[ti:Words And Their Stories: Numbers, Part 1-The Number One ] [by:51VOA.COM] [00:00.00](MUSIC) [00:10.17]Now, [00:12.12]the VOA Special English [00:14.67]program [00:15.52]WORDS AND THEIR STORIES. [00:18.37]Today I will tell [00:21.65]about expressions using numbers. [00:25.25]Let us start with the number one. [00:29.10]Numbers can be tricky. [00:31.55]On the one hand, [00:33.16]they are simply numbers. [00:35.70]On the other hand, [00:37.56]they have meanings. [00:39.42]I for one use [00:41.22]these expressions a lot. [00:43.63]Many people consider themselves [00:46.97]number one, [00:48.88]the most important person. [00:51.57]They are always looking out [00:54.41]for number one and taking care [00:57.46]of number one. [00:59.16]It is as if they are the one [01:01.80]and only person on Earth. [01:04.94]Some people however, [01:06.98]are not so self-centered. [01:09.77]My brother is such a person. [01:12.02]It is true ¨C no joke. [01:14.57]I am not trying [01:15.87]to pull a fast one on you. [01:18.52]First, you have to understand [01:21.43]that my brother is one [01:23.83]in a million. [01:25.77]He is such a nice person. [01:28.11]All his friends like him. [01:30.26]They consider him [01:32.51]one of the boys. [01:33.35]Recently, [01:35.36]my brother had a bad day [01:37.41]at the office. [01:38.61]It was just one of those days. [01:41.25]Nothing went right. [01:43.46]So he stopped at a local bar [01:46.61] -- a drinking place [01:47.84] -- after leaving work. [01:49.40]My brother planned to [01:51.88]have a glass of beer [01:53.58]with his friends [01:54.73]-- a quick one [01:55.97]¨C before he went home. [01:57.61]But a quick one turned into [02:00.66]one or two, and soon those [02:03.81]became one too many. [02:06.32]As my brother was leaving, [02:08.47]he ordered a last drink [02:10.88]-- one for the road. [02:12.87]His friends became concerned. [02:15.55]One by one, they asked him [02:18.55]if he was able to [02:19.95]drive home safely. [02:21.95]Now my brother is a wise [02:24.85]and calm person. [02:26.76]He is at one with himself. [02:29.35]He recognizes when he has had [02:32.18]too much alcohol to drink. [02:34.74]So he accepted an offer [02:37.63]for a ride home [02:39.82]from a female friend. [02:41.86]At one time in the past, [02:45.65]my brother had been [02:47.40]in love with this woman. [02:49.49]She is a great person [02:52.19]-- kind, thoughtful [02:54.34]and intelligent [02:55.58]-- all good qualities [02:57.54]rolled up into one. [02:59.44]But sadly their relationship [03:02.65]did not work. [03:04.14]He always used to say [03:06.98]"One of these days, [03:08.88]I am going to marry this girl." [03:11.78]But that never happened. [03:14.56]For one thing, [03:16.50]she did not love him [03:18.64]as much as he loved her. [03:21.39]It was just one of those things. [03:24.85]The situation was regrettable [03:28.09]and my brother had to accept it. [03:31.23]But even now, he considers her [03:34.72]the one that got away. [03:37.48]However, they are still friends. [03:40.98]And because my brother had [03:44.22]been kind to her, [03:44.96]she felt that one good turn [03:47.87]deserves another. [03:49.62]He was good to her [03:51.56]and she wanted to help him [03:53.77]in return. [03:55.46]So she drove him home. [03:57.51]If my brother had driven home [04:01.24]from the bar that night, [04:02.99]his number would have been up. [04:06.07]Something bad would have happened. [04:08.92]Thankfully he made it home safely. [04:12.65]And, he and the woman are back [04:16.10]to square one. [04:17.90]They are back to where they started [04:20.64]¨C being friends. [04:22.59](MUSIC) [04:39.65]This VOA Special English program, [04:42.30]WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, [04:44.45]was written by Jill Moss. [04:46.79]I'm Faith Lapidus.