2010年ESL之日常生活 06 Guessing a Number

06 Guessing a Number

GLOSSARY 1

contest – a competition; an event where many people participate to try to winsomething

* The contest’s first-place winner will win a new car, and the second-place winnerwill win a new bicycle.

guess – an answer that one provides even though one doesn’t know whether itwill be correct, especially if it probably will not be correct

* Go ahead and make a guess. How old do you think I am?

marble – a small, round piece of colored glass, rolled on the floor or ground aspart of a children’s game

* Some glass marbles have become collectors’ items and are worth a lot ofmoney.

to take a stab at (something) – to make a guess or try to do something,especially if one probably will not be correct or will not succeed

* Francine had never run a marathon before, but when her friends invited her tojoin them, she decided 2 to take a stab at it.

calculation – computation; a combination of addition, subtraction 3, multiplication 4,and/or division to find out how much of something there is, or to find the answerto a mathematical problem

* The diners made a quick calculation to determine how much money they shouldleave as a tip for their waiter.

percent – one-hundredth; an amount equal to one part out of 100 parts

* Is it true that 75 percent of the human body is made of water?

by – times; a word used to indicate multiplication or to talk about length versuswidth versus 5 height

* This bedroom is 12 feet by 16 feet.

! – three-quarters or three-fourths, where “quarter” or “fourth” is used to talkabout one-fourth or 25% of something

* This recipe calls for ! cup of sugar.

diameter – the straight distance across a circle, cutting a circle in half

* If you know the radius 6, you can find the diameter by multiplying the radius bytwo.

capacity – the amount of available space, the amount of something that can beheld 7, or the amount of work a machine can do

* This auditorium 8 has capacity for 1,300 people.

to crunch 9 the numbers – to make a mathematical calculation

* The students were silent, crunching 10 the numbers during their math test.

to increase (one’s) chances – to increase the likelihood that one will win or besuccessful

* Getting a college degree is a great way to increase your chances of getting agood job.

educated guess – an answer that one provides even though one doesn’t knowwhether it will be correct, but that is based on some facts, experience,knowledge, or other information

* I’ve never bought anything like that, but if I had to make an educated guess, I’dsay it costs between $1,200 and $1,600.

to use what God gave (someone) – to take advantage of the talents andintelligence that one was born with, especially when many people do not havethose talents and that intelligence

* Sandra has always been good in the sciences, so she has decided to use whatGod gave her to become a doctor and help people who are sick and injured.

to beat (someone) out of (something) – to win a contest or competition againstanother person, getting the prize and not letting the other person win it

* Shane has been running every day, training for the race because he wants tobeat us out of the prize.

bring it on – an informal phrase used to show that one is ready for something tohappen or is ready for another person to do something, often used for friendlycompetition

* - Are you ready to start?

* - Bring it on!

to pit (something) against (something) – to test one thing against anotherthing; to test how well one person can do something against how well anotherperson can do the same thing

* If you pitted a bear against a tiger in a fight, which animal would win?

random 11 guess – an answer that one provides even though one doesn’t knowwhether it will be correct, and that probably will not be correct, because it is notbased on any facts, experience, knowledge, or other information

* If you don’t know the answer to one of the test questions, at least make arandom guess. Don’t leave it unanswered.

______________

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

1. What does Dwight mean when he says, “I’ll take a stab at it”?

a) He thinks the contest is silly and stupid.

b) He would love to have a free meal every day for one year.

c) He’ll try to guess how many marbles are in the bowl.

2. What’s the best way to make a calculation?

a) Crunch the numbers.

b) Make an educated guess.

c) Make a random guess.

______________

WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?

guessThe word “guess,” in this podcast, means an answer that one provides eventhough one doesn’t know whether it will be correct, especially if it probably willnot be correct: “Is that your best guess? I’m surprised. I thought you’d know theanswer.” A “lucky guess” is a guess that was correct, surprising the person whomade the guess: “I can’t believe I was right about the year that this building wasbuilt! Talk about a lucky guess!” A “wild guess” is a guess that is made withoutmuch consideration or thought: “One person made a wild guess that there wereone billion marbles in the bowl, but of course that’s impossible.” Finally, thephrase “to be anybody’s guess” means to be unknown, or to be something thatnobody knows: “What happens next is anybody’s guess.”

pitIn this podcast, the phrase “to pit (something) against (something)” means to testone thing against another thing, or to test how well one person can do somethingagainst how well another person can do the same thing: “Their soccer team isbeing pitted against one of the best teams in the state.” In the kitchen, the verb “to pit” means to take the large, hard seed out of the middle of a piece of fruit:

“Do you have a machine to pit cherries, or do you do it by hand?” Finally, thephrase “to be pitted” means to have many small holes or lower areas: “His face ispitted with acne scars.” Or, “The streets are pitted with potholes 12, but the citydoesn’t have enough money to fix them.”

