1The Bob and Rob Show Study GuideLesson 80: Springdate: April 07, 2007file name: bobrob 04-07-07

Show notesSpring is just around the cornerno, no, it has definitely arrived. I can hear the birds singing and the flowersblooming. Ah, peace. Were talking about spring this week.

Phrasal Verbs and Idioms"to spring upTo appear, develop, or grow quickly or suddenly e.g: those new hand held computer games are springing upall over the place.

to spring something on someoneTo surprise/shock someone suddenly with news of some kind e.g: My boss sprang the fact on me that I wasbeing transferred only 2 days before I was meant to go !

Idioms: 1) "to get the green light"To get permission to start or move ahead with something e.g: NASA headquarters recently gave the greenlight to the Shuttle space craft to take off on schedule.

Bonus Idiom: the grass is always greener (on the other side)"To think that something/somewhere else would be a much better position/place for you to be in e.g: He wouldlove to live in Canada as he thinks it's a great place, but getting a decent job would be very hard for him...ohwell, the grass is always greener on the other side.

PSAListen to this Public Service Announcement about getting your tax papers in on time.

AJESSExpressing convictions

I honestly feel that . Democrats are better leaders than Republicans.I strongly believe that . learning kanji is very difficult.I'm convinced that . the world will suffer a pandemic in the next ten years.Without a doubt . people will be living on the moon in 200 years time.I'm positive that . my son will go to Harvard University someday.I'm absolutely certain that . one day I will climb K2.

Both Sides of the Pond(US) IRS (UK) Inland Revenue(US) green thumb (UK) green fingers(US) clothespin (UK) clothes peg(US) cook out (UK) BBQ (barbeque) party(US) lightning rod (UK) lightning conductor

Haiku"To my home village the water flows springtime." Issa."This weary world vanishes into green leaves." Susumu Takiguchi

EXTRAS: The rolling hills I sit under a tree with my book. Katie FlemmingA cool spring breeze ... flowers swaying side to side in the meadow. Jake. S

2Song"You Can Never Hold Back Spring" by Tom Waits1. See more at http://www.music.podshow.com

Show transcriptBOBHi, Rob.

ROBHey, Bob, how's it going?

BOBGood. Spring is in the air2.

ROBIt's in the air.

BOBFlowers are blooming.

ROBThe cherry blossoms are coming out.

BOBIt's that time of year again, it's nice. Are you going to do any hannami3? - we should say, cherry blossomviewing?

ROBYes, I believe I am. Quite close to me there's a beautiful row of cherry blossom trees - a very long row ofcherry blossom trees - right by the river.

BOBThat's such a nice custom; I think we talked about it last year. We've been doing the Bob and Rob Show foralmost two years now. And I think what we should do now is ask our listeners to send in some audiocomments, so we can put together a Bob and Rob Show two year anniversary.

ROBThat's a good idea.

BOBLet's mention that again at the end of the show in the announcements section. Springtime is seen as a time ofgrowth, renewal - of new life - both plants and animals being born. The cycle of life once again starting. It'salso generally used more to mean the start of better times.

ROBInteresting, yes, yes.

BOBRebirth.

ROBAnd spring is obviously one of the four seasons of temperate zones, which means that there's a transitionfrom the winter into summer.

BOBAs opposed to the tropics.

3ROBRight. Astronomically some Western countries think that spring begins with the vernal equinox4 which isabout March 20th.

BOBI don't think we think, I think we know it. That's interesting, because the Chinese actually don't consider springto start then, do they?

ROBNo. In Chinese astronomy5; for example, the vernal equinox marks the middle of spring which starts aroundFebruary 4th.

BOBOh, so that's kind of winter for us.

ROBFor us, yeah.

BOBInteresting. Severe weather, I find, most often occurs during the spring in the US, because you get a lot ofwarm air that invades from the lower altitudes, while the cold air is still pushing from the Polar regions. Youget more flooding, right?

ROBYeah, you mean the lower latitudes6, yeah?

BOBWhat did I say?

ROBI think you said, "the lower altitudes."

BOBOh, sorry.

ROBBut no worries. Yeah, from the lower latitudes definitely brings in a lot of cold air.

BOBAnd then you get a lot of snow melt7 in the mountains, and if you get the warm rains combined with that, youcan get a lot of flooding.

ROBIt's dangerous, dangerous time of the year.

BOBDo you know about tornado alley in the US?

ROBI've heard of it, but what exactly is that?

BOBThe part of the US, the middle part, where they get a lot of tornadoes, and generally it's more active in thespring. So Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, they get lots of tornadoes and also really big thunder storms thatproduce large hail and very high winds. The spring is a fairly violent time sometimes, in the Mid-West inAmerica. How about in the UK?

