2010年ESL之餐饮娱乐 13 Liberal and Conservative News

13 Liberal and Conservative News

GLOSSARY 1

rag – a poor-quality, unimportant newspaper

* Hennah writes for the local rag, but she dreams of becoming a reporter for anational newspaper.

news coverage 2 – the stories and events that are discussed in a newspaper,magazine, or radio or television news program

* We watch local news coverage at 7:00, and state and national news coverageat 8:30.

incisive 3 – understanding something very well; demonstrating one’s intelligenceand ability to understand something

*Brent wrote a very incisive essay about the causes of World War I.

commentary – something that is written or spoken about an event or idea,sometimes while it is happening

* Do you want to listen to the reporter’s commentary, or would you prefer to justhear the facts?

liberal – a political philosophy that favors helping 4 people and organizations andhaving a relatively 5 large government that promotes social assistance for people

* Social Security is taken for granted, but in the past it was a very liberal idea.

propaganda – information that is only partially 6 true, used to persuade people tobelieve a particular thing or take a particular action, especially in politics

* How can you believe all the election’s propaganda?

to print – to publish something in written form, especially in a newspaper,magazine, or book

* I can’t believe they printed that quote! I swear I never said any of that.

objective – without considering one’s personal opinion; based on the facts

* Be objective when you choose which universities to apply to. Don’t just apply toschools with nice looking brochures.

unbiased – objective; without feeling the need to agree with one side or anotherin an argument

* My mother says this dress makes me look beautiful, but I need an unbiasedopinion.

ultraconservative – extremely resistant 9 to change and favoring a relatively smallgovernment that makes people rely on themselves more than on governmentservices

* Fisher is an ultraconservative who votes against all social welfare programs.

reactionary 10 – someone who doesn’t like change and fights against it, oftenwithout gathering 11 all the necessary information to truly understand something

* Jim is a reactionary and believes that this country should return to the way itwas in the 1950s.

diatribe 12 – a long written or spoken attack on someone or something

* Before you launch into a diatribe against my idea, please listen to my reasonsfor proposing it.

press – media; all newspapers, magazines, radio, television, and news websites

* That author rarely agrees to meet with the press for interviews.

staunch – loyal; strongly supporting something or someone

* The Presidential First Lady is a staunch advocate for nutritional 13 school lunches.

enlightened – with a good understanding of something based on new ideas,opinions, and information

* It’s wonderful to work for such an enlightened supervisor 14.

dyed-in-the-wool – extreme; completely involved in or characterized bysomething

* Christophe is a dyed-in-the-wool football fan who never misses a single game.

to tear down – to destroy; to ruin

* Did you read this journal article in which one researcher tears down hiscolleague’s work?

tradition – a way of doing something; the way something has always been donein a particular culture or by a particular group of people

* In the United States, there is a tradition where the bride and groom 15 feed eachother the first piece of wedding cake.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What is Rachel reading?

a) A brochure.

b) A newspaper.

c) A magazine.

2. What would you expect to find in diatribes 16?

a) Traditions.

b) Criticisms.

c) Compliments.

______________

WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

ragThe word “rag,” in this podcast, means a poor-quality, unimportant newspaper:

“Why do you waste your time reading that rag when you can find much betterinformation online?” A “rag” is also a small piece of cloth that has been usedmany times, normally used for cleaning: “Freddie uses his old t-shirts as rags fordusting and polishing.” If someone’s clothes are “in rags,” they are in very poorcondition with many tears and holes: “Chirico’s favorite shirt is in rags, but hekeeps wearing it because he likes the color.” Finally, the phrase “from rags toriches” describes someone who is born into a very poor family but becomes verysuccessful and rich: “She was born in a poor village but became a millionaire bythe time she was 40 – an amazing rags-to-riches story!”

pressIn this podcast, the word “press” means the media, or all newspapers,magazines, radio, television, and news websites: “Why does the press focus onnegative news stories?” The “printing press” is a machine that produces printedmaterials: “Before the printing press was invented, books had to be copied byhand.” The phrase “to go to press” means for a newspaper to be printed: “Whenwe went to press, officials were still counting the votes.” The phrase “to stop thepresses” means to stop printing a newspaper, usually because there is newinformation that needs to be included in the stories: “Wow, what a surprise! Stopthe presses!” Finally, the phrase “to get good/bad press” means to receivepositive or negative news coverage in the media: “The company got a lot of badpress after its latest product recall.”

CULTURE NOTE

Having an unbiased media is “critical” (very important) to the success of aparticipatory “democracy” (a government where all people can vote equally),because people need access to “accurate” (correct; precise) information.

However, in the United States, many “cable news channels” (TV channels thatcover the news all the time) are accused of being unfairly liberal or conservative.

These channels present only one “side” (way of viewing or thinking about things)of the story.

