This is ESLpod.com's A Day in the Life of Lucy, Episode 7, The Bank and the Market.
Hello, I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
In the last episode of this series...
Lucy went to work and had lunch.
In this episode, she's going to come home from work, but first go to the bank and to the market.
Let's get started.
I left work at exactly 5 o'clock because I wanted to make it to the bank before it closed at 5.30.
Fortunately, it's on the way to the bus stop.
I get to the bank and I stand in line.
I fill out a deposit envelope and sign the back of my paycheck while I wait my turn.
When I get to the front of the line, I hand the teller the envelope and I ask her if she could tell me how much I had in my account.
She told me my balance and handed me my receipt.
I ride the bus and the subway home.
I realize that I need a few things at the market and stop at one on the way there.
I pick up a cart as soon as I walk in and go to the produce department to load up on fruit some apples and bananas.
I look around to see what kind of cooked foods they have.
I'm feeling lazy and I don't want to cook tonight.
I pick up a sandwich and I head for the checkout stands.
The title of this episode is The Bank and the Market.
Lucy says she left work at exactly 5 o'clock.
We might also say at precisely 5 o'clock.
Not 5.01, not 4.59, but 5 o'clock.
Another way of expressing that is 5 o'clock on the dot, D-O-T.
On the dot means the same as exactly at that time.
So Lucy leaves her work at 5 o'clock because she says she wants to make it to the bank before it closes at 530pm.
To make it here means to arrive at the bank.
I want to make it on time.
I want to be there on time.
She wants to make it to the bank before it closes.
The bank is where you keep your money and you are able to get money from the bank.
Fortunately, Lucy says the bank is on the way to the bus stop.
On the way means it is between her work and the bus stop.
It is convenient for her.
When we say something is on the way, we mean that it is between where you are now and where you are going.
Lucy says she gets to the bank and stands in line.
To stand in line means to wait in a line until it is your turn and until it is your time to talk to the person at the bank.
So Lucy is standing in line or waiting in line.
I remember when I was young.
I come from a big family and it was so big you had to stand in line to get food every day.
And if you were last in line, you may not eat that day.
So you have to be careful when you come from a big family.
Lucy says that she filled out a deposit envelope and signed the back of her paycheck.
To fill out means to complete.
A deposit envelope is an envelope that you use to put money into your account.
It is also a verb, to deposit, which means to put something into something else.
Usually we are talking about money.
The opposite of deposit would be withdrawal.
A withdrawal, w-i-t-h-d-r-a-w-a-l, is when you take money out of your bank.
And the verb is to withdraw.
We sometimes use that verb to withdraw also when, for example, a political candidate decides that they are not going to try to win an election.
They can withdraw from the election.
They can leave the election.
Lucy signs the back of her paycheck.
A paycheck, P-A-Y-C-H-E-C-K, is a check that your company gives you.
That's your money that you get for working at the company.
Paychecks are not as common as they were even five or ten years ago in the U.S.
Most companies don't give you a physical paycheck, a piece of paper.
Instead, they put the money electronically into your bank account.
They make what we would call an electronic funds transfer.
Electronic funds, F-U-N-D-S, transfer.
Funds is just another word for money, and to transfer means to move something from one place to another.
Lucy is waiting her turn in line.
Her turn, T-U-R-N, as we mentioned before, is... her opportunity when she can talk to someone.
Someone may say to you, wait your turn.
They mean they are talking to someone else and they will talk to you after they finish talking to the other people.
When Lucy gets to the front of the line, to the beginning of the line, she hands the teller her envelope.
To hand, H-A-N-D, means to give something to someone with your hand.
The teller.
T-E-L-L-E-R is the name of the person who works at the bank, who takes your money and gives you money from your bank account.
We call that person the teller.
Lucy gives the teller her envelope and asks if the teller could tell her how much money she had in her account.
An account, A-C-C-O-U-N-T is the money that you keep with the bank.
In this case, an account can also be a relationship or an agreement you have with another company.
Sometimes in business we talk about salespeople having different accounts.
That's the same as different clients or different people that they sell things to you.
They have a relationship with them.
In this case, Lucy finds out her balance and gets her receipt.
The teller told Lucy her balance.
B-A-L-A-N-C-E Your balance is how much money you have in your bank account.
To hand her, we already know, means to give her.
