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English as a Second Language Podcast
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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 365
TOPICS
Movies: King Kong; Famous Americans: Lance Armstrong; its sounds versus it
sounds as if; acting versus pretending; gobbledygook
_____________
GLOSSARY
remake
– a new and updated movie based on a previous film
* Have you seen the latest remake of the Spider-Man movie?
offering
– something given to a god or to some supernatural power to make it
happy and to protect the people
* The people in the village have a festival each year to make offerings to the sun
god.
jungle
– a tropical forest with many trees; an area of land with many trees and
plants, that is difficult to travel through
* If you want to reach that river, you’ll need to find a way to travel through this
dangerous jungle.
shackles
– a set of chains used to fasten a prisoner’s hands or ankles together
* How did the prisoner break his shackles and escape?
to gross
– to earn a certain amount of money, without considering the expenses
that have to be paid from that money
* Our company grossed $200,000 this year, but we may not make a profit after
our expenses are paid.
cyclist
– a person who rides a bicycle; an athlete who rides bicycles very quickly,
usually in races or competitions
* Cyclists avoid riding down this avenue because there are too many cars on it.
triathlon
– an athletic competition that involves a combination of running, cycling
(bicycling), and swimming
* Jeanine wants to participate in a triathlon next year, but first, she has to
improve her swimming skills.
consecutive
– in a row; without any years or time in between when an event did
not occur
* Our neighbor has had noisy parties three consecutive weekends!
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English as a Second Language Podcast
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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 365
testicular
– related to the part of a man's or male animal’s body that produces
sperm (male sex cell)
* The doctor told Miguel that he did not have testicular cancer.
prognosis
– a doctor's opinion about how a disease will change and affect a
person's health over time
* The doctor told Miyoung that his prognosis is very good, with an excellent
chance for a full recovery.
bracelet
– a piece of jewelry or decoration worn around the wrist (the part of
one's body that connects the hand and the arm)
* Jimmy gave his wife a gold bracelet as a birthday gift.
allegation
– an accusation; a statement that someone has done something
wrong, although there isn't clear proof
* If the allegations are true, our company accountant could be in big trouble.
doping
– the use of drugs, especially to improve an athlete's performance
* Doping becomes a greater and greater problem as athletes feel the pressure to
perform better each year.
it sounds as if
– a phrase use to mean that based on the information that one
has heard, one can guess the meaning
* It sounds as if it’s raining really hard. I don’t think we should go outside right
now.
acting
– behaving in a way that relates to a different character or personality;
behaving in a special way; playing a role, especially in plays, TV, or films
* He’s acting like he’s the boss even though he’s just an employee like the rest of
us.
pretending
– doing something in a way that is not true or real
* Stop pretending like you’re sick so that you can leave work early!
gobbledygook
– nonsense; something that doesn’t make any sense; something
that is meaningless or that is not understandable because someone has used
difficult technical terms
* Can you understand this research article? It’s full of gobbledygook that few
people can understand.
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English as a Second Language Podcast
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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 365
WHAT INSIDERS KNOW
Donkey Kong and Universal Studios
Donkey Kong, a large, angry ape, is one of the most well-known video game
characters in the world, along with his “nemesis” (enemy; the person who fights
against him), a character named Mario. The first Donkey Kong game was
released in the 1980s as an “arcade game” (a game in a place where many
games can be played, usually for the price of few quarters (25-cent coins)). This
game introduced the world to both Donkey Kong and Mario, and it became wildly
successful, “spawning” (inspiring; causing) many other games featuring these
characters, most of which are still being played by video game “enthusiasts”
(people who love video games) today.
However, the Donkey Kong “franchise” (business) had its problems. In 1984,
Universal “Studios” (a movie-making company) took the creators of Donkey Kong
to court, saying that Donkey Kong was a copy of “King Kong.” Nintendo, the
company that created Donkey Kong, argued that their ape may have been similar
to King Kong, but that it did not matter, because King Kong was considered
“public domain” by this point, meaning that no single company could hold the
“rights” (permissions) to use the character or its “image” (picture). Nintendo also
defended their character by saying that there is no way that a video game player
could possibly confuse Donkey Kong with King Kong, since they were very
different characters and they appeared in two different entertainment “mediums”
(type of entertainment).
The court agreed with Nintendo. The judge ruled that Donkey Kong was not a
copy of King Kong, and that Nintendo should not have to pay Universal Studios
any money because of this. Universal Studios tried to “appeal the case” (take the
case to a higher court), but the court’s decision remained the same. After their
success in court, Nintendo continued making video games that are still popular
with American video game enthusiasts today.
