节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-03-12
难易度:Low
关键字:expense, freeze, dismiss, prosper
Welcome back.
In the last part of our lesson called What a Zoo, Robin and her brother Jay have
snuck into the zoo manager Mr. Fox's office to try to get a hold of an account
book.
They needed to prove that Mr. Fox was stealing money from the zoo.
So, did they get the book?
Well, yes and no.
Robin dug through his desk and found the book, but Mr. Fox came back and caught
her.
What will happen next?
Let's find out.
What a Zoo!
"Catch!" she yelled and threw the book to Jay.
He ran toward the front door with Mr. Fox right behind.
Just then Jay ran straight into his parents, who had just gotten home.
Their parents looked through the book and discovered Mr. Fox's theft.
They dismissed him from his position and hired Arthur again.
Arthur was a skilled manager who eventually became top dog at the company.
The zoo prospered thanks to him, Robin and Jay.
(Chinese).
And now let's get back to our teachers.
Thank you, Michelle.
So our story does have a nice ending, and the good guys win.
Well, let's look at some English points from this section, shall we?
Sure. At first Robin was a sitting duck.
She couldn't do anything.
But then she said "Catch!" and threw the book of business expenses to Jay.
Now she could've said a more complete sentence "Catch the book," but in English
we can shorten those kind of sentences, like here: Catch.
What are some other sentences that we can shorten?
Well, maybe someone is about to get hit on the head by something, and you can
say: Watch out for your head.
Or you can simply say: Watch out.
And what's another example?
You want someone to hear what you have to say, you can say: Listen to this! Or
just: Listen.
As you can see, these are commands.
You are telling someone what to do.
Well, Jay caught the book and ran toward the front door with Mr. Fox right
behind.
And let's look at that phrase: with someone right behind.
When we read this, we know that Mr. Fox is right behind Jay, so Jay needs to run
as fast as he can.
Right. But we can use this phrase in other ways, too.
Tommy won the race with Jimmy right behind, or close behind.
The thief is driving away in a car with the police right behind.
And in our story, Jay is running toward the front door with Mr. Fox right
behind.
We read: Just then Jay ran straight into his parents, who had just gotten home.
Now sometimes I see the phrase: run straight into.
Other times I use the phrase: run right into.
Me, too.
They both mean the same thing.
To run straight into something or run right into someone, both mean to run
directly into someone or something.
One time I saw a guy chasing another at my school.
The guy in front turned his head around while running, so he was facing the guy
in the back.
When he turned back around in the direction he was running, he ran right into a
tree!
You saw a guy run straight into a tree?
Yeah, he ran straight into the tree.
I think he broke his nose.
Oh, that's not good.
Well, it's a good thing that Jay ran straight into his parents because that's
just who he needed to see.
Now I think Liz has something to share about this sentence in the Grammar Gym.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym, friends.
My name is Liz.
Here's our Grammar Tip sentence from today's lesson:
Just then Jay ran straight into his parents...
Our focus today is on the phrase at the beginning of the sentence: Just then.
It just means at that moment that was mentioned.
So in today's sentence the writer is saying while at that moment, Jay ran
straight into his parents.
Use "just then" when you want to talk about something that happened at that same
time or moment that was just mentioned.
For example: I'm sorry, I didn't pay attention to what you were saying. I was
distracted just then.
Or: It's embarrassing to spill coffee on yourself and having your boss walk into
your office just then.
Now it's your turn.
Think of something that happened right at the same time as something else.
And if you'd like to see some more example sentences, then check out today's
Grammar Tip section in your magazine.
That's all the time we have for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
I'll see you next time.
Thank you, Liz.
Well, let's get right into the last paragraph.
Robin and Jay's parents looked through the business expense book and discovered
Mr. Fox's theft.
Before we move on, let's look at that word "theft." What does that mean?
His theft is his robbery or his act of stealing something.
This word sounds like another word: thief.
A thief, of course, is a robber, so the theft is his crime.
So Mr. Fox was discovered to be a thief.
What happened to him?
He was dismissed from his position.
That's basically a nice way to say he was fired.
And the great news is that cousin Arthur was hired again.
Well, I have great news for you.
It's time to watch a review skit.
Then we'll join Linda for the Editor's Summary.
Wow! What a zoo!
What a lesson!
Yes, and it's full of useful idioms.
Let's review a few of them.
Great. That will be more fun than a barrel of monkeys.
Monkeys are always doing funny things.
And if you have a barrel of them, just imagine how much fun it would be.
Yes. So if something is more fun than a barrel full of monkeys, it is fun, fun,
fun.
Right. Oh, here's another idiom: a wolf in sheep's clothing.
It's someone that can't be trusted but pretends to be friendly.
Oh. Beware! A wolf in sheep's clothing is sneaky and dangerous.
So look out.
Speaking of sheep, what is a black sheep?
It's someone who is always getting into trouble.
Like me? Uh, no.
I think most people have a black sheep in the family.
Yeah. I sure hope it's not you.
Well, maybe.
Oh, shh... Be quiet.
Why?
I want to be as quiet as a mouse, that's why. Shh.
Oh, as quiet as a mouse is pretty quiet.
Very quiet.
Now tell me more about a sitting duck.
Well, it's sitting, so it's easy to see and easy to shoot.
That's right.
So don't be an easy target.
Don't be a sitting duck.
Oh, look! It's time to go already.
It is? Well, I hope you had more fun than a barrel of monkeys.
Goodbye, everyone!
Today we find Robin and Jay sneaking into Mr. Fox's office.
They want to see if they can find some proof that he has been stealing instead
of Arthur.
Just as they found the real expense book, Mr. Fox came in and caught them.
As they were trying to run away from him, they were throwing the book back and
forth to each other, their parents returned and walked in.
And as their parents looked through the real book, they realized that indeed Mr.
Fox had been stealing.
And they dismissed him from his job.
They rehired Arthur who, along with Robin and Jay, helped the zoo to prosper.
And that is the end of Mr. Fox and our story.
Thank you, Linda.
Well, I enjoyed this story.
I'm glad that the parrot Gwen is back safely and that Mr. Fox was caught.
So the moral of the story is letting valuable parrots fly away is OK.
Uh... well, maybe the moral is more like cheaters never prosper.
Oh. Yeah, that, too.
Well, thank you for joining us.
And we will see you next time right here on Studio Classroom.
(Music).