2018 January Flashcards
Welcoming 2018
Posted on Tuesday - January 2, 2018 by ESLPod.com
A new year means new plans and new resolutions (promises to yourself to do better).
Here are a few words from Benjamin Franklin to inspire you (make you feel you want to do something). (We talked about him in Cultural English 542.)
“Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man.” — Benjamin Franklin
To be “at war with” means to work against something, trying to stop it or to defeat it.
A “vice” is a type of bad or criminal behavior. In fact, U.S. police departments often have vice squads, a part of the department that combats (fights against) crimes such as illegal gambling (playing games of chance for money), illegal drugs, and prostitution (selling your body for sex).
To be “at peace with,” as you can probably guess, means not to have problems with other people and having a good relationship with them.
Another meaning of being “at peace with” is when someone has accepted or become accustomed to something that they don’t like or that has had a negative affect on them.
For example, if your daughter decides to marry a man whom you don’t like, it may take some time and effort for you to be at peace with her decision. Even though you still don’t like it, you have accepted it.
And finally, Benjamin Franklin says, “. . . let each New Year find you a better man” (or woman). For something to “find you” means for it be the situation or for something to be true.
Happy 2018! All of here at ESLPod.com hope that the new year finds you happy, healthy, and wise (showing good judgement; making good decisions).
~ Jeff, Lucy, & ESLPod.com Team
Image Credit: From Wikipedia
The Shadow Wolves are on the Hunt
Posted on Tuesday - January 9, 2018 by ESLPod.com
As in other countries, smuggling and trafficking are both serious problems in the United States. Smuggling is the crime of bringing something into or out of a country illegally (against the law). Trafficking is the selling or trading of things illegally.
To combat (fight; work against) smuggling and trafficking, the U.S. has a small group of special officers with the coolest (most appealing and impressive) name: The Shadow Wolves.
A shadow is the dark shape produced when a body or object comes between the sun or a light and a surface, like the ground. A wolf (see photo) is a wild (not tame; not living peacefully with people) animal similar to a dog.
Shadow Wolves is a unit (group of officers or soldiers working together) based in southern Arizona. They are based on the Native American Nation of the Tohono O’odham. (We talked about Native American reservations here.) The Nation is located on about 4,300 square miles (11,100 square kilometers) and its people mainly live in small villages spread out (not close together) across this entire area.
There are only 15 members of this special unit, but the Shadow Wolf officers are known for their remarkable (amazing) ability to track (to find the path or course of someone) smugglers as they try to smuggle things, especially drugs, across the Mexican-American border (line separating two countries).
The unit has had a long history of tracking, skills passed down (given from parent to children) from generation to generation. The name “Shadow Wolves” refers to the way the unit hunts (follows and captures), like a wolf pack (group of animals living and/or traveling together). When one wolf finds prey (what is being hunted), it calls in the rest of the wolf pack to help capture the smugglers.
The unit has hi-tech (using advanced technology) equipment, but it relies mainly on traditional methods of tracking, primarily a technique called “cutting for sign.” “Cutting” means searching for and analyzing “sign,” which includes any kind of physical evidence, such as footprints (impressions on the ground made by feet or shoes), tire tracks (impressions in the ground made from car or other vehicle traveling over it), thread (individual long, thin pieces of fiber used for making fabric), clothing, and more. Officers may spend hours or days tracking in the field following a “sign” until they find the smugglers so they can be arrested (taken to jail by police) and their illegally transported items seized (taken).
The Shadow Wolves are able to track smugglers across difficult desert (with a very dry climate and little rain) and mountain terrain (section of land, especially its physical features, such as being smooth or rough). They can spot (notice; find) signs that most people cannot, something as small as a broken twig (small length of wood from a tree), an overturned (turned upside down) pebble (small rock), or single fibers from a piece of clothing or a bag that could be carrying drugs. From a faint (not clear or deep) footprint in the dust (fine powder in the air that collects on surfaces), they can see when the footprint was made, where they came from, and whether they are carrying a lot of weight, such as heavy bags filled with drugs.
The Shadow Wolves have traveled around the world to teach officials and police officers how to detect and follow tracks. In recent years, the Shadow Wolf officers have seized an average of 60,000 pounds of illegal drugs a year.
~ ESLPod Team
Important Announcement: Our New UNLIMITED ENGLISH Membership!
Posted on Tuesday - January 16, 2018 by ESLPod.com
First, we want to thank all of you, our listeners, viewers, readers, and members, for continuing to support us. We know that many of you have been with us for many months and some for many years and we are very grateful!
Now, we have a very exciting announcement.
You told us what you wanted and we listened.
You wanted access to all of our 1800+ lessons.
You wanted to stream them from your phones, tablets, and computers.
You wanted to listen to as many lessons as you’d like, whichever you’d like.
You wanted to listen without downloading PDFs and MP3s.
UNLIMITED ENGLISH gives you ALL this and more.
With our new UNLIMITED ENGLISH membership, you can:
Listen to as many lessons as you want each month – no limit!
Stream lessons directly on any iPhone, iPad, or Android phone or tablet
Stream lessons to any computer with an Internet connection
Learn using our new and more user-friendly website
Mark which lessons you’ve completed – know how much you’ve accomplished!
Read and listen without downloading PDFs or MP3s
Download lessons for offline use directly to an iPhone/iPad app (listen while a paying member).
We are very happy to be able to offer you our best membership ever. We think you’ll like it, so check it out today: Learn more about UNLIMITED ENGLISH!
Thank you, again, for your support!
– Jeff & Lucy
I Love Winter. I Hate Winter.
Posted on Tuesday - January 23, 2018 by Dr. Jeff McQuillan
Two things for you today:
First, last week, we announced our new Unlimited English Membership. We’ve had a great response and good feedback from our new members. Thank you for your support!
If you haven’t already checked it out, get more info at Unlimited English Membership.
Second, I want to talk about winter. Do you love it or do you hate it?
According to Ranker.com, the top 10 things people like best about winter are:
Scenery (the appearance of nature when we look at it)
Holidays
Hot chocolate (a hot drink made with water or milk and chocolate)
Fires
Christmas
Comfort food (food that makes you feel good, especially making you think of childhood or home cooking)
String lights
First snowfall of the year
Blankets (thick covering to keep you warm, usually on your bed)
Cuddling (holding someone in your arms to show affection)
The 10 worst things are:
Black Ice (ice that is transparent (you can see through) that is usually on roads or other hard surfaces)
Icy sidewalks (walkways beside the road)
Wind Chill Factor (how cold you feel with the combination of the temperature and wind speed)
Flu (short for “influenza,” a common disease that is caused by a virus (a very small living thing that can get inside of your body and cause illness) that makes you feel weak, feverish (with high body temperature), and experience body pains.
Scraping/Defrosting car (to scrape: push a hard surface against something to remove dirt or ice; to defrost: to remove ice, usually with heat)
Runny noses (when mucus (thick, slippery substance produced by your body) comes out of your nose)
Heat bills
Dry skin
Driving
Shoveling
Do you love or hate winter?
Me? I hated winters in Minnesota, but I love winter in Los Angeles.
~ Jeff
What Does “To Be Livid” Mean?
Posted on Tuesday - January 30, 2018 by Dr. Jeff McQuillan
Today I talk about the meaning of the word livid in English. Watch this short video to learn what it means and how we use it:
Get more information about Unlimited English here.
~Jeff
