节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-11-18
难易度:Medium
关键字:consumer, risky, troublesome, impulse
Well, do you prefer shopping online or going to a store to do your shopping?
That's what today's lesson is all about - answering this question.
And of course we're joining a conversation between Nellie and her friend Laura.
They're talking all about this.
Nellie loves to do shopping online.
But Laura thinks it's kind of troublesome.
It's a little bit troublesome to do that.
Because if something doesn't fit, then you have to ship your clothes or your
items back.
Well, let's continue learning what they have to share with us in the next part
of our conversation.
(Music).
Consumer Conflicts.
That's true.
But the mall is pretty far from there.
It takes gas to get there, and that's expensive.
If I buy something online, it comes right to my house.
Yes, but you have to wait for it.
When I buy something, I want to have it right away!
I'd rather drive to the mall and pay for the gas than have to wait a week or
longer!
But I feel so excited when my things finally arrive!
And a lot of sites offer free shipping.
Not to mention, when I go to the store, I end up buying things on impulse.
I just buy what I need online.
(Music).
Well, both girls seem to have pretty strong opinions on how they like to do
their shopping.
Now Laura had just talked about how it is really troublesome to have to ship
your clothes back and pay for shipping both ways and waiting for them in the
mail.
But Nellie, how do you respond?
That's true.
But the mall is pretty far from here.
It takes gas to get there, and that's expensive.
If I buy something online, it comes right to my house.
I can understand what Nellie is saying here.
And I like something she says.
She says it takes gas to get to the mall.
Let's take a look at that phrase: it takes something.
Well, what does it take to do something?
It could take gas.
It could take time.
It could take energy.
How else could you use this phrase?
Well, it takes money to do a lot of things.
And money is something we will be talking about this month.
It takes money to buy a house or to buy a car.
It takes money to get to work because you need to pay for gas or public
transportation.
That's right.
It could also take courage to do something.
Maybe your friend is doing something that is harming their life.
It's not easy to tell your friend that what they're doing is wrong.
It takes courage to do that.
Well, what does it take courage for you to do?
Laura, I think it's your line.
Ah, yes. Well, she says:
Yes, but you have to wait for it.
When I buy something, I want to have it right away!
I'd rather drive to the mall and pay for the gas than to have to wait a week or
longer!
Well, I can understand that as well.
I like going to get something and being able to wear it right away.
And that's what Laura says.
She says: I'd rather drive to the mall and pay for the gas than have to wait a
week longer.
Let's take a look at that phrase.
You know how to use this, I think.
You've probably used it many times: I'd rather do something than something else.
How else could you use that phrase?
It is a very popular sentence structure.
You might say:
Well, I would rather go hiking than go swimming.
But it is really hot today, so I guess we could go to the pool.
All right.
Well, how else could you use this phrase?
You're going to lunch.
You know, I'd rather have dumplings than hamburgers.
I had western food yesterday.
Let's have some Chinese food today.
Or what else could you say?
You know, I'd rather go to bed late than wake up early.
I don't like waking up early.
Ah, well. So you'd rather go to bed early than wake up early.
Well, no. I'd rather go to bed late than wake up early.
I like going to bed late and not waking up early.
Oh, well. Oh.
Yeah.
But you could get more sleep if you went to bed early as well.
Oh, Carolyn, you're right!
You know, we should have another lesson about this sometime.
But for now, let's continue this conversation between Nellie and Laura.
It's Nellie's line. She says:
But I feel so excited when my things finally arrive.
You know, I understand that.
Carolyn, do you ever feel that way, you know something is going to happen soon,
and so when it happens, you get excited?
I do, and especially when I know I'm expecting something in the mail.
So if I do order something online or I know someone is sending me something, I
get really excited and I can't wait for it to arrive.
And when they do, I'm very happy.
Well, I understand.
And actually, you could have the opposite feelings.
If you're excited about something to happen, and then it never happens, you feel
really disappointed.
That happened to me once when I ordered something online.
Well, Nellie continues here. She says:
And a lot of sites offer free shipping.
Not to mention, when I go to the store, I end up buying things on impulse.
I just buy what I need online.
Well, that is a very good point there, Gabe... Nellie.
Yes.
Um, she buys things on impulse.
And that is a word from our Word Bank.
If you do something on impulse, then you don't really think about it.
You just do it suddenly.
So it's important if you don't want to buy things on impulse that you make a
list, and then you can avoid doing that.
That's a good idea because sometimes I do make impulse purchases or impulse
buys.
I do things on impulse.
Or you could use the adjective: impulsive.
Are you an impulsive person?
Do you do things on impulse often?
Well, we don't want to be too impulsive or do too many things on impulse.
But it is time for us to continue learning with Liz in the Grammar Gym.
Then we'll join Michelle in the Language Lab.
Hello, friends.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym.
My name is Liz.
In today's article we see this statement:
Not to mention, when I go to the store, I end up buying things on impulse.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
Today our focus is on the phrase: end up.
It's another way to say in the end or resulting.
So today's sentence just means even though the speaker doesn't want to buy on
impulse, that's what usually happens in the end.
We usually use "end up" to describe how a situation results.
A situation may start out one way, but then things change.
For example:
Although Kim and her roommate had agreed to divide the house chores, Kim ended
up doing all the house chores herself.
Or: Ellie's original plan was to be in town for three days, but she ended up
staying for a week.
So give this phrase a try.
And if you'd like to see some more example sentences, they're available in
today's Grammar Tip section in your magazine.
That's it for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
OK.
(Chinese).
And now let's go back to our lesson.
These girls are having a great conversation on the pros and cons of shopping
online or shopping in a store.
And one thing that they mentioned was that if you go to a store, you might buy
something on impulse.
Gabe, does that ever happen to you?
Yes, it does, especially when I'm hungry, Carolyn, I'll be shopping at the
supermarket and I'm shopping on an empty stomach.
An empty stomach means I'm hungry.
And then so of course I buy more food than I should.
I shop on impulse.
Well, you should make a list.
And don't shop when you're hungry.
Then you won't buy things on impulse.
Well, we have a lot more to learn from our lesson tomorrow right here on Studio
Classroom.
And we'll see you then.