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A: What time is it?
B: It s already 9:30.
A: Really? I guess my 20-minute power nap turned into a good three
hours. I even slept through my alarm.
B: What were you so tired from?
A: I only got 2 hours sleep last night. I felt fine all day but I just
crashed as soon as I got in the door. Sorry about that. Let s
reschedule for tomorrow.
B: Ok
Phrases and Vocabulary used:
Picking up: In this context, "picking up" refers to answering the telephone.
I just called him but he didn t pick up.
Reach: If you say you were trying to "reach" someone it means you were trying to
"contact" them. Reach is more common in casual spoken English. It s a little less formal
than "contact".
Power nap: A power nap is a very short nap (sleep). Sometimes people don t have a lot
of time to take a nap but they really need a quick nap. We call this a power nap.
Good three hours: A "good" three hours means "at least 3 hours".
How long is the flight from Toronto to L.A.? I think it s a good
three and a half hours.
Slept through my alarm: If you don t hear or don t pay attention to your alarm clock
when it goes off, we call this sleeping "through" your alarm.
I only got 2 hours sleep last night: In spoken English, we often say, "I only got 4 hours
sleep", not "I only got 4 hours of sleep"
Crashed: In this context, "crashed" means fell asleep. Sometimes crashed can mean felt
really tired. I felt fine all morning in the office but crashed about an hour after lunch. I
almost fell asleep at my desk.
LESSON 97: HOW TO GET RICH
ESL Reading
A: Did you hear about Alex striking it rich in the market?
B: No. Who did you hear that from?
A: Alex.
B: Whatever. He always totally exaggerates! I m not going to believe
it until I hear it from a more reliable source.
A: Yeah, he does totally exaggerate doesn t he? The last time I
listened to him I lost 5 grand betting on a horse that came in dead last.
B: He is an entertaining guy though. It s pretty fun getting on board
with his ideas.
Phrases and Vocabulary used:
striking it rich to get a lot of money quickly for some reason. In this dialogue Alex
made a lot of money in the stock market. Ex. He struck it rich from winning the lottery.
reliable source a trusted source of information It could be a person, a newspaper, or a
magazine that you trust. Ex. You should be careful where you get your information from
on the Internet. Many websites are reliable sources of information
5 grand - 5 thousand dollars
long shot when a result is unlikely to happen
dead last the very last to finish in some kind of a race or competition. Ex. Out of the
10 finalists, Steve came in dead last. This means that Steve finished 10th out of the total
of 10 people in the competition. He did the worst out of everyone.
on board the agreement to do a plan with others. Ex. Ok guys. If we are going to
succeed with this new plan we ve got to make sure everyone is on board.
pan out If something pans out it means that the desired outcome happens. Of course,
if something doesn t pan out it means it didn t work. Ex. We all planned to go on a
trip last winter bur for some reason things didn t pan out.
LESSON 98: OLYMPICS
ESL Reading
A: Are you going to the Olympics in Beijing this summer?
B: No. I m going to watch it on TVV in the comfort of my own living
room.
A: You sound like an old man. It s going to be great! This is China s
chance to showcase itself to the world. They ve been pumped about
this for the past 8 years.
B: Don t get me wrong. I m sure it will be great too. I d just rather
watch it on TV because I ll be able to see my favorite events more
clearly.
A: What is your favorite event?
B: I like the decathlon. I think it shows best overall athlete.
Phrases and Vocabulary used:
Showcase - Display yourself to many people. Participating in the TV show American
Idol is a great opportunity for young singers to showcase their talent.
Pumped about this - If you are pumped about something it means you are very excited
about it. Ex. She s really pumped about her new job.
Decathlon one of the events in the summer Olympics. This event involves competing
with others at 10 different events. The person with the highest total score on the 10
events wins the decathlon. You don t need to win all of the 10 events, but just have the
highest total score after the 10 events
100-meter dash a running race that is 100 meters long. The race is considered to be a
sprint, which means you to try and run your fastest the whole time. The winner of this
event is considered to be the world s fastest man .
Has a nice ring to it- this means that the title sounds good or impressive. Ex. I think the
job title of CEO for a major corporation has nice ring to it.
Publicity Attention from the media. She s a really great author but she doesn t sell
many books because she doesn t get much publicity. Very few people know of her.
Chic magnet someone or something that is very attractive to girls. Ex. I don t really
care about cars that much but I m still going to buy a really cool one because I know it s
going to be a huge chic magnet.
LESSON 99: STARTING A RESTAURANT
ESL Reading
A: I m thinking of opening my own restaurant. I ve always loved
going to restaurants so I think it would be fun to own one.
B: Every restaurant owner I ve ever talked to said it s a tougher job
than most people think. Long hours and thin margins. Because it
seems so easy and glamorous, it has become one of the most
competitive industries. A large % of restaurants go out of business
within the first 2 years.
A: I think I can beat the odds. I believe I can make the best
hamburgers in the city.
B: There s a lot more to being successful than making good food. A
lot of restaurants with average food do well because of advertising and
the image they create. Consumers even realize that the food is only
average, yet they still go. It s a weird phenomenon.
Phrases and Vocabulary used:
Thin margins - Here, margin refers to the difference between the cost to the restaurant
and the selling price. For example, if it costs you $10 dollars to buy something and you
sell it for $100, you have a huge margin. If you buy it for $10 and sell it for $10.50 you
have a very small or thin profit margin. A thin profit margin is a very small difference
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