节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-01-24
难易度:Medium
关键字:beneficial, vital, consist, strengthen, nutrient
Hi again.
In today's lesson called Don't Forget Your Vitamins, friends,
Christopher and Shelly are having a conversation about whether or not taking
vitamin pills on a regular basis is a good idea.
Shelly thinks they play a vital role in good health, but Christopher doesn't
think that's necessarily true.
He heard that it's better to get nutrients from food, not from pills.
Let's see how their conversation continues now.
And then we'll see what Michelle has for us in the Language Lab.
(Music).
Don't Forget Your Vitamins.
You're right.
But a lot of people eat like you!
What does that mean?
Your diet consists of fast food and soft drinks.
That's not healthy!
Well... even if I wanted to take vitamins, it's too confusing with so many to
choose from.
How would I know which one to take?
Check with your doctor.
Why?
For instance, vitamin A is good for your eyes, vitamin C helps your body heal,
and vitamin D strengthens your bones.
And the list goes on.
Your doctor can help you figure out what you really need.
Maybe. But I still don't want to take too many pills.
OK.
(Chinese).
And now it's time to go to our teachers.
Thank you, Michelle.
Well, at the end of today's conversation, Shelly has not yet convinced
Christopher to take vitamin pills.
However, earlier in this conversation, we find out they both agree on one thing.
And what is that?
It's better to get all of your nutrients from food, not from pills.
That's right.
And that's when Shelly says to Christopher: But a lot of people eat like you!
And what does she mean by that?
Christopher's diet consists of fast food and soft drinks.
Is that healthy?
No, not at all!
Soft drinks, of course, are drinks like Coke and Sprite.
They taste good, but you shouldn't make a habit of drinking them all the time.
Now we should look at some other things from this sentence.
First is that word "diet." We saw it earlier in our lesson, too, when Shelly was
talking about having a balanced diet.
That's right.
Diet can have a few meanings.
In our lesson so far, it means the things you eat or drink.
A balanced diet means eating the right amount of food from each food group.
Vegetables, fruits, meats, dairy products, you want the right amount and not too
much junk food.
So, do you have a balanced diet?
The word "diet" can also mean something a little different.
Maybe you've heard the phrase: to go on a diet.
That means to adjust your diet so that you're only eating or drinking certain
things.
You can also use the verb "diet" to mean the same thing.
You could say: I'm dieting or I'm going on a diet.
And what kind of diet are you going on?
If you're on a vegetable diet, that means you mostly eat just vegetables.
Have you heard the joke about seafood diets?
Yes, Gabe. That joke is just...
... great! It goes like this:
A seafood diet is the best because whenever you "see" food... come on, Carolyn!
Whenever you see food, you eat it.
Great joke.
I think we need to move on to another word in that sentence: consist.
What does your diet consist of?
We often see the word "of" with the word "consist." For example, you could say
the sauce consists of tomatoes, onions and oil.
Salsa!
Bingo.
Or my homework consists of adding and subtracting numbers.
Hmm, let me guess, let me think, let me...
I know!
Math homework.
Right again. Try to use that phrase today.
Talk about something that consists of a few other things.
Well, you know what, Christopher can't disagree with Shelly.
He knows his diet is unhealthy, so he says:
Even if I wanted to take vitamins, it's too confusing with so many to choose
from.
So many to choose from.
If you need to make a choice between a lot of things, you can say you have a lot
to choose from.
For example, if you go shopping for a birthday card at the bookstore, there are
usually several to choose from.
Or there are so many drinks at the convenience store.
You can choose from a lot of drinks.
Christopher could turn his sentence around and say he has to choose from so many
vitamins.
So which vitamins should he take?
Shelly suggests checking with his doctor.
Different vitamins are good for different aspects of your health.
Shelly lists a few of the benefits of different kinds of vitamins.
Right. These are facts you may or may not already know.
Vitamin A is good for your eyes.
Did you know that?
Yes. Vitamin A can be found in carrots.
So if you want to have good eyes, eat lots of carrots because they're full of
vitamin A.
Now Gabe, let me test you.
What vitamin do lemons, oranges and tomatoes have a lot of?
Hmm, let me see... Ooh!
Vitamin C.
Yes.
Ooh, I'm on a roll today.
I know all of these answers.
Well, what about milk?
There's a lot of what vitamin in milk?
Um, vitamin M... for milk?
No. The answer is vitamin D.
Vitamin D can be found in milk and butter and is good for making your bones
stronger, or as our lesson says, for strengthening your bones.
Well, I was close.
I knew it was a letter of the alphabet.
Right... Well, let's take a look at that word: strengthen.
That means to make stronger.
Do you know what the opposite is?
I do. I do! It is weaken.
And that means to make weaker.
We use the word "strengthen" more, though, because, of course, we want to become
stronger, not weaker.
However, I can think of one time we could use the word weaken.
Kryptonite weakens Superman.
Right. Or my knees weakened when I got up on stage to give my speech.
Sometimes we feel a little weaker when we're nervous about something.
Well, Shelly says what vitamin A is good for, vitamin B, vitamin D is good for.
And she says the list goes on.
The list goes on? What does that mean?
I think Liz wants to explain this phrase in the Grammar Gym.
And then it's Linda's turn for our Editor's Summary.
Hi there, friends.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym.
My name is Liz.
In today's lesson we see an interesting statement:
And the list goes on.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
It basically is a common expression native speakers use to mean that what was
just mentioned is just a part of something bigger.
In other words, the speaker could say more or give more examples but chooses not
to.
So if you're ever in a situation where you do give a few examples,
but you want to let your listeners know that there are additional examples that
are not mentioned, then you can use this expression.
For example:
Old Mr. Lee always complains whenever he's sick:
The weather is either too hot or too cold, his back hurts, his allergies are
bothering him - and the list goes on.
Or: There's always so much to do during the holiday season:
Presents to buy, decorations to put up, parties to plan, activities to attend -
and the list goes on.
So give this expression a try.
And if you'd like to see some more example sentences, they're available in
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.
Should you or shouldn't you take vitamins?
Shelly thinks you should, but Christopher thinks it's a waste of money.
He believes you can get all your nutrients from food.
Then Shelly points out that his diet is made up of fast food and soda pop.
Not healthy.
Shelly also gives him some advice about which vitamins are good for which
things.
But Christopher is not sure.
Thank you, Linda.
Well, what do you think?
Do you agree with Christopher or Shelly?
Are vitamin pills beneficial or not?
Hmm, I'm not sure.
But I'm with Chris.
I don't want to take too many pills.
I know someone who takes a lot of vitamins.
I think his record is taking over 30 pills at one time.
Wow! That's a lot of pills, Gabe.
Yeah. Well, anyway, I think he's OK.
It's good to have vitamins.
Anyway, thank you for joining us for today's lesson.
And of course, we will see you next time to learn more with this conversation
right here at Studio Classroom.
See you.