节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-04-29
难易度:High
关键字:surge, make or break, accessibility, relocate
Location, location, location. That is what we're talking about in our BUSINESS
article today.
Ben and Sandy Johnson have had some success in their company.
There has been a surge of new customers.
So now Ben is talking to his Uncle Bob about some advice on the location of his
business because they're thinking of moving their office.
We have a lot more to learn from Ben and his uncle in the next section of our
reading today.
(Music).
Location, Location, Location.
There might be a lot more to it than you think.
What do you mean?
Well, most businesses choose their location based on accessibility.
That makes sense.
You need lots of customers for your business to grow.
That's true, but there is more to it than that.
Like what?
You don't just need to relocate to a spot near people.
You need to find a place near the right types of people.
I guess that is true.
What's the point of being surrounded by people if they aren't interested in your
products?
Right.
(Music).
Well, do you remember before the break, Ben said it can't be that hard to find a
good spot?
Here is Uncle Bob's response to that.
There might be a lot more to it than you think.
Oh. So it sounds like Ben might need to consider some other things if there's a
lot more to it.
And that is a really great phrase that Liz wants to tell us about in the Grammar
Gym.
Hi there, friends.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym.
My name is Liz.
In our BUSINESS START-UP article today, we find this statement:
There might be a lot more to it than you think.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
Our focus is on the phrase: a lot more to it.
This is a common expression that native speakers use to let people know that
something is not so simple.
If you want to tell someone that something is more complicated than they think,
then you can use "a lot more to it." For example:
Fixing this machine was tricky - there's a lot more to it than I thought.
Or: Becoming a successful actor is not easy at all - there's a lot more to it
than most people think.
And if you turn to today's Grammar Tip section, you'll find more examples there.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
I'll see you next time.
Thank you, Liz.
Well, there is more to it than you think.
What does Ben say?
Ben says: Why do you mean?
Well, most businesses choose their locations based on accessibility.
Oh, based on accessibility.
So it means to be accessible.
This is a very great word here, accessibility, from our Word Bank.
If something is accessible, then it has accessibility.
It means that you can get to it.
That's right.
You can get to it.
Maybe it's easy to get to if it is accessible.
It's in a good spot, accessibility.
Well, you might ask a question: What's the accessibility of the parking lot?
You're considering buying an apartment or renting an apartment, and you wonder
what's the accessibility of the parking lot.
I need to park my car somewhere close by.
That's right.
You could also use it around the office.
The accessibility of important files is really, really good to know.
Oh. Where did I put that file?
I can't find it.
I need to access it quickly, so I will organize it by putting it in this cabinet
for easy accessibility.
Actually, that's a great point.
If you are a messy or sloppy person, maybe it's a good idea to organize your
things so that things can be more easily accessed.
There is good accessibility to the things that you need.
So Uncle Bob thinks that this is important.
Most businesses choose their locations based on accessibility.
Again, we see that phrase "based on." If something is based on something, that
means it's because of something.
That's right.
And Ben responds: That makes sense.
You need lots of customers for your business to grow.
Well, hold on a second.
That makes sense.
Uh, Ben agrees with Uncle Bob.
And that's a great phrase to know: That makes sense.
If someone says something to you, maybe you didn't really think about it before,
but you agree.
You can say: Hey, that makes sense.
How might you use that phrase, Carolyn?
Well, it's true. When you agree with something that someone is explaining to
you:
Oh, really? I didn't think of that before, but that really makes sense.
That makes sense.
And of course, Ben says that here:
That makes sense.
You need lots of customers for your business to grow.
Of course! A business needs customers.
Here's what Uncle Bob says:
That's true, but there's more to it than that.
Wait, he... he's repeating something that he said before, Carolyn.
Yes, he is.
That's true.
And that makes sense.
That is true, but there's more to it.
So there are still things that his nephew needs to think about.
There's a lot more to it than just finding a good spot.
And there's a lot more to it than just customers.
Well, we have more to our lesson.
Right now we're going to enjoy some time with Steve and Ken in the Information
Cloud.
If you were to go through this month's BUSINESS lesson and count all the words
that have the "T-H" sound, you'd find around 50 of them.
Now we know that more than half of those are function words like the article
"the" and pronouns like "them" and "they." But still,
those 50 words make up over 12 percent of the entire dialogue.
That's one out of every eight words.
Which tells us if we want to be proficient in speaking English, we must come to
grips with the tricky "T-H" sound.
Yes. For many English language learners, pronouncing the "T-H" sound is not
easy.
So often a word like "thinking" turns into a "sinking," and "that" turns into
"dat".
To speak a language fluently, you need accuracy.
And accuracy comes through practice.
How should we practice?
Well, here's a tip.
Go home and practice speaking English in front of a mirror.
Also, read something out loud.
Whenever you meet a word with the "T-H" sound, say it by sticking your tongue
between your teeth... just enough so that you can see it.
Great.
Now, soon you'll be making the "T-H" sound perfectly without even thinking about
it.
(Chinese).
Well, before the Information Cloud, Uncle Bob says:
But there's more to it than that.
How do we continue?
Well, Ben responds: Like what?
Hmm.
You don't just need to relocate to a spot near people, you need to find a place
near the right types of people, Ben.
Oh. So I need to relocate near the right types of people.
And we see this word here "relocate." And that is a key word today.
If you relocate, then you move somewhere else.
You change your position.
Have you ever relocated, Gabe?
Well, yes, I have relocated.
I am relocating right now to stand right next to you.
And then I'm going to relocate again to stand where I was standing.
Well, that is one way to use the word "relocate." But I usually think of it as a
bit of a bigger move.
So maybe you live in the city, and you decide to relocate to the country side,
or you relocate to a different city altogether.
That's right.
And so you want to relocate.
If you're a business, you want to relocate to be around the right types of
people.
And I know some businesses, especially some restaurants who have relocated, they
were in areas that not many people walked through.
But now my favorite lamian restaurant is no longer in my neighborhood.
It's in another neighborhood because there are more people that will go to that
restaurant.
And now the business is doing great all because they relocated.
So they relocated to an area with the right types of people, not just an area
with a lot of people living there.
Well, Ben continues:
I guess that is true.
What's the point of being surrounded by people if they aren't interested in your
products?
Right.
Very good.
One word to end that conversation: Right.
But wait a minute.
What kind of a question was that?
And what kind of an answer is that?
Ben says: What's the point of being surrounded by people if they aren't
interested in your products?
That's called a rhetorical question.
Maybe there doesn't need to be an answer, yes or no.
And Uncle Bob understands that.
So he simply responds with the word "Right." What you said was correct, and I
don't have much else to add.
All right.
Right!
Well, it's time for us to continue by learning something with Michelle in the
Language Lab.
OK.
(Chinese).
And it's time to go back to our teachers now.
Well, we're talking all about location and how important it is for a business.
Well, I do wonder what kind of business you would like to start if you have not
yet started one.
And where would you locate that business?
Carolyn?
Well, I think that I might start a bakery if I were to start a business.
I love to bake.
And probably a good location for a bakery is a place near other shops that I can
get my baking supplies easily.
That's a good idea.
I think, for me... I love sauces.
I think that sauces can really make food taste delicious.
I might start a sauce business where I just sell all kinds of sauce.
And it would be in an area where lots of people live, so they can buy my sauces,
take them home and cook with them.
Well, location is important.
Where would you put your business?
Thank you for joining us today.
And of course, we have more to learn from Ben and his Uncle Bob next time right
here at Studio Classroom.
See you then.