Speaker 1: The temperature was already thirty degrees at seven o'clock this morning.
Let me tell you it's time to beat the heat.
A nice dish of chocolate ice cream is one of
my favorite ways to cool off, and on a day
like this, that really hits the spot.
Speaker 2: Welcome to another Happy English podcast, coming to you from
New York City. And here's your English teacher, Michael.
Speaker 1: All right, thank you, John, and thanks everyone. It's Michael
here from Happy English and I help people speak English better.
And this is Happy English Podcast, Episode eight forty two.
Time to beat the heat. Hello and welcome. Thanks for
joining me for another episode of the Happy English Podcast.
I'm your English teacher Michael, and I'm so glad you're listening.
It's week four of our summer series. This time we're
talking about how Americans beat the heat. When you beat
the heat, you try to stay cool when it's really
hot out. And let me tell you, summer in a
lot of the US can get pretty brutal, even in
New York City in July and August. So how do
we cool off? Well, two things come to mind right away.
Ice cream and movie theaters. Let's start with ice cream.
I mean, is there anything better on a hot day,
whether it's a cone a Sunday or one of those
classic ice cream sandwiches, Americans go crazy for ice cream
in summer. You'll see ice cream trucks driving through neighborhoods
playing music to let kids and adults know they're coming,
and the local ice cream shops will have long lines
in the evening when people come out after dinner to
cool off, cool off. Let's take a break for a
second and talk about that phrase cool off. To cool
off means to do something to help lower your body temperature,
usually when you're hot, like after walking around in the
sun all day, I needed to cool off with an
ice tea. On a hot day, some people jump into
the pool to cool off, or like I just said,
grabbing some ice cream or an Italian ice is a
great way to cool off in the summer. Personally, I
think a few scoops of chocolate ice cream really hits
the spot after a hot, sticky day. And that brings
us to another great phrase, hit the spot. When something
hits the spot, it means it's exactly what you needed
at that moment. Something that hits the spot really satisfies you,
Like after working in the garden in thirty degree heat,
a cold glass of lemonade hits the spot. When Paul
got home from work, he said that a cold beer
really hit the spot. So yeah, ice cream on a
hot day totally hits the spot. Another classic way to
beat the heat is by heading to the movie theater.
Theaters in the US are known for b being super
air conditioned, like bring a jacket kind of air conditioning.
Going to the movies is a great way to spend
a couple of hours out of the sun, especially when
there's a good movie playing. And that brings us to
the idea of the summer blockbuster. What's a summer blockbuster. Well,
it's a big Hollywood movie that's released in the summer,
usually full of action, explosions, special effects, and big stars.
Studios save their most expensive and most exciting films for
the summer because that's when a lot of people have
time off, families, students, on vacation, you name it. People
pack into movie theaters for these movies. And that's another
great phrase to two pack into. To pack into a
place means a lot of people crowd into it, usually
because something popular is happening, like last weekend in Birmingham, England,
tons of people packed into the stadium for the Ozzy
Osbourne concert. At popular restaurants in New York, people pack
into the places as soon as they open. And when
the new Spider Man movie comes out, you can bet
people will be packing into the theaters. So yeah, ice
cream and movie theaters are kind of like part of
the American summer survival kit. It's not unusual for friends
or families to make a whole day or evening of it,
grabbing lunch or dinner, watching a movie, and maybe even
going for ice cream after all. Right, and that's it
for this week's American culture point. I hope you're beating
the heat wherever you are. And if you're ever visiting
the US in summer, now you know you can always
cool off with some ice cream or catch a Blockbuster
in an ice cold theater. And keep in mind, the
best way to remember English like this and any other
word or phrase in English, is to take that word
or phrase, write it in a sentence that's true for
you or true in your world, and then memorize your sentences. Hey,
do you want to get more practice actually using your English,
then you should join my podcast learner's study group. There
you can make new friends, join us for live group
lessons every week where we practice these podcast lessons together.
Plus you get access to the pdf tray, sanscript and
audio download for every Happy English podcast in the past
and in the future. And on top of that, each
episode has exercises where you can practice this English point
with speaking and writing checked by me. To learn more, well,
just visit my Happy English dot com and choose podcast
lesson eight forty two. Remember, learning another language is not easy,
but it's not impossible, and I'm here to help you
on your journey.
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Happy English.