Her receipt, R-E-C-E-I-P-T, is a piece of paper that says that I am giving you this much money.
Or this is how much money you put into your account.
It's so that you can show or prove, if necessary, that you put the money into your account.
Lucy decides to take the bus and the subway home.
She realizes that she needs to get a few things, some things at the market.
The market, M-A-R-K-E-T, is another word for a store, usually a store that sells food.
We would also call that a grocery store.
Lucy stops at the grocery store.
She goes to the grocery store on her way home.
The store is between her subway station and her apartment.
She picks up or gets a cart, C-A-R-T.
A cart is like a small basket or box that you put your food into when you are shopping at the supermarket or at the market.
She walks in and goes to the produce department.
Produce.
P-R-O-D-U-C-E is the word we use in a supermarket or a grocery store to refer to the fruits and vegetables.
We call that the produce.
A department is just a part of a store.
So you would have in a big supermarket a produce department maybe, a bakery meat department, a fish department perhaps.
These are different parts of the store.
Lucy goes to the produce department to load up on fruit juice.
To load up, L-O-A-D, up, two words, means to get a lot of.
I'm going to load up on fruit.
I'm going to get a lot of fruit.
She gets some apples and bananas.
She looks around to see what kind of cooked foods the market has.
Cooked, C-O-O-K-E-D, food, is food that is already prepared.
Many of them sell food that is already ready to eat.
You can just take it home and eat it.
The food is already cooked.
It could be chicken.
It could be other meat.
It could be soup.
These are all things you can buy in many big markets, many supermarkets.
Lucy says that today she is feeling lazy.
She doesn't want to work very hard, just like me.
She's feeling lazy, and she does not want to cook tonight.
Instead, she picks up or gets a sandwich and heads for the checkout stands.
So she's going to buy a sandwich.
And after she gets it, she heads for or she goes toward the checkout stands.
The checkout stands are places where you pay for the food that you want to buy.
The verb to check out, C-H-E-C-K-O-U-T, means to buy something at a store.
Usually when you go get what you want and then you go to one place to pay for it.
A stand is just another word for a place to pay for something or a place that sells something.
Lucy gets into the shortest line and the cashier rings up her sale.
She rings her up.
Of course, you want to get in the shortest line, but normally most people are in the longest line.
That's why it is the longest line, because there are more people in it.
Think about that one.
Lucy is lucky and she gets in the shortest line and the cashier, C-A-S-H-I-E-R, rings her up.
A cashier is the person that takes your money, that takes your cash or your credit card or a check.
To ring R-I-N-G, someone up, means to take their money.
When you are at a store and someone wants to buy something, the person figures out or calculates how much money you need to give them and they take your money.
That is ringing you up.
Lucy says, gets her change from the cashier.
Her change, C-H-A-N-G-E, is the money back that you get when you give a cashier cash.
So if you buy something for $15 and you give the cashier $20, your change is $5.
You see, I studied math when I was in school.
Lucy says that her bagger handed her her bags.
A bagger B-A-G-G-E-R is a person in a grocery store or a supermarket that puts the food into a bag.
In most grocery stores, at least in California...
They have baggers to help you.
In some stores, they don't, however.
You have to put your own food into a bag.
Lucy walks two blocks to her apartment and says she is ready for a relaxing evening at home.
Now let's relax and listen to the story at a normal speed.
I left work at exactly 5 o'clock because I wanted to make it to the bank before it closed at 5.30.
Fortunately, it's on the way to the bus stop.
I get to the bank and I stand in line.
I fill out a deposit envelope and sign the back of my paycheck while I wait my turn.
When I get to the front of the line, I hand the teller the envelope and I ask her if she could tell me how much I had in my account.
She told me my balance and handed me my receipt.
I ride the bus and the subway home.
I realize that I need a few things at the market and stop at one on the way there.
I pick up a card as soon as I walk in and go to the produce department to load up on fruit some apples and bananas.
I look around to see what kind of cooked foods they have.
I'm feeling lazy and I don't want to cook tonight.
I pick up a sandwich and I head for the checkout stands.
I get into the shortest line and the cashier rings me up.
She gives me my change and the bagger hands me my bags.
I walk the two blocks to my apartment and I'm ready for a relaxing evening at home.
That brings us to the end of Part 7 of A Day in the Life of Lucy.
