EC158_Guide.pdf

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 158

TOPICS

American Cities: Salt Lake City; university admissions; within versus inside

versus interior; so much for; to want out

_____________

GLOSSARY

to persecute – to treat someone unfairly or in a mean way, often because of

their race or religious/political beliefs

* Those who didn’t agree with the government were persecuted for years.

temple – a place to worship, such as a church, synagogue, or mosque

* The leader of our church raised money to build a new temple where everyone

can meet and worship.

canyon – a low, deep area between mountains, usually created over many,

many years by water flowing between higher, rocky land

* Let’s walk up to the top of the canyon so we can get a better view of the sunset.

to be home to (something) – to be the place where something is; to be where

something is located

* Los Angeles is home to many major movie-making companies.

admissions – the process of applying to go to a university and how the

university decides which students to accept

* Before deciding whether to apply to a university, Jason wants to find out how

that school handles admissions.

to get a feel for (something) – to become familiar with something; to know what

something is like

* It took me a few weeks to get a feel for my new job since my new duties are

very different from those of my old job.

due – required to be submitted by a certain date or time; must be received by a

specific date or time

* The annual sales report is due on the manager’s desk by 5:00 p.m. today.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 158

rank – a position within a group or list; one’s position compared to other people;

a position in a list of numbered items as determined by performance or worth

* What is Chicago’s rank in the list of the largest cities in the United States?

top-tier school – a university that is considered one of the best; a school that

has one of the highest rankings or positions among a group of schools

* Bernadette applied to three top-tier schools hoping she would get into at least

one of them.

back-up school – a school that is not the student’s first choice, but is easier to

be admitted into than the first choice school

* Jaspari is likely to get into all of the back-up schools he applied to.

to enroll – to register; to officially begin attending a school or a program

* Li and Ramon enrolled in a dance class offered at the community center.

deferred admission – when a university that has admitted a student allows the

student to enroll later, usually one year later

* Not having enough money, William asked the university for deferred admission

so he could work full-time for a year to earn enough to attend.

interior – inside; inner side; inner part of something

* The outside of his car is blue and the interior is black.

so much for – a phrase used when one’s plans will not happen; a phrase used

when a person is giving up on a goal or plan because of circumstances he/she

cannot control

* We had planned a four-day vacation, but my boss needed me to work. So

much for our beach vacation!

to want out – to wish to be free of some commitment; to ask for an end to an

agreement; to want to be out of a physical space that one is forced to stay in

* I know I agreed to help with the cooking, but I didn’t know you had invited 30

people. I want out!

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 158

WHAT INSIDERS KNOW

Early Decision and Early Action

Many American universities, especially top-tier schools, have early admission

programs for admitting “freshman” (first year students) to the university. These

early admission programs normally require students to submit their applications

by the end of October of their “senior” (fourth; final) year of high school. These

students receive a decision in mid-December. Students who apply for regular

decision typically must submit their applications by January 1 st , but don’t receive

their admissions decision until after April 1 st .

There are two kinds of early admissions programs: early decision and early

action. Early decision programs require students who are given admission to

“withdraw” (take back) applications to all other universities and enroll in the early

decision school. Early decision programs also limits students to applying to one

university for early admission. On the other hand, early action is not “binding,” so

that if a student is admitted, he or she is not required to enroll there, and students

may submit more than one early admission application.

Many top-tier universities like early admission programs because the number of

students who receive early decision or action who actually enroll is higher than

regular decision. However, many “critics” (people who have negative opinions

about an issue) of early decision say that it is not a good idea to bind a student

who is typically 17 or 18 years old to just one university. In addition, students

who need “financial aid” (loans and other money given or lent to students who

don’t have enough money to pay for school) are not able to compare which

university offers a better option if they are admitted with early decision. This,

some critics say, favor wealthy students who don’t need financial aid. Because

of these criticisms, some universities ended their early admission programs.

