اتوبوس گمشده گروه تور

Missing the Tour Group Bus

Welcome to English as a Second Language Podcast number 262: Missing the Tour Group Bus.

This is English as a Second Language Podcast episode 262. I’m your host, Dr. Jeff McQuillan, coming to you from the Center for Educational Development in beautiful Los Angeles, California.

Remember to visit our website at eslpod.com to download the Learning Guide for this episode as well as to look at some of the other new things we have on our website.

This episode is called “Missing the Tour Group Bus.” It’s going to be a conversation between a woman who is looking for her group that she is on a tour with - visiting; vacationing - and a man standing on the street. Let’s get started.

[start of story]

Kelly: Where is everybody?

Man: Excuse me? Were you talking to me?

Kelly: Oh, no. I was just talking to myself. Our tour group was supposed to rendezvous here at five o’clock for our return trip to the hotel. But there’s no trace of the bus and I don’t see any other people from my group anywhere.

Man: You know, it’s 5:10. Maybe the bus took off already.

Kelly: That can’t be! Our tour guide said that we would meet back here at fiveish. She didn’t say precisely at five.

Man: Maybe that’s what she meant. You know, tour guides usually stick pretty closely to a time schedule.

Kelly: Yes, I know, but what am I supposed to do now? I don’t have any way to get back to the hotel.

Man: Do you have the number of the tour company? I could lend you my cell phone to call them.

Kelly: Let me see. No, I don’t. I feel like such an idiot!

Man: Wait a second. Is that your bus over there?

Kelly: Where? Oh my gosh, I think it is! I must be on the wrong side of the park. If I make a run for it, I may be able to catch it before it takes off. Thanks a lot for spotting it!

Man: No sweat, but you’d better step on it!

[end of story]

The title of our episode is “Missing the Tour Group Bus.” “To miss something” means that, in this case, you are too late; you arrive too late. We say, “I missed my bus,” or “I missed my train,” it means that I did not get to the train before it left, or the bus. So, “Missing the Tour Group Bus” is about a woman who thinks that she missed her bus with her group, where she is taking a vacation.

Kelly says, to begin the dialogue, “Where is everybody?” And the man standing on the street, who does not know her, says, “Excuse me? Were you talking to me?” Kelly says, “Oh, no. I was just talking to myself.” “To talk to yourself” means to speak quietly to yourself, not expecting other people to hear. This is something that I think we actually - all of us - do at one time or another - “talk to yourself.” Some people think that talking to yourself is a sign of, or an indication, that you are crazy, so I must be crazy!

Kelly says that, “Our tour group,” the group of people that she was with, visiting the city or the town where she was, “was supposed to rendezvous here at five o’clock for our return trip to the hotel.” “To rendezvous” (rendezvous) means to meet someone at a specific place and time. “Let’s rendezvous at the restaurant at seven p.m.” That means let us meet - we will meet at the restaurant at seven o’clock in the evening. The “return trip” would be the trip going back to the place where you began, or the place where you came from.

So, Kelly says that her “tour group was supposed to rendezvous here at five o’clock for” their “return trip to the hotel. But,” she says, “there’s no trace of the bus.” The expression “no trace (trace) of something” means there’s no sign of something; there’s no indication of something; it’s not there at all. You might say, “There’s no trace of the original house after they built the new house.” They destroyed the old house and they built a new house - there’s no trace of; no sign of; no indication; no way for you to tell that there was an old house there before.

The man says, “You know, it’s 5:10.” They were supposed to rendezvous at five o’clock, and it is now ten minutes after five. “Maybe,” the man says, “the bus took off already.” “To take off” (“took off” is the past tense), “to take off” means to leave a place quickly. “We’re going to take off at five o’clock” - we’re going to leave here at five o’clock. “To take off” has a couple of meanings in English; take a look at the Learning Guide today for additional explanations.

Kelly is not very happy. She says, “That can’t be!” “That can’t be,” meaning that’s not possible. “Our tour guide,” the person who leads the group, “said that we would meet back here at five-ish.” When we talk about a time and we add the word, or the suffix, “ish,” such as “five-ish,” or “six-ish,” or “ten-ish,” we mean approximately at that time; not exactly at that time; around that time; about that time. Someone may say, “Let’s meet at the restaurant at three-ish,” or “We’ll meet here around three-ish,” they mean somewhere around three o’clock but not exactly at three o’clock.

