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Howard
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Todd
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Movie Review
Howard talks about the movie The Aviator.
Todd: Howard, you said you saw the movie The Aviator.
Howard: Ah, yes, with Leonardo DiCaprio.
Todd: OK. What is the movie about?
Howard: Well, "The Aviator" refers to the character, Howard Hughes.
Todd: OK, who was Howard Hughes?
Howard: Well, Howard Hughes is a very famous person in the United States. He was a flyer, first of all, and he was a producer of movies and he was a little crazy. The interesting part of his character, although he was a very brilliant thinker, and a great aviator, he had a kind of obsession with cleanliness, which actually drove him crazy in his later life.
Todd: Really, so he always wanted to be super clean.
Howard: Super clean! He hated germs and he went to extraordinary lengths to keep himself and all his surrounding clean. If anybody touched him, he had to wash many times to get all the germs off of him, and he was just, it became such an obsession that it interfered with his entire personal life.
Todd: Wow! What about you? Are you very clean? Do you worry about germs?
Howard: No not really. I don't think so.
Todd: OK, actually, if you're eating M&M's and one falls off your hand and hits the floor, would you pick it up real quick and still eat it, or would you not eat it?
Howard: It depends if I had cleaned the floor lately.
Todd: OK, but overall, back to the movie, was it a good movie?
Howard: Ah, yes. In fact, it's been nominated for a number of Academy Awards, and I think this year, it will do quite well. It's entertaining and it's well performed by Leonardo DiCaprio, although I think that Leonardo DiCaprio is a little young for the part but he did a very good job in his acting.
Todd: Hmm, OK, thanks. Maybe I'll see it.
Howard: Try!
obsession
He had a kind of obsession with cleanliness, which actually
drove him crazy.
An 'obsession' with something is an intense focus on that thing. A person who is obsessed with cleanliness wants everything to be very clean. Notice the following:
- We have developed an obsession with Japanese food.
- His obsession with history can be interesting, but
sometimes it's a little annoying.
went to extraordinary lengths
He went to extraordinary lengths to keep himself and all
his surrounding clean.
If a person 'goes to extraordinary lengths' to do something it means that a lot of effort is made to accomplish a particular goal. Notice the following:
- His parents went to extraordinary lengths to make this a
special day for him.
- She went to extraordinary lengths to get the kids to
like her at her new school.
off of him
If anybody touched him, he'd wash many times to get all the
germs off of him.
To 'get something off' of yourself is to remove it from your body. Notice the following:
- It took a week for him to get all the paint off of
himself.
- After a trip to the beach it is really hard to get all
the sand off of you.
interfered with
It became such an obsession that it interfered with his
entire personal life.
If something or someone 'interferes' with your life it causes problems or prevents you from doing something that you wanted or had planned to do. Notice the following:
- He is always interfering with other people's problems.
- She gets frustrated when her parents interfere with her
personal life.
pick it up real quick and still eat it
If a candy falls off your hand and hits the floor, would
you pick it up real quick and still eat it?
When you 'pick something real quick and still eat it' you take it quickly from where it has fallen and put it in your mouth even though it is dirty from being on the ground. Notice the following:
- The fish fell in the sand, but the bird picked it up
real quick and still ate it.
- When his ice cream fell on the floor, my son tried to
pick it up real quick and still eat it.
Vocabulary Quiz
interfere • picked it up
