节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-12-12
难易度:Low
关键字:anxiety, activity, on short notice, relax
OK, friends.
Welcome back from the break.
With Christmas, New Year's and Chinese Spring Festival coming, we are entering a
major party season.
But of course, parties aren't just for the holidays.
There are other reasons to celebrate too, like birthdays, anniversaries,
graduations, farewells and reunions.
OK. What else makes a party successful?
Preparation.
That's part of tip number three which starts on line 12.
(Music).
How to Host the Perfect Party?
Prepare for your event.
If it's in your home, clean the rooms that people will be using.
If it's at a restaurant, reserve enough tables for everyone.
If you are providing food - be prepared!
Choose food that is easy to make and serve.
Better yet, prepare the meal with your guests.
Is the party on short notice?
Tell your guests which dish they can bring to share!
And the final tip?
After all your hard work, relax for about a half hour before the party begins.
Friends, are you planning a holiday party?
Well, I hope you are, or at least have one go to.
Well, if you're planning the party, sometimes this holiday season where should
be lots of fun just becomes too stressful.
So today we're helping you plan your party well.
That's right.
We don't want you to have too much anxiety, and so you can throw a party without
being too stressed by following these tips.
We've already told you that you should know how many guests you have room for or
have space for.
And you should decide what you're going to do at the party.
And let your guests know in advance.
OK. So we said a couple of things:
Maybe you could do is you can eat a meal, or you could do some sort of
activity-based party.
So if you're having a meal, make sure you are prepared for your event.
That's right.
Prepare, that means you need to do what you need to do before the event starts
so that you are ready.
Now if it's in your home, clean.
Make sure you clean the rooms that people will be using.
Otherwise, it just is a little awkward when people come up to your house and
there is dirty furniture and laundry,
and you're just like, "Oh, no!" How awkward is that!
Yeah. Now this makes sense to me, Kaylah.
If you're going to have people at your house, you don't want them to feel
awkward and weird and see all of your dirt that you left behind.
Yeah, feel a little gross.
So clean your house.
Now if it's at a restaurant, you don't have to clean.
They'll do that.
But you should reserve enough tables for everyone.
Now to reserve something means you have it set aside and saved for, and...
especially a table like this saved at the restaurant.
Now why is it important to reserve tables, Kaylah?
Well, if you have a big group of people and you show up at a restaurant, they
might not have space for you.
So you call ahead and reserve the tables.
That means they save the space for you and they're prepared for you.
It's actually nicer to the restaurant as well so that they can be prepared for a
large group of people to come in.
That's right.
So they know before you come that you will be coming, and they can make sure
they have enough tables and enough food.
And you'll have a better time; and they'll have a better time.
Nobody wants to be stuck waiting for a party.
No, of course not.
OK. Now next, if you are providing food, you should be prepared.
Hey, there's that term again - be prepared.
Exactly. This, I think, is again the most important point - be ready.
Be prepared, especially if you are providing or bringing food.
That's right.
If you're bringing or sharing or giving food, choose food that is easy to make
and serve.
Friends, if you're planning a big party, you do not want a dish that takes hours
and hours to cook, and is a mess to serve.
It needs to be something people can eat very easily.
Maybe avoiding soups and bowls, stuff like that, you're going to have lots to
clean up, and spills... Oh, it'd just be gross.
Now sometimes, Kaylah, people want to share their favorite dish with people, or
they want to impress people with an amazing dish.
But maybe that's not the smartest thing.
Find something that is a little easier, not only for you to make but also to
serve.
And what does it mean when you serve?
"Serve" means that's what you're offering for them to eat.
It's out there for them to enjoy.
Now here's a better option.
We have the phrase - better yet - prepare the meal with your guests.
That could be a fun party.
And that's a great sentence.
So let's visit Liz with Grammar on the Go.
Hi there, friends.
Welcome to Grammar on the Go.
My name is Liz.
I'm here at my friend's house for a party.
Now speaking of party, we're talking about hosting the perfect party in today's
article.
And the writer suggests that readers choose food that is easy to make and serve.
The writer then continues on with this sentence:
Better yet, prepare the meal with your guests.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
Our focus today is on the phrase, better yet.
