#0268 – Get-Rich-Quick Schemes, - Ang, mater, ESL Podcast McQuillan Jeff mp3+PDF
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English as a Second Language Podcast
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ESL Podcast 268 – Get-rich-quick Schemes
GLOSSARY
infomercial –
a very long commercial (TV advertisement) that is made to look
like a television program instead of a commercial
* Have you seen the infomercial for a knife that can cut through metal cans?
scam –
a plan for making money by cheating and lying to other people
* There are many Internet scams that use professional-looking emails to try to
get people to share their bank account numbers.
to fall for (something) –
to be tricked or fooled into doing something or believing
something that isn’t true
* I can’t believe I fell for it when that man asked me for money to buy a bus ticket
to get home. I’m sure now that he was lying.
get-rich-quick scheme –
a dishonest way to make a lot of money very quickly; a
plan or system to make a lot of money very quickly
* Jacky is always telling other people to avoid get-rich-quick schemes after losing
his savings on one a few years ago.
capital –
a large amount of money that is used to invest in a project, business, or
something else, either to get it started or to make it grow
* Reese wants to start a new business but he needs $23,000 in capital first.
a cut –
a portion; a part; a percentage
* Jaime gets a 15% cut of the sales every time he finds a new customer for his
uncle’s business.
profit –
money that is made in a business; the money that is left for a business or
individual after all the expenses (costs) have been paid
* Corina’s bakery didn’t make a profit until the third year of the business.
pyramid scheme –
an impossible business where each person thinks that he or
she will make only one payment and then receive payments from many other
people, but in reality this cannot work because it needs an infinite (no maximum)
number of participants
* If someone offers you a way to make money that seems too good to be true, it’s
probably a pyramid scheme.
to lose (one’s) shirt –
to lose everything; to lose all of one’s money and the
things that one owns
* Cesar lost his shirt while playing cards in Las Vegas and now he’s in debt.
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ESL Podcast 268 – Get-rich-quick Schemes
fraud –
the act of cheating or lying to people to get their money
* The woman said that she could see our future, but it was a fraud. She didn’t
know anything except how to get our money.
testimonial –
what customers and other people say to recommend a product or
service
* Many companies put testimonials on their websites to try to get new customers
to buy a product.
to strike it rich –
to be very successful with something and make a lot of money
* Many men in the 1800s struck it rich by finding gold in Oregon and California.
sucker –
a person who is easily tricked or fooled by another person’s bad ideas
or actions
* Shane felt like a sucker when he finally realized that his roommate had been
stealing money from him.
installment –
a partial payment; an amount of money that is paid every month to
eventually pay the entire cost of something expensive
* This store lets you pay in monthly installments for new furniture, instead of
paying everything at once.
step-by-step –
describing each phase or activity for doing something, one after
the other
* If your computer isn’t working, call the software company to get step-by-step
instructions on how to fix the problem.
to waste –
to use money, time, or something else in a bad or unnecessary way;
to use more of something than is needed
* Rob and Emily wasted more than $2,000 buying exercise equipment that they
never use.
prerogative –
a person’s right to do something or to decide something
* If you want to start working right after high school, that’s your prerogative, but I
think it’s a better idea to go to college first.
millionaire –
a person who has at least $1,000,000
* Aaron is saving all his money because he wants to be a millionaire before he is
40 years old.
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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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ESL Podcast 268 – Get-rich-quick Schemes
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS
1. What does Susan think will happen if she can get other people to sell the
products shown on the infomercial?
a) She thinks she won’t need to have any capital.
b) She thinks the other people will lose their shirts.
c) She thinks she’ll get a percentage of the money from sales.
2. Why does Bill say that there’s a sucker born every minute?
a) Because a sucker is a type of fish that has many babies.
b) Because many people have struck it rich on the infomercial.
c) Because a lot of people are tricked by pyramid schemes.