ROBWe do get hurricanes8, but I don't think it's anywhere near as severe as tornado alley, or perhaps, certainlynot as frequent.

BOBYou don't get hurricanes though, do you?

4ROBWe do, occasionally, trees topple9 ...

BOBReally, you call those hurricanes?

ROBYep.

BOBLike a cyclone? Oh, that's interesting.

ROBWe do get them, not often, like I say, not often. I think - when was it - December 2006 there was a big oneacross Europe actually, and a number of trees were felled, "felled" means "to be ...

BOB"knocked down"

ROB"knocked down," yeah

BOBWhy don't we do some springtime haiku.

ROBOkay, haiku. Let's just remind our listeners what haiku is, Bob.

BOBIt's a short Japanese poem.

ROB"To my home village the water flows springtime." And that's by a chap called Issa.

BOB"This weary world vanishes into green leaves." And that's by, Susumu Takiguchi10. ?

ROBVery nice, very nice.

BOBYou know springtime unfortunately is also tax time, or I should say at least in the US, tax filing time. Aprilhits11, and you have to have your taxes in, filed by April 14th.

ROBIt's the same in Japan too, actually. This time of year is the fiscal year, the end of the fiscal year and thestarting of the fiscal year.

BOBI was thinking. For our listeners, we should for their benefit play a little public service announcement, just tomake sure they don't forget. And this is advice for Missouri tax payers for filing on time. Should we listen tothat?

OTHERPublic Service Announcement: The traditional deadline for filing income tax returns is April 15th, but becausethe 15th fell on a Saturday, the deadline was moved to midnight tonight. Michael Divine with the InternalRevenue Service12 in St. Louis says, "Proof of filing before the deadline is needed, so filing electronicallymight be the best option at this stage. File your taxes online for free and you'll get a guarantee that the IRSreceived it within forty-eight hours. You get an email back that says we have it. If you do it by paper and take itinto the post office, it has to be postmarked today, or you're late." Keep in mind, not all regular mail will getthat April 17th postmark, even if the returns are dropped off before midnight. "There are certainly post officesthat still entertain those folks that like to procrastinate13 until the last minute; some people work better underpressure. And I don't know how many post offices are willing to stay open until midnight and take thosereturns." Divine says, "a little more than a third of all Missouri tax payers send in their returns in the last two

5weeks of the filing season." Steve Walsh, Missouri Net, Jefferson City.

BOBHopefully our listeners will get their taxes in on time.

ROBLet's hope so. How about some phrasal verbs and idioms, Bob?

BOBSounds wonderful; what's our phrasal verb for today?

ROBSeeing as we're talking about spring, there is a phrasal verb which is, "to spring up."

BOBOh, really, okay. Yes, of course, that is "to appear," "develop," grow quickly or suddenly." Like weeds, "I hateweeds they're always springing up in my garden."

ROBI know you like coffee, Bob, and I won't say it because we did a show on it before, but there's a very big coffeechain14, and they're "springing up" all over the place, aren't they?

BOBOh, yes, yes, we know that coffee chain.

ROBIt's nice coffee though, I have to admit.

BOBThat's a good way to use that. "Springing up," used for a business, a popular business that's growing. Andyou can also surprise someone by "springing something on them." To spring something on somebody; so forexample, "I hate to spring this on you at such short notice, but ...

ROB"you're fired."

BOBYea, "you're fired."

ROBOkay, I'll try to find a new podcasting partner, Bob.

BOBSo anyway, that's two ways to use "spring."

ROBIn phrasal verbs.

BOBAnd our idiom for today is - since we're talking about spring - "green."

ROB"Green," yes, we have green in a number of idioms. Today's idiom is, "to get the green light."

BOBAnd that means to basically "get permission to move ahead," or "get permission to start on something."

ROB"Get permission to do something," definitely. Do you have an example, Bob?

BOB"We got the green light for our company to launch the new product; we got permission to move ahead." Andour bonus idiom is, "the grass is always greener on the other side." It's almost a proverb, isn't it?

6ROBRight, yes, yes.

BOBAnd what's our example sentence, Rob?

ROBWell, "When I'm in Japan I always miss both London and North Italy, but when I'm in London and North Italy, Ialways miss Japan."

BOBSo for you the "grass is always greener" on the other side. That will be in the study guide. Ancient JapaneseEnglish Study Secret.

ROBAncient Japanese English Study Secret.

BOBWhat's our secret for this week, Rob?

ROBWe're going to talk about how to express a conviction.

BOBFor an example, "I honestly feel that .."

ROBOr "I strongly believe that ..."

BOB"I'm convinced that..."

ROB"Without a doubt ..."

BOB"I'm positive..."

