Listen to this story every day. If you listen to my lessons every day for seven days or more, you will speak English for sure better than you are doing now. Next is your vocabulary lesson. See you there! time.
Unit 3. The vocabulary lesson
Hello, this is Alex and this is your vocabulary lesson for “A Sweet Tooth”.
Let me start with the title of the story, with the name of the story which is “A Sweet Tooth”.
You probably understand what it means, but let me explain this idiom, just in case. When someone has a sweet tooth it means that he or she likes eating sweet foods, especially sweets and chocolate. In the story I say, “The cow has a sweet tooth.” It means that the cow likes eating sweet foods. She likes eating sweets, cakes and chocolate very much.
Okay, next we have the expression to run a company.
I say, “She runs a huge company.” Here “to run” means to be in control of something. It can be anything. You can run a company. You can run a business. You can run a theatre. You can even run a boat. It all means that you are in control of this. You decide what the business you are running, for example, has to be. You decide what product your company has to come on the market with. You decide what strategy your company has to develop for the next few years and so on. You run the process. You are in control. You are the boss. I think you get the point, right?
In this lesson we also have the expression to make clear decisions.
To make clear decisions means to make the right decisions. It means that you choose to do something, especially after thinking carefully about several possibilities.
From the story you know that Carol the cow cannot make clear decisions after eating a lot of sugary things. In other words, the cow cannot choose what to do. She tries to think. She tries to choose what to do next, but she cannot. The cow cannot make clear decisions. All her decisions are not right. All her decisions are wrong. Carol the cow cannot make clear decisions about her business and about her life.
Next we have the verb to recognize.
I say, “Six months later because the cow continues to eat a lot of sweets, she cannot recognize her family and friends.”
To recognize means to know someone or something because you have seen or heard him or her before. You know who that person is or what that thing is. In our case, the cow doesn’t know who her family members are. She simply cannot remember them. She cannot know who her friends are. She simply cannot remember them. The cow cannot recognize her family and her friends. And of course, you know the reason, right? Yes, it is because the cow doesn’t stop eating sweets.
We move on down the story and we see the phrase the worst thing happens.
What does it mean? When the worst thing happens, it means that the most difficult, unpleasant or painful thing comes into your life. In the story I say, “Finally one day, the worst thing happens”. I say that finally, one day, the most difficult, unpleasant and painful thing happens to the cow. And of course, you already know what happens, right? Yes, you are totally right. The cow forgets her own mane. This is the most unpleasant, the most difficult and the most painful thing for her. That’s terrible. And I believe that it is true for everyone who one day goes through such an experience to forget your own name. It is very painful when you look at yourself in the mirror and you don’t remember what your name is. Oh, my gosh. It is really the worst moment in one’s life. Don’t you think so?
Next we have the fantastic expression which is to be concerned about someone or something.
The sentence says, “Her husband is very much concerned about the cow.”
What does it mean when someone is concerned about someone? It means that he or she is worried about this person. In our case, the cow’s husband is worried about his wife very much. In other words, the fact that his wife Carol not only forgets who he is, but she also forgets who she is, makes him worry a lot. This fact makes him feel worried about his wife. He is very much concerned about his wife.
The next sentence says “He takes her to a famous nutrition doctor”.
What is a nutrition doctor or a nutritionist? What does this doctor do?
A nutrition doctor or a nutritionist is a doctor whose job is to give advice on what you should eat to remain healthy, to stay healthy. So Carol’s husband puts her in his car and drives her to a famous doctor who can tell her what she should eat to return her memory back, to remain healthy in order to remember her name again.
And of course, you remember what the nutrition doctor tells her, right? Yes, here it is what the doctor tells her, “You must break your bad habit. Or else!”
So, the nutrition doctor tells the cow to stop doing something that she does regularly, especially something that she should not do. In our case, the cow must stop eating sugary things. She must break her bad habit. And then the doctor says “or else!” When someone tells you “or else”, it means that if you don’t stop doing what you do, something terrible will happen to you. In our case, if the cow continues eating sweets, she will die soon. That’s why the nutrition doctor tells her to break her bad habit, because if she doesn’t do that she will die soon.
Next, we have the expression to get control over one’s craving for sweets.
Okay, it’s a kind of a very long expression, but don’t worry. I’ll explain it to you. What it means is that someone decides to get power or influence over one’s strong desire for sweets. In other words, the cow decides to become so powerful that she can say “no” to sweets. She decides to get power over her craving for sweets. As you understand “craving for something” means a strong desire to have something. In the cow’s case, it is sweets. She wants to become so strong in her mind that she can stop eating sweets and she can easily live well without sweets at all. She decides to get control over her craving for sweets. She must do it, or she will die. I think you get the idea, right?
In this story you can also see the verb to decide on.
To tell you the truth, this is the expression, the phrasal verb. I love this expression a lot.
I say, “The cow decides on a juice fast.” What it means is that the cow chooses to drink a juice fast after thinking about the possible choices. Yes, it is simply another way to say that she decides to drink or to have a drink. So she decides to drink a juice fast or she decides on a juice fast. You decide what to choose when you want to talk about your choices.
Okay, we also have three words in this lesson which are a protein shake.
The sentence says, “She drinks two or three protein shakes a day not to lose muscles.”
A protein shake is a drink made by mixing protein power with milk or water. A protein power that has a substance that makes your body grow and be strong. It actually means that she decides to make this protein cocktail. She takes a protein power and mixes it with milk and she shakes it well. The drink is ready. You see it is easy, right. The cow drinks the protein shakes, the protein cocktail and she does it two or three times a day not to lose
