Here’s the story of two aliens talking about a familiar planet…
XP16: From this vantage point we can see the whole planet, father.
QS47: Yes, it’s the Earth.
XP16: So what now? Are we going to shatter it? Or maybe burn it to a crisp?
QS47: This would be duck soup, wouldn’t it? I’m sick and tired of your stupid ideas, you bonehead.
XP16: Sorry, dad. I just wanted to have some fun.
QS47: Get a grip on yourself, son. You’re not a child anymore.
XP16: Do you think there’s intelligent life on it?
QS47: There might be. It’s not like the arid planets we saw before.
XP16: It probably teems with life, but not as intelligent as us.
QS47: Maybe not all of us, son. And I don’t like your condescending tone, son.
Here’s the vocabulary summary:
| vantage point | a position from which something is viewed or considered |
| shatter | to damage very badly, to break into many small pieces |
| to a crisp | to a state of being hard, dry, and easily broken |
| duck soup | (old-fashioned) sth that is very easy to do |
| sick and tired of sth | thoroughly fatigued or bored by sth |
| bonehead | a stupid or foolish person |
| get a grip on yourself | to get control of your thoughts and emotions and stop behaving in a foolish or uncontrolled way |
| arid | very dry, having very little rain or water |
| teem with sth | to be full of (life and activity), to have many (people or animals) moving around inside |
| condescending | showing that you believe you are more intelligent or better than other people |