In Part 8, Lucy is going to eat dinner and make some dessert.
This course has been a production of the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Visit our website at eslpodcom.
This course was produced by Dr Jeff McQuillan and Dr Lucy Say.
Copyright 2006.
This is ESLpod.com's A Day in the Life of Lucy.
Episode 8, Eating Dinner and Making Dessert.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
In Episode 7, Lucy went to the bank and to the supermarket.
In this episode, she's going to eat dinner and make herself some dessert.
Let's get started.
When I get home, I change into my casual clothes and head for the kitchen.
I grab my sandwich, a napkin, and sit down at the dining room table to eat.
For my birthday last year, my brother gave me some place mats that had maps of the United States on them.
I've always been bad at geography, so he thought he would be funny and give me something to study while I ate.
Of course, I haven't learned a thing.
I am still hungry after the sandwich and want some dessert.
I preheat the oven and then take a package of ready-made cookies out of the fridge that just needed to be baked.
I get out a cookie sheet and put some aluminum foil on it.
I always do this when I bake because this way I don't have to do any dishes afterwards.
I could just throw away the foil.
Then I shape the dough into circles, put them on the cookie sheet, and put the pan into the oven.
After 15 minutes...
I put on my oven mitts and take the pan out.
The cookies smell great but first I need to let them cool.
After 30 minutes, I put three of them on a plate and the rest of them in a Tupperware container.
I'll take those to work tomorrow.
That should make the day go by a little faster.
So we get to eat in this episode.
And that's good because I am hungry.
When Lucy gets home.
When she arrives home, she changes into her casual clothes.
To change C-H-A-N-G-E into is a verb.
That means to take your clothes off that you have on you right now and put on different clothes.
Someone may say i need to go change.
They mean i need to change my clothing or to change into different clothing.
Lucy changes into her casual clothes and heads for or goes toward the kitchen.
She grabs her sandwich, meaning she picks it up with her hand.
She also grabs a napkin.
A napkin, N-A-P-K-I-N, is a small towel that you use to wipe your face when you are eating. and to put on the top of your legs what we would call your lap, L-A-P, so that if any food falls down, it doesn't get your clothes dirty.
Of course, you can eat very carefully to prevent that from happening as well.
But if you don't eat carefully, then a napkin is a good idea.
Lucy sits down at her dining room table to eat.
Lucy says, for her birthday last year Her brother gave her some placemats that have maps of the United States on them.
A placemat, P-L-A-C-E-M-A-T, is a piece of plastic or paper.
It could also be a piece of cloth material that you put underneath your plate, and These placemats have maps of the United States on them.
Lucy says that she has always been bad at geography.
To be bad, B-A-D, at something means that you are not very good at it.
You could say, I'm very bad at tennis.
That means I don't play tennis very well.
Or, I'm very bad at dating.
Whenever I meet a girl, she hates me after the first date.
That's the story of my life.
Well, Lucy is not bad at dating, I don't think.
She is bad at geography.
Geography, G-E-O-G-R-A-P-H-Y, is the study of where things are, the location of things.
It's more than that, but that's what she means here.
So Lucy's bad at geography and because of that her brother thought he would be funny to give her something to study while she eats.
He thought he would be funny, meaning he was trying to make a joke, trying to be funny.
Of course Lucy says I haven't learned a thing, meaning I haven't learned anything, or I have learned nothing.
All of those mean the same.
I haven't learned a thing.
Lucy says that she's still hungry after eating her sandwich and wants some dessert.
Dessert D-E-S-S-E-R-T is usually something sweet, with sugar, for example, that you eat at the end of your meal.
It's what we would call your last course.
After your appetizer and an entree, you can have dessert.
It's my favorite part of the meal.
Lucy preheats her oven and then takes out a package of ready-made cookies.
To preheat, P-R-E-H-E-A-T, means to heat, in this case, the oven to get it ready to cook something.
An oven.
O-V-E-N is a place where you put food into it and you close the door we would call the oven door, so that the food inside will cook.
Usually we use the verb bake, B-A-K-E, when we are using an oven.
So we cook the food or we bake the food in the oven.
Lucy is going to bake a package of cookies, of ready-made cookies.
A package is just the container, the bag or the box where the cookies are kept.
