Café 131
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ENGLISH CAFÉ – 131
TOPICS
FBI history, structure and duties; Reader’s Digest contents, history and
readership; consent versus assent, concord versus accord, the long and the
short of it
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GLOSSARY
federal – national; relating to the entire country instead of just one state
* Is this a federal highway or a state highway?
domestic intelligence – information about what people are doing inside a
country, used to protect that country’s security and safety
* Do you think it is okay for domestic intelligence agencies to listen to citizens’
private phone calls?
serial killer – a person who kills other people one at a time, resting between
each murder, often killing them in the same way
* Ted Bundy was a serial killer who murdered many young women in the 1970s.
child predator – a person who abuses children, often sexually
* Many schools protect their students from child predators by not letting adults
into the building unless they work there.
Internet hacker – a person who creates or destroys computer programs to
destroy computers and businesses
* An Internet hacker created a program that is sent via email and automatically
deletes all of the files on a computer.
conspiracy – a secret, detailed plan by two or more people to do something bad
or to cause harm or damage
* A new movie tries to show that the death of John F. Kennedy was a
government conspiracy.
secretive – without sharing information openly about oneself; closed; keeping
one’s thoughts, opinions, and actions hidden from other people
* Mila is one of the most secretive people I know. She never tells anyone what
she is doing.
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English as a Second Language Podcast
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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 131
digest – a summary; a piece of writing that gives the most important details
about something else; a magazine that summarizes what has been written in
many other publications
* I wish there were a digest of all these scientific articles so I can easily keep up
with the latest developments.
to condense – to make something shorter and/or more compact; to fit something
into a smaller space
* This book has 100 pages, but it is so wordy that it could be condensed into just
30 pages without losing any of the meaning.
excerpt – a small part of something; a small piece taken from a book, article,
song, movie, etc.
* Raquel heard an excerpt of a beautiful song on the radio and now she wants to
buy the full CD.
humor – something that is funny, comical, and makes people laugh
* Vincent has a great sense of humor and is always saying things that make
other people laugh.
consent – permission to do something
* Are you going to ask for her father’s consent before you ask her to marry you?
assent – agreement or approval
* Mr. Steinway nodded in assent as the president was describing the company’s
new strategy.
concord – having a friendly, non-confrontational relationship between two or
more people, without stress or disagreement
* People who have been married for 50 years know the secret to living in concord
with another person.
accord – agreement; not contradicting
* They are always in accord with each other and never argue over anything!
the long and the short of it – in summary; a phrase used when wants to
present a complicated idea very quickly
* I don’t want to describe the reasons for my decision in detail, but the long and
short of it is that I’ve decided not to go to college.
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These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2008). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
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English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ENGLISH CAFÉ – 131
WHAT INSIDERS KNOW
J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover was the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for
48 years, from 1924 to 1972, during eight “presidential administrations” (the time
when one president in is office). Most of the public “admired” (respected and
liked) him very much, but of course he did some things that people have
“questioned” (asked whether something was appropriate).
Many people “accused” (said that someone did something wrong) Hoover of
abusing his “authority” (official power). In the 1960s, he often had the FBI
investigate groups because of their political beliefs, even if they werent
necessarily “suspected” (thought to have done something wrong) of criminal
activity. He also treated FBI employees badly, “firing” (taking away someones
job) them if they became too popular. Some people say that he did this because
he was “jealous” (wanted what another person had) of their popularity.
Hoover led the FBI during the “Great Depression” (a period of time in the 1930s
when the U.S. economy performed very poorly) and four wars: World War II, the
Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War. The importance of the FBI
grew “steadily” (constantly) throughout the time that he was the director. Hoover
played a major role in how the agency became what it is today.
Hoover was in office for a very long time and “amassed” (gathered and collected)
a lot of power. “Consequently” (as a result), FBI directors now have a “maximum
term limit” (the maximum amount of time that one can work in a particular
position, especially in a government position) of 10 years.
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These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2008). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
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English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ENGLISH CAFÉ – 131
COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT
You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 131.
