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
Does buying one drink earn you a day of free Wi-Fi and air conditioning in a
public space like a restaurant?
Well, we're enjoying a conversation between Blaine and his friend Matt.
Of course, Matt is already working.
He's doing some work at a restaurant.
And Blaine comes into this place.
They're talking.
We're going to continue to see what their conversation is like right now in our
second part of our reading for today.
Free Lunch?
Aren't you eating anything?
I had a drink earlier this morning.
I'll probably eat something later.
No offense, but it's pretty busy in here.
Don't you feel guilty about taking up space for nothing?
Not really.
It's not like I NEVER buy anything here.
I'm a loyal customer, and I eat here all the time.
Yeah, but you're not a customer now.
You are occupying space that paying customers need.
Anyone is welcome to come and share my table.
You did.
And besides, this is a fast food restaurant.
Seating is first come, first served, and people who don't get seats do have
other choices.
They can get their food to go.
Interesting conversation these two gentlemen are having.
Well, Nathanael, shall we continue?
Are you still Blaine?
Yeah, I'm still Blaine.
Aren't you eating anything?
I had a drink earlier this morning.
I'll probably eat something later.
Uh, no offense, but it's pretty busy in here.
Don't you feel...
Excuse me, no offense.
No offense, Nathanael, but I need to interrupt you here.
We need to talk about these words from the Word Bank: no offense.
Now you might say these words at the beginning of a sentence to your friend if
you are worried about offending that person.
If you're worried that they might take it the wrong way or have hurt feelings
about something, you might say: No offense.
That way, they know to be prepared for what's coming next.
So how else can you use that phrase, Carolyn?
Well, I might say: No offense, Nathanael, but you probably shouldn't eat that
second slice of cake.
Uh oh.
Uh oh. And what would you say?
What would you say?
Uh... you're probably right, Carolyn.
You can have it.
Thank you. Thank you.
I will uh, eat that piece of cake for you.
Nice.
Well, how else could you use that phrase, Nathanael, "no offense"?
Well, you could say: No offense, Carolyn, but your hair looks great today.
Hey!
Oh, wait, wait.
Wait a minute.
It's not quite right.
No, no.
What...? But yeah, exactly.
But sometimes I hear people say that, Nathanael.
I'm glad you brought that up.
Because sometimes people say this phrase, but it doesn't really fit.
Usually you want to say this phrase if what is following sounds kind of
negative.
But do you know anybody who uses this phrase in another way, Nathanael?
Well, sometimes people do use it in the wrong way like that.
But usually someone might say something like: No offense, but that's really not
very fair.
No offense.
Well, no offense, but your shirt doesn't really look good on you.
Maybe it's not your style.
So it doesn't have to be really bad, but you can use this phrase in that way.
No offense, but...
As Blaine says here:
No offense, but it's pretty busy in here.
And he continues.
Don't you feel guilty about taking up space for nothing?
No offense, I need to interrupt you guys again because we want to talk about
that phrase.
It's an extra phrase I want to talk about here: take up space.
When you take up space, that means you are sitting somewhere and nobody else or
nothing else can use that space.
So how would you use that phrase, Carolyn?
Well, if I were in the library and I wanted to study, and there were no tables
left and there was one person with all of their things just spread out,
I might say: You know, you're really taking up a lot of space.
Can you move over so I can sit down too?
Yeah. I agree. Sometimes that happens.
Maybe someone has their stuff and it's in your car.
You could say: You know what, you're taking up space in my car.
Can you please take this out?
How else could you use that phrase, Nathanael?
Well, another situation where you might hear that phrase is when you're
traveling with your family in a car.
Maybe the mom tells her son or her daughter that you're taking too much space.
There are other people who need to sit next to you.
All right. You're taking up too much space.
Try to use that phrase in English today.
Of course, I hope that nobody is really taking up too much space around you.
Well, shall we continue this conversation, Matt?
Certainly.
Not really.
It's not like I NEVER buy anything here.
I'm a loyal customer, and I eat here all the time.
Yeah, but you're not a customer now.
You are occupying space that paying customers need.
Yes, yes! What a wonderful word I just heard.
Sorry to interrupt.
We saw the word there "occupy." It's from our Word Bank.
And it actually is quite similar to the phrase "take up space." When you occupy,
I usually think of a room actually, you're occupying a room.
That means you are using the room.
But how else could you use that word, Nathanael?
Oh, sorry. Did you aske me a question?
