节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-09-10
难易度:Medium
关键字:access, zero tolerance, tempt, mode, distract
Well, in today's lesson Cellphones in School, we're asking the question:
Does having access to cellphones at school help or hurt students?
So in this conversation between a teacher, Mr. Brown, and Mrs. Lee,
they're talking about Mrs. Lee's son Jake who was caught in class using his
cellphone.
And they're having this dialogue.
Of course Mr. Brown reminds Mrs. Lee that there is a zero tolerance policy for
cellphones in school.
Well, let's see what Mrs. Lee has to say about this.
(Music).
Cellphones in School.
That seems a little extreme.
Why do you have such a strict rule?
Well, one reason is that cellphones make it hard for students to pay attention.
Because students are tempted to play with them and not pay attention?
That's part of it.
Also, if a phone makes noise during a lesson, it distracts the whole class.
But students can just put their phones on silent mode.
As a parent, I feel better knowing my children have cellphones with them.
It allows them to contact me if they need something.
Or I can call or text them if there's an emergency at home.
(Music).
Well, Mrs. Lee does seem to be making some good points here as a parent who has
children in school.
And here her son Jake has had his cellphone taken away, and she's getting it
back from his teacher.
Now it looks like Mrs. Lee has the first line.
So I'll start if that's OK, Gabe.
Well, of course it is.
You are Mrs. Lee. Go ahead.
OK. Well, thank you.
That seems a little extreme.
Why do you have such a strict rule?
Hmm, it is a little extreme to Mrs. Lee.
If something is extreme, that means maybe it's unreasonable.
Maybe it's hard for her to really understand why there's such a strict rule.
Well, Mr. Brown says: Well, one reason is that cellphones make it hard for
students to pay attention.
They make it hard.
And that is a great phrase that we're going to look at right now.
If you make it hard, then it becomes more difficult for something to get done.
We don't want to make it hard for teachers to do their job.
So it's important to sit in the class quietly to listen, take lots of notes.
I know I take a lot of notes even at church.
I'm not in school.
But anytime I go and listen to someone speak, I like to make it easy for them,
not make it hard for them and try to learn as much as I can.
That's right.
Well, what other things can make life difficult or make life hard?
Maybe there are some people that you know that are just hard to get along with.
They make it hard for you to enjoy life.
Maybe you're learning another language.
Maybe something about that language makes it hard to really enjoy learning that
language.
Well, of course it's important to press on and not give up even though there are
difficult moments.
That is true.
Well, here apparently having a cellphone in school will make it hard for
students to pay attention.
And many times that is true.
Now let's see... uh, Mrs. Lee has the next line.
And she has kind of an idea about why this might be true.
Because students are tempted to play with them and not pay attention?
Exactly.
Well, let's take a look at that word from our Word Bank.
We see the word "tempt" here.
And if you're tempted to do something, that means the idea crosses your mind,
and you really want to go and do it.
It's tempting for you.
So how can you use that word, Carolyn?
Well, Gabe, I... I bought this box of chocolates for my friend.
Whoa.
And I was really tempted to eat all of them.
But I didn't.
I resisted.
I did not give in.
And I gave them to my friend as a gift.
So I was tempted, but I resisted.
Well, I'm tempted to find out who your friend is, and maybe I can ask for some
chocolates.
Well, that is possible.
It is possible.
Well, how else can you use that word?
You know, maybe... maybe you're tempted to do something bad to somebody because
they were mean to you.
Well, you might want to do that and get revenge.
But it's good to just be patient and stay calm and try to do something else.
Don't do something bad back to that person.
Mmhm.
Well, Mr. Brown continues here.
He says: That's part of it.
Also, if a phone makes noise during a lesson, it distracts the whole class.
Well, I think that's pretty true.
I know that if I hear a phone going off, I look around.
It doesn't really matter if I'm in class or in a restaurant.
I'm curious to know whose phone is ringing.
Maybe I like the ringtone or it's just a little bit distracting because it's too
loud.
