Welcome to English as a Second Language podcast number 1110, Experiencing a Drought.
This is English as a Second Language podcast episode 1110.
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 Fabian and Leah about not having enough water where you live what we would call a drought.
Let's get started.
How long do you think this drought is going to last?
I have no idea, but I'm not worried.
I grew up in the desert.
Not having enough precipitation was just a fact of life.
Yes, but people here aren't used to getting this little rainfall.
Their livelihood depends on having a reliable water supply for their crops.
You make it sound like we're experiencing another dust bowl, when the water table is just a little low.
I think it's a little more serious than that.
What we need here is a reservoir that would give this town the water reserves it needs in case of a drought.
What we really need are fewer dust storms and more thunderstorms.
And for people to stop over-farming, that and deforestation are half the problem.
You may be right, but that's not what people want to hear right now.
They need some relief.
Maybe the town's water conservation efforts will make a difference.
Well, I'm certainly willing to stop bathing if it'll help.
I thought you already had.
Fabian asks Leah, A drought, D-R-O-U-G-H-T, is a very dry period of time with little or no rain.
Here in California, we have a history of droughts.
In fact, as I record this episode, we are in the middle of another drought, a long period of time with little or no rain.
Leah says, I have no idea, meaning I don't know how long this drought will last.
But, she adds, I'm not worried.
I grew up in the desert.
The desert, D-E-S-E-R-T, is a hot, dry area with little or no rain.
She says not having enough precipitation was just a fact of life.
Precipitation P-R-E-C-I-P-I-T-A-T-I-O-N refers to water in any form that falls from the sky, from clouds.
That would include rain, snow and hail H-A-I-L, which is basically small little balls of frozen rain.
Leah says not having enough precipitation... was a fact of life for her, meaning it was a reality.
It was just something you had to deal with when she was growing up.
Fabian says, yes, but people here aren't used to getting this little rainfall.
Rainfall, R-A-I-N-F-A-L-L, one word, is the amount of rain... which in the U.S. is usually measured in inches, that falls from the sky during a certain period of time.
Fabian says.
Fabian is talking about the people in the area where he lives, who are apparently farmers, people who grow things and sell them.
Well, Fabian says that the livelihood of the people in this area depends on having a reliable water supply for their crops.
Livelihood, L-I-V-E-L-I-H-O-O-D, is how you make money, how you earn money to live.
In an area that has a lot of agriculture, a lot of crops C-R-O-P-S, which are plants that are grown for food or to make other products, you need a lot of water.
That's why Fabian says that they need a reliable, that is dependable, water supply.
Something that will give them the water they need.
Leah responds.
You make it sound meaning, you make it appear, you make it seem like we're experiencing another dust bowl, when the water table is just a little low.
The term dust bowl B-O-W-L refers to a specific period of time in the 1930s in the United States when, when there was a drought in the middle part of the United States causing a lot of people who lived there to leave.
In fact, many of the people who lived in this area moved to California in order to find work.
Leah is saying that the situation now is not like the Dust Bowl.
It's not that bad.
She says the water table is just a little low.
The water table T-A-B-L-E refers to the water that is below the surface of the ground.
How deeply below the ground the water is found?
Leah's saying it isn't really a serious drought.
Fabian disagrees.
He says, I think it's a little more serious than that.
That is, than how you are describing it, Leah.
Leah says what we need here is a reservoir.
A reservoir R-E-S-E-R-V-O-I-R is a large area used to hold or store water that is used by a town or a city.
Many cities have reservoirs.
Los Angeles has a couple of reservoirs.
But apparently where Leah and Fabian live, there is no reservoir.
Leah says the reservoir would give this town the water reserves it needs in case of a drought.
Reserves refers to a supply of something that is being stored for use in the future, especially in a situation where you may not have enough of something.
The United States used to perhaps it still does have something called oil reserves, where the country would store a certain amount of oil in case there was a crisis or an emergency in which we couldn't get enough oil for our needs.
Leah's proposing something like that for water.
Fabian says what we really need are fewer dust storms and more thunderstorms.
A dust storm is a period of time when you have a lot of very strong wind that is blowing or carrying a lot of dirt and dust through the air.
Usually we associate dust storms with a very dry area.
Thunderstorms are storms where you have a lot of rain that comes down often in a very short amount of time.
Thunderstorms also produce loud noises called thunder.
Fabian thinks the area needs more rain, of course.
We already know this.
Leah says, and for people to stop over-farming.
To over-farm would be to try to grow similar kinds of plants, similar kinds of crops in a certain area.
That might be bad for the soil, for the dirt.
Leah suggesting that the farmers have to change their practices.
Leah also says that deforestation is part of the problem.
Deforestation.
D-E-F-O-R-E-S-T-A-T-I-O-N, has in the middle of it another word, forest, F-O-R-E-S-T.
A forest is an area with many trees.
So deforestation is cutting down those trees.
Apparently, Leo thinks that that is part of the problem in terms of having enough water in the area.
Fabian says, you may be right, but that's not what people want to hear right now.
That's not what people want you to tell them.
They need some relief, R-E-L-I-E-F.
Relief can mean a couple of different things.
Here it means a period of time after a very bad experience, when the experience stops, when the pain stops, for example.
You get a period of relief when you no longer hurt, or in this case, no longer have a bad situation.
Leah says, maybe the town's water conservation efforts will make a difference.
Water conservation refers to efforts to use less water in your home, in your place of business, in farming and so forth.
The word conservation comes from the verb to conserve C-O-N-S-E-R-V-E, which means to save something or to prevent it from getting worse.
Fabian says, well, I'm certainly willing to stop bathing if it'll help.
To bathe, B-A-T-H-E, means to clean your body.
Fabian is suggesting that maybe he should stop bathing himself.
Leah makes a joke and says I thought you already had.
Meaning, I thought you already had stopped bathing.
Because perhaps she is jokingly saying that he smells or that he looks dirty.
Now let's listen to the dialogue, this time at a normal speed.
How long do you think this drought is going to last?
I have no idea, but I'm not worried.
I grew up in the desert.
Not having enough precipitation was just a fact of life.
Yes, but people here aren't used to getting this little rainfall.
Their livelihood depends on having a reliable water supply for their crops.
You make it sound like we're experiencing another dust bowl, when the water table is just a little low.
I think it's a little more serious than that.
What we need here is a reservoir.
That would give this town the water reserves it needs in case of a drought.
What we really need are fewer dust storms and more thunderstorms.
And for people to stop over-farming.
That and deforestation are half the problem.
You may be right, but that's not what people want to hear right now.
They need some relief.
Maybe the town's water conservation efforts will make a difference.
Well, I'm certainly willing to stop bathing if it'll help.
I thought you already had.
Our thanks to our wonderful script writer, Dr. Lucy Say, for her wonderful scripts.
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.
Thank you.
