New Year's resolutions

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Dan: Hello and welcome to this week’s 6 Minute English. I’m Dan Walker Smith and today I’m joined by Kate.
Kate: Hi Dan. Happy New Year!
D: And Happy New Year to you!
K: So what did you do on New Year’s Eve?
D: Well, this New Year I went to a party in East London with lots of friends; lots of dancing. Good times really.
K: That sounds great fun - a great way to bring in the New Year!
D: It was. It was very good indeed. And, of course, as well as celebrations, New
Year is also the traditional time to make resolutions, which are plans to improve yourself. So what were your resolutions this year?
K: I don't actually think I've made any yet, but I suppose now I think about it, I'd like to do more exercise, be healthy and travel more.
D: They sound like good resolutions. The aim of most resolutions is to ‘turn over a new leaf’. That is, to make yourself better by changing your routines and habits. It’s making a fresh or new start in your life.

So the question for this week is:
What is the most common goal for people making New Year’s Resolutions?
Is it:
a) to sort out their finances and money
b) to lose weight
c) to learn a new language?

K: Hmm, that's a tricky one. But thinking about it, we've just had Christmas-time, where people tend to eat an awful lot or overindulge themselves. So I'm going to go for b, to lose weight.
D: OK, we’ll see if you’re right at the end of the programme.

Now generally, there are two main types of resolution:
To give up something is to stop it, such as when someone says they’re giving up smoking or giving up fattening foods.
K: And to take up something is to start a new activity for the first time. For example you can take up the guitar, or take up a new sport. A lot of people say that their New Year’s Resolutions are to give up a bad habit or to take up a new hobby.
D: Now we’re going to hear some of the resolutions a British radio DJ has made for 2010. You're going to hear the expression 'carry on'. Can you explain what this means Kate?
Kate: Sure. Well 'carry on' means to continue to do something as you were before.
So if, for example, last year I went swimming every day, I could say 'I want to carry on going swimming', which means just to continue the same actions as you were doing before.
D: OK, so let's listen. What resolutions does the speaker have for this year?


Extract 1
Right, New Year's Resolutions 2010. It's the end of a decade. I think that what I would
just like to do is carry on working hard; carry on being happy and healthy. So keep on
exercising in the park, keep on eating well and keep on sleeping well. And that’s about it
– nothing else. Nothing too big, nothing too heavy, ‘cause experience tells me that if you try to ask yourself to do too much stuff it will eventually not happen.

K: OK, that was a bit different, as she’s not giving up or taking up anything, but she wants to carry on or continue what she’s already been doing. There are some pretty common or usual resolutions there: doing exercise, eating healthily and sleeping well – quite similar to the ones I made actually.
D: Well, she's not exactly turning over a new leaf in the New Year, but just keeping herself healthy with resolutions she can achieve.
As well as keeping healthy, one of the most common New Year's resolutions in the UK each year is to stop smoking.
K: Yes, and it’s also one of the hardest resolutions to keep, so this year the British government is launching a new campaign for people who want to stop smoking. Have a listen to the next report. Can you hear how many people tried to give up smoking last year and how many actually succeeded?


Extract 2
More than three quarters of a million smokers tried to give up last New Year. But fewer
than 40,000 have managed to keep that resolution.

K: Oh dear, not a great success rate then. Only around five per cent of the smokers managed to keep their resolution.
D: Resolutions are basically promises to yourself, and like promises, you either keep them or break them. That is, you either successful in keeping to your plans, or you're not and you go back to your old habits.
K: Well we’re almost out of time now, so let's go over some of the vocabulary we’ve come across today:
First of all, we had resolution, which is a kind of promise you make to yourself to improve yourself or your actions.

To turn over a new leaf is an expression meaning to make a new start in your life.
To give up something means to stop it.
Whereas, to take up something is to start it for the first time.
Then we heard to carry on, which means to continue with an action that you’re already doing.
And finally to keep or break a resolution, is either to persist with your new changes or to go back to your old routine.
D: Oh and there’s just time to answer the question I asked at the beginning of the show: What is the most common goal for people making New Year’s resolutions? Is it:

a) to sort out their finances and money
b) to lose weight
c) to learn a new language

K: And I said b, to lose weight
D: Actually it's both a and b. Most men want to sort out their finances and most women apparently want to lose weight in the New Year.
K: Ah, a trick question then.
D: A trick question indeed.
K: But I'm sure there must be some women out there who want to sort out their finances.
D: And there must be some men who want to lose weight.
K: Of course! So Dan can you tell me if you have any resolutions for the coming year?
D: I've actually signed up to run a marathon, so I'll be doing that in April. I'm training quite a lot at the moment; it's beginning to kick in.
K: Wow, well that's very impressive. Good luck with this year's resolution.
D: We'll see how it goes in April.
So from all of us here at BBC Learning English, thanks for listening. I hope you're sticking to your resolution and have a very Happy New Year! Goodbye!
K: Goodbye!

