2011年ESL之就医和人际交往 11 Finding Other Singles

11 Finding Other Singles

GLOSSARY 1

single – not involved in a romantic relationship; not married or dating anyone

* Which bar in town is the best place to meet other singles?

to pair up – to become involved in a romantic relationship with another personand no longer be alone

* When Janet was younger, she was never very interested in dating, but onceshe turned 30, she became very interested in pairing up.

to be left hanging – to remain wanting to have, do, or know something,especially if other people have, do, or know it; to be unsatisfied in some way,especially when everyone else is satisfied

* We went to a book reading, but the author only read the first part and left ushanging. She said we’d have to buy the book and read it if we wanted to find outwhat happens at the end.

to cruise 2 for – to go to a nightclub, dance hall, bar, or a similar place, looking fora new romantic partner or sexual 3 partner

* Are you going to go cruising 4 for women dressed like that? You’d have moreluck if you wore nicer clothes and combed your hair.

lonely heart – a person who is single but feels alone and unsatisfied and wantsto find a romantic partner

* Not everyone who is single is a lonely heart. Some people just prefer not todate.

needle in a haystack – something that is very difficult to find, usually because itis very rare or uncommon 5

* Searching for a lost wallet at Disneyland is like looking for a needle in ahaystack. There’s no way you’ll find it.

strategy – a plan for how one will do something

* The company is trying to develop a creative marketing 6 strategy for its newestproduct.

to hit on – to suddenly find, discover, or realize something

* After thinking about the math problem for hours, Sebastian finally hit on thecorrect answer.

to congregate 7 – for large numbers of people or animals to meet in one place; togather

* About 3,000 people congregated 8 at the federal building, protesting the newproposed taxes.

to show up – to appear; to attend something, especially without planning itahead of time or making special arrangements

* Is it okay to just show up at the dinner even thought I forgot to tell them I wascoming?

wild goose chase – an effort to do something when one cannot succeedbecause it is too difficult, foolish, or impossible

* He spent his life on a wild goose chase, looking for the fountain of youth.

to give (something) a shot – to try to do something even though one is unlikelyto succeed; to try to do something even though one doesn’t expect to succeed

* I’m a horrible baker 9, but I’m going to try to make her a birthday cake anyway.

I’ll at least give it a shot.

grand entrance – the act of entering a room at a certain time or in a certain wayso that one can attract everyone else’s attention and make a strong impression

* Meghan’s grand entrance was ruined when she accidentally tripped and fellwhile walking through the door.

shock of (one’s) life – a very strong, powerful, and unexpected surprise

* Winning one million dollars in the lottery 10 was the shock of his life!

all right – a phrase used to emphasize that something is true, correct, andbelievable

* - Are you sure you saw Greg?

* - It was him all right. There’s no doubt about it.

dinner date – an invitation to eat dinner at a restaurant with another person,usually in the hopes of beginning or strengthening a romantic relationship

* Over the past month, Damian has asked 13 women to go out with him on adinner date, but none of them have said yes.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. Why does he want to find a girlfriend?

a) Because his friends recommended it.

b) Because he doesn’t want to be the only single person.

c) Because he’s getting too old to be single.

2. What does he mean when he says, “I was willing to give it a shot”?

a) He was going to look at pictures of women who could be his next girlfriend.

b) He was going to try to find a girlfriend, even though his plan might not work.

c) He was going to visit a shooting range to find a girlfriend.

______________

WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

to cruise for

The phrase “to cruise for,” in this podcast, means to go to a nightclub, dance hall,bar, or a similar place, looking for a new romantic partner or sexual partner: “Howdo you have time to study if you spend every evening cruising for cute girls?”

The verb “to cruise” also means to move at a steady, unchanging speed: “Thepolice officer gave us a ticket for cruising on the freeway at 100 miles per hour.”

“Cruise control” is a car feature where the car keeps going at a set speed,without the driver doing anything: “Using cruise control is great, because youdon’t have to keep your foot on the gas pedal 11.” Finally, a “cruise” is usually avacation holiday spent on a very large boat: “They’re saving their money to go ona Caribbean cruise.”

all right

In this podcast, the phrase “all right” is a phrase used to emphasize thatsomething is true, correct, and believable: “My plan will work all right. I’m sure ofit.” The phrase “all right” can also mean without any problems: “Do you feel allright?” Or, “Katy left the meeting in tears. Can you check to see if she’s allright?” The phrase “to do all right” means to be successful, especiallyprofessionally, and have enough money: “He’s been working as a stock brokerfor years, so I’m sure he’s doing all right financially.” Finally, the phrase “it’s allright for (someone)” is used when one is jealous or envious 12 of another person:

“It’s all right for her to wear short skirts to work, because her legs are perfect, butwhat about the rest of us?”

