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112 Cafe
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ENGLISH CAFÉ – 112
TOPICS
Ask an American: Roswell, New Mexico; holiday versus vacation, arbitrator
versus referee versus umpire, Ay, caramba!
_____________
GLOSSARY
alien – a living, non-human being from another planet
* Do you believe that aliens live on Mars?
army base – a place owned by the government where the army has many
people living and working
* How many army bases does the U.S. government have in that country?
to cover up – to keep a secret; to not let other people learn about something; to
hide information about something
* When the toy company found out that its toys had dangerous chemicals, it tried
to cover it up and not tell anyone.
to carry out – to execute; to implement; to make something happen
* The scientist is carrying out a study about the causes of AIDS.
UFO – unidentified flying object; something in the sky that one cannot identify,
and therefore thinks might be a type of transportation from another planet
* He said that a UFO landed behind his house and took him to another planet.
flying saucer – spaceship; a type of transportation from another planet, usually
round and somewhat flat
* In the movies, flying saucers often have many colored lights and are flown by
green aliens from other planets.
hospitality – friendly, kind behavior shown to guests, often offering them food
and drink
* Daniel said that people from his country are known for their hospitality because
they often give their guests very good food and drink when they visit.
top (something) – the most popular of a certain type of thing; the biggest or best
of something
* This doll is our top toy for children aged 7-10.
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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 112
to endure – to last a long time; to bear; to deal with something for a long time,
especially if it is difficult or painful
* Jemina’s commitment to helping sick children has endured despite her own
illness.
conclusive – decisive; proving or showing that something is true; without leaving
any doubt
* Their research provided conclusive evidence that bad air quality can cause
asthma in children.
holiday – a special day that is celebrated by a country or culture, often with most
stores and other businesses closed so that most people don’t work; a specific
type of vacation
* Some popular U.S. holidays are Memorial Day, Labor Day, Independence Day,
Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day.
vacation – a period of time when one does not have to go to work or school, and
often uses the time to travel to another place
* The college students went to Chicago during their summer vacation.
arbitrator – a person who can help people reach agreement; a person who tries
to end a disagreement between two people or organizations
* When Sandy and her landlord couldn’t agree on how much money she owed
him, they asked an arbitrator to help.
referee – umpire; a person who watches a game closely, decides whether
people are breaking the rules, and decides when teams have scored points in
most sports
* The referee wasn’t paying attention, so he didn’t see which team had touched
the ball before it went off the field.
umpire – referee; a person who watches a game closely, decides whether
people are breaking the rules, and decides when teams have scored points,
usually in baseball
* The player became very angry when the umpire said that he was out.
Ay, caramba! – a Spanish phrase used by speakers of American English to
show frustration and/or surprise
* Ay, caramba! I left my keys at the office.
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English as a Second Language Podcast
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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 112
WHAT INSIDERS KNOW
Aliens in TV Programs
Many American TV programs are about aliens, and especially those that live with
normal American families.
The Coneheads was a popular “sketch” (a short comedy act) in the 1980s on the
comedy show Saturday Night Live. It was about a family of aliens who were
“stranded” (unable to leave a place) on Earth. They had cone-shaped heads,
where a “cone” is a three-dimensional shape that is round on the bottom and
comes to a point on the top. They were very “strange” (unusual), ate a lot of
food, and used very formal phrases when speaking. Whenever humans
“noticed” (saw something) the Coneheads’ strange “behavior” (way of acting), the
aliens said “We are from France,” as if that could explain their differences.
Another popular TV comedy program about aliens was named Third Rock from
the Sun, since Earth is the third planet from the sun. This show “ran” (was
shown) in the late 1990s. The aliens were a group of scientists from another
planet who thought that Earth was the least interesting planet. On Earth, they
“pretended” (acted in a way that isn’t true) to be a human family. The show is
funny because it showed how difficult it was for the family to understand
“customs” (culturally acceptable behavior) on Earth.
