节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-01-10
难易度:Medium
关键字:lose track (of time), turn back the clock, time flies, live on the
borrowed time, not give someone t
Well, the professor certainly has had some interesting ideas about his time
machine and trying to turn back the clock, or turn back time.
We see that he tried to read books backward or look at a calendar through a
telescope under a lamp to see light years into the future.
I'm very curious to know whether or not he is successful in building this time
machine.
So let's continue with the next part of the story for today.
(Music).
It's About Time.
Then he remembered the saying that time flies, so he threw his watch out of the
window to see if it was true.
He applied for a loan at the bank - he had heard about people living on borrowed
time.
Sadly, the banker wouldn't give him the time of day.
Finally, he made an amazing discovery - a way to save time and give him lots of
extra time.
"I've got it, Mildred!" he exclaimed.
"If I give up on my time machine project, I'll have plenty of time for other
things!" His wife smiled, "Well, it's about time!".
Yes, it's about time.
I agree with Mildred.
Well, we see here the first sentence of this part.
We're continuing the story.
Then he, the professor, remembered the saying that time flies, so he threw his
watch out of the window to see if it was true.
All right.
Well, before we talk about that joke, we're going to talk about those two words:
time flies.
This just means that time sometimes seems like it is going very, very quickly.
How do you use that phrase, Nathanael?
Well, we have a saying that we say a lot as well: Time flies when you're having
fun.
We kind of talked about this before when we lost track of time.
I sometimes think that time flies when I'm having a good conversation, I'm
having fun or doing something interesting, sometimes working very hard.
In all these cases, time flies.
That's right.
Time flies.
I usually think about time and I... the older I get, it seems like time really
does fly.
But it's true, time flies when you're having fun.
You don't even want to stop what you're doing.
It seems like it's over too quickly.
Well, Carolyn, this is a joke here.
Why is it a joke?
What's the joke here?
Well, it is a joke because he took his watch and threw it out the window.
So he made his watch fly.
And since we use watches to tell time, he tried to make time fly.
But I don't think it quite works that way.
No, I don't think so either.
I think perhaps his watch broke.
And I hope he used a cheap watch because I don't think he can use that watch
again.
Time doesn't fly that way, dear professor.
Continuing on in our story.
He applied for a loan at the bank - he had heard about people living on borrowed
time.
All right. We see another idiom there from the Word Bank.
Nathanael, what does that mean, to live on borrowed time?
Well, if you're living on borrowed time, you're probably doing something past
the time you usually would be about to do it.
Or sometime... something is existing past the time that it's expected to.
I might say... I might ask you if you have line on your phone.
And some people might say that line is living on borrowed time.
It's not going to be around much longer.
Interesting; living on borrowed time.
Well, this is another joke in our lesson.
He heard that people were living on borrowed time, and so what did he do?
He applied for a loan at the bank.
Do you get it? A loan, you need to borrow a loan.
You borrow time, maybe.
Is that funny?
Well, you know, you do try to borrow money from the bank.
And so he's trying to borrow time from the bank - to get a loan of time.
Exactly.
Well, we're going to continue the story.
Sadly, the banker wouldn't give him the time of day.
All right.
This is our last idiom of this lesson: to not give someone the time of day.
And this just means that you don't think someone is worth your time.
You don't want to invest no conversation with them.
You don't want to spend time on something.
You don't give it the time of day.
Do you guys ever use this phrase, Carolyn?
Well, you can use this phrase.
"To not give someone the time of day" means that maybe you really don't want to
talk to someone, you want to ignore them, so.
My sister was so mad at me.
"She wouldn't even give me the time of day" means she wouldn't say anything to
me, not even tell me what time it was.
Actually, maybe that makes me think:
Sometimes if someone doesn't want to give you the time of day, maybe you want to
share something,
you wanted to explain yourself, but she didn't even want to hear it.
She wouldn't give you the time of day.
And sometimes that happens.
You don't want to give something or someone the time of day.
