2011年ESL之日常生活 01 Talking About Sound and Volume

01 Talking About Sound and Volume

GLOSSARY 1

to turn (something) up/down – to increase or decrease the volume, especiallyof music or television

* Could you please turn the TV up? I can’t hear what the reporter is saying.

ear-splitting – hurting one’s ears because something is extremely loud and/orhigh-pitched

* When Raffi heard an ear-splitting scream in the middle of the night, heimmediately called the police.

to concentrate – to focus all of one’s attention on one thing, without beingdistracted by other things

* Patrizia is having a lot of problems in her personal life and that makes it difficultfor her to concentrate on her work.

to swear – to insist that one is telling the truth; to very strongly state that one isbeing honest

* I don’t know who ate the last piece of cake, but I swear it wasn’t me!

volume control – a small dial or knob 3 on a radio, stereo 4, television, or otherpiece of electronic equipment, touched to make something louder or quieter

* This volume control is really sensitive, so even the gentlest touch makes a bigdifference in how loud the music is.

decibel 5 – a measurement of how loud something is

* The noise in a typical library is around 40 decibels 6, but the noise created by ajet airplane taking off is around 120 decibels.

high-pitched – with a very high sound, more like a soprano woman’s voice thanlike a bass 7 man’s voice

* Why do so many cartoon characters have annoyingly high-pitched voices?

squeal 8 – a loud, high sound, often made when one is very happy or excited

* Their home is always filled with squeals 9 of laughter.

speaker – the part of a radio, stereo, or television set that produces noise

* We had a great time sitting right in front of the speakers at the concert lastnight, but today my ears hurt and it’s hard to hear anything.

grating – making an annoying, unpleasant sound; irritating 10; bothering someone;making someone angry and upset

* The beeping sound at the grocery store every time someone buys something isreally grating. I wouldn’t want to work there.

banging – with a loud, heavy sound that lasts for a very short period of time,usually produced when two objects hit each other, or when one object falls

* People say that bears are scared of banging noises, so it’s a good idea to hittwo sticks together when you’re walking alone in the woods.

hammer – a tool with a wooden handle and a heavy metal top, used to hit nailsand push them into a wall or a piece of wood

* You’ll need a hammer and a screwdriver 11 to assemble this bookcase.

thumping 12 – a loud, slightly muffled 13 or distant noise caused when something fallsor when two heavy objects hit each other

* Whenever our neighbor practices the drums, we can hear the thumping noisesin our home, even though we live one block away!

to lift weights – to try to build one’s strength and/or the size of one’s muscles bylifting heavy objects many times

* Studies have shown that older people who lift weights a few times each weekare less likely to break their bones in a fall.

moderate – of medium size or number; not too big and not too small; not tooloud and not too quiet

* We’ve seen a moderate decrease in the unemployment rate, but not as muchas people were hoping for

quiet as a mouse – extremely quiet, not making any noise

* Everyone became as quiet as a mouse, waiting to hear the importantannouncement.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. Why does Delilah want Josh to lower the volume?

a) Because she doesn’t like his music.

b) Because she is getting a headache.

c) Because she needs to focus on something.

2. What does Delilah mean when she asks Josh to “keep the volume to amoderate level”?

a) She wants him to make the music quieter.

b) She wants him to turn off the music.

c) She wants him to let her touch the volume control.

______________

WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

to turn (something) up/down

The phrase “to turn (something) up/down,” in this podcast, means to increase ordecrease the volume, especially of music or television: “Lincoln turns up thevolume on the radio when he drives on the freeway, because his car is reallyloud at high speeds.” The phrase “to turn up” can also mean to arrive: “Whattime did Katie turn up at work this morning?” The phrase “to turn (one’s) nose upat (something)” means to not like or accept something because it isn’t goodenough for oneself: “After living in New York City for three years, James nowturns his nose up at our small town entertainment, like country fairs and rodeos.”

Finally, the phrase “to turn (something) upside down” means to look everywherefor something, creating a mess as one does it: “He turned the house upsidedown looking for his keys, but he still hasn’t found them.”

moderate

In this podcast, the word “moderate” means of medium size or number, not toobig and not too small, or not too loud and not too quiet: “They want to buy amoderate-sized home on a quiet street.” Or, “The weather report says to expectmoderate rain today, so don’t forget to take your umbrella.” In politics,“moderate” refers to beliefs and opinions that are not too liberal or tooconservative and can be accepted by most people: “Extreme candidates usuallyget more media coverage 14 than moderate candidates.” As a verb, “to moderate adiscussion/meeting” means to guide a group of people as they discusssomething, making sure that everyone gets an opportunity to speak, but that theystay focused: “A good manager knows how to moderate staff meetings effectivelyso that issues are discussed and decisions are made.”

