节目资讯
刊物:大家说英语
日期:2013-05-30
难易度:Medium
关键字:downstairs, promise, midnight, list, police, take [someone/something]
seriously, work
Welcome. This is Let's Talk in English.
My name is Katie.
It's good to see you again, friends.
Yesterday Ken and Joe didn't sleep well.
Today we want to talk more about HOME, and finish our lesson called A New
Neighbor.
A New Neighbor.
Do you have good neighbors?
It's good to have quiet neighbors, right, Nathan?
Yes, quiet neighbors make it easier to sleep.
Hi, my name is Nathan.
Now let's look at today's Let's Begin in our LTE magazines while Katie reads it
for us.
Let's begin!
Ken and Joe talk to Rob about their downstairs neighbor.
She promises to be quiet, but she is not.
She plays music after midnight.
Rob tells them to write the neighbor a letter.
List the dates and times of the noise in it.
If she's not quiet after that, they should call the police.
Call the police. Wow!
Well, let's start our conversations with Conversation A.
So what did you want to talk to me about?
We have a problem with our downstairs neighbor.
What does he do?
She plays loud music late at night.
And we can't sleep.
Did you talk to her?
Yes. We talked to her twice.
She promised to be quiet.
And she was quiet for one night.
But then she started playing music again.
Yesterday Ken and Joe said they would talk about their neighbor with a friend.
Today they talk to their friend Rob for help.
Ken says, "We have a problem with our downstairs neighbor." Let's look at the
key word here.
downstairs.
downstairs.
This word is an adjective here and means that his neighbor lives below them.
Or, that store is on the downstairs floor of the mall.
And they could also say that this neighbor lives downstairs.
You can use the word that way, too.
In the same way, I could say: I'm waiting for you downstairs.
That's right.
Or, they already went downstairs.
That uses the word in the same way.
Now Rob wonders what Ken and Joe's downstairs neighbor does.
Yesterday we learned that she plays music and sings late at night.
And then Ken and Joe can't sleep.
Then Rob asks if they have talked to her about the problem.
Joe says, "We talked to her twice." Remember that key word "twice" from
yesterday?
Here it means they talked to her two times.
After they talked to her, she promised to be quiet.
Now "quiet" was a key word yesterday, too.
And today we have another key word in this sentence.
promise.
promise.
If you promise something, you say that you will definitely do it or give it.
Like my dad promised that we would go somewhere for a vacation.
He said he would, so we expect him to, and we will go.
Or, I promised to take my brother to a movie, so I have to do it.
"Promise" can also be a noun.
Like: I made my brother a promise.
It sounds like this neighbor kept her promise for one night.
Let's look at how to use that phrase: for one night.
You usually put it at the end of a sentence.
My family is going to stay at my house for one night.
Wait.
Katie, aren't you leaving town for one night?
Yes, I'm leaving because my family is coming.
Oh.
Just... just kidding. Just kidding.
I am not leaving.
Well, looks like Joe and Ken have a lot to figure out.
So let's learn more about this situation in Conversation B.
So you have a noisy neighbor.
A very noisy neighbor.
Why does she have to play music after midnight?
I don't know.
How long does she play her music?
An hour or two.
But then we can't go back to sleep.
Did you talk to her politely?
Yes, we did.
So she is not mad at you.
No, she's not.
Now Rob understands that Ken and Joe really have a noisy neighbor.
Hey Katie, wasn't "noise" a key word yesterday?
Yes, it was, Nathan.
Why do you ask?
Well, Rob used the word "noisy" here.
And... and "noisy" is the adjective of noise.
If something is noisy, it's loud or makes a lot of noise.
People can be noisy.
But so can cars, machines... or even chairs, I guess, when you move them on the
ground.
Joe says his downstairs neighbor is very noisy.
And then he says, "Why does she have to play music after midnight?" I don't
think that Joe really thinks Rob can answer this question.
He just doesn't understand.
And this is also today's Use It sentence.
Well, you're right.
But let's talk about the key word in this sentence first.
midnight.
midnight.
Midnight is 12:00 at night - the very middle of the night.
I often go to bed at midnight, actually.
I'm often already asleep at midnight.
Also, most places are closed before midnight.
Though some stores are open all 24 hours.
That means they never close.
OK, can we look at the Use It sentence now, Nathan?
Of course. Here's the pattern:
Why does something have to do something after something?
Like: Why does my roommate have to play video games after I go to bed?
And that's kind of like Ken and Joe's problem.
Here's another one.
Why does my grandmother have to give me more food after I say I'm full?
Does your grandmother do that?
Well, yes, it's happened before.
But I think it's because my grandma doesn't hear very well.
Now Rob asks another question:
How long does she play her music?
Well, Ken answers Rob by saying "An hour or two." But that's too late.
They don't want her to play music anymore.
But now I think it is... time for us to move on.
So let's go to Conversation C.
Well, maybe she didn't take you seriously.
Should we talk to her again?
No. Write her a letter.
In the letter, list the dates and times of the noise.
We can do that.
Does your apartment building have rules about noise?
I think so.
Put a copy of those rules in the letter.
And if the letter doesn't work?
Call the police!
Well first, Rob thinks that the noisy neighbor didn't take the boys seriously.
And that means she didn't think they cared about the noise that much.
Or it could mean she didn't think they would do much about it.
Again, Joe thinks that maybe they should talk to the girl a third time.
But Rob says they should write her a letter.
He says: In the letter, list the dates and times of the noise.
And here's a key word to talk about.
list.
list.
If you list things, you write them down or you say them one by one.
You might list all the things you need to buy at the store.
Or you might list all the people that you want to ask to come to your house.
"List" can also be a noun.
All the things that you have written or said are your list.
My example is called a shopping list.
And Nathan's example is called a party list.
Now here, Rob thinks the boys should write all the dates and times that they
hear noise.
He also says it would be a good idea to put their building's noise rules in the
letter, too.
But then Ken says, "And if the letter doesn't work?" Rob's answer is: Call the
police.
And that's the last key word for this lesson.
Let's look at it.
police.
police.
The police are the people who make sure that everyone is following the law, the
rules, and doing what is right.
The police often drive around in cars and go where there is trouble.
Sometimes they also need to watch to see if anything is wrong.
The police help us and keep us safe.
So the police could help Ken and Joe with their neighbor problem.
That's right.
The police could help Ken and Joe with their problem because he could talk to
their neighbor and help them solve the problem.
Now everyone needs sleep.
No one wants to be kept awake by your neighbor.
What would you do?
You should think about that if you have a noisy neighbor.
But for now, let's go to today's key words.
Here we go.
downstairs.
downstairs.
My apartment is downstairs.
promise.
promise.
John will come early. He promised.
midnight.
midnight.
Midnight is twelve o'clock.
list.
list.
Jack listed people's names on the paper.
police.
police.
The police took away the bad men.
Very good job on your key words.
Don't forget to practice them together at home.
And now we're just going to take a shortbreak.