节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-01-08
难易度:Medium
关键字:(it's) about time, time after time, ahead of one's time, time on one's
hands, in the blink of an eye
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
I'm your teacher Gabe.
I'm Carolyn.
And I'm Nathanael.
It's about time Studio Classroom started, right?
Well, that's the name of today's lesson: It's About Time.
It's about time.
Well, I think that we have a little story today, or the beginning of a story.
For these next couple of lessons, we're going to be joining a professor
throughout his story.
And the story is all about what, Carolyn?
What is the story all about?
It's all about time.
As we can see in the title of today's article - it's all about time.
How do you like to spend your time, Nathanael?
Oh. Well, there are different things I'd like to do.
I like reading, I like running a little bit, and I like watching some movies.
But it's always nice to have good conversations with friends also.
That is a great way to spend time.
Well, how do you spend your time?
We hope that you are spending your time right now watching Studio Classroom, and
that you continue to spend time with us throughout the lesson.
We have a good story for you.
Right now let's get started with the story.
(Music).
It's About Time.
Who doesn't need a little extra time?
The professor always tried so hard.
No question about that.
He had tons of brilliant ideas - but they never worked.
Time after time, he would dream up an amazing idea that was sure to change the
world - and then it didn't.
"The professor is going to change the world?" people joked.
"He couldn't change a light bulb.
He couldn't even change the channel on the TV!" The professor ignored all the
jokes people made.
He wasn't about to give up.
He knew that he was just ahead of his time.
Well, it sounds like the professor might be having a little bit of trouble
finding time.
And we see right here in the title of our article - It's about time.
And when we say "It's about time," what do we mean, Nathanael?
Well, "it's about time" is kind of a funny phrase.
You might just think, OK well, they're talking about time... about time.
But actually, you use that phrase when something finally happens.
Maybe Gabe came in to teach late, and I said: It's about time you got here,
Gabe.
Well, yeah. It's about time I arrived.
Sorry, guys.
It's about time I arrived.
It's true. Yeah.
If you're waiting for something, maybe something finally happens, it's about
time it happens.
It's about time you showed up.
Well, how else can you use that phrase, Carolyn?
Well, you might say: It's about time dinner arrived! I'm starving. Let's eat
some pizza.
I think that's a great way to use this phrase.
Next time you are waiting for something, you're hungry, and dinner comes, you
can say: It's about time.
Well, actually you need to be careful with that phrase because maybe sometimes
it does seem a little rude.
It's about time dinner came.
It makes you seem impatient.
But sometimes you can say: It's about time.
Well, we see a question here: Who doesn't need a little extra time?
What kind of a question is that?
I mean, we all know the answer to this question.
We all need some extra time.
That's called a rhetorical question.
And sometimes you ask these questions you know the answer.
But it's a good way to ask a question to get people thinking about something.
And the first sentence in our lesson is: The professor always tried so hard.
No question about that.
No question about something.
How else could you use that phrase, Nathanael?
What does that mean, no question about that?
Well, there's no question that Studio Classroom can help you with your English.
Why even ask?
Of course, it can help you with your English.
All right, great.
There's no question about that.
You shouldn't even ask the question, you know the answer.
You could say: I'm going to be late.
There's no question about that.
We're busy! There's no question about that.
Don't ask me if we're busy.
How else could you use that phrase?
Use it in English today.
He had tons of brilliant ideas - but they never worked.
Well, the professor seems like a pretty smart guy.
He had tons of brilliant ideas.
And we have something we need to learn in the Information Cloud right know with
Steve and Ken.
Hello, gentlemen.
Hi, teachers.
Hello, teachers.
So Ken, how was your weekend?
Oh. It was great.
I had tons of fun hiking in the mountains with my family.
Now when you said "tons of fun," you were not talking about how much the fun
weighed, right?
No, Steve.
I meant I had a lot of fun.
The word "ton" is an informal word that means a lot of something.
But Steve, I was wondering, how is "ton" spelled?
Hmm, good question.
