S05 - 3 Space

Native English speakers answer questions about space from previous B2, C1, C2 and IELTS exam papers.

Ok, it’s not the most common exam topic ever but it is a very interesting subject and a lot of people are really enthusiastic about it, as you are gonna hear, we have quite a few space fans speaking today. So there’s plenty of space vocabulary, lots of adjectives, some phrasal verbs and a wide variety of accents, including quite a funny conversation between two Welsh ladies that is sure to test your listening skills. 

For classes or transcripts go to https://realexamenglish.com/podcast/

Music: Wholesome by Kevin MacLeod
Link: https://incompetech.filmmusic.io/song/5050-wholesome
License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Thanks to all of the contributors, including Emma, Mike, Noel, Konner, Jen, Dan from the Roar and Score Trivia Podcast and the girls from the Butt Stuff Podcast.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to the Real exam English podcast, this episode is about space. Ok, it’s not the most common exam topic ever but it is a very interesting subject and a lot of people are really enthusiastic about it, as you are gonna hear, we have quite a few space fans speaking today. So there’s plenty of space vocabulary, lots of adjectives, some phrasal verbs and a wide variety of accents, including quite a funny conversation between two Welsh ladies that is sure to test your listening skills. As usual you can find the transcripts for this and all episodes over on the Real Exam English website, Realexamenglish.com, and there is a link in the show notes.

Ok then, let’s start off with our first speaker, from Canada.

Do you find astronomy interesting?             

Absolutely. I love astronomy. Anything to do with the night sky and stars I'm a big fan of, absolutely. We've lost touch with it, you know, like societies have lost touch with it. Our cities are…have a lot, a lot of light pollution and we don't we don't see the night sky but..and that's a relatively modern thing. Humanity has been in touch with the night sky. It was their… it was their Instagram, it was their social media, it was their entertainment, you know, “our” I would say as humanity for thousands upon thousands of years, ever since we've been able to walk on two legs and observe it's been our theatre, our movies, you know? And I mean ancient peoples were much more in tune with that. They developed constellations and the constellations have been very similar throughout history in different periods of time, like in South America and North America, Egypt. Like it's interesting how, like Stonehenge, you know, in Britain that how that was developed towards, you know, the winter and the summer solstice. And there's at the same time the Aztecs had the same thing. You know what I mean? Like it's it's…yeah, astronomy. I think it's something that we've lost touch with.…the average person has lost touch with but…I think you know and I also can humble you when you look up there and your problems. It does mean nothing when you look up at that night sky and you say, well, you know, what are we really? We're, we're nothing. You know, in the we are everything, but we're nothing at the same time. When you look up it humbles you and makes you realise that, you know, I guess you know that you'll be gone in a, in a blip and life will and the universe will continue. 

Great answer to start off there. We had some useful space vocabulary with the night sky and stars and how they are affected by light pollution, which is the brightening of the night sky with manmade lights, like streetlights for example. Then we had the constellations, which are these groups of stars that form a particular pattern and are often given mythical names, like Orion. We had the winter and summer solstice, which are the shortest and longest days of the year.

He said that different ancient peoples used to be more in touch with these, or as he said they were more in tune with these. If you are in tune with something then you understand it and know how it works. For example, the teacher was in tune with the students and knew when to push them a bit more and when to ease off. It’s interesting that he said peoples, in the plural, too right? You can use peoples in this way when you are speaking of different civilizations, like the Aztecs, or the Persians, or the Celts, or whatever, these are all ancient peoples. 

Another great word was humble, he said it can humble you to look up at the stars. If something humbles you then it makes you feel not as important or special as you thought you are. Like, I thought I was great at tennis but was humbled by my defeat to my teenage neighbour. 

Do you find astronomy interesting?

Extremely, I studied physics and astronomy for my undergraduate degree. I did some astronomy research during my undergraduate as well in Melbourne about Mars and the possible Mars trips that we could be taking and the…I guess the viability and if it's real or not or if it's possible and astronomy is fascinating, I think everybody should have some time reading and learning about astronomy because it's probably one of the most humbling things a human can ever learn about or undertake. And I think there's a certain element of, I think, anyone, anyone who's been to the desert or somewhere far away or outside of the city and they've seen the Milky Way or they've seen Saturn or they've seen Venus clearly or something. I think any…anybody who's done that will tell you how it sort of hits an almost caveman part of your brain that nothing else can. So I think it's a very special thing.

