📘 Part 3: Taking risk

This episode's vocabulary

• Adrenaline rush (noun) - a feeling of excitement, stimulation.
• To beat the odds - to succeed despite having a disadvantage.
• Outcome (noun) - a result or effect of an action, situation, etc.
• Gradual (noun) - happening or changing slowly over a long period of time or distance.
• Familiarization (noun) - the action or process of gaining knowledge or understanding of something.
• Life-altering (adj.) - having an effect that is strong enough to change someone's life.
• Grievous (adj.) - having very serious effects or causing great pain.
• To wind up (phrasal verb) - to find yourself in an unexpected and usually unpleasant situation, especially as a result of what you do.
• Vicarious (adj.) - experienced as a result of watching, listening to, or reading about the activities of other people, rather than by doing the activities yourself.
• Thrill (noun) - a feeling of extreme excitement, usually caused by something pleasant.
• Risk-taking (noun) - the activity of taking risks in order to start a company, increase profits, etc.
• Rush (noun) - a sudden strong emotion or physical feeling.
• Per se (adverb) - by or of itself.
• The former (adj.) - the first of two people, things, or groups previously mentioned.
• Level-headed (adj.) - calm and able to deal easily with difficult situations.

Questions and Answers

M: Why do people like dangerous things?

R: Well, all kinds of reasons. They might enjoy the adrenaline rush they get from it and being able to show off to their friends that they beat the odds, for example.

M: How should parents teach their children what a risk is?

R: I mean, the easiest way would be just to show them a risky action and discuss the possible outcomes. There are some activities with limited risk that could be good teaching experiences too. I imagine they can also tell stories based on their own experiences as part of this gradual process of familiarization with the concept.

M: What risks should parents tell their children to avoid?

R: Probably the really potentially life-altering ones that could result in death or some grievous injury if they don't take proper care to minimize the chances of harm. I mean, no one wants to outlive their kids or wind up caring for them their whole lives. Do they?

M: Why do some people like to watch risk-taking movies?

R: Well, there's always this sort of vicarious thrill involved, isn't there? You can see someone putting their life at risk from a safe distance, but still get something out of it that way, provided it's well shot, of course.

M: And do you think that such movies are becoming more popular these days?

R: I have no idea. It would depend on how you define the category. I don't even know how you define the category of risk-taking movies.

M: Why do some people enjoy extreme sports?

R: Well, for the reasons I mentioned already. That rush is a powerful thing. It might not be addictive, per se, but it's definitely enjoyable after the initial fear goes.

M: Who is more interested in taking risks, the young or the old?

R: Oh, definitely, the former. Kids are so full of energy and need to prove themselves, they just can't help it. Whereas adults tend to be more full of level-headedness and have experience that doesn't require them to prove themselves to others.

M: Hey, thank you, Rory, for your nice answers!

R: They were not terribly risky.

Discussion

M: So we're talking about risky things, dangerous things. People like the adrenaline rush, dear listener. So lots of people might enjoy the adrenaline rush. So you go skydiving and you have this adrenaline in your body, and people enjoy being able to show off to their friends that they beat the odds. What does it mean, to beat the odds?

R: Like the odds of you being successful could be very good, or they could be very bad. It's like how likely you will be to do well at something. So if the odds are not good and you still succeed, then you have beaten the odds. You have won.

M: Could you give us another sentence with beat the odds?

R: Yeah, sure. Like most people in life, they will never be rich and famous, but some people still beat the odds and become superstars.

M: Yeah, like to succeed despite having a disadvantage. What can parents do? The easiest way would be to show children a risky action and discuss the possible outcomes. Outcomes? Like results. like the easiest way would be to do something. There are some activities with limited risk. And, Rory, here, we don't use an article. We don't say "a limited risk"?

R: Well, risk could be countable or uncountable. So if you're thinking about it as just like a whole thing, well, then it would need an article. But if we were talking about it just in general, there might be some risk involved.

M: And could you give us two sentences, one with a and another one without?

R: Well, there is a risk of death involved when you go bungee jumping. Or you could say there is some risk involved when you do extreme sports.

M: Parents could just tell stories based on their own experiences. Okay? So it's a gradual process, like a constant process of familiarization with the concept of risk. So children get familiarized. They get to know what a risk is and what it's not. We avoid risks or we take risks. Some risks are life-altering ones. Oh, so this risk is life-altering. Alter means to change. So kind of life-changing risks. Okay? Some people go skydiving, and for them, it's a life-altering risk or experience. And children should avoid risks that could result in death. Okay? Result in. Or risks that could result in some grievous injury.

