EC168_Guide.pdf

English as a Second Language Podcast

www.eslpod.com

ENGLISH CAFÉ 168

TOPICS

American Cities: Detroit; wills, living wills, and advance healthcare directives;

solution and solve versus resolution and resolve; family versus household

_____________

GLOSSARY

waterfront property – a house or land that is next to the water; a house or

building with a view of the water

* Many people who own waterfront property also own a boat that they can use for

fishing.

synonymous – having the same meaning as something else; to be closely

related to something

* Some people want to live in this country because America is synonymous with

freedom and opportunity.

unemployment rate – the number of people who cannot find a job out of the

total number of people in an area or country

* When there is a higher unemployment rate, there is usually also a higher crime

rate because people are unhappy and dissatisfied and don’t have the money to

buy basic things.

to cross racial lines – to take away the differences between different races or

skin colors; to attract people of different races

* Parents in our community encourage their children to cross racial lines and to

make friends with classmates from many different countries and races.

last will and testament – a document that contains a person’s wishes for after

he or she dies; a written document that tells others what a person wants to

happen after he or she has passed away

* Now that I am married and have children, it’s important for me to make a last

will and testament so that my money and possessions will be left to my family

when I pass away.

beneficiaries – people who receive the money, property, or possessions of a

person after he or she has died

* The millionaire was very loyal to his university and made his university the

beneficiary to most of his money and property.

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.

English as a Second Language Podcast

www.eslpod.com

ENGLISH CAFÉ 168

minor – a person who is younger than 18 years old; a person who is not

considered an adult yet

* Because Ahmad is still considered a minor, he is not allowed to get married

without his parents’ permission.

trust – a legal arrangement in which a person, known as the trustee, takes care

of the money or property of another person

* When Jonas becomes 18 years old this year, he will get full control of the

money that his father had put in a trust for him.

assets – possessions or things that a person owns that are worth money

* Although Mr. Lim didn’t have much money in the bank, he owned many assets,

including land, which could one day be sold for a lot of money.

estate – everything that a person owns at the end of his or her life

* After she passed away, her estate, which was worth 40 million dollars, was

divided among his wife, children, and grandchildren.

artificial life support – a state in which a person is kept alive through the use of

machines

* Because many sick people do not want to be a burden to their family, they

would rather die than be on artificial life support.

organ donor – a person who gives parts of his or her body to people who need

them

* Mr. and Mrs. Klimt will always be grateful to the organ donor who donated his

heart to their son who had a rare heart disease.

solution – the method of solving a problem; the answer to a problem

* After hours of hard thinking, Liu finally came up with the solution to the math

problem.

to solve – to get the answer to a problem

* It took the police 10 years to finally solve the murder case and to catch the

murderer.

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.

English as a Second Language Podcast

www.eslpod.com

ENGLISH CAFÉ 168

resolution – getting the answer to a problem; coming to an agreement between

people with different ideas

* It took the school leaders days of discussion before they finally came to a

resolution on how to spend money to improve the school.

to resolve – to come to an agreement about something

* After their big argument, Janice and Pimol didn’t talk to each other for days.

But today, they finally resolved their disagreement and are friends again.

family – a group of people who are close to each other and that usually includes

parents and children, but sometimes also includes other relatives

* Because I come from a big family, I’ve learned from a young age how to share

and get along with other people.

household – a group of people living in the same house; people living in the

same house that can include family members as well as other people who are

not relatives

* I remember the fun times when I was still in graduate school: I wasn’t married

yet, and my household consisted of my four fun-loving roommates and me.

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.

English as a Second Language Podcast

www.eslpod.com

ENGLISH CAFÉ 168

WHAT INSIDERS KNOW

Unusual Wills of the Rich and Famous

Most people, in their wills, leave their money and “possessions” (what they own)

to their family members or to people whom they love. Some rich and famous

people, however, have very unusual wills, leaving their money to unexpected

people or things, and making strange requests.

For example, “Scottie” James Doohan, a famous actor on Star Trek, a popular

TV show, stated that after he passed away, he wanted his “ashes” (what

remained of his body after it had been burned) to be sent into space. To fulfill

this wish, his ashes were placed into a container and put on a specially built

rocket and released into “outer space” (outside of the Earth).

Another unusual request came from the famous English writer Charles Dickens.

Although Dickens was very popular for his stories, he wanted to have a very

quiet funeral when he passed away. In his will, Dickens stated that no one was

allowed to wear “black mourning clothes” (wearing black clothes to show one’s

sadness at the death of another person) at his funeral. He called such clothes

“ridiculous” or crazy.

More recently, Leona Helmsley, a billionaire in New York who owned a lot of

hotels and land, left in her will 12 million dollars to her pet dog, Trouble. In

contrast, she left 10 million dollars to two of her grandchildren, but only if they

agreed to visit their father’s grave once a year.

As we can see, when a person is rich and famous, they can afford and may

choose to make some very strange requests.

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.

English as a Second Language Podcast

www.eslpod.com

ENGLISH CAFÉ 168

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 168.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café episode 168. 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. Download this episode’s Learning Guide, an 8

to 10 page guide we provide for all of our current episodes that gives you some

additional help in improving your English. You can also take a look at our ESL

Podcast Store, as well as our ESL Podcast Blog.

On this Café, we’re going to continue our series on American cities, focusing on

Detroit, Michigan. We’re also going to talk about wills, living wills, and something

called advance healthcare directives. All of these are important legal documents

for people who live in the United States. And as always, we’ll answer a few of

your questions. Let’s get started.

We begin with a continuation of our series on American cities. Today we’re

going to talk about Detroit, which is the largest city in the state of Michigan.

Michigan is located in the northern and eastern half of the United States. The

northern border of Michigan – part of the northern border is with Canada. Detroit

is the largest city in the state, but it is not the state capital; it is not where the

government buildings are. The capital of Michigan is a smaller town called

Lansing.

The city of Detroit has a lot of “waterfront property,” or land that is next to the

water – we call that “waterfront” (one word). That’s because Detroit lies near the

Detroit River, which it is named after, and one of the five Great Lakes, Lake Erie.

Detroit, as I mentioned, is also near the Canadian “border,” the line between the

U.S. and Canada. Detroit is the only major or important U.S. city where people

can look “southward,” or toward the south and see Canada. If you don’t believe

me, just look on a map and you will see that Canada is south of the City of

Detroit, even though most of Canada is north of the United States.

Detroit is synonymous with cars in the U.S. “Synonyms” are words that have the

same meaning or similar meaning. For example, the words “fantastic,” “great,”

and “wonderful” are all synonyms. So, “synonymous,” or the phrase

“synonymous with,” means that it is very closely related or has the same

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.

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika: