英語播客中級版F1 Racing

M: Hello everyone! Welcome back to another great lesson here with us at EnglishPod! My name is Marco.

E: And I’m Erica.

M: And today we’re going to be in one of my favorite sporting events, which is…

E: F1 (F-One), of course.

M: F1 Racing.

E: Yeah.

M: Alright, so, yeah, we’re gonna be talking about racing, specifically F1, w… which is a very popular sport all over the world.

E: Yeah, I think, maybe it’s like number two in popularity after soccer.

M: Yeah, I think so. Well…

E: I have no numbers to back that up, though.

M: Hehe. Well, they do travel everywhere; they have races all over the world and just people love it, so…

E: Well, it is kind of a cool thing.

M: It… well, going three hundred kilometers per hour in a car is pretty cool. Alright, so, let’s not delay this any longer. Let’s listen to our dialogue for the first time.

DIALOGUE, FIRST TIME

E: What an exciting race? I always love a good crash when it comes to car races.

M: Hehe. I think many people go to races expecting to see a crash.

E: Hm.

M: They don’t wanna see people getting hurt.

E: No, but a little bit of, uh…

M: Emotion of just… car crashes and stuff…

E: Yeah, a little, little explosion here and there.

M: Hehe. Alright. So now, we so some really exciting language related to racing. So, why don’t we look at that no in “language takeaway”?

Voice: Language takeaway.

E: Alright, so, we were talking about that crash and I think what led to the crush was the driver jammed on the brakes.

M: Right, he jammed on the brakes.

E: To jam on the brakes.

M: Okay, now, if I jam on the brakes…

E: You push the brakes really, really hard and really quickly and really suddenly.

M: Right, so, you jam on the brakes and you stop very quickly. So, Lewis Hamilton jammed on the brakes and consequently span out. [Comment: consequently is a kind of fancy word; I guess you might use it to sound more educated; consequently means “as a result” or “therefore”; btw, as for me, sometimes it sounds almost like hence; the last has been broken down (analyzed) in the lesson Job Interview II]

E: To spin out.

M: Okay, in the present it would be spin out.

E: Spin out.

M: Okay, so, imagine yourselves driving your car…

E: Uhu.

M: On a very wet road…

E: And then you jam on the brakes…

M: Right, so then the car… you’ve… you’ve kind of lose control of the car and it starts to spin.

E: It goes in circles.

M: Aha. That would be to spin out.

E: Hm, this is actually happened to me more than once.

M: Really?

E: Yeah.

M: Were you okay?

E: Yeah-yeah, I was fine, I was fine.

M: Okay. So, the car span out. Now… in racing you always see this really cool car come out and be of… ahead of everyone when there’s an accident.

E: Right, that’s called the pace car.

M: The pace car.

E: Pace car.

M: Now, why is it called the pace car?

E: Because it sets the pace.

M: Okay, the pace or the speed.

E: Uhu. So, pace means speed.

M: Aha. So, this car comes out and no other car can pass it. Everyone must go at the same speed.

E: Right, the pace car.

M: Pace car.

E: Alright, so after there’s an accident the cleanup crew must come out.

M: Okay, cleanup crew.

E: Cleanup crew.

M: Alright, so, crew, this is an interesting word. [Comment: btw, we’ve already dealt with the word crew before in the lesson This Is Your Captain Speaking; it was in-flight crew, remember?]

E: Uhu. When we talk about a crew, we talk about a group of people who work together.

M: Okay, wha… k… for example, in an office, can I have a crew?

E: Not really.

M: Not commonly, right?

E: Yeah, it’s people who work together and they use their hands to work, they do manual labor. [Comment: manual labor is basically physical work done with the hands]

M: Okay, so, I can say for example, a construction crew.

E: That’s right, or maybe the ground crew at the airport.

M: Okay, or the flight crew.

E: Also at the airport.

M: Alright.

E: Well, in the airplane.

M: So, that’s a crew.

E: Uhu. So, cleanup crew.

M: Cleanup crew. Now, they came out to take that car away, that broken or damaged vehicle, so they were towing it.

E: Tow.

M: Okay, the verb to tow.

E: To tow.

M: So, what does it mean when you tow something or you tow a car?

E: You pull something behind you, so…

M: Uhu.

E: Uh, if you’re at truck…

M: Uhu.

E: That might pull a car behind you, that’s a tow truck.

M: A tow truck.

E: Uhu.

M: Now, this happens commonly if you park your vehicle where you are not supposed to.

E: That’s right, um, and your car will get towed.

M: Your car gets towed.

E: Yeah.

M: Very good. Alright, so, we saw some… five really great words related to racing. And now why don’t we listen to our dialogue again and then we’ll look at some other interesting phrases.

DIALOGUE, SECOND TIME (Slow pace)

M: Okay, so, now we’re back and I think it’s time for us to take a look at some phrases in “fluency builder”.

Voice: Fluency builder.