ROB"I'm absolutely certain that ..."

BOBSo for example, "I honestly feel that - well, this is just an example - but I honestly feel that Democrats arebetter leaders than Republicans."

ROB"I strongly believe that learning kanji is very difficult."

BOBYes, I agree with you on that. "I'm convinced that the world will suffer a pandemic15 in the next ten years."

ROBAnd here's another way we can use it: "Without a doubt people will be living on the moon in 200 years time."

BOB"I'm positive that my son will go to Harvard University someday."

ROB"I'm absolutely certain that one day I will climb K216"

BOBThat's a good conviction. So anyway, convictions, those are some expressions.

ROB

7And maybe we should tell our listeners, just in case, "conviction" means a "strong feeling."

BOBA strong feeling, yes.

ROBA strong opinion about something.

BOBThese are examples of some ways you can express you're own convictions.

ROBOkay, next, let's look at some Both Sides of the Pond, Bob.

BOBSounds good. Well, we were talking about tax time before - with the audio clip - In the US we call it the IRS,which stands for the Internal Revenue Service. Do you have something like that in the UK?

ROBWe do, we call them the Inland Revenue, and we don't put it into an acronym, we always call it the InlandRevenue.

BOBWhat else?

ROBIf you're into gardening17 ...,

BOBin the springtime.

ROBThen gardeners are also known as "green fingers."

BOBI think we would say, "green thumb." Like someone who has a green thumb is good at growing plants. Yousay, "green fingers." That's funny.

ROBIf you're a gardener you have green fingers.

BOBIn the spring, if you don't have a dryer, you can hang your clothes out to dry using a line and "clothes pins."

ROBClothes pins. We call those "clothes pegs." And when the season gets a bit warmer we can often have a"barbecue party."

BOBI think we would say, "barbecue," as well, but another way we would say that is, "a cookout."

ROBA cookout, that's one word, right?

BOBYeah.

ROBThat's interesting.

BOB"We're going to have a cookout tomorrow." You wouldn't say that?

ROB

8No, no.

BOBAnd as I mentioned before - tornado alley - there's a lot of lightening storms and tornadoes. A lot of homes inthe Mid-West have "lightening rods" on them; those are the things that attract the electricity, so it hits thelightening rod and goes into the ground, rather than hitting your house.

ROBWe can call those "lightening rods" too, but we also call them "lightening conductors." But we often see themon tall buildings rather than individual homes.

BOBI see. Yeah, we always call those "lightening rods."

ROBInteresting.

BOBThat's been some Both Sides of the Pond.

OTHERStay tuned for an urgent public service message from FEMA18: "Stop, look, and listen. When a tornado watchis issued the simplest advice is still the best. Stop going outside, and stop sitting or standing by doors andwindows. Tornado winds can toss debris19 with tremendous force, and shatter even well protected doors andwindows. Tornado winds can bring down trees, limbs, and power lines. You are at great personal risk if youare outdoors during a tornado. Look around for the evidence of a funnel shaped cloud and be prepared toevacuate to a tornado shelter if you see one. Look for a flashlight, batteries, and a first aide kit, a mechanicalopener, and your emergency supply kit with food, water, and medications. Listen to a battery operated radioor TV for news and weather updates. Stop, look, and listen." Plan ahead for the next tornado, and listen to thisstation for more information from FEMA.

BOBWell, just some announcements. As we mentioned at the beginning of the show, we'd like to do a two yearanniversary special in May. We'd like our listeners to send in some audio comments about some thingsthey've liked about the show, maybe memories you have.

ROBOr any comments about any particular shows that you enjoyed.

BOBYeah, and we'll play some old clips of older shows, and try to put it together in a mash up of some sort. Wouldyou say, "mash up"?

ROBYeah, or hodgepodge, or mash up.

BOBCollage20.

ROBYeah, collage, is a good word.

BOBMosaic. So we'd like to do that in May, so if you could send us, if you'd like to, some audio comments that wecan play on our two year anniversary show, that would be nice.

ROBIt's been two years, wow. Doesn't time fly, Bob?

BOBTime flies, yeah.

ROBThat will be an interesting show, so we'd appreciate any contributions from you.

9BOBAnd as always, thanks for your support and donations, and thanks to all our members. We really appreciate it,without you it would be hard to - well, without you we wouldn't be able to do this show...because we'd have noone listening.

ROBThanks very much. If you're interested in receiving the comprehensive study guides and all the transcriptsthen, please, think about becoming a Bob and Rob Show member.

BOBWrite to us if you have any questions or comments, but please try to send us an audio message. There's avoice message button in the sidebar on the front page of our blog. It should be easy to find.

ROBAnd that's at the site which is www.thebobandrobshow.com.

