#862 Lolita, Decisive, Buckypaper

Show 862 Tuesday 21 October
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.


Hi, I’m Sarah. Welcome to The Daily English Show.

Today we’re going to study a scene from a movie called Lolita. Lolita is a film made by Stanley Kubrick in 1962 – and it’s based on a novel of the same name which was published in 1955.

The story is about a university professor in his 40s called Humbert who becomes obsessed with a young girl.

At the start of the movie Humbert is looking for a room to rent for the summer and he goes to a house which is owned by a woman called Mrs Haze. Mrs Haze shows him around the house but he’s not really keen to move in, until he sees her daughter, Lolita, lying in the garden and then he decides to move in.

I think this is a good conversation to study language that’s used to persuade people to buy something or do something.

Here are some things that Mrs Haze says to try and persuade Humbert to move in.

She says: Oh you must see the garden before you go. You must.

Must is used to make a suggestion.
Oh, you must have some chocolate cake - it’s delicious.

I use have to instead of must. It means the same thing in this situation.

Oh, you have to see the garden before you go. Oh, you have to have some chocolate cake - it’s delicious.

Another thing Mrs Haze says is: I can offer you a comfortable home, a sunny garden, a congenial atmosphere.

Congenial is a formal word which I’ve never used. I think it means nice or pleasant.

When Humbert asks about the price, Mrs Haze says: Oh, well, something nominal. Let's say 200 a month.

A nominal amount of money means a very small amount of money.

And her final attempt to persuade him is this. She says: You couldn't find better value in West Ramedale.

And then he decides to move in and he says: You are a very persuasive saleswoman, Mrs Haze.

Even though the reason he decided to move in wasn’t because of her sales pitch, it was because of her beautiful daughter lying in the garden.

STICK NEWS

Kia Ora in Stick News today researchers in the United States have developed a kind of paper called Buckypaper which, they say, is potentially 500 times stronger than steel.

CNN has reported that Buckypaper could revolutionize the way everything from planes to TVs are made. Apparently there’s been great hopes for Buckypaper for some time, but now researchers at Florida State University say they have made important progress that may soon turn hype into reality. Buckypaper is expensive, but the researchers are developing manufacturing techniques which will make it cheaper to produce. A spokesperson for a missile company which is helping fund the research said “this very well could be a very, very game-changing or revolutionary technology to the aerospace business."

And that was Stick News for Tuesday the 21st of October.
Kia Ora.

Word of the Day

Today’s word is decisive.

Decisive is an adjective which means: very important for the final result of a particular situation.

Mrs Haze asks Humbert: What was the decisive factor? My garden?
She is asking him: what was the thing that made you decide to move in.

And he replies: I think it was your cherry pies, which is a lie because it was actually her daughter.

Decisive also means: able to decide sth quickly and with confidence.
The opposite of this is indecisive.
This is an example of being indecisive:

I kind of want to go to the party, but I’m not sure. I can’t really decide if I want to go or not. I mean, it will probably be fun, but … I’m kind of tired too. And I heard that she was going and if she’s going to be there well … I can’t really be bothered talking to her. I don’t know. What do you think? Should I go?

conversations with sarah
#534 That's very reasonable

Step 1: Repeat Humbert’s lines.
Step 2: Read Humbert’s lines and talk to Mrs Haze.

Mrs Haze Oh you must see the garden before you go. You must. My flowers win prizes around here. They're the talk of the neighbourhood. Voila! My yellow roses, my daughter. Darling, turn that down please. I can offer you a comfortable home, a sunny garden, a congenial atmosphere. My cherry pies.

Humbert Well, ah, we haven't discussed how much.

Mrs Haze Oh, well, something nominal. Let's say, ah, 200 a month.

Humbert Yes, that's very ...

Mrs Haze Including meals and, ah, late snacks ... etc. Ha ha.

Humbert Yes, that's very reasonable. Well, it's, it's very nice ...

Mrs Haze You couldn't find better value in West Ramesdale.

Humbert When would it be convenient for you to have me move in?

Mrs Haze Right now, I mean, it would be silly for you to go to a hotel, monsieur.

Humbert Both my bags are in the taxi. You are a very persuasive saleswoman, Mrs Haze.

Mrs Haze Thank you. What was the decisive factor? My garden?

Humbert I think it was your cherry pies.

links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS pictures

music

show start
artist: Boom Tschak
album: Indietronic CCBit.
track: More Chocolate, Please
from: Former Yugoslavia
MySpace

WOD start
artist: DJ iPep's
album: Home Mix 2007
track: Game Toy
from: EVREUX, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

cws start
artist: Wolfgang S.
album: Indietronic CCBit.
track: Dynamite
from: Belgrade, Serbia, Former Yugoslavia
artist site
MySpace

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

qa bgm
artist: Antony Raijekov
album: See U
track: Be Brave (feat. Norine Braun)
from: Sofia, Bulgaria
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

Did you notice a mistake in this script? Please leave us a comment and tell us! We really appreciate people pointing out our mistakes.Thank you.

Have you translated this script - or part of it - into your language for English practice and published it on your blog? Please leave a comment and a link so other people can read your translation. Thank you.