节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-11-25
难易度:Medium
关键字:proverb, theme, haste, exclaim
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And I'm Carolyn.
And your English will improve today.
Today we're learning about Pearls of Wisdom in Proverbs.
OK, Pearls of Wisdom in Proverbs.
Well, proverbs are kinds of sayings that have a common truth among people of all
cultures.
And of course, a pearl is something very precious, very valuable.
So we're going to be learning about all sorts of proverbs and how valuable they
are to us.
Well, speaking of proverbs or... sayings, what is one saying that you really
like?
Carolyn, do you have a saying you really enjoy?
I do!
It is "Two wrongs don't make a right," which means if someone does something
bad,
you should not do something bad back to them because that does not fix the
problem, so.
Doing two wrong things does not fix the situation or make it right.
Ah, I like that one, too.
OK. Well, one of my favorite sayings is... ah! Kill two birds with one stone.
I know it's wrong to kill birds.
But what this means, of course, is that if you're going to do one task,
you might as well do another one at the same time so that... or make it at least
convenient to do two tasks.
OK. Well, we have plenty of proverbs to learn about, plenty of things to learn.
So let's get started.
(Music).
Pearls of Wisdom in Proverbs.
Do too many cooks really spoil the broth?
Out of sight, out of mind.
An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
Have you heard any of these proverbs before?
Each phrase teaches a common truth.
But what exactly is a proverb?
It's a short statement that contains a general truth.
It is popularly known and often repeated.
Every culture has proverbs, and while some are special for one culture, there
are common themes.
OK. Well, before we continue learning about some of those proverbs, let's go
back to the beginning of our lesson here.
There are lots of proverbs to talk about.
Right here at the very beginning, we read something:
Do too many cooks really spoil the broth?
What?! Do too many cooks really spoil the broth?
What does that mean?
Well, there is a proverb that says too many cooks spoil the broth.
And that means if you have too many people or leaders (because the cook is in
charge of the kitchen),
if you have too many leaders working on one task, it's not going to get done
because they all try to do it their way.
OK. And usually this is in the form of a sentence.
Too many cooks spoil the broth.
Well, hey, we are talking about proverbs today.
And actually, proverb is one of our key words.
What is a proverb?
Well, it's a saying that lots of different people know and say to one another,
and it means something unique or special or important.
And actually, it communicates an idea that people from many cultures can
understand.
Isn't that right, Carolyn?
That is right.
And there are many proverbs in English as we will read on later.
One proverb that I can think of is "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," which
means things look beautiful to different people.
That's right. Different things might be beautiful to different people.
Well, of course if you are in search of good proverbs, you can open up the
Bible.
There's a book called Proverbs, and it's full of great things.
Great proverbs can be found there.
OK, let's get started here.
We read: Out of sight, out of mind.
What does that mean?
It means that if someone's not near you or in your atmosphere or in your
environment, then you're not thinking about that person.
That's right.
And the next one: An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
So if you eat an apple every day, you will stay healthy.
Well, that is a very common proverb.
Another one we see here is "Don't put all your eggs in one basket." Of course if
you invest everything into just one basket or one thing,
then you don't have any other options.
So if that thing doesn't go well, if the basket drops, then all of your eggs
will be broken.
OK. Well, have you heard any of these proverbs before?
Carolyn, have you heard these proverbs?
I have heard all of these proverbs before.
They are very common in English.
And each phrase teaches a common truth.
But what exactly is a proverb?
Gabe, how does the lesson explain it?
Well, it's a short statement that contains a general truth.
OK. So a common truth, a general truth, something that can be understood by many
people of many cultures.
It is popularly known and often repeated.
OK, so you might hear it more than once in life.
That's right.
And because they are so common, I have heard these many times, and I know people
who use them pretty often.
Well, you may be wondering:
What's the difference between a proverb and an idiom?
Well, Steve and Ken have that information for us in the Info Cloud.
Let's go there now.
Our lesson today is about proverbs.
And maybe some of you are wondering: How is a proverb different from an idiom?
OK. The biggest difference between a proverb and an idiom is that one makes
sense and the other doesn't.
Are you confused?
Let us explain.
A proverb is an old saying which usually gives advice.
You can easily understand the meaning of the statement.
For example, an apple a day keeps the doctor away.
That's a very clear piece of advice.
Right. It's telling us we should eat apples.
That's a good proverb, by the way.
Now an idiom is a phrase that seems to make sense when you first read it,
but it has a totally different meaning that you cannot guess just from looking
at the words.
Ken, a penny for your thoughts.
Perfect example!
Most people will know that a penny for your thoughts is asking someone what
they're thinking about.
But few people know why it involves a penny.
Do you have another example?
Let me think...
Ah, yes!
It's raining cats and dogs.
That's an idiom that describes a heavy rain.
But most people don't know why cats and dogs are involved.
Steve, I'm feeling a little under the weather.
Well, Ken, if you had heeded the proverb "An apple a day keeps the doctor away,"
you wouldn't be feeling ill.
(Chinese).
Thank you, guys.
OK. Well, let's continue here.
Every culture has proverbs, and while some are special for one culture, there
are common themes.
OK. So some cultures have very unique proverbs that maybe basically only their
people will understand.
But there are some common themes in all of these proverbs, OK.
What is a theme?
That's one of our words from our Word Bank.
What is a theme?
Well, a theme is a recurring idea throughout a story or a movie or through life.
There are many different kinds of themes, common ideas.
Now a common theme in science fiction movies is aliens coming to Earth and
having to fight against them.
That is a very common theme.
OK. So that's a common theme you might see in science fiction movies.
Well, what about other stories?
Well, a common theme in many stories is love, of course.
Or maybe friendship.
In the Lord of the Rings, that was a big theme in that movie - friendship.
Or trust; it's import to trust people.
These are all very common themes.
And some proverbs talk about them.
They certainly do.
And right now it is time for us to talk to Michelle in the Language Lab.
Let's see what she has for us today.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.