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Getting Up

Welcome to number 31: Getting Up.

This is episode 31. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development, in beautiful Los Angeles, California. In this episode, we’re going to see Lucy wake up and get out of bed. Let’s get started.

[Start of story]

On a weekday, I usually get up around 6:30 a.m., but I set my alarm to go off at 6:20 so that I can hit the snooze button to sleep another 10 minutes. My roommate thinks I’m crazy, but doing this in the mornings actually helps me wake up. I’m a night owl, not an early bird like she is, so I need an extra few minutes to get going in the morning.

One reason it’s so hard to get up is because my bedroom and my bed are so comfortable. I splurged and bought a bed with a very soft, thick mattress. I also have matching sheets and pillowcases, and a comforter that is made of goose down. Even my nightstand matches my sheets and the rest of my bedroom. I decorated it so that it would be restful after a busy day at work.

When I get up, the first thing I do is put on my robe. It’s always so cold in the apartment in the mornings, no matter what time of year it is. Then, I usually make my bed. I hated making my bed when I was little, but now it’s become a routine. Sometimes, though, I’m so tired that I sleep in for just a little too long and then, the bed definitely doesn’t get made. On those days, I wish I could sleep in all day!

[End of story]

The verb to get, “get,” up means to get out of your bed - to leave your bed. So, after you stop sleeping - after you wake up, then you get up - you get out of your bed.

Lucy begins her story by saying that “On a weekday,” that is Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday - those are the weekdays (all one word), weekday. The other part of the week is called the weekend, Saturday and Sunday.

“On a weekday,” what some people might also call a work day - a day they have to work, Lucy says she “usually gets up around 6:30” in the morning, but she sets her “alarm to go off at 6:20.” Her alarm, “alarm,” is what makes noise - what wakes her up, usually it is an alarm clock that you can set the time to. To set your alarm, “set,” means to put it to the correct time.

So, she sets her alarm to go off. We use the expression, to go off, when we are talking about something that makes a large noise, for example, such as a bell or an alarm clock. You can also have a gun; the gun can go off means the gun fires and makes a noise. Well here, we are using this verb, to go off, when we are talking about an alarm clock.

So, her alarm goes off at 6:20 - 20 after 6:00 in the morning - but she hits “the snooze button to sleep another ten minutes.” The snooze button, “snooze,” button, “button,” is something on an alarm clock that allows you to sleep a little more, usually for five or ten minutes. So, it will stop your alarm, and then five or ten minutes later the alarm will go off again. So, that is called the snooze button. The verb to snooze means to sleep, so it allows you to sleep a little extra time.

There’s an expression “if you snooze, you lose.” If you snooze, you lose, which means if you fall asleep - if you are not awake, you may miss something important. You will not win; you will lose if you are sleeping. This used to happen to me when I was young, I would snooze, and then I would lose. I would miss things because I was sleeping. Now I try to stay awake more.

Anyway, getting back to Lucy’s story, well, she likes to sleep another ten minutes. Her roommate thinks that she’s crazy, but she says that using her snooze button in the morning helps her wake up. Remember, to wake up, “wake” up (two words), means to stop sleeping.

Lucy says that she’s “a night owl, not an early bird.” A night owl, “owl,” means someone who likes to go to bed very late at night - 11:30 p.m., 12 o’clock midnight. Someone who goes to sleep very late, we call that person a night owl. An owl is an animal that is normally awake and makes sounds at night. In English the sound would be “who, who,” or “who, who,” if it’s a boy. So, we have the night owl, and that is a term for somebody who stays up late. The opposite would be an early bird. An early, “early,” bird. An early bird is someone who wakes up and gets up early in the morning. A night owl will probably get up later in the morning.

There’s an expression in English, “the early bird gets the worm.” The early bird gets the worm, “worm.” A worm, “worm,” is a little animal that birds eat. The worms live in the ground. The idea is that if you get up early, you will get more done - you will get things that other people don’t get because they get up later. So, the early bird gets the worm. Well, Lucy is not eating worms, but she does like to take a “few extra minutes to get going in the morning.” To get going means to get active - to start doing things.

“One reason,” she says, “it’s so hard to get up is” that her “bedroom and her bed are so comfortable.” She has a very nice, comfortable bed. She says that she “splurged and bought a bed with very soft, thick mattress” - a very soft, thick mattress. Lucy said she splurged, the verb to splurge, “splurge,” means to spend a lot of money, even when it isn’t necessary. So, you want to buy something nice for yourself, you don’t need it, it’s not necessary but you want it. So, she spends a lot of money - she splurges - and buys a very nice bed that has a nice, thick mattress.

A mattress, “mattress,” is the part of the bed that you actually sleep on. Usually, a mattress is something that has springs in it - pieces of metal that go up and down that allow your body to be comfortable. So, this is a thick mattress - a big mattress - but it is also a soft mattress, so that you can lay down on the bed and it feels good on your body. The opposite of a soft mattress is a hard mattress.

