节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-08-24
难易度:Medium
关键字:exaggeration, itinerary, pace, sightseeing, tourist trap
So far today we're talking about some of the troubles Michael thinks that people
have when they travel with a tour group.
The first thing he thinks is that there's always someone in the group who is
late and who might make other people just have to wait.
And it slows down the whole process.
The other problem he thought about was that people have to follow a strict
itinerary.
Well, Jade doesn't think so.
Jade kind of likes this.
She thinks that tour companies will help you make the most of your time when you
are traveling.
Well, let's continue this conversation now.
Travel Troubles.
True. But we want to explore on our own schedule.
Exploring at your own pace is nice, but what if you run into trouble?
We won't.
I've traveled alone to many different places without any problems.
Traveling on my own seems dangerous to me.
Besides, don't you get kind of lonely traveling and going sightseeing by
yourself?
Not really.
I've met a lot of very interesting people on my travels.
Maybe you should join the trip that I'm planning with my friends.
Then you can try traveling without a tour group.
Thanks for the invitation.
But I'll have to think about it.
(Music).
Well, that was very nice of Michael.
But going back to the beginning of this section of the conversation,
Jade had just been talking about how the travel agency can really help you make
the most of your time.
Now Michael, how... how do you respond?
True. But we want to explore on our own schedule.
Ah, I see.
So following a strict itinerary is not something that Michael really wants to
do, even if it is a good plan, because he wants to have his own schedule.
That's right.
Some people like going at their own schedule or with their own schedule at their
own pace.
Hey, Jade, it's your line here.
It is. And she says:
Exploring at your own pace is nice, but what if you run into trouble?
Excellent, excellent.
I love this sentence.
There are many things we want to talk about.
The first is from our Word Bank: pace, your pace.
That's how fast or slow you are doing something.
That's right.
So pace could be the amount of time you spend in a place when you are traveling.
You can spend a long time or a short time or you can just not go at all.
But you can go at your own pace.
Now you could also talk about walking being at a certain pace.
Maybe you would like to walk very quickly, you have a fast pace.
Or maybe you don't like to hurry, so you have a slower pace.
Or in another way, maybe you're in school, your teacher gives you a project.
It's due.
The thing is due in a couple of months.
You can go at your own pace.
You can work at your own pace, whether you want to do it right away or pace
yourself.
Sometimes in English we say "pace yourself." Don't do everything all at the same
time.
That's right.
It can make you feel very stressed as we learned yesterday.
We learned the word "stressed." Now there's also another phase in this sentence.
Jade says: Explore at your own pace is nice, but what if you run into trouble?
And we want to look at the phrase: to run into something.
What does that mean, Gabe?
Well, here that means encounter.
You run into trouble, you encounter trouble.
You could also say we are running into some problems, we're having some
problems.
So you can run into these kinds of things uh, usually.
Well, it doesn't have to be negative.
It could be positive or negative.
But often you might talk about some of these things like running into trouble.
That's right.
Well, you can run into a problem.
You can run into trouble.
It means that something happened, you didn't expect it.
So it's not something that you planned to do or to run into.
But yes, we usually say to run into a problem or trouble, so.
What happens if you run into trouble, Michael?
We won't.
I've traveled alone to many countries... actually many different places without
any problems.
So that's what Michael thinks.
He's had the experience.
He won't have any problems.
Well, he seems very confident with his short statement: We won't.
We won't.
And "I've." Do you notice something about those words?
Won't?
I've?
Those are called contractions.
It's time for Steve and Ken to share something about those with us in the Info
Cloud.
Contractions play an important function in language.
They're a kind of linguistic oil that helps to keep conversations running
smoothly.
OK. Contractions happen in lots of languages, including Chinese.
In English, they occur when a word or phrase is shortened by dropping one or
more letters and replacing those letters with an apostrophe.
In today's dialogue we find a handful of contractions such as there's, that's,
I've, don't and won't.
"Won't" is a unique contraction for two reasons.
The first is because "won't" doesn't really match the two words it's bringing
together - will and not.
Why, you ask, isn't this contraction spelled W-I-N'T?
It only makes sense after you learn that years ago, "will not" was spelled
W-O-N-N-O-T.
That's interesting. OK.
The second unique feature of "won't" is that if you forget the apostrophe, you
get the completely different, although archaic, word - wont, which means
accustomed to.
Though they tend to be avoided in more formal writing, contractions are very
common in English speech and informal writings.
So it's important that you know how to spell them correctly, read them correctly
and...
And if you want to sound more like a native English speaker, say them correctly.
(Chinese).
Thank you, guys.
Well, I think Jade has the next line.
She says:
Traveling on my own seems dangerous to me.
So Michael said that he wouldn't have any problems traveling by himself.
He's done it before many times.
But Jade is a little concerned it would be a little dangerous.
Besides, don't you get kind of lonely traveling and going sightseeing by
yourself?
Hmm, good question.
Well, let's talk about that word from our Word Bank - sightseeing.
Now when you go sightseeing, that means you are seeing famous sights around the
world or in your travels.
Do you like to go sightseeing?
And what kind of sightseeing have you done?
Carolyn?
Well, I do like to go sightseeing.
Usually when I visit a place that I've never been before, I like to go to the
most famous places to visit them, to say that I've been there and go
sightseeing.
But those areas that are very popular also usually have a lot of tourist traps.
So I try to include other places as well.
That's a good idea, to kind of have a balance, to do some popular sightseeing as
well as going to other places.
I went to the Taj Mahal recently in India.
Actually it was a tourist trap, but of course it's a beautiful sight.
That was good sightseeing.
Well, would you feel lonely going sightseeing by yourself, Michael?
Uh... Oh, Michel! Yes.
Not really.
I've met a lot of very interesting people on my travels.
Oh. Maybe you should join the trip that I'm planning with my friends.
Then you can try traveling without a tour group.
Uh, thanks for the invitation.
But I'll have to think about it.
OK. Jade's going to think about it.
But I like Michael's point here.
He's met a lot of interesting people everywhere he has gone.
So that's something for you to think about as well.
Do you like traveling by yourself?
There are pros and cons to this because you can meet new people everywhere you
go.
That's right.
Well, right now it is time for us to meet with Michelle in the Language Lab.
All right.
(Chinese).
And now let's go back to our program.
Well, we have enjoyed this conversation between Michael and Jade on different
opinions about travel.
And I wonder, who did you agree with more?
Do you think it's better to travel with a tour group and a lot of people that
maybe you don't know and follow an itinerary?
Or would it be better to arrange the trip yourself?
Gabe?
Hmm... Well, I do know it's easier just to let a travel agent help me plan my
trip.
But I also like the idea of doing something off the beaten path, something a
little bit different.
And I think you can meet new people whether you go by yourself or with a tour
group.
And I enjoy doing that.
Well, that is very true.
After my recent travel troubles, I think I might try a tour group next time.
Well, I want you to think about that.
Talk about it in English.
And we will see you here next time on Studio Classroom.
See you then.