In particular, the Fox News Channel is regularly “accused” (said to be doingsomething wrong or bad) of having a conservative, “right-wing” (favoringconservative views) bias 7. And MSNBC is regularly accused of having a liberal,left-wing bias. In a 2009 “poll” (a survey that asks about people’s opinions) byPew Research, 47% of “respondents” (people who respond to a survey) said theFox News Channel is “mostly conservative” and 36% of respondents saidMSNBC is “mostly liberal.”

People cite many examples of these news channels’ bias. In late 2009,“tensions” (uncomfortable, negative feelings) between the White House and theFox News Channel increased so much that the Obama “administration”

(government) said it was “not a news network.” And around that same time,MSNBC showed “photoshopped pictures” (photos that have been changed with acomputer program) of former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin carrying agun while wearing a “bikini” (a small, two-piece swimsuit).

Many people say that the problem is that these news channels describethemselves as “fair” (treating others equally) and unbiased. If people watch a“right- or left-leaning” (favoring conservative or liberal opinions) news program,but believe it is unbiased, they are unable to watch the program with anappropriate level of “skepticism” (questioning what one sees or hears) and do notreceive the accurate, unbiased information they need.

______________

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

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT 17

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 643: Liberal andConservative News.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 643. I’m your host, Dr.

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

Our website is eslpod.com. Go there to download a Learning Guide for thisepisode to help you improve your English even faster than if you just stayedhome and drank beer!

This episode is called “Liberal and Conservative News.” It will use a lot ofvocabulary that is used in American politics and media to describe two differentphilosophical views of the way the government should work. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Bill: Why are you reading that rag?

Rachel: I enjoy reading it. I like its news coverage and its incisivecommentaries.

Bill: That’s nothing but a liberal propaganda rag. You can’t believe a thing theyprint in there.

Rachel: That’s not true. The news stories are objective and unbiased. Thismagazine isn’t like the newspapers and news websites you read. Those are runby ultraconservative reactionaries 18, who only know how to write diatribes. If I onlyread the news sources you read, I would think that this world was being ruled byliberals.

Bill: The world is being ruled by liberals, at least by the liberal press.

Rachel: You’ve got to be kidding! Our politics and our financial system are runby staunch conservatives, who ignore any point of view other than their own.

Those of us who are enlightened…Bill: You call yourselves enlightened? All you and your dyed-in-the-wool liberalswant to do is to tear down old traditions.

Rachel: Yes, we do want to tear down old traditions, old traditions that keep usfrom making progress toward…Sophia: Mom, Dad, what’s going on in here? Why are you yelling?

Rachel: Oh, it’s nothing, honey. Go back to sleep. Your Dad and I are justhaving a friendly little talk.

[end of dialogue]

I’m not going to try to explain to you the differences between liberals andconservatives politically here in the United States, that would require severalEnglish Cafés. Generally speaking, if you know something about Americanpolitics, you can understand the difference by understanding the differencebetween Democrats 19, who are typically liberal, and Republicans who are typicallyconservative.

Well, this is a dialogue between Bill and Rachel. Bill says to Rachel, “Why areyou reading that rag (rag)?” A “rag,” in this sense, is a poor quality newspaper, anewspaper that is not reliable, often because it is very politically biased 8. That is,it only reports the news from one political view. “Rag” has a couple of differentother meanings in English, and those are found in, of course, the LearningGuide.

Rachel says, “I enjoy reading it. I like its news coverage and its incisivecommentaries.” “News coverage” are the stories that appear in the newspaperor that are talked about in a magazine or on radio or television. “Coverage” is ageneral term to describe how much of something is included, so this is how muchnews and what kind of news is included in the newspaper. Rachel also likes thenewspaper’s incisive commentaries. A “commentary” is something that is writtenor spoken about an idea, sometimes while it is happening, sometimes after thefact. Most newspapers, at least in the United States, have commentary bydifferent writers that represent different political views. When something is“incisive” (incisive) we mean that the person who wrote it understands somethingvery well; it demonstrates the intelligence of the person and their ability tounderstand something. She means that newspaper.

Liberal, as I said before, is a political philosophy that in modern American termstends to want to have larger government programs, whereas conservatives tendto want to have a smaller government presence. Again, I don’t want to talk toomuch about that because it’s impossible to summarize it in a short amount oftime.

Bill calls the newspaper a liberal propaganda rag. “Propaganda” is informationthat is often false that is used to try to persuade people to believe in a particularidea or action, especially in politics. Bill is saying that this newspaper is notobjective – it’s not giving you the news without any sort of bias. Instead, it is aliberal propaganda rag; it is trying to promote a certain political philosophy. Hesays, “You can’t believe a thing (meaning you can’t believe anything) they print inthere.” “To print” here means to publish something usually in a newspaper,magazine, or book.

Rachel says, “That’s not true. The news stories are objective and unbiased.”

Rachel is defending her newspaper, saying that it is “objective,” meaning it’sbased on the facts, it’s not just opinion. She also says it’s “unbiased,” which isthe opposite of biased – not biased. If something is “biased,” it has one point ofview and it only reflects one point of view – one philosophy, in this case.