Ok, so this speaker studied astronomy for his undergraduate degree. This is usually the first degree that you study in university, before you start doing masters or postgraduate degrees. He said he studied the viability of humans going to Mars, the viability is how likely it is to be successful. He then said studying astronomy is one of the most humbling things a person can learn about, this word humble again, in this case it’s the adjective form, humbling, one of the most humbling things. 

I’ve gotta point out too that he mentioned the Milky Way, which is another name for our galaxy, seen as a white strip across the sky at night. People often find it funny to hear this in a different language other than their own, the Milky Way.

Undertake was another lovely word he used. Learning astronomy is one of the most humbling things you can undertake. We use undertake when we begin to do something, especially something that might be long or hard. Like, I’ve undertaken to read all of Shakespeare’s works this year. Or preparing for the C2 exam is one of the most difficult things I have undertaken, very appropriate sentence!

Do you find astronomy interesting?

I love space. I love galaxies. My favorite color is the Galaxy bluey purple. That's my wallpaper. It's and I was….I was kind of bullied for everything as a kid, so I hid most of it, but now it's like I like galaxies. I like space and my piano students love coming to my studio and seeing the funky old paper. And I wear leggings. I'm known for my leggings as well, so I've got quite a lot of Galaxy-themed, space leggings as well so you could say I like space. 

OK, let me see. I'll have to ask you some more space questions. So how would you feel if you traveled in outer space?

I'm not really up for that, though, so I don't travel very well.  If I can drive somewhere, I'm fine. But anything beyond driving….so I don't like buses. I don't like trains. I don't like airplanes, you know, I can just about put up with the ferry, but you can't get a ferry to the moon. So you know, I'm not really up for space travel itself. I prefer to watch it from a distance from a telescope.

What is your favorite space movie or TV show and how realistic is it?

So, as a thing, musicians don't tend to be big on films, so my film knowledge is virtually nothing. But I do like certain music. So for example, I like the Star Wars music, but I don't really watch Star Wars. And I like Star Trek, but I don't like watching Star Trek. Well, my husband's a big fan of Star Trek. But I'm not, but I appreciate music any I like. Any films that have good music, I won't be able to tell you what the film's about either cause I'm on the music. So sci-fi films, probably my favorite one is the day after tomorrow because it had a young Jake Gyllenhaal in it. And I always remember that one cause I did a presentation on it in second year at university.

Alright, another space fan there. Her favourite colour is galaxy blue purple, I must confess that I didn´t know that was a specific colour; and she has lots of galaxy-themed space leggings, again something I didn’t know existed, that’s so cool.

However, she wouldn´t really like to travel to space. As she said “I wouldn’t really be up for that, though”. Ok, so being up for something means you are willing to try it or do it. Like, hey, would you be up for going a hike at the weekend? Or, I’m not up for going out tonight, I feel tired. 

She then had another phrasal verb with up, I can just about put up with the ferry, meaning she can tolerate it or accept it, just! This phrasal verb is pretty common in English exams so it’s a good one to know. Other examples would be I can´t put up with the noise from my neighbours anymore, I’m gonna kill them. Or I find it difficult to put up with the heat in Spain in the summer, it’s just too hot.

Lastly, she said as a thing, musicians don’t tend to be big on films. When she says as a thing, she means as a rule, or usually. So, as a thing, musicians don´t tend to be big on films. We can use this verb tend to for talking about behavior or characteristics, or things, that people have. Like, astronauts tend to be brave. Or rockets tend to be expensive. And musicians tend not to be big on films, means musicians are not really interested in films. Another example would be, I’m not big on coffee, I prefer tea. 

Alrighty, so for our language break this time we are going to take a look at extreme adjectives. Ok, so a regular adjective is something like good, then the extreme adjective for good would be great, fantastic, wonderful, something like that. The extreme adjective of tired is exhausted, or knackered in the UK. Ok, so I will give you 10 regular adjectives and I’ll leave you a space to say the extreme adjective. I’ll give you a few possible answers then as well. Ok, here we go:

Bad – terrible, awful

Angry – Furious, livid

Cold – freezing

Happy – delighted, thrilled, elated

Interesting – fascinating, captivating, engrossing

Surprised – astonished, amazed, taken aback

Clean – spotless, pristine

Scared – terrified, petrified

Funny – hilarious, priceless

Expensive – exorbitant, extortionate

Tough one there at the end. Ok, there are more answers than those possible as well. Let me know how you did on Spotify or on social media. These types of adjectives are really important for things like describing photos and for any descriptive writing, like a review or an article, so make your own list and try to practice them. Ok, back to the questions, with a speaker from Australia.

How would you feel if you travelled in outer space? 