BOBFinally, if you know anyone who might be interested in the Bob and Rob Show, please, be sure to tell themabout us.

ROBMaybe they'll be interested to listen for another two years.

BOBTwo years does go by quickly though, doesn't it?

ROBIt does.

BOBWe're quite lucky to have a well-known artist; a very innovative21 song writer, he's also acted before, quitefamous in the US. His name is Tom Waits, and he's got a very distinct voice, very gravely. I was able to findone of his songs on podshow.com.

ROBCool.

BOBAnd his song is called, "You Can Never Hold Back Spring." That's a great song.

ROBHe's kind of a unique artist, isn't he?

BOBHe is, yeah. He's very innovative and I really like his stuff a lot.

ROBWe're privileged to get him, I'm surprised he's got his material on the podshow.

BOBYeah, good for him.

ROBIt's good stuff.

BOBWe'd like to play so many artist, but we can't because it's copyrighted....we'd get in trouble. Enjoy the song byTom Waits; there's 22 not many singers like him.

ROBTrue, he's one of a kind.

BOB

10

He's very, very, talented. As usual we got the song from podshow. If you want to learn more about the artistgo to www.musicpodshow.com. I think I'm going to go outside and smell some flowers now.

ROBGood idea.

BOBSpring is here.

ROBPlease record your messages, and we look forward to listening to them.

BOBBye, everyone.

ROBBye, bye.

"You Can Never Hold Back Spring." By, Tom Waitts. You can neverhold back spring / You can be sure I will never stop believing / The blushing rose that will climb / Spring aheador fall behind / Winter dreams the same dream every time / Baby, you can never hold back spring / Eventhough you've lost your way / The bull ? is dreaming, dreaming of spring / Dreaming of spring / So close youreyes / Open your heart / To the one whose dreaming of you / And you can never hold back spring /Remember everything that spring can bring / Oh baby, you can never hold back spring / Baby, you can neverhold back spring.

Extension and Review Study*note: we encourage you to respond to the questions and readings by posting on the discussion board (Loginusing your Bob and Rob Show membership username and password)http://englishcaster.com/discussionboard/

1/ What is spring like in your country? Do you have to file tax returns at this time of the year? What else doyou enjoy doing in spring? Do you have green fingers or a green thumb?

2/ For you, what country or place would you consider to be greener? When was the last time that someonesprang something on you? What was it exactly?

Glossary 1 Tom Waits = this unique and wonderful singer/songwriter has sites here: http://www.tomwaits.com/ andhere: http://www.officialtomwaits.com/main.htm2 in the air = if something is in the air, it can be both literally or figuratively in the atmosphere or environment.3 Hannami = this is Japanese for cherry blossom viewing. Hanna means flower, and mi means see.4 vernal equinox = the opposite is the autumnal equinox, which starts on 23rd September 2007.5 Chinese astronomy = Find out more here:http://www.geocities.com/syho_real/astronomy/chineseastronomy.html?200756 Latitudes = the opposites is longitudes.7 snow melt = the noun form is more common in American English. British English would rather use snowmelting.8 Hurricanes = these develop in the Atlantic Ocean. Typhoons develop in the Pacific Ocean. Those in theNorthern Hemisphere rotate anti-clockwise, and those that are born in the Southern Hemisphere rotateclockwise.9 Topple = brought down by force. You can also use this verb when talking about governments e.g: theSaddam Hussein regime was toppled 5 years ago.10 Susumu Takiguchi = find out more here: http://www.floatingstone.net/11 April hits = this is a slang way of saying April comes, or April arrives.12 Internal Revenue Service = more commonly known by its acronym, the IRS.13 Procrastinate = put things off, not decide, till the very last moment.14 Chain = this chain refers to a business that has many branches in different areas of the country or world.In case you werent sure, we were talking of Starbucks. Oh dear, we said it !!!15 Pandemic = a disease/medical illness (outbreak) that spreads very quickly and is deadly.

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16 K2 = this is the name of the 2nd highest peak in the world in the Karakoram, and often described as moretechnically demanding than Mount Everest.17 into ing = to be into (doing) something is an informal way of saying you enjoy doing it, or are interestedin it.18 FEMA = Federal Emergency Management Agency (of the United States). The then leader of thisorganization came under criticism in his response to the Hurricane that destroyed New Orleans.19 Debris = the remains of something broken into pieces or destroyed; note the silent final s indicating this isa French loan word.20 Collage = synonymous with mosaic. Something or an artwork made up of different pieces.21 Innovative = original, new.22 there's = increasingly used in speech even by native speakers with plural nouns. Of course, in formalsituations (writing, tests etc), there arent + plural noun is preferred.