节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-10-22
难易度:Medium
关键字:urgent, attendance, emotional, awhile, mental health day, pop quiz,
uncomfortable
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And I'm Carolyn.
And your English will improve today.
We're continuing this lesson called Skipping School.
Is it ever OK to skip school?
Well, in yesterday's lesson we joined Violet and Miranda in their conversation.
And they were kind of uh... discussing, or maybe even arguing a little bit,
about whether or not it's OK to miss morning classes to study for a test.
What else did we learn yesterday, Carolyn?
Well, it was an algebra test, and they were going to skip school until lunch
time so they could study.
And Violet wanted to know where her friend got that idea.
It was so strange to her.
She didn't want to miss any important information in her other classes.
And she would worry... she worried that their absence would be noticeable.
And of course Miranda thought that it would be OK to skip morning classes.
Their study partner Tessa could help take notes because she takes thorough
notes.
Well, what do you think about this so far?
Let's get started with today's part of our lesson about Skipping School.
Skipping School.
Well, we don't have a family emergency or anything urgent going on.
And I don't think our teachers would appreciate us skipping to study for a test.
Besides, the only reason I would ever feel OK about missing school is if I were
sick.
OK, OK.
But for me, other things take priority over school attendance.
Like what?
Sometimes people want to stay home for a mental health day or because they're
dealing with some emotional problem.
Maybe they're being bullied and have to get out of the situation.
Just because someone skips school doesn't mean they don't think their classes
are worthwhile.
(Music).
Well, Miranda is making a good case here.
And if you remember yesterday, she made the point that teachers understand when
students have to miss class.
So we begin our article today with Violet's response to her statement.
Violet?
Yes.
Well, we don't have a family emergency or anything urgent going on.
Great, great.
There is nothing urgent going on.
But it is urgent that we talk about the word "urgent." Urgent means that it is
very important, it can't wait.
It must be done now.
So if there is an emergency, then there is something very urgent happening.
All right.
So how could you use this word?
Maybe you get a phone call, and the person says it's urgent.
I need to talk to you.
What else in life can be urgent?
Maybe you need to go to the hospital to have an urgent operation.
It's urgent.
It's an emergency, something that you need to do.
Yes. So you can't wait.
It is urgent.
It must be done right now.
Well, uh, we can let you continue, Vi.
Of course.
So nothing urgent is going on.
And I don't think our teachers would appreciate us skipping to study for a test.
Besides, the only reason I would ever feel OK about missing school is if I were
sick.
Well, those are some pretty good points there, Violet.
Uh, I think that most teachers would agree that you shouldn't skip one class to
study for a test in another class.
That's not quite what you should be doing.
Exactly.
And Vi, or Violet, makes a very good point here.
She says: I don't think our teachers would appreciate us doing this.
I think it's good for us to think about how other people would feel about our
decisions.
It's good to put yourself in someone else's shoes, not just to care about your
fellow students or classmates,
but also to think about how your teachers might feel, the principal, how other
people might feel about your decision.
That's right.
It is important to take others into consideration.
And Miranda responds to this:
OK, OK.
But for me, other things can take priority over school attendance.
Wait a minute, wait a minute.
We have a lot to talk about there.
Thank you, Miranda, for mentioning that phrase: to take priority over something.
That means there are a list of things that are important in your life.
Which one is most important?
Well, that takes priority over the other things.
That's right.
So what takes priority in your life?
Do you put your family first?
Or does work take priority over your family?
You should think about what you put the focus on in your life.
It's important!
It's true.
I remember there was a time in my life when I put friends first.
Friends always took priority over my family.
But the older I got, I realized, you know, my family is very important, very
valuable to me.
They take priority over a lot of other things now.
Well, what else do we find out about here in this sentence?
We have a key word: attendance.
And Carolyn, what is attendance?
Well, attendance means that you attend something.
You are there.
You are present.
So how is your school attendance?