I was just talking about this last night. I really, really want to go to space. I would pay so much money to go to space, get on rocket and go. I'd be very excited and I don't know how I'd feel if I was up there, but I guess I would probably be in awe. I think people say they they feel really connected to the rest of the world, even though they're out in space, just seeing them all in on one big marble, you know, so, I'd yeah, I'd be stoked. 

What is your favorite space movie or TV show? How realistic is it? 

Even though I really like the science of space, I don't like that many space movies. I quite like the garden guardians of the Galaxy series. I'm not really….I don't really like any other Marvel movies, but guardians of the Galaxy was great. It's really pretty. All the characters are really distinct. The stories are also quite distinct as well. It's not just good guy killed bad guy and I'm wearing a cape. It's a little bit different, a little bit deeper and funner, bit more unique. So yeah, I'd say the guardians of the Galaxy series. 

Another big space fan, wow. He said we would be in awe if he went to space. If you are in awe of something, then you have a great respect for it or are maybe surprised or even a bit afraid of it. For instance, he was in awe of the company boss and would do whatever he told him. Or I am in awe of anyone who passed their C1 exam! 

He said he would be so excited to go to space, and also that he would be stoked, which is quite an Australian adjective, well Australian and US. It’s the kind of adjective a surfer would use, or maybe a musician, like we are stoked to be playing at the music festival this year. 

In the second answer he had a bunch of adjectives too, he said the movie Guardians of Galaxy was pretty, and distinct, also different, unique and funner. This last one, funner, is not actually a correct word in English. The comparative of fun is more fun, right, like football is more fun than walking. Ok, overall, though,  super answers as he had a good variety of language, and he also used Even though very well in both answers, even though I like space, I don’t like space movies. And the answers were interesting, which always makes them seem better, right!

Ok so, speaking of interesting answers next up we have our two ladies from Wales having a chat with each other. You may find this challenging to follow but this is how people really chat with each other so it’s excellent practice for you. And also, they are just really funny, they crack me up. Remember, if you can´t follow the audio then you check out the transcript which has all of the conversation in addition to some useful grammar and vocabulary exercises, that´s on the real exam English webpage.

How would you feel if you travelled in outer space?

Absolutely fucking terrified. Absolutely terrified. Sorry. Sorry, Trevor. Absolutely terrified. I do not want to do that. It's…..have you seen the amount of people that have lost in space lately? 

And monkeys? 

Yeah, there's too many people in space.

No, thank you. 

Just lost. There's a couple up there now that are just waiting. They could not come back till next year. 

That’s ridiculous.

I don't want that. I'm I don't like confined spaces. I want somewhere I can breathe and not. 

There's absolutely no way I could do it. 

No, no. And there's just too much unpredictability. They don't know what they're talking about. They don’t know what they're doing. 

No, no one does. I don't trust technology enough. 

No. 

What skills or strength should an astronaut have? 

They'd have to have excellent self-discipline and strength of mind like.

Yeah, to be ok on your own.

And, also to be OK with the thought of potentially spending eternity floating in the ether.

Yea.

With no control over anything and you just have to just die.

Or wait there, or you might go back and your country is no longer there like that guy that left the USSR and then returned, there was no USSR. 

Literally anything could happen. 

Yeah. No, thank you. 

It's absolutely absurd. 

Awe….so good. We spoke earlier about extreme adjectives. Well in the first answer here we had some very extreme language. The extreme adjective for scared is terrified. And if you want to intensify that you can add an adverb, absolutely terrified, and if you want to intensify that you can add fucking, absolutely fucking terrified. Ok, so they apologized for using bad words in the answer and of course, do not use this in an exam situation, but telling a story to your friends, go for it! They also had absolutely absurd, another super adjective, meaning ridiculous or ludicrous. 

This last question was what skills and strengths should an astronaut have. They said excellent self-discipline and strength of mind. Lovely vocabulary. Strength of mind means mental toughness or fortitude. They said you need this if you are spending eternity floating in the ether. The ether is another way of saying the sky or the air, or I guess space in this context. Other skills they could have mentioned would be communication skills, problem solving, adaptability, teamwork, and just bravery really right.

Ok brave listeners, that’s all we have time for today. If you have got this far in the podcast you have shown great strength of mind and you should be stoked with yourself! Hopefully, you’re a bit more in tune now with the night sky and the vocabulary needed to talk about it, it’s an absolutely fascinating topic.

Ok, thanks very much for listening and thanks to everyone who has given feedback on Spotify, Instagram and elsewhere, I really appreciate it. Catch you next time!

Trevor