TOEFL - Are you ready?

Amanda:  So I got a call from my cousin, Jeff Wong, and I haven’t heard from him in months, but he was super stressed out because he’s practicing and cramming and studying for this toy-full exam…

Jason:  Oh, the TOEFL?

Amanda:  Yeah!

Jason:  The Test of English as a Foreign Language?

Amanda:  Yeah.

Jason:  Where does he live?

Amanda:  Exactly. He lives in China. He lives in Shanghai. And he’s just super-stressed about it but I don’t know if it’s like a one time you fail and you’re done, or if you just keep taking it. How’s it work?

Jason:  Well, you can take it again but it’s kind of expensive and stuff, so the best thing to do is probably take the practice TOEFL, which you can get online from English, baby! now. And it’s sweet because it’s pretty much exactly the TOEFL except it’s just pretend, you know? So if you get your score from that, you’ll know exactly how well you’re going to do.

Amanda:  So is it an online thing? You don’t go to a room with a bunch of other students…

Jason:  Yeah, exactly. You take it online and then you can, like, take breaks and pause it and eat dinner…

Amanda:  So you don’t have a maximum amount of time, like four hours, you have to be done…

Jason:  You do, but you can, like, hit pause on it, or whatever.

Amanda:  Oh that’s cool. So it’s pretty laid back.

Jason:  Yeah, exactly, exactly.

Amanda:  I mean, if you study enough, you should be able to get a pretty high mark, I would think.

Jason:  Yeah, and it seems like if you sort of go through the motions on the practice test it will make it less stressful when you take the real test.

Amanda:  Cool.


cramming: to study for something just before it happens.
stuff: là cái đang cần.
stressed out: worried, over-worked.
laid back: relaxed, mellow.
go through the motions: do something without care.

How to Keep Your Home Office Quiet Noise Free

I'm going to talk to you about reducing noise in your home office. If you can choose a room that's far away from the rest of the household, that would be your best option. But you might not be able to, so if your room is in a high traffic area make sure that you have doors that close first of all and also you can do things like put carpet on the ground that reduces noise bouncing off the floor or put paintings on the walls, stuff like that. It would make it so that any exterior noise stays out and in my office one of my problems is that I have 2 doors that lead into my room. So in order to reduce noise coming from the living room, I put a bookcase in front of one of the doors. Remember that your home office is actually in a home not in an office building, so there are going to be all sorts of noises happening around you that you can't control. The best thing you can do is fine different ways to cover up the noise. If there's certain noises that are distracting you and you really need to pay attention to what you're really doing. Playing music quietly can be a good way to give you something else to focus on. Your goal is to eliminate any sort of distraction noises rather they're coming from outside of your office or from the inside. By eliminating these noises you can stay focus on your work.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

U.S. jobless claims explode to yearly high

Banks

Business and Finance Lessons

Awesome!

Learn English Idioms Bee

Learn English idioms with the teacher from BBC Learning English services. In this lesson, we are going to learn English idioms related to bees (as part of animal idioms).

In this episode, The Teacher introduces you to three idiomatic phrases connected with bees.

1. Busy as a bee
2. The bee’s knees
3. To have a bee in your bonnet

English Script of the video:

Hello, I’m a very interesting and intelligent man. And today these bees and I are getting together to teach you a thing or two about English idioms. I bet you’ve never been taught by a bee before! Look at them all working away: busy, buzzy bees.

In English, if someone is very busy or is moving around quickly doing lots of things we can say they’re busy as a bee.
Busy as a bee. Buzz.

Now, what else do we know about bees? Hmm, my favourite – runny honey. I love honey. In fact, I think it’s the bee’s knees! Now I know what you’re thinking “What are you talking about you silly man? The bee’s knees?”

In English, if we think that something is excellent, or of the very highest quality, we can say it’s the bee’s knees. The bee’s knees. Like my lessons – they’re the bee’s knees. Now, they may make yummy, runny honey, but never forget that bees have a nasty side. They sting.

So you wouldn’t want one to fly up here into your hat – or bonnet as we call this old fashioned ladies’ hat. So, how would you feel if you had a bee in your bonnet? Extremely worried.

In English, if someone is very worried or concerned about something and they talk about it all the time, we can say they’ve got a bee in their bonnet. To have a bee in your bonnet.

Money Idioms

BBC Learning English. The Teacher Monkey idioms

In this lesson, The Teacher introduces you to three idiomatic phrases connected with monkeys.
1. To monkey around
2. Monkey business
3. To make a monkey out of someone

Hello, I’m a very interesting and intelligent man.
And today these baboons and I will be monkeying around to teach you a thing or two about English.
I bet you’ve never been taught by a monkey before.
We’ll be monkeying around.
Hmm, to monkey around… What do you think that could mean?
In English, ‘to monkey around’ means to behave in a silly or careless way. Pen!
To monkey around.
Like him. And me.
Anyway, down to some serious business. The English language.
What a wonderful thing… The language of Shakespeare, the language of…
Please stop talking, I’m trying to teach.
Where was I? … English, the language of …
Are you eating now?! Enough of this monkey business!
That’s right. In English, we can call bad or dishonest behaviour ‘monkey business’.

Monkey business.
Hello it’s me, the Teacher! I bet you didn’t recognise me for a minute.
What’s the matter? What do you mean I’m not taking this seriously?
I know you’re a hard-working student of English. Don’t worry, I’m not trying to make a monkey out of you.
In English, if we’re trying to make someone look stupid we can say we’re making a monkey out of them.

To make a monkey out of someone.
The only person round here I’m making a monkey out of is me.

STEP UP TO THE PLATE

Rock the boat

Rock the boat: Go against the rules of a group.
Let's imagine that you are cruising smoothly on a boat, but suddenly the boat is rocked or shaken by something, you will probably feel uncomfortable or upset. This phrase also means to upset people who accept the existing condition.

Example: Don't rock the boat if you want to be liked by many people in this small and conservative village