2011年ESL之餐饮娱乐 06 Shopping for a Television

06 Shopping for a Television

GLOSSARY 1

this is what I’m talking about – a phrase used when one has found what onehas been looking for or what one has been interested in for a long time

* Look at this video camera! Now this is what I’m talking about! Too bad it costsso much.

to upgrade 2 – to get or buy a newer, bigger, or better version 3 of something

* Why don’t you upgrade your cable 4 service to the next level, so you can havemore channels?

big-screen TV – a television set with a very large screen (flat surface whereimages are shown)

* Our new big-screen TV lets us see more details than we could on our old, smallTV.

selection 5 – the variety of objects or options available for one to choose from,especially when deciding what to buy

* This store has an excellent selection of fine wines and cheeses.

picture – image; the things that are seen on a television screen

* Seeing pictures of the destruction 6 made us realize how powerful the hurricanewas.

sharp – clear, with defined 7 lines around objects; easy to see; easy to distinguishbetween one or more images or things

* My photos are always blurry 9. How do you take such sharp photographs?

comparison 10 – the process of considering how two or more objects are alike 11 ordifferent

* A fair comparison of these two food mixers should include speed and quality,not just price.

resolution – how detailed 12 an image is; how easily details in an image can beseen

* You’ll need to give the printer a high-resolution copy of your logo before theycan make your business cards.

brightness 13 – a measure of how much light comes from an electronic screen,making text easier to read and images easier to see

* Your laptop’s battery will last longer if you reduce the brightness of the screen.

contrast – the strength of the difference between two or more objects, especiallybetween dark and light

* Some photographers like to take pictures at sunrise because they think it givestheir photos better contrast.

washed out – dull and faded, without bright colors; a little bit hard to see; faint

* After years of hanging on a sunny wall, the painting has become washed outand faded.

sound quality – how well recorded music or voices can be heard; a measure ofhow clear sounds are

* I really like this band’s music, but the sound quality is terrible. They need torecord their music in a better studio.

surround sound – with speakers on all sides of the audience, not just in front

* Almost all movie theaters have surround sound, because it makes people feellike the action they’re seeing is happening all around them.

century – a 100-year period

* Do you prefer classical music from the 18th century or the 19th century?

viewing distance – a measure of how much space there is between the personlooking at something and the object he or she is looking at

* The museum increased the viewing distance for its most famous pieces of art,because the curator doesn’t want anyone to reach out and touch the art.

screen size – how small or large the screen is on a television set or computermonitor

* Linnea’s eyes aren’t very strong, so her doctor advised buying a computermonitor with a larger screen size.

to take up – to occupy; to use a certain amount of space, time, or some otherresource

* Why did you park your car in the middle of the driveway? You’re taking up allthe space and there’s nowhere for me to park.

to have in mind – to want; to be thinking about

* First, tell us what you have in mind for the party, and then we can start talkingabout whether your budget is realistic.

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. Which of these things affects the quality of images on a TV?

a) The contrast.

b) Surround sound.

c) The viewing distance.

2. What does Byung mean when he says, “That’s exactly what I had in mind”?

a) He was hoping the new TV would cover the entire wall.

b) He believes a TV that big would make it impossible to think.

c) He is trying to imagine what the TV would look like at home.

______________

WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

picture

The word “picture,” in this podcast, means an image, or the things that are seenon a television screen: “It’s amazing how such a tiny cell phone screen canproduce such a high-quality picture!” A “picture” can also refer to a drawing orphotograph: “Hal hangs his daughter’s pictures in his office, and he often looks atpictures of his daughters while he is working.” A “motion 14 picture” is a movie orfilm: “Which motion picture was the first one made in color?” The phrase“picture-perfect” describes something that looks exactly as it should: “The bridewants everything to be picture-perfect for the wedding.” Finally, the phrase “toget the picture” means to understand something: “If I don’t find a job this week,we won’t have enough money to pay the rent and my family will becomehomeless. Get the picture?”

to take up

In this podcast, the phrase “to take up” means to occupy or to use a certainamount of space, time, or some other resource: “I didn’t realize the file wouldtake up so much of the USB drive.” The phrase “to take (someone) up on (anoffer)” means to accept an offer: “Yes, I offered to help you move, but I didn’tthink you’d take me up on it!” The phrase “to take (someone) on” can mean tohire someone: “The advertising 15 department wants to take on five new employeesthis year.” Finally, the phrase “to be taken in” means to be tricked or fooled bysomeone or something: “How could you be taken in by those images? Obviouslythey had been changed with photo-editing software.”

