2017 May Flashcards
Crime Bills
Posted on Tuesday - May 2, 2017 by ESLPod.com
Let’s talk about money, lots and lots of money.
Currently, the United States prints its bills (paper money) in seven denominations (amounts): $1, $2, $5, $10, $20, $50, and $100. There was a time, however, when higher denominations were printed for specific kinds of transactions (actions related to buying and selling).
In 1861, the U.S. government issued interest-bearing notes (money used as a loan between a lender and a borrower) in four different denominations of $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000. In 1878, they were released as United States notes (an older term for paper money).
These notes were actually physically larger in size than our current bills (it wasn’t until 1929 that paper money were produced in today’s size). The larger denominations were meant to be (were intended to be; were designed to be) used by banks and the U.S. government for large transactions.
However, people involved in unlawful (against the law) activities such as drug trafficking (selling and buying large amounts of illegal drugs) and money laundering (hiding the source of illegally-made money) often used these bills as well. In fact, one report a few years ago found that up to 90% of American currency had trace (very small) amounts of cocaine on them!
The use of these bills for illegal activities was one of the main reasons the government decided to stop producing them. They were last printed on December 27, 1945, and were officially discontinued (stopped being used) on July 4, 1969.
Most of the bills started to disappear, and only private collectors (people who buy valuable things for their own enjoyment or as an investment) were successful in preserving them (keeping them in their original condition).
One of those private collectors was Benny Binion, owner of Binion’s Horseshoe Casino (place for entertainment where people play games of chance in hopes of winning money) in Las Vegas. Binion preserved 100 of the old $10,000 bills, and beginning in the early 1960s displayed them for many years in a clear case (box for display). Tourists would often make a special trip just to see them.
Unfortunately, you can no longer see this “million dollar display” at the casino, since it was sold to other collectors. But you can easily lose a million dollars in Las Vegas if you try hard enough!
~ ESLPod Team
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- This post was adapted from “What Insiders Know” from Cultural English 469. To see the rest of the Learning Guide, including a Glossary, Sample Sentences, Comprehension Questions, a Complete Transcript of the entire lesson and more, become a Select English Member.
Thank You Always Fits*
Posted on Tuesday - May 9, 2017 by Warren Ediger
Several years ago, saying “thank you” got Chantel Jennings a job.
Jennings, a student at an American university, was studying in Spain when she received an award that included $500 to use any way she wanted. She used it to pay for a one-week trip to Ireland.
When she returned to Spain, she sat down and wrote a thank you note to Betsy Carter, the writer and journalist (reporter) who had created the award. At the end of her note she wrote, “If you have a chance to talk, I’d love to.”
She was surprised a short time later by an email from Carter that encouraged her to call when Jennings returned to the U.S. The two women met and talked, and when Carter discovered that Jennings was a sports writer, she said “You should really come to New York to meet my husband.” Jennings went to New York, met Carter’s husband, an executive at ESPN (a TV sports network), and was given a writing job at ESPN.
When Jennings asked Carter why she was being so nice to her, Carter told her that she had been giving the award for 20 years and that Jennings had been the first person to write a thank you card. She continued, “Journalism – especially sports journalism – needs more people who write thank you notes. I want you in this business.”
Not too long ago, after more than six years, Jennings lost that job and said “thank you” again.
ESPN recently laid off (let go from their jobs) about 100 people to lower their operating costs. Jennings was one of the people who lost their jobs.
Before she left, Jennings wrote: “I’m excited for this next chapter of my life. Don’t get me wrong. This hurts. A lot. But I am profoundly (very, extremely) thankful for the last six and a half years at ESPN and whatever comes next will be built on the foundation (a base, something to build on) I laid there.”