CULTURE NOTE

Other Uses of the Word “Single”

When people refer to “singles,” they’re usually talking about unmarried people, orpeople who are not involved in a romantic relationship. But in different “contexts”

(situations), the same word can have very different meanings.

In sports, for example, “singles” can refer to people who compete on their ownagainst another individual, such as tennis or ice skating. “Doubles” in thosesports refers to “pairs” (groups of two people) who are competing against otherpairs.

In baseball, a “single” refers to the act of hitting the ball and successfully runningto “first base” (the first place a hitter may go to and stop safely) without being“thrown out” (forced to leave the field because one’s ball was caught or becauseone was touched by someone on the other team holding the ball).

When talking about money, a “single” is a one-dollar “bill” (paper money) ratherthan a larger “denomination” (the value shown on a coin, bill, or stamp). Aperson who needs “change” (smaller bills or coins) might ask someone if he orshe has five singles and offer to “trade” (exchange) them for a five-dollar bill.

In the music industry, a “single” is an individual song “as opposed to” (contrastedagainst) an “album” (a collection of songs released at a single time and soldtogether). A “hit single” is a song that makes a singer or a musical group verypopular, especially if their other songs are less well-known and less popular.

Finally, when “booking a room” (making a reservation) at a hotel, a “single” canrefer to a room with one small bed for one person, and a “double” can refer to aroom with two beds for two people.

______________

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

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT 13

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 702: Finding OtherSingles.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 14 702. 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. Support this podcast by becoming a member of ESLPodcast. When you do, you’ll receive a Learning Guide for each episode that willhelp you improve your English even faster.

This episode is called “Finding Other Singles,” people who do not have aromantic partner. Let’s get started.

[start of story]

I was tired of being single. All of my friends had paired up and I was left hanging.

Like everybody else these days, I tried using the Internet to find other singles, butI never had any luck. Cruising for my ideal woman among a bunch of lonelyhearts is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I needed another strategy.

I finally hit on a brilliant idea. I would find places where single women naturallycongregate and simply show up. It may turn out to be a wild goose chase, but Iwas willing to give it a shot.

That’s how I decided 15 to take a jewelry 16-making class at the community center. Imay not know much, but I do know that two things that naturally go together arewomen and jewelry.

I got to the class a few minutes late so I could make a grand entrance. But whenI walked in, I got the shock of my life. The room was full of single women allright, but not one of them was under the age of 70!

They were definitely glad to see me. I even received a couple of invitations todinner that day. But to be honest, that wasn’t the kind of dinner date I had beenlooking for!

[end of story]

Our episode begins with the person in the story, not me, talking about how he’stired of being single. “To be single” means not to be married or dating anyone,not involved in a romantic relationship. I am married, “happily married” we’d say,so this isn’t me, but the person in the story says that all of his friends had pairedup. “To pair (pair) up” is a two-word phrasal verb meaning to become involved ina romantic relationship, to no longer be single. The person in the story was lefthanging. “To be left hanging” means to remain wanting to do something or havesomething but you don’t have it; other people have it, but you don’t. So,everyone in your group gets a ticket but you don’t; you’re left hanging, you arethe one who doesn’t get what everyone else gets. He says that like everybodyelse these days (nowadays; during this time), “I tried using the Internet to findother singles, but I never had any luck. Cruising for my ideal woman,” he says,“among a bunch of lonely hearts is like looking for a needle in a haystack.” “Tocruise (cruise) for women” is a term that used to mean only you were looking tofind women for a sexual relationship. It, here, is used a little more broadly, a littlemore generally, to mean trying to find a woman who will be your new romanticpartner. You could go to a bar or a disco – do we still call them discos? A danceclub, I guess we call them. I guess I’m really old, calling them discos!

Uh…anyway, going to places where young, single women might be, and trying tofind one of them, and hope that one of them becomes a romantic partner.

The person in the story, who really needs a name don’t you think? Let’s call himBill. Bill is saying that he doesn’t want to cruise for his “ideal” or perfect womanamong a bunch of lonely hearts. The term “lonely” means alone, by yourself;“lonely hearts” refers to people who are single, but they feel alone and they wantto find a romantic partner. They’re not happy being single. “Lonely hearts” is aold term, but it’s still used.

He thinks, Bill, that cruising for ideal women on the Internet was like looking forneedles in a haystack. The expression “to find a needle (needle) in a haystack”

means to find something very difficult, something that’s very difficult to findbecause it isn’t very common, it’s very rare. A “needle” is a small piece of metalyou use, for example, for sewing, when you are repairing a piece of clothing. Or,a “needle” is also what we call the thing the doctor puts in you to give you somemedicine; they stick the sharp, thin, long needle into your arm, or somewhereelse, and they are able to give you the medicine that way. So, a “needle” is verysmall, very thin, very difficult to find. A “haystack” is a large pile of hay. “Hay” isdry grass or other kinds of plants that you will find usually on a farm. The hay isall put on top of each other, and, of course, to try to find a needle, if you put it intothe haystack, would be almost impossible. So that’s the expression, “to find aneedle in a haystack.”

