📙 Part 2: Describe a special cake you received from others

You should say: when it happened, who gave it to you, and explain why it's a special cake.

This episode's vocabulary

Special (adjective) – different from normal; meaningful. → It was a special gift from my friend.

Mercifully (adverb) – luckily or thankfully. → Mercifully, the weather stayed dry for the picnic.

Strict (adjective) – following rules very carefully. → She is strict about her sleeping schedule.

Relieved (adjective) – feeling happy that something unpleasant is over. → I was relieved when the test ended.

Calories (noun) – units of energy in food. → Cakes usually have a lot of calories.

Fanfare (noun) – a lot of excitement or celebration. → The event opened without any fanfare.

Candles (noun) – wax sticks you light with fire, often used on cakes. → We put candles on the birthday cake.

Flame (noun) – the visible, hot part of a fire. → The flame from the candle was very bright.

Icing (noun) – sweet topping on cakes. → The cake had chocolate icing on top.

Sponge cake (noun) – a light and soft type of cake. → She baked a sponge cake for dessert.

Supermarket (noun) – a large store that sells food and other goods. → I bought some snacks from the supermarket.

Loved ones (noun) – people you care deeply about. → He spent the holidays with his loved ones.

Fire hazard (noun) – something that can easily start a fire. → Too many candles on a cake can be a fire hazard.

Got out of hand (phrase) – became uncontrollable. → The situation got out of hand quickly.

Daunting (adjective) – scary or overwhelming. → The idea of speaking in public is daunting for some people.

Questions and Answers

Rory: I suppose the last time I got anything like a special cake was actually on my last birthday. It fell on a weekend last year, mercifully, so I didn't have work or anything like that. I could just fall out of bed, see my friends and family, and not pay attention to things like my diet or exercise, which I'm usually pretty strict with. So, when my parents brought out this cake at their place, I wasn't just quite happy to see it, I was relieved that I didn't have to worry about the extra calories or anything like that. You don't have to care about these things on your birthday, at least in my opinion.

I don't think there was any great fanfare about it, to be honest, aside from just lighting the candles and blowing them out before cutting it up to offer to people. Although there were many candles and there was lots of flame as a result. So, I think it's important to keep that in mind if I'm ever going to have something similar in the future. Of course, it was unique in that this was my birthday, and clearly my birthday cake, and it had my face on it, and “Happy birthday, Rory” written on the icing. Aside from that, I think it was just a regular sponge cake baked at one of the local supermarkets, or at least it had been bought from there.

While it was nice to have a cake, I still think the most important thing was being with my loved ones on that special day. If we hadn't had one, it still would have been a great day. And possibly less of a fire hazard now that I think about it. Like I said, the flames on the candles got a little bit out of hand at one point, with there being 35 of them. So, if we ever decide to do that again, I will be making 100% sure that there's just one candle. In addition to being less fire conducive, it's also less daunting to think about all those candles for all of those years of my life.

Maria: And did your friends enjoy the cake?

Rory: The friends who were at my birthday party did. You and Vanya were not there, because you are rude.

Discussion

Maria: So, dear listener, describe a special cake. It could be a usual cake, any cake you got from other people. Usually, we get a cake on our birthday. So, you can start with, I got a cake on my birthday last year. Or I got a special cake on my last birthday. Even if it was just a usual cheesecake. Maybe somebody baked it for you. We bake a cake, right, Rory? We make a cake.

Rory: Both. But baking is the actual process of applying heat. Whereas making could be anything from that to putting it in the oven and baking it.

Maria: Right. So, you can say that my friends made a cake for me. So, I got a special homemade cake. A yummy homemade cake. Nice. You can say that I'm usually strict with my diet. So, I don't usually eat sweets. But it was a special cake. I was very happy to get it. My parents brought out this cake at their place. They bought it at a shop and they brought it to your house. I was relieved to see it. I was like, oh, thank you. There's a cake now. Because I didn't have to worry about the extra costs, the extra calories.

Rory: I didn't have to worry about buying my own cake…

Maria: Because I didn't have to worry about buying my own cake. Yeah. So, I was very happy to see it. I was relieved that I didn't have to go to the shop and get a cake. There wasn't any great fanfare about it.

Rory: But if there wasn't any great fanfare, there wasn't lots of fuss or anything like that, we just had a nice time.

