节目资讯
刊物:名人特写
日期:2009-01-07
难易度:Medium
关键字:in spite of, close-knit, the sky’s the limit, awar
Welcome back, everyone.
Well, three years ago, Nick Jonas discovered he had diabetes.
Rather than get discouraged, Nick decided he wanted to encourage others who have
the disease,
and even those who don’t but still might be going through a different or
difficult time in their life.
Now let’s learn what the Jonas Brothers have to say about the secret to their
success.
Why do they think they are so successful?
Turn with me now to page eighteen in line nine.
But before we do that, here are today’s key words.
The first one is close-knit as in:
My mother comes from a very close-knit family.
They all get together every week.
The next one is an idiom.
It’s the sky’s the limit.
Maybe you’ve heard this one before.
Here’s the example sentence.
With lots of new job offers, it seems like the sky’s the limit for Brent.
OK, again, we’re on page eighteen in line nine.
Follow along as we read.
The Jonus Brothers.
Family ties.
Whenever the brothers are asked what makes them so successful, they always
credit their close-knit family.
Their father, mother and younger brother all travel with them.
According to the brothers, their parents have always supported them and today
help to keep them humble.
What’s ahead?
With lots of projects lined up, it looks like the sky’s the limit for the band.
One thing’s for sure,
the Jonas Brothers are certainly ”living the dream” while doing what they do
best - performing together!
(Music).
Welcome back.
We’ve been talking about some of the things that make the Jonas Brothers not
your conventional boy band.
That’s right.
And now we’re going to talk about their family.
Here the section is called Family Ties.
Now if you have a tie, T-I-E, to something or to someone,
it doesn’t mean that you’re wearing a tie or that you’re... you’re tying
something.
It means that you have a connection to them.
Somehow, you relate to them.
Right.
The... And it sounds like the way that these brothers, these three brothers,
relate to each other is a very... in a...
They relate in a very healthy way.
They have very strong relationships with each other.
And they also have a very strong relationship with their entire family.
That’s right.
So people in the media, people in the press will often ask them what makes them
so successful.
Who goes with you when you travel?
Well, our article says:
Whenever the brothers are asked about what makes them so successful, they always
credit their close-knit family.
Now let’s break the sentence apart.
They always credit their close-knit family.
If you give credit to someone or something, what does that mean, Chip?
Well, to give credit to means simply to say it... it’s... really my success is
because of this person.
So don’t thank me.
Thank my family.
That’s right.
So the Jonus Brothers, they always say, hey, it’s my family, my parents.
It’s because of them.
That’s why we are so successful.
And their family is very close-knit.
Now when we talk about this word close-knit, think of knitting or sewing.
If something is close-knit, it’s as if they’re sewn very tightly.
So if you have a close-knit relationship with someone,
it means you have a very close or a very good, positive and special relationship
with them.
That’s right.
As if each member of the family is woven together or knitted together to make a
very strong family with very strong relationships.
And it sounds like the whole family travels together.
The younger... younger brother and the mother and father.
The whole family travels together whenever they tour.
Very interesting.
Yes. I was very surprised because usually when I think of movie stars and
celebrities,
I always think of them traveling alone or just with their manager or with a few
people.
But I never heard about a band traveling with their whole family including
parents and even their younger brother.
Yes, that’s right.
And it sounds like their parents have also had a very strong influence in their
lives and have supported them along the way.
They... their parents have given them a lot of encouragement and a lot of... a
lot of advice.
And today it helps them stay humble.
Their parents help keep the Jonas Brothers humble.
What does that mean?
That is so wonderful.
If someone or something keeps you humble, then they help you not to be proud.
For example, if they were proud, then they might say, well, we are very
successful and we can do what we want.
And you know, when they look at their audience, they might look at them with
very proud eyes.
But the Jonas Brothers are not proud.
They are humble.
They can be just like everyone else, even though they’re very famous.
But they are humble.
That’s right.
And if you’re as popular and famous as the Jonas Brothers, I think humility or
staying humble would be a challenge.
It would be difficult.
You have, you know, lots of teenage girls,
girls your age who are uh, swooning over you. They’re so excited that they’re
almost fainting.
Uh, lots of popularity, plenty of money, lots of world travels.
Um, I think I would have trouble with being that famous.
I would, too.
And I think I would have trouble not being tempted to doing bad things.
But I think that’s why it’s so wonderful that their parents can travel with
them,
because I think their parents are also there to keep them safe, to make sure
that they don’t make the wrong choices and to help them.
You know, Chip, I’ve read that, in fact, their father is their manager.
And all three of these brothers, they were homeschooled.
They actually didn’t go to school.
Very interesting.
Well, sounds like these Jonas Brothers have a lot of experiences under their
belts.
But what’s ahead?
Looks like they’ve got a lot of other projects lined up in their future.
That’s right.
I’m sure that they have many CDs that they will be recording.
They have been invited to be on a few television shows.
And in fact, Chip, next month there’s going to be a movie.
And this movie is called The Jonas Brothers Burning Up.
And you can watch this movie.
And it’s actually taken from their tour Burning Up in two thousand and eight.
So they’re going to be starring in a movie about them.
That’s amazing.
With their talent, with their success, our article says it looks like the sky is
the limit,
which is a phrase that we use when we say they’re just going to keep growing and
growing and rising and rising in popularity.
And there might not be an end to their rise in popularity.
That’s right.
Just like how when you look up to the sky, you can see no end or no limit.
There is no limit for them.
Nothing is impossible.
But one thing we know for sure is that the Jonus Brothers are certainly living
the dream.
They’re certainly doing what they want to do,
and they’re doing a good time while doing their best and performing together as
a band of brothers.
Well, let’s go to the Chat Room.
Hi, everyone.
Welcome to the Chat Room.
I’m Vickie.
And I’m Ken.
Today we continue to look at the article on The Jonas Brothers.
We learned today what makes the Jonas Brothers so successful.
It’s their close-knit family.
Vickie, let’s take a look at that sentence.
It says:
Whenever the brothers are asked what makes them so successful, they always
credit their close-knit family.
That’s an unusual usage of the word:
credit.
That’s right, Ken.
We usually use credit as a noun.
And it is used as a verb there.
So what does it mean to credit someone?
Well, if you use credit as a noun, it means recognition for an ability or
quality.
So to credit someone means to recognize or give praise to someone.
It’s always a good idea to give credit where credit is due.
Give credit where credit is due?
That’s right.
That’s a useful idiom if you want to acknowledge someone for an accomplishment.
It means to give credit for the work someone has done.
What if a person didn’t put in the work but still tells people that he is the
one who accomplished something?
What do we call that?
Well, we can say that that person is trying to take credit for something that
has been done by someone else.
If you don’t deserve the credit, you shouldn’t take it.
Well said.
(Chinese).
give credit where credit is due.
(Chinese).
And we should all give Michelle credit for all the helpful Language Tips she
gives us every day.
Here she is.
Michelle.
Hi, everyone.
I’m Michelle.
(Chinese).
I hope you remember what we talked about today.
Keep up the good work and I’ll see you next time.
Well, the Jonas family certainly is an interesting family.
Three pop star brothers who travels everywhere with their parents.
How cool is that!
Friends, we hope you’ve enjoyed this article.
If you have a chance,
check out some of the Jonas Brothers music at the music store or check them out
on the Internet.
Tomorrow we’re going to discover a new invention for people who are blind.
We hope you join us for that.
Until then,
goodbye, everyone.
(Music).