Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 789, Taking Care of Pets.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 789.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Our website is eslpod.com.
You probably know that.
Sample sentences, additional definitions, culture notes, comprehension questions.
But wait, there's more, a complete transcript of everything we say on this episode.
This episode is about taking care of pets.
Pets are things like dogs and cats, animals that people have in their house for some weird reason.
Let's get started.
Ooh, he's so cute.
When did you get him?
Yesterday.
I'm training him to do tricks.
Really?
Are you having any luck?
No, not yet.
So far, he just lies there.
But maybe he's hungry and doesn't have any energy to play.
I'm going to feed him a few treats and give him some water in his bowl.
Uh, okay.
And then later, I'm going to take him for a walk.
Here are the new collar and leash I bought for him.
I'll be sure to bring his carrier in case he gets too tired to walk.
Whatever you say, are you sure you need to do all that?
Oh, sure.
It's important to keep pets healthy and happy, don't you think?
I'm going to groom him later.
I wouldn't want him to get fleas or ticks.
Maybe I should take him to see the vet for a checkup.
I really don't think that'll be necessary.
Tony, you do know that that's a pet rock, right?
Yeah.
What's your point?
Our dialogue is about taking care of pets.
And you know I love pets.
Love, love, love the pets.
Can't have enough of them.
Well, this is about pets.
It's a dialogue that begins with Magda saying, Oh, he's so cute.
He's so cute.
He's so good looking.
He's nice to look at.
Magda says, When did you get him?
Tony says yesterday, I'm training him to do tricks.
To train, T-R-A-I-N, means to teach someone or to teach a pet to do something that special.
For example, when you clap your hands, the dog jumps up.
Or when you say newspaper, the dog goes over to the newspaper, picks it up and brings it back to you.
That's what dogs used to do when people had newspapers.
To train then, means to educate, if it's a human being, or to teach somehow, if it's an animal, to do tricks.
A trick is anything an animal can be trained to do, such as sit or stand up or get your newspaper, make your coffee.
That would be a great trick.
Magda says, really?
Are you having any luck?
Meaning, have you been successful?
Is it working?
Tony says, no, not yet.
So far, he just lies there.
To lie, L-I-E, does not mean here to not tell the truth.
That can be to lie.
Instead, it means to be in a resting horizontal position.
It's the opposite of standing.
Sort of.
When you stand, you are completely vertical.
When you lie or lie down, you are completely horizontal.
If you're sitting, you're mostly vertical, but of course your legs are horizontal.
Anyway, Tony says his pet is just lying there, but maybe he's hungry and doesn't have enough energy to play.
To feed, F-E-E-D, means to give food to someone.
Could be a person, could be an animal.
Tony says he's going to feed his pet a few treats.
A treat is a special food that tastes good.
Often it's sweet.
Often it's a reward for doing something well or for accomplishing something.
A treat can be given to a person or it could be given to an animal.
Tony says he's going to give his pet some water in his bowl.
B-O-W-L.
A bowl is a small bowl. round dish that holds liquid, such as water, for, say, a dog.
I should mention that treat has a couple of other meanings as well.
Those can be found in our wonderful learning guide.
Magda says, oh, okay.
Tony says, and then later, later on, I'm going to take him for a walk.
He's going to take his pet for a walk.
They're going to walk together.
He says, here are the new collar and leash I bought for him.
A collar C O L L A R is a piece of leather or cloth that goes around the neck of an animal.
Usually it has some sort of information on it that says to whom the animal belongs, what we would call a tag T-A-G.
A leash L-E-A-S-H is a long piece of leather or some sort of cloth, that that you use to attach to the collar and you hold it in one hand.
And that's how you control the animal.
Make sure the animal doesn't run away from you.
You hold the animal with the leash attached to the collar around his neck.
Tony says I'll be sure to bring his carrier in case he gets too tired to walk.
A carrier, C-A-R-R-I-E-R, here means a box or a cage used to carry an animal.
For example, if you are going to be flying on a plane and you want to bring your cat, you could put your cat in a carrier and then you would put the cat.
Well, I don't know where you'd put the cat under your seat, up above in the storage compartment, just nowhere near my seat, please.
Magda says, whatever you say, are you sure you need to do all that?
Do you really need to do all of the things you are planning on doing?
Tony says, oh, sure.