This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café episode 131. I’m
your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational
Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Visit our website at eslpod.com. You can download a Learning Guide for this
episode. You can also take a look at our ESL Podcast Store, which has
additional courses for you in English, as well as our ESL Podcast Blog.
On this Café, we’re going to talk about a famous U.S. government agency known
as the FBI, or the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We’re also going to talk about
a very popular magazine called Reader’s Digest. And as always, we’ll answer a
few of your questions. Let’s get started.
You may have seen American movies or, perhaps, read stories in the newspaper
about the FBI, which stands for Federal Bureau of Investigation. In the movies,
people who work for the FBI, who are what we would call “FBI agents,” are
sometimes referred to as “g-men,” the “g” stands for government, because they
work for the national, or federal, government. The Federal Bureau – or office,
agency – of Investigation is the closest thing we have to a national police force.
The FBI was founded, or created – we sometimes say “established” – in 1908,
100 years ago. It was originally called the Bureau of Investigation. It changed its
name to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in 1935. The “mission” or reason
the organization exists is “to protect and defend the United States against
terrorist and foreign intelligence threats, to uphold and enforce the criminal laws
of the United States, and to provide leadership and criminal justice services.”
This is the official mission from the FBI website.
The mission, I’m sure, has changed over the years. You notice now that the first
part of their purpose is protecting and defending the U.S. against terrorist threats.
They also have the purpose of upholding and enforcing the criminal laws of the
United States. “To uphold” usually means to make sure that people are following
the law. Enforcing the law is similar; “to enforce a law” means to actually go and
check to see if people are doing what they are supposed to be doing, according
to the law. The FBI is concerned with “criminal law,” law that is related to
committing crimes, such as robbing a bank, or other things.
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These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2008). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
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English as a Second Language Podcast
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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 131
Most crimes in the United States are taken care of by the local city or state police
forces. The FBI only gets involved in certain kinds of crimes. They also are
responsible for providing “leadership and criminal justice services.” The term
“criminal justice” is another word for “law enforcement,” doing things to help the
police; the FBI will sometimes help the local or the state police with a particularly
difficult case.
The FBI investigates federal crimes and provides domestic intelligence. The first
part, “federal crimes,” is the activity of the FBI that you will most often see in the
movies or in books. There have been many television shows and movies about
the FBI, usually when they are investigating some sort of crime. The FBI,
especially recently, has become more involved in domestic intelligence. The
word “intelligence,” here, usually refers to how smart a person is – my wife will
say, “Jeff, you are not very intelligent!” We also use the word “intelligence” to
refer to information that a country needs for its own protection, or thinks it needs
for its own protection. Sometimes, domestic intelligence is not always necessary
for protecting the country. Sometimes governments have domestic intelligence
to control its own people. But, the idea here is that the FBI is gathering
intelligence, or information, about, perhaps, what people inside the United States
are doing. The opposite of “domestic,” which refers to things in this country, is
“foreign.” Foreign intelligence is supposed to be gathered by the Central
Intelligence Agency, or CIA.
If a crime occurs in one state, the state government, as I said, usually
investigates it, or the local government. However, if a crime occurs in more than
one state, then the FBI will often investigate it. If a federal employee or a U.S.
President is attacked or killed, once again it’s the FBI that will be responsible for
investigating the crime.
When the FBI investigates federal crimes, what are some of the crimes the FBI
investigates? Well, one of them would be serial killers. “Serial” (serial) is
someone who does something one after another after another, in a series. A
“serial killer” is someone who kills many different people. Be careful, there’s
another word that sounds the same, spelled (cereal), that’s the kind of cereal that
you would eat in the morning as food. A serial killer is not someone who kills for
food; it’s someone who kills many people over a long period of time, usually.
The FBI also investigates child predators, people who, unfortunately, abuse or
take advantage, in a sexual way, of children. The FBI is also responsible for
investigating Internet crimes, especially people who are hackers. “To hack”
means to get access to a computer or a computer program that you do not have
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These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2008). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
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