2010年ESL之餐饮娱乐 07 Praising a Performance

07 Praising a Performance

GLOSSARY 1

bravo – a word shouted by audience members to congratulate performers for avery good performance immediately after they have finished; a word used toshow one’s approval of what another person has done.

* Wow, you got 100% on the test! Bravo!

standing 2 ovation 3 – when members of an audience stand up and clap and/orshout loudly to show their approval and appreciation 4 for a performance or speech

* The best part about being an actor is receiving a standing ovation at the end ofa show.

to gush 5 – to be excessive in expressing one’s praise, appreciation, orenjoyment; to talk too much about how much one likes something

* I know you like the car, but try to not to gush about it in front of the salesperson,or we won’t be able to negotiate a good price.

passable – acceptable; meeting the minimum standards or requirements

* All these applicants 7 have passable qualifications, but we haven’t yet foundanyone who seems like a perfect fit for the job.

nothing to write home about – not special; not good enough to spend muchtime thinking or talking about it; not very interesting or unusual

* The meal was okay, but it was nothing to write home about.

jaded 8 – bored and uninterested because one has experienced too much ofsomething to be excited about it anymore

* Marleah used to love traveling internationally, but now that she has been doingit in her job for a few years, she has become jaded and would rather just stay athome.

genius – very intelligent, clever, and talented; very good; exceptional

* The suggestion you made at today’s meeting was pure genius! How did youcome up with such a great idea?

to take (one’s) breath away – to be very beautiful, wonderful, exciting, andsurprising

* The view from the top of the mountain is so beautiful, it will take your breathaway.

number – one part of a longer performance, such as one song, one dance, orone act

* For her first number, Tracy is going to sing an aria 10 from La Boheme.

to embarrass (oneself) – to make a fool of oneself; to do something that one isashamed of later; to do something that one would rather not have other peoplesee one do

* Be careful when you post private information and photographs online. Youdon’t want to embarrass yourself.

faint – slight; not very strong

* My grandmother’s house always has the faint scent 11 of homemade chocolatechip cookies.

praise – words that express one’s appreciation or enjoyment 6 of something

* Do you think it’s possible for parents to give too much praise to their children?

over the top – excessive; too much of something

* I can understand teenagers who want to wear unusual clothes and hairs tyles tobe different, but Kimberly goes over the top, wanting to wear a bathrobe,slippers, and bright purple hair to school!

effusive 12 – expressing one’s emotions or thoughts with a lot of excitement andenthusiasm

* Lynn is often effusive, spending several minutes thanking people for even themost ordinary things.

lead – the main role in a show or performance, usually given to the best artist ormusician

* Ariana auditioned 13 for the lead role of Guinevere in the musical Camelot, but shedidn’t get it.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What does Claudia mean when she says that the performance “took herbreath away”?

a) It was too fast and difficult to understand.

b) It was very exciting and suspenseful 14.

c) It was wonderful and beautiful.

2. What was their granddaughter’s role in the school play?

a) She was the most important tomato on stage.

b) She was the tomato that danced in front of everyone else.

c) She was the tomato that pulled the other tomatoes along.

______________

WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

numberThe word “number,” in this podcast, means one part of a longer performance,such as one song, one dance, or one act: “Should we start the performance withour best number, or save it for the end?” A “number cruncher” is an accountantor someone else who works with numbers and makes many calculations: “If youdon’t like math, why did you decide to become a number cruncher?” The phrase“to be good (bad) with numbers” means to (not) understand math and (not) beable to make calculations: “He’s bad with numbers, so he prefers to study historyand literature.” As an adjective, “numb 9” means without feeling: “The dentist gaveher a shot that made the right side of her mouth numb so she wouldn’t feelanything as he worked on her teeth.”

leadIn this podcast, the word “lead” means the main role in a show or performance,usually given to the best artist or musician: “Marcello is a very talented actor whoalways gets the lead roles in school plays.” The “lead musician” is the main ormost important musician in a group: “Who is the lead guitar player for LedZepplin?” The phrase “to be in the lead” means to be winning in a race orcompetition: “Which horse is in the lead right now?” Finally, the phrase “to takethe lead” means to become very active and involved in a project or activity,showing or telling other people what to do: “When Mathieu took the lead andmade the project a success, he earned a promotion 15 at work.”

CULTURE NOTE

When an audience enjoys a performance, it has many ways to “express” (show)its appreciation. Depending on the type of performance, it can be “rude” (notpolite) or inappropriate to show appreciation during the performance, but it isusually “acceptable” (okay; allowed) to express appreciation between songs or“acts” (parts of a play) and it is always acceptable at the end of a performance.

