节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-06-25
难易度:Medium
关键字:guarantee, fad, ravenous, intend, unhealthy
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And I'm Carolyn.
Thank you for joining us for day two of our lesson: The Ups and Downs of Diets.
Now so far we've learned that two friends are in a coffee shop, having a
conversation.
One of them thought they were meeting for coffee and dessert.
But Ellie only wants to have coffee.
And why is that, Carolyn?
Well, Ellie is on a diet.
She's right getting ready to go on vacation to Florida, and she wants to lose 15
pounds in one month.
Wow! OK, so 15 pounds in one month.
Her friend Danielle is listening to her as she talks about losing this much
weight.
Ellie said something; she says that it takes a certain amount of calories to
lose each week if you want to lose one pound.
How many calories do you need to lose if you want to lose one pound?
Well, you have to eat 3,500 calories less than usual if you want to lose just
one pound of fat.
However, her friend Danielle says that this is not the right way to diet because
what kind of diet is she doing?
Well, she's skipping one meal and not eating any snacks, which is OK.
She might lose weight for the time being, but she will gain it all back later
when she starts eating normally again.
Well, let's continue learning what Ellie and Danielle have to say in today's
lesson.
(Music).
The Ups and Downs of Diets.
But not right away.
Skipping meals will help me accomplish my goal.
If I'm not eating, I'm not gaining!
I appreciate the fact that you want to lose weight quickly.
But isn't there a better diet you can try?
Lots of them.
One guaranteed that if I would just eat cabbage soup for a week, I'd lose around
10 pounds.
But I don't like cabbage.
Good thing.
That's a fad diet, and it's really unhealthy.
Well, if it works, I don't care.
I need a short-term fix.
But as I said, I don't like cabbage.
That's an interesting diet that Ellie was thinking about doing.
Well, let's go to the beginning of this conversation.
I will be Ellie again if you don't mind, Carolyn.
Yes, that's fine.
I will be Danielle.
And Danielle had just told Ellie that the weight will come right back when she
starts eating normally, that she was just losing water weight.
OK. The weight will come right back.
You'll be right back where you started.
Ellie says: But not right away.
Skipping meals will help me accomplish my goal.
If I'm not eating, I'm not gaining!
Oh. Ellie, this is some very interesting logic.
And she says: If I'm not eating, I'm not gaining.
And this is a great structure right here, a great way to phrase something.
If I'm not something, I'm not something else.
What is one way you could use this, Gabe?
Well, I might say if I'm not exercising, then I'm not getting stronger.
Or I could also say... if Bob doesn't sleep well at night, he's not happy in the
morning.
Or if I don't sleep well at night, I'm not happy in the morning.
Carolyn, how might you use that phrase?
Well, a lot of people might use this by saying "If I'm not working, I'm not
earning money." Time is money.
That's another phrase that we've talked about before.
Well, Danielle has the next line, so I will continue to read her part.
I appreciate the fact that you want to lose weight quickly.
But isn't there a better diet you can try?
OK. I like that.
Danielle has a question: Isn't there a better diet you can try?
And she also says that there is a fact.
The fact is Ellie wants to lose weight quickly.
I think many people feel this way.
You want to lose weight quickly.
That is a fact.
"She appreciates the fact that..." All right.
Here's what Ellie says: Well, lots of them.
There are lots of diets.
One guaranteed that if I just ate cabbage soup for a week, I'd lose around 10
pounds.
But I don't like cabbage.
Oh, you don't like cabbage.
Well um, that might be a good thing.
But you did use the word "guarantee" in that sentence, and it is from our Word
Bank.
"One guaranteed that..." If you guarantee something, then you promise that this
will happen.
You get a guarantee.
Gabe, how do you usually see this word used?
Well, someone like a salesperson might try to sell you something, and they
guarantee that your life will be better in some way.
Or maybe you could eat something.
If you eat this, I guarantee you will feel better, and you will feel healthier.
I can guarantee that.
That's right.
And you might see something a little bit different between what was read in the
reading, what we have here in the magazine, there was a change made.
And it says that if I just ate cabbage soup for a week, I'd lose around 10
pounds,
or that if I would just eat cabbage soup for a week, I'd lose around 10 pounds.
We hear this a lot in conversation: If I would just do this, then I would do
that.
But that is not a phrase, a way of using grammar in English that is formal.
It is for conversation only because you can't use the "if" clause in future
tense for conditional clauses.
Interesting.
So the way that Ellie says it here is what you would hear in conversation more?
Yes. This is something that you would hear in a conversation, but not something
that you should use in formal English.
OK, if I just ate cabbage for a week.
Well, what does Danielle say in response to Ellie?
Well, Ellie says that she doesn't like cabbage.
Danielle responds: Good thing.
That's a fad diet, and it's really unhealthy.
All right.
Well, let's take a look at one of those words there from the Word Bank: fad.
A fad is something that it's not... has not been around for a long, long time.
Maybe it's just a trend, a recent thing that is popular to do now, a fad.
Yes. So it's something that's popular now.
Lots of people think it's a good idea, but maybe it's not actually something
that people should be doing.
It's just popular for a short time; and later people will think that it was kind
of a bad idea.
That's right.
It's unhealthy.
Well, in what way are you unhealthy?
You can use that word from our More Information.
Think about that.
But we're talking about fad diets here.
And if you only drink cabbage soup for a week, that's kind of fad diet.
Well, let's see what Ellie says.
Well, if it works, I don't care.
I need a short-term fix.
But as I said, I don't like cabbage.
Oh. Well, it's probably a very good thing she doesn't like cabbage.
And she uses that phrase "But as I said." Let's look at that for a minute.
But as I said, I don't like cabbage.
So here she has already said something, and she wants to repeat her point.
That's right.
And if you want to emphasize something that you said before, you can use this
phrase "as I said," and then repeat what you said before.
I might have apologized before.
I'm sorry. I'm really sorry.
We continue our conversation.
You still don't forgive me.
I might say: As I said, I'm sorry.
I won't do it again.
That's right.
Well, we don't need to be sorry right now because we're going to go spend some
time with Michelle in the Language Lab.