When Lucy says the cookies are ready made R-E-A-D-Y, hyphen M-A-D-E she means that she doesn't have to prepare them by herself.
She doesn't have to get out eggs and water and flour and make the cookies herself.
Instead, she just has to take the cookie out of the package and put it on the pan and put it in the oven and it will cook.
If you make something by taking all of the what we would call ingredients, or the things that you use to cook your food, we would say you were cooking from scratch, right?
To cook something from scratch means that you make the entire thing yourself.
Well, Lucy is not making cookies from scratch.
She's using ready-made cookies, which she takes out of her fridge that just need to be baked.
That is, they just need to be put into the oven and they will cook.
She puts the cookies on a cookie sheet.
A cookie sheet.
S-H-E-E-T is a long flat pan that you can use to put things on when you put them in the oven.
We use that term cookie sheet even when we are not using it to bake cookies.
You can put chicken on a cookie sheet and put it in your oven.
We still call it your cookie sheet.
Lucy put some aluminum foil on her cookie sheet.
Aluminum.
A-L-U-M-I-N-U-M is a kind of metal.
Foil, F-O-I-L, is a metal sheet, a very thin sheet of aluminum.
Sometimes people just say foil instead of aluminum foil.
They mean the same thing.
It's like a sheet of paper, but it is made of metal.
And you can use it to wrap things in, to put things in.
Here Lucy is using it to keep the cookie sheet clean, to protect the cookie sheet.
She says she does this because after she finishes baking her cookies...
She doesn't have to wash any dishes or to do any dishes.
So the aluminum foil protects the sheet and so the cookie sheet doesn't get dirty.
The pan doesn't get dirty.
That's why she uses the aluminum foil.
She doesn't have to wash or do any dishes.
She just throws the foil away.
After she puts the foil on the cookie sheet, she shapes the dough into circles.
The dough, D-O-U-G-H, is a thick substance that we use to make cookies.
We also use that word dough when we are talking about pancakes or waffles types of food that you would eat in the morning.
Whenever you have something that you bake, such as bread or cookies, it begins with cookie dough.
That's the cookie before it is baked.
Lucy says she shapes the dough.
To shape, S-H-A-P-E, means to change something, to take something and to make it look different.
Here, Lucy is shaping the dough into circles, into round cookies.
She puts them on the cookie sheet and then she puts the pan, the cookie sheet, in the oven.
After about 15 minutes, Lucy puts on her oven mitts and takes the pan out.
An oven mitt.
M-I-T-T is like a glove.
It is a very thick piece of material, sometimes like a thick towel, that you can use to pick up something.
That is very hot.
You don't want to burn your hands, so you put on oven mitts.
We also use that word mitts, when talking about gloves that you wear that don't have a separate space for each finger.
A glove technically is something you put over your hand and each finger you can move separately.
With a mitt.
You put your hand in and you can move your thumb, but the four fingers are all together inside the mitt.
Well, this is an oven mitt used to take hot things out of the oven.
Lucy says that the cookies smell great. meaning they smell very good.
But first, she needs to let them cool.
To cool, C-O-O-L, is a verb which means to lower the temperature.
Something is hot, needs to cool before you eat it.
After 30 minutes, Lucy puts three cookies on a plate and puts the rest of them the remaining cookies in a Tupperware container.
Tupperware T-U-P-P-E-R-W-A-R-E is a company that makes small plastic boxes, small plastic containers that you can put food into.
Tupperware is the name of a company, so you have to use a capital T, capital T-U-P-P-E-R-W-A-R-E.
Even though you buy a plastic container that is not made by this company, people still call them Tupperware containers, or sometimes just Tupperware.
If someone says I need to buy some new Tupperware, they mean they need to buy some new plastic containers for food.
Lucy says she's going to take her cookies to work tomorrow.
That should make the day go by a little faster.
When we say the day will go by B-Y, we mean that it will seem like the day is not very long.
That time is moving very fast.
Just like when you are listening to ESLpod.com courses.
The day goes by much faster.
Speaking of faster, now let's listen to the story at a native rate of speech.
When I get home, I change into my casual clothes and head for the kitchen.
I grab my sandwich, a napkin, and sit down at the dining room table to eat.
For my birthday last year, my brother gave me some placemats that have maps of the United States on them.
