节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-06-24
难易度:Medium
关键字:place an order, otherwise, calorie, normally, replenish
Well, we've been talking about The Ups and Downs of Diets so far today.
Danielle and her friend Ellie are at a small little restaurant or a coffee shop.
They place their order and they begin talking.
Danielle thought they were meeting for coffee and dessert, but Ellie is just
having coffee.
She is going on a diet.
She wants to lose 15 pounds for her vacation in Florida so that she can fit into
her summer clothes.
But Danielle doesn't think the way that Ellie is dieting is the best way there
is.
Well, let's continue learning more from their conversation.
(Music).
The Ups and Downs of Diets.
What diet are you on?
I'm skipping at least one meal a day, and I'm not eating any snacks.
That is not a good idea.
And it won't help you lose weight.
Why not?
I'm consuming fewer calories.
True.
And you may think you're losing weight, but you're not.
You're just losing water.
Who cares?
I'll still weigh less and be able to fit into my clothes.
Yes, but as soon as you start to eat normally, the weight will come right back.
Your body will replenish the water, and you'll be right back where you started.
Well, they are having an interesting conversation.
I'm not sure that they really agree with each other.
Danielle asks Ellie a question about her diet:
What diet are you on?
Hmm, a very good question.
You can ask this to your friend.
There are many different kinds of diets.
You could ask what diet your friend is on.
Well, Ellie responds:
I'm skipping at least one meal a day, and I'm not eating any snacks.
Oh. Uh, I don't think I've heard of that diet.
A lot of diets have names.
But Ellie explains what she is doing for her diet - skipping one meal a day and
not eating any snacks.
Yeah.
I think maybe not eating any snacks is good, but skipping one meal a day...
Well, it's called the skipping-a-meal-a-day diet, Carolyn.
Haven't you heard of it?
Uh, no. I'm sorry, Gabe... um, Ellie.
OK. Danielle has the next line:
That is not a good idea.
And it won't help you lose weight.
Why not?
I'm consuming fewer calories.
Oh! So Ellie thinks that because she's eating fewer calories or consuming fewer
calories that this is a good way to lose weight.
What do you think, Gabe?
Well, I can see her logic.
When you consume fewer calories, that means you are eating less or taking in
less.
And I could see why she thinks that.
You might lose weight.
Danielle doesn't think so, though.
Carolyn, what do you think about this?
Well, I... I'll read Danielle's line first.
She says: True. (So it's true you are eating fewer calories.) And you may think
you're losing weight, but you're not.
You're just losing water.
What?!
That's a surprise to me, Carolyn.
I thought if you ate fewer calories that you would actually lose weight.
But Danielle says you're losing only water?
Well, I think that when you start to change your diet, your body is trying to
adjust.
Then a lot of the weight you lose at first is extra water weight that your body
has stored.
Interesting.
Well, let's see what Ellie thinks about that.
Maybe she's never heard it before, either.
She says: Who cares?
I'll still weigh less and be able to fit into my clothes.
"Who cares?" So Ellie uses this phrase to express that she doesn't care.
If you ask "Who cares?" then you don't care, and you don't think other people
should, either.
That's right.
Who cares?
When can you use that phrase?
Well, maybe someone tells you something they think is really important, but
you're just like "Who cares?" I don't care about that.
Well, I think something that we all should care about is learning something with
Steve and Ken.
They join us every day in the Information Cloud.
Let's go there now.
In our VIEWPOINTS lesson this month, we meet Ellie, who is determined to lose 15
pounds fast.
And it seems she'll do anything to reach her goal, even if it means doing
something unhealthy.
Yes, because she's more concerned with the final result than she is with the
method used to achieve that result.
We could say: For her, the end justifies the means.
Meaning the correctness of an action is based on the outcome of the action, not
the action itself.
It doesn't matter if the action is illegal, unfair, cruel, immoral, evil, or in
Ellie's case, unhealthy.
If it gets the desired result, then it's considered OK.