Reading Jennings’ story reminded me of a letter written by C.S. Lewis, who wrote The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and the other Chronicles (stories) of Narnia. In it he wrote (in my words): We should be thankful no matter what happens. If something good happens, we should be thankful because it is good. On the other hand, if something bad happens, we should be thankful because it teaches us to be patient (able to wait calmly for a long time or accept difficulties), to be humble (not thinking that we are more important than other people), and to recognize what’s really important in our lives and what isn’t.
I think Chantel Jennings would agree.
- fits means that it’s always appropriate.
~ Warren Ediger – ESL tutor/coach and creator of the Successful English website.
Story credit: A quick thanks as I go by Chantel Jennings
Photo used under Creative Commons license.
Color or Colour? Spelling as a Political Act
Posted on Tuesday - May 16, 2017 by Dr. Jeff McQuillan
If you’re an English learner, you may be annoyed at (bothered by) the differences in spelling in American English and British English.
We Americans use “color” and the British use “colour.”
We write “realize” and they write “realise.”
You might think that these differences have simply come about (resulted) naturally over time, but in fact, the changes were intentional (done with intent; not an accident) and largely political.
Noah Webster was probably the biggest influence on how Americans spell today. Webster was a fascinating (very interesting) man. Most Americans know him for his dictionaries. He published his first dictionary in 1806 and later published An American Dictionary of the English Language in 1826.
In fact, the name “Webster” is today synonymous with (has the same meaning as) dictionaries to many Americans. (The Webster dictionary is published today under the name of Merriam-Webster.)
Webster lived between 1758 and 1843, and took part in the American Revolution (the war to become independent of Britain). He knew two of the great heroes of that revolution, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. In addition to being a dictionary writer, he was also very political.
He wrote essays, letters, and pamphlets (short printed documents) that expressed his views about the need for the American colonies to break (separate themselves) from Britain.
He believed that a part of that break should be to establish an American brand of (type of) English. He thought that American children should learn from American books, not British ones.
Webster published A Grammatical Institute of the English Language, which included a reader (with short texts), a grammar book, and a speller (a list of rules on how to spell words, including word lists). Webster made many changes to spelling in his speller because he thought that British English spelling had been corrupted (changed in a bad way) by British aristocracy (highest class of people in society).
Webster wanted to standardize (make consistent by following rules) the spelling of English and simplify it (make it easier). The speller was later renamed The American Spelling Book and was widely (frequently) used by teachers around the country. It was later known as the Blue-Backed Speller.
It was through Webster’s speller and his dictionaries that American children learned American spelling, so that “theatre” became “theater,” “aeroplane” became “airplane,” and the last letter of the alphabet came to be pronounced “zee” instead of “zed,” as the British still do today.
In the end, politics played a big role (was a large part of the reason) in the establishment of American English.
Who knows how English spelling will change when California secedes (withdrawals officially) from the United States and forms its own country?
~ Jeff
P.S. Don’t confuse Noah Webster with another famous American, Daniel Webster. They were not related (not of the same family). Daniel Webster was a famous lawyer and politician in the 19th century, and also the topic of this short story sometimes read in American schools.
Image Credit: From Wikipedia
Share Your Spare
Posted on Tuesday - May 23, 2017 by Warren Ediger
Have you ever thought about giving one of your kidneys – the part of your body that cleans your blood – to a stranger, to someone you don’t know?
Scientific progress has made it easier and safer to transplant organs – to move a healthy heart, liver, kidney, or other organ from someone who has died to a living person who needs it. In 2015 about 31,000 transplants were performed in the U.S.
That’s a large number. But the number of people waiting for transplants of all kinds – almost 120,000 – is much larger, and a new name is added to the list every 10 minutes. Even though transplants save or improve the lives of 85 people every day, 22 others die because they can’t get one.
Our kidney’s main job is to clean our blood. When it works well, we don’t think about it. When it doesn’t, we often have to go to the hospital or a clinic several days a week for dialysis, using a machine to do what a sick kidney can’t do.
