Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 814, Getting Rid of Bugs and Rodents.
This is English as a Second Language podcast, episode 814.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
You can download it at eslpod.com.
This episode is a dialogue between the beautiful Shirin and an apartment manager about some problems she's having in her apartment.
Let's get started.
This is the one-bedroom apartment we have for rent.
Let me show you around.
Wait!
Did you see that?
It looked like a mouse or a rat.
There aren't any rodents or any other vermin in this apartment complex.
I make sure of that.
Are you sure?
Sure, I'm sure.
Only last month, I bought some mouse traps and rat poison and got rid of them all.
This complex is rodent-free.
Oh, I see.
And the month before that, we had roaches, ticks, and fleas, but I fumigated and they're gone.
You called a pest control company?
I didn't need a pest control company to get rid of a few bugs.
I did it myself.
Oh, okay.
And six months ago, we had bedbugs, but thanks to my diligence, they're gone too.
So, you want to see this apartment, or don't you?
I think I'll pass.
This conversation is making my skin crawl.
Our dialogue begins with the apartment manager saying to Shirin, this is the one bedroom apartment we have for rent.
It's an apartment with one bedroom.
You can find one bedroom apartments, two bedroom apartments, three bedroom apartments, and so forth.
The apartment manager says, let me show you around.
Let me show you the apartment.
Shirin stops and says, wait, did you see that?
It looked like a mouse or a rat.
It looked like a mouse, M-O-U-S-E, or a rat, R-A-T.
A mouse is a small animal.
It could be white.
It could be black.
It could be gray.
It has fur, hair on it.
It has a long tail and a pointed nose.
If you've ever seen any Disney movies, you know who Mickey Mouse is.
Well, Mickey Mouse doesn't really look exactly like a real mouse, but you get the idea.
That's a mouse.
By the way, there's a famous song about Mickey Mouse that was used for a television show back in the oh 60s and 70s and 80s that spelled Mickey Mouse's name.
M-I-C.
See you later.
K-E-Y.
Why?
Because we love you.
M-O-U-S-E, Mickey Mouse, Mickey Mouse, and so on.
Aren't you glad you know that now?
Shirin sees a mouse and a rat.
A rat is a little bigger than a mouse, a little longer tail on it.
The apartment manager says there aren't any rodents or any other vermin in this apartment complex.
He says, oh no no, there aren't any rodents here.
A rodent R-O-D-E-N-T is a general category that would include mice, which is the plural of mouse, and rats.
Vermin V-E-R-M-I-N is a general term describing any small animal or insect that people don't like, usually because they cause damage or they might be carrying some disease.
So vermin is a general term for any little animal or insect you don't like.
You don't hear that word a lot anymore.
The apartment complex is the building or buildings where you find apartments.
So the apartment manager says, oh, no, we don't have any rodents here.
Sharon says, are you sure?
The apartment manager says, sure, I'm sure.
Yes, I am sure.
So last month, he bought a mousetrap.
A mousetrap M-O-U-S-E-T-R-A-P.
One word is a little device, a little machine we use to catch a mouse and hold it so that we can kill it or get rid of it.
Any sort of trap for an animal is intended to capture them, to get them and hold them so you can get rid of them.
Rat poison is a chemical substance that will kill rats.
It'll probably also kill humans, too.
To get rid of something means to no longer have it, to eliminate it, to throw it away.
I'm going to get rid of all of my old Mickey Mouse comic books.
Actually, I don't have any Mickey Mouse comic books, but it's just an example.
I do have a Mickey Mouse song.
Would you like to hear that?
No?
Okay.
So the apartment manager says this complex is rodent-free.
When we say something is rodent-free or drug-free or...
Comedy-free, we mean it doesn't have those things.
Rodent-free means there's no animal here.
There are no animals, no rodents.
Drug-free means there are no drugs.
Comedy-free would be it's not very funny, kind of like this episode.
Shirin says, oh, I see.
I understand.
