Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 663, Having Problems Concentrating.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 663.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
If you go to our website at eslpodcom, you can download a learning guide for this episode that will help you improve your English, and You can also take a look at our ESL podcast store, which has some additional courses in English, and our ESL podcast blog.
This episode is called Having Problems Concentrating.
To concentrate means to focus your attention on something.
Let's get started.
Aren't you supposed to be studying for the driver's test?
I'm supposed to be, but I keep getting distracted.
Reading this manual is deadly.
I know, but if you don't study you'll never pass the test.
Try to focus.
I've tried to keep my mind on the rules of the road, but I'm having trouble concentrating.
My mind keeps wandering and I'm almost ready to throw in the towel for today.
No, you can't do that.
You have to buckle down and learn what's in this manual.
I'm here to crack the whip.
What's in it for you?
What do you care if I pass the driver's test or not?
You can ask me that?
I've been chauffeuring you around since I got my driver's license and I don't plan on doing it for one second more than I have to.
All right, all right, I'll study, but not because you're telling me to.
Oh yeah?
Then why?
I want to see the look on your face the first time Dad gives me the car keys instead of you.
Wagner begins our dialogue he's no relation to the composer by asking Liesel, Aren't you supposed to be studying for the driver's test?
He's asking her whether she should be studying for the driver's test.
This is the test that you must pass in order to get a driver's license in one of the states in the United States.
It's called the driver's test.
There are two parts.
One is written and one is we call it behind the wheel, meaning you actually have to go out and drive and show that you know how to drive.
Liesel says, I'm supposed to be.
That is what I am supposed to be doing.
But I keep getting distracted.
To be distracted means that you are not able to focus.
You are not able to concentrate.
You focus on this and then suddenly you do something else, and then a minute later you are doing something different.
You're not focusing on one thing.
You might also say that loud music coming from your neighbor, for example, would be distracting.
I know I find it distracting.
Liesl says reading this manual is deadly.
A manual in this dialogue means a small book that tells you how to do something.
When you buy a new car, it usually comes with a little book that tells you how to do all the different things you might want to do with your car.
That little book is called a manual, M-A-N-U-A-L.
There are other meanings of that word, and those can only be found in our learning guide.
Well, not only, but definitely in our learning guide.
Liesl says that reading this driver's manual is deadly.
This is a somewhat informal phrase, meaning really boring very, very uninteresting or very unpleasant, something that isn't nice.
Literally deadly is something that can kill you, but here it's being used informally to mean something that is very boring.
Wagner says, I know, I know it's deadly, but if you don't study, you'll never pass the test.
You'll never get a score on the test high enough to to pass it, to get your license.
He says, try to focus.
Try to concentrate.
Focus also has other meanings, and they are also in this episode's learning guide.
Liesl says I've tried to keep my mind on the rules of the road, but but I'm having trouble concentrating.
To keep your mind on something is another way of saying to focus on something, to concentrate about one particular thing and not have your mind think about other things.
We might say to not have your mind wander W-A-N-D-E-R to think about this, and then the that, and then something else, and then the girl you saw at the store today, and then your mother-in-law, and so on and so forth.
What was I saying?
Oh, concentration.
So let's see.
My mind keeps wandering.
You see, I keep thinking of other things.
This morning, I woke up.
My throat hurt a little.
I think it's just allergies.
I think it's just something that's temporary, but it's made it difficult to concentrate.
Now back to the dialogue.
Liesl says, I've tried to keep my mind on the rules of the road.
I've tried to focus or concentrate on the laws and regulations about how you are supposed to drive.
Most countries have similar laws and regulations, but there are differences.
We call these the rules of the road.
Liesl says that she's having trouble concentrating.
We just explained what it means if your mind wanders.
To throw in the towel is an old expression, still used, meaning to stop trying to do something.
The phrasal verb here is to give up.
To stop trying to do something, usually because it's difficult.
To throw in the towel is the expression.
Wagner says, no, you can't do that.
You have to buckle down and learn what's in this manual.
To buckle B-U-C-K-L-E down is another two-word phrasal verb meaning to become very serious about trying to do something, to try to complete some job or some task, something that you need to finish without delaying, without stopping, without making excuses, saying oh, I can't do that because of this reason or that reason.
This is an expression we use when something is perhaps very difficult, but we need to complete it.
We need to finish the task.
Wagner says, I'm here to crack the whip.
This is another expression, to crack, C-R-A-C-K.
The whip, W-H-I-P.
To crack the whip means to make someone else do something, to be very controlling about what the other person is doing, to tell them to keep going, don't stop.
Usually, this expression is used to mean that the person doesn't want to do the task, and so you, as their boss or parent or supervisor, have to force them to do it.
You have to crack the whip.
A whip is something that is used to It's a long piece of leather, rope, or other material that's very thin, and it is used to hit an animal, for example.
You may whip an animal to get it to go faster, to walk faster.
It was also used for slaves, human beings who were property.
They were also sometimes punished by being whipped.
Notice it is a verb and a noun.
Wagner is going to crack the whip.
He's going to make sure that Liesel studies.
Liesel says, what's in it for you?
The question what is in it for you is an informal way of asking what benefit or what advantage are you going to get out of this particular situation?
Why are you interested?
What is it that you are going to get?
Liesel says, why do you care, why is it important to you, if I pass the driver's test or not?
Wagner says, you can ask me that?
He's surprised that Liesel is asking him this question.
He says, I've been chauffeuring you around since I got my driver's license.
To chauffeur means to drive someone else from one place to another.
If you have a lot of money, you may have a chauffeur.
You don't drive.
This person drives you to where you want to go.
We call that person a chauffeur, and the verb is to chauffeur.
In this case Wagner is saying that he has had to drive Liesl wherever she has wanted to go since he got his driver's license.
So we're guessing that Wagner is older than Liesel.
You can get a driver's license legally in the United States, in most states, when you are 16 years old.
Although in some states, such as California, it is a restricted license, meaning there are special rules that you have to follow until you are 18 years old, which is considered the age when you become an adult legally.
Wagner says, This phrase is used to show that Wagner is very eager.
He really wants Liesel to get her license so he can stop having to be her chauffeur.
Liesel says, alright, alright, I'll study.
But not because you're telling me to study.
Wagner says, oh yeah?
Then why?
Why?
She says I want to see the look on your face the first time Dad gives me the car keys instead of you.
The look would be the expression on your face, the way your eyes and your mouth and the rest of your face expresses a certain emotion.
Liesel wants to see the look on Wagner's face the first time their father gives Liesel the keys to the car rather than Wagner.
In many families, the son or daughter, especially the teenage son or daughter, does not have their own car.
There isn't enough money for that.
So they have to borrow or use the car that their parents own.
That's what Liesel is referring to.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Aren't you supposed to be studying for the driver's test?
I'm supposed to be, but I keep getting distracted.
Reading this manual is deadly.
I know, but if you don't study, you'll never pass the test.
Try to focus.
I've tried to keep my mind on the rules of the road, but I'm having trouble concentrating.
My mind keeps wandering, and I'm almost ready to throw in the towel for today.
No, you can't do that.
You have to buckle down and learn what's in this manual.
I'm here to crack the whip.
What's in it for you?
What do you care if I pass the driver's test or not?
You can ask me that?
I've been chauffeuring you around since I got my driver's license and I don't plan on doing it for one second more than I have to.
All right, all right, I'll study, but not because you're telling me to.
Oh, yeah?
Then why?
I want to see the look on your face the first time Dad gives me the car keys instead of you.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2011 by the Center for Educational Development.
