Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1156.
Unsafe factory conditions.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1156.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
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This episode is a dialogue between Kathy Lee and Rashid about a factory, a place where things are made that is not safe.
Let's get started.
You won't find any problems in your inspection of our factory.
I'm glad to hear that.
Where do these stairs lead?
It's just a level for storage.
You don't need to see that.
I need to inspect every part of this factory.
Please step aside.
You have people working on this floor and it's not structurally sound and certainly not intended for heavy manufacturing.
This attic was never meant for industrial use.
It's only temporary.
There are no fire escapes, fire extinguishers, or emergency exits.
Well, I... None of the workers are wearing protective clothing.
And I see signs of child labor.
No, no, no.
I wouldn't hire anyone underage.
I am ordering an immediate shutdown of this factory due to flagrant violations of building code and labor laws.
But you can't do that.
We have orders to fill. not when this building is in danger of imminent collapse.
Kathy Lee begins our dialogue by saying to Rashid, You won't find any problems in your inspection of our factory.
Kathy Lee says, We understand from the dialogue, is the owner of a factory, F-A-C-T-O-R-Y.
A factory is usually a place where things are made, physical things are produced.
You might have a factory that makes shirts or chairs or automobiles.
An inspection, I-N-S-P-E-C-T-I-O-N, is when someone comes into a place and looks very carefully to make sure that all of the rules and laws are being followed.
Inspection comes from the verb to inspect, which means to look at something closely, carefully.
Rashid says I'm glad to hear that, meaning I'm glad that I will not find any problems in my inspection.
He then asks, where do these stairs lead?
We use the verb lead, L-E-A-D, when we are referring to where the stairs end up, where they go.
If you ask where does this road lead to, you're asking the place to which the road goes.
In this case, Rashid is asking about the stairs.
Where do these stairs lead?
He could have said where do these stairs lead to, meaning where do they go?
What happens if you go up them?
Where will you be?
Kathy Lee says it's just a level for storage, meaning the stairs go up to a floor or level in the building that is used to keep things.
Storage, S-T-O-R-A-G-E, refers to keeping things that you are going to use later.
Kathy Lee says you don't need to see that.
Rashid says, I need to inspect every part of this factory.
Rashid wants to see this place where the stairs lead to.
He then tells Kathy Lee, please step aside.
The phrasal verb to step aside means to move out of the way of someone.
If you are standing in front of something or someone and that person wants to get at that thing, wants to look at it, and you are in his way, The person may say to you please step aside.
Please move your body so I can go through this area or see what you are standing in front of.
Kathy Lee responds to Rashid, if you insist.
The expression if you insist means if you say you absolutely have to or if you are demanding me to do this.
Rashid says you have people working on this floor and it's not structurally sound and certainly not intended for heavy manufacturing.
Rashid, we're guessing walks up the stairs and sees this level, this floor, and comments that it's not structurally sound.
Structurally refers to the building being built in a certain way, constructed or made in a certain way.
Structurally sound refers to a building or a house that is built well, that is constructed so that it is safe, that is made so that it won't fall down.
If your house is structurally sound, it won't fall down easily.
It is built for normal use.
It's safe.
Rashid, however, says that Kathy Lee's factory is not structurally sound.
The floor that Rashid is on is not intended for heavy manufacturing.
Manufacturing comes from the verb to manufacture, M-A-N-U-F-A-C-T-U-R-E.
To manufacture means to make something.
Again, to make something physical like a chair or a computer or a piece of clothing.
Manufacturing then refers to the process of making something.
Heavy H-E-A-V-Y manufacturing is making something that is very large, such as perhaps a car, or it could also refer to a large machine that is used to make something, and the machine itself might be heavy and therefore require a building that is strong enough to hold it.
Rashid says this attic was never meant for industrial use.
Rashid and Kathy Lee are apparently in the attic of this building.
An attic A-T-T-I-C is an area just below the roof of a building that is not normally used for anything, or perhaps is used only for storage.
But in Kathy Lee's factory, it's being used to make things.
That's why Rashid says this attic was never meant for or designed for industrial use.
That is, to be used to make things to be used as part of a factory.
Kathy Lee insists however, that it's only temporary, meaning she's only using this part of the building for a short period of time.
Rashid then goes on to explain why this part of her factory is not safe.
He says there are no fire escapes, fire extinguishers or emergency exits.
Let's start with that last term, emergency exits.
An exit is a way to get out of a room or a building.
An emergency exit is a door or window you use to escape a building that perhaps has a fire inside of it.
