📙 Part 2: Describe a popular or well-known person in your country

This episode's vocabulary

Oversimplification (noun) - the action of describing or explaining something in such a simple way that it is no longer correct or true.

Constituency (noun) - one of the official areas of a country that elects someone to represent it in a parliament or legislature.

To preside (verb) - to be in charge of a formal meeting, ceremony, or trial.

To implement (verb) - to start using a plan or system.

Shortcoming (noun) - a fault or a failure to reach a particular standard.

The brunt of something - the main force of something unpleasant.

Incumbent (adj.) - officially having the named position.

Rife with something - full of something unpleasant.

Well-intentioned (adj.) - wanting to have good effects, but sometimes having bad effects that were not expected.

Resourcefulness (noun) - the ability to make decisions and act on your own.

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Questions and Answers

M: Hello! It's us, and our premium, speaking part two. Hello! Surprise, suprise. Rory is going to describe a popular or well-known person in his country. He's going to say who this person is, what they do, what he or she has done, actually, why he or she is popular, and he's going to explain how he feels about this person. So a well-known person in Scotland. Rory, are you ready, Rory?

R: Yes. Well, it would be difficult to talk about Scotland and how it's run without making mention of Nicola Sturgeon, our current first minister. It's very similar to the role of Prime Minister, but she's responsible for the domestic governance of Scotland in particular, whereas the Prime Minister focuses on the United Kingdom as a whole. And our official external relations are handled through the Foreign Office. I should say that's a gross oversimplification. But I can't think of another way to summarise it any more effectively. So while her job description basically applies to the whole country of Scotland, she also represents her constituency in a place called Govan, which is in Glasgow. And I think she's presided over quite a long period of her party, which is the Scottish National Party. And she's been very popular and she's succeeded in implementing a variety of programmes that have helped people. For example, the pandemic recovery programme. Obviously being a politician, she isn't without her failures and shortcomings as well. Most recently, her government has been dealing with a conflict with rail workers that's resulted in significant delays to train services. As always in government, though, it's a bit complicated. But she's seen as the face of the whole thing. So I suppose she gets the brunt of the criticism. I think she's so highly regarded for a variety of reasons. In the first place, she's, well, she has the incumbent privilege, so people easily recognise and associate her with the governance of the country. And secondly, many of the other politicians in our country are not exactly inspiring. Our large opposition parties are rife with corruption and immorality. So it's little wonder people support the woman at the head of the only party that has relatively low corruption. Though they're far from perfect themselves. When it comes to my own thoughts and feelings. Well, I actually rarely agree with her decisions. I can certainly see that she's coming from a well-intentioned place, and it isn't easy being in charge of a whole country. It takes a great deal of courage and resourcefulness to do what she's done, and I hope she inspires our opposition to a higher standard of work.

M: And what about your friends? What do they think about this person?

R: I think it's pretty split, to be honest. She's one of these people that you either love or hate.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your answer!

R: It's okay.

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