Episode 0068
Summary
The audio features an intense debate between two speakers. Speaker 1 presents research and data to support a theory, which Speaker 2 vehemently refutes, citing flaws in methodology and data collection. The argument quickly devolves into a heated, repetitive disagreement about whether the chicken or the egg came first, with both speakers expressing anger.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
We've been over this a thousand times. The data is irrefutable. Look, we've done extensive research, built studies and read the literature, and there is conclusive evidence to support my theory.
Horowitz, I beg to differ. Even in your most recent study, the investigative approach was flawed. You know as well as I do, the collection of data was not systematic and there's a large margin of error. To draw a definitive conclusion based on that data would be misleading.
That is preposterous!
You are trying to single-handedly solve one of the world's greatest mysteries and yet, you're oblivious to the fact that you're wrong.
I'm not wrong. The chicken came first.
No, the egg came first.
The chicken.
Egg.
The chicken.
The egg!
The chicken.
The egg!
Summary
The audio features two hosts, Marco and Erica, introducing a podcast episode about English language learning. They first present a short dialogue between two professors who are fiercely debating the validity of research findings and even the classic 'chicken or the egg' dilemma, showing strong disagreement. Following this, the hosts delve into a 'Language Takeaway' segment, where they explain key vocabulary and phrases used in the dialogue, such as 'irrefutable', 'flawed', 'systematic', 'preposterous', and 'oblivious'. They then move to a 'Putting It Together' segment, discussing how certain words combine to form common phrases like 'extensive research', 'conclusive evidence', 'investigative approach', and 'definitive conclusion'. The dialogue is replayed, and the episode concludes with the hosts asking listeners for their opinions on the debated riddles and inviting engagement.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
Welcome back English learners. My name is Marco and I'm joined here by the lovely.
Erica. And today we're going to be bringing you another great lesson, one of the lessons that you requested.
Yes, that's right. Actually, Maxim Maxim S requested this one.
Right. I think he's really into research and investigation. So, we're bringing you a great lesson about this topic.
Okay, so I'm really excited to hear this dialogue all about research. So why don't we start listening to two university professors discussing an important question.
We've been over this a thousand times. The data is irrefutable. Look, we've done extensive research, built studies and read the literature, and there is conclusive evidence to support my theory.
Horowitz, I beg to differ. Even in your most recent study, the investigative approach was flawed. You know as well as I do. The collection of data was not systematic and there's a large margin of error to draw a definitive conclusion based on that data would be misleading.
That is preposterous.
You are trying to single-handedly solve one of the world's greatest mysteries and yet, you're oblivious to the fact that you're wrong.
No, I'm not wrong. The chicken came first.
No, the egg came first.
The chicken.
Egg.
The chicken.
The egg.
The chicken.
The egg.
All right, so interesting. Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
It's an age-old question, isn't it?
And apparently, they are not going to agree anytime soon.
All right. Well, what they can agree about is this awesome language. So why don't we take a look at it now in Language Takeaway.
Okay, in language takeaway today we have some really great words and this first one is really good.
Irrefutable.
Irrefutable.
Irrefutable. The data is irrefutable.
Okay, so if the professor says that the data is irrefutable, what does what does he mean by that?
He's he's saying that you cannot deny it. It is really, really true.
It is really true. There is no way this is a lie.
Exactly.
Okay. Irrefutable evidence for example.
Yeah, that's a great phrase.
All right, so the professor complained that Dr. Horowitz's experiment was flawed.
Flawed.
Flawed.
So flawed. Is that an adjective a verb or a noun?
Hmm, it is an adjective. Okay. Here. Now when something is flawed, there is a problem with it, right? There's a mistake.
Okay, so it has an error.
Yeah.
Okay. So this adjective is a way of saying that his experiment has a flaw.
A mistake. Exactly. So flawed is the adjective of a flaw.
Right.
Okay.
Now the reason that his study or his experiment was flawed is because that it was not systematic.