When a show or performance is over, the audience “applauds” (claps; hits handstogether rhythmically 16 to make a noise). The performers, especially actors, comeup for a “curtain call,” when they all stand on the stage in front of the audience. Ifit is an informal performance, audience members may shout “woo-hoo” or similarnoises to “indicate” (show) that they liked what they have seen or heard. At moreformal performances, audience members are more likely to shout “bravo.”

If audiences really like a musical performance, they might shout “encore,”

meaning that they would like to hear more. Most bands or orchestras have anextra song or two that they have prepared for this purpose, so if the “conductor”

(the person who leads an orchestra) hears enough audience members shouting“encore,” he or she will have the orchestra play another song or two.

Often people will bring flowers for a “soloist 17” (a person who performs alone for aperiod of time as part of a larger show or performance). The flowers are oftenbrought to the soloist by the “director” or “producer” (the people who create theshow).

Family members and close friends sometimes “go backstage” (go behind thestage, where performers change clothes) after a performance to “congratulate”

(tell someone that he or she has done well) the performers, and these peopleoften bring flowers, too.

______________

Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – c; 2 – a

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT 18

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 603: Praising aPerformance.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 603. I’m your host, Dr.

Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development inbeautiful Los Angeles, California.

Support this podcast, help keep the audio files free for everyone by becoming amember of ESL Podcast. You can get more information on our website.

This episode is called “Praising a Performance.” It’s a dialogue between Claudiaand Javier. They’ll be talking about a performance, I believe it’s like a play in atheater, and using vocabulary that you would use to describe performances suchas plays or movies. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Claudia: Oh, that was so good. I’ve never seen anything better. Bravo! Bravo!

Javier: There’s no need for a standing ovation and stop gushing 19. Theperformers did a passable job. It was nothing to write home about.

Claudia: You are so jaded. That performance was genius. It took my breathaway.

Javier: I thought the first number was okay, and none of the dancersembarrassed themselves, but that’s all I can say about it.

Claudia: I’m sure they’d thank you for that faint praise. Me? I’ve never seenanything better.

Javier: Now how can you say that? That’s just over the top.

Claudia: If I can’t be effusive, who can? How many times will we see ourgranddaughter in a school play?

Javier: She’s seven years old and she played a tomato!

Claudia: Yes, but don’t forget: she played the lead tomato!

[end of dialogue]

Claudia begins by saying, “Oh, that was so good. I’ve never seen anything better(anything better than that). Bravo!”, she says, “Bravo!” “Bravo” is a word that isshouted by audience members to congratulate a performer for doing a very goodjob right after they finish. So someone may sing a song particularly well, andeveryone at the end stands up and “claps” their hands, put their hands togetherand says, “Bravo!” especially if it is, for example, a opera or classical musicconcert or a play. It’s less common, for example, at a rock concert. In fact, Idon’t think anyone says “bravo” at a rock concert; it’s much too formal of a word.

You could also use it in other circumstances. Someone performs well on a test,for example, you might say, “Bravo! Good job!”

Javier says, “There’s no need for a standing ovation and stop gushing.” A“standing ovation” (ovation) is when the people watching the performance orlistening to it, the audience members, all stand up and they clap and shout loudlyto show how much they liked the performance. So, it’s when everyone standsand claps. That’s a standing ovation. Sometimes informally it’s called a“standing ‘O’,” “o” for “ovation.” He says to Claudia, “stop gushing.” “To gush”

(gush) is to express your praise or appreciation or enjoyment of something, buttoo much, to talk about something that you like too much. “She was gushingover her new boyfriend, and I couldn’t stand listening to her anymore. So I wentoutside and put my head under water so I could not hear her anymore.” Truestory!

Javier says, “The performers did a passable job.” To say something is“passable” means it was okay, it met the minimum requirements; it wasacceptable, but it wasn’t great. He says, “It was nothing to write home about.”

This is a popular expression. When someone says, “it is nothing to write homeabout” they mean it wasn’t very good. You shouldn’t spend time thinking about it;it wasn’t very interesting, it wasn’t very special or unusual. “How was therestaurant?” “Well, it was nothing to write home about.” It wasn’t very good; itwas okay.

Claudia says to Javier, “You’re so jaded (jaded).” “Jaded” is someone who isbored or perhaps uninterested in something because they have had too muchexperience to become excited by it. They’ve seen, perhaps, too manyperformances like that. Someone who is jaded is someone who, perhaps, hasbeen doing something for a long time and no longer can react appropriately, nolonger can become excited or sad even about something. Claudia says, “That performance was genius.” “Genius” usually means very intelligent. Dr. Lucy Tseis a genius. But here, it means it was excellent, it was very good. If it’s used todescribe a performance, that’s it’s meaning. Claudia says, “It took my breathaway.” To take (one’s) breath away” is an expression that means that you sawsomething or heard something very beautiful, very wonderful, something thatsurprised you because it was so good. It is as though you had stopped breathingbecause you were so interested in the performance. There was also a song –written, I don’t know when. Back in the 80s? [Jeff sings] Take my breath away.

