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[Story #1]

The worst part of the day for me is definitely when I have to get up. Waking up, that I can handle. But getting up? That, I hate. The covers I have on my bed
are heavy, mostly because I have a comforter as well as a light blanket. I sleep
with two pillows, which for some reason have different color pillowcases. Well, at
least the sheets match.
I sometimes wake up before the alarm goes off. I like to keep the alarm at a low
volume, with some classical music, nothing too jarring. My old roommate used to

Aaron: Mom, I have something to tell you and you’re not going to like it.

Margo: What is it?

Aaron: I’m dropping out of college. I want to get out into the real world and get a job. I’m wasting time in school.

Margo: You’ll get a better job if you stay in school and graduate with a degree. You’ll have more earning power and better long-term prospects.

Topics: Movies – Rocky; Famous Americans – Alvin Ailey; the hand of fate; riveting, to charge headlong, oblivious, and the outside world; outgoing versus a people person

Words:
amateur
boxer
working class
trainer
heavyweight champion

Today's topics: Nicknames and shortened names, 'To kill two birds with one stone' and 'The early bird gets the worm,' May vs. Can, Using do + verb, "Suite," and to wash down.

Words:
Sponsor
Nick, Nicky
Mike, Mikey
Kathy, Kath
Dave

Topics: Ask an American: forecasting the future; offhand; off the top of one’s head; out with the old, in with the new; using “more” versus “-er” to form the comparative

Words:
desalination
shortage
nanotechnology
to associate (something) with (something)
water-stressed

Topics: Famous Americans: Barack Obama; presidential inaugurations; common versus ordinary versus normal; darling and dear; full-fledged

Words:
president-elect
prestigious
achievement
remarkable
race relations

Topics: The song Amazing Grace; specialty cable/satellite channels; to slay, to kill, to murder, to slaughter; I love it versus I’m loving it; dollar versus buck

Words:
amazing
grace
sin
verse
wretch

Topics: Anti-miscegenation laws; Silicon Valley and the Research Triangle; freeway, highway, and expressway; to sport; dosey doe

Words:
miscegenation
to frown upon
interracial marriage
slavery
to abolish

Topics: Regulating monopolies and antitrust laws; American songs: Happy Birthday; whilst versus while; to blow away (something); using “do” for emphasis

Words:
monopoly
competitor
antitrust law
sanctioned
to break up

Topics: The Mormon/LDS Church; school lunches; using “in” or “on” with body parts; fall off versus fall down; a dollar down and a dollar a week

Words:
denomination
angel
revelation
polygamy
mob

Topics: Gay Rights Issues: Gay Marriage and “Don't Ask, Don't Tell”; Famous Americans: Oprah Winfrey; sneak preview; instead of versus rather than; a lot versus lots

Words:
gay
rights
spouse
civil union
to object

Topics: Patriotic songs; Carnegie Hall; grande versus venti (at Starbucks); troop versus troops; (something) is ghostwritten

Words:
patriotic
to bless
prayer
national anthem
prairie

Topics: Ask an American: social media and job searches; go ahead, make my day; years old versus year old

Words:
to scratch the surface
there’s no telling
wild, wild west
tremendous
social media

Topics: The Godfather; Graceland and Elvis; to hinder versus to hamper versus to impede; the hunt is on; quick and dirty tips

Words:
godparent
mafia
bribery
corruption
brutal

Topics: Types of prisons and the parole system; American cities: Austin; using prepositions with the days of the week; for the world to owe (one) something; late/early morning, afternoon, and evening

Words:
prison
to pose a threat
solitary confinement
cell
incarceration

Topics: Famous Americans: Tyler Perry; NASA; to think on (one’s) feet; plural for iPod Touch and other proper nouns; recognition versus acknowledgement

Words:
musical
adapted
uninhibited
recurring
to cross-dress

Topics: Yosemite National Park; PETA and animal rights; to rebuild versus to reshape; to mind your P’s and Q’s; tag questions

Words:
national park
developed
valley
striking
cliff

Topics: Preventing Violence in Schools Post Columbine; American Territories: U.S. Virgin Islands; although versus even though; lite; rate versus rank

Words:
campus
massacre
outcast
bullied
minor

Topics: Political parties in the US, How to begin an email, Even vs. odd, Unless, "Six feet under"

Words:
Democratic
Democrat
Republican
liberal
conservative

Topics: Easter bunny, Income Tax Day, immigration protests in the US, actually, zero vs. nil, to be on your last legs, third straight time, despite versus in spite of.

Words:
Lent
rabbit
mall
secular
to deduct

Topics: New movie by Spike Lee, Ice Age, how Americans buy groceries, "Catch 22," can vs. to be able to, no longer, period vs. bottom line, "freak on a leash"

Words:
Inside Man
Do the Right Thing (Spike Lee movie)
bank heist
bank teller
to stick up a bank

Topics: Rich Dad Poor Dad, how the US government works, sneak previews, this/that/these/those, "so to speak," by all means, to begin with, under a spell, down to earth

Words:
self-help
scheme
executive
legislative
judicial

Topics: High school musicals, what a woman looks for in a man, to drive your point home, to call the shots, pilot TV shows, to be debt-ridden, to be in charge, on behalf of

Words:
drama
hit musical
crew
backdrop
theater set

Topics: News anchors, public school curriculum, Mark Twain, dictionary vs. thesaurus, shortened words (rehab, lab, mag, celeb), "apparent suicide," feature presentation

Words:
to flip through the channels
remote control
newscast
spokesperson
chairperson

Topics: The Da Vinci Code, how Americans pay for retirement, “I could use one,” to hang out, care for vs. care about, tag vs. label, allow vs. permit vs. let, to take the Fifth

Words:
hoax
semi-retire
IRA/401K
to draw a pension
fixed income

Topics: How to tip in the U.S., famous American museums, pronouncing “a,” comfortable vs. convenient, “I used to” vs. “I use to,” of course

Words:
direct flight
to tip
host/hostess
waiter/waitress
bellboy

Emma: I think it’s time.

Uday: I beg to differ.

Emma: You can’t live in the past. I know that you like reliving your glory days, but the only way to move on is to let go of the past.

Uday: I don’t want to move on. If you’ve had the life I’ve had, you’d cling to the past, too.

You're listening to ESLPod.com's "Using English at Work" lesson seven. I'm Dr. Jeff McQuillan, from the Center for Educational Development, your host for this course.

In the sixth lesson of "Using English at Work," we learned vocabulary that is used when we're having computer problems. In lesson seven, we're going to learn how to schedule a work-related meeting in English.

We'll get started by listening to our story at a slow speed.

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