E: Well, even though we’re talking about F1 racing, a lot of the language can be used in many different situations. So, let’s look at some of those phrases now. When Rick Fields introduced his co-host, he said “my partner in crime”.

M: Partner in crime. [Comment: btw, Erica has already used this expression at the beginning of the lesson Happy Hour, so listen the lesson or see the transcript of it]

E: Partner in crime.

M: Now, it’s not that they’re actually committing a crime, right?

E: No, they’re not actually bank robbers. [Comment: please listen the lesson about a bank robbery]

M: But it’s a very common and friendly way of saying “my good friend” or “my…

E: The person I do everything with.

M: Right, my co-worker…

E: Yeah.

M: For example, right?

E: But a co-worker who’s a really, really good friend you spend a lot of time with.

M: Okay, so, that’s your partner in crime.

E: Uhu.

M: It’s just a metaphor, right. So, partner in crime. Now, what about the next phrase?

E: The last stretch.

M: The last stretch.

E: Last stretch.

M: Okay, before we explain this word let’s listen to some examples and then we’ll come back and talk about it.

Voice: Example one.

A: We are finally in the last stretch of a very long week. I can’t wait to go home.[Comment: I can’t wait, we heard this phrase in the Chinese New Year lesson]

Voice: Example two.

B: He’s in the last stretch of his college years and soon he’ll graduate.

E: Okay, so, I understand that to mean like the final length of time.

M: Right, the last or final moments before an ending.

E: Alright, so, the last stretch.

M: The last stretch.

E: Now, when you’re on the last stretch, you just have a few minutes to go.

M: To go.

E: Yeah, to go.

M: Now, this preposition to and the verb go is very easy, right?

E: Right.

M: But if you say “five minutes to go”, what does that mean?

E: Five minutes left.

M: left.

E: Yeah.

M: It doesn’t mean it’s five minutes to actually leave, right?

E: Right. No, it means you… you must complete five minutes before you can be finished.

M: Okay.

E: So, it’s not about exiting.

M: Right. I have five days to go before I go on vacation.

E: So. it’s not about you actually going on the vacation. It’s about you passing those five days.

M: Aha. Can you give us another example?

E: How about… we have forty five minutes to go before the end of the day.

M: Hehe. That’s right. So, to go - left.

E: Exactly. To go.

M: Alright, now let’s take a look at our last phrase. Close one.

E: A close one.

M: A close one.

E: Alright, another interesting phrase made up of simple words, so let’s listen to some examples to help us understand it.

Voice: Example one.

A: That was a close one. The teacher almost caught me cheating.

Voice: Example two.

B: It’s a close one! We’re tied and the game is almost over.[Comment: you might recap this meaning of the word tied in the Soccer lesson]

Voice: Example three.

C: My girlfriend almost found the presents I hidden of the bed. It was a close one.

M: Okay, so, a close one. It means…

E: A situation that is almost dangerous, but wasn’t.

M: But wasn’t.

E: Yeah.

M: Exactly, that was a close one.

E: Uhu.

M: Okay. So, very good phrases I think we can take a lot from this and apply it outside of F1, right?

E: Yeah.

M: Alright, so let’s listen to the dialogue for the last time and then we’ll come back and talk about this great sport.

DIALOGUE, THIRD TIME

M: Alright, so, F1 racing. Erica, do you like it, do you watch it?

E: Um, yeah, F… F1’s pretty… pretty need, um, you know, cars that drive fast, that’s pretty interesting.

M: Hehe. Well, for some people it isn’t, right? Like why do I wanna go to a race and just see fast cars ???

E: Okay, I would never go to a race, but I think it’s… I would maybe watch the highlights on TV.

M: Hehe. Well, actually this year it’s really exciting, because again we’re gonna have a night race, I think, it’s in Malaysia or somewhere in Asia. The… the… they’re gonna race at night.

E: Oh, so, that’s pretty special, ha?

M: Well, it’s like harder to see and they’re going rather fast.

E: Oh, alright.

M: Can you imagine?

E: Alright. So, I hear you’re going to the F1 this year.

M: Yes, this year I’m gonna go to the Shanghai Circuit to watch the F1 race, so I’m really excited about that. I haven’t ever been to one, so it should be fun.

E: Alight, well, I hope you get to see some interesting things like car crashes and pace cars and…

M: Yeah.

E: Yeah. What about you guys, our listeners? Are you fans of F1? Have you ever been to an F1 race?

M: Exactly, send us your questions and comments and also your stories. I think we have listeners from all over the world. We have a lot of listeners in Brazil and I know that there is a grand prix there, so… tell us how did you… how did it go? Do you like it?

E: You can visit us at englishpod.com, where Marco and I are around to answer your questions.

M: Alright, any Canadian race car drivers?

E: Oh, uh, yeah, there was one recently. Someone some something.

M: Hehe. Alright, maybe our users know which one is the Canadian. So, will see you guys there.

E: Thanks for listening…

M: Bye.

E: Bye.