It's important to keep pets healthy and happy.
Don't you think?
Meaning, don't you agree with me?
I'm going to groom him later on.
To groom G-R-O-O-M means to clean or wash an animal, often using a special tool called a brush, just like you brush your hair with this small tool that keeps your hair straight.
I use a brush every day.
To brush an animal would be to use that same tool to make sure the animal looks nice, the hair on the animal looks nice.
People groom their dogs and their cats, I guess.
Tony grooms his pet because he doesn't want it to get fleas or ticks.
Fleas, F-L-E-A-S, are small insects that live at the base of the hair of an animal.
They can bite the skin.
It could also be on a human being, but normally we associate fleas with dogs, for example, or other animals.
Ticks, T-I-C-K-S, is also a small insect that actually can go inside of the skin.
Both humans and animals can get ticks, especially if they are outside in certain parts of the country where there are a lot of trees.
We used to get ticks back in Minnesota.
Not here in California.
I'm sure there are some ticks somewhere.
But fortunately, the pollution of Los Angeles kills most animals, and so we don't have that problem.
I'm just kidding.
It doesn't actually kill most animals.
Didn't kill me.
Not yet.
Tony says, maybe I should take him to see the vet for a checkup.
He wants to take his pet to the vet, V-E-T.
Vet is short for veterinarian, which is basically an animal doctor, someone who gives medical care to animals.
We call that person a vet.
It's sort of confusing because a vet can also be a veteran, someone who has fought in a war.
So if you are a doctor for animals who fought in the war, then you're a vet vet, I guess.
I'm just kidding.
It's true, though, that vet can mean veteran and vet can be an animal doctor.
A checkup, C-H-E-C-K-U-P, is a medical exam.
Many doctors say you should have a checkup every year.
You should go to your doctor, and your doctor checks your blood pressure and takes some tests.
That's a checkup to make sure there's nothing wrong with you, because of course sometimes you can be sick and not know it.
Magda says, I really don't think that will be necessary.
She doesn't think it will be necessary to take Tony's pet to the vet.
She says, Tony, you do know that that's a pet rock, right?
She's saying to Tony, do you understand that this pet is actually a pet rock?
A pet rock is a little rock, a little stone that has two eyes glued on it.
It was sold back in the 1970s.
It was very popular in the 1970s as sort of a joke gift.
People would buy these pet rocks.
It was a completely stupid, idiotic, ridiculous idea.
And of course, that's why it sold millions and millions of dollars.
So if you don't know what a pet rock is, it's what it sounds like.
It's a rock.
It's a piece of stone.
It's not an animal.
It's not alive.
But people bought these pet rocks.
I don't know why.
I didn't buy one.
Tony says, yeah, what's your point?
So, in other words, we've been hearing Tony talking about taking care of his pet, feeding it, taking it for a walk, when at the end of the dialogue, we find out it's not an animal at all.
It's just a rock.
But Tony feels a little insulted, perhaps, by Magda's question.
He says, yeah, what's your point?
What's your point is a question we use when we are asking the other person to explain what they mean, right?
Often we use this when we feel we're being criticized, when someone is saying something negative about us.
We may say, what's your point?
Meaning, I don't understand, why are you saying that?
You're asking for them to explain more of why they are saying what they are saying, especially if it's something negative about you.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Ooh, he's so cute.
When did you get him?
Yesterday.
I'm training him to do tricks.
Really?
Are you having any luck?
No, not yet.
So far he just lies there, but maybe he's hungry and doesn't have any energy to play.
I'm going to feed him a few treats and give him some water in his bowl.
Uh, okay.
And then later, I'm going to take him for a walk.
Here are the new collar and leash I bought for him.
I'll be sure to bring his carrier in case he gets too tired to walk.
Whatever you say.
Are you sure you need to do all that?
Oh, sure.
It's important to keep pets healthy and happy, don't you think?
I'm going to groom him later.
I wouldn't want him to get fleas or ticks.
Maybe I should take him to see the vet for a checkup.
I really don't think that'll be necessary.
Tony, you do know that that's a pet rock, right?
Yeah.
What's your point?
Our scriptwriter needs no training.
That's because we have the wonderful Dr. Lucy Say.
Thank you, Lucy.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us again here on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
Copyright 2012 by the Center for Educational Development.
