节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-11-20
难易度:Low
关键字:around the corner, eager, charity, shelter, afterward, Boy Scout, potluck
Well, in our lesson today called Give Thanks,
our author Pauline is writing about her experiences in the United States around
the season of Thanksgiving.
Of course Thanksgiving is just around the corner.
It's coming up.
And so there are many things that people do to celebrate Thanksgiving.
They might watch football games, eat lots of turkey.
And of course, it's important to remember to give thanks.
Think about the things that you are thankful for.
What are you thankful for?
Well, I'm thankful for you.
Thank you for coming every day to enjoy learning at Studio Classroom.
Now let's get started with the second part of our lesson today.
Give Thanks.
In our neighborhood, the Boy Scouts go door to door asking for canned food for
the needy.
Churches and charities sponsor coat drives for families who need winter coats.
Some teen groups volunteer at homeless shelters on weekends.
They either prepare food or help serve it.
What does our family do?
We usually go to our church potluck.
The dishes are mostly Chinese, but the church prepares turkeys and pumpkin and
apple pies.
Afterward, we sing and share what we are thankful for in the past year.
There are so many things to be thankful for.
And this time of year is a great way to remember it.
Well, we begin this section of our reading:
In our neighborhood, the Boy Scouts go door to door asking for canned food for
the needy.
So here they are trying to help people who are in need.
OK. So that's another word for someone who is in need, people who need
something.
You could just shorten that and say the needy.
OK, needy people.
Well, they're talking about in their neighborhood the Boy Scouts, they go door
to door asking for food.
Well, what does it mean to go door to door?
Well, that is a great phrase.
If you go door to door, then you go from one house to the next.
So you are knocking on the doors at these people's houses.
And they are asking for canned food to give to people who don't have enough to
eat.
That's right.
So Boy Scouts might do this.
Girl Scouts also do this.
They sell Girl Scout cookies.
They go door to door as well.
And of course sales people might go door to door trying to sell you something.
Maybe this has happened to you before.
That's right.
It happens many times.
And I was a Girl Scout who went door to door selling those cookies, Gabe.
Oh, you did?
Oh, yes.
But right now it is time for us to learn a little bit about that word
"neighborhood" with Steve and Ken in the Information Cloud.
What is a neighborhood?
When we talk about a neighborhood, we're usually talking about an area with
distinctive characteristics.
And that's quite different from, say, a district, borough or township, which are
basically administrative areas.
Right.
Those are official designations.
But when the word neighborhood is used, it conveys a certain character.
And that's why when we see the word neighborhood, there's often an adjective
that describes it.
You might hear about a safe neighborhood or a friendly neighborhood, a rough
neighborhood, or even a leafy neighborhood.
Ah, leafy because it has a lot of trees.
Now when I hear a leafy neighborhood, I immediately think of a nice, quiet,
middle-class neighborhood in the suburbs.
I do, too.
A rough neighborhood, on the other hand, is often dirty, noisy and has a high
crime rate.
Not a place to raise kids if you have any.
Now let's take a look at an informal usage of the word neighborhood.
Steve, how much rent would you be willing to spend on an apartment?
Well, somewhere in the neighborhood of $800.
Now friends, here the word neighborhood is used to mean "approximately".
In the neighborhood of $800 means approximately $800.
I know exactly what you mean.
(Chinese).
Thank you, guys.
It's always good to have you in the neighborhood.
Well, let's continue here.
Churches and charities sponsor coat drives for families who need winter coats.
OK. So if you need winter coats, maybe you are in need of something.
Um, but... but Carolyn, what is a drive?
I thought that was something you do with your car.
You drive a car.
Well, no... it is not to drive a car.
This is a coat drive.
Yeah.
So that means that they are collecting coats from lots of people.
So you can have many different kinds of drives.
You could have a toy drive for children around Christmas time for kids who maybe
don't have parents, like orphans we've talked about before.
You might have a toy drive for them.
So people in your neighborhood can donate toys to them.
Very good idea.
So a drive like this is something organized.
It's an organized effort to accomplish something, like giving clothes or coats
to people in need.
Of course another one could be a food drive.
You could help get food for people who need to eat.
That's right.
Well, continuing learning about this:
Some teen groups volunteer at homeless shelters on weekends.
So they can help people who are homeless and live in these shelters.
Now let's look at that word there, homeless shelter.
What is a shelter, Gabe?
Well, it's a basic need, actually.
People need food.
They need water, and they need shelter.
A roof over our heads is what I usually think.
If you're living in a house or an apartment, you have a shelter of some kind.
But if you're homeless, that means you're without a home.
Then you might not have a shelter.
You might not have a roof over your head to stay in.
So this is a place where they can go for a short period of time to be safe, to
have a safe place to live for a little while.
And these teens go there to help the homeless and volunteer on the weekends.
That sounds like a very good thing to do, especially at Thanksgiving.
Well, it's true.
It's a great way to express your gratitude for life.
One good way is to volunteer to help other people.
OK. Well, we read here:
They either prepare food or help serve it.
So if you don't know how to cook, that's OK.
You can still help to serve the food to homeless.
That's right.
Well, "What does our family do?" Pauline asks.
She answers: We usually go to our church potluck.
And a potluck is a great dinner where everyone brings one or two dishes and then
shares it with everyone else.
Yeah. That's a potluck.
I love potlucks because it involves food.
One way to remember this word is that you might get lucky at a potluck.
You never know what other people are going to bring.
Maybe they will bring your favorite dish.
That's right.
So do you go to potlucks?
Pauline is going to her church potluck.
And the dishes are mostly Chinese, but the church prepares turkeys and pumpkin
and apple pies.
So these are traditional Thanksgiving foods in the United States.
Turkey, apple pie, pumpkin pie.
But most of the people who bring their own dish to this potluck, uh, bring
Chinese food.
Yeah, that's right.
Well, that's what happens at her church.
Well, afterward, we sing and share what we are thankful for in the past year.
All right.
Let's look at that word from our Word Bank: afterward.
You see the word "after" here.
So this is an adverb to talk about what you do after something.
That's right.
So you've already talked about it, and now you are moving on.
So what you do after that first thing.
That's right.
We will sing at KTV.
And afterward, we'll go to have dinner somewhere.
OK, you know how to use this word.
Right now it's time for us to learn more with Michelle in the Language Lab.
All right.
(Chinese).
And now let's head back to our teachers.
In our lesson today, Give Thanks, we were talking about the potluck dinner that
Pauline and her family attend at their church.
Now Gabe, what is something that you would bring to a potluck?
Hmm... well, I can't cook very well.
I usually go out and buy drinks or snacks to bring to the potluck.
I know that's kind of lame.
What do you bring to a potluck, Carolyn?
Well, it's important to have drinks, Gabe.
So that is very, very good.
But I usually make something like crouton cheese chicken or almond bars.
Oh, my goodness!
Or M&M bars!
I... I am going to your potluck, Carolyn.
Invite me?
Oh... sure. Of course, Gabe.
You can come to my Thanksgiving potluck.
Awesome! Cool!
Well, thank you for joining us today.
And of course, we will see you next time right here at Studio Classroom to learn
more about giving thanks.
See you.