OK. Cheating on a test or being dishonest on a college application is a good
example.
Some students feel the wrongness in doing these things is excusable because the
outcome for them is good.
More complicated examples emerge during times of war.
One well-known example from history asks:
Is bombing two cities and killing 250,000 people justifiable if that action ends
a war, and, thereby, saves the lives of one million others?
Well, it's certainly a beneficial end, but a cruel means.
Friends, what do you think?
(Chinese).
Well, what do you think about that?
Does the end justify the means?
Or is the means just as important as the end result?
This is something important to think about.
OK. Danielle, I think you have another line.
Yes.
So Ellie had said that she doesn't really care where the weight is from because
she's still going to weigh less and be able to fit into her clothes.
Danielle's line:
Yes, but as soon as you start to eat normally, the weight will come right back.
OK, great. Excellent.
Thank you, Carolyn. Wonderful.
You said something important there from our Word Bank.
It's the word "normally." Now this is something that you can say to express what
you do usually.
It kind of means "usually." What you do normally, regularly, usually; these
words kind of all mean the same thing.
So how could you use that word, Carolyn?
Well, I could say that I normally wake up around 6:00 a.m.
But today I woke up at 6:30; I got a little extra sleep.
OK, that's good. That's good.
I might say uh... I normally eat three meals a day.
But today I didn't have time to eat breakfast, so I only had two meals a day.
I think I'm going on the Ellie diet.
Well, as soon as you start to eat normally again, you might find that that diet
is not very good.
Oh. Well, why?
What does Danielle say about this?
Well, she says: Your body will replenish the water, and you'll be right back
where you started.
OK. Well, I like what Danielle says here.
It's a very important reminder.
And I learn something new about dieting and the role of water in your body.
All right.
So we hear this word... or we see this word "replenish." It replenishes the
water.
Carolyn, what does that mean, to replenish something?
Well, if you replenish something, then you return it, or you refill it.
And here the water is coming back into your body, going back to the same level
that it was before.
So if you lose five pounds of water when you're on a diet, as soon as you start
to eat normally again, those five pounds of water are going to come right back.
That's right.
And we see that phrase: You'll be right back where you started.
That's not a good phrase to hear because you have a goal.
You want to lose weight.
If you're right back where you started, that means it seems like you did not
improve.
OK. Try to use that phrase sometime today: to be right back where you started.
Well, let's enjoy a review skit right now.
And then join Michelle in the Language Lab.
I'm home, and I'm starving.
What's for dinner?
We're having cabbage soup tonight.
But we had cabbage soup last night and the night before.
Well, that's because I'm on a diet.
I can lose 10 pounds if I eat cabbage soup for a week.
This is a fad diet.
It probably won't work.
Yes, it will.
It's guaranteed.
Besides, it's unhealthy.
Well, if it works, I don't care.
It's nice you're trying to lose weight.
But isn't there another way?
Well, I could skip meals, but I'd be ravenous all day.
You could eat meals but smaller ones.
No. I won't lose weight fast enough... unless I use diet pills.
No. Diet pills aren't good for you.
I don't intend to take them forever, just until I lose 10 pounds.
Why is losing weight so important?
We're going to the beach this summer, remember?
I want to look good in my swimsuit.
I have an idea.
Let's go to the mountains this summer.
Good idea. Then I won't have to lose weight.
And I won't have to eat cabbage soup.
(Music).
OK.
(Chinese).
And let's get back to our teachers now.
We're talking about The Ups and Downs of Diets today.
And it sounds like Ellie and Danielle don't quite agree on the best way to diet.
Gabe, what do you think of their conversation so far?
Well, I think Danielle is very smart, and she taught me something new.
She taught me about the role of water in your body.
Just because you eat less doesn't mean you will lose weight.
You might just be losing water.
But then you gain it all back again when you have a normal diet again.
That's right.
So it sounds like Ellie and Danielle have a lot to talk about.
And we hope that you will come back for the rest of their conversation tomorrow
here on Studio Classroom.
See you then.