节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-03-16
难易度:Medium
关键字:befriend, understandable, compassion, hang out
(Music).
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
I'm Carolyn.
And I'm Nathanael.
And you're joining us for day two of our lesson called Sitting Alone.
Mary and Jane are two friends, and they're talking about whether or not they
should invite somebody else at their school to sit with them for lunch.
Well, this makes me wonder.
What do you act like or how do you act when you meet someone new, someone you
don't know yet, how do you act?
Nathanael?
Well, I try to be quite friendly and ask a few questions.
But if I'm meeting them in a big group, I'm often more quiet.
I'm not a person who likes crowds very much.
OK, so it depends on the crowd, depends where you are.
What about you, Carolyn?
Well, I think it does depend a lot on where I am and what role I'm playing when
I'm meeting them.
If I'm hosting an event and there are people coming that I don't know, then I'm
very friendly, very welcoming.
I want them to feel comfortable meeting me and meeting the rest of my friends.
Mmhm, very good.
Well, one of my strengths is meeting new people knowing what to say and what not
to say.
Actually, sometimes my friends, my close friends tell me: Why do you treat new
people better than you treat us?
So it could be an issue.
Maybe you're really good at meeting new people; maybe not.
Well, let's get started with the next part of this conversation between Mary and
Jane.
(Music).
Sitting Alone.
Why not us?
If I were Sally, I'd want someone to befriend me.
Wouldn't you?
I guess so, but I don't think we're doing anything wrong by not befriending her.
We're not mean to her, and not going out of our way to talk to her is
understandable.
We can't be best friends with everyone.
Maybe not, but we can show compassion to one person.
It's not that hard to have one more friend.
We're already pretty busy.
Where will we find time?
(Music).
OK. This is turning into quite an argument here between Mary and Jane.
Well, let's get started learning something from some of these lines.
Um, Nathanael, why don't you be Jane today.
And Mary, you can get started here.
OK, great.
Well, yesterday Jane had asked why should they be the ones to invite Sally to
sit with them. So Mary's response:
Why not us?
If I were Sally, I'd want someone to befriend me.
Excellent! I need to interrupt you here, Mary.
Thank you.
We have a Word Bank word to talk about there.
It is the word "befriend." This is a good thing to do.
If you befriend somebody, that means you become friends with them.
Maybe you do something or say something first and invite them to be friends with
you.
How might you use that word, Nathanael?
Well, I think it's easy to befriend some people quickly.
Others it takes a little bit longer to get to know.
All right. That's very true.
Different people have different personalities.
How might you use that word, Carolyn?
Well, again, you can also use this word when you're talking about animals.
You can befriend a stray cat, befriend a stray dog.
It means that you are friendly towards them and they trust you.
So you can befriend animals as well.
OK. Well, who was the last person that you befriended?
Think about that.
Talk about it in English.
There's something else from this sentence that I think is very valuable.
It's the phrase: if I were so and so, I'd do this.
And I think the reason Mary says this is... it actually reminds me of the golden
rule:
Do to others what you want them to do to you.
So if you like the feeling, then you could do it to somebody else.
Mary wants to be kind to Sally.
And uh, Mary, you have one more line there, I think?
Yes. It's a short question.
Wouldn't you?
I guess... I...
Gabe, I can't do this.
I'm not... I'm not good at being a girl.
What?! What are you talking about?
You have to be the girl.
I was the girl yesterday, and I know that people want to hear you be a girl
today.
OK, OK.
I'll just... I'll just do it.
I guess so, but I don't think we're doing anything wrong by not befriending her.
We're not mean to her, and not going out of our way to talk to her is
understandable.
Um, excellent... I suppose.
Not a lot of enthusiasm there for Jane today.
Well, we do have some things to look at from this sentence, and one of them is
the phrase: go out of one's away.
This is kind of a bonus phrase for you.
When you go out of your way to do something, that means you had one goal, but
then you kind of did something else on the way.
It wasn't convenient, you went out of the way to do it.
So how might you use that phrase, Carolyn?
Well, I often tell people: Please don't go out of your way, but if you can do
this, then that would be great.
Maybe I forgot to pick something up at the store, so if you're going to the
store, could you get that for me, but don't go out of your way.
All right, don't go out of your way.
Maybe someone might go out of their way to say hi to you.
They didn't have to go and stop by where you are, but they just went out of the
way to say hi.
Nathanael, how would you use this phrase?
Well, sometimes someone gives you a gift or maybe some kind of food just
spontaneously.
And you said: Well, I hope you didn't go out of your way to do that.
Thank you, though.
I hope you didn't go out of your way.
But if you did go out of your way, it would be understandable.
That person needs some food.
The next word we have here is "understandable." This is from our Word Bank.
And if it's easy to understand, it doesn't take a lot of explaining, then it's
understandable.
Nathanael, how might you use that word?
Well, as I mentioned earlier, I think it's understandable that a person might
want to sit alone sometimes.
Sometimes you just feel like doing that.
Sometimes you maybe have to eat quickly.
But there are understandable reasons for sitting alone.
Right. That is understandable.
But how might you use that word, Carolyn?
Well, if you see someone who is very excited, very happy because they passed
their exam, their reaction is understandable.
Of course they're going to be happy.
They passed, they finished.
They're done.
Excellent.
It is understandable.
And it's understandable that we need to continue.
Nathanael, please continue as Jane.
We can't be best friends with everyone.
Maybe not, but we can show compassion to one person.
That touches my heart, Carolyn.
We can show compassion to one person.
I mean, not Carolyn.
Mary, of course.
Mary, thank you.
"Compassion" is firm our Word Bank.
And if you have compassion, that means you have a kind of love that is able to
see other people as valuable.
And maybe you're busy, but you still put value and place value on other people.
You have compassion.
Maybe you do something with compassion.
How could you use that word, Carolyn?
Well, you should have compassion for people when you see that they need
something.
Maybe you live in a big city, and you see someone trying to get onto a crowded
bus.
And they need a seat.
Be compassionate and give them your seat.
Show them compassion.
All right.
Nathanael, how might you use that word?
That's a good point.
She said the word "compassionate," which is the adjective form.
So ask yourself: What are you compassionate about or compassionate for?
You should really care about those things.
That's right.
It is good to be compassionate.
C-O-M-P-A-S-S-I-O-N-A-T-E.
Mary, please continue.
Oh, yes.
It's not that hard to have one more friend.
We're already pretty busy.
Where will we find time?
Excellent! Excellent conversation.
Let's continue now learning something new with Michelle in the Language Lab.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.