Don't Miss a Thing With 'Eagle Eyes'

2025 · VOA Learning English

This speaker is a general-american model. Each line below can be recorded and scored against it.

Transcript

1. And now, Words and Their Stories, from VOA Learning

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2. English. From above, birds must have a wonderful view of the world below.

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3. Flying over everything at such a height gives them a rare ability to see many things.

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4. In English, we use the term “bird’s eye view” to describe a view from above as if seen by a bird in flight.

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5. It is also described as an “overall view” or “big picture view.” For example, when I start a project, I first like to get a bird’s eye view.

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6. I ask myself several important questions: What is the overall goal? Who is the main focus

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7. What resources do I have available to me? Answers to these “big picture” questions can help me understand the scope of the project.

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8. Now, let's talk about noticing the smaller details. Some birds, called raptors, are known for their extremely sharp vision.

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9. Eagles, hawks, and owls can see their prey from very far away. The Raptor Center is part of the University of Minnesota’s College of Veterinary Medicine.

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10. Its website explains why eagles, hawks, and owls see so well: “Raptors have powerful binocular vision, where both their left and right eyes can see and focus

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11. on a single object.” Eagles and hawks also have a special bone structure around their eyes that protects them from bright sunlight.

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12. Their ability to focus on faraway details in addition to other factors make them extremely effective hunters.

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13. In English, the keen vision of eagles and hawks describes a certain type of person.

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14. If you have an eagle eye you have the ability to see or notice distant objects.

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15. Also, you observe everything, even very small details which others might miss.

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16. On the same note, someone who is hawk-eyed watches and notices everything that happens. These types of people may even perceive things that are not clear to others.

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17. Both eagle-eyed and hawk-eyed people are observant or perceptive. A person does not have to have this ability all the time.

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18. They might use their keen vision and powers of observation only at certain times, especially times when they need to keep a close watch.

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19. For example, during Christmastime, hawk-eyed children might search the sky looking for Santa Claus.

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20. These children may not be very observant during the rest of the year, but during Christmastime, they are looking for gifts. Let’s hear these terms used between two friends.

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21. Thanks for inviting me. B: The more the merrier! This yearly neighborhood party always draws a huge number of people.

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22. There must be over a hundred people here! Hey, wait a minute.

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23. I think I see our old co-worker. Isn’t that Samantha way over there by the food and drinks?

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24. My eagle eyes don’t miss a thing. I’m going to go say hi and grab the last hamburger while I’m there.

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25. Oh, and you should let the hosts know that they’re low on drinks.

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26. You’re right. I didn’t realize you were so hawk-eyed.

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27. A: Only at parties. I start off with a bird’s eye view and then focus in on the food, drinks, and people I want to see more closely.

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28. See you in a few… The term “eagle eye” has been used for hundreds of years. Word experts say it was first used in writing in the mid-1500s.

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29. The Oxford English Dictionary website says the “earliest evidence for ‘eagle eye’ is from 1567, in the writing of Thomas Stapleton, a Roman Catholic theologian.”

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30. A theologian is an expert in religious thought. And that’s all the time we have for this Words and Their Stories

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