节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-12-25
难易度:Medium
关键字:ungrateful, disrespect, context, scarcity, consequently, bare-bone,
relegate
Welcome back, everybody.
Now one problem with Christmas gifts is they have the potential to disappoint,
don't they?
Have you ever received a beautifully wrapped gift from a friend or relative,
ripped open the paper only to discover it's something you don't really like,
want or need?
Well, the next time this happens to you, remember, the gift might be exactly
what you need, but you don't even know it.
Let's let our author explain as we jump back into our special CHRISTMAS lesson
on line 17.
When the Gift Meets the Need.
Our children had never known fruit to be a scarcity, just as they had never
known bare-bone want, or bread-and-butter sandwiches.
They didn't appreciate the gift because they had never experienced the need the
gift was meant to fill.
The same is true of Christmas today.
We don't appreciate the true gift of the season because we don't comprehend the
need the gift was given to fill.
Consequently, we relegate the gift of Christ to the back of the fridge.
Our author Lori is telling us a story of when her children received a Christmas
gift from their grandparents.
To the children, it was just a brown paper bag full of fruit and chocolate.
And so the kids decided just to leave it behind.
That's right.
They had no context to understand why this was important.
They had apples and oranges at home.
And they don't understand it, Ryan.
There's no way for them to understand it for a very specific reason.
That's right.
The children had never known fruit to be a scarcity, just as they had never
known bare-bone want or bread-and-butter sandwiches.
OK. Let's figure out what's going on in the sentence.
OK, lots of phrases in here.
So our children have never known fruit to be a scarcity.
Now a "scarcity" is when something is not easy to find or easy to get.
So sometimes, especially in Depression times when things are rare, it's hard to
get these things, they're expensive, and you're poor, that would be a scarcity.
Fruit would be a scarcity.
It's kind of hard to understand when we live in a time of lots of fruit,
especially if you live in the tropical areas of the world.
That's right.
Friends, if you are watching this, then chances are you are probably able to get
some fruit right now if you get hungry.
Just go down to the store, right?
Well, fruit used to be a scarcity a long time ago.
That's right.
It's... sometimes you can't get it all the time, maybe if the crop is bad.
They don't understand.
They also have never known bare-bone want.
OK. The phrase "bare-bone" just means that it's very basic.
That's right.
Now what does it mean to know something that is basic?
You can't like made it.
Yeah. Now if we say they've never known what basic want, that means they never
knew of basic want.
It's simply grammar.
Or experienced; it means they've never experienced this basic need for things.
Bare-bone, if you take a body, a human body and take away all the other stuff,
all you've left is the bones empty and bare.
That is basic.
That's what this is talking about is basic desire.
And you know, they just don't understand that.
OK. And yeah, that's the point here is it used to be that fruit was a bare-bone
want, something that was very basic and hard to find.
And so the kids did not see value in getting fruit as a gift, but their
grandparents definitely knew that fruit was a very special gift.
That's right.
They also don't understand bread-and-butter sandwiches, which is a phrase that
is used to say...
Sandwiches usually have a bunch of fruits and meats and vegetables and stuff on
them.
But a bread-and-butter sandwich means it's just bread, there's nothing.
And it's just emphasizing scarcity and the need for things.
OK. So friends, these are three basic phrases that are saying the same thing.
The kids here never knew what it was like to not have enough.
That's right, to need things.
They didn't appreciate the gift because they never experienced the need the gift
was meant to fill.
Exactly.
The need that something is meant to fill means that that is what its purpose is
for.
Yeah. And Ryan, what's the name of our article?
It says When the Gift Meets the Need.
Exactly.
So the need is what we... what needs... what is... what is desired, what is
missing.
Exactly. And so in this case, the gift - the fruit - used to fill a need, not
just a want.
That's right. When it meets the need, it means it takes care of it.
Well, then they don't understand it.
But the saying is actually true of all of Christmas today.
That's right.
Take a look at the gifts that you have received today.
Do they meet a need, or are they just something that you want and enjoy?
Probably some of them do meet a need.
Maybe you need new socks or clean underwear.
But really, we don't appreciate the true gifts of the season.
That's right.
And the reason you don't appreciate a true gift is because you can't comprehend
the need that the gift was given to fill.
OK. What we say... Ryan, if I get a gift, isn't a gift a gift?
What is the true gift of the season then?
Well, friends, the true gift of the Christmas season is Jesus Christ.
We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.
That's right.
It's Christmas Day, so today is Jesus' birthday.
But we don't really comprehend the need the gift is filling.
To comprehend means simply to understand what it means.
So there are consequences.
That's right.
"Consequently," or that means because of that, we relegate the gift of Christ to
the back of the fridge.
Since we don't understand it, the consequence, or consequently, or as a result
of not understanding, we relegate.
Ryan, what does it mean to relegate something?
All right, friends.
If you "relegate" something, that means you put it in a lower position or a less
important place.
So to promote means to put higher; to relegate means to put lower.
Exactly.
This can be true in your job, too.
You can be relegated.
That means you are taken from a high position and put into a less important one.
Oh, I hope that's not the case.
So what we're doing with Christmas is taking this gift of Christ and making
it... putting it to the back of the fridge.
Is that literal?
Well, no, of course not.
If we put something to the back of the fringe, then that means we're putting it
again in a less important place.
The back of the fridge is usually where we put the gross food that we don't want
to eat.
And it's an example of what the kids did with the fruit earlier.
Well, we're going to talk more about this gift of Christmas.
Friends, I hope you have a fantastic Christmas Day.
Merry Christmas from all of us at Studio Classroom.
Enjoy today's skit.
Let's find our gifts from Grandma and Grandpa!
Yeah! Oh, maybe this big gift is for us.
Oh, no.
Hmm. Oh, maybe that pretty gift is for us.
No.
Hmm.
Oh. These brown bags are for us.
What, brown bags?
Are you kidding?
No.
This one's for you.
And this one's for me.
Well, don't worry.
I'm sure these things have something really nice and expensive inside.
Yeah.
Grandma and Grandpa just forgot to wrap them.
Yeah. So let's open them up and see what we got.
Yeah!
Oh, look! An apple!
You got an iPad?
No. It's an apple.
Oh, no.
I got an apple, too.
There must be something else.
Yeah. Let's see.
Oh.
Here's an orange.
An orange for Christmas?
What kinds of gifts are these?
These gifts make no sense.
They have no context.
This is crazy.
It's nuts!
Yeah.
Oh, speaking of nuts... I got nuts.
Yeah. And I got chocolates... cheap chocolates.
We drove eight hours for this?
No kid would be content with apples and oranges.
We've been cheated.
So now what?
Let's hide our bags in the back of the refridgerator.
Yeah!
I'm so disappointed.
Me too. Hmph!
(Music).
(Chinese).
And it's time for us to say bye-bye.
Happy holidays, and I'll see you next time.
What's a perfect gift?
Well, someone once said that there are three things that make a gift perfect.
First, the gift is exactly what you need.
Second, the gift is something that you could never get or buy yourself.
And thirdly, the gift is something you get exactly at the time you need it most.
Does such a gift really exist?
Indeed it does.
And that's the reason we celebrate Christmas.
Friends, tomorrow we'll learn more about the perfect gift that God gave us on
Christmas.
Until then, I hope the rest of your Christmas Day is fantastic.
Take care.