I have always been bad at geography, so he thought it would be funny and give me something to study while I ate.
Of course, I haven't learned a thing.
I am still hungry after the sandwich and want some dessert.
I preheat the oven and then take a package of ready-made cookies out of the fridge that just needed to be baked.
I get out a cookie sheet and put some aluminum foil on it.
I always do this when I bake because this way I don't have to do any dishes afterwards.
I could just throw away the foil.
Then I shape the dough into circles, put them on the cookie sheet, and put the pan into the oven.
After 15 minutes, I put on my oven mitts and take the pan out.
The cookies smell great, but first I need to let them cool.
After 30 minutes, I put three of them on a plate and the rest of them in a Tupperware container.
I'll take those to work tomorrow.
That should make the day go by a little faster.
That brings us to the end of Episode 8 of A Day in the Life of Lucy.
In Episode 9, Lucy is going to do some cleaning and relaxing.
This course has been a production of the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Visit our website at eslpod.com.
This course was produced by Dr. Jeff McQuillan and Dr. Lucy Say.
Copyright 2006.
You're listening to ESLpod.com's A Day in the Life of Lucy.
Episode 9 cleaning, and relaxing.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
In Episode 8 of this course, we heard about Lucy eating dinner and making herself some dessert.
In this episode, Lucy is going to do a little cleaning and relaxing.
Let's get started.
I am feeling pretty energetic when I finish my three cookies and decide to do a little cleaning.
I take out a rag and start dusting the living room.
I dust the TV and the lamps.
I wipe the coffee table too.
The rug looked filthy, so I get out the vacuum and vacuum it.
I pick up around the room and put things away.
The bathroom needs cleaning too, but by this time, I'm starting to feel tired.
Mopping the bathroom floor and scrubbing the tub will have to wait for another day.
I turn on the TV to watch the newscast, but I miss the national news.
I flip through the channels, but all I see are commercials.
My favorite reality show doesn't come on for another hour, so I turn off the TV.
I put down the remote and pick up a magazine.
I thumb through it for a few minutes, and then the phone rings.
It's my best friend Marlene, so I put down the magazine and spend the half hour chatting with her.
There's nothing like a good talk with a good friend to end a busy day.
Episode 9 is called Cleaning and Relaxing.
Lucy starts by saying that she's feeling pretty energetic or very energetic.
Energetic is E-N-E-R-G-E-T-I-C comes from the word energy, E-N-E-R-G-Y.
Energy is the same as power.
When we say someone is energetic, usually we mean that they have a lot of willingness to do something.
They have A lot of energy.
We also use that expression.
She has a lot of energy.
That means she has a lot of strength to do things.
She doesn't get tired very easily.
It's the opposite of being tired.
It's to be energetic.
Like the host of ESLpod.com's courses.
Very Energetic.
When I finish my three cookies.
Lucy says that is when I finish eating my three cookies, I decide to do a little cleaning.
She says
So Lucy takes out a rag and starts dusting the living room.
A rag, R-A-G, or a rag...
Depends on what part of the country you are from.
In my part of the country, we say rag.
I take out a rag and start dusting the living room.
A rag is a small towel.
Usually, it's a small towel you use for cleaning.
To dust D-U-S-T means to take a rag or a small towel and remove the little bits of dirt what we call dust off of a table or a television or other furniture.
Dust can be both a noun as well as a verb.
As a noun, it's the little dirt, pieces of dirt.
As a verb, it means to remove those pieces of dirt.
Lucy says that she dusts the TV and the lamps.
She wipes the coffee table, too.
To wipe, W-I-P-E. is similar to dust.
It means taking a rag or a towel and cleaning something up.
The difference is that dusting is only used when we are talking about these little pieces of dirt that you find after a few days in your house.
When you say I'm going to wipe something however, usually that means there's some water or some other dirt, something bigger than just little pieces of dust.
So Lucy says she will wipe the coffee table also.
The rug that Lucy has looks filthy.
Filthy F-I-L-T-H-Y is another word for dirty.
So the rug on the floor looks dirty.
So she gets out the vacuum and vacuums it.
The vacuum V-A-C-U-U-M is a machine that removes dirt from the floor, from carpet or rugs by sucking the dirt out.
Vacuum can also be a verb.
So when you say I'm going to vacuum my rugs, you mean you're going to use a vacuum to clean your rugs.