These include Harvard and Princeton, two of the most “prestigious” (well-

respected) universities in the U.S.

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

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 158

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 158.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café episode 158. 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, which has additional business and daily English courses, and our

ESL Podcast Blog, where we help you improve your English throughout the week

even more.

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

are going to talk about Salt Lake City, in the state of Utah. We’ll also take a look

at university admissions issues. How do people get into the college or university

that they want to get into here in the United States. And as always, we’ll answer

a few of your questions. Let’s get started.

We continue our series on Americans cities in this episode. Today we are going

to talk about a city in the state of Utah called Salt Lake City. Utah is located in

the western part of the United States; it’s to the west of Colorado and to the east

of Nevada, roughly. Salt Lake City is the largest city in Utah. It has that name

because it is next to something called the Great Salt Lake, which is the largest

saltwater lake in the Americas, in North and South America. Normally, lakes are

what we call freshwater lakes, and water in the ocean – in the seas is typically

saltwater, at least in the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. So, it’s somewhat

unusual to have a lake in the middle of a country that is a saltwater lake.

Salt Lake City was “founded,” or created in 1847 by a man named Brigham

Young. He was the leader of the Mormons, a religious group of Christians who

belong to something called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,

which sometimes is just called LDS. “Latter-day” means recently or more

recently.

The Mormons followed Brigham Young to the state of Utah because they were

being persecuted for their religious beliefs. To “persecute” (persecute) someone

means to treat someone unfairly or in a mean way. Many of the first people who

came to live in the United States came to North America because they were

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these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 158

being persecuted for their religious or political beliefs back in their own countries

in Europe. Many wanted to create a country with religious freedom, where

people can follow any religion or no religion. However, the Mormons didn’t feel

that they had religious freedom, so they went westward, they moved toward the

west to the state of Utah. They moved there in part because there was no one

else living there. Utah is a very dry, hot, desert-like state. They wanted to

practice their religion without anyone else persecuting them, so that’s why they

went to somewhere where no one else was living, or at least no other white

settlers were living. There were Native Americans in Utah, as there were in all of

the different states of the U.S.

Today there’s only about 180,000 people who live in Utah’s largest city, Salt Lake

City. Many of them are not Mormons, though certainly the majority of the

population in Utah, and in Salt Lake City, are Mormon. There are many different

Mormon “sites,” or places to visit in the city. Many of these sites are open to

visitors, meaning that tourists and other people can go see them. Perhaps one

of the more places to go is Temple Square, where you can see the Salt Lake

Temple. A “temple” (temple) is a place of worship, like a church, a synagogue, or

a mosque. Temple Square has many buildings, including perhaps the most

famous building, the Tabernacle. The Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City is

like a large temple or church. Inside of the Tabernacle – inside of the temple –

you will also be able to hear people singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

A “choir” is a group of people who sing. In this case, the Mormon Tabernacle

Choir is one of the most famous singing choirs in the United States. Many

Americans have CDs or recordings of Christmas music, for example, sung by the

Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It’s a huge choir, many people. You can take a tour

of the Salt Lake Tabernacle – or the Mormon Tabernacle.

Many people also go to the state of Utah and to Salt Lake City to see some of the

national parks that are “nearby,” or not very far from the city. One of the more

famous ones is called the Bonneville Salt Flats. These are very flat areas that

are, you can guess, covered or full of salt. In some places, the salt is six feet

deep, or almost two meters. It is, apparently, a beautiful place to visit. I have

been to Salt Lake City, but I have never been to the Bonneville Salt Flats. There

are also many mountains that are popular for skiing in the wintertime near Salt

Lake City. There are several famous “canyons,” which are low, deep areas

between mountains, usually created over many, many years by water flowing

through or between the rocky land – the land full of rocks. The most famous

canyon would be the Grand Canyon. But that’s located not in Utah but in the

state of Arizona, which is to the south.

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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