At risk of
Today’s English expression is “at risk of.” I was going back and forth about whether to talk about this here or make it one of the video lessons. This is a tough one to use, so I would normally put something like it in a video where you can see what I’m saying on the screen. By putting it in the audio lesson, I’m at risk of confusing you. But here goes nothing.
We use “at risk of” when we are describing the possibility of something bad happening. And we always put an -ing verb after “at risk of.” If your teacher ever says, “You are at risk of failing this class,” your teacher means there is a possibility of something bad happening. That possibility is that you might fail the class. So, we find the verb that describes the bad thing—in this case, it’s “fail”—then we make it an -ing verb, “failing” and then we can say, “You are at risk of failing the class.”
Here’s something else you might hear. “You are at risk of falling behind.” That’s not quite as serious as failing a class, but it’s also not good. If you fall behind, then you’re not learning as much as the other students. You don’t want to fall behind. “Fall behind” is our verb—a phrasal verb—so we make it an -ing verb, falling behind. And so, we say, “I am at risk of falling behind if I don’t change my habits,” for example.
In today’s main lesson, we were talking about the Cumbre Vieja volcano. It hasn’t erupted in 50 years. In geological terms, that was like 5 minutes ago. Fifty years is nothing. Scientists have always known that this volcano was at risk of erupting . In fact, many volcanic islands are at risk of erupting. That is what it means to live on a volcanic island; even if the risk is small, it still exists.
If you like living on a beach, but you don’t want to live on a volcanic island, I would recommend Florida. The only problem is that if you live in Florida, your house is at risk of being destroyed by a hurricane. How about California? California has perfect weather and no hurricanes. But most places in California are at risk of experiencing an earthquake, even if it’s not related to a volcano. So come join me in Chicago. Here, you’re just at risk of freezing to death! But that’s why we have warm coats.
Here in Chicago, by the way, a lot of our buildings were built many years ago, before modern fire codes were established. My building is probably 75-plus years old. Long after the buildings were constructed, the city mandated that all buildings have a second exit in case of fire. So, our buildings have wooden staircases attached to the back; in many cases, such as in my building, the back stairs are attached to porches.
If porches are not properly maintained, however, they are at risk of collapsing. In older buildings like mine, the porches are wooden; they’re outside, exposed to the elements. Our summers are hot; our winters are cold; we get rain, snow, sleet, hail, everything. Porches need to be maintained. If they’re neglected, they’re at risk of collapsing.
Changing the subject, do you have your holiday shopping done? No? What, you think it’s too early, now on November 4? Think again. If you haven’t started your holiday shopping, you are at risk of missing out on holiday gifts. That’s because retailers are having a hard time keeping merchandise on the shelves with existing supply-chain problems. If you start your shopping too late, you’re at risk of finding empty shelves at your favorite stores.
I wouldn’t want to be a retailer these days, especially not one that sells seasonal merchandise. There are a lot of production and shipping delays right now. If you sell artificial Christmas trees, you don’t want to be getting that shipment in mid-January. Retailers are at risk of getting merchandise too late if they don’t secure orders and shipping early.
JR’s song of the week
It’s that time of the week again…time for JR’s song selection. The song is, “Wishing Well” by the Outlaws. A wishing well is any fountain or water source where you throw in a coin and make a wish. A line in the song goes, “Wishing wells and fairy tales, they are your dreams come true.” So let your imagination run wild as you listen to this week’s song, “Wishing Well” by the Outlaws. Thank you, JR!
See you next time!
All right, before we go, I have to issue a clarification. This one is embarrassing. A few weeks ago, I said that some scientists feared that Cumbre Vieja could collapse into the ocean in a future eruption and that it would cause a tsunami that could reach North America. And indeed that was based on a study published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. But since that study came out, a number of other studies have cast serious doubt on the calculations that the first author used. And a collapse of a volcano into an ocean on that scale has, by the way, never happened in recorded history. Any of you who are also regular readers of the journal “Science of Tsunami Hazards” already knew that, but it’s news to me.
So, if you live in Boston or New York and you’re looking for farmland in Nebraska out of fear of a tsunami, you can rest easy. No need to move. You are not at risk of a tsunami originating in La Palma. I’m still glad I live in the interior of the country, but that’s for other reasons!
That’s all for Plain English lesson 413. We’ll be back on Monday with another great lesson. See you then!
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