Are you there every day?
Do you have perfect attendance?
Or have you missed a few days of school so you have good attendance?
Or maybe your attendance record is not very good at all because you don't go to
school.
Well, I think you should try to get better attendance.
OK. Well, what does Violet say next?
She says: Like what?
Ah... so asking about what things could take priority over school attendance.
Miranda says:
Some people want to stay home for a mental health day or because they're dealing
with some emotional problem.
All right.
She says sometimes people want to do this.
Well, let's take a look at an emotional word here.
The word is "emotional." If you're emotional, or the word emotional has to do
with your emotions.
So here's an emotional problem.
You have something going on.
It's affecting your emotions.
That's right.
So maybe you watch a very touching movie.
It's so romantic.
And it makes you feel very emotional.
Maybe you're just so touched.
Maybe you feel sad or angry or happy.
There are many emotions you could feel.
And sometimes people describe life as being an emotional roller coaster.
Like a roller coaster goes up and down, our emotions also go up and down.
Happy, sad.
Glad, angry. OK.
We have emotional roller coasters sometimes.
I think it is Miranda's line, right?
Uh, yes, she continues.
Maybe they're being bullied and have to get out of the situation.
Just because someone skips school doesn't mean they don't think their classes
are worthwhile.
Very good point there.
And we have something we want to talk about from that sentence.
It is the idea of double negatives.
You read these words: Just because someone skips school doesn't mean they don't
think their classes are worthwhile.
How else can you use double negatives, Carolyn?
Well, if you have a sentence with a double negative, that means that the
sentence is actually positive.
So this sentence actually means that someone who skips school still cares about
their classes.
They still think their classes are worthwhile.
That's right.
Well, how else could you use a double negative sentence?
You could say: Well, just because I didn't invite you to my party doesn't mean I
don't like you.
Ah, so you still like that person even though they weren't invited.
Well, right now it is time for Liz to share some information with us in the
Grammar Gym.
Then we'll join Steve and Ken in the Info Cloud to learn a little bit about what
English really needs.
Then we'll visit Michelle in the Language Lab.
Hi there, friends.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym.
My name is Liz.
We see this sentence in today's article:
Just because someone skips school doesn't mean they don't think their classes
are worthwhile.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
And for today, we're looking at the pattern: just because... doesn't mean...
It just means if you have situation A, you should not think that situation B
must be true then.
So today's sentence just means we should not assume that if a person skips
school, it's simply because they don't think their classes are important.
This is a great sentence pattern to use when you want to tell someone not to
assume something.
For example:
Just because a person looks tired when you're talking to them doesn't mean he
isn't interested in what you're saying.
Or: Just because your friend forgets your birthday doesn't mean he doesn't care
about your friendship.
Now it's your turn.
Think of a common assumption and practice using this pattern.
And if you'd like to see some more example sentences, then check out today's
Grammar Tip section in your magazine.
And that's it for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
With all its rich vocabulary and fun, quirky slang, there's still one thing
that's sorely missing in the English language: a singular gender-neutral
pronoun.
OK.
We're reminded of this deficiency again in today's lesson when the singular
"someone" gets paired up with the two plural words - they and their.
If we were to rewrite the sentence, keeping all the pronouns consistent, it
would read:
Just because someone skips school doesn't mean he or she doesn't think his or
her classes are worthwhile.
Now that solves the problem.
But communicating like this is just really awkward.
So for many years, the solution was to use "he" and "his" as the default
gender-neutral pronoun.
The thinking was inaccuracy in gender was less troublesome than inaccuracy in
number.
That's why you've heard it said: When someone helps you, tell "him" thanks.
But today, this style is considered prejudiced.
How can we be so sure the person who helps us in the future will be a male?
Right. We can't.
So until something better comes along, we'll continue to make "they, them and
their" work double duty.
That's why it's still OK to say when someone helps you, tell "them" thanks.
(Chinese).
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.