CULTURE NOTE

Most musicians are interested in producing the best, most “memorable” (easy toremember) music, but others want to be known as the loudest band in the world.

There has been a lot of competition among bands for this “sought-after” (wantedvery badly by many people) “title” (label; honor). Many bands “proudly” (with a lotof pride, feeling that one has done something well) claim to be the loudest bandin the world.

In 1972, The Guinness Book of World Records (discussed in English Café 89)listed Deep Purple as the “loudest pop group” when its concert in London wasmeasured at 117 decibels. Three of the people in the audience actually became“unconscious” (unaware of what is happening around oneself and appearing tobe asleep, often because one has hit one’s head).

Other bands “have since” (since then) made music with even higher recordeddecibel measurements, but the Guinness Book doesn’t award titles for “loudestband” anymore because it doesn’t want to be responsible for “hearing damage”

(reductions in one’s ability to hear because one was exposed to very loudnoises).

Nevertheless, bands continue to try to get louder and louder. In 2009, the bandKiss reached 136 decibels at a festival in Canada, but this was far above theallowed “limit” (maximum amount). Neighbors complained about the noise, andthe band had to turn down the volume.

“Exposure to” (being in the presence of) loud noises can cause “severe” (verybad and serious) hearing damage and can actually be “painful” (causingdiscomfort). Bands know this, but they continue to play loudly anyway. In fact,the band AC/DC used to be known for playing its music “painfully loud.”

______________

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

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT 15

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 654: Talking AboutSound and Volume.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 16 654. I am 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!

This episode is called “Talking About Sound and Volume.” It’s a dialoguebetween Delilah and Josh. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Delilah: Could you turn that down?

Josh: What?

Delilah: Could you turn your music down?

Josh: Oh, sure. Is there a problem?

Delilah: No, there’s no problem. I was just trying to do some reading and theear-splitting music coming from your room made it hard to concentrate.

Josh: Sorry. I didn’t think it was that loud. I didn’t turn it up, I swear. Thevolume control is in the same place it always is, not one decibel higher.

Delilah: That may be true, but those high-pitched squeals coming out of yourspeakers are really grating. And what was that banging sound?

Josh: Oh, I was just using this hammer to fix my chair. I’m done.

Delilah: And what was that thumping noise?

Josh: Thumping noise? Oh, I was lifting weights and dropping them back downon the floor.

Delilah: I see. If you could please keep the volume to a moderate level, I wouldappreciate it.

Josh: No problem. I’ll be as quiet as a mouse – as I always am.

[end of dialogue]

Delilah begins our dialogue by asking Josh a question; really, she’s making arequest. “Could you turn that down?” “To turn (something) down” or “to turn(something) up” means to decrease, turn it down, or increase, turn it up. In thiscase, really we’re talking about the sound – the “volume,” how loud something is.

You could also turn up the heat if you had, for example, an adjustable 17 heater, butthe phrase is most often used when talking about the loudness – the sound on atelevision, or a computer, or a radio, and so forth 18. There are actually severaldifferent phrasal verbs that come from “turn,” you can find some of those in ourLearning Guide.

Josh says, “What?” He can’t hear Delilah because his music or whatever he’slistening to is so loud. Delilah says again, “Could you turn your music down?”

Josh says, “Oh, sure. Is there a problem?” Delilah says, “No, there’s noproblem. I was just trying to do some reading and the ear-splitting music comingfrom your room made it hard to concentrate.” Here, Delilah is being sarcasticwhen she says, “No, there’s no problem.” In fact, she means yes, there’s a bigproblem. She was trying to do some reading, but Josh had ear-splitting music onin his room. “Ear-splitting” is something that is so loud it hurts your ears. It’ssomething that is so high in pitch, perhaps, that it is painful to listen to. Delilahsays that she can’t read because she can’t concentrate. “To concentrate” meansto focus your attention on something without worrying about or, we would say,being distracted 2 by other things.

Josh says, “Sorry. I didn’t think it was that loud (meaning as loud as you think itis). I didn’t turn it up, I swear.” “To swear” (swear) means to insist that you aretelling the truth, to say very strongly I am telling you the truth or I will do what Isay I will do. Josh swears that he did not turn it up; he did not increase thevolume. He says, “The volume control is in the same place it always is, not onedecibel higher.” The “volume control” is, you can guess, the thing that you use toturn the sound up or down on radio, a television, an iPod, and so forth. Joshsays that the volume control is in the same place it always is, not one decibelhigher. A “decibel” (decibel) is a measurement of how loud something is. Wetalk about something being two miles from here; “miles” is a way of measuringsomething. “Decibel” is how we measure how loud something is. It can also beused to measure the strength of a radio signal for example, but the morecommon use is to talk about loudness. Decibels are in what we call a logarithmicscale, for the mathematicians 19 out there. If you increase something by three decibels you’ve made it twice as loud. Josh says that the sound is not onedecibel higher than it used to be. Decibels is almost always a comparisonbetween one level versus 20 another.

