节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-02-15
难易度:Medium
关键字:hook, no offense, occupy, first come, first served, charger cable
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
I'm your teacher Gabe.
I'm Carolyn.
And I'm Nathanael.
And you are here for a free lunch.
Well, no, not really.
But our lesson's called "Free Lunch?" We're going to enjoy a conversation
between two friends Matt and Blaine today.
One of them is in a place, a public space, and they are doing their work.
They bought something there, but they're sitting there for a long time doing
their work.
Well, this makes me wonder: Do you ever work in public spaces?
Nathanael, do you ever do this?
I have to say I know that a lot of people like to do it, but I usually just
prefer to go home and do my work.
I feel like it's less distracting.
All right, so it could be less distracting.
Carolyn, do you ever bring you work to public spaces?
I do.
Sometimes if I'm studying, I really like to just sit in a coffee or a tea shop
for a long time and enjoy a cup of tea, a cup of coffee and do my work.
I'm with you.
Sometimes I like that background noise a little bit, maybe ordering a drink,
memorizing my lines for something, doing my homework.
It can be a little bit helpful, or at least a little different.
What about you?
Do you ever bring your work to public spaces?
We're going to start with our first reading of this conversation for today.
Free Lunch?
Does buying one drink earn you a day of free Wi-Fi and air conditioning?
It is lunchtime, and Blaine is looking for a seat in a fast food restaurant.
Suddenly, he sees his classmate Matt.
Hey, Matt! What are you doing here?
Oh, hi, Blaine.
I'm just doing some work and writing my blog.
Do you mind if I join you?
There aren't any other tables available.
Sure.
Be careful you don't get hooked on my charger cable though.
Thanks.
So do you study here often?
Yeah, I'm here most days.
It's a great way to save money on air conditioning, and the restaurant has free
Wi-Fi.
Well, those are two handsome guys Blaine and Matt.
At the beginning of our article for today, we see this sentence, a question:
Does buying one drink earn you a day of free Wi-Fi and air conditioning?
I see that word "earn" there.
We're going to talk about that a little bit.
Of course, when you have a job, you are earning money.
But it's used a little different in this sentence here.
I could also say I earned a day of free Wi-Fi and air conditioning just by
buying one drink.
But how else could you use this word "earn," Carolyn?
Well, here we see "you earn a day," but here "the one drink earns you a day."
Oh.
Well, it's a very different structure.
"Earn" can go in front of the subject of the sentence.
That's right.
Well, Nathanael, can you give us another example of how to use this word?
Sure.
If you do extra work in class, it may earn you extra points as well.
Extra credit, earn you extra credit.
All right. So you could earn something, or something earns you something else.
Well, let's continue.
We're going to talk about Blaine and Matt.
It is lunchtime, and Blaine is looking for a seat in a fast-food restaurant.
Suddenly, he sees his classmate Matt.
Well, does either of you want to be... Let's see, Nathanael, would you like to
be Blaine?
Sure. Yeah, I'll... I'll be Blaine.
I think Carolyn should probably be Matt.
Gabe, I don't think you really fit either of these parts. I'm sorry.
Oh, really?
OK, fine.
You guys... you guys could be Blaine and Matt today.
OK.
Blaine's first line says:
Hey, Matt, what are you doing here?
Oh, hi, Blaine.
I'm just doing some work and writing my blog.
Oh. Do you mind if I join you?
Wait... Do you mind? Do you mind if I interrupt you, Blaine? Nathanael? Yes?
Do you mind?
Uh, I think this is a good phrase to know - Do you mind if something?
You're asking if someone minds, if it's OK if you do something.
Do you mind if I do this?
Do you mind if I join you?
This is asking is it OK that I join you.
So if I say "do you mind," and it is OK, what should your answer be, Carolyn?
You could say "Sure!" or "No problem!" Sit right here.
All right.
Do you mind?
No, of course I don't mind.
Well, let's see, who's continuing?
Blaine.
There aren't any other tables available.
Sure.
Be careful you don't get hooked on my charger cable though.
Excellent! Excellent work, Blaine and Matt so far.
We have the key word "hooked" right here in Matt's line.
If you are hooked on something, that means it catches you.
So Blaine got hooked on Matt's charger cable.
That means his leg tripped over the charger cable.
How else could you use that word "hook," Nathanael?
Well, I guess it's easy to get hooked on a tree or a plant if you're hiking
through a thick forest.
That's something you can get hooked on.
You could get hooked out in nature.
What about you, Carolyn?
How do you use that word?
Well, sometimes when I'm getting ready in the morning and I'm in a hurry, my
coat might get hooked on the doorknob when I'm leaving.
And it slows me down.
Well, that happens to me too.
Sometimes we just get hooked on things by accident.
Well, Blaine got hooked on this charger cable.
What is a charger cable, Nathanael?
A charger cable is a kind of core that you plug into some kind of device,
electronic tool, and it gives it extra charge or power.
You might do this to your cellphone.
Is there something else that you might charge, Carolyn?
Sure. I often charge my MP3 player and my computer because I want to be able to
use them.
And if they don't have any power, they won't work very well.
And I also have a tablet. I charge my tablet.
Of course, you need to do that if you're going to have energy or power to use
those things.
Well, let's continue this conversation. Blaine?
Thanks.
So do you study here often?
Yeah, I'm here most days.
It's a great way to save money on air conditioning, and the restaurant has free
Wi-Fi.
Excellent! Excellent!
I'm enjoying this conversation between Blaine and Matt.
And I liked Matt's last line there: I'm here most days.
"Most days," what does that mean, Carolyn?
Well, it means that he's there almost every day, most days of the week.
So he goes there pretty often.
All right.
This is his habit.
He's always there; or he's there most days.
But he continues: It's a great way to save money on air conditioning, and the
restaurant has free Wi-Fi.
A great way to do something.
I like that phrase.
What is a great way to do something for you?
You could say exercising is a great way to lose weight.
How else could you use that sentence pattern, Nathanael?
Well, a great way to spend some extra time is to read a good book.
Not only could you learn something, usually it's pretty fun to follow a story in
a book.
All right.
That's a great way to spend your time.
And it gets your imagination going as well.
Carolyn, how do you use that phrase - it's a great way to do something?
Well, you could say turning off the lights when you leave the room is a great
way to save energy and a great way to save money.
I think you're thinking along the same lines as Matt here.
He wants to save energy and money by not using his air conditioning at home.
This is a great way to do that.
Well, I also think about learning English.
Studying with Studio Classroom is a great way to improve your English.
Of course, I would say something like that.
I agree completely.
Well, right now it's a great way... or one great thing to do is to spend some
time with Michelle.
That is also a great way to improve your English.
Here we go.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.