There are actually two spellings of the word "ton" - T-O-N, and T-O-N-N-E.
Both are pronounced ton.
So what's the difference between the two spellings?
When you talk about how much something weighs, ton, spelled T-O-N, is used
mainly in the United States whereas tonne, T-O-N-N-E, is used outside of the
U.S.
Do they weigh the same?
No, Ken. They don't.
A ton, T-O-N, equals 2,000 pounds.
T-O-N-N-E, on the other hand, is a metric ton; and that equals 1,000 kilograms.
But Ken, I wouldn't worry too much about the spelling.
Unless you want to specify something is weighed in metric tons, you can always
use ton, T-O-N, for everything.
Got it.
(Chinese).
Thank you, gentlemen.
Yes, the word "ton" does have different spellings.
And different places in the world use it differently.
Well, we continue with our story.
Time after time, he - the professor - would dream up an amazing idea that was
sure to change the world.
And we see this phrase here, time after time, also "time" words from our Word
Bank.
"Time after time," that just means again and again.
You do something one time, two times, three times, again and again, something
happens.
How could you use that phrase, Carolyn?
Well, I think of time after time, I am so busy with my homework.
Or, you could also say the composer writes such beautiful music time after time.
Time after time.
Nathanael, what happens to you time after time?
Time after time, I tell myself that I'm so lucky to be loving you.
I tell myself that all the time.
All the time.
Time after time.
Well, I'm going to have to ask you some questions more often, Nathanael.
I like to hear you uh, give response in a song form more often.
Time after time, Nathanael would sing a song while he was teaching.
I also have a... another way to use this.
Time after time, I failed my driving test.
It's true; but I finally passed the tenth time.
Uh, time after time.
Well, the professor, time after time, he would dream up an amazing idea that was
sure to change the world.
We see another phrase there: was sure to change the world - is sure to, or was
sure to, are sure to do something.
How could you use this phrase?
Well, this time it's sure to work.
It failed before.
It failed the time before that, but this time it is sure to work.
That means we know it will work.
You could also say this joke is very funny, and it is sure to make you smile.
Oh, I like that.
It's sure to make you smile.
Nathanael, how else do you use that phrase?
Well, I think it's freezing in here.
Turning on the fan is sure to make it too cold.
All right.
Turning on the fan or turning on the air conditioner is sure to make it too
cold.
Well, we continue.
He was sure it would change the world - and then it didn't.
And people would say things like "The professor is going to change the world?"
they joked.
They said "He couldn't change a light bulb.
He couldn't even change the channel on TV." The professor ignored all of the
jokes that people made.
Well, I kind of like these jokes.
He was going to change the world that something big.
But then how are these jokes different, Nathanael?
Well, these jokes are kind of different.
We see here that said the professor is going to change the world.
Of course, they are making fun of him with these things.
So it's not... not so good.
No, it's not.
And of course, he can't change the world.
He can't even change little things in this house.
Well, we continue: The professor ignored all the jokes that people made.
He wasn't about to give up.
And I like this phrase here: not about to do something.
If you're not about to do something, that means there's no question in your
mind.
You're not even going to think about doing something.
How could you use that phrase, Carolyn?
Well, Gabe, I'm not about to give you my last chocolate chip cookie.
What! You're not about to?
Sorry. No, no.
Well, I'm not about to stop asking you to give me your last chocolate chip
cookie.
The professor wasn't about to give up.
He knew that he was just ahead of his time.
And we see these Word Bank words: ahead of someone's time.
Nathanael, what does that mean if you're ahead of your time?
Well, if you're ahead of your time, you're doing something that seems like it
comes from the future, or is maybe very unique for your time.
All right.
You're ahead of your time.
There are many creative people in the past that were ahead of their time.
Like Shakespeare, I think of.
I think many people think the Beatles were also ahead of their time, creating
things that we would find out about... or create more about later.
Well, we have more to learn with Michelle in the Language Lab.
Let's go see her.
Hey, Michelle.
Hi, Michelle.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.