Delilah says, “That may be true, but those high-pitched squeals coming out ofyour speakers are really grating.” “High-pitched” is a very high sound, like this,like a soprano. Or someone like me; a man who sings in a high voice is said tobe singing “falsetto.” The Bee Gees 21, for example, often sang in falsetto in the1970s: “How deep is your love, is your love? How deep is your love? I reallyneed to love.” Pretty bad, huh? Yeah, they were! Well, Delilah is talking abouthigh-pitched squeals. A “squeal” (squeal) is a loud, high sound. Sometimes itcan mean that you are very happy or excited. You can have squeals of laughter.

Or, it could be a very unpleasant sound coming out of a radio or a loud speaker.

A “speaker,” speaking of speakers, is the part of the radio or television or thingyou hook 22 up to your computer where the noise comes out. Delilah says that thehigh-pitched squeals coming out of Josh’s speakers are really grating (grating).

A “grating” sound is an unpleasant one, an irritating one, something that bothersyou a lot. It might even make you angry.

Delilah also asks Josh, “what was that banging sound?” “To bang” is to make avery loud, often deep sound that lasts for a short period of time. When you taketwo things – two glasses, and you hit them against each other, we would say youbang them against each other, you make a banging sound. I have my cup of teahere – it’s, um, English Breakfast tea today – and a glass of water, and if I bangthem together [bang, bang, bang] they make a banging sound.

Josh says, “Oh, I was just using this hammer to fix my chair. I’m done (I’mfinished now).” A “hammer” (hammer) is a tool that has typically a woodenhandle, something that you grab 23 onto with your hands, and it has a very heavypiece of metal on the top. You use it to hit nails; to push nails into the wall youuse a hammer. Hammer, of course, was also a 1980s singer, M.C. Hammer, butwe’re not going to sing any of his songs today!

Delilah says, “And what was that thumping sound?” A “thumping” (thumping) is aloud sound, but one that you can’t hear very clearly. It’s usually something in thedistance, but you can tell by the sound that it is a very loud sound and that if youwere next to it, it would be very loud in your ears. Delilah asks what Josh’sthumping sound, or thumping noise was. Josh says, “Thumping noise?” Youshould know, by the way, that “noise” is usually a word we use to talk aboutsound that we don’t want to hear or unpleasant sound. The sound of myneighbors’ children yelling 24 and screaming and squealing 25; that’s noise!

Josh says, “Oh, I was lifting weights and dropping them back down on the floor.”

“To lift weights” is to try to build your muscles by lifting very heavy objects.

That’s what Josh was doing, and when he put them back down on the ground,what we would call the weights, well, that made this thumping sound.

Delilah says, “I see. If you could please keep the volume to a moderate level, Iwould appreciate it.” A “moderate” level is something not too loud, notnecessarily soft, something in the middle. Not too big, not too small. Josh says,“No problem. I’ll be as quiet as a mouse – as I always am.” The expression “tobe as quiet as a mouse” means to be extremely quiet, not to make any noise. Amouse, of course, is a small, little, typically white animal that because it is sosmall you would never hear it or rarely hear it. That’s not always true, however.

Sometimes you actually can hear mice – mice being the plural 26 of mouse, ofcourse. We’re not talking about the mouse sitting in front of your computer thatcontrols the cursor on your computer screen, that’s a different kind of mouse.

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

[start of dialogue]

Delilah: Could you turn that down?

Josh: What?

Delilah: Could you turn your music down?

Josh: Oh, sure. Is there a problem?

Delilah: No, there’s no problem. I was just trying to do some reading and theear-splitting music coming from your room made it hard to concentrate.

Josh: Sorry. I didn’t think it was that loud. I didn’t turn it up, I swear. Thevolume control is in the same place it always is, not one decibel higher.

Delilah: That may be true, but those high-pitched squeals coming out of yourspeakers are really grating. And what was that banging sound?

Josh: Oh, I was just using this hammer to fix my chair. I’m done.

Delilah: And what was that thumping noise?

Josh: Thumping noise? Oh, I was lifting weights and dropping them back downon the floor.

Delilah: I see. If you could please keep the volume to a moderate level, I wouldappreciate it.

Josh: No problem. I’ll be as quiet as a mouse – as I always am.

[end of dialogue]

We hope you turn up your volume when listening to one of our scripts written byour very own Dr. Lucy Tse.

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 2011 by the Center for EducationalDevelopment.