EC143_Guide.pdf

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 143

TOPICS

Harley Davidson; Famous Americans: Jesse Jackson; because versus since,

yikes, speaking of which

_____________

GLOSSARY

loyal – being faithful to something; always using or being a customer to a

product or business

* When she became president of the company, she gave management jobs to

the employees who had been loyal to her for years.

logo – a small image, sometimes with text, that identifies a company or

organization

* Some people like to wear clothes with the logo of famous or high-status clothing

companies.

engine – the part of a machine that provides power or energy; the part of a car or

vehicle that makes it run

* Do you know why your car’s engine is making those funny noises?

reputation – the way that other people think about a person, organization, or

something else

* Zia has a reputation for being generous with her friends and family.

pejorative – something very negative; expressing disapproval

* When his daughter’s boyfriend yelled at his daughter, he called the boyfriend a

pejorative name.

mid-life crisis – a period of time in one’s life when one is worried about getting

older and does and buys things to feel younger

* Lee had a mid-life crisis at the age of 45 and bought a brand new sports car.

reverend – a title of respect for a minister, preacher, pastor, or another person

who leads a church and speaks to other people about faith and religion

* We spoke to the reverend at our church and he agreed to marry us next month.

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 143

civil rights – the things that everyone should be able to have and do, such as

the freedom to practice religion or to vote, no matter what color a person’s skin is

or whether they are a man or a woman

* They filed a lawsuit against the government for violating their civil rights.

activist – a person who strongly believes that something should be changed in

society and works hard to change that thing

* Xander used to be lawyer, but now he’s an environmental activist.

segregated – separated by race, or skin color; separated for a specific purpose

* Let’s keep the two groups of people participating in this research study

segregated until after we get the test results.

march – an event when many people walk outside together for some purpose,

such as to show support for a cause or to show dislike of something

* Last year, we marched from downtown to city hall to protest the new state

taxes.

shadow senator – an elected representative in the U.S. government from

Washington, D.C., who cannot vote for or against laws and policies

* Even though she’s the shadow senator, she has a lot of influence on which

policies are voted on.

because – for the reason that; since

* I don’t want to sing in front of my friends because I have a bad singing voice.

since – for that reason that; because; from a specific time in the past to the

present

* Since I started exercising, I’ve had more energy and feel more relaxed.

yikes – an exclamation to show shock or alarm, often to be funny; something

said to express surprise, fear, or disgust

* You have eight of your aunts, uncles, and cousins staying at your house this

summer? Yikes!

speaking of which – an expression used when someone is talking about a topic

and he or she wants to mention, ask about, or suddenly recall something related

to that topic

* My favorite TV show is 60 Minutes. Speaking of which, did you see last week’s

show?

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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 – 143

WHAT INSIDERS KNOW

The Classic Movie Easy Rider

If you were to ask Americans to name a classic “biker” (motorcycle riding) movie,

there is a good chance the answer would be Easy Rider. Easy Rider was a 1969

film about two bikers who travel around the southwestern part of the United

States to experience life and to meet people. Three of the main actors, writers,

and directors of the film – Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda, and Dennis Hopper –

are well known and well respected actors today.

In the movie, two young bikers, Wyatt and Billy, get money by selling drugs in

Southern California and begin their trip to find a lifestyle that is right for them. On

the journey, they encounter hatred from small-town communities who “despise”

(hate) and fear their “non-conformist” (not following the rules) views on life.

However, Wyatt and Billy also discover people attempting “alternative lifestyles,”

or a different way to live, who are resisting this “narrow-mindedness” (not willing

to listen to or tolerate others’ views).

Easy Rider was one of the films that began a new way of making films in

Hollywood during the late 1960s and early 1970s. The major film making

“studios” (companies) realized that they could make money by making “low-

budget” (low cost) films with “avant-garde” or new and experimental directors.

This way of making films reflected the social atmosphere and attitudes of the

U.S. during this time. This was a period in American history of people’s,

especially young people’s, increasing “disillusionment” (feeling disappointment

after finding out that something is not good) with the government and the world.

