elllo #860 Palm Spots

860 Palm Spots

Mike compares America's two tropical states of Hawaii and Florida.

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Vocabulary



Mari	Mike

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Mari: This week's theme is comparing cities. Mike, you've lived in both Florida and Hawaii, and both of these places, people go there on vacation, so can you compare the weather?

Mike: Well, actually both places are warm most of the year. Well, actually Hawaii is warm all year. But I would say that Hawaii's weather is probably better than Florida because the weather in Hawaii is not as extreme as it is in Florida and... so where as the temperatures in Florida would range from fifty degree to ninety degrees, in Hawaii it would stay between seventy-five and eighty-five degrees most of the year.

Mari: Wow. That's really nice weather. How about the food?

Mike: Well the food, in both places are really good but it's quite different. Both places of course you can get good American food, like burgers and that type of thing, but in Florida you get a lot of foods such as Cuban food or Jamaican food which is really good that you can't get in Hawaii, but in Hawaii there's a lot of Asian influence so you can get really good Japanese food or Thai food, but also traditional Polynesian food as well.

Mari: Wow. Sounds yummy. How about the shopping?

Mike: Well, the shopping varies between both places. Florida is a lot cheaper than Hawaii. Food shopping as well as clothing and that sort of thing. I guess in Hawaii everything has to be shipped over so it's a little bit more expensive.

Mari: I didn't know that. How about the night life?

Mike: The night life in both places are really good. Hawaii has a lot of clubs if you like that type of thing and Florida of course has a lot of clubs if you like that type of thing, but there's also good bars or just movies and shows in both places.

Mari: If you could live in one place, where would you live?

Mike: I would choose to live in Hawaii. Well, I'm from Hawaii so I have a bias towards it, but I think Hawaii would be better between the two places for me.

Audio notes are free, downloadable MP3 files that explain key vocabulary and phrases from the text. Learn more about the Vocabulary here.

not as extreme

The weather in Hawaii is not as extreme as it is in Florida.

'Extreme' is similar in meaning to serious or intense. Notice the following:

The waves in Australia are not as extreme as they are in Hawaii.
The damage was not as extreme as we feared.

range from

Temperatures range from fifty degrees to ninety degrees.

A 'range' has a first number, a last number and includes all or select numbers in between. A range of 4 to 7 for example, is 4,5,6,and 7. Notice the following:

They range in age from 16 to 18 years old.
Tickets range from 20-45 dollars.

that type of thing

You can get burgers and that type of thing.

Here, the word 'type' talks about things that are similar. We can use this phrase when we want to give a general idea, but don't want to list a lot of examples. Notice the following:

You can buy cheap electronics, DVD players, TVs, that type of thing.
She likes necklaces, rings and that type of thing.

Asian influence

There's a lot of Asian influence.

Here, 'influence' talks about the way one culture affects another. Hawaii is a US state, but you can see a lot of Asian influence there. Notice the following:

It's a combination of modern architecture and Asian influence.
They serve fusion food with an Asian influence.

sounds yummy

Hawaii sounds yummy.

'Yummy' means delicious. Its very informal and usually spoken by women and children. Notice the following:

The dessert looks yummy.
My mom's cooking is yummy.