In the U.S., 600,000 people are on dialysis, and 100,000 of them need a transplant because dialysis is only a temporary solution. But in 2015, only 16,000 people received healthy kidneys. Why so few? Not enough healthy kidneys to transplant.
We are born with two kidneys. And we can easily live with only one. That’s why many people are making the decision to donate (give) a kidney to a stranger.
Last year, Dylan Matthews, a young journalist (news reporter), gave one of his kidneys to a man he’d never met.
Matthews says that he’d thought about giving one of his kidneys for years. “It seems,” he writes, “like such a simple and clear way to help someone else, through a procedure (process) that’s very low-risk (safe) to me.”
Matthews points out that if he “kept walking around with two kidneys when there are more than 100,000 people on the kidney waitlist (waiting list) who would most likely die in the next five years if they didn’t get one,” he would be like someone who sees a child drowning (die from being under water) in a pond (small area of water) but doesn’t do anything because he doesn’t want to get his clothes wet and dirty.
Matthews became friends with one person who had become a donor, then another. And after talking with them he decided that the facts were simple: “it’s awful to need a kidney and really not that hard to give one.” And so, in 2016, he did.
The process took about five months. Testing started in March, was finished in mid-May, and in June he was approved as a donor. On Monday, August 22, he was admitted to (entered) Johns Hopkins hospital so his left kidney could be removed.
The first few days of recovery (return to normal) were difficult. But Thursday, three days after surgery, he went home. On Friday he went out with friends, and on Saturday, he and his father went to a movie.
Matthews says that “giving a kidney was the most rewarding experience of [his] life.” He talks about the choices we make – especially when we’re young – some good, some bad. He believes that this decision was one of his best. “I was…deeply gratified (thankful) to have made at least one choice in my life that I know was beyond a shadow of a doubt (absolutely) the right one.”
Note: The title for this blog post comes from Briana Zavala, a young kidney donor from California, who encourages people to “share your spare (extra)” kidney.
~ Warren Ediger – ESL tutor/coach and creator of the Successful English website.
Dylan Matthews’ story comes from vox.com.
Photo: screenshot from MPD-SI Newhouse School.
Remembering POWs and MIAs
Posted on Tuesday - May 30, 2017 by ESLPod.com
Yesterday was Memorial Day in the United States, a federal (national) holiday to remember those soldiers (members of the military) who have died in active military service (died while fighting as a soldier).
During the Vietnam War (fought during the 1960s and 1970s), there were many American soldiers who became prisoners of war or POWs – those who are held by the enemy and not allowed to leave during a war. Some soldiers were missing in action or MIA – those whose whereabouts (location) was unknown.
A special POW/MIA flag was created to honor and remember POWs and MIAs, and to remind Americans back home (in the United States) of the need to find out the fates (what happened to a person, or how a person died) of the men and women who serve in the military during wartime.
The POW/MIA flag is black and white. It has a silhouette (an outline drawing) of a man, a watch tower (a tall structure that guards sit in to watch what happens in a prison and make sure prisoners do not escape), and barbed wire (thin lines of sharp metal used to make fences that people cannot cross).
“POW MIA” is written on top, and the phrase “YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN” is written on the bottom.
The POW/MIA flag is flown (placed on a pole for others to see) on six special days in the U.S.: Armed Forces Day, Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day, Veterans Day, and National POW/MIA Recognition Day (September 15th).
It is also flown at many military installations (places where members of the military work), police stations, fire stations, and similar places.
In addition, military mess halls (cafeterias; large dining rooms with long tables) often leave one table and chair empty, draped (covered with a cloth) with the POW/MIA flag to serve as a reminder of the soldiers who are missing and symbolize (represent) a chair waiting for their return.
~ ESLPod Team
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- This post was adapted from the “Culture Note” from Daily English 716. To see the rest of the Learning Guide, including a Glossary, Sample Sentences, Comprehension Questions, a Complete Transcript of the entire lesson and more, become a Select English Member.
