节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-03-01
难易度:Low
关键字:extremely, locker, specific, tray, elementary, beforehand, passionately
Welcome back.
Today we are looking at an article about the many surprises that awaited Alex in
America.
He needed to adjust to school life in Mountain Lake.
There were many differences between his school life in Taipei and America.
He lived in a small town and could walk to school.
He had to use lockers like the rest of the students and change classrooms for
each class.
Let's continue learning about some more of the differences with the next part of
our reading.
(Music).
School Life.
Also, the cafeteria was different.
We have our lunch in our classrooms in Taipei, but we had lunch in the cafeteria
there.
You take a tray, fill it up and find somewhere to sit.
On the very first day of school, some guy passionately invited me to sit with
him!
He became my very first friend at school.
I was surprised by how small the school was.
There were around a hundred students from pre-elementary to high school!
I got to know almost everyone within a week!
(Chinese).
And now let's see what our teachers are up to.
Thank you, Michelle.
It sounds like Alex's school in the United States is the complete opposite of
his school in Taipei.
You might be right about that.
In this section, we learned that even the way students eat lunch is different.
He used to eat lunch in his homeroom, but in the U.S., he eats in the cafeteria.
That is a big difference.
For many students in America, lunchtime is a time for them to socialize with
students that they might not have classes with.
Everyone in the same grade eats lunch in one large cafeteria.
I remember at my high school, there weren't that many students, so two grades
would eat lunch together.
It's a good way to enjoy a meal with your friends and get to know other
students.
But it can also be very stressful, especially if you're new.
You're right. It would be very scary to go into the lunchroom, get your food and
have no idea where to sit.
Making friends at school can be challenging.
Most students already have their friend circles and aren't looking for new
friends.
Wait, Gabe. What did you just say?
Well, I just said that most students already have their friend circle...
Great, great! Stop there and let's look at that phrase: friend circle.
This is an informal way that we can use to describe a close group of friends.
So if you have a group of people that you usually hang out with, talk to or
value,
you could say that those people are in your friend circle or that they are your
friend circle.
You could also say that they are your circle of friends.
So if you go to a new school, that means you probably don't have a circle of
friends to sit with at lunch.
And most people don't enjoy eating lunch alone.
This is true.
Now in this section we've been talking about the cafeteria and the lunchroom.
Is there a difference between those words or do they mean the same thing?
Good question.
Sometimes they do mean the same thing, but not always.
A lunchroom is a specific area of a building, like a school or office, where
people can buy lunch or eat food that they bring from home.
And a cafeteria can also mean this type of room, but it has another meaning as
well.
It can be used to talk about a style of restaurant where food is put on trays
and then people find their own seats.
This is something that you see in hospitals, large companies or universities.
Right. So a cafeteria is not its own restaurant.
It is part of a larger building but provides a place for people to buy and eat
food.
It is also not limited to lunch but could also serve breakfast and dinner.
OK. Well, let's learn something about bussing trays with Steve and Ken in the
Information Cloud.
Hi, friends.
You just learned what a tray is; it helps us carry our food in a cafeteria or
fast food restaurant.
But another word we might also want to learn along with tray is the word bus.
You must be wondering what in the world does bus have to do with tray?
Well, bus, when used as a verb, can mean to clear dishes from a table as in:
Please bus your tray.
That's right, bus your tray.
Actually, you'll often see that written on a sign in many cafeterias in the U.S.
So after you finish eating, you need to use your tray and carry all the dirty
plates and garbage to a designated area where you dump out the garbage and leave
the plates.
Not only is it a good idea to clean up after ourselves, but it is also common
courtesy to the next person who'll be using the table.
Another place we should always bus our trays is at a fast food restaurant.
Even if there's a cleaner or custodian who goes around picking up people's
garbage,
the common practice in the U.S. is to bus your own tray in a fast food
restaurant.
(Chinese).
Thank you, gentlemen.
It is important to clean up after yourself by bussing your tray.
That's actually something that's quite common at restaurants in Taipei.
I've noticed that as well.
Lots of small restaurants and cafes have signs that ask you to throw away your
own trash and return your tray and dishes to a certain area.
And that's very helpful for the busy staff.
Well, let's continue with our lesson.
We discussed earlier how difficult it can be for a new student to find a friend
to sit with in the lunchroom, but Alex had no problem.
Good for him!
He didn't even have to ask anyone if he could sit with them.
Another student invited Alex to eat lunch with him.
Wow! Alex must be very popular.
We also learned that this guy became Alex's very first friend.
Well, that's interesting.
Why does it say "very first"?
Why not just "first"?
Ah, yes, good question.
Alex wants to emphasize and make it clear that this person was the first friend
he made at school, so he uses the word "very" in front of it.
But you can use this phrase to talk about other things as well.
For example, you could say my very first pet was a dog.
You didn't have any other pets before that dog, but you could have had many
other pets after you got that dog.
Or you could simply say: My first pet was a dog.
Very good.
Well, right now it is time for us to stop with our very first lesson of the
month and watch a review skit.
Then we'll join Linda for the Editor's Summary.
Hello. You must be the new kid.
Yes. Today I'm going to learn about school life.
I'm extremely nervous.
Nervous?
Yes. Today I'll find out what my classmates and teachers are like.
Hey, don't worry.
You will like it here.
I hope so.
I must prepare myself for possible challenges.
Oh, yeah, like tests and homework.
No, challenges like lockers and cafeterias.
Why are those challenges?
Things are different in Taiwan.
We stay in the same classroom, so we keep things in our desks all day.
Oh. Well, here we have specific classrooms for specific classes.
Yeah. I'll be moving around all day.
Right. So keep your things in your locker and get what you need between classes.
Yeah, if I can open it.
Well, good luck.
Hey, I'll see you at lunch.
Wait! Lunch, how does that work?
How does lunch work?
Yes. What do I do?
Well, it's easy.
At lunchtime, go to the cafeteria, fill up your tray and find a place to sit.
But who will I sit with? I don't know anybody.
Well, don't worry.
By the end of the week, you'll know everybody.
Really?
Yeah. It's a small school.
Alex is starting school in today's lesson.
He mentions two big differences between the school in Mountain Lake and his
school here in Taipei.
The first one is the lockers, where each student puts all of his or her
belongings as the students go from classroom to classroom.
Another big difference is the cafeteria, where everyone goes to have their
lunch.
You can get a tray and pick up your hot lunch there, and have whatever you want.
Then you have to find a place to sit.
Alex made his first friend in the cafeteria.
And a big surprise for him was how small the school was.
He got to know everyone within the first week.
Thank you, Linda.
We've had a great lesson today about some of the interesting parts of school
life in America.
That's right.
Alex shared a lot of great information with us.
And I hope that you have enjoyed learning with our lesson today.
We'll see you next time right here on Studio Classroom.
See you then.
(Music).