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these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
English as a Second Language Podcast
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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 365
COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT
You’re listening to ESL Podcast’s English Café number 365.
This is English as a Second Language Podcast’s English Café episode 365. I’m
your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from – where else? – the Center for
Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Our website is eslpod.com. Go there today to take a look at our ESL Podcast
Store, with some interesting additional courses in business and daily English.
On this Café, we’re going to talk about another famous American movie. Today,
we’re going to talk about
King Kong.
We’re also going to continue our series on
famous Americans, talking about the cyclist and somewhat controversial athlete,
Lance Armstrong. And as always, we’ll answer a few of your questions. Let’s get
started!
This Café begins with a discussion of a well-known American movie,
King Kong.
The original
King Kong
movie was made in 1933. It was a black-and-white film.
There have, however, also been some remakes. A “remake” (remake) means to
make again. The prefix “re” (re) – in front of a word – usually means it’s done
again, more than once. A remake is a movie that has already been made but
then they make a different version with different stars.
King Kong
has been
remade – past tense – in 1976 and again, more recently in 2005.
The plot or basic story of the movie is that there’s a film crew – a group of people
who are working to make a movie – and a beautiful actress. And they go to a
remote island – an island that is not close to anything else – and when they’re
there, they find this huge, very large gorilla-like monster called “Kong” (Kong).
Well, they are captured or caught by the native people who live on this remote
island and they prepare to give the actress as an offering to Kong. An “offering”
(offering) is something that is given to a god or some supernatural power, to
make it happy, to protect the people. This idea is very, very deeply rooted – that
is, it’s very much connected with many religious traditions in the world, the notion
of an offering, the idea of giving an offering.
Well, the film crew offers this beautiful actress and Kong comes and he takes her
away. The film crew follows Kong and the actress into the jungle. The “jungle”
(jungle) is a forest with a lot of trees – a “tropical forest” we would call it.
Eventually, they rescue the actress and they trap Kong – that is they put him in a
cage, like a prison. Then they bring Kong back with them to New York City and
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these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
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ENGLISH CAFÉ – 365
he is shown to people. People come and see this strange, huge gorilla-like
monster. But Kong is very strong and he breaks free of his shackles. “Shackles”
(shackles) are the chains that are holding his arms and legs together. We usually
use this term when we’re talking about slaves. When the slaves were brought, for
example, from Africa to the United States, they were often put in shackles. They
would have these chains on their arms and legs so they wouldn’t escape.
Well, Kong is so strong that he breaks his shackles and is able to go free. Well, I
don’t want to tell you how the movie ends but eventually, Kong is on top of – at
that time, the tallest building in New York City – the Empire State Building. It was
the tallest building again after the attacks of September 11
th,
2001. The Empire
State Building then is sort of a symbol of New York City. It’s been around for
many years and King Kong was on the top of the building. I won’t tell you how the
movie ends. You’ll have to go see one of the versions yourself.
In 1933, the original film starred a man by the name of Bruce Cabot as well as
Robert Armstrong, and the beautiful actress was played by a woman named Fay
Wray. It was very well received and in fact, is considered one of the 100 best
movies in the last 100 years, according to the American Film Institute. In 1976,
they made the movie again, this time with Jeff Bridges, Charles Grodin, and the
beautiful actress was the beautiful Jessica Lange. The 1976 remake was not as
popular as the original, but it did receive one Academy Award. In 2005, they
remade the movie again with Jack Black, Adrien Brody, and the beautiful Naomi
Watts as the actress. The film was very expensive to make but it was also a
financially successful – in fact, it was one of the highest grossing films for the
movie studio that made it – Universal Pictures.
When we say it was “one of the highest grossing (grossing),” we mean it was one
of the movies that got the most amount of money, people paid the most amount
of money to see. When we talk about your “gross,” we’re talking about the money
that comes in. Of course, that’s not the only thing that’s important in a business.
You also need to look at your expenses. And the difference between what you
bring in and what you spend is of course, the money that you can keep – what
we call your “profit.” The 2005 movie won three Academy Awards. I’m not sure if
they were for acting, however.
King Kong is an important cultural figure, you might say, in American 20
th
century
history. The scene of King Kong on top of the Empire State building representing
this danger to civilized society is something that you see in other movies, in other
movies in other countries as well – the idea of the terrible monster who is,
perhaps, just misunderstood. So, if you haven’t seen at least one of the versions
5
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these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.

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