“Unbiased” would be something that is objective, it doesn’t take one side of theargument over another. Rachel says that this magazine – and I guess I thoughtshe was reading a newspaper – “This magazine isn’t like the newspapers andnews websites you read. Those are run by (those are operated by)ultraconservative reactionaries, who only know how to write diatribes.” There arelots of terms, some of them insulting terms, that are used in American politics todescribe each side of the political spectrum 20 – each side of the political range ofviews. When you say someone is an “ultraconservative,” you mean they arevery, very conservative – extremely conservative, too conservative really. A“reactionary” is someone who doesn’t like change and wants to go, often, back intime, without even understanding completely what’s going on today. Again, thisis a term that liberals in the U.S. would use to describe conservatives and makethem seem extreme.

Conservatives have their own words to describe liberals; many times they’ll talkabout the “far left”; you can also talk about the “far right.” The far left would bepeople who are very extreme in their liberal views. Conservatives would also useterms like the “loony left.” “Loony” (loony) means sort of crazy, in this case. So,each side has its own insulting terms that it likes to use. Those people who arein the middle, who are not liberal or conservative, we call “moderates” or “middleof the road,” they’re not too far on either side.

Rachel says that the magazines and newspapers that Bill reads only writediatribes. A “diatribe” (diatribe) is a long written or spoken attack on someone.

When you are criticizing someone, you take a long time and you really attack orcriticize everything about that person or that view. Rachel says, “If I only read the news sources you read, I would think that this world was being ruled byliberals.”

Bill says, “The world is being ruled by liberals, at least by the liberal press.”

“Press” here means the same as media: newspapers, magazines, radio,television, websites that are related to the news or that report the news. “Press”

however has several other meanings, and those can be found in our LearningGuide.

Rachel says, “You’ve got to be kidding (meaning you’re joking, right)! Ourpolitics and our financial system are run by staunch conservatives, who ignoreany point of view other than their own.” “Staunch” (staunch) means very loyal,someone who is strongly supporting a certain political position. Rachel says thatour politics and our financial system are run by staunch conservatives, whoignore any point of view – any opinion – other than their own. “Those of us whoare enlightened…” “To be enlightened” means to have a good understanding ofsomething, sometimes associated with perhaps more modern ways of thinking.

Bill says, “You call yourselves enlightened? All you and your dyed-in-the-woolliberals want is to tear down old traditions.” The phrase “dyed (dyed)-in-the-wool(wool)” means completely involved in, extreme. So if you are a dyed-in-the-woolliberal, you are completely liberal, you are 100 percent liberal. “Wool,” you mayknow, is what you get from sheep that you can make clothing from. “Dyed”

means that it is colored; you change the color of the wool by putting the wool intoa dye, some sort of typically liquid substance. Bill says that the dyed-in-the-woolliberals want to tear down old traditions. “To tear (tear) down” is a two-wordphrasal verb meaning to destroy, to ruin, to take apart. “Tradition” is the way thatsomething has always been done by a particular culture or a particular group ofpeople.

Rachel says, “Yes, we do want to tear down old traditions, old traditions thatkeep us (or prevent us) from making progress toward…” Suddenly we hear fromSophia, who is Bill and Rachel’s daughter; she says, “Mom, Dad, what’s going onhere? Why are you yelling?” Sophia sounds a lot like Rachel because, ofcourse, they’re related, right? Rachel says, “Oh, it’s nothing, honey. Go back tosleep. Your Dad and I are just having a friendly little talk.” So, the daughterwants to know why her parents are arguing, and the mother tells her just to goback to sleep.

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

[start of dialogue]

Bill: Why are you reading that rag?

Rachel: I enjoy reading it. I like its news coverage and its incisivecommentaries.

Bill: That’s nothing but a liberal propaganda rag. You can’t believe a thing theyprint in there.

Rachel: That’s not true. The news stories are objective and unbiased. Thismagazine isn’t like the newspapers and news websites you read. Those are runby ultraconservative reactionaries, who only know how to write diatribes. If I onlyread the news sources you read, I would think this world was being ruled byliberals.

Bill: The world is being ruled by liberals, at least by the liberal press.

Rachel: You’ve got to be kidding! Our politics and our financial system are runby staunch conservatives, who ignore any point of view other than their own.

Those of us who are enlightened…Bill: You call yourselves enlightened? All you and your dyed-in-the-wool liberalswant to do is to tear down old traditions.

Rachel: Yes, we do want to tear down old traditions, old traditions that keep usfrom making progress toward…Sophia: Mom, Dad, what’s going on in here? Why are you yelling?

Rachel: Oh, it’s nothing, honey. Go back to sleep. Your Dad and I are justhaving a friendly little talk.

[end of dialogue]

Our objective and unbiased scriptwriter is Dr. Lucy Tse. Thank you, 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.