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Session 40
In today’s episode we are discussing unwanted phone calls and what we can do to avoid them.
በዛሬው መሰናዷችን ስላልተፈለጉ የስልክ ጥሪዎች እና እነርሱን ለማስቀረት ማድረግ ስለምንችላቸው ነገሮች እንወያያለን።
Session 40 score
0 / 3
- 0 / 3Activity 1
Activity 1
Cold callers
In today’s episode we are discussing unwanted phone calls and what we can do to avoid them.
በዛሬው መሰናዷችን ስላልተፈለጉ የስልክ ጥሪዎች እና እነርሱን ለማስቀረት ማድረግ ስለምንችላቸው ነገሮች እንወያያለን።
Quiz
How many unwanted texts and phone calls are sent each year in the UK?
a) 2 million
b) 20 million
c) 2 billion
Listen to the audio and take the quiz.

ምህረተስላሴ
ሰላም! የተለያዩ ርእሰ ጉዳዮችን እያነሳን፣ እንዴት በእንግሊዘኛ እንደሚገለጹ ወደምንማርበት የ English Together ዝግጅት እንኳን በደህና መጡ። ምህረተስላሴ እባላለሁ። አብረውኝ ደግሞ. . .
Tom
Hello everyone! I’m Tom. Welcome to today’s episode.
Kee
Hi, I’m Kee, welcome to the programme!
Tom
So, guys, do you know what makes me really annoyed?
ምህረተስላሴ
No, what?
Tom
Cold callers! They are so annoying!
ምህረተስላሴ
Cold callers, you mean, people who call trying to sell you things? ‘Cold callers’ ዕቃ ለማሻሻጥ የሚደውሉ ሰዎች ማለት ነው።
Tom
Yeah! It’s so annoying when you stop to answer a call and then realise it’s a cold call! Do you have them in your country?
ምህረተስላሴ
ዕቃ ለማሻሻጥ ስለሚደውሉ ሰዎች ካነሳን ዘንዳ ወደዛሬው ጥያቄ እንለፍ፤ አቪቫ የሚባለው የመድህን ዋስትና ኩብንያ እንደሚለው እንግሊዝ ውስጥ በየዓመቱ ምን ያህል ያልተፈለጉ የስልክና የፅሁፍ መልዕክቶች ይላካሉ?
ሀ)ሁለት ሚሊየን
ለ)ሃያ ሚሊየን
ሐ) ሁለት ቢሊየን
መልሱን ወደኋላ እንነግርዎታለን።
Kee
I think most places have them! I’m always getting calls from people trying to scam me in one way or another!
ምህረተስላሴ
Ah! To scam! ‘To scam’ ማታለል ማለት ነው። Yes, there are a lot of scammers out there!
Tom
I always hang up on them.
ምህረተስላሴ
‘Hang up’ ስልክ መዝጋት ማለት ነው። በዚሁ የዛሬውን የዜና ቅንጫቢ እናዳምጥ፤ ከቢቢሲ ሬዲዮ ፎር፣ መኒ ቦክስ መሰናዶ የተወሰደ ነው። አቅራቢው ዕቃ ለማሻሻጥ መደወል እንግሊዝ ውስጥ ባሉ አዛውንቶች ጡረታ pensions ላይ እያሳደረ ስላለው ተፅዕኖ ያወራል።
Presenter
The government has promised it will introduce a ban on cold-calling about pensions as quickly as possible. Since pension freedoms began nearly three years ago the Pensions Administration Standards Association estimates a billion pounds of pension money could have been lost to thieves. But whatever their true figure, these scams typically begin with a cold call.
Kee
That’s awful! Nuisance callers are annoying, but that report was criminal!
ምህረተስላሴ
‘Nuisance’ የሚረብሽ፣ ሰላም የሚነሳ ማለት ነው።
Tom
And they’re defrauding older people, too! These people have worked all their lives to save that money!
ምህረተስላሴ
‘To defraud’ ማታለል ማለት ነው። Perhaps we could stop these fraudsters by blocking their calls?
Kee
I’m not sure, that seems like a short-term approach to me.
ምህረተስላሴ
‘A short-term approach’ ለአጭር ጊዜ የሚሆን መላ ማለት ነው። What do you mean?
Kee
Well, because, whilst it might address the problem of cold calls, it doesn’t address the root of the problem!
ምህረተስላሴ
'The root of the problem’ የችግሩ ዋና መንስዔ ማለት ነው። So, you’re saying that the main problem is the cold callers, the people who are ringing.
Kee
Exactly! No cold callers, no cold calls!
ምህረተስላሴ
What do you think a good long-term approach would be, then?
Kee
For me, it seems like we need stronger regulations put in place.
ምህረተስላሴ
Yes. ‘Stronger regulations’ ጠንካራ ሕግ ማለት ነው። Stronger regulations could make cold-calling illegal!
Tom
But if they call from abroad what can we do here in England, or here in the UK? How can we regulate in different countries, with different laws? A British policeman couldn’t go to India to stop cold-calling!