______________CULTURE NOTEUsually, Americans use “Arabic numerals” (0, 1, 2, 3…) when they write downnumbers and numerical “concepts” (ideas; ways of understanding something).

However, in some cases they use “Roman numerals” (I, II, III, IV, V…). Romannumerals are most often seen in the “introductory” (beginning part of a novel,before the actual story begins) section of books, or in “appendices” (the sectionsthat follow the main part of a book or report). Roman numerals are sometimesseen on buildings to show the year when they were built. Many “clock faces” (thefront of a clock, where numbers are) “display” (show) Roman numerals.

Roman numerals are often used to talk about “monarchs” (people with royalblood; kings and queens). For example, we would write “George III” and “IvanIV.” In these cases, the Roman numerals are “pronounced” (spoken) as “ordinal”

(showing order) numerals, and not “cardinal 13” (not showing order, just stating thenumber) numbers. For example, Ivan IV is pronounced as “Ivan the Fourth,” butnever “Ivan Four.”

Sometimes Americans use Roman numerals to “refer to” (talk about) “centuries”

(groups of 100 years), although this isn’t very common. Americans could talkabout the 1900s as the 20th century, for example. As with the monarchs,centuries are pronounced with ordinal numbers, and not cardinal numbers, so“XX century” would be pronounced as “the twentieth century.”

We also use Roman numerals to “indicate” (show) sections in legal contracts andwritten “policies” (rules and regulations). For example, you might hear a lawyertalk about Section IV, Paragraph III. In this case, the section headings arepronounced as ordinal numbers, but not cardinal numbers. The lawyer wouldsay “Section Four, Paragraph Three,” not “Section the Fourth, Paragraph theThird.”

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

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPTWelcome to English as a Second Language Podcast episode 570: Guessing aNumber.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 570. 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 do that, you need to be member of ESL Podcast. Become amember and help support this podcast to keep it going.

This episode is called “Guessing a Number.” It’s a dialogue between Angela andDwight. It’s also going to be using some vocabulary not just about guessing, but– well, about numbers. Let’s get started.

[start of dialogue]

Angela: Hey, look at this. This restaurant is holding a contest. If you can guessthe number of marbles in this bowl, you’ll get a free meal every day for one year!

Dwight: I’ll take a stab at it.

Angela: So will I. Let’s see, I think there must be close to 1,000 or 1,200marbles in there. What are you doing?

Dwight: I’m doing some calculations in my head. The bowl is about 75 percentfull, and it’s 15 inches by 12 inches by 6 inches (15”x12”x6”). The marbles areabout ! of an inch in diameter…Angela: Are you actually trying to figure out the capacity by crunching thenumbers? This is a game. You’re supposed to guess.

Dwight: I know it’s a game, but I want to increase my chances by making aneducated guess. Hold on, I just need to do one more calculation and I’ll have themagic number.

Angela: That’s cheating.

Dwight: No way! I’m just using what God gave me to beat you out of a year’sworth of meals.

Angela: Bring it on. I’ll pit my random guess against your educated guess anyday!

[end of dialogue]

Angela says to Dwight, “Hey, look at this. This restaurant is holding a contest.”

A “contest” is a competition where different people participate to try to winsomething. We often use the verb “hold”: “I’m going to hold a contest,” I’m goingto have a competition. “If you can guess the number of marbles in this bowl,you’ll get a free meal every day for one year!” “To guess” means to provide ananswer even though you’re not sure if it is correct. “Guess” actually has severalmeanings in English; you’ll find those in this episode’s Learning Guide. “Marbles”

are small, round pieces of colored glass. You often find them with children; theyplay a game where they roll the marbles on the floor. This is, at one time, apopular contest in restaurants; they would have a big glass bowl full of these littlemarbles and you had to try to guess the number of marbles in there. Manydifferent people would guess, and then if you guessed it correctly you got someprize.

Dwight says, “I’ll take a stab (stab) at it.” “To take a stab at (something)” meansto either make a guess or try to do something even though you will probably notbe right, even though you may not succeed or be successful. “To take a stab at”

means to attempt to do something. Angela says, “So will I (meaning I will try toguess, too). Let’s see, I think there must be close to 1,000 or 1,200 marbles inthere. What are you doing?”

Dwight says, “I’m doing some calculations in my head.” “Calculations” are whenyou combine numbers: you add them, you subtract them, you multiply them, oryou divide them to find out how much of something there is. In general,calculations are what you do to solve some sort of mathematical problem.

Dwight is doing them “in his head,” meaning mentally, not with a machine. Hesays, “The bowl is about 75 percent full.” “Percent (%)” is 100th; it’s the amountof something out of 100 parts. So, 75 percent would be 75 out of 100. So, thebowl is 75 percent, or ! full; it’s about 15 inches by 12 inches by 6 inches(15”x12”x6”). We talk about or use the word “by” when we are describing thelength, the width, and the height of something. If we say it’s 15 inches by 12inches by 6 inches, we mean it is 15 inches long, 12 inches wide, and 6 incheshigh. Dwight says, “The marbles are about ! of an inch in diameter.” “Three quarters (!)” or “three fourths” is used also when talking about part of something.