It's a sure way to say, "an even better idea would be... " In other words,
even though the writer mentions how it's wise to choose food that is easy to
make and serve,
an even better idea would be to prepare the meal with your guests.
Use this phrase, better yet, when a good idea was just mentioned, but then you
want to mention an even better idea.
For example:
Since it's rare that all of us have the day off, let's go out for dinner. Better
yet, let's watch a movie afterwards!
Or: We should send Becky a birthday card because it's her birthday today.
Better yet, let's go to her house and surprise her with a cake!
So friends, give this phrase a try.
Next time when you're talking about plans and ideas, and you think of an idea
that's even better than what was suggested, consider using this phrase.
That's all the time we have for today.
This is Liz with Grammar on the Go signing off.
Bye-bye.
All right, so.
Not only should you choose food that is easy for you to make and share with your
guests, but maybe you can even prepare the meal with your guests.
That's right.
That means you cook it with them.
How fun would that be!
Now is the party on short notice?
Sometimes this happens.
If something is "on short notice," what does that mean?
That means there's only a short amount of time before something happens.
So maybe the word here "notice" means that you know something.
And if it's "short" notice, that means you don't know what is going to happen
until a very short time before.
Now "notice" is actually a word that we use in English as well.
It's not just part of this phrase.
To notice something means you recognize it, you see it, you understand it, so.
If you're going on short notice, that means people don't... don't know that it's
happening.
They don't see that it's coming up.
So make sure you give them enough advance notice.
But if not, here's a tip to help your "on short notice" parties.
All right.
You can tell your guests which dish they can bring to share.
Oh, what a clever idea!
My friends, and I do this a lot.
We say: Bring your own food, something big enough to share with the whole party.
That's right.
Now you might also hear another English word called "potluck." A potluck party
means everyone brings one dish that they enjoy to share with everyone else.
And our final tip?
All right.
The final tip is after all your hard work, you should relax for about half hour
before the party begins.
That's right.
Now to "relax" means to be less active and more calm and happy.
The reason we say you need to relax, that means stop worrying, stop running
around the kitchen.
Take time to sit down and breathe for a minute.
Otherwise, you will be so stressed that you will not enjoy your party.
If you are relaxed, when people show up, it'll be a much more enjoyable time.
It'll be more enjoyable for you and more enjoyable for them.
That's right, friends.
Now if you host a holiday party, make sure you send us your pictures to our
Facebook or to letters@StudioClassroom.com.
OK. We'll see you tomorrow.
Enjoy the Chat Room.
Hey, Bryan.
What are you reading?
Oh, just a book about Italian cooking.
Oh, yeah?
I love Italian food!
Oh, really? What's your favorite Italian dish?
My favorite dish?
Well, I'm not very interested in dishes or plates, but I do like lasagna.
Wait! You do know that "dish" can refer to a specific type of food, right?
Of course!
I was just trying to make you laugh, Bryan.
OK. You got me, Ken.
In that case, I can say that lasagna is my favorite Italian dish too.
Great! That's one more thing we have in common.
But Bryan, I'm still a little confused about one phrase: do the dishes.
To do the dishes means to wash the dishes.
I got that part, but why do we say "the" dishes?
Oh. Well, the dishes refers to all of the dishes and plates, cups, forks, knives
and anything else used while preparing and eating a meal.
So when someone asks me to do the dishes, I should wash everything, not just the
plates?
You got it, Ken.
And by the way, how often do you help your wife do the dishes?
I must admit, I don't wash the dishes often, but I do help put them in our dish
washing machine.
That's a good start.
I know my wife and I couldn't live without our dishwasher.
(Chinese).
(Music).
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
And relax! You did a wonderful job today.
Keep up the good work, and I'll see you tomorrow.
We talk a lot about what needs to be done before hosting a party,
but few people say anything about what to do after the big party is over besides
cleaning up.
Well, one suggestion might be to write down a summary of how the party went.
What was served?
Who was there?
What went wrong, and what went right?
Keeping track of this information could help make your next party even better.
Friends, make the rest of your Wednesday great.
And then join us tomorrow when we talk about a great gift to give kids.
Until then, have a great day.