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
We are continuing a conversation between Ellie and Danielle on The Ups and Downs
of Diets.
And it sounds like Ellie and her ideas of dieting do not really agree with
Danielle's.
She talks about one diet that guaranteed if she ate cabbage soup for a week, she
would lose 10 pounds.
I'm not so sure if that is true.
It may just be a fad diet.
Well, let's see how their conversation continues in the next part of our
reading.
(Music).
The Ups and Downs of Diets.
Don't you get hungry skipping meals?
Yes. I'm ravenous right now.
I didn't have breakfast.
Why don't you still eat meals but just eat smaller ones?
I'd lose weight too slowly that way.
I don't have a lot of time.
To reduce my hunger, I'm going to take diet pills.
Those aren't good for you in the long term.
I don't intend to take them forever!
I just need something to help me for a few weeks.
OK, whatever.
But when you do eat, be sure to eat food that's good for you!
Well, one thing that we know for sure is that Ellie wants to skip a meal every
day and not eat any snacks.
Carolyn, what does Danielle say about this?
Well, she says: Don't you get hungry skipping meals?
Yes. I'm ravenous right now.
I didn't have breakfast.
Oh, you're ravenous?
Ravenous is a wonderful word to describe how hungry you are.
Let's look at that from our Word Bank.
If you are ravenous, then you feel extremely hungry.
You are so hungry that maybe you could even eat a horse.
Hey, that's what some people say, Carolyn.
They're kind of exaggerating, right?
But you hear that phrase.
I'm so hungry I could eat a... a horse.
Or I'm so hungry I could eat a cow.
You are ravenous.
Now there is another word that's like this.
It's the word "starving." Sometimes people say "I'm starving!" But we don't want
to encourage you to say that.
Why?
Because in the world, there are people that are actually starving.
They don't have much to eat.
It's not a good thing.
And so if you're really hungry, here's a great word to use.
You could say: I'm ravenous.
And Ellie is ravenous right now because she didn't eat breakfast.
That was the meal she decided to skip, so.
Danielle makes a suggestion to her.
Why don't you still eat meals but just eat smaller ones?
I'd lose weight too slowly that way.
I don't have a lot of time.
To reduce my hunger, I'm going to take diet pills.
Oh, my! So Ellie wants to lose weight quickly.
She doesn't have a lot of time so she's trying to lose weight as fast as
possible.
And to reduce her hungry... hunger so that she doesn't feel ravenous, she's
going to take diet pills.
Diet pills.
Well, I don't think I've ever used a diet pill before or eaten a diet... taken a
diet pill before.
But I guess some people do.
Is that right, Carolyn?
There are people who use diet pills; and it's supposed to make you feel less
hungry.
But I don't know that diet pills always work.
And some of them seem a little unsafe.
Danielle says in her next line:
Those aren't good for you in the long term.
Hmm, those aren't good for you in the long term.
OK. So diet pills might be good for you for a short period of time, or they're
OK.
But if you keep taking them over a long period of time, that's unhealthy.
Well, let's take a look at what Liz has to teach us about this phrase "long
term" in the Grammar Gym.
Hello, friends.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym.
My name is Liz.
And in today's article we see this sentence:
Those aren't good for you in the long term.
Our focus is on the phrase "long term." Sometimes you'll see it written with a
hyphen between "long" and "term," long-term.
So, what is the difference?
In today's sentence, "long term" is a noun phrase meaning a long period of time.
When "long term" is used as a noun phrase, there is no need for a hyphen, and
you will usually see "the" appear in front of it.
For example:
Unlike his past business trips that last for a few days, Mr. Lee's current
assignment is a move for the long term.
Or: The farmer stored a lot of grain and is prepared for the long term.
But if "long-term" appears before a noun, it's an adjective phrase, and a hyphen
is needed.
For example:
The long-term effects of this drug are unknown.
Or: Tracy values her business relationships - especially the long-term ones.
If you have a copy of this month's magazine with you, be sure to check out
today's Grammar Tip section for more examples.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
Thanks, Liz. This is a great phrase to know how to use in the long term.
You might want to think about the long term when planning what you want to study
in college or university.
Think about the long-term goal.
Well, Ellie, I think you have the next line.
All right.
Well, we were talking about diet pills.
Ellie says: I don't intend to take them forever!
I just need something to help me for a few weeks.
Oh, so you don't intend to use them forever.
Well, "intend" is a word from our Word Bank.
And it just means to plan to do something or to want to do something.
Ellie doesn't intend to use diet pills for a long time, just a short time.
But that is just her plan.
We don't know if that's what will actually happen.
That's right.
You might use this word to talk about something else.
Maybe you had a great idea for something.
Everything was going smoothly.
And then it turned into a problem at the end.
You could say: I never intended for this to happen.
I intended for something good, not for something bad.
But this word can also be a noun.
Ellie could also say it's not her intention to take these diet pills forever.
The noun is I-N-T-E-N-T-I-O-N, intention.
That's right.
Well, you might intend to do something.
I hope that you intend to learn English with us here at Studio Classroom and
continue to do that, follow through with your plan.
Well, so Ellie doesn't intend to take diet pills forever.
And Danielle has her next line:
OK, whatever.
But when you do eat, be sure to eat food that's good for you.
Very good.
Very good line there, Danielle.
Yes, very good advice.
Eat food that is good for you.
Don't just snack on junk food all the time.
Um, and I like her advice before.
When you eat a meal, just have a smaller meal.
Don't eat a big meal like you normally do.
Well, it's time for us to learn something with Steve and Ken in the Information
Cloud about that word "whatever".
And then we'll join Michelle in the Language Lab.
In one academic survey, "Whatever!" was voted the most annoying expression in
conversation two years in a row.
It's no wonder.
"Whatever" is impolite and way overused.
"Whatever" is rude because it often communicates a feeling of apathy.
It basically says: I don't care what you say.
So obviously, this isn't something you'd ever want to say to your teachers,
parents or your boss.
Right.
When talking to her friend, however, Danielle gets away with saying it because
she uses "whatever" in a related but slightly less offensive manner.
Right.
She senses her discussion with Ellie is going around in circles, so she's
frustrated.
She feels she's wasting her time and energy talking with Ellie about the dangers
of dieting.
So she says, "OK, whatever," which, in this situation, means you're not really
listening to what I'm saying, so I'm going to end the discussion.
OK. Our last usage of "whatever" is more cowardly than impolite.
Let's say you're arguing with someone, and it's becoming clear that you're
losing the argument.
Saying "Whatever!" is an effective way of ending the argument and acknowledging
defeat without actually having to say I'm wrong.
(Chinese).
OK.
(Chinese).
And now let's see what our teaches are doing.
Well, I've enjoyed this conversation between Danielle and her friend Ellie.
And of course, Ellie wants to lose weight.
She wants to lose weight quickly.
Danielle has a couple of suggestions for her.
I don't know if Ellie is going to listen to her or not, but I do like the idea
of losing weight in a safe way.
Carolyn, what, to you, is maybe a safe way to go on a diet? Or what can you
suggest?
Well, I think when you want to lose weight, you need to plan it out and really
think about the best way for you because everyone's body is different.
And you might even want to talk to a doctor before you go on a diet or start an
exercise plan.
Having those two combined together - diet and exercise - is probably the best
way for most people to lose weight.
I like that.
And I like your suggestion about talking to a doctor or someone like that.
Well, I hope you enjoyed today's lesson.
I hope you learned something new.
And we will see you next time right here on Studio Classroom.
See you then.