Topics: American Cities: San Francisco/Bay Area; the ACLU; using ‘back’ to refer to the past; failure versus error versus mistake Words: image strait bay living expenses steep cable car liberal costume civil liberties litigation to lobby to infringe upon back failure error mistake

Slow dialogue: 1:24 Explanations: 3:22 Fast dialogue: 15:04 Danica: Calm down! Stop throwing things! Have you gone berserk? Neil: Calm down?! Calm down?! You don’t know what just happened. Danica: I’ve never seen you lose your temper like this before. Take a deep breath and tell me what happened. Neil: Okay, you know that I like Samantha, right? Well, I told Malik last week. I just found out today that he’s dating her. Danica: Malik? But he’s your best friend. He wouldn’t do that. Neil: Do you think I’d be having a fit if I weren’t absolutely certain? Danica: How can you be so sure? Did he tell you? Neil: He didn’t have to. I saw him with Samantha together after work. He had his arm around her! I was ready to go off the deep end when I saw the two of them together. Danica: How do you know he wasn’t sweet-talking her for you? He could have been putting in a good word for you, you know. Neil: That’s bull! That guy is a traitor and I despise him. And I’m such a schmuck for trusting him. Danica: Well, I still think you may have gotten the wrong idea. Are you going to talk to him about it? Neil: You bet I am, just as soon as I stop foaming at the mouth. Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

Slow dialogue: 1:34 Explanations: 3:43 Fast dialogue: 15:24 Rajid: What are you doing? Nicole: I’m putting my garbage into the garbage can. Why? Rajid: Don’t you recycle? You’re supposed to separate out your recyclables and put them in a separate bin. Nicole: I know, I know, but who has the time? I don’t have that much trash anyway. Rajid: Oh, yeah? The dump is full of food containers that aren’t biodegradable from people who didn’t have the time. Nicole: Come on. Don’t blow things out of proportion. It’s not like I’m going to save the environment all by myself. Rajid: No, you’re not, but if everybody thinks the same way you do, we’re going to use up all of our natural resources. Nicole: When did you turn into an ecologist? I don’t see you conserving energy. You have your lights on all night. I can see them through your window. Rajid: I use energy-efficient bulbs. Besides, I take my recyclables to the recycling center, I have energy-efficient appliances, and I turn down my thermostat. Nicole: I’m just saying that you’re not doing everything you can to save the environment. Okay, okay. Put your money where your mouth is and help me separate out my recyclables. Rajid: Me? You want me to help you sort through your garbage? Nicole: Since you’re the expert, I need you to show me how. Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

Topics: Ask an American: Drive-in Theaters to wind someone up, you don’t say, how about you versus what about you Words: to wedge talkative to block someone’s view to be in the comfort of sprawling cranky to disrupt passion family fare second-rate tinny concession stand fattening risqué to wind someone up You don’t say!

Slow dialogue: 1:08 Explanations: 2:54 Fast dialogue: 12:31 Vicky: Did I imagine it or did you just give Gavin the cold shoulder? Gerard: You didn’t imagine it. I’m not too happy with him. Vicky: Why? What did he do? Gerard: He’s two-faced, that’s why. Last week, he told me he was going to put in a good word for me with the manager for a promotion. Vicky: So that sounds like a nice thing to do. Gerard: I thought so, too. But as it turns out, I heard from Elanda that he was bad-mouthing me behind my back. Vicky: Are you sure? Gerard: I’m sure. He told Elanda that he thought I had gone pretty far in the company for someone who had dropped out of college. That’s a backhanded compliment, if I’ve ever heard one. Vicky: That sounds pretty nasty. At least the manager wasn’t around. Gerard: She wasn’t, but who’s to say what he told her behind my back? Vicky: You know, the manager is pretty sharp and nothing gets by her. I’m sure she’ll put two and two together and realize that Gavin isn’t trustworthy. Gerard: I hope so. With friends like him, who needs enemies! Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

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