节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-11-28
难易度:Low
关键字:discourage, blessing, depression, satisfaction, optimism, contagious
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And my name is Carolyn.
And your English will improve today.
Today we're talking about The Benefits of Being Thankful.
Yes, it's very important to have a thankful spirit, to have an attitude of
gratitude.
Well, how can you show that you are thankful?
There are so many ways.
Carolyn, what comes to your mind when you think of how to express your
gratitude?
Well, I think the easiest thing that you can do is simply to say thank you.
Just tell someone that you really appreciate the things that they have done.
But of course, there are actions that you can do, ways that you can express
this, right, Gabe?
I think you're right, Carolyn.
Sometimes it's nice to do acts of service for other people to show that you
appreciate them.
I do that sometimes.
I also think it's important to show others how much you... how much they mean to
you by writing something out for them, like a thank-you card.
Thank-you cards can be very helpful and encouraging.
Well, how can you show your thankfulness in life?
Right now it's time for us to get started.
The Benefits of Being Thankful.
(Music).
The Benefits of Being Thankful.
Discover how a thankful spirit benefits you and others.
With bad news all around us, it's sometimes easy to feel discouraged.
Yet according to experts, it's much healthier to maintain a positive attitude.
But how can you do it?
Stop and think of all the things you are thankful for.
You may be surprised how many things you can think of.
Being aware of your many blessings makes it easier to have a thankful attitude.
Why is that important, though?
The benefits:
Grateful people are kinder and more likely to feel loved.
(Music).
We will learn about why it is important in a little bit.
But first, let's go back to the beginning of this article.
Discover how a thankful spirit benefits you and others.
So if you have a thankful attitude or an attitude of gratitude, it can benefit
you as well as the people around you.
It's true. And we read here:
With bad news all around us, it's easy... or it's sometimes easy to feel
discouraged.
And there is bad news all around us.
Maybe it's not around you in your room, but this means in the world or maybe in
the newspapers or online.
You can read about bad news all over the place.
That's right.
Well, they report on bad news because people think it's more interesting, maybe
more exciting.
But good news is always wonderful to hear.
And with bad news all around us, we can get discouraged sometimes.
But we don't want to do that.
We do want to look at the word discourage, though.
And if you are discouraged, then you're not really happy, right, Gabe?
That's right.
Maybe you have been working really hard to do something, or maybe you really
want to have a good attitude, but you just feel discouraged.
Something is stopping you from having a good attitude.
Maybe you have been looking for a job for a long time.
You've applied to many different places, sent in your resume to lots of
different companies, and nobody is hiring.
You might feel discouraged.
Well, don't give up.
That's right.
Don't be discouraged. Be hopeful.
You can do it.
You can move past this.
And we read that having a good attitude is a good place to start, so.
Continuing: Yet according to experts, it's much healthier to maintain a positive
attitude.
Well, of course.
This makes sense to all of us.
We know that in our heads, but sometimes it's hard to actually do, to maintain a
positive attitude.
That means it can be a choice.
You can maintain or keep a positive attitude.
That's right.
But how can you do it?
This is a very good question.
We know that we should be happy, that we should not be discouraged and just keep
hoping that things will turn out OK.
But how can we do that, Gabe?
Well, we read here: Stop and think of all the things you are thankful for.
This is just the beginning.
You can stop thinking about whatever you're thinking about and think about
things that you are thankful for.
Think about positive things.
Let's take a look at that phrase: to stop and do something.
Maybe you want to stop and consider before you buy something.
That's right.
Or you want to stop and listen to what someone else has to say before you make a
decision.
Or maybe a common phrase I hear is: Stop and smell the roses.
That means don't just rush through life busily, but actually take time to enjoy
it.
Stop and smell the roses.
And here we're reminded to stop and think of all the things we are thankful for.
We read on: You may be surprised how many things you can think of.
Can you think of many things you are thankful for?
Well, we've been talking about thankfulness and Thanksgiving this month.
And there is a lot to be thankful for.
Being aware of your many blessings makes it easier to have a thankful attitude.
OK. So it's important to be aware about many things in life, right?
You want to be aware of your blessings here.
That's a word from our Word Bank.
Your blessings.
Those are the good things that are happening in your life, things that happen to
you or maybe just good things that you have in life.
That's right.
And for me, coming to Taiwan, moving to Taipei was a very big blessing.
I love my life here, and I love working at Studio Classroom.
And it's wonderful all of the people that I have been blessed with as
co-workers.
Right, Gabe?
That's right, Carolyn.
You do have some wonderful co-workers right here.
And you are... you are a blessing as well.
You're a wonderful co-worker.
It's good to count your blessings, friends.
That's a phrase we use in English - to count your blessings.
That means to list them out, to think about them and talk about them.
Now sometimes something bad might happen in life, and you think it's horrible.
But that could just be a blessing in disguise.
That's another good phrase.
D-I-S-G-U-I-S-E.
That means it looks bad on the outside, but really in the long run, you look
back and you're thankful for it.
It was a good thing.
That's right.
And we continue reading.
Why is that important, though?
Why do we need to be thankful for these things and count our blessings?
And right now it is time for us to learn with Liz in the Grammar Gym about that
phrase.
Thanks for joining me here at the Grammar Gym, friends.
I hope you're all doing well today.
My name is Liz.
In today's article we see this sentence:
Being aware of your many blessings makes it easier to have a thankful attitude.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
Our focus today is on the pattern: Being [adjective] makes it [adjective] to [do
something].
Being a certain way can make a situation turn out a certain way.
So in the case of today's sentence, if you are aware of your many blessings,
then having a thankful attitude is easier.
OK, let's have a look at some more example sentences.
Being sensitive to the needs of other people makes it easier to not be so
selfish.
Or: Being quick to listen and slow to speak makes it easier for you to
understand what others are trying to communicate.
Or: Being the first to apologize makes it harder for others to stay mad at you.
So give this sentence pattern a try.
And that's it for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
Thank you, Liz.
OK. Now let's start to talk about the benefits of being thankful.
OK. Number one.
Grateful people are kinder and more likely to feel loved.
Well, those are two great benefits.
You are a kinder person, and you will feel like you are more loved.
Well, that sounds like two really great benefits, actually.
I know that if you feel thankful, if I feel thankful about something, then I
want to express that thanks to other people by being nice to them.
That's right.
And if you have a positive attitude, then of course it's easier to feel like
other people love you, and you will be a kinder person.
Well, this is something that maybe sounds easy but you need to practice it.
Be thankful. OK.
Now it's time for us to learn something with Michelle in the Language Lab.
And then we'll come back and talk about other benefits.