Maria: We mean that there wasn't great attention to the cake or great interest in this cake. Yeah, it was a special cake, but there wasn't much fanfare.

Rory: Or anything surrounding the cake as well.

Maria: Yeah. For example, if the cake is super big or it's extraordinary, something, I don't know, Rory full-size, and it's a cake, you know, like, whoa, and everybody's like, whoa, the cake. And then you are discussing it for like 30 minutes, and then you eat it for one hour, and then you keep discussing the cake. Yeah, so there's a lot of fanfare about it.

Rory: But none about this cake, because we are sensible people.

Maria: Yeah, it's just a cake, you know. And we had candles. People lit the candles. Light, lit, lit. So, my parents, my friends lit the candles for me to blow them out. So, you blow out the candles. Yay! And everybody's clapping, like, yeah, happy birthday, Rory! Yeah. And then you cut up the cake. You cut up the cake to offer a piece of cake to your visitors, to your friends. This cake was unique. It was really special because I had my face on it.

Rory: Yeah, you can have your face printed on a cake. I think that's quite easy to do.

Maria: My parents printed my face on this cake. Yeah, that's what made the cake special. They can draw your face. You can eat it…

Rory: Nice.

Maria: And usually, they use the icing. So, this icing...

Rory: That's the sugary part on top of the cake.

Maria: Yeah.

Rory: And sometimes in the middle, actually.

Maria: Or frosting. Frosting, American English, or icing. British English, usually. Like chocolate icing. We cover the cake or cakes with icing. And apart from that, it was just a regular sponge cake. Or it was a regular cheesecake or a regular... I don't know. What other cakes do we have? Tiramisu, Italian cake, you know. Baked at one of our local supermarkets. It was very nice to have such a cake with my face. I could eat my face. But the most important thing was being around my loved ones.

Rory: It's much better not to focus on material possessions. The loved ones, the family, and the friends. The ones you are closest with.

Maria: When I was blowing out the candles, the flames got...

Rory: Out of hand?

Maria: So Rory was blowing out the candles, yeah? So the candles were lit. Rory was blowing them out. And then the flames on the candles got out of hand.

Rory: So something gets out of hand, you lose control.

Maria: Perhaps candles got thrown everywhere, and there was fire, and everything went out of control. So things got out of hand. It's an idiom. Out of control. So what did you do? Did you have an alarm? Fire alarm switched on?

Rory: No, no. It's just that they were getting quite high. Or there was a large amount of flame on the go. And so it's probably not so safe. Or it probably wasn't so safe. But we managed to blow them all out, so it was okay.

Maria: Sweet. So you can say that blowing out the candles went a little out of hand. Or a little out of control. But you say out of hand. Because it's an idiom. And Rory had all 35 of them. Ooh la la, Rory. 35 candles. How old are you now, I wonder?

Rory: 35.

Maria: Oh, you're 35?

Rory: Now I am 35. This is my last birthday.

Maria: Oh, so you're 36 now.

Rory: I will be 36. But in another four months. Oh my god, it's the 24th of April. So four months from now, on the 24th of August, I will be 36. Wow.

Maria: So, dear listener, 24th of August. Okay, remember this super date? 24th of August. It's our Rory's birthday. Yay, it's time to party! Rory's party. Rory, what helped you to organise this answer?

Rory: What did help me to organise this answer? It was a bit chaotic, wasn't it? Still, what did I have to talk about? Well, I mentioned when it happened. And who gave it to me. And why it's a special cake. I think I did it in that order, to be honest. I just spent a little bit of time explaining the background to it. When it happened, my birthday fell on a weekend. And then talking towards the end, I still managed to get in my last conditional: If we hadn't had one, it still would have been a great day, unless of a fire hazard. So, really, I covered all of my points. But then I just kept adding things, especially about the fire hazard. I think that's important for people to know.

Maria: Thank you very much for listening. We hope you're hungry. Yum, yum, yum. For some healthy food. Not just a cake.

Rory: And for some benign vocabulary.

Maria: You do healthy food first. And then you eat a nice cake, dear listener. First, feed your body. And then feed your, you know, this... An inner addict. Sugar addict inside you. Pizza time! Cake time! Bye!

Rory: Soon. Bye!

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