It's true.
And actually, this is one of the reasons why I don't even use a ringtone.
My... my phone is always on silent mode, so it vibrate so I can feel it.
I know when someone is calling me.
But it doesn't bother or distract anybody else, especially in a movie theater or
church or someplace like that.
That's right.
And you used a great word that Mrs. Lee mentions in her next line.
She says: But students can just put their phones on silent mode.
And "mode" is from our Word Bank.
It's just a function or a setting that you can put something on.
Maybe if you're traveling, you put your phone on airplane mode so that it
doesn't receive any signal.
That's right.
That's also called flight mode, F-L-I-G-H-T.
Sometimes you put it on flight mode.
And speaking of traveling, we use this word "mode" to talk about transportation
as well.
What was your mode of transportation?
That means, how did you get from one place to another?
Did you take a car, taxi, fly in an airplane? Or a train?
What was the mode of transportation?
Well, here we're talking about a setting on your cellphone.
And students can put their phone on silent mode.
As a parent, I feel better knowing my children have cellphones with them.
It allows them to contact me if they need something.
Well, I can understand Mrs. Lee.
Right now it's time for us to learn something new with Steve and Ken in the
Information Cloud.
As an English teacher, I come across various English mistakes.
And one common mistake I see more often than others is contact with someone.
As in "feel free to contact with me." Now that is not correct.
The correct way to say it is: Feel free to contact me.
Right.
Leave out the preposition "with" because "contact" is a transitive verb.
However, if you use "contact" as a noun, then you need that preposition "with."
I want to keep in contact with you.
Now that's a grammatically correct sentence.
But saying "keeping in contact with someone" sounds a little formal.
Most people would probably say: I want to keep in touch with you.
That's right.
Or just: Stay in touch.
Right, stay in touch.
Now if you fail to stay in touch with someone, you lose touch.
Or you lose contact with that person.
(Chinese).
Thank you, gentlemen.
Well, of course you can get in contact with us over email or going on Facebook
or other ways like that.
Check out our website.
There are many ways to get in contact with us.
Well, how does Mrs. Lee finish her line here?
Well, she says: Or I can call or text them if there's an emergency at home.
Well, Mrs. Lee has a lot of good points.
And right now it is time for us to enjoy a review skit.
And then join Michelle in the Language Lab.
Oh. Hey, man, are you a new student here?
Yeah. This is my first day.
How did you know?
Well, uh, because you have a cellphone.
Whoa. Don't most kids have cellphones?
Yeah, but they don't use them in school.
Why not?
Our school has a zero tolerance policy for cellphones.
Zero tolerance? What do you mean?
Well, it means if a teacher sees you with a cellphone, they, uh, take it away.
Take it away?
When do you get it back?
You don't.
One of your parents has to pick it up.
Wow.
Why is the school so strict about cellphones?
Cellphones make it hard for students to pay attention.
Yeah, because we're tempted to play with them?
That's one reason.
Also, if the phone makes noise during a lesson, it distracts the whole class.
Yeah. It's funny when cellphones make noise in class.
Yeah, but teachers don't like it.
Why can't we just put our cellphones on silent mode?
Then we can get texts.
It's not allowed here.
You have to follow the rules.
Not me, man.
I can still use my cellphone.
I just won't let the teacher catch me.
Too late.
Huh?
I'm a teacher.
Give me your cellphone.
Dude!
Sorry.
OK.
(Chinese).
And now it's time to go back to our teachers.
Today we were talking about silent mode and cellphones being a distraction.
Now Gabe, do you ever think that cellphones are a distraction?
Yeah, actually I do.
Some things we mentioned during today's lesson were during church and when
you're watching a movie at a movie theater.
Or anytime people are trying to focus on one thing, and then a cellphone goes
off.
That can be a distraction.
It is true, or you see the light from a cellphone in a movie theater.
Well, we have more to learn from this lesson tomorrow right here on Studio
Classroom.
We'll see you then.