It's a way of getting out of a building or a house quickly.
A fire escape is is a way of getting out of a building very quickly in case of a fire.
Usually we associate fire escapes with ladders that go on the outside of a building or metal stairs that are on the outside of a building that you use in order to get out of the building quickly if there's a fire.
A fire extinguisher is a small device you use to put out a fire.
The phrasal verb to put out means in this case to stop the fire.
Extinguisher comes from the verb to extinguish, which means exactly the same thing to put out a fire, to stop a fire from burning.
If you have a fire at...
Your house or in the building where you're working, the firefighters will come and try to extinguish the fire.
They'll try to stop the fire from burning, which is basically to get rid of the fire, if you will.
Rashid tells Kathy Lee why this area is not safe.
She says, well, I... She's trying to come up with a reason or an excuse.
Rashid continues to give reasons why Kathy Lee's factory is unsafe.
He says, none of the workers are wearing protective clothing, and I see signs of child labor.
Protective clothing is clothing that would prevent you from getting injured.
Firefighters wear protective clothing that is meant to protect them from the heat of a fire.
In some factories, the workers have to wear protective clothing if they are, for example, dealing with chemicals that might hurt them.
Child labor refers to using children usually defined in the United States as those under the age of 16 as workers.
With some exceptions, it's illegal to have someone work for you, especially in a factory, if they are under a certain age 16 or 18, depending on the kind of work they are doing.
Kathy Lee says, no, no, no, I wouldn't hire anyone under age.
Underage, U-N-D-E-R-A-G-E, means someone who is not old enough legally to do a certain activity.
So for drinking alcohol in the United States, underage means under the age of 21.
For working at most jobs, underage would mean under the age of 16.
Kathy Lee says she would not hire or employ anyone underage.
Rashid says I am ordering an immediate shutdown of this factory due to flagrant violations of building code and labor laws.
Rashid, who we guess works for the government and has the power to inspect factories, says he is ordering an immediate shutdown.
A shutdown, S-H-U-T-D-O-W-N, one word. is when a business stops operating, when a business closes, especially in the case of the government telling the business it has to close.
A flagrant F-L-A-G-R-A-N-T violation is a violation or breaking of the law or rule that That is obvious, that anyone can see.
Rashid says Kathy Lee's factory has flagrant violations of building code and labor laws.
The building code C-O-D-E refers to the rules that governments have for the way that a house or a building must be built in order to make it safe.
Labor laws refer to laws that regulate who can work and for how many hours and under what conditions.
Kathy Lee says, but you can't do that.
We have orders to fill.
Kathy Lee is telling the inspector that he cannot shut down her factory because the factory has orders to fill.
Orders refer to requests that come from people who want to buy things from the factory.
To fill F-I-L-L.
An order means to give a company or a person what that company or person requested.
To sell the person what the person wants to buy.
Rashid says that Kathy Lee cannot fill these orders as long as the building the factory is in danger of imminent collapse.
Something that is imminent, I-M-M-I-N-E-N-T, is something that will happen very soon.
Usually, we use this adjective when we're talking about something that is bad or dangerous.
That is about to happen.
A collapse C-O-L-L-A-P-S-E of a building is when a building falls down or a house crashes down because of some structural problem, or perhaps because of some other accident, or maybe even an earthquake.
We have lots of earthquakes here in Southern California where the ground moves, and Well, that can cause buildings to collapse.
The building basically falls down.
Rashid is saying that Kathy Lee's factory is in danger of imminent collapse, meaning it might fall down quite soon.
And that's why Rashid wants to close the factory.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
You won't find any problems in your inspection of our factory.
I'm glad to hear that.
Where do these stairs lead?
It's just a level for storage.
You don't need to see that.
I need to inspect every part of this factory.
Please step aside.
If you insist.
You have people working on this floor and it's not structurally sound and certainly not intended for heavy manufacturing.
This attic was never meant for industrial use.
It's only temporary.
There are no fire escapes, fire extinguishers, or emergency exits.
Well, I... None of the workers are wearing protective clothing.
And I see signs of child labor.
No, no, no.
I wouldn't hire anyone underage.
I am ordering an immediate shutdown of this factory due to flagrant violations of building code and labor laws.
But you can't do that.
We have orders to fill.
Not when this building is in danger of imminent collapse.
All of our dialogues are structurally sound, or at least grammatically sound, we hope, thanks to the wonderful work of our wonderful scriptwriter, Dr Lucy Saye.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
Come back and listen to us 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 2015 by the Center for Educational Development.
