节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-01-02
难易度:Medium
关键字:destructive, lessen, depression, appointment
Hello, hello, hello.
And welcome to Studio Classroom.
I am your teacher Gabe.
I'm Carolyn.
And I'm Nathanael.
And we're continuing a lesson called Resolutions Worth Keeping.
Last night, or this New Year, did you make any resolutions?
And are you keeping them?
Well, yesterday we talked about a couple of resolutions doctors are suggesting
that we make.
Nathanael, what was the first thing they suggested?
The first tip yesterday was to get moving.
And if you remember, get moving refers to exercise - 30 minutes of exercise,
five days a week.
Moderate exercise, not too much, not too little.
That's right.
And also remember to drink that one cup of coffee every day in moderation just
like Carolyn's grandmother did to live to be 104.
Carolyn, what was the second tip that doctors gave us?
Well, they also suggested that we sleep at least seven hours each night to help
strengthen our immune system.
All right. So we have some good tips so far, and we've got more for you today.
Let's get started with our first reading.
(Music).
Resolutions Worth Keeping.
Watch your numbers.
According to the World Health Organization's 2008 report, 29.5 percent of men
and 25.6 percent of women in mainland China had high blood pressure.
However, most of them didn't know it.
Not knowing your blood pressure and cholesterol levels can be destructive to
your health.
That's because both of these numbers have been linked to dangerous medical
conditions.
Visit your doctor regularly to check on them, and ask whether you should monitor
them at home as well.
Eat more whole grains.
Replace refined carbohydrates like white rice and pasta with whole grains like
whole-wheat pasta, brown rice and whole-grain bread.
This will lessen your risk of disease, improve your digestion and help control
your weight.
Well, the first tip that we see here is watch your numbers.
And we see an organization here.
Carolyn, if I said "WHO," would you know what I'm talking about?
I would know exactly what you were talking about.
You are referring to the World Health Organization, the WHO.
So sometimes we can take a long name of an organization and make it short by
just saying the first letter of each word.
That's right.
The World Health Organization, many people just say: WHO.
So according to the World Health Organization's 2008 report,
29.5 percent of men and 25.6 percent of women in mainland China had high blood
pressure.
And we see these numbers in percentages: 29.5 and 25.6.
Nathanael, is there another way that we can talk about the amount of something?
Well, that is over a quarter of China.
A quarter of China would be 25 percent.
Both of these numbers are over 25 percent.
So that's over a quarter.
That's right.
That's another way to say it: a quarter of something, or a fourth.
29.5 percent, 25.6.
That's a little bit over a quarter.
So there are different ways to talks... to talk about the amounts of numbers or
things in English.
Continuing on: However, most of them didn't know it.
So most of these people didn't know it.
Not knowing your blood pressure and cholesterol levels can be destructive to
your health.
Well, let's talk about that Word Bank word there.
It is "destructive." This means that it is not good for you.
It will destroy something inside of you.
It is destructive.
What else can be destructive, Carolyn?
Well, destructive means to destroy.
So I think of maybe an earthquake strikes, and it destroys buildings.
It can be very destructive.
That's right.
Earthquakes are destructive.
They have been very destructive in history.
What other things can be destructive?
Well, a bad attitude can be destructive to your relationships.
If you don't treat other people well, you're not going to have a good
relationship with them.
That's a great point.
A bad attitude could be destructive.
I think of people's words - our words can be destructive.
They can tear other people down.
It doesn't feel good when people say destructive things to you.
We should try to stay... to say costructive things.
C-O-N-S-T-R-U-C-T-I-V-E, constructive; not destructive.
So of course, some things can be destructive to our health as well like a high
blood pressure and a cholesterol level that's not good.
And in your magazine, you can actually find out more details about that.
So open your magazine and read that side column about blood pressure and
cholesterol.
Well, continuing on.
This is because both of these numbers have been linked to dangerous medical
conditions.
So visit your doctor regularly to check on them and ask whether you should
monitor them at home as well.
I see that word "monitor." Nathanael, can you tell us a little bit about this
word?
Yeah. "Monitor" here means to check up on something, to keep a careful eye on it
to watch it closely.
So these numbers are things that we need to watch.
If they go up, we should probably make sure that we're doing something to change
those numbers and let them go down.
That's right.
So monitor them; check on them.
You also use this word to talk about your computer screen - it's your monitor.
So this word communicates something that you can see and check on.
Well, Carolyn, what is our next tip for today?
Our next tip is to eat more whole grains, which I think sounds like a great
idea.
It says replace refined carbohydrates like white rice and pasta with whole
grains.
And that is a really great idea because these refined carbohydrates really
aren't good for us.
I agree, although I do think that I probably eat a lot of refined carbohydrates
a little more than I should.
Maybe I should replace some with whole grains like whole-wheat pasta, brown rice
and whole-grain bread.
Carolyn, do you eat foods like this?
I try to eat as many whole grains as possible, like whole-grain bread, brown
rice.
Those are very good things for your diet.
I think so too.
Well, we find out that this will lessen your risk of disease.
You see that word there "lessen." And it's kind of easy to remember what it
means.
It means to make something less, not more but less.
It sounds like the word "lesson" - like an English lesson.
We're having an English lesson right now.
But it's spelled a little differently, L-E-S-S-E-N.
What other things could you lessen, Nathanael?
You know, sometimes I go shopping for clothes, and I buy a pair of pants that I
really like.
But they're a little long.
So I'll have their length lessened so that they will fit me well.
OK. So yeah, make it a little bit shorter.
Well, other things could be lessened.
You could lessen the amount of time that you spend online.
You could lessen the amount of time that you do something that maybe you should
spend less time doing.
So lessen the amount of something.
Well, let's continue.
You can lessen your risk of disease, improve your digestion and help control
your weight.
Right now it's time for us to learn something new in the Info Cloud with Steve
and Ken.
Hey, guys.
Hey!
Hi.
Our lesson today says we should eat more whole grains so we can control our
weight.
Steve, I'm just wondering, what other things can we control besides weight?
Well, we can control lots of things.
If you're the captain of a ship, for example, you can control your ship and
crew.
Now Ken, I know you're a father, so I'm sure you have some experience trying to
control your son.
Believe me, I have.
But what about something that isn't physical, are there any that we can control?
Sure.
If you have a bad temper, you should control your temper.
If you like to gossip, maybe you should control your tongue.
Control my tongue?
Doesn't that mean control what I eat?
Not here, it doesn't.
When you control your tongue, you watch what you say.
You don't say bad things to hurt others.
I see.
So, to review, we can control something physical like the ship or a child.
We can also control something that isn't physical like our temper.
Right. But what's most important is we should control ourselves.
If you have self-control, you don't need anyone to control you.
That's a good point.
(Chinese).
Well, thank you, Steve and Ken.
Yes, that's very important advice.
Self-control is very important to have.
But let's get some English advice from Michelle in the Language Lab.
Hey!
Hi, Michelle.