R: So those would count as life-altering or life-ending risks, or life-threatening risks.

M: Exactly. And if you say grievous, this feels like something really bad.

R: It's like super severe.

M: Grievous. Like having very serious effects or causing great pain. So like grievous wounds, grievous injuries, like serious injuries. But we can minimize the chances of harm. We can minimize risks. And then Rory asks a rhetorical question, like, no one wants to lose their children, do they? And how do you actually say it? With a rising intonation or with a falling intonation?

R: Well, it could be both, depending on what you want to do. For me, it was the end of the answer and it was a rhetorical question. So it's just like, no one wants to outlive their kids, do they? Going down. If it's a real question, it would go up. No one was to lose their kids, do they? Which would be very unusual.

M: And like, if parents outlive their kids, so parents live longer than their kids. Wind up doing something is the same as end up doing something. People watch risk-taking movies. And like, what are risk-taking movies? I don't know, like you take a risk and you watch this movie. What?

R: Yeah. I think it, maybe it means movies depicting risks. That's how I chose to understand this question.

M: Yeah, kind of like the movies about risks. It could be movies about like, how people set up their own businesses, for example. Oh, I see like the ultimate watch list, Top Movies about risk and reward. Oceans eight, dear listener.

R: Who creates that kind of list?

M: Well, theactionelite.com. Oh, there you go. Oceans list. Have you seen Oceans 11? Where there are casinos. So they take lots of risks.

R: No, that doesn't sound very appealing to me.

M: No, these are great films with great actors. So The Social Network, dear listener, about Facebook. So this is a risk-taking movie. The Wolf of Wall Street, of course, Leonardo DiCaprio. This is all about risk and rewards. So, yeah, this is the ultimate list. Okay? Three films. There you go. There is always a vicarious thrill. What's a vicarious thrill?

R: Well, if something is vicarious, that just means that you get the same sensation, but not directly, or you get a similar sensation, but not directly. So a direct thrill would be me going bungee jumping myself, but I could get a vicarious thrill watching someone doing bungee jumping. It's like the same experience, but it's indirect. I don't need to do the thing.

M: Sorry. And we say vicarious, but actually it's vicarious, according to Cambridge online dictionary.

R: Well, I've heard both.

M: Vicarious.

R: I've always said vicarious. There's no other word that sounds similar to that word. So I don't see the problem.

M: Really? So it's not a mistake if I say vicarious, because...

R: Well, what other word could you confuse it? And also, there's the collocation. There's no other kind of thrill that sounds close to this word vicarious or vicarious.

M: And it's nice to see someone putting their life at risk. Okay? So you watch it from a safe distance, how they are risking their lives. Okay.

R: Well, it might not be nice, but it's still something that people do.

M: It's thrilling. And if the film is well shot, so if the film is well made, it's a pleasant experience. And also, if you don't usually take many risks in your life, it's even like more pleasant. Then the questions could be about extreme sports, skydiving, diving, or swimming with sharks. Extreme sports like snowboarding.

R: Perfectly normal human behaviour.

M: Yeah, like the adrenaline rush. We can say people enjoy the adrenaline rush. So that rush is a powerful thing, and it may be addictive or may not be addictive, but it's definitely enjoyable. Here Rory uses the former, so the former and the latter. The former meaning the first thing the examiner gives you. Like the young, the young or the old. So the former means the young, the latter means the old. And children are full of energy, whereas, but older people tend to be more level-headed. Level headed? They're more grounded.

R: Sensible.

M: They're like more sensible. Yeah, they've had enough, so they're tired.

R: Do you think that's true?

M: Well, for some people. But yeah, I see kind of old people who are climbing Everest, who are just like, you know, who would do all sorts of things.

R: Crazy, crazy old people.

M: Thank you very much for listening, dear listener. We hope that you have enough risk in your life, enough challenge, but not something like threatening your life, okay?

R: Not something that cannot be overcome.

M: Don't go swimming with sharks. Like, think twice before you go and swim with sharks. Might be dangerous. Okay? Sharks are usually, you know...

R: Quite dangerous.

M: They have sharp teeth. So stay away from sharp teeth, dear listener. Bye!

R: Bye!

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