This
I Believe
This I
Believe was a five-minute radio
program hosted by journalist Edward R. Murrow in the 1950s. The show encouraged
both famous and everyday people to write short essays about their own personal
motivation in life and then read them on the radio. This I Believe became a cultural phenomenon that stressed
individual belief rather than religious or ideological dogma. The show has
continued in different forms on public radio. –adapted from Wikipedia
Audio
Time: 4
min 25 sec
Level: Intermediate and up
Vocabulary: To help
learners fully understand the audio and transcript, most vocabulary that might
be unknown for this lesson’s level is provided. Vocab in bold is more useful for learners at the
lesson’s target level. Try to choose 8 to 10 new words to learn from the story
(in general, it’s best to try to learn no more than 8-10 new words a day).
Definitions
are written with the help of various sources including Merriam-Webster’s Learner’s
Dictionary
Thoughtful:
serious
and quiet because you are thinking.
From
all walks of life: used to refer to people with different jobs and
positions in society.
Butcher:
someone
who cuts and sells meat in a shop.
Social
worker: the work done by someone who works for a government or
private organization that helps people who need basic social services to help
with financial, family, or other social problems.
Integrity: the quality of being honest and fair.
Bitterness: feeling or showing a lot of
unhappiness, dislike or anger.
Cynicism: cynical beliefs: beliefs that people are
generally selfish and dishonest.
Despair: the feeling of no longer having any
hope.
Quivering: to shake because of fear, cold, nervousness,
etc.
Hysteria: a state in which your emotions (such as fear) are
so strong that you behave in an uncontrolled way.
Commodity: something
that is bought and sold.
Fortitude: mental strength and courage that allows someone
to face danger, pain, etc.; bravery.
Alarming: to
cause someone to feel a sense of danger; to worry or frighten someone.
Short
supply: When the supply (amount) of something is not enough to
meet the demand or need for it.
Thunderhead: a very large cloud appearing before a
thunderstorm.
To
choke: to become unable to breathe usually because something gets
stuck in your throat or because the air is not good for breathing.
Intimacy: emotional
warmth and closeness.
To envelop: to completely cover someone or something; to
completely enclose or surround someone or something.
To
drive: to cause someone to behave in a particular way.
To flee: to
run away from a place or person usually because of danger.
To burrow: to
make a hole or tunnel in the ground by digging.
Prairie dog: a small animal that lives on the prairies of
the central and western.
Fury: violent
angry: rage.
A-bomb:
An
atomic bomb: a bomb that produces an extremely powerful explosion when atoms
are split apart.
Provoke: to
cause the occurrence of a feeling or action, often anger; to make something
happen.
Stampede: an occurrence in which a large group of frightened
or excited animals or people run together in a wild and uncontrolled way to
escape from something.
To
creep: to move slowly and quietly especially in order to not be
noticed.
Validity: the
quality of being real or correct.
To take
for granted: to fail to properly notice or appreciate someone
or something that is helpful or important to you.
Durable: staying
strong and in good condition over a long period of time.
To distinguish: to
notice or recognize a difference between people or things.
Afford: to be
able to pay for something.
To furnish: to provide a room or building with furniture.
Lease: a
legal agreement that lets someone use a car, house, etc., for a period of time
in return for payment.
Broadcast: to
send out (signals, programs, etc.) by radio or television.
Delicate: easily
broken or damaged.
Pious: deeply religious : devoted to a
particular religion.
Platitude: a statement that expresses an idea that is not
new.
Dogma: a
belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without
being questioned or doubted.
Prejudice: an
unfair feeling of dislike for a person or group because of race, sex, religion,
etc.
Invasion: the act
of entering a place in an attempt to take control of it.
Privacy: the
state of being alone; the state of being away from other people.
To
embarrass: to make someone feel confused and foolish in front of
other people.
To disrobe: to remove your clothes; undress.
To unveil: to show or reveal something to others for the first
time.
To hesitate: to
stop briefly before you do something especially because you are nervous or
unsure about what to do.
To engrave: to cut or carve lines, letters, designs, etc., onto
or into a hard surface.
Lord’s Prayer: a prayer that Jesus Christ taught to his
followers.
On the head of a pin: To waste time debating topics or
questions of no practical or intellectual value.
Distinctive:
having
a quality or characteristic that makes a person or thing different from others;
different in a way that is easy to notice.
Contribution: something
that is given to help a person, a cause, etc.
To inspire: to
make someone want to do something; to give someone an idea about what to do or
create.
Pat: something said or done without any real thought or
effort to be truthful or original.
Patent: Obvious or clear.
Medicine chest: a cabinet on a bathroom wall that is used
for storing medicine and small items.
To swallow: to take something into your stomach
through your mouth and throat
Aspirin: a
medicine that reduces pain and fever.
To banish: to force someone to leave a country or place as
punishment.
To enumerate: to name things one after another in a list.
Perspective: a way
of thinking about and understanding something such as a particular issue or
life in general.
To face: to
deal with something bad or unpleasant in a direct way.
To
tackle: to deal with something difficult.
Usage Tip: Idioms and useful collocations
Idiom: (How many
angels can) dance on the head of a pin? An idiom used for useless intellectual
thinking or speculation that has no value.
For
some people, debating intellectual topics, like whether or not there is
intelligent life on other planets, is like counting how many angels can dance
on the head of a pin. For others, it’s a useful intellectual exercise.
Invasion of privacy:
Many people
think that the information that internet companies collected from our internet
searches is an invasion of privacy.
Short supply:
Today, with
the information revolution, we have access to great amounts of knowledge, but
wisdom still is in short supply.
A lease on the future/ life:
After
almost dying in a car accident, Steve felt like he had a new lease on life.
Personal philosophy:
Developing
a personal philosophy can take time, but it can help us know what goals and
values are most important for us in life.
Rich life:
“The
secret to a rich life is to have more beginnings that endings”- Dave Weinbaum
State of flux:
As that
old Greek philosopher observed, change is the only thing that stays the same,
and life is a state of flux.
To be of assistance:
If I
can be of any more assistance, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
To come to realize/know/ understand:
“As I
reflect back on my life, I have come to realize that my greatest triumphs have
been born of my greatest troubles.” - Steve Maraboli
Discussion
questions:
1. What are your most important beliefs and values?
2. If you wrote an essay about your own personal
motivation(s) and basic values in life, what would you write about?
3. Do you agree with the author that we live in an age of
confusion and anxiety?
4. Are your beliefs fixed or are they in a state of flux?
5. Why is it useful to hear about other people’s beliefs and
basic values?
6. How have your
basic values and beliefs changed throughout your life?
7. Can learning how others face their problems help us to
tackle our own problems?
8. How free should people be to express their beliefs in
society? 