节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-04-28
难易度:Low
关键字:breathe, lab (laboratory), research, pour, field work
Hello, and welcome back.
Today we are going into the jungle with Flora, a scientist who studies plants in
a lab.
This is her first time going into the field, and it is a dream come true.
Let's continue learning about Flora's experience in the jungle with the next
part of our lesson.
Into the Jungle.
But Flora loved the beautiful jungle plants.
She only wished the team would stop and smell the roses so she could examine
them more closely.
Flores said to Jared, the group leader, "It must be nice to do all your research
out here."
Jared replied, "Sometimes it is, but every trip involves going out on a limb."
Just then, she heard thunder, and rain poured down on their heads.
But the team kept moving toward the nearby mountains.
(Music).
All right.
(Chinese).
And now let's go to our teachers.
Thank you, Michelle.
Well, it sounds like being in the jungle might not be as fun as Flora thought.
It suddenly started to pour rain.
And right before the break, Steve and Ken taught us some other ways to describe
heavy rain like "It poured buckets," or "The rain is coming down in sheets."
There are many ways to describe falling rain.
There are.
But for now I think we should look at the beginning of this section.
We read that Flora loved the beautiful jungle plants.
But she wasn't able to really look at them because her team wouldn't stop moving
foward.
Yes. She only wished they would stop and smell the roses.
And we should stop and look at that phrase: only wish.
You can use this to talk about something that you really want or that you wanted
to happen.
You could say Tammy had a great vacation.
She only wished that it hadn't rained on her last day of traveling.
So she had a great trip, but it would have been better without the rain.
And Flora probably thought the same thing after the sudden downpour.
But before it started raining, she said something to her group leader.
She told him, "It must be nice to do all your research out here."
But what does "out here" mean?
She is referring to the jungle, of course.
She is finally outside in the jungle, so she calls the jungle "out here."
You can use "out here" to talk about a place outside, but it should also be the
place that you are at.
For example, if I say "I really like hiking out here," that means that I am
currently hiking and I like the location.
But I could change it and say "I really like hiking out there."
And that means that there is a place that he likes to hike, but he isn't there
right now.
And since Flora says "out here," you know that she is talking about the place
she's at right now - the jungle.
And it would be very interesting to do all of your work in the jungle.
In fact, Flora thinks it must be nice.
And that is a phrase that Liz wants to tell us more about in the Grammar Gym.
So let's join her now.
Hello, friends. I hope you're all doing well today.
My name is Liz. And thanks for joining me here at the Grammar Gym.
Now we see the sentence in today's lesson:
It must be nice to do all your research out here.
Basically the speaker wishes she could also have this kind of an opportunity to
do research out in the jungle.
Now notice the sentence pattern.
It must be nice to... blah blah blah.
This is a good pattern to use when you want to express how you admire someone
else's situation and that you also wish the same thing could happen to you.
For example: It must be nice to have your vacation completely paid for by
someone else.
Or: It must be nice to finish all your work and not take anything home to do.
So friends, give this pattern a try.
Think of someone's situation that's really wonderful and practice using this
pattern.
And if you want to see some more example sentences, then check out today's
Grammar Tip section in your Studio Classroom magazine.
That's it for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
Thank you, Liz.
It must be nice to know so much about grammar.
And while Flora thinks it must be nice to do all of your research in the jungle,
her group leader, Jared, doesn't really agree.
You're right about that.
He says that every trip out into the field involves "going out on a limb."
There are so many idioms in our lesson, but let's take a moment to talk about
this one.
What does it mean to "go out on a limb"?
Well, if you are "out on a limb," that means that you are in a dangerous
position, and it might be difficult to get away from that danger.
Imagine being high up in a tree, and you are hanging from a thin branch or limb.
And that would be a very dangerous situation, so you are really out on a limb.
But if you "go out on a limb for someone else," that means you are doing
something to help them that might not be very good for you.
For example, someone at work could go out on a limb and recommend to your boss
that you get a promotion.
If the boss doesn't agree for one reason or another, it could be worse for your
co-worker that talked to the boss than it would be for you because you didn't do
anything.
They went out on a limb for you.
So going out on a limb means "taking a risk."
Well, of course we always have a lot more to learn here at Studio Classroom.
And there is one idiom from our lesson that we haven't talked about yet.
Do you know which one I'm thinking about? Carolyn?
I do, Gabe.
Is it "the grass is always greener on the other side"?
Yes, the grass is always greener on the other side.
Now I know we've talked about this idiom in the past.
It's one of my favorite idioms.
And this really means that you're not satisfied or content with what you have,
you think that it's better somewhere else.
And I think that might be something that Flora is feeling.
She had been working in this lab, looking at all these different plants, but she
wasn't content.
There was more, and she thought it would be better going out into the jungle.
But I wonder, is the grass really greener in the jungle, Gabe?
That's kind of a funny question.
It actually might be greener in a rainforest or a jungle like the one Flora is
in.
But in life, usually no. The grass is not greener on the other side; it's not
better somewhere else.
Usually once you get to that place, you feel the same way, and you think, "I
should have been happy where I was."
The grass is greener on the other side.
Well, I hope that isn't something that you are dealing with.
I hope that you are very happy with the situation that you are in right now.
And maybe you can continue to improve, but don't always think that the grass is
greener on the other side.
That's right.
Something else I want to remind you is that you can "grow where you are
planted."
So don't always think about wanting to go somewhere else, somewhere better.
Grow where you're planted.
Well, right now it is time for us to continue learning with Linda in the
Editor's Summary.
We're in the jungle in our LANGUAGE article.
Flora, a scientist doing research, was thrilled to be in the jungle and see the
plants altogether because she usually studied them separately in her lab.
But her boss, Dr. Greenleaf, warned her that the grass was always greener on the
other side.
Ha! Or it seemed to be, anyway.
But Flora didn't care because she wanted to stop and smell the roses along the
way.
But Jared, the group leader, told her they always seemed to be going out on a
limb when they went into the forest.
No sooner did he say that, then it thundered and rain poured down on them, so
they headed to a nearby mountain.
Thank you, Linda.
We've had a great lesson today filled with plant-themed idioms.
Flora is going on a research adventure in the jungle with a team of scientists.
But it suddenly started pouring rain.
Will they make it to the nearby mountains?
What other dangers will they face?
Come back tomorrow to find out right here on Studio Classroom.
(Music).