My mind was occupied.
Oh. Oh, oh, very good.
Your mind was occupied.
We also might say someone is preoccupied with something.
That means they're thinking about something else, like Nathanael, preoccupied.
You just add the letters "P-R-E" to this word.
How else do you use that word, Carolyn?
Well, if I wanted to sit down next to someone, I might say, "Is this seat
occupied?" meaning is someone else sitting here or is it OK if I sit down.
And I might say: Seat's taken.
That means I'm waiting for someone else.
Someone is going to come and sit here.
Or you could say: No. Of course, it's free. You can sit here if you want.
So that is how you use the word "occupy." And Matt... or Blaine said: You are
occupying space that paying customers need.
It's true.
Paying customers do need to sit somewhere.
Well, what does Matt say next?
He continues: Anyone is welcome to come and share my table.
You did.
And besides, this is a fast-food restaurant.
Seating is first come, first served, and people who don't get seats do have
other choices.
And I like that phrase: first come, first served.
That's straight from our Word Bank today, friends.
First come, first served.
You might hear this when you want to order something, you want to get there
first so that you get served first.
You get the best because you got there early.
Let's spend some time with Steve and Ken right now in the Information Cloud.
They are going to talk about some other phrases that are similar to this
meaning: first come, first served.
In today's lesson, we see the saying "first come, first served," which means no
favoritism will be shown.
People will be served strictly by the order that they arrive, so get there
early.
It's similar to the popular idiom: The early bird gets the worm, which reminds
us to get up early for the best chance of success.
Ken, I also like another more colloquial English saying: You snooze, you lose,
meaning if you delay, someone else will grab the opportunity.
Steve, it seems like every language has sayings that remind people not to be
lazy to get it done early.
Right. No matter where you go, getting it done early is important.
The Germans have their own idiom which translates into: Morning time has gold in
its mouth.
The Italians have the proverb: He who sleeps doesn't catch any fish.
And the Swedish say the same thing but in a slightly different way: First to the
mill get to grind first.
And in Chinese, you might hear: The quick of foot will be the first to ascend.
Hmm. So how do you say that in Chinese?
(Chinese).
Oh, (Chinese).
You got it.
(Chinese).
Thanks, guys.
And we see Matt finishes by saying, "They can get their food to go," so.
They can take it with them.
They don't have to eat at the restaurant.
Now let's take some time to watch a review skit and then join Michelle in the
Language Lab.
Hey, what are you doing here?
I'm doing my work and I'm writing my blog.
How about you?
Well, I'm looking for a seat.
May I join you?
Uh... well, sure.
Welcome to my office.
Your office?
Well, OK, it's not exactly my office.
But I do spend a lot of time here.
Really?
How much time?
I'm here almost every day.
I come early and I leave late.
Well, I don't think that's a good idea.
I think it's a great idea!
When I work here, I save money.
It's free air conditioning and free Wi-Fi! Nice, huh?
Nice for you.
Yeah.
But what about other customers?
Paying customers!
Hey, I'm a paying customer too.
I ordered a drink earlier, and I might get a snack later on.
Well no offense, but this place is busy, and you're occupying a whole table.
That's OK.
I'll share my table.
Anyone is welcome to come and join me.
Yes, but...
Besides, it's first come, first served.
And I was here first.
Well, OK.
I'll just eat my lunch and go.
Great.
Um, can you please hurry?
You're kind of in my way.
OK.
(Chinese).
And let's get back to our teachers.
Well, this conversation between Blaine and Matt is getting pretty heated,
actually.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow's lesson continuing this conversation.
But I wonder who you'll agree more with right now, Matt or Blaine?
Nathanael, how do you feel about this?
Well, I actually agree with Matt more.
If you buy something, I think you can stay for a while.
Just maybe be responsible if more people come and it gets busy.
Interesting. All right.
If you buy something, you have a right.
You could stay for a while.
How do you feel about this, Carolyn?
Well, I think about the same as Nathanael.
If you pay for a service, then you should be able to use it.
But if it starts to get really crowded, then I would go somewhere else so that
someone else could sit down.
Yeah.
I just know the feeling of walking into a restaurant and knowing that all the
spaces are taken, every seat is occupied.
And if I want to get something, I have to take it to go.
So I kind of understand how Blaine feels here.
Well, friends, we're going to continue this lesson next time.
Please do come back and join us here at StudioClassroom. See you later!