节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-02-14
难易度:Medium
关键字:glare, groan, prospect, courtyard
Welcome back.
If you're just joining us, we are on the second day of our lesson called A Love
Story.
Luke cannot stop thinking about Emma, and Luke's brother Henry uses this as an
opportunity to tease his brother.
They, of course, have a love-hate relationship.
But Henry also cares about his brother and suggests that he ask Emma out.
Luke, however, doesn't think she would say yes.
Well, let's find out what Henry and Luke decide to do in the next part of our
story.
(Music).
A Love Story.
"What makes you think that?
Maybe you're not as cool as me, but, hey, who is?" Henry laughed.
"And doing nothing won't get you anywhere." Luke gave a half-hearted nod.
Asking Emma out was a frightening prospect, but it was worth a try.
He just hoped Andrew wouldn't try to stop him.
The next morning, Luke took a deep breath and set off across the school
courtyard toward Emma.
It was time to win her heart.
But before Luke reached her, the bell rang, and Emma headed into the school.
As she hurried away, a wallet fell out of her bag.
(Music).
All right.
(Chinese).
And now let's go to our teachers.
Thank you, Michelle.
Well, I'm glad to see that while Henry likes to tease his brother, he also wants
to help him.
And I think that's part of being family.
You know someone really well, so you like to joke with them, but you also
support them when they need you.
And that's really important.
So Henry jokes with Luke, but he also encourages him.
And for part of that joke, he asks a question:
Maybe you're not as cool as me, but, hey, who is?
Oh. So Henry thinks he's cooler than Luke.
Actually, though, he's just trying to help his brother cheer up by joking with
him.
Right.
When we want to make someone else feel better, we might say something that we
don't really believe to be true to try to make the other person smile.
So Henry decides to ask a silly question to try to make his brother feel better.
And in that question, he uses a phrase that Liz wants to tell us more about in
the Grammar Gym.
Well, let's go there now.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym, friends.
My name is Liz.
And I'm so glad you can join me here.
In today's lesson, here's our Grammar Tip sentence:
Maybe you're not as cool as me, but, hey, who is?
Our focus is on the phrase: but, hey.
This expression is used in informal conversations to mean that what was just
said might be unfortunate,
but there's nothing that the speaker can do to change the situation.
Usually an explanation or excuse comes after this expression.
So going back to today's sentence, what the speaker is saying is maybe you're
not as cool as me, and that's unfortunate,
but there is nothing I can do because nobody is as cool as me.
OK, let's have a look at some example sentences.
We have to wait two hours at the check-in counter, but, hey, what can we do
since we have a plane to catch?
Or: I know Tyler has some bad habits, but, hey, no one is perfect.
So friends, give this expression a try.
And if you'd like 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.
Thanks, Liz.
Now after teasing his brother, Henry does try to make a helpful point.
Yes. Doing nothing won't get you anywhere.
Now while this isn't a phrase or an idiom, I still think it's something worth
looking at.
Doing nothing won't get you anywhere.
This is a really good reminder.
Sometimes we feel powerless and want to just give up on what we're doing, or
sometimes we're too worried or afraid to start something new.
But if you don't start, how will you know?
If you don't try to finish, how will you know what you're really capable of?
Now of course it's important to think before we make decisions, so they have
good decisions and so that we make good ones.
But don't let fear of failure prevent you from doing something that you should.
You know, this reminds me of what it says in the Bible.
God will give us the ability to succeed in the things He wants us to do, but we
need to have faith and take that first step.
Right. So doing nothing won't get you anywhere.
And that's how Henry feels about Luke not asking this girl out.
Now Luke is scared, but he does think that it's worth a try.
Another great phrase.
If something is worth a try, that means that the effort it takes to do something
is not wasted.
Right.
So you could say that, um, auditioning for the play is worth a try.
You don't know if you will get a part or not, but it's better to at least try
than to miss the opportunity altogether.
Exactly.
So this phrase is similar to the idea that doing nothing won't get you anywhere.
You should try because it's worth it.
Now the opposite of something being worth a try would be to say that it is a
waste of time.
So this means that it is not worth the effort to do something.
So you could say going to the store was a waste of time.
They didn't have any of the things I wanted to buy.
Well, that is too bad.
I'm sorry that you wasted your time, Carolyn.
It was just an example, Gabe.
Oh! Of course. Well, then back to Luke and Henry.
Luke thought that Emma... or asking Emma out was worth a try.
So it's not a waste of time.
But he's still very worried.
You know, I would be, too, at least a little nervous.
Andrew showed up just when he tried to start talking to her.
Good point.
That would certainly make someone very nervous or scared, the big bully.
Well, there are a lot of other reasons for him to be scared, too.
One is that Emma might say no and never talk to him again.
Now that is a frightening prospect.