CULTURE NOTE

The TV Show The HoneymoonersThe Honeymooners was a popular “sitcom” (situation comedy; a humoroustelevision show with the same main characters in each episode 17) in the mid-1950s. A “honeymoon 16” is a romantic vacation taken by a husband and wifeimmediately after they are married, and the term “honeymooners” usually refersto the couple enjoying the honeymoon, or to “newlyweds” (people who haverecently been married). In the case of the TV show, the “honeymooners” are acouple who have been married much longer, about 15 years.

The main character is a man named Ralph. He is a bus driver who oftenbecomes interested in “get-rich-quick-schemes” (opportunities where peoplebelieve they can make a lot of money very quickly, but usually fail), and isfrustrated by his lack of success and lack of money. He loves his wife, but he isvery “short-tempered” (becomes angry easily) and often “insults” (says thingsthat hurt other people’s feelings) other people.

His wife, Alice, is often insulted 18 by her husband, and she reacts with “sarcasm” (arude but funny way of saying the opposite of what one really means). She issmart and understands that most of Ralph’s get-rich-quick-schemes won’t work,but Ralph “ignores” (does not listen to; does not pay attention to) her advice andusually fails.

The “couple” (husband and wife) is close friends with another married couple, Edand Trixie. They live in a similar apartment in Brooklyn, New York.

The Honeymooners “depicts” (shows) “humorous” (funny) interactions 19 amongthese four individuals and other, less important characters. Throughout all the“mishaps” (things that did not happen as planned), Ralph was always shown tolove his wife, and the character often said, “Baby, you’re the greatest,” giving hera hug and a kiss.

______________

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

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT 20

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 687: Shopping for aTelevision.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 687. I’m your host, Dr.

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

Visit our website at eslpod.com. Download the Learning 21 Guide for this episode,an 8- to 10-page guide that will help you improve your English much, much fasterthan just listening.

This episode is all about buying a new television, with the vocabulary related 22, ofcourse, to TVs. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Byung: This is what I’m talking about! It’s time to upgrade to a big-screen TVand this is the perfect place to buy one.

Nelly: They certainly have a large selection. These new TVs have pictures thatare much sharper than our current one.

Byung: There’s no comparison. These new TVs have a much better resolution.

Just look at the brightness and the contrast! Our old TV looks washed out bycomparison.

Nelly: And listen to that sound quality. It’s like being in a movie theater withsurround sound.

Byung: Yeah, it’s time we moved into the 21st century.

Nelly: According to what I’ve read, with a viewing distance of 10 feet, we shouldlook for a screen size of about 40 inches.

Byung: I was thinking more like a 60-inch screen.

Nelly: A 60-inch TV?! That would take up the entire living room wall.

Byung: That’s exactly what I had in mind!

[end of dialogue]

The dialogue begins Byung saying, “This is what I’m talking about!” “This is whatI’m talking about” is a phrase – an informal phrase used to show that you havefound what you have been looking for or what you are interested in and havebeen for a long time; it’s meaning depends on the way it is said. If you go to thebeach and you sit down and you say, “Oh, this is what I’m talking about,”

meaning this is what I wanted, this is what I like. That’s what Byung is sayinghere; he says, “It’s time to upgrade to a big-screen TV and this is the perfectplace to buy one.” So, Byung and Nelly are in an electronics 23 store somewhere.

Byung says, “It’s time to upgrade.” “To upgrade” (upgrade – one word) means toget the newer, bigger, or better version of something. If you had an iPhone 1, thefirst iPhone, and then you bought an iPhone 3G, you upgraded 24, and then youbought the iPhone 4, you upgraded; you got the better, newer, more expensiveusually version of this particular service or product. Byung wants to upgrade to abig-screen TV. A “big-screen TV” is a television with what is a very large screencompared to a normal television, shall we say, although most televisions now aremuch bigger than they were 20-25 years ago, so what is normal has become alot bigger.

Nelly says, “They certainly have a large selection,” meaning this store that theyare in has a large selection – a large variety of things, or something where youhave a lot of different choices and options. Nelly says, “These new TVs havepictures that are much sharper than our current one.” “Picture” here means whatyou see on the television screen, what you see when the television is on. Wecall that the “picture.” It’s the same word we would use for a photograph or apainting even, but here it means what you see on your screen. “Sharp” meansvery clear, with very easy to see lines, things that will distinguish 8 one object fromanother. Nelly says that the new TVs they are looking at are much sharper,much clearer than our current one, the one we own right now.

