English Cafe 435.pdf

(106 KB) Pobierz
English as a Second Language Podcast
www.eslpod.com
ENGLISH CAFÉ – 435
TOPICS
American President – James Madison; function versus reception versus banquet;
worthy versus worth it; all of a sudden versus out of the blue
_____________
GLOSSARY
Constitution
– the document containing the basic beliefs and laws that a state or
country uses to govern itself
* The judges on the Supreme Court of the United States use the Constitution to
decide what is legal and what is not.
plantation
– a large piece of land where food and plants like coffee, sugar, or
tobacco are grown and a large number of field workers live and work on the
plantation
* The plantation included 500 acres of farmland and is used to grow cotton.
delegate
– representative of the people to a government, usually state or
national
* Benjamin Franklin was one of the delegates from Pennsylvania to the
Continental Congress.
Federalist
– a person who believes in one, central government for a country,
instead of many separate governments, such as state governments
* The Federalists in government tried to make laws that made the national
government was more powerful than local governments.
checks and balances
– a system where no one person has all the power and
more than one person must agree to make important decision
* Because of the system of checks and balances, the President of the United
States, the Congress, and the Supreme Court all have equal amounts of power.
amendment
– additions or changes to a formal or legal document
* After the contract was finished, Yuko added some amendments that contained
additional requests from both sides.
to capture
– to take as prisoner; to take and keep someone against their will
* The police captured the person who stole Johann’s wallet and put him in jail.
1
These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2013). 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 – 435
opponent
– the person whom one competes against in a game, race, election,
or other kind of competition
* The soccer team scored more goals than their opponent so they won the game.
neutral
– impartial; not helping or supporting either side of a fight, argument, or
negotiation, especially countries at war
* Our country wants to remain neutral if neighboring countries go to war.
colonization
– when one country takes over another country or place and sends
people to live there
* British colonization was worldwide, with its citizens living all over the world.
rheumatism
– pain in one’s muscles and joints, the parts of the body that
connect one’s bones together
* Because of his rheumatism, Amir had trouble bending his fingers and standing
up or sitting down.
liver failure
– when one’s liver, the organ which helps clean one’s body, stops
working properly
* After many years of not eating a healthy diet, Masha developed liver failure.
function
– an official ceremony, or public or social event, that a large group of
people participate in
* The ballrooms in our hotel can be used for functions with up to 500 people.
reception
– a occasion or social function, with food and beverages, intended as
a welcome or greeting to a newly married couple or before an event, such as an
art opening or performance
* Professors are invited to a reception to welcome the new university president.
banquet
– a lavish (with a lot of expensive and luxurious food) public, and/or
official meal, to celebrate an event or to honor of a person
* What should we serve at the banquet: lobster, steak, or salmon?
worthy
– someone or something that deserves respect or attention
* Anyone willing to spend years doing volunteer work is worthy of respect.
worth it
– describing something that is likely to have a good reward or result and
is worth the risk, effort, or expense
* I know you’ve always been interested in medicine, but is it worth it to spend
eight years in school to become a doctor?
2
These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2013). 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 – 435
all of a sudden
– something that happens quickly or without warning
* Everyone was enjoying the soccer match when, all of a sudden, it began to
rain.
out of the blue
– something that isn’t expected to happen
* Robert asked Carla for a date out of the blue, without ever having shown
interest in her before.
_____________
WHAT INSIDERS KNOW
Madison Avenue
Madison Avenue is a street located on the island of Manhattan, in New York City.
It’s a north-south avenue that “carries traffic” (allow cars and other vehicles to
move) north. It was named after the fourth president of the United States, James
Madison.
Although there are many famous buildings located on this avenue, Madison
Avenue is most famous for being “associated with” (connected to) the
“advertising industry” (the field of work connected with using different techniques
to get people to buy products) in the United States.
In the 1920’s, Madison Avenue was the place where you could find many famous
advertising “agencies” (businesses). But it was really after World War II that
Madison Avenue became the center of advertising.
