节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-12-12
难易度:Medium
关键字:hit the road, commute, sturdy, gear, shock


























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All right.
Grab your bike and hit the road.
Well, wait, not yet.
Of course we have our lesson to finish here today.
But we're learning all about bikes.
And of course I think it's a great idea.
If you haven't in a long time, then you should go for a nice bike ride.
Don't let your bike just sit there.
Of course we're learning all about how to talk about bikes here in English
today.
And we have more to learn in the second part of our lesson.
So let's get started.
(Music).
All About Bikes.
Popular choices include mountain bikes and hybrid bikes, also known as cross
bikes.
Of the two, hybrids offer a more comfortable ride since they are lighter and
have smoother tires.
A cheaper alternative is a city bike.
It may be less attractive, but it offers a more comfortable seat.
Bikes for exploring.
For riding through mud and over rocks and surfaces that aren't paved, nothing
beats a mountain bike!
These bikes are designed to be ridden on dirt or rocky trails.
They have low gears that help riders handle steep trails.
Nearly all mountain bikes offer a front shock.
Bikes with both front and rear shocks can handle large bumps.
Well, let's continue learning about these bikes for commuting.
We read: Popular choices include mountain bikes and hybrid bikes, also known as
cross bikes.
So we have lots of bikes here, very popular ones, right, Gabe?
That's right, mountain bikes and hybrid bikes.
Now we talked about hybrids earlier this year.
That means you are combining or mixing two different things.
OK. These are also called cross bikes.
Sometimes we use that word "cross" when we talk about mixing something.
That's right.
And we read:
Of the two, hybrids, or cross bikes, offer a more comfortable ride since they
are lighter and have smoother tires.
So mountain bikes are quite heavy because you need them to be able to go up and
down mountains.
They need to be very strong.
But these cross bikes are lighter and have smoother tires.
So of course you will have a more comfortable ride.
As you can see, that word is a noun.
You can also use it as a verb, of course.
You go riding your bike, and then you have a comfortable ride, we hope.
And we continue here.
A cheaper alternative is a city bike.
Uh, Carolyn, let's review.
What is an alternative?
Well, an alternative means another option, something else that you can choose
instead of the first thing.
So, actually, a mountain bike could be an alternative to the hybrid bike.
And the city bike is an alternative as well.
It's just another choice.
OK, so we're learning about this city bike.
And we learned here:
It may be less attractive, but it offers a more comfortable seat.
It's true. What are you concerned about?
If you're concerned about style and looking good, well, then maybe a city bike
is not for you because often it will be less attractive.
That's right.
But if you are commuting every day and you're not too concerned about how nice
your bike looks,
but you really want to have that comfortable seat - it could be a long and
difficult commute going through traffic,
then a city bike might be the right one for you.
All right.
Well, now it's time for us to learn something with Steve and Ken in the
Information Cloud.
They have an interesting phrase they want to talk about there.
Today we're learning that life has its tradeoffs.
If you want a bike that's fast, you're probably going to sacrifice some comfort.
And if you want a bike that's strong and durable with a comfortable seat, it's
likely to be heavy and look uncool.
So we learn again that you can't have your cake and eat it too.
In other words, you can't have it both ways.
Very often in life we find that we can't have it all, so we're forced to give
something up in order to get something else that we think is more desirable.
Now this idiom is quite common and worth knowing, but to many people, it's
confusing.
It is! So try reversing the idiom's order and see if that helps.
You can't eat your cake and have it too.
Still doesn't make sense?
Let's look at this idiom in some other languages.
Most languages seem to have a version of this.
In Chinese, for example, you can't have a good horse that eats no hay.
And in France, you can't have both the butter and the money you get from selling
the butter.
(Chinese).
Thank you, guys.
It is a little bit challenging to have your cake and then also eat it.
Um, then you don't have your cake anymore... it is true.
Well, right now we have another section in our bike... article: Bikes for
exploring.
So we had bikes for commuting, and now we are exploring, Gabe.
I love exploring, and I love watching movies about people who are exploring.
And I think it's fun to get out on your bike or even just to walk around and
explore different things.
Do you like exploring?
Well, let's read this part here.
For riding through mud and over rocks and surfaces that aren't paved, nothing
beats a mountain bike.
If something is not paved, Carolyn, what does that mean?
Well, it means that there isn't an actual road.
It's not covered in asphalt like most roads that have... that are black.
It's probably just dirt.
All right. And if it's not paved, you can use a word "unpaved." This road is
unpaved.
It's kind of rough. OK.
Well, nothing beats a mountain bike.
Let's take a look at that phrase: nothing beats...
Earlier this month we talked about the phrase "there's nothing like..." That
means you can't compare it with that thing.
But here nothing beats a mountain bike.
What does that mean?
Well, it means that nothing is better than it.
You... Again, you can't compare the two because this is the best thing for a
certain situation.
So you might say that nothing beats going to the hot springs on a cold day.
Or nothing beats eating (Chinese) at the end of a long day.
I just love that snack.
Well, what else?
Oh, you love the sunset!
Well, of course you can't really see the sunset in the city.
Nothing beats watching the sunset from that beach.
All right. So now you know how to use that phrase.
Use the phrase "nothing beats..." today.
That's right. Well, continuing:
These bikes are designed to be ridden on dirt or rocky trails.
So these are mountain bikes, and they're designed to be ridden on mountains.
And that's great, so.
They have low gears that help riders handle steep trails.
And gears are very important for many bikes.
That's also an important key word.
Your gears.
Now you might need to change gears when you are riding your bike up and down a
mountain.
That means you can pedal easier or more easily, or maybe it will be a little
more difficult at some point.
So you need to change your gears.
That's right.
So when you're buying a bike, you might need to think about:
How many gears do you want your bike to have?
What types of riding will you be doing?
Do you want a bike that just has one gear? Two? Five?
There are many different kinds of bikes that you can get with different numbers
of gears.
And of course this kind of bike will be great for going up steep trails.
Nearly all mountain bikes offer a front shock.
All right. And shocks, of course, help absorb the shock.
OK. So it makes it not as rough when you're going over those potholes in the
road.
Or those rocks on that trail.
Yep.
Now bikes with both front and rear shocks can handle large bumps.
So think about what kind of riding you're doing and what kind of bike you might
need.
Right now it's time for us to join Michelle for something more in the Language
Lab.
(Chinese).
And now let's see what our teachers are doing.
Now Gabe, you and I both like riding bikes.
And today we talked about bikes for commuting and bikes for exploring.
But I wonder, have you ever had a bad experience on a bike?
Yes, of course. I've fallen off my bike many times.
There was one time when I was trying to ride my bicycle with no hands,
which I think is fine sometimes except for my little brother thought it would be
funny to put a brick in the middle of the road.
So when I hit the brick, I fell over.
Ah, yeah. That is not a good experience.
Although maybe if you had a mountain bike with front and rear shocks, you would
have been able to handle that brick.
Maybe you're right, Carolyn.
Anyway, I had some interesting experiences riding bikes.
What about you?
Have you ever had a bad experience riding a bike?
Well, we have more to learn all about bikes next time right here at Studio
Classroom.
See you.
(Music).