Winning Emma's heart might be a bit more complicated than Henry realizes.
And even though Luke gets up the courage to ask her, she heads into the school
before he can talk to her.
Oh... Well, at least he's trying.
And there's a good phrase for us to look at there: head into.
If you head into something, that means that you go inside.
For example, all of the students headed into the classroom when the bell rang.
But you could also say "head out." We all headed out of the office for lunch.
So you can really replace the word "go" with "head." You go into the building or
you head into the building.
You can also head to school or head to work.
Great.
And now it's time for us to head to the Information Cloud to continue our lesson
with Steve and Ken.
Right. They want to tell us about what it means to be saved by the bell.
Toward the end of our lesson today, Luke finally musters up the courage and gets
ready to ask Emma out.
But what happens?
The bell rings, and Emma walks away.
Now this is a perfect example of being saved by the bell.
And in this case, the school bell.
Yes. Luke is spared the possible embarrassment of being rejected by Emma.
But Steve, the bell in the expression "saved by the bell" did not come from the
school bell, did it?
No, it did not, Ken.
The expression "saved by the bell" is actually a reference to boxing.
A bell is rung to signal the end of each round of fighting.
If a fighter is taking a beating, he will probably get knocked down if one more
punch lands on him.
But then the bell sounds, he gets a chance to recover in time between rounds.
Saved by the bell.
Right. And by extension, you don't necessarily have to have a bell to be saved
by the bell.
Any person spared from anticipated trouble by the occurrence of an event can be
described as being saved by the bell.
That's right.
But if a real bell rings, whether it'd be the school bell, the doorbell, even
the ringing of a phone, the expression would be more relevant.
(Chinese).
Thank you, gentlemen.
Now that's a very interesting history for this phrase, to be saved by the bell.
It sure is.
And it does remind me of that popular TV show during the 1990s called Saved by
the Bell.
What was that about?
Well, it was about high school students who would get into trouble, and
sometimes they would get saved by the bell.
Something would happen at the last minute, and they would find a solution for
their problems.
That sounds like a really fun show.
I guess, in one way, Luke was saved by the bell.
He was saved from possible embarrassment of Emma saying no.
And Emma was saved from being asked out by Luke, although maybe that's not what
would've happened.
True. Maybe they weren't saved by the bell, but maybe they were actually stopped
by the bell.
Possibly.
Well, one thing that we do know, though, is that Emma's wallet fell out of her
bag as she went into the building.
Oh, no! I wonder what will happen.
Me, too.
Now I know that you might be a little bit nervous if you've missed any of
today's story.
But don't worry, it's time for us to review our lesson and some of these great
idioms with Linda in the Editor's Summary.
Well, let's join her now.
One day as Luke was gazing out the window and thinking about Emma, his brother
Henry suggested that he just ask her out.
Luke felt it was too frightening to think about, but he should try it.
So the very next morning he headed toward Emma across the school courtyard.
Before he could get to her, the bell rang.
And as she turned to go inside, her wallet fell out of her bag.
Thank you, Linda.
This story is getting very interesting.
Yes, it is.
We have a nice boy who likes a nice girl but is worried about not winning her
heart.
And of course, the bully.
Oh, yes.
And we also have Luke's brother who encourages Luke to ask Emma out.
And you know what, at first he was kind of teasing his brother Luke.
Henry and Luke, of course, are brothers with a love-hate relationship.
Maybe they fought a lot growing up, and so he is teasing his brother.
But you know what they say - we only tease those that we love.
Oh? Is... is that right, Gabe?
It is!
Do you do that with your brother?
Well, yeah, I do it with my brother and my sisters and my friends.
Of course you love your friends, too, right?
You know, Carolyn, I really do want to know about that flower, where you got
that flower from.
It's very romantic, this idea that someone gave you a flower.
Well, it is a very romantic idea, but Gabe, I... I think that might be a love
story for another day.
Oh, yeah? Maybe a love story that you can write for here at Studio Classroom?
Uh, well, I'm not so sure about that...
Hmm, it's very nice.
It's actually... it's a nice-looking rose.
I don't know if you can see it very clearly, a nice, hot pink rose.
Now I thought that red meant love.
Oh, yes, but this one is pink.
It's pink? Oh, so like kind of love?
Still... special feelings, special feelings! Very good.
You know, Carolyn, I'm just teasing you because you know, I... I tease my
friends.
I tease the people I love.
Well, that is true, but let's not lose focus here, Gabe.
Let's think about this love story in our magazine.
What will happen next?
Will Luke pick up the wallet and return it to Emma?
Will Emma realize that it's missing?
Will another boy give it to Emma first?
Lots of good questions, Carolyn.
But we'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out what happens to our
characters.
So be sure to join us again right here at Studio Classroom.
We'll see you then.