Lucy picks up around the room and puts things away.
To pick up can mean to take with your hand and grab something and lift it.
But in this case, to pick up means that Lucy is going around and putting things where they belong, taking the newspaper out and throwing it away, or making sure that the table looks nice, that it's been dusted.
This is to pick up, to take things that don't belong in the room and move them somewhere else.
When you move them somewhere else, we say that you are putting them away.
So to put something away means to put it where it belongs.
Often this means putting it in a closet or somewhere where you store it or keep it so that people can't see it.
So Lucy picks up around the room and puts things that don't belong there, that should not be there, away.
The bathroom needs cleaning as well, Lucy says.
Lucy sure does have a dirty apartment.
The bathroom needs cleaning also, but by this time, she says, I'm starting to feel tired.
Mopping the bathroom floor and scrubbing the tub will have to wait for another day.
Mopping comes from the verb to mop, M-O-P.
A mop is both a noun and a verb.
As a noun, it is the thing you use to clean floors with water and soap.
It looks a little like a broom.
A broom, B-R-O-O-M, is what you use to clean dust and dirt off the floor.
A mop is what you use with water to clean a floor.
So the floor would not have a carpet or not have a rug on it.
It would just be wood or linoleum or some other material.
Well, in the story, Lucy says that she needs to mop her bathroom and to scrub her tub.
Scrub S-C-R-U-B is a verb which means to clean something by using a lot of energy, by using a lot of force.
Taking a towel, for example, and rubbing it back and forth several times.
That would be to scrub something.
Lucy says that she's too tired, so that the mopping and the scrubbing will have to wait for another day.
Or if this were my house, it would be another year.
Lucy turns on the television to watch the newscast.
A newscast N-E-W-C-A-S-T is the same as a news program or a television news show that you will watch, usually either on your television although you could have a newscast on the radio as well or on a podcast.
Lucy says that she was too late to watch the national news.
She missed the national news.
The national news, of course, would be news about the whole country, not just about your particular area.
If it is news just about your city, we would call that local news.
Lucy flips through the channels, but all she sees are commercials.
The channels, C-H-A-N-N-E-L-S, are the stations on the television.
If you have a cable television, you may have 100, 150, 200 channels.
200 different television stations you can watch.
In this case, Lucy is flipping through the channels.
To flip FLIP through the channels means to go from one channel to another, usually somewhat quickly.
You want to see what programs are on the television right now, so you flip through the channels.
Unfortunately, all Lucy sees are commercials.
Commercials are just advertisements.
These are things that you see on television that try to get you, usually, to buy something.
My favorite reality show, Lucy says, doesn't come on for another hour.
A reality show is a television program that does not have professional actors or actresses.
It is a show where there is a contest between people or groups of people.
Lucy says her show doesn't come on or isn't going to be on the television for another hour, so she turns the television off.
She puts down the remote.
The remote, R-E-M-O-T-E, is the same as the remote control.
And that's the little thing you use to change channels.
To flip through the channels means the same thing to change channels, to flip through.
It's also what you use to increase the volume, make it louder, or decrease the volume, make it quieter.
This is called a remote control.
Sometimes we just call it a remote.
In my house, for example, if I'm watching television, I have to have the remote control.
If my wife has the remote, it drives me crazy.
Back to Lucy.
Lucy says that she picks up a magazine and she thumbs through it.
To thumb through T-H-U-M-B through two words means to look at a magazine or a newspaper, but you're not looking at it very closely.
It's sort of like flipping through the channels.
You're flipping through or thumbing through the magazine to see what stories are in it or what pictures are in it.
That's what I do.
I just look at the pictures.
After a few minutes, Lucy's phone rings, and it's her best friend, Marlene.
And she says, well, come on, Marlene.
Let's talk.
And so she puts down the magazine and she spends a half an hour chatting with her friend.
To chat, C-H-A-T, means to talk to someone, usually about something that isn't very important.
She ends her story by saying, There's nothing like a good talk with a good friend to end a busy day.
There's nothing like means that this is the best, the best possible thing.
The best possible thing is a good talk, a good conversation with a good friend.
There's nothing like listening to ESL podcast to improve your English.
There's nothing like it.
I hope you agree.
Even if you don't, we're going to listen to the story now at a native rate of speech.
