节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-03-08
难易度:High
关键字:crucial, undercapitalization, buy out, premium, service
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
I'm Carolyn.
And I'm Nathanael.
Thank you for joining us today.
It's going to be a good and informative lesson about Financing Your Business.
Of course, we have already gotten to know Ben and his Uncle Bob over the last
couple of months.
Ben and his wife wants to... want to start a business.
And so they're asking Uncle Bob for advice.
He's going to be talking about financing the business today.
Well, I just wonder what kinds of things you need to make payments on in your
life.
Nathanael, do you need to make payments?
Are there any kind of bills?
Well, when I was in college, I had to make regular payments for my tuition.
Not for loans, though many people will also pay monthly for loans, but just for
tuition.
All right, so tuition payments.
That's very important if you are going to study at a university.
Carolyn, what kind of payments do you need to make?
Well, when I was in the U.S., I needed to make car payments because I had a car
and I needed to drive to work.
But now I don't have a car anymore, so I don't have to make those payments.
That's nice.
There are pros and cons to having a car.
Well, of course, if you have a credit card, then you need to make payments on
that.
Don't forget about that.
Well, friends, it's time for us to get started with the first reading of the day
- Financing Your Business.
Financing Your Business.
Finding the money you need to keep your business running.
As Ben and Sandy Johnson continue setting up their new company, Uncle Bob offers
them some valuable advice about financing.
Hey, Ben, how's the business coming along?
Well, Uncle Bob, we followed your advice and signed up for a small business
program through our local community development association.
The crucial challenge now is financing.
Obviously, we will fund the company with our savings, but I'm worried that we've
underestimated costs and could run out of money.
That is a very important issue for small businesses to deal with.
After all, undercapitalization is one of the major reasons that small businesses
often fail.
Well, today we're discussing a BUSINESS article.
And you see in the deck "Finding the money you need to keep your business
running" is the topic of this BUSINESS article.
And it gives us a set up, the situation of today's article, which is a dialogue
in the next sentence.
Would you read that, please, Carolyn?
Certainly. It says:
As Ben and Sandy Johnson continue setting up their new company, Uncle Bob offers
them some valuable advice about financing.
So that is what we will be discussing today.
And I think what we have a little more information on this "advice" in the
Information Cloud.
In our lesson today, Uncle Bob continues to give Ben some valuable advice about
financing.
So why don't we take a look at this word "advice." It is uncountable.
So even though Uncle Bob is giving Ben several suggestions, we wouldn't say
"advices".
Right.
We should never add an "S" at the end of "advice." However, the word
"suggestion" is countable.
So we could say Uncle Bob offers Ben lots of helpful "suggestions," plural.
One difference between countable and uncountable nouns is that where countable
nouns show the quantity of something,
uncountable nouns are more about the concept of something.
A related word is "information," which is uncountable.
We don't say "informations." So how do you count it?
Well, you can use the word: piece.
OK. Ken, let me give you a piece of advice.
I think you would be more handsome if you let your hair grow longer.
Thanks for the suggestions, Steve.
Of course.
Well, some words you'll just have to remember that they are uncountable, like
aircraft.
Right.
There are all 100 airplanes.
But if you want to use "aircraft," it's 100 aircraft, no S.
Here's another piece of advice, friends.
Keep reading and speaking English, and you'll be able to use uncountable nouns
correctly.
(Chinese).
If you've been watching Studio Classroom for the past couple months, you're
probably getting to know Uncle Bob and Ben.
And for today we're going to have Gabe play Uncle Bob.
And Carolyn, you'll be Ben.
Does that sound good?
OK. That's great.
OK. Uncle Bob, you have the first line.
All right.
Hey, Ben, how's the business coming along?
OK. I guess today Uncle Bob is from New York.
But we do want to look at this first line that he spoke.
He used a phrase: coming along.
How is it coming along?
How's the business coming along?
What exactly does that mean, Carolyn?
What's he asking?
Well, he's asking how things are doing.
What's... what's going on?
Is it going well?
And there are many different ways that you can use this.
You could say how's the project coming along if you're working on a project at
school or at work.
Is it going OK?
Do you need help?
How's it coming along?
How else can you use this, Gabe?
Well, yeah. You'd use this phrase to talk about different processes.
If you're in the process of doing something, you ask how's something coming
along.
So maybe your friend is looking for a job, and you could say: How's the job
search coming along?
Did you find anything that you like?
How is that coming along?
Or how is your homework coming along?
Are you finished yet?
Nathanael, how would you use that phrase?
Well, sometimes we just say it's coming along.
It means it's kind of in process.
It's not finished yet, but it's coming along.
It's another way that we use that phrase.
OK. Let's continue in this dialogue with Ben.
Oh. Yes, me. OK.
Well, Uncle Bob, we followed your advice and signed up for a small business
program through our local community development association.
That's a really long title, local community development association.
So just something to help them with the business.
OK.
The crucial challenge now is financing.
OK. Thank you so much.
Ben, you've brought up a very interesting word that we want to talk about today
because it is a Word Bank word, this word "crucial." Crucial.
Let's talk about that word "crucial." It means partially very important.
But how could you use this word, Carolyn?
Well, you might say that this decision is crucial.
I have to decide if I want to go to this school or go to another school.
It's very crucial for my future.
How else can you use this, Gabe?
Well, yeah. It could be crucial for your future.
It determines what your future will look like.
Um, I also think that communication is crucial for relationships.
If you want to have healthy relationships with your friends, your family, you
need to have communication.
Good communication is crucial.
Nathanael, how do you use that word?
Next time that you're giving an English speech, just remember that timing is
crucial.
When you're communicating, when you're acting or when you're giving a speech,
any of those things, timing is crucial.
OK. Hopefully you understand this word "crucial." Ben, let's continue.
Oh, yes. Thank you. Well.
Obviously, we will fund the company with our savings, but I'm worried that we've
underestimated costs and could run out of money.
That is a very important issue for small businesses to deal with.
After all, undercapitalization is one of the major reasons that small businesses
often fail.
OK.
Thank you, Uncle Bob.
You're welcome.
You brought up a very complicated and long word "undercapitalization." I think
we need to talk about that a little bit.
Earlier Ben said that he was worried that they've underestimated costs,
that they maybe guessed a little lower how much things would cost, and they
could run out of money.
And that's kind of what undercapitalization means.
Can you explain a little bit more, Gabe?
That's right.
This 8-syllable word, undercapitalization, say that 10 times fast.
This means kind of the opposite of a profit, actually.
If you undercapitalize, that means not only do you not make money, but you're
actually losing a little bit of money, undercapitalization.
That's right.
So if you don't have enough money to run, then you are undercapitalized.
And it's very bad if a businesse is undercapitalized because then it has to
close.
Right, Nathanael?
That is true.
Not only businesses can be undercapitalized, but a government could also
possibly be undercapitalized.
And that is not a good thing for your country if that is true.
You want to make sure that you have enough money to operate well.
OK. Now let's talk to Michelle in the Language Lab.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.