Finally, another popular TV comedy was Alf , which ran in the late 1980s. It was
about an alien named A.L.F. (for Alien Life Form) that lived with a regular human
family. Unlike the aliens in the other two shows, Alf didn’t look like a human – he
was short and covered with orange hair – so he had to “hide” (not be seen) from
other humans. The family agreed to hide him until he could fix his spaceship, but
he soon became part of the family.
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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 – 112
COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT
You’re listening to ESL Podcast English Café number 112.
This is the English Café episode 112. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming
to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles,
California.
Go to our website at eslpod.com, and download a Learning Guide for this
episode. You can also take a look at our ESL Podcast Store, which has some
interesting business and daily English courses to help you.
This episode is going to be one of our “Ask an American” episodes, where we
listen to other native speakers talk at a normal speed, and then we stop and
explain what they say. Today the topic is going to be Roswell, New Mexico.
We’re going to find out why that’s famous in the U.S., and why people are
interested in this topic. It has something to do with aliens visiting from other
planets. As always, we’ll a few of your questions, here on Earth. Let’s get
started.
Our first topic today is Roswell, New Mexico. Roswell is a small town of about,
now, 50,000 people or so in New Mexico, which is a state in the southwest part
of the U.S. New Mexico is just north of the country of Mexico, in between the
states of Texas and Arizona.
The reason Roswell is famous in the U.S. is because of something that
happened back in 1947 – something that people believed happened in 1947, and
that is that near the town of Roswell there were people from other planets – from
what we would call “outer space,” places other than Earth – who had a ship that
crashed in New Mexico. The story is that the U.S. Army went and took the
aliens’ bodies and their spaceship – the vehicle that they rode in, in outer space
– and brought it to the Army base near Roswell. An “Army base” is a place
where the Army has equipment and people living and working; that area is called
a “base.” We have many different kinds of military bases: Army bases, Air Force
bases, and so forth.
Some people believe that the government tried to cover up this alien crash. To
“cover up” is a phrasal verb that means to hide, to keep secret. “Alien” is another
word we use for someone who is not from this place. Usually, we use the word
“alien” to describe people from other planets, if they exist. We also use the word
“alien” in talking about people who are not U.S. citizens. Some people talk about
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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 – 112
“illegal aliens,” that is people who are here illegally, or “legal aliens,” people here
who have permission to be here. But in this context, “alien” means people or
creatures, that is to say, some sort of animal or some sort of living being from
another planet.
Many people think – or some people think that the U.S. government was trying to
hide the secrets of this strange crash back in 1947 near Roswell. We’re going to
listen now to one man who believes the U.S. government is hiding something.
He’s going to talk out why he thinks the U.S. government is keeping secrets.
We’ll listen to him talking at normal speed, then go back and explain what he is
saying.
[recording]
The United States government has had a lot of practice in keeping secrets.
Good examples are the atomic bomb, which was developed up here in Los
Alamos just north of Roswell. 50,000 people were involved with that project for
about 10 years, and it was kept secret.
[recording ends]
This man, who lives in Roswell, begins by saying, “The United States
government has had a lot of practice keeping secrets. Good examples are the
atomic bomb project.” The atomic bomb project was a project to develop a
nuclear bomb, back in the late 1930s and 1940s. He says this atomic bomb
project was carried out right here in Los Alamos, north of Mexico. Los Alamos is
near Roswell. It’s where the U.S. atomic bomb project was headquartered,
where most of the people worked on the project lived. It was “carried out,”
meaning it was developed – it took place in this area.
“50,000 people,” the gentleman says, “were involved in that project for about 10
years, and it was kept secret.” His logic here, of course, is that because the U.S.
government has kept secrets, maybe it’s keeping secrets now. Let’s listen again
to his quote:
[recording]
The United States government has had a lot of practice in keeping secrets.
Good examples are the atomic bomb, which was developed up here in Los
Alamos just north of Roswell. 50,000 people were involved with that project for
about 10 years, and it was kept secret.
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These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2007). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
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