The film was nominated for many awards, including several Academy Awards for

acting and writing.

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

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 143

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT

You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 143.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café episode 143. I’m

your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational

Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Our website is eslpod.com. You can 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 courses in business and daily English I think

you may enjoy.

On this Café, we’re going to talk about Harley Davidson motorcycles. What they

are, and why they are important to the culture of the United States – at least, to

part of our culture. We’ll also continue our series on famous Americans. Today

we’ll be learning about the life and accomplishments of Jesse Jackson. And as

always, we’ll answer a few of your questions. Let’s get started.

Our first topic today is Harley Davidson motorcycles. A somewhat unusual topic,

I will admit, for our Café, but I hope that you will see that it is, in fact, an

interesting part of American culture.

The Harley Davidson Company is based in the state of Wisconsin, which is in the

mid-western – the upper mid-western part of the United States, next to the State

of Minnesota, north of the State of Illinois, and just east of the State of Michigan.

Harley Davidson Motor Company manufactures (or makes) very popular

motorcycles in the U.S. The motorcycles are called “Harley Davidsons,” or

sometimes simply “Harleys.” Many people who own these motorcycles are very

loyal to the Harley Davidson brand – to the type of product that they produce. To

be “loyal,” in this case, means to always use a particular product or always try to

promote a particular product – to think good things about them. A “brand,” as I

said, is really a name that a company puts on its products – in this case, “Harley

Davidson.” When I say that people are loyal to the Harley Davidson brand, I

mean that they will buy only Harleys when they want a motorcycle.

Many of these people buy other Harley Davidson products as well, such as t-

shirts, stickers, and other and just about any other item that show the Harley

Davidson logo. A “logo” (logo) is a small image, sometimes with some writing on

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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 143

it that identifies a company or organization. If you go onto the ESL Podcast

website, in the top left corner you will see the ESL Pod logo, designed by our

wonderful webmaster, Adriano Galeno. The Harley Davidson logo is black,

orange, and white. You can see these on jackets, you can see these on t-shirts;

they’re very popular among people who ride Harley Davidson motorcycles.

The Harley Davidson Company was founded more than 100 years ago, in 1903.

The company’s motorcycles became very popular almost immediately. In 1917,

the U.S. government bought more than 20,000 Harleys to use in World War I.

Many of the soldiers and the other men who used the motorcycles during the war

liked them so much that they bought their own Harleys when they came back to

the United States. Very soon after, Harley Davidson became the biggest

manufacturer of motorcycles in the world.

Then, unfortunately, came the Great Depression, that period of time from the late

20s and through the 1930s, when the United States and, really, the world

economy was very bad and there was very little extra money for people to buy

things like motorcycles. For this reason, the company actually stopped making

motorcycles, or at least, stopped focusing on motorcycles – I believe they

continued to make them – and instead made engines for factories. An “engine”

is the part of a machine that provides the power or the energy. In your car – in

an American car, your engine is usually in the front of the car.

Well, the plan, or strategy, worked for Harley Davidson. They were only one of

only two motorcycle manufacturers to stay in business during the Great

Depression, and when World War II started, at least for the United States

involvement in World War II in 1941, the company made many more motorcycles

for the U.S. government. Then it began selling motorcycles again to civilians,

people who are not in the military, and it continues to do so today. So, after the

war, Harley Davidson was successful again at selling motorcycles to the average

person, not just to the government.

Harley Davidson Company’s “reputation,” what people think of it, suffered, or got

worse, when the company changed ownership. We sometimes say your

reputation “suffers.” Normally, “suffer” is a verb we use to talk about human pain,

but here it refers to a decline, or decrease, or worsening of your reputation. The

Harley Davidson Motor Company’s reputation suffered when it was bought by

another company that changed the way motorcycles were made. The quality of

the motorcycle got worse; it “deteriorated.” People began to use pejorative

names for the motorcycle. Something that is “pejorative” (pejorative) is very

negative. The pejorative names for the Harleys included: “Hardly Drivable,”

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

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