节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-10-09
难易度:High
关键字:boom, flush, stock, recoup, dividend, shareholder
Today we are discussing a topic with Uncle Bob and Ben on the issue of money -
Too much money?
Is that possible?
Well, what do you do when you have a lot of money and you're not sure how to
invest it?
Ben and his wife's business is booming.
But they're not quite sure what to do with all of their profits.
What do you think they should do?
Well, we're going to get some advice from Uncle Bob in the next part of our
lesson.
Let's continue.
Too Much Money?
What are your options?
To be honest, I don't know.
I know that big companies often use extra money to pay dividends.
That's true.
Sometimes they'll even buy back some of their own stock.
But you're not a big company, and you don't have any shareholders.
Exactly.
That's why I'm at a loss about what to do.
There are lots of ways that smaller companies handle extra cash.
Give me some examples.
Well, one option is to pay down debt.
We don't really have any.
We used our savings to start the company, and we've already recouped our
expenses.
Well, I think it's a great thing not to have any debt.
You're out of debt.
Well, let's go back to the beginning of this section here.
Ben was just telling Uncle Bob he's not sure what to do with this money fast
enough.
What does Uncle Bob say?
Well, he has another question for Ben.
What are your options?
Nice.
Your options or your choices.
Well, Ben says: To be honest, I don't know.
I know that big companies often use extra money to pay dividends.
That's what big companies do.
Well, he has a phrase here at the beginning: to be honest.
And if you're talking with someone, and you want to share how you honestly feel,
this is a good phrase to know.
"To be honest," and then you share your thoughts.
That's right.
So he's really not sure what to do because he's not really a big company, and
the only things he knows deal with big companies.
Well, Uncle Bob says: That's true.
Sometimes they'll even buy back some of their own stock.
Ben is talking about big companies here.
They buy back their own stock.
What is stock?
That's one of our key words.
Stock is the funds that a company raises through the sale of shares.
Of course if there's a big company, you might want to invest in that company.
And so you buy into that company.
You own part of the company.
That is called stock.
That's right.
Well, Gabe, do you invest in stocks?
If you want to know the price of a stock, you should check out the stock market.
That's right.
There are many words that include this word "stock." And to answer your
question, I don't invest in stocks right now.
But I have considered it.
Maybe I will one day.
I hear that is a good way to invest your money.
Well, you do have to be careful.
You want to make sure you invest in a good company, reliable stock.
Well, Uncle Bob continues.
But you're not a big company, and you don't have any shareholders.
Hmm, no shareholders for this small company?
A shareholder is someone who owns part of that company through stock.
You could also call a shareholder a stockholder.
That's right.
So if you buy stocks, then you are a stockholder or a shareholder, you own a
share of that company.
Well, Ben, would you like to continue?
Of course.
Exactly.
That's why I'm at a loss about what to do.
He's at a loss because they have no shareholders - nobody else owns the company
here.
So he's at a loss about what to do.
Well, I think Liz has something to share with us in the Grammar Gym about that
phrase: if you're at a loss about something.
Hello, friends.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym.
My name is Liz.
In our article today, we see this statement:
That's why I'm at a loss about what to do.
Our Grammar Tip focus today is on the phrase: at a loss.
It's an idiom that means uncertain.
So today's sentence can be rewritten as:
I really don't know what to do.
Use this idiom "at a loss" when you want to describe how someone is really
uncertain about something.
For example, if Tony has a problem that he has never dealt with before and he
doesn't know what to do about it, we can say:
Tony has never had to deal with such a problem - now he is really at a loss.
Or: When the patient wasn't getting any better after all the treatments, her
doctors were at a loss.
Now it's your turn.
Think of something that is very confusing or hard to figure out, and practice
using this idiom.
And if you'd like to see some more example sentences, you can check out today's
Grammar Tip section in your magazine.
That's it for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
Thank you, Liz.
We are never at a loss when you are helping us understand these grammar
patterns.
And now we can continue with Uncle Bob's next line.
There are lots of ways that smaller companies handle extra cash.
Hmm, give me some examples.
Well, one option is to pay down debt.
Pay down debt?
What does that mean?
Well, if you pay down debt, that means you have a debt, and you need to pay it
off,
but you can't pay it off completely at one time, you can do it little by little.
You can pay down your debt, to decrease your debt.
That's right.
So you just make some payments on your debt to make the amount smaller.
You pay it down; you don't pay it up.
And so Uncle Bob says: You can pay down debt.
But Ben says: We don't really have any.
That's a good thing.
It's good not to be in debt.
Ben says: We used our savings to start the company, and we've already recouped
our expenses.
OK.
As you remember, they had some seed money, some savings, some money that they
already owned, and they used that to start their company.
That's right.
And we read that they've already recouped their expenses.
And recoup is a word from the Word Bank.
Let's take a look it.
If you recoup something, that means that you get back what you spent initially
or at first, or what you invested or had to give up before.
You now have it back.
That's right.
You regain it.
Maybe you were at a loss of something.
You lost something, but you gained it back.
And they have recouped their expenses, which is great.
Friends, if you have a debt, you can say you are in debt.
And I hope that doesn't describe you.
But if it does, I hope you find a way to pay that debt off, and you can recoup
your expenses.
Right now it's time for us to learn more with Michelle in the Language Lab.
(Chinese).
Now let's see what our teachers are doing.
Well, in today's lesson, Ben has a problem.
He has too much money.
His business is doing really well, and he's worried that he has become a victim
of his own success.
So what about you?
Are you ever a victim of your own success?
Or how do people become a victim of their own success?
Carolyn, what do you think about this?
You shared earlier about how some business people don't spend enough time with
their families.
Is that true?
Well, I do think it's true.
And if you become a victim of your own success, then you're doing very well in
one area, but something else is suffering.
So maybe someone might try to take advantage of you.
If you are very successful in business, in money, they might try to take that
money from you.
And then you become a victim of that success.
All right.
Well, there's different ways that people might become a victim of their success.
So be careful about that.
Watch out.
Observe what's going on around you.
Make sure that doesn't happen.
Thank you for joining us today.
And of course, we will see you next time to learn more from this conversation
right here at Studio Classroom. See you.