It's not usually a nice feeling if someone just ignores you.
So be careful when you do this, when you don't give someone the time of day.
Well, has that ever happened for you, Nathanael?
Do you not give someone the time of day?
Well, I don't like it when people ignore me, so I try to give people the time of
day.
But sometimes we also say that we don't give certain ideas the time of day.
I don't think about that.
I don't give that the time of day.
It's another good way to use that phrase.
What is the continuing sentence in this article?
Well, it says: Finally, he made an amazing discovery - a way to save time and
give him lots of extra time.
Now if you make a discovery, that means that you find something new.
What kind of discoveries can you make, Gabe?
Well, this phrase just makes me think of my friend Steve, actually, Steve from
the Information Cloud.
For a long time he thought that a lot of his ancestors were from France, that he
had French roots.
And then he made a discovery.
Recently, actually, he made the discovery that actually a lot of them are from
Belgium.
So he has more Belgian roots than French.
That's an interesting discovery to make about yourself.
That is a very interesting discovery to make.
Hmm. I wonder what other discoveries you can make in your own lives?
Well, let's see what discovery the professor made.
He said, "I've got it, Mildred!" he exclaimed.
"If I give up on my time machine project, I'll have plenty of time for other
things." Oh.
So here he's decided he's not going to work on the time machine anymore.
And his wife smiled: Well, it's about time!
It is about time.
It's about time.
I like when he said too.
He said: I've got it!
And if you come up with a new idea, and you think it's really going to work, you
can say: I've got it.
Well, it's about time he discovered that he shouldn't waste all that time
creating a time machine.
Friends, we've had a great time with you talking about all these time idioms and
learning about this story.
It's a fun story.
Right now it's time for us to enjoy a review skit.
Hello, professor.
I see you're working hard on your time machine.
Oh, yes. I'm drawing up plans and creating clocks and timers.
And you're reading a lot of books.
That's right.
I'm reading them backwards.
Why backwards?
I thought it might turn back the clock.
But it hasn't.
OK.
Why do you have this calendar under a light?
I want to see light years into the future.
I threw my watch out of the window.
You did? Why?
I wanted to see time fly.
Did it work?
No, and now my watch doesn't work either.
Well, what else have you tried?
Well, I applied for a loan and the bank.
OK, why?
So I could live on borrowed time.
So what happened?
The bankers wouldn't give me the time of day.
I guess my wife is right.
Right about what?
She thinks I'm wasting my time.
Is she right?
Time will tell.
Ouch! Ouch!
Are you OK? What happened?
An idea just hit me!
Oh.
That's it! I'm quitting this project.
You're giving up on the time machine?
Yes! If I quit this project, I'll have plenty of time for other things.
Ugh. Well, it's about time.
(Music).
Well, I hope you enjoyed that skit.
And I'm sure you're going to enjoy what Michelle has to say at the Language Lab.
OK.
(Chinese).
And let's get back to the teachers.
Well, I've had a lot of fun learning about these time idioms over the last
couple of days.
Actually, this author, Billy Haselton, he works at Studio Classroom, or for
Studio Classroom.
But I never met him.
He worked here in Taipei before I came, so he was before my time here at Studio
Classroom.
Well, Carolyn, I think we're running out of time.
Really?
Yeah.
Because this lesson has just gone by in the blink of an eye.
It's... it's just... it's like time has flown out the window.
That's right, because time flies when you are having fun.
Well, I do like to give you the time of day because I think what you have to say
is important.
And time after time we're here, and we get to learn great fun things here on
Studio Classroom.
It's true.
And there's so much to talk about that we have no time on our hands to do
anything...
Guys, guys.
Why are you saying "time" all the time?
Well, Nathanael, you just said "time" twice in that sentence.
What are you talking about?
But we don't have the time for this.
Well, we do have the time for this.
Nathanael, we're having the time of our lives here!
OK, sorry. We will see you next time on Studio Classroom.
Next time.
Next time.
Bye.