Did you hear the news? If you didn’t, you may be surprised after listening to this episode.

Slow dialog: 1:06
Explanations: 3:18
Fast dialog: 17:39

Karla: You look like you’ve had a shock.

Chris: Yeah, that phone call threw me for a loop. My ex-girlfriend is pregnant and she wants me to take a paternity test.

Karla: Wow, that’s quite a bombshell. Are you going to do it?

Chris: Of course. If the baby is biologically mine, I want to take responsibility for it. I wanted to start a family with my ex: get married and have children – the whole shebang. So if the baby is mine, I’ll provide child support, no question. I might even fight for custody.

Karla: Really? That’s astounding. Most guys would be hoping that the baby isn’t theirs. What did your ex-girlfriend say when you told her?

Chris: She thought I would be outraged or something. Instead, she was the one who was left stunned.

Karla: I’m surprised, too. Not many guys would want to have a child without being married.

Chris: One part of me hopes the baby isn’t mine, only because my relationship with my ex-girlfriend is over and I don’t want to rekindle it. But I’m not getting any younger and another part of me really wants to be a father.

Karla: Well, the DNA test will give you proof, one way or the other. Just cross your fingers...

Chris: I would, but I’m not sure which outcome I want more!

Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

Getting a divorce can be a difficult thing for everyone involved. Learn more in this episode.

Slow dialog: 1:12
Explanations: 3:04
Fast dialog: 15:15

Nicole: I’m really sorry to hear about you and Catherine getting a divorce.

Tom: I appreciate it, but it was a long time coming. We’ve been heading toward divorce for years. I just hope it doesn’t get too messy.

Nicole: I don’t mean to pry, but didn’t the two of you have a prenup?

Tom: Yeah, but Catherine wants it set aside because our financial situation has changed so much since we got married. She also wants sole custody of Sarah, alimony, and child support.

Nicole: We live in a community property state, so that should simplify things, shouldn’t it?

Tom: You’d think so, but the distribution of property may get complicated. I’m hoping we can settle everything amicably, but I’m ready for a fight, if it turns ugly. I’ve hired Dewey Cheatum.

Nicole: Wow, you’re serious. He’s the most high-powered divorce attorney in this city.

Tom: I’m not taking any chances with my assets or my daughter. If Catherine wants to play hardball, I’m coming out swinging!

Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

True or false: Standardized tests are really fun to study for and take. Find out the answer in this episode.

Slow Dialog: 1:15
Explanations: 3:45
Fast Dialog: 16:09

Dad: It’s time you start preparing for the MCFL Test.

Maria: Dad, that’s 12 months away! I don’t need to start looking at test prep materials right now.

Dad: Yes, you do. Like all high-stakes testing, familiarity with the types of questions you’ll be asked will help you. You need to score well on it if you want to be admitted to a good university. The MCFL is only administered twice each year, so you’d better be prepared when the time comes.

Maria: I don’t really believe in standardized tests. Our teacher says that they don’t really measure how well you’ll do in college or in life.

Dad: It doesn’t matter what you – or your teacher – believe. Colleges consider test scores in admissions and that’s what’s important. Let’s start with some tips on answering multiple choice and true-false questions.

Maria: I know all about taking standardized tests, Dad. I’ve been taking them every year at school and I’m sick of them. Put your name here. Bubble in your answer there. I’m sick to death of those tests.

Dad: Then you’ll feel perfectly comfortable taking this one.

Maria: Why can’t they give us open-ended or essay questions? I’d do much better on those.

Dad: Bite your tongue! Those would be much more difficult to study for. Ready for question number one?

Maria: As ready as I’ll ever be.

Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

America is the land of immigrants, but not everyone is happy to keep the door open. Learn more in this episode.

Slow dialog: 1:08
Explanations: 3:29
Fast dialog: 18:53

Ann: The immigration policy in this country is ridiculous. Why are there so many illegal immigrants here? They cross the border and take American jobs! They all need to be deported.

Chris: A lot of immigrants have lived here nearly all their lives. Do you mean to tell me that you want to do some of the jobs that undocumented workers do, like picking crops and cleaning houses, and not earning minimum wage?

Ann: There’s nothing wrong with that kind of work. I wouldn’t want to do it myself...

Chris: That’s just it! You’re willing to benefit from cheap labor, but you keep complaining about immigrants. There needs to be an amnesty or work permit program so that they can stay legally and work.

Ann: And pay their taxes! These illegal immigrants dodge paying taxes, too.

Chris: But they don’t get the same social services that citizens or legal immigrants do. You can’t have it both ways. If you want them to do what citizens are required to do, then you have to give them legal status. And, by the way, when is your visitor’s visa up?

Ann: It was up last month, but I’m from Canada! Overstaying a visa is not the same thing as being an illegal alien.

Chris: That’s where you’re wrong. Where’s that number for immigration?

Script for Dr. Lucy Tse

Ask an American: Asian Immigrants; to note versus to notice versus to notify; assessment versus appraisal; to be full of (oneself)

Words:
professionalized immigration
brain drain
working class
folks
pre-collegiate
multiplicity
national origin
demographics
culturally competent
to raise
socio-economic
Fortune 500 company
to note
to notice
to notify
assessment
appraisal

Topics: American Authors – Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein and All the President's Men; Famous Songs – “Over There"; to borrow versus to debit versus to lend versus to loan; using ago with since; ambivalence versus conflict

Words:
to cover
implicated
informant
true identity
film rights
height
on the run
lad
sweetheart
to pine
to send the word
to say a prayer
to borrow
to debit
to lend
to loan
ambivalence
conflict

Security alert! Be careful to protect your computer from hackers. Learn what not to do in this episode.

Slow dialog: 1:14
Explanations: 3:20
Fast dialog: 17:19

Jin: Did you hear what happened to McQ Corp?

Dina: No, what?

Jin: Hackers were able to get unauthorized access to its computer systems and cause a lot of problems over the weekend. They destroyed data and rendered the system unusable. In fact, the entire system crashed.

Dina: I hadn’t heard that. Why McQ Corp?

Jin: Well, the company announced last week that it had implemented new security measures, which made their systems impenetrable.

Dina: Ah, that explains it. Making an announcement like that is like issuing a challenge.

Jin: Yeah, it was definitely a challenge. I bet a lot hackers were trying to breach those security measures, just to show that it could be done. One of them certainly found the system’s vulnerabilities and exploited them.

Dina: What was McQ Corp thinking? They’ve had problems in the past with hackers and then they issue this challenge. I say that it serves them right!

Jin: They shouldn’t have bragged about their new security measures, but those hackers caused a lot of damage.

Dina: I bet McQ Corp learned its lesson: Don’t wave a red flag in front of a bull!

Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

Ghost towns of the Wild West; dime novels and pulp magazines; kidding versus joking versus teasing; television show versus television series; phrase

Words:
Wild West
boomtown
bustling
ghost town
to seek (one’s) fortune
saloon
prostitution
dime
pulp
to look down on (something)
frontier
to fall out of popularity
kidding
joking
teasing
television/TV show
television/TV series
phrase