English Listening - Big Things in the US

SPEAKER_1 (0:01)

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SPEAKER_2 (0:33)

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Conner Pe (1:05)

Welcome to the Listening Time Podcast. Hey, English learners, this is Connor and you're listening to episode 276 of the Listening Time Podcast. I hope you're ready to practice your listening comprehension with another episode. Today, I'm going to talk about big things in the US. I think many people know that things are big here. There are many things in the US that are very large compared to other countries. People like to joke about this, about how big things are in the US. So, I thought it would be fun to talk about some of these things that are very large here, bigger than in most countries. And I went to Europe recently, and so I was able to see the difference between some of these things in the US and some of these things in Europe. So, this should be a fun episode where we compare how big things are in different countries. Remember that if you want to improve your listening and be able to understand native speakers when they speak fast, sign up for my Advanced Podcast episodes in which I speak at normal speed. That link is down below. And also, sign up for my US Conversations Podcast in which I talk to different people from all around the country. We have authentic conversations at normal speed, and I provide the transcript for you so you can follow along more easily. This resource will help you be able to understand better when more than one person is talking. That link is also down below.

Okay, let's talk about things that are big here in the US. The first thing that comes to mind is cars. Many of you might already know this, that in the US, there are a lot of big cars, SUVs, and trucks. So, why are there so many big cars here? Well, first, I should say that many Americans wouldn't even really consider all of these cars to be so big, because this is what we're used to. We're accustomed to seeing many big cars, and so we don't really think about this. We don't think that these are all really big cars. It's only when we see the size of cars in other countries that we can really start to understand that a lot of cars here are big. But why do many people here have big cars? Well, for different reasons.

People here like to have a lot of space in their car. For example, maybe the trunk space.

I have a car that if you put down the back seats, like you fold them down, the trunk space is big, so you can fit a lot of things in the trunk. So some people might buy this type of car, even if they don't need the very back seats, just because they want that trunk space. They want to be able to fit many things in the trunk. Strollers and boxes and bags and who knows what. So people like to have a lot of space, a lot of space just for sitting too. Some cars have five seats, but not a lot of space. And other cars have five seats, but more space. And these cars are bigger, right? Another reason why people might want a big truck, for example, is because they tow things, like they pull things. Maybe they're towing some type of trailer behind them or a boat or I don't know what. They might tow things. And they might also want to put many things in the bed of their truck, the back part of the truck. A lot of people here use trucks for work, and they have to put a lot of things back there. So they might need a big truck for that, or for the power that it has to towe things behind it, like I said.