Byung says, “There’s no comparison.” A “comparison” is when you look at twodifferent things and say what they have in common, how they are alike, and howthey are different. The expression, however, “there’s no comparison,” meansthat there is not even a question about what you are talking about, it’s obviousthat one is better than the other. He says, “These new TVs have a much betterresolution.” “Resolution,” when we’re talking about a television, refers to howdetailed the images are on the screen, how easily you can see the smaller detailsin the picture. Byung says, “Just look at the brightness and the contrast!”

“Brightness” refers to how much light comes from the electronic screen; it couldbe something on your computer screen, it could be from your television screen.

Here we’re talking, of course, about televisions. “Contrast” is normally 25 how different two things are from each other; in this case, the dark from the light.

Byung says that these new televisions have, apparently 26, a very different kind ofbrightness and contrast, something that is better. He says, “Our old TV lookswashed out by comparison.” “Washed out” here means without bright colors.

We might say it’s a little dull or a little faded; it’s not easy to see, it doesn’t havebright colors.

Nelly says, “And listen to that sound quality.” The “sound quality” refers to, ofcourse, what you can hear coming from the television. She says, “It’s like beingin a movie theater with surround sound.” “To surround” means to be on all sidesof something. In many modern movie theaters there are “speakers,” things thatare used to project the sound so that you can hear it – there are speakers allaround the theater on the sides, not just on the front. So, you are surrounded bythe sound. That’s what Nelly is referring to; she says, “It’s like being in a movietheater with surround sound.”

Byung says, “Yeah, it’s time we moved into the 21st century.” “It’s time” meansthat we have been late doing this, we should do it right now. What they shoulddo is move into the 21st century. He means that we should now do things thatpeople do now rather than the way they did things 10 or 15 years ago. A“century” is a 100-year period. We talk about the 21st century, that’s the centurywe are in right now.

Nelly says, “According to what I’ve read, with a viewing distance of 10 feet, weshould look for a screen size of about 40 inches.” The “viewing distance” is howfar you are sitting away from the television. So, a viewing distance of 10 feetwould mean that you are 10 feet, about 3 meters roughly 27, from the television set,or the TV. Nelly says that they should look for a screen size of about 40 inches.

The “screen” is the thing that you see the images of the television on; the “screensize” would be how large or how small it is. Normally, televisions in the UnitedStates are measured by their “diameter,” so that would be a line that connectsthe top right corner, for example, to the bottom left corner. That’s themeasurement that you use. She says it should be about 40 inches for those whoare sitting 10 feet from their TV.

Byung wants something bigger; Byung says, “I was thinking more like a 60-inchscreen,” one that is considerably 28 bigger. Nelly says, “A 60-inch TV?! That wouldtake up the entire living room wall.” “To take up” is a phrasal verb that heremeans to occupy, to use a certain amount of space or possibly time. Here we’retalking about the space, how much space does the TV take up on your wall. Or,“My girlfriend keeps calling me. She’s taking up all of my time.” She’s occupyingall of my time. Nelly thinks that a 60-inch TV would take up the entire living room wall. The “living room” would be the main room where you would be watchingtelevision, usually the largest room in a house – or one of the largest.

Byung says, “That’s exactly what I had in mind!” “To have in mind” means to bethinking about or to want. “What do you have in mind for dinner?” “Hmm, I wasthinking of maybe going to a Japanese restaurant tonight.” That’s what I have inmind. Byung says that he wants to take up the entire living room wall; that’sexactly, he says, what he had in mind.

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

[start of dialogue]

Byung: This is what I’m talking about! It’s time to upgrade to a big-screen TVand this is the perfect place to buy one.

Nelly: They certainly have a large selection. These new TVs have pictures thatare much sharper than our current one.

Byung: There’s no comparison. These new TVs have a much better resolution.

Just look at the brightness and the contrast! Our old TV looks washed out bycomparison.

Nelly: And listen to that sound quality. It’s like being in a movie theater withsurround sound.

Byung: Yeah, it’s time we moved into the 21st century.

Nelly: According to what I’ve read, with a viewing distance of 10 feet, we shouldlook for a screen size of about 40 inches.

Byung: I was thinking more like a 60-inch screen.

Nelly: A 60-inch TV?! That would take up the entire living room wall.

Byung: That’s exactly what I had in mind!

[end of dialogue]

There’s no comparison with our scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Tse. We think she’s thebest scriptwriter of the 21st century!

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 29 2011 by the Center for EducationalDevelopment.