Doo doo doo, doo doo doo, doo doo doo. Remember that? I think it was in amovie. Maybe a Tom Cruise movie, Top Gun perhaps? But anyway, that movie,uh, did not take my breath away!

Javier says, “I thought the first number was okay.” In a performance, a “number”

is one part of a larger program – a larger performance, such as one song or onedance. “Number” tends to be associated with song and dance mostly. Javiersays, “none of the dancers embarrassed themselves, but that’s all I can sayabout it.” “To embarrass yourself” means to do something that you are not happywith later on, to make a fool of yourself, to do something that you would prefer noone else saw because it wasn’t very good. Javier says the dancers did notembarrass themselves, but he can’t say they did a good job either.

Claudia says, “I’m sure they’d thank you for that faint praise.” “Faint” (faint)means not very strong. “Praise” is when you tell someone how much you likesomething or enjoy something. “Faint praise” is when you compliment someone,you say something nice to them, but really it’s sort of a criticism. For example,you say to your son or daughter who got a B-plus on their test (the highest scorewould be an A), you say, “Oh, that B-plus, that’s almost as good as an A.

Congratulations.” You see you’re complimenting them, you’re praising them, butreally you’re criticizing them. That’s what faint praise is, and that is what Javier isdoing in describing the dancers.

Claudia says, “Me? I’ve never seen anything better.” Javier says, “how can yousay that? That’s just over the top.” Something that is “over the top” is somethingthat is excessive, when you have too much of something. Let’s say, for example,your girlfriend does something wrong and she wants to apologize for it. It wasn’tanything serious, but she wants to say that she’s sorry. That will neverhappened, usually! But let’s say that it does, and she comes in and she startscrying, and she falls down on the floor acting 20 as though her life was basicallyover. That would be over the top, that would be doing too much to say you’resorry.

Claudia says that if I can’t be effusive, who can? “Effusive” (effusive) means toexpress your feelings, your thoughts, your emotions with a lot of excitement, a lotof enthusiasm. Claudia says, “How many times will we see our granddaughter ina school play?” Now we know what is going on here. Claudia and Javier have agranddaughter – their son or daughter has a child – and they are watching thechild perform at a play at the child’s school. Many American schools often put onplays once or twice a year, performances or plays for the parents andgrandparents.

Javier says, “She’s seven years old and she played a tomato!” We use the verb“played” in a play at the theater to describe the character that the person wassupposed to be. For example, Tobey Maguire the actor played Spiderman in themovie Spiderman. Or, I played Chewbacca in the movie Star Wars – true story!

Javier says that their granddaughter played a tomato. Sometimes, you know,with children’s plays, they’re often a little silly and the children dress up likevegetables, apparently 21. I don’t know! Claudia then says, “Yes, but don’t forget:

she played the lead tomato!” When you say someone in a play or movie “playedthe lead” you mean that was the main role in the show or performance. Usuallyit’s the best actor or the best artist that plays the lead in a performance. So,Claudia and Javier’s granddaughter played the lead tomato, the most importantone. Of course, that’s a little silly – a little crazy. “Lead” has several othermeanings in English, as does the word “number” that we mentioned earlier.

Those can be found in the Learning Guide, of course.

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.

[start of dialogue]

Claudia: Oh, that was so good. I’ve never seen anything better. Bravo! Bravo!

Javier: There’s no need for a standing ovation and stop gushing. Theperformers did a passable job. It was nothing to write home about.

Claudia: You are so jaded. That performance was genius. It took my breathaway.

Javier: I thought the first number was okay, and none of the dancersembarrassed themselves, but that’s all I can say about it.

Claudia: I’m sure they’d thank you for that faint praise. Me? I’ve never seenanything better.

Javier: Now how can you say that? That’s just over the top.

Claudia: If I can’t be effusive, who can? How many times will we see ourgranddaughter in a school play?

Javier: She’s seven years old and she played a tomato!

Claudia: Yes, but don’t forget: she played the lead tomato!

[end of dialogue]

I think it’s time that we gave our scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Tse, a standing ovation.

So everyone now please stand up, clap your hands. Thanks, Lucy!

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Comeback and listen to us next time on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse,hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan, copyright 2010 by the Center for EducationalDevelopment.