I'm feeling pretty energetic when I finish my three cookies and decide to do a little cleaning.
I take out a rag and start dusting the living room.
I dust the TV and the lamps.
I wipe the coffee table, too.
The rug looked filthy, so I get out the vacuum and vacuum it.
I pick up around the room and put things away.
The bathroom needs cleaning too, but by this time, I'm starting to feel tired.
Mopping the bathroom floor and scrubbing the tub will have to wait for another day.
I turn on the TV to watch the newscast, but I miss the national news.
I flip through the channels, but all I see are commercials.
My favorite reality show doesn't come on for another hour, so I turn off the TV.
I put down the remote and pick up a magazine.
I thumb through it for a few minutes, and then the phone rings.
It's my best friend Marlene, so I put down the magazine and spend the half hour chatting with her.
There's nothing like a good talk with a good friend to end a busy day.
That ends our busy episode, Episode 9.
In our tenth and final episode, Lucy is going to get ready for bed and go to sleep.
Visit our website at eslpodcom.
This course was produced by Dr Jeff McQuillan and Dr Lucy Say.
Copyright 2006.
This is ESLpodcom's A Day in the Life of Lucy, Episode 10 Getting Ready for Bed and Going to Sleep.
Hello, I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
In this tenth and final episode, we're going to see how Lucy gets ready for bed and goes to sleep.
She has already cleaned her apartment and relaxed, and now it is time to sleep.
Let's get started.
I am feeling pretty tired by 11 and decide to get ready for bed.
I go into the bathroom to take off my makeup.
I use a cleanser to wash my face and dry it with a towel.
Then I put some toner on my face and then some moisturizer.
I comb my hair and tie it back.
I don't like getting hair in my face while I sleep, so tying it back helps.
I floss and brush my teeth and am ready for bed.
By this time, I am pretty beat.
I go into my bedroom and I get undressed.
I put the dirty clothes in the hamper and put on my pajamas.
I take off my slippers and pull back the covers.
I check my alarm to make sure it's on, and then I lay down.
I have this same ritual every night, which I think helps me fall asleep more easily.
It's not long before I'm fast asleep.
Episode 10 is called Getting Ready for Bed and Going to Sleep.
Lucy begins by saying that she is feeling pretty tired, or very tired, by 11 o'clock and decides to get ready for bed.
She goes into her bathroom to take off her makeup.
To take off means to remove or to get rid of her makeup.
She uses a cleanser to wash her face and then dries it with a towel.
A cleanser, C-L-E-A-N-S-E-R, comes from the word clean, C-L-E-A-N.
It means something that you use to clean your face, in this example.
You could also have a cleanser that cleaned other things, but here...
We use it to describe a liquid that you put on your face, kind of like a soap that helps clean your face and that's called a cleanser.
After Lucy washes her face with the cleanser, she then dries it with a towel.
T-O-W-E-L.
A towel is a piece of cloth or material that you use to dry things with.
When Lucy is finished drying her face, she puts on some toner.
T-O-N-E-R.
Toner is a liquid that women put on their face, usually just women.
The liquid is supposed to make the skin on a woman's face softer and also a little bit firmer, a little bit tighter.
This is something women do at night after they have cleaned their face.
I think the word toner comes from the verb to tone t-o-n-e, which has a couple of different meanings, but is often used when you are talking about your muscles, that you want to make your muscles stronger so that they look better.
This is a case of using the word as a noun, with an R at the end toner.
And as we said, it is a liquid that some women put on their face at night.
Well, after Lucy puts this toner on her face, then she puts on some moisturizer.
Moisturizer.
M-O-I-S-T-U-R-I-Z-E-R comes from the word moist, M-O-I-S-T, which means wet, the opposite of dry.
If we say something is moist, we mean that it is wet, there is water on it.
A moisturizer as a noun is a liquid that women put on their face and sometimes their arms and legs to make the skin less dry, to give their skin more moisture, which is another noun that comes from the word moist.
It also makes their skin a little softer.
To comb C-O-M-B as a verb means to use an instrument to straighten your hair, to put it in a certain place, to move your hair in a certain way.
The thing that you use is called a comb, C-O-M-B.
So it's both a verb and a noun.
A comb is usually a long piece of plastic, sometimes metal, that has little, almost like little sticks that come out of it.