Madison Avenue is also “the backdrop” (setting; background) for the popular TV
series Mad Men. Mad Men is a series about a “fictional” (not real) advertising
agency called “Sterling Cooper Advertising Agency,” and showed how the ad
agencies in the 1960’s “conducted” (did) business.
The term “Mad Men” is a nickname the advertising industry people invented and
called themselves in the 1950’s. Nowadays, only a few advertising agencies are
still located on Madison Avenue, but they still have some of the biggest and most
important U.S. companies as “clients” (customers).
3
These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2013). 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 – 435
COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT
You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 435.
This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café episode 435. 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. Go there. Become a member of ESL Podcast and
download the Learning Guide for this episode. Take a look at our ESL Podcast
Store as well, and our ESL Podcast Blog. If you are listening to this on iTunes,
please go to iTunes in your country and give us a rating and a little review. We'd
appreciate that very much.
On this Café, we’re going to talk about our fourth president of the United States,
James Madison. And, as always, we’ll answer a few of your questions. Let's get
started.
Our topic on this Café is one of the more famous American presidents – our
fourth president, James Madison. In addition to being one of the presidents of the
then young United States, Madison was one of the “Founding Fathers.” That
term, “Founding (founding) Fathers,” refers to the men who helped start the
United States – who helped create what is now called the United States.
Madison was born on March 16, 1751, in the state of Virginia, in the central-
eastern part of the United States. He was born in the town about 75 miles, or 120
kilometers, southeast of what was to become the country’s capital city of
Washington, D.C., although Washington, D.C., didn't exist when James Madison
was born. He spent a lot of time in Montpelier, Virginia.
His family was very wealthy. They had a lot of money, and they owned a
plantation. A “plantation” is a large piece of land where food and plants such as
coffee, sugar, and tobacco are grown. Plantations were very common in the
American colonies, especially in the southern United States. They often had
slaves on them that did all of the difficult work.
Madison was the oldest of eight children. He went to college at what is now
called Princeton University, then called the College of New Jersey. He studied
history and government, and graduated in 1771. He became interested in
politics, and in 1776 he became one of the delegates, or representatives of the
people, to the government of Virginia.
4
These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2013). 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 – 435
At the time Virginia was creating its own constitution, Madison helped make sure
that there were laws protecting religious freedom and other rights in that
constitution. “Religious freedom” – the idea that you didn't have to belong to the
official state church, which at that time in the colonies was the Church of England
– was one of Madison's favorite causes. It's something that he came back to in
his work with the government several times. He really believed in that issue.
After the colonies won their independence from Great Britain, he served in the
national congress, the “Continental Congress,” which was the government of the
new United States from 1780 to 1783. Madison, like many people, worried that
the national government of the United States that was formed immediately after
the revolution was too weak. He believed that the United States needed a new
set of laws, a new constitution. And in 1787, other politicians agreed with
Madison, and so there was a Constitutional Convention. Madison was sent as a
representative from the state of Virginia to that convention, which met in
Philadelphia.
Madison’s ideas were very influential. Many of his ideas were accepted and used
in the Constitution. For that reason, he is sometimes called the “Father of the
Constitution,” because his ideas were so important. After the Constitutional
Convention finished its work, the proposal of this new Constitution was given to
the individual states – the 13 states that were part of the United States at that
time. Those states had to approve the new Constitution in order for it to take
effect, or be used as the new law of the country.
In order to convince other states to adopt and approve the new U.S. Constitution,
Madison and two other famous politicians, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay,
wrote a series of essays. An “essay” (essay) is a long explanation of some
concept or idea. The concept that Madison, Hamilton, and Jay were trying to
explain was that of the U.S. Constitution. They wrote 85 essays that were
collectively, or together, called the “Federalist Papers.” A “federalist” (federalist)
was at that time a person who believed in a very strong central government –
national government – for the country.
Madison wrote 28 of the 85 Federalist paper essays. The Federalist papers’ main
objective was to explain the ideas behind the Constitution. Madison and his co-
authors wanted to explain the importance of having a central government instead
of many local and state governments as the main power in the new country. They
also explained why a central government was the best government for the United
States.
5
These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2013). 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:

Zgłoś jeśli naruszono regulamin