Lucy says that she has “matching sheets and pillowcases.” The sheet, “sheet,” is what goes over the bed - what covers the bed so that the bed does not get dirty. When we say the sheets are matching we mean that the colors are the same or they are similar so they look good together. Pillowcases, “pillowcases,” (plural) pillowcases are what cover your pillows - what you put your head on when you sleep, that’s called a pillow. So, the pillowcase goes over the pillow.

Lucy says she also has “a comforter made of goose down.” A comforter is a thick blanket - a big blanket. “Comforter,” a thick blanket. This comforter “is made of goose down.” Goose, “goose,” down, “down,” (two words). A goose is a kind of animal. Down refers to the feathers of the animal, “feathers,” the feathers. The feathers are the things that a bird has that covers its skin.

They’re usually long and very soft. So, goose down pillows or goose down comforters are considered very soft and they’re very warm.

Lucy says that even her “nightstand matches” her “sheets and the rest of the bedroom.” A nightstand, “nightstand,” (one word) is a small table that you have next to your bed, where you can put your alarm clock and maybe a glass of water. That’s your nightstand. Sometimes nightstands have what we call a drawer, “drawer.” A drawer is something that you put something into, like a little box that is in the table.

Lucy has a nightstand that matches - that has the same type of color as the rest of her bedroom. She says that she decorated her bedroom “so that it would be restful after a busy day at work.” To decorate, “decorate,” means to make your room look nice - to make the colors, the pictures, other things that you have in the room look good - look nice together. Lucy decorated her room; she wants it to be restful, “restful.” To be restful means that when you walk into the room, it’s relaxing, it’s comfortable, it allows you to be able to sleep easily.

Lucy says that when she gets up, the first thing she does is to put on her robe. To put on her robe, “robe.” A robe, which is sometimes called a bathrobe, is a large piece of clothing that you wear. It covers the top of your body, and usually the bottom of your body, up to maybe your knees. And, it is something that you wear often after a bath so that you don’t get cold. It’s something you wear so that you can go into the bathroom and you don’t need to put your clothes on. Usually this is something you use in the morning after you shower or when you get up to go into your bathroom so you are not cold.

Lucy puts on her robe because it is “always so cold in” her “apartment in the mornings.” So, cold here means very cold. It’s always very cold - it’s always so cold in her apartment, “no matter what time of year it is” - January, June, September - it’s always cold. “Then,” she says, she usually makes her bed. To make your bed means to put the sheets and the blankets - the comforter - back on the bed so that it looks nice - so that it doesn’t look messy, “messy.” When we say the bed is messy we mean it is not made up - it doesn’t look nice. This is my problem; I don’t make my bed as often as I should. When you go to a hotel the maid makes your bed, “maid.” The maid is the person that comes in and cleans your room and makes your bed. My mother would say, when I was young, “I’m not your maid. You have to make your own bed.” Actually, I think it would be a good idea for me to get a maid now, so I don’t have to worry about making my bed.

Lucy says she hated making her bed when she was little - when she was younger - “but now it’s become a routine.” A routine, “routine,” is something that you do - a normal way that you do something, usually on a regular basis. So, my routine when I get up may be to go to the bathroom and clean my face. Every day I do the same thing; that’s my routine.

“Sometimes,” Lucy says, she’s “so tired that” she sleeps “in for just a little too long.” To sleep in (two words) means to sleep longer than you are supposed to. If you are supposed to wake up at 6:30 and you sleep until 7:00 that would be sleeping in. When she sleeps in, her bed doesn’t get made, that is she doesn’t make her bed.

Now let’s listen to the story, this time at a regular speed.

[Start of story]

On a weekday, I usually get up around 6:30 a.m., but I set my alarm to go off at 6:20 so that I can hit the snooze button to sleep another 10 minutes. My roommate thinks I’m crazy, but doing this in the mornings actually helps me wake up. I’m a night owl, not an early bird like she is, so I need an extra few minutes to get going in the morning.

One reason it’s so hard to get up is because my bedroom and my bed are so comfortable. I splurged and bought a bed with a very soft, thick mattress. I also have matching sheets and pillowcases, and a comforter that is made of goose down. Even my nightstand matches my sheets and the rest of my bedroom. I decorated it so that it would be restful after a busy day at work.

When I get up, the first thing I do is put on my robe. It’s always so cold in the apartment in the mornings, no matter what time of year it is. Then, I usually make my bed. I hated making my bed when I was little, but now it’s become a routine. Sometimes, though, I’m so tired that I sleep in for just a little too long and then, the bed definitely doesn’t get made. On those days, I wish I could sleep in all day!

[End of story]

Thanks to our fantastic scriptwriter, Dr. Lucy Tse, for her hard work. And thanks to you for listening. From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Come back and listen to us again here on ESL Podcast.

This course has been a production of the Center for Educational Development, in beautiful Los Angeles, California. Visit our website at eslpod.com.

This course was produced by Dr. Jeff McQuillan and Dr. Lucy Tse. Copyright 2006. __ Contributors to this series are Jeff McQuillan, Lucy Tse, and Jessica Brown.