The apartment manager then says and the month before that we had roaches, ticks and fleas but I fumigated and they're gone.
So the apartment manager is saying no, we don't have any of these problems here, because I killed them all.
I used to have these problems.
Now, two months ago, he says, they had roaches, ticks, and fleas.
A roach, R-O-A-C-H, is also called a cockroach, C-O-C-K-R-O-A-C-H, one word.
A cockroach is a large insect that that you will often find in warm, humid places.
Humid means there's water in the air.
They often are found in places that are dirty and have a lot of little pieces of food.
That's a cockroach or a roach.
A tick, T-I-C-K, when we're talking about an insect...
Kind of like a vampire, but not exactly.
A tick can be found in many different environments.
We used to have ticks when I was back in Minnesota, where there are a lot of trees, a lot of wooded areas, we would say forests.
You will find ticks that will fall onto your skin and then bite your skin and begin to suck your blood out.
Kind of like my old girlfriend.
So the apartment manager says we don't have any roaches, ticks, or fleas.
A flea F-L-E-A is a small insect that can't fly, but it does live on the skin of animals and of people.
Dogs often have fleas.
The apartment manager says that he doesn't have any of those things because he fumigated.
To fumigate F-U-M-I-G-A-T-E means to fill a room or an area with a dangerous gas that kills insects and kills little animals.
Usually when you do this, you have to take the people out too and then fumigate.
Shirin says, you called a pest control company?
A pest.
P-E-S-T is another word for kind of like vermin, things that are small animals that bother you.
Pest control would be a business that goes into a house or a building and kills the insects, kills the animals, the vermin, we might say that are there.
The apartment manager says I didn't need a pest control company to get rid of a few bugs, a few insects.
I did it myself.
Shirin says, oh, okay.
The apartment manager then says, and six months ago, we had bedbugs.
Bed bugs.
B-E-D-B-U-G-S.
One word are little insects that live on people's bodies and are often found in mattresses.
What you sleep on.
They can be found in carpets and in clothing.
And like a tick, they also suck the blood out of your body.
So the manager says that they had bedbugs, but thanks to his diligence...
They're gone too.
Diligence, D-I-L-I-G-E-N-C-E, is careful, thorough, persistent work.
Being very careful with something, going back and checking it every day, that would be diligence.
Well, the apartment manager says he was very diligent and now they don't have any bedbugs.
Then he asks Sharon, so you want to see this apartment or don't you?
He's asking her if she still wants to see the apartment.
And she says, perhaps wisely, intelligently, I think I'll pass.
To pass, as a verb, means to choose not to do something or to have something.
Someone says, oh, would you like a piece of apple pie or a piece of chocolate cake?
And you're on a diet.
You're trying to lose weight.
You say, no, thank you, I'll pass.
I'll not have it.
Shirin says this conversation is making my skin crawl.
To make your skin crawl.
C-R-A-W-L means to be nervous, to be frightened, to be anxious, perhaps even to be a little sick or disgusted by something, something that is very unpleasant.
And obviously talking about all these different bugs and rodents makes Shirin's skin crawl.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
This is the one-bedroom apartment we have for rent.
Let me show you around.
Wait, did you see that?
It looked like a mouse or a rat.
There aren't any rodents or any other vermin in this apartment complex.
I make sure of that.
Are you sure?
Sure, I'm sure.
Only last month, I bought some mouse traps and rat poison and got rid of them all.
This complex is rodent-free.
Oh, I see.
And the month before that, we had roaches, ticks, and fleas, but I fumigated and they're gone.
You called a pest control company?
I didn't need a pest control company to get rid of a few bugs.
I did it myself.
Oh, okay.
And six months ago, we had bed bugs, but thanks to my diligence, they're gone too.
So you want to see this apartment or don't you?
I think I'll pass.
This conversation is making my skin crawl.
She's the most careful, diligent scriptwriter in Los Angeles, and her name is Dr. Lucy Say.
Thank you, Lucy, for writing our scripts.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening to Come back and listen to me again right 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.