Kelly says the woman “didn’t say precisely at five.” To say “precisely” (precisely) means exactly. You could also say, “five o’clock sharp,” that would also mean at an exact time. The man says, “Maybe that’s what she meant,” meaning she said “five-ish” but the tour guide meant exactly or precisely at five. The man says, “tour guides,” the person leading the tours, “usually stick pretty closely to a time schedule.” “To stick (stick) to something” means to follow a plan very carefully; to do exactly what you plan to do without making any changes.

Kelly says, “Yes, I know, but what am I supposed to do now” - what can I do now? “I don’t have any way to get back to the hotel.” The man asks Kelly if she has “the number,” meaning the telephone number, “of the tour company?” The “tour company” is a business that organizes visits to interesting places, often using buses. So for example, there are tour companies here in Los Angeles that organize tours on buses to visit all of the important sites - the important things here in Los Angeles things, the beach and Hollywood; the Center for Educational Development - all the most important things!

The man says that he could lend his cell phone to Kelly so she could call them. Kelly says that she does not have the telephone number of the tour company. She says, “I feel like such an idiot!” An idiot (idiot) is a very stupid person, someone who is not very intelligent.

The man says, “Wait a second. Is that your bus over there?” And Kelly says, “Where? Oh my gosh, I think it is!” The expression “oh my gosh” (gosh) is one we use to show surprise or shock. “Oh my gosh, it’s very warm outside!” You weren’t expecting it to be warm outside; it’s a surprise - “Oh my gosh!”

Kelly says, “I must be on the wrong side of the park. If I make a run for it, I may be able to catch it before it takes off” - before it leaves. “To make a run for something” means to run or walk very quickly when you have very little time. It could also mean to leave or escape by running. So, “to make a run for it” means basically to run or to walk quickly so you can get somewhere very quickly.

Kelly thanks the man “for spotting” the bus. “To spot” (spot) here means to see something that is difficult to see. Kelly didn’t see the bus, but the man spotted it; he saw something even though it was difficult to see because it was on the other side of the park.

The man says, “No sweat,” (sweat). “No sweat,” which is informal for it’s no problem; you’re welcome. The man says to Kelly, “You’d better step on it!” You should - “You’d better step on it.” “To step on it” means to hurry; to rush; to do something very quickly.

Now let’s listen to the dialogue, this time at a native rate of speech.

[start of story]

Kelly: Where is everybody?

Man: Excuse me? Were you talking to me?

Kelly: Oh, no. I was just talking to myself. Our tour group was supposed to rendezvous here at five o’clock for our return trip to the hotel. But there’s no trace of the bus and I don’t see any other people from my group anywhere.

Man: You know, it’s 5:10. Maybe the bus took off already.

Kelly: That can’t be! Our tour guide said that we would meet back here at fiveish. She didn’t say precisely at five.

Man: Maybe that’s what she meant. You know, tour guides usually stick pretty closely to a time schedule.

Kelly: Yes, I know, but what am I supposed to do now? I don’t have any way to get back to the hotel.

Man: Do you have the number of the tour company? I could lend you my cell phone to call them.

Kelly: Let me see. No, I don’t. I feel like such an idiot!

Man: Wait a second. Is that your bus over there?

Kelly: Where? Oh my gosh, I think it is! I must be on the wrong side of the park. If I make a run for it, I may be able to catch it before it takes off. Thanks a lot for spotting it!

Man: No sweat, but you’d better step on it!

[end of story]

Our thanks to Dr. Lucy Tse for writing the script for this podcast.

If you have a question or comment, be sure to email us. Our email address is eslpod@eslpod.com.

From Los Angeles, California, I’m Jeff McQuillan. Thanks for listening. We’ll see you next time on ESL Podcast.

English as a Second Language Podcast is written and produced by Dr. Lucy Tse, hosted by Dr. Jeff McQuillan. This podcast is copyright 2007.