Systematic.
Systematic.
So systematic. That's an interesting word.
Mm. Now, I think we can recognize the word system in here, right?
Right. Right.
So when something is systematic, it follows a process.
A certain order. Yes, a certain system.
Right. So that's basically what systematic means to follow a certain order to be more organized, right?
Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
Okay. And what about our next word?
Preposterous.
Preposterous.
Preposterous.
That is preposterous. I love this phrase.
It goes usually goes together, right? That is preposterous.
Yeah.
Okay, so what does it mean when I say that?
It means it's it's absurd. It's it's ridiculous.
Right. It it doesn't make sense. I can't believe you said that.
All right, well this is a really interesting phrase. Um, but I think it's a little bit more common, um, when it's used by older people.
Yeah, I don't think I don't really see a young person going up to someone and say, hey, that's preposterous.
Yeah, but it is a wonderful phrase. Now, our final phrase for takeaway.
Oblivious.
Oblivious. You're oblivious to the fact.
So a person that is oblivious to something.
They don't know or they're they're unaware.
Okay, so they ignore maybe the facts or Exactly. They don't see it.
Yeah. You're oblivious to the fact that we're in a recession.
Okay. Or he is completely oblivious.
You can just say it like that, right?
Yeah, he doesn't know.
Okay, so we took a look at some of the great vocabulary we found in the dialogue, but there were also some really good phrases that I think we should look at.
Okay, and let's take a look at those and putting it together.
You know, Marco, one of the things I love about English is the way that uh words seem to fit together. Like like blocks coming together. And here we have a lot of great examples of these words that fit together really nicely.
Okay, so why don't we look at those? Um, and our first one now is extensive research.
Extensive research.
Extensive research.
All right, so we know extensive means a lot.
A lot. Yeah.
So that's really good when you put it together, extensive research. It means you have a lot of research.
You have really studied, you have really looked things up. Okay, extensive research.
Another great research-related phrase here is conclusive evidence.
Conclusive evidence.
Conclusive evidence.
All right. Now the first word there, conclusive.
When something is conclusive, you can't argue with it. It's it's the final decision.
All right, well the professor complained that Horowitz's that Horowitz's investigative approach was flawed, right?
Mm-hm. So this is our next phrase: investigative approach.
Investigative approach.
Investigative approach.
Okay, so I remember the word investigate is a verb.
Yes.
But in this case, it's a It's an adjective. It's an adjective.
When something is investigative, it's obviously having to do with an investigation.
Mm-hm. So the approach or the so when he said investigative approach, just the I mean, just simply the way you investigate the problem.
The way he investigated. Okay. Very interesting. What about this other phrase that I saw? It was really interesting, definitive conclusion.
Definitive conclusion.
So a definitive conclusion. Well, again, I think we know the word conclusion, right?
Okay.
So it's a final judgment or decision.
All right. When something is definitive, you can't argue with it or change it.
Okay, so the conclusion or the final result is is final. Like there is no way of arguing it.
Okay. All right. Definitive conclusion.
This is some great language. So why don't we listen to it one more time in the dialogue?
We've been over this a thousand times. The data is irrefutable. Look, we've done extensive research, built studies and read the literature, and there is conclusive evidence to support my theory.
Horowitz, I beg to differ. Even in your most recent study, the investigative approach was flawed. You know as well as I do. The collection of data was not systematic and there's a large margin of error to draw a definitive conclusion based on that data would be misleading.
That is preposterous.
You are trying to single-handedly solve one of the world's greatest mysteries and yet, you're oblivious to the fact that you're wrong.
No, I'm not wrong. The chicken came first.
No, the egg came first.
The chicken.
Egg.
The chicken.
The egg.
The chicken.
The egg.
So, an interesting question. What do you think? What came first? The chicken or the egg?
Well, if you ask me, it was the egg.
It was the egg? Yeah.
Interesting.