Gold vending machine

From http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/how2

Dima: Hello and welcome to this edition of 6 Minute English with me, Dima Kostenko.
Kate: and me, Kate Colin.
D: Kate will be our language guide for today.
Today we'll hear a fascinating report about a new vending machine that's unlike any other. But first - Kate, how would you describe what a vending machine is?
K: Responds...(short dialogue to introduce synonyms, slot machine, dispenser, soft drinks-snacks-newspapers-transport tickets-Mars bars)

D: Well Kate, if you're only using vending machines to buy things like chocolate bars, you are in for a surprise! As Steve Rosenberg, the BBC's correspondent in Berlin has discovered, a German company is planning to install some very different dispensers at stations, airports and shopping centres. Would you like to hear more?

K: Well, hearing all these phrases from you - 'very different' and 'unlike any other'. I must say I'm a bit intrigued.
D: You won't be intrigued for too much longer because in a moment we'll hear from Steve Rosenberg to find out what those machine will be selling. I'll say just one thing: it's something really valuable.
K: OK, let's listen, and as you are listening, try to find out what it is. Also, listen out for these words and phrases. 'On the go goodies', meaning small things that we buy and consume without stopping - like chocolate bars, crisps and other snacks, for example. And - 'precious', which means very expensive and valuable.
D: Here's Steve Rosenberg:

Clip One
I'm standing next to a vending machine at a Berlin railway station. It offers a typical selection of on the go goodies. There are fizzy drinks and crisps, chewing gum... But very soon machines like this one could be selling something far more precious than a packet of peanuts.
As well as chocolate bars you'll be able to buy...gold bars.

D: So Kate, what is it that the new vending machines will be selling?
K: Steve says it isn't going to be 'on the go goodies'. Not chewing gum, not packets of peanuts. It will be the precious metal...gold! Well, sounds interesting, but I am not quite sure I understand… Why would anyone want to by a gold bar from a slot machine?

D: Well apparently, with the global financial crisis more and more people decide that they can no longer rely upon stocks and shares the way they used to.
K: 'Stocks and shares' - that's a useful expression, often heard among business people. It means part of the ownership of a company which people can buy as an investment.

D: Indeed, they can. But in reality many start turning to other types of investment, which they consider safer - like buying precious metals. And with this new slot machine, buying gold simply can't be easier! The price will be adjusted daily, and in the next part Steve Rosenberg quotes some prices at current rates. And here comes your challenge for this week: what currency unit is mentioned?

a) euro
b) dollar
c) pound

Kate, which of these three currencies would you expect to hear in a report about gold, recorded in Germany by a reporter of a British broadcaster?
K: Responds...

D: We'll check your guess later, but first, what's your language point for the second part of the report Kate?
K: It's the expression 'to keep a close eye on', meaning to watch closely. Steve says 'built-in video cameras will be keeping an especially close eye on all the customers', so his word of warning is, watch out how you behave when you use them:

Clip Two
The machine will dispense a gram of gold for about 40 dollars and a 10 gram bar - for just under 350 dollars. But one word of warning: if you put in your money and nothing comes out, don't start banging your fist on this treasure chest - built-in video cameras will be keeping an especially close eye on all the customers.

D: That was our correspondent Steve Rosenberg at a railway station in Berlin.
Now, before we talk about the answer to this week's question, do you mind going through some of today's vocabulary again Kate?
K: Responds...We began by talking about vending machines - that is machines from which small items such as packaged food or drinks can be bought by inserting money. Because cash is inserted through a slot, they are also known colloquially as slot machines. And another synonym is dispensers.

We then mentioned the phrase on the go goodies meaning small things that we buy and consume without stopping - like chocolate bars, crisps and other snacks, for example. And then, the word precious which means very expensive and valuable. We talked briefly about stocks and shares, which means part of the ownership of a company which people can buy as an investment. And finally, the expression to keep a close eye on, meaning to watch very closely.
D: Thanks Kate. Finally, back to our question. Which currency was used in the report to talk about the price of gold?
K: Responds (the choice was euro, dollar and pound and I said… which was correct/wrong…)
D: Responds...I'm afraid that's all we have time for today. Until next week.
Both: Goodbye!