And we call those little sticks the teeth of the comb, just like your teeth in your mouth.
Lucy combs her hair and ties it back.
To tie T-I-E something is to create, usually to create a little knot k-n-o-t, which is when you take a piece of rope or string and you move it in such a way that it creates almost like a little lock and we call that a knot.
For example, when you are tying your shoes, You take the little strings in your shoes, such as tennis shoes.
We call those strings shoelaces.
And you tie knots in them so that they're tight.
So you tie a knot to keep a rope tight, to keep it from becoming loose.
In the story, Lucy says that she ties her hair back and which means she takes her hair and because she has long hair, she takes her hair and she puts it toward the back of her head and then she puts something around it to keep it there so it doesn't go back onto her face.
This is tying it back.
Lucy says that she doesn't like getting hair in her face. and that is why she ties her hair back.
Then she flosses and brushes her teeth and is now ready for bed.
By this time, she says, I am pretty beat, B-E-A-T.
When you say you are pretty beat, you mean you are very tired.
Lucy goes into her bedroom and she gets undressed.
To undress is the opposite of to dress.
To dress means to put clothes on you, so to undress means to take your clothes off.
To get undressed means to undress yourself, to take your clothes off.
Lucy takes her dirty clothes and puts them into a hamper.
A hamper, H-A-M-P-E-R, is also sometimes called a clothes hamper.
And it's a little box you can think of it as.
It's a little box where you put your dirty clothes or dirty towels that has a top on it.
It usually has a top on it, and that is a clothes hamper.
You often find them in a bedroom or sometimes in a bathroom.
After Lucy puts her dirty clothes in the hamper, she puts on her pajamas.
Pajamas, P-A-J-A-M-A-S, is a type of clothes that you wear to bed.
So they're special clothes that you wear when you are going to go to bed and fall asleep.
Lucy takes off her slippers and pulls back the covers.
She removes her slippers.
Slippers are shoes that you wear inside your house.
They are usually soft and comfortable.
You wear them to keep your feet warm and also to keep them clean from your floors.
That's a slipper.
To pull back the covers means to take the blanket that is on your bed and to take the top and pull it towards the bottom so that you can see the sheets of the bed.
Covers.
Remember C-O-V-E-R-S are the blankets and the sheets that you put on top of your bed to keep you warm.
So you pull them back so you can get into the bed, and after you get into the bed then you can pull them up, Put them back over your body.
Lucy checks her alarm or her alarm clock to make sure that it is on.
And then she lays down.
To lay, L-A-Y, down means to put your body onto the bed.
To lay down can also be used when you are putting your body down on the floor.
Lucy says that she has this same ritual every night.
A ritual... is similar to a routine.
It's when you do the same things in the same way over and over again.
Every day you get up, you brush your teeth, you watch television, you go to work.
That could be your ritual, your routine, what you do on a regular basis.
Ritual can also refer to a religious ceremony, a religious event.
But here it just means the things that Lucy does every night.
She thinks that doing this ritual in the same way every night helps her fall asleep more easily.
To fall, F-A-L-L, asleep means to go to sleep.
It's not long, she says, before I am fast asleep.
To be fast asleep.
F-A-S-T means that you are completely asleep, that you cannot be easily woken up.
You are very asleep, you might say.
You are fast asleep.
Well, I hope you have not fallen fast asleep yet and are ready to listen to our story again, this time at a regular speed.
I'm feeling pretty tired by 11 and decide to get ready for bed.
I go into the bathroom to take off my makeup.
I use a cleanser to wash my face and dry it with a towel.
Then I put some toner on my face and then some moisturizer.
I comb my hair and tie it back.
I don't like getting hair in my face while I sleep, so tying it back helps.
I floss and brush my teeth and I'm ready for bed.
By this time, I am pretty beat.
I go into my bedroom and I get undressed.
That concludes Episode 10.
We hope you've enjoyed A Day in the Life of Lucy.
If you haven't heard of the other course in this series, A Day in the Life of Jeff, go to our website at eslpodcom.
You will also find more information about our other special courses sponsored by ESLpod.com.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thanks for listening.
We hope you've enjoyed this course.
This course has been a production of the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Visit our website at eslpodcom.
This course was produced by Dr. Jeff McQuillan and Dr. Lucy Say.
Copyright 2006.
