节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-09-11
难易度:Medium
关键字:shelter, notable, pollution, reckless
Hi, friends.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to study with us.
My name is Steve.
Which is better, a car or a scooter?
In our second day of this VIEWPOINTS lesson, we continue to carefully consider
all the angles on how best to get around in style and comfort.
Now one advantage to driving a scooter that I like is having the ability to pass
cars that are stuck in traffic,
and of course, always going to the front of the line during a red light.
OK.
Ann is thinking about buying a car.
Can Tim talk her out of it?
Let's get back to their conversation at the top of page 25 and find out.
(Music).
Car or Scooter?
I guess I don't need a lot of storage space most of the time.
But cars also offer more shelter from the rain and other bad weather than
scooters do.
Yeah, it's nice to not have to worry about rain, and air conditioning is a real
advantage in the summer.
But cars also have some notable disadvantages.
Really?
Like what?
Finding a parking space can be difficult, especially in big cities.
Scooters are much easier to park.
I guess you're right.
(Music).
Hello, everyone.
Thank you for joining us.
My name is Ryan.
And my name is Kaylah.
And today we are back discussing cars versus scooters - which is better?
OK. Now we've seen a conversation between Ann and Tim.
And Ann is really interested in buying a new car, but she already has a scooter.
Well, she's talking to Tim for some advice.
That's right.
Tim owned a scooter in the past, but now he owns a car.
So she is asking for his advice on which is better.
OK. Well we left off yesterday by seeing that Tim said:
Maybe you can just rent a car because you don't really need all of that space
all the time.
Besides, you are not married, you don't have kids.
And so you are only one person, you don't really need a car all the time.
That's right.
You don't need the storage space.
We know that word "storage" is where you keep things.
So Ann starts off today saying, "I guess I don't need a lot of storage space
most of the time." And before we get started into today's article,
that is our Grammar on the Go sentence.
So let's find Liz with Grammar on the Go.
Hi there, friends.
I hope you're all doing well today.
My name is Liz.
And it's time for Grammar and the Go.
So what do you think, is it better to have a car or is it better to have a
scooter?
We find Ann and Tim discussing this.
And Ann says: I guess I don't need a lot of storage space most of the time.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
Notice how the sentence begins with the phrase, "I guess..." Normally,
we use "guess" to talk about forming an answer when there isn't enough
information to be sure of.
But in today's sentence, "I guess" is another way to say "I suppose." But "I
guess" is usually used in informal speaking situations.
So if someone were to ask you where your friend is, and you think he's probably
at home but you can't be sure, so you can say:
I guess my friend is at home.
Or if your friends want to do something together this weekend but nobody has a
clear idea, then you can suggest:
I guess having dinner and watching a movie is always a possibility if we can't
think of anything else.
If you'd like to see some more example sentences, they're available in today's
Grammar Tip section in your Studio Classroom magazine.
That's all the time we have for today.
This is Liz with Grammar on the Go signing off.
Bye-bye.
All right. Thank you very much, Liz.
So we see that Ann says she doesn't really need that much storage space most of
the time.
But cars also offer more shelter from rain and other bad weather.
This is an interesting point, Ryan.
I know where I am from, we don't get very much rain, but our bad weather is a
lot colder.
We get a lot of snow.
So I would say she's right.
Living in Colorado, where I'm from, it would not make sense to drive a scooter.
It'd be very cold.
That's true.
Scooters don't offer very much shelter.
"Shelter" is talking about protection, usually protection from weather or from
danger.
Actually, Ryan, I do have a friend who has a scooter in Colorado.
And he is always coming in all wet and cold, and he's got snow, and his face is
all red.
He could use more shelter.
Yeah, I'd think so.
Now I'm from California, so I'm not used to needing a lot of shelter because it
doesn't rain very often.
In fact, I used to own a car that had a roof that could come off completely.
So I didn't need the shelter as much.
But if you live somewhere where it rains or has really bad weather like
Colorado, then you would definitely need the shelter.
That's right.
And cars offer the shelter, but scooters do not.
OK. So Tim says: Yeah, it's nice to not have to worry about rain, and air
conditioning is a real advantage in the summer.
That's right.
Air conditioning is awesome.
We like having air conditioning.
It's that cold air that blows into the house and blows into the buildings.
Now it is a real advantage.
What does that mean?
All right.
An advantage means that it is something that causes something else to be better.
So in this case, the car has an advantage over a scooter when you want to have
comfortable air, nice and cold air.
The car is better than the scooter in that area.
That's right.
So it offers you both protection from cold weather and wet weather but also from
hot weather if you are in a car.
So that's definitely an advantage.
But cars also have some notable disadvantages as well.
OK. Now first let's talk about disadvantages.
If an advantage is something that makes something else better, then a
disadvantage makes something else worse.
So here he says there are some things about cars that are worse than scooters,
and those are very notable.
And "notable" means it is important, and so important that it deserves our
attention.
We should point it out.
You should take a note.
You see the word "notable." The word "note" is in there.
That means you recognize it.
And we do recognize some of these disadvantages.
OK. Well, Ann is surprised.
She says: Really? There are disadvantages to cars? Like what?
I think this is a great one:
Finding a parking space can be difficult, especially in big... in big cities.
Scooters definitely are much easier to park.
That's true.
I know with my scooter it's easy, I can... I know no matter where I go, I can
find a place to put my scooter and park it.
That means keep it there.
Especially when you live in a big city like Taipei City, there's a lot of
scooter parking.
It's made available.
But finding space to put your car is difficult.
And Ann has to agree.
She says: You know, I guess you're right.
Of course she says that.
Cars are bigger, and therefore harder to find a place to keep them or park them.
And there are less legal places that you can park them.
And it can be more expensive to park a car than a scooter.
Well, this is not the end of our debate with Ann and Tim.
There are more disadvantages and advantages to look at after we visit the Chat
Room.
Hey, Ken.
Hey, Bryan.
Is something going on at the library today?
I've never had this much trouble finding a parking space.
Yes, we're having a reception up on the second floor today for a few authors
from this area.
And it looks like a lot of people have decided to come.
Oh, no wonder.
I was wondering why the library's parking garage was so full.
Actually, Ken, the right term in that sentence would be "parking lot" rather
than parking garage.
Oh.
So what exactly is the difference between a parking lot and a parking garage?
Good question.
I think I'll let Studio Classroom's Editor-in-Chief Doris explain it.
A parking lot is a large level area where cars or other vehicles are parked.
It can be covered or open to the air.
But a parking garage is a large building that contains several levels of parking
lots stacked on top of each other.
OK.
So since the parking lot outside is only one level and it isn't part of a
building, it's not a parking garage?
That's right.
If you travel outside the U.S., you might also hear the word "car park," which
is the British term for a parking lot.
I see.
And parking space has a different meaning than those terms?
That's right.
A parking space is just the area where a single car can park.
Parking lots usually have lines on the ground so drivers can see where one space
ends and the next begins.
I see.
But what about when a car is parked on the street?
Is the place where it'd stop also called a parking space?
Well, Ken, that depends.
If there are lines drawn on the side of the road showing the cars are supposed
to park there, then those are called parking spaces.
But if there are no lines and the car is just pulled over to the side, that
wouldn't be a parking space.
I see.
Well, thanks for the English lesson, Bryan.
I think I'll go upstairs and check out that reception.
It sounds interesting.
I'm sure it will be.
Have fun.