Kee
I agree, but I think regulators here need to do more, too! Sometimes it seems like companies don’t care about all these cold calls we’re getting!
ምህረተስላሴ
የዛሬው ጥያቄ መልስ እንንገራችሁ ሐ) በየዓመቱ እንግሊዝ ውስጥ ሁለት ቢሊየን ያልተፈለጉ የስልክ ጥሪዎች እና የፅሁፍ መልዕክቶች ይላካሉ የሚል ነው።
Kee
Goodness! That’s so many!
Tom
Yeah, what a pain in the neck!
ምህረተስላሴ
Do you have a pain in your neck from talking on your phone all the time?
Tom
No, if something is a pain in the neck’ it means ‘it’s very annoying’.
ምህረተስላሴ
So I could say ‘cold callers are a pain the neck’?
Kee
Yeah! And nuisance calls!
Tom
And regulations! What a pain in the neck, eh?!
ምህረተስላሴ
ሃሃ፣ እርሶስ? ‘nuisance’ የሚረብሹ ‘cold calls’ የማሻሻጫ የስልክ ጥሪዎች ይደርስዎታል? ሁሉንም በጅምላ የሚከለክል ‘a blanket ban’ ወይንም ጠንካራ ህግጋት ‘stronger regulations’ መኖር አለበት ይላሉ? ሌሎች ዛሬ የተማርናቸው ቃላት እነዚህ ናቸው፤ ‘a short-term approach’ ለአጭር ጊዜ የሚሰራ መላ ማለት ሲሆን ‘pain in the neck’ መፈናፈኛ የማይሰጥ ችግር ማለት ነው። ኃሳብዎን ያካፍሉን።
አብራችሁን ስለቆያችሁ እናመሰግናለን። ለተጨማሪ የኢንግሊሽ ቱጌዘር ዝግጅቶች በሚቀጥለው ሳምንት ይጠብቁን።
Language
-ed/-ing adjectives
Several adjectives used in today’s programme appear in two forms, either with –ed or –ing endings. There are differences between the two forms.
Adjectives ending –ed describe how people feel.
I am annoyed because I get a lot of phone calls!
He is tired because he went for a run this morning.
Adjectives ending –ing describes something which causes a feeling.
Nuisance phone calls are so annoying! (They make us annoyed.)
Running in the morning is very tiring! (It makes us tired.)
always + [verb] / [verb-ing]
When we use different forms of a verb after ‘always’, it can change the meaning of what we say.
Always + [verb] is neutral. It describes an action that we do frequently.
I always hang up when I don’t know the number.
She always keeps her personal information a secret.
However, always + [verb+ing] is often used when we want to describe something in a negative manner. Often, we use this structure to describe things which are annoying.
People are always calling me late at night!
Why are you always talking on your phone during presentations?
stop + [verb-ing] / [to + verb]
We use stop + [verb-ing] to say that an activity or event is no longer continuing.
I have stopped answering the phone to unknown numbers.
They have stopped going to the cinema since the prices increased
We use stop + [to+verb] to explain a reason for stopping.
I often stop to buy some food on the way home.
You should stop smoking to improve your health.
Cold callers
3 Questions
Choose the correct answer.
ትክክለኛውን መልስ ይምረጡ
Help
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
ትክክለኛውን መልስ ይምረጡ
Hint
የማሻሻጫ የስልክ ጥሪዎች ይሄንን ስሜት ይፈጥራሉ።Question 1 of 3
Help
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
ትክክለኛውን መልስ ይምረጡ
Hint
እዚህ ላይ የግስ ቅርፅ ያሻዎታል።Question 2 of 3
Help
Activity
Choose the correct answer.
ትክክለኛውን መልስ ይምረጡ
Hint
የመጀመሪያው ምርጫ ሙያን የሚገልፅ ሲሆን ሁለተኛው ምርጫ ደግሞ ነገርየው ነው።Question 3 of 3
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Do you get a lot of cold calls which are a nuisance? Do you think there should be a blanket ban or stronger regulations? Tell us on our Facebook group.
Join us for our next episode of English Together when we will learn more useful language and practise your listening skills.
ተጨማሪ ጠቃሚ አገላለጾችን ለመማር እና የማዳመጥ ክህሎትዎን በመለማመድ ለማዳበር በቀጣዩ ኢንግሊሽ ቱጌዘር ዝግጅታችን ይጠብቁን።
Session Vocabulary
cold callers
የማማሻጫ የስልክ ጥሪ የሚያደርጉ ሰዎችto scam
ማታለልhang up
ስልክ መዝጋትnuisance
ሰላም የሚነሳdefraud
ማጭበርበርa short-term approach
የአጭር ጊዜ መላthe root of the problem
የችግሩ ስረ መሰረትstronger regulations
ጠንካራ ግንኙነቶችa pain in the neck
መፈናፈኛ የማይሰጥ ችግር