So, what Bill is saying is that cruising for his ideal woman among a bunch oflonely hearts is like looking for a needle in a haystack; it’s almost impossible. Hesays, “I needed another strategy,” I needed another plan, another approach. “Ifinally hit on a brilliant idea.” “To hit on (something)” here means to findsomeone, to discover something, or to realize something. Usually it’s used whentalking about an idea or a solution to a problem. Ironically, there’s anothermeaning of “hit on,” which is when a man or a woman tries to get another man ora woman interested in them romantically. They start talking to them and smilingat them and making jokes. This could be a way of hitting on a woman. But here,we’re not talking about that informal use of the expression; this is a phrasal verbmeaning to suddenly find a new idea or a solution to a problem. Bill says, “Iwould find places where women – single women naturally (or normally)congregate and simply show up.” “To congregate” is when a group of peoplecome together. We talk about the members of, for example, a church as a“congregation,” they all come together; they all meet at a certain place.

Bill is going to try to find places where single women would go, and he will thensimply show up. “To show up” is a phrasal verb meaning to go somewherewithout plans, without making special arrangements, often without getting thepermission of the people who are there. They don’t know you’re going to bethere; suddenly you “show up,” you arrive, you appear. It doesn’t always have tobe unplanned; you could say, “I went to the café to meet a woman I found on theInternet, but she never showed up.” Actually, it wasn’t a woman, it was a man;you just didn’t realize it because it was the Internet. You see, you got to becareful!

Anyway, this is Bill’s great idea. He says that it may turn out – it may result thatthis is a wild goose chase, but he was willing to give it a shot. The expression“wild goose (goose) chase” (chase) means to try to do something that you arenot successful in doing because it is difficult or impossible or was a bad idea orstrategy to begin with. In other words, you never should have tried to do it; it wasan impossible task. A “goose” is, you may know, a kind of bird. Bill says that hewas willing, however, to give it a shot. The expression “to give (something) ashot” means to try to do something even when you know you probably will not besuccessful, or when you don’t expect to succeed or to do it. He says that hedecided to take a jewelry-making class. “Jewelry” is like rings and necklaces,things that you would wear. He’s taking a class on how to make your ownjewelry, and he says that since women love jewelry this is a great place for him tofind single women, and therefore to try to find his ideal woman.

He arrives at the class a few minutes after it starts so he could make a grandentrance. “To make a grand entrance” is to enter a room at a certain time or in a certain way so that everyone notices you. This is true if you are going into aroom where there are a lot of people; you will do something so that everyoneknows that you are in the room or that you are coming into the room. Bill sayswhen he walked in, however, he got the shock of his life. “The shock of your life”

is some very unexpected, powerful surprise, something that surprises you in abig way. He says that the room was full of single women all right, meaning it wasdefinitely full of single women. The expression “all right” (two words) is used toemphasize that something is true or correct. Take a look at the Learning Guidefor some additionally uses of this term or based on this term. So Bill is sayingyes, there were a lot of single women there, but none of them was under, or lessthan, the age of 70; they were all 70 years old or more.

He says they were definitely glad to see him. He even received, or got, a coupleof invitations to dinner; the women asked him to go to dinner with them. He says,“But to be honest, that wasn’t the kind of dinner date I had been looking for!” A“dinner date” is an invitation to eat dinner with another person, often hoping thatthis will be something that will begin a romantic relationship or make yourromantic relationship stronger. Obviously, Bill was not interested in datingwomen over the age of 70!

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

[start of story]

I was tired of being single. All of my friends had paired up and I was left hanging.

Like everybody else these days, I tried using the Internet to find other singles, butI never had any luck. Cruising for my ideal woman among a bunch of lonelyhearts is like looking for a needle in a haystack. I needed another strategy.

I finally hit on a brilliant idea. I would find places where single women naturallycongregate and simply show up. It may turn out to be a wild goose chase, but Iwas willing to give it a shot.

That’s how I decided to take a jewelry-making class at the community center. Imay not know much, but I do know that two things that naturally go together arewomen and jewelry.

I got to the class a few minutes late so I could make a grand entrance. But whenI walked in, I got the shock of my life. The room was full of single women allright, but not one of them was under the age of 70!

They were definitely glad to see me. I even received a couple of invitations todinner that day. But to be honest, that wasn’t the kind of dinner date I had beenlooking for!

[end of story]

The best strategy to learn English is to listen to the dialogues and stories writtenby our own wonderful Dr. Lucy Tse.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thank you for listening. Comeback and listen to us again here 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.