______________
WHAT ELSE DOES IT MEAN?
to fall for
The phrase “to fall for (something)” means to be tricked or fooled into doing
something or believing something that isn’t true: “When Jacob told Maggie that
he used to be an astronaut, she fell for it and believed him, even though he was
only 18 years old!” The phrase “to fall for (someone)” means to start to like or
love someone romantically: “I think Ms. Pebley is falling for Mr. Dubois because
they spend a lot of time together and once I saw her give him a present.” Or, “I
never thought I would fall for someone who is a lot older than I am.” The phrase
“to fall over (something)” means to fall or almost fall because one’s foot hits
something while one is walking: “Bobby needs to learn to put his toys away!
Today I almost fell over his blocks.”
capital
In this podcast, the word “capital” means a large amount of money that is used to
invest in a project, business, or something else, either to make it get started or to
make it grow: “If you don’t have enough capital to start your business, I suggest
trying to get a loan from the bank.” A “capital” is also the most important (and
usually largest) city in a country, state, or province: “Washington, D.C. is the
capital of the United States and Montpelier is the capital of Vermont.” A “capital
letter” is one of the taller and bigger letters of the alphabet (ABC, not abc): “The
names of people, countries, and languages always begin with a capital letter in
English.”
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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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ESL Podcast 268 – Get-rich-quick Schemes
CULTURE NOTE
A “get-rich-quick scheme” is a plan for making money quickly and easily, often
without having to make a large “investment” (money that is used to make
something better). In reality, it is very difficult to get rich this way, but many
people are “eager” (excited and enthusiastic) to try. Some get-rich-quick
schemes are “legal,” meaning that they follow the laws, but others are “illegal,”
meaning that they are against the law.
Some legal get-rich-quick schemes advertise that people can make thousands of
dollars each week by working at home doing something easy, like typing or
putting letters into envelopes. These people are paid “piecework,” meaning that
they get a little bit of money for each piece they make, but to get rich they would
need to be very quick, so it usually isn’t possible to make very much money.
Other legal get-rich-quick schemes offer to teach people ways to make money,
usually by buying and selling homes, starting a new business, or “collecting”
(saving many types of a thing) something. But the people must buy very
expensive books or video tapes to learn how to do this, and often the things that
they teach aren’t very helpful.
One type of illegal get-rich-quick scheme is a pyramid scheme. In a pyramid
scheme, people buy something once and then try to get many other people to
buy the same product. They are supposed to get some of the money from each
of the sales, and then those people who bought the product should do the same
thing, trying to get more people to buy the product. However, the only way for
everyone to make money is to always have more people join the pyramid
scheme. Since this isn’t possible, pyramid schemes can make only a few people
rich. Everyone else loses money.
______________
Comprehension Questions Correct Answers: 1 – c; 2 – c
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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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ESL Podcast 268 – Get-rich-quick Schemes
COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 268: Get-Rich-
Quick Schemes.
This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 268. I'm your host, Dr.
Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in
beautiful Los Angeles, California.
Visit our website at eslpod.com and download a Learning Guide for this episode
that contains all of the vocabulary, definitions, cultural notes, and a complete
transcript of this episode.
This episode is called “Get-Rich-Quick Schemes,” or plans. It's going to be a
dialogue between two people talking about a program that is supposed to make
you rich very quickly. Let's get started.
[start of story]
Bill: What are you watching?
Susan: I’m watching a really interesting TV program. It’s about how to make a
lot of money quickly and easily.
Bill: Are you watching an infomercial? Those things are scams! You should
know better than to fall for some get-rich-quick scheme.
Susan: This isn’t a scam. This program is about how make money with no
capital. All I have to do is to get other people to sell these products and I’ll get a
cut of the profits.
Bill: That sounds like a pyramid scheme. Only a few people at the top make
money, while all of the other people lose their shirts.
Susan: It doesn’t seem like a fraud to me. Sit down and watch for a minute and
you’ll see all of the testimonials from people who have used this system and who
have struck it rich. It may really work.
Bill: There’s a sucker born every minute. How much do you have to pay to learn
the secrets to this system?
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These materials are copyrighted by the Center for Educational Development (2007). Posting of
these materials on another website or distributing them in any way is prohibited.
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