Three fourths is written three over four (!), there’s a diagonal line that dividesthem. It’s the same, of course, as 75 percent, that’s three fourths of 100. Themarbles are ! of an inch in diameter. “Diameter” (diameter) is the distanceacross a circle. If you take a circle and you cut it in half, that length is thediameter.

Angela then says, “Are you actually trying to figure out the capacity by crunchingthe numbers?” “To figure out” means to understand, to get an answer. Dwight istrying to figure out the capacity of this jar where the marbles are. “Capacity” isthe amount of space available. “To crunch the numbers” is an idiom whichmeans to make a mathematical calculation. Often we talk about that when, forexample, we have a new project but we’re not sure if we have enough money.

We need to find out exactly how much it’s going to cost, I may say, “I need tocrunch the numbers.”

Angela says, “This is a game. You’re supposed to guess.” Dwight says, “I knowit’s a game, but I want to increase my chances by making an educated guess.”

“To increase your chances” means to increase the likelihood – the possibilitiesfor you to win, to be successful. If you are interviewing for a new job and you goto the interview in your swimming outfit 14 – your swimming trunks, which is whatwe call what a man wears, or your swimming suit for a woman – well, that’s notreally a very good strategy. You could increase your chances by wearing a suitinstead of a bikini – although I look pretty good in a bikini! Dwight says that he’strying to make an educated guess. An “educated guess” is still a guess – youstill don’t know, but you have some facts or experience or knowledge that willhelp you make your guess. Dwight says, “Hold on (wait one second), I just needto do one more calculation and I’ll have the magic number.” “The magic number”

just means the correct number here.

Angela says, “That’s cheating.” “Cheating” is when you do something against therules, especially in a game, and this is contest – a kind of game. Dwight says,“No way (meaning that is completely wrong)! I’m just using what God gave me tobeat you out of a year’s worth of meals.” The expression “to use what God gaveyou (or someone)” means that you take advantage – you use the intelligence andtalent that you were born with. This is especially true when many people do nothave those talents. So, if you are a very good skier 15, you could use what Godgave you to go to the Olympics, for example. Dwight says that he’s going to usewhat God gave him – presumably, we’re guessing, the mathematical ability hehas – he’s going to use that to beat Angela out of a year’s worth of meals. “Tobeat (someone) out of (something)” means to win a game, a contest, or a competition against another person. You win the price; you take first place – youbeat someone out of. You can also say that, for example, about a job: “He beatme out for that job at Berkeley.” You could, I suppose, say it about a woman or aman: “I beat my friend out for the affections and love of this particular woman.”

Hopefully, you are not in a competition!

Angela says to Dwight, “Bring it on.” This is an informal expression that’s used toshow when you’re ready to do something; you’re ready for a friendly competition.

“Bring it on” means I’m ready; I’m ready to enter into this game and beat you.

Angela says, “I’ll pit my random guess against your educated guess any day!”

“To pit (pit) (something) against (something else)” means to test one thingagainst another, to see how well one person can do something compared toanother person. Angela says that she’s going to make a “random” guess,meaning she’s not going to try to calculate, she’s not going to crunch thenumbers; she’s just going to take a random – we might say a “wild” – guess.

She’s going to pit – she’s going to basically say my random guess is as good as– really better than your educated guess. “Pit” Has a couple of differentmeanings in English; of course, those are found in the Learning Guide.

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

[start of dialogue]

Angela: Hey, look at this. This restaurant is holding a contest. If you can guessthe number of marbles in this bowl, you’ll get a free meal every day for one year!

Dwight: I’ll take a stab at it.

Angela: So will I. Let’s see, I think there must be close to 1,000 or 1,200marbles in there. What are you doing?

Dwight: I’m doing some calculations in my head. The bowl is about 75 percentfull, and it’s 15 inches by 12 inches by 6 inches (15”x12”x6”). The marbles areabout ! of an inch in diameter…Angela: Are you actually trying to figure out the capacity by crunching thenumbers? This is a game. You’re supposed to guess.

Dwight: I know it’s a game, but I want to increase my chances by making aneducated guess. Hold on, I just need to do one more calculation and I’ll have themagic number.

Angela: That’s cheating.

Dwight: No way! I’m just using what God gave me to beat you out of a year’sworth of meals.

Angela: Bring it on. I’ll pit my random guess against your educated guess anyday!

[end of dialogue]

Guess who wrote today’s script? That’s right, Dr. Lucy Tse. Your prize? Tolisten to even more ESL Podcast!

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 2010 by the Center for EducationalDevelopment.