ESL Podcast 378 – Talking About Time

Juanita: What time is it?

Chuck: It’s a quarter to 12. Why?

Juanita: At noon, on the dot, I’m supposed to meet James.

Chuck: On the dot? What if you don’t get there until a few minutes past four? Will you turn into a pumpkin¹?

Juanita: Knock it off. I have good reason to be on time. I was supposed to meet him at the movies at 8:30 last Saturday and I didn’t turn up until 10 ‘til 9:00. We missed the first 10 minutes of the movie.

Chuck: That doesn’t sound too bad.

Juanita: You don’t know the half of it. The week before that, I was supposed to pick him up from work at a quarter after 5:00, and I didn’t show up until nearly 20 minutes to six. To add insult to injury, James’ boss saw that he was still in the office and gave him an extra assignment to do that night and he didn’t finish until well after 10:00.

Chuck: I can see why he’s pissed off at you.

Juanita: What time is it now?

Chuck: It’s 12:03.

Juanita: Oh my god! I’m late again! What am I going to tell him?

Chuck: Tell him it was all my fault. My incredible² charm³ made you lose track of time.


Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 pumpkin   

n.南瓜

参考例句：

• They ate turkey and pumpkin pie.他们吃了火鸡和南瓜馅饼。
• It looks like there is a person looking out of the pumpkin!看起来就像南瓜里有人在看着你！

2 incredible   

adj.难以置信的，不可信的，极好的，大量的

参考例句：

• Some planets run at incredible speed.某些星球以难以置信的速度运行着。
• Her answer showed the most incredible stupidity.她的回答显示出不可思议的愚蠢。

3 charm   

vt.使着迷，使陶醉；n.招人喜欢之处，魅力

参考例句：

• With all imperfections the short play has a real charm.尽管有不少缺欠，这出小戏仍颇具魅力。
• He could resist her charm no longer.他再也抗拒不住她的魅力。