What about why did the chicken cross the road?
To get to the other side.
Do you think that's really the reason?
Well, there's a million different reasons, but this is great. I'm glad you brought that up because this is like the classic English joke.
The classic English joke, right? Why did the chicken cross the road? And the answer is always.
Well, there are a million answers. So do you guys know any chicken jokes?
Yeah, why don't you come to our website Englishpod.com and on the comment section, why don't you leave us your thoughts on what came first, the chicken or the egg and why do you think the chicken crossed the road?
All right, well we really look forward to hearing your ideas and uh Marco and I will be around to answer your questions. So, I think we're out of time for today, but thanks for listening and we'll see you there. Goodbye.
Goodbye. Bye.
Summary
This audio is a vocabulary review session from 'The English Pod'. Speaker 1 provides definitions or instructions, and Speaker 2 responds with the corresponding vocabulary word or an example sentence. The session covers various English terms such as 'irrefutable', 'extensive research', 'systematic', 'flawed', 'preposterous', 'oblivious to', 'investigative approach', 'single-handedly', 'definitive conclusion', 'determine', 'indicate', 'a compelling case', 'circumstantial evidence', and 'associated with'. The latter part of the audio focuses on practicing these words within example sentences, particularly 'irrefutable', 'systematic', 'oblivious to', and 'definitive conclusion'.
Transcript (Click timestamp to jump)
The English Pod audio review.
Listen to the meaning, then say the vocabulary word.
Correct, not able to be proved wrong.
Irrefutable.
Very full and complete study to find information.
Extensive research.
Using a careful system or method.
Systematic.
Having errors or mistake.
Flawed.
Crazy, foolish, or silly.
Preposterous.
Unaware or don't know.
Oblivious to.
Way of looking for information.
Investigative approach.
Do something on your own, without help.
Single-handedly.
A final judgment that is not able to be changed, that is final.
Definitive conclusion.
Find out if something is true.
Determine.
Show something to be true.
Indicate.
An argument that is capable of making people believe that point of view.
A compelling case.
A collection of facts that implies or suggests something to be true, but does not prove it.
Circumstantial evidence.
Linked or connected with.
Associated with.
Let's try that faster.
Unaware or don't know.
Oblivious to.
Having errors or mistake.
Flawed.
Find out if something is true.
Determine.
Correct, not able to be proved wrong.
Irrefutable.
A collection of facts that implies or suggests something to be true, but does not prove it.
Circumstantial evidence.
Way of looking for information.
Investigative approach.
A final judgment that is not able to be changed, that is final.
Definitive conclusion.
Very full and complete study to find information.
Extensive research.
Linked or connected with.
Associated with.
Show something to be true.
Indicate.
Using a careful system or method.
Systematic.
Crazy, foolish, or silly.
Preposterous.
An argument that is capable of making people believe that point of view.
A compelling case.
Do something on your own, without help.
Single-handedly.
Now say the word and hear it in a sentence.
Irrefutable.
Look, we have irrefutable evidence that he was the killer.
Irrefutable.
The facts are irrefutable. Smoking has a negative impact on your health.
Irrefutable.
The irrefutable truth is that there is a monster living in Lake Erie.
Systematic.
We need to approach this problem in a systematic way.
Systematic.
We did a systematic evaluation of the evidence.
Systematic.
He's a very systematic guy. He's very careful with his work.
Neil is oblivious to what's going on around him.
Are you oblivious to the truth?
I was oblivious to the fact that there was a virus on my computer.
Definitive conclusion.
We have not come to any definitive conclusions yet.
Definitive conclusion.
Before you make a definitive conclusion, make sure you examine all the evidence.
Definitive conclusion.
The researchers failed to arrive at any definitive conclusions.
We studied the problem carefully and we found conclusive evidence of global warming.
There's no conclusive evidence that links Diet Coke to health problems.
There is conclusive evidence showing that smokers die younger.