Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 358, Surfing the Internet.
This is ESL podcast episode 358.
I'm your host, Dr Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Visit our website at eslpod.com.
You can download the learning guide for this episode, an 8-10 page guide we provide for all of our current episodes.
That gives you a complete list of the vocabulary words described definitions, new sentences using these words that you will learn on this episode, comprehension questions, cultural notes and a complete transcript of this episode.
This episode is called Surfing the Internet.
It's a dialogue between Isaiah and Nancy about surfing the web.
Let's get started.
Aren't you supposed to be working?
I just thought I would take a break and surf the web a little.
You'd better be careful which sites you visit.
You know that Big Brother is watching.
The boss told us that, but I don't believe it.
They're not going to care if I read a blog or check out a forum once in a while.
That may be, but I would suggest clearing your history and your cash after you do that.
You never know when someone is going to be checking up on you.
Listen, I've installed plugins and downloaded programs.
I'm not supposed to onto this computer and I've never gotten into trouble.
I think the boss is just using scare tactics to keep us from messing around when we're supposed to be working.
Like I said, you can dig your own grave if you want to.
Vivian was shopping on the internet on her work computer a couple of weeks ago and some questionable pop-ups opened when she moved to a new tab.
She didn't notice it, and when the boss went onto her computer to get a document while she was at lunch, he saw it.
She was in hot water.
Don't worry.
I know what I'm doing.
I know how to cover my tracks.
Our conversation between Isaiah and Nancy begins by Isaiah asking Aren't you supposed to be working?
Isaiah is saying, You should be working, Nancy.
Why aren't you?
Nancy says, To take a break means to stop working for a short period of time.
To surf the web means to browse or navigate the internet, to spend time visiting different websites.
Usually we use that expression to describe activity that we're doing for fun.
Isaiah says you'd better be careful which sites you visit.
You know that Big Brother is watching.
The phrase comes from a novel by George Orwell called 1984, a famous novel about a totalitarian society, a dictatorship in the future.
Nowadays, we use the expression to mean that someone could be spying on you or someone could be watching you when you don't realize it.
Nancy says the boss told us that, told us that we should not be surfing the web, but I don't believe it.
A blog is short for weblog.
It's a website that has information, usually on a single topic, usually with one person, and each time the person wants to add something new to their web page, they can post to their blog about it.
A forum is a website where many people who are interested in the same topic can exchange ideas.
Another word for forum is discussion group.
Many years ago, we called these bulletin boards.
It was the same idea.
Isaiah says, that may be, meaning that may be true.
You may be correct.
But I would suggest clearing your history and your cache after you do that, after you surf the web.
To clear your history means to eliminate a record of all of the websites that you have visited.
Your cache is your temporary computer memory, a place where the computer stores data or keeps data temporarily.
Isaiah says you never know when someone is going to be checking up on you.
To check up on someone means to watch someone, to monitor their behavior, to look to see what they're doing, usually to find out if they're doing something wrong, if they're doing something they should not be doing.
A parent might check up on their son or daughter to make sure that they are doing their homework instead of watching music videos or surfing the internet like their parents do at work.
Nancy says, listen, meaning pay attention, listen to me.
I've installed plugins and downloaded programs I'm not supposed to onto this computer.
To install means to put a software program on your computer.
A plugin is a part of a software program that makes the program work better or work in a new way.
Download, you may know, means to save something from the Internet onto your computer.
I should point out that the pronunciation of the word Internet depends on how quickly you hear someone saying it.
Many people just say Internet as if there were no T.
If they're pronouncing it more carefully, they may say internet.
But in normal conversation, many people say the internet without a T sound.
Nancy says, I've never gotten into trouble.
I think the boss is just using scare tactics to keep us from messing around when we're supposed to be working.
A scare tactic is a way of doing something that makes someone afraid to do a certain thing.
It makes them scared or frightened.
A tactic is a method, a strategy, an approach to something.
So a scare tactic is something that someone does so that you, for example, will not drink while you are driving.
They'll tell you that you will go to jail.
Actually, that's not a scare tactic.
That will happen in the United States if the police officer sees you.
We don't recommend that.
Nancy says the boss is using scare tactics to keep us to prevent us from messing around.
To mess around means to spend time doing something that is not work, not productive, something that is silly.
Nancy is, of course, correct, probably.
She is surfing the internet when she's supposed to be working, so the boss, I think, was right.
Isaiah says, The expression to dig your own grave means to do something that will create future problems for you.
The grave...
G-R-A-V-E is the place where they put a body after a person has died.
To dig means to remove the dirt from the hole so that you have a hole for a grave.
To dig your own grave then, is to cause something that will make you die or that will cause you problems.
Isaiah says that Vivian had some questionable pop-ups open when she moved to a new tab.
Questionable means probably not good, something that is not helpful.
It's not true, for example.
He has questionable tactics, meaning what he does.
His strategies are perhaps dishonest or not ethical.
Vivian had some questionable pop-ups.
A pop-up is short for a pop-up window.
To pop up means to rise up quickly, to come up quickly.
On the Internet.
It means having a small window open when you open another page, usually something that you didn't want.
These are often advertisements, as you probably know.
Vivian's pop-up opened when she moved to a new tab, T-A-B.
A tab is when you have more than one web page open on your web browser.
You can switch between pages by creating these tabs.
Tab has a couple of different meanings in English, as does the word forum.
Take a look at our learning guide for some additional explanations.
Isaiah says that the boss went to her computer, to Vivian's computer, and he saw these questionable pop-ups.
Later, Vivian was in hot water.
To be in hot water means to be in trouble, to be in a difficult situation, usually because you did something wrong.
If you came home late last night after staying with your friends until 1 o'clock in the morning, you would be in hot water with your wife, meaning your wife would not be very happy.
Nancy says, don't worry, I know what I'm doing.
I know how to cover my tracks.
To cover your tracks means to hide what you have done, to make it so that no one can see what you did.
Usually it's something that you did wrong, something that you were not supposed to do, like surfing the internet on your computer at work instead of working.
You wouldn't do that, I know.
Now let's listen to this dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
Aren't you supposed to be working?
I just thought I would take a break and surf the web a little.
You'd better be careful which sites you visit.
You know that Big Brother is watching.
The boss told us that, but I don't believe it.
They're not going to care if I read a blog or check out a forum once in a while.
That may be, but I would suggest clearing your history and your cash after you do that.
You never know when someone's going to be checking up on you.
Listen, I've installed plug-ins and downloaded programs I'm not supposed to onto this computer and I've never gotten into trouble.
I think the boss is just using scare tactics to keep us from messing around when we're supposed to be working.
Like I said, you can dig your own grave if you want to.
Vivian was shopping on the Internet on her work computer a couple of weeks ago and some questionable pop-ups opened when she moved to a new tab.
She didn't notice it, and when the boss went onto her computer to get a document while she was at lunch, he saw it.
She was in hot water.
Don't worry.
I know what I'm doing.
I know how to cover my tracks.
The script for this episode was written by the never questionable Dr. Lucy Say.
From Los Angeles, California, I'm Jeff McQuillan.
Thank you for listening.
We'll see you next time on ESL Podcast.
English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr Lucy Say, hosted by Dr Jeff McQuillan.
This podcast is copyright 2008.
