节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-09-18
难易度:Medium
关键字:adjust, havoc, occurrence, transfer, reflective
OK. It's time to get back from the break.
The last time we discussed personal finances was in May, about the importance of
saving money.
Our author encouraged us to regularly set money aside in case of an emergency.
Well, it must have been an important point because we see it again today as the
fourth and final step of our lesson.
Let's finish up the reading now under the heading - Start an emergency fund.
(Music).
Changing Your Financial Future.
Start an emergency fund.
Unexpected expenses can create havoc with your budget.
Having an emergency fund gives you the ability to deal with unexpected
occurrences while letting you stay on budget.
First, decide how much you will need.
Experts often recommend having enough money to cover between three and six
months of living expenses.
Then set up your emergency fund by opening a bank account that will only be used
for emergencies.
Make saving for your emergency fund and other savings part of your budget.
You can even have your bank automatically transfer a set amount of money into
your emergency fund and other savings each month.
OK, friends. We've given you three tips so far.
We see you need to track your spending and then make a budget.
And just before the break, we were telling you how to stay on your budget.
That's right.
Make a budget.
Use the envelope method to help you stay on your budget so that you can have
a...
an adusted budget so it fits your life that is realistic and reflective and
shows what is most common and most reasonable for you.
Right, and for your needs.
So you can adjust your spending but also adjust your budget.
Now if Ryan and I were to create a budget, our budgets would be very different
because we spend money on different things.
That's why it's important that you learn to adjust it so it reflects you, not
your friends, but reflects how you spend money.
Right. It reflects or shows your own personality.
OK. So we've given you three tips so far.
And we told you we are going to you four.
What's the fourth?
Well, our fourth and final tip is start an emergency fund.
Now that might sound strange, but you never know when something might happen.
That's why we call it an emergency.
Right. An emergency is when something happens that you didn't expect, usually
something bad.
What about a fund?
A fund is a set aside group of money that you keep on the side.
It's prepared ahead of time.
So maybe you have a college fund, you put money into it.
So when you are working throughout high school or junior high, your parents give
you money, you get to put that in your college fund.
And then when you get to college, all the money is already there.
OK. So a fund is money that is saved for a purpose like college, or in this
case, an emergency.
And unexpected expenses can create havoc with your budget.
OK, havoc.
This is a great and very descriptive word.
It'd be excellent in your writing.
So friends, learn to use it.
"Havoc" means to cause a lot of disorder or confusion.
It is very damaging or troublesome.
So when there is... is creating havoc, that's a bad thing.
Yes. That means that oftentimes things that are unexpected or things you don't
expect can create big problems with your budget.
Now having an emergency fund gives you the ability to deal with unexpected
emergencies, occurrences while letting you stay on your budget.
OK. Now this happens all the time, friends.
You can't plan for spending on a certain month and think that nothing unexpected
will happen.
Unexpected occurrences happen all the time.
Unexpected means you're not looking for it.
It's not prepared.
And an occurence, "occurence" means something that happens.
So these are things you're not expecting.
Well, that is our Grammar on the Go sentence.
So let's visit Liz.
Hi, friends.
My name is Liz.
And it's time for Grammar on the Go.
Our DO IT YOURSELF article of the month is about Changing Your Financial Future.
And the writer writes:
Having an emergency fund gives you the ability to deal with unexpected
occurrences while letting you stay on budget.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
Our focus today is on the sentence pattern:
Having a (something) gives you the ability to do (something) while letting you
do (something else).
Use this sentence pattern when you want to talk about how something allows you
to do activity A while also letting you do activity B.
Usually activity A and activity B deal with opposite things.
In the case of today's sentence, activity A would be dealing with unexpected
occurrences or emergencies.
And activity B would be staying on budget or handling the usual and the
expected.
OK. Let's have a look at some other examples.
A lot of people with kids need to earn money but they also have to take care of
their children.
Fortunately, many have found the solution by choosing to work from home.
So we can say:
Working from home has given many parents the ability to earn money while taking
care of their children.
Or many students would love to study overseas but they worry about their
finances.
Now there are work-study programs that allow students to not only study overseas
but also work a little on the side and make some money.
So we can say:
Work-study programs have given students the ability to work a little while
studying overseas.
Be sure to check out today's Grammar Tip section for more example sentences.
And that's it for today.
This is Liz with Grammar on the Go signing off.
Bye-bye.
All right, friends.
There is a phrase in English that says "Expect the unexpected." That means you
need to plan for things that you don't know whether or not they will happen.
That is what we are trying to do with an emergency fund.
Well, how do we get started at an emergency fund?
First, decide how much you will need.
How much money just in case there's a problem?
OK. So how much extra money should you have in case something happens?
Well, experts often recommend having enough money to cover between three and six
months of living expenses.
Now that's very important and a very good tip.
Experts are people who are supposed to know the most or have the best knowledge
of an area.
So save three to six months of living expenses in your emergency fund.
Then what?
All right.
Then set up your emergency fund by opening a bank account that will only be used
for emergencies.
That's a good idea.
OK, only for emergencies.
Make saving for your emergency fund and other savings part of your budget.
So your savings account gets to be one of those envelopes just as your emergency
fund does as well.
And we see it should be a big envelope, between three and six months of living
expenses.
You can even have your bank automatically transfer a set amount of money into
your emergency fund and other savings each month.
OK. If you "transfer" something, that means you move it from one place to the
other.
And your bank can move money from one account to another account.
"They can do that automatically" means it does it without you telling them to.
Once you have it set once, they continually do it.
Now friends, I hope these four tips have helped you and you can create a tracked
budget that fits your lifestyle to be better prepared for your future.
All right. Now let's go to the Chat Room.
Hi. Thanks for coverying the counter while I'm gone.
I'll be back in ten minutes.
Hi, Ken.
I'm ready to go get that cup of coffee with you.
Bryan, I just realized that I forgot to bring my wallet today.
So why don't you go without me.
Nonsense. I can cover you.
Cover me?
I thought we were talking about coffee, not playing basketball.
No, Ken, not cover you as in guard you but cover as in pay the bill.
I'm sorry. But I still don't know what you're talking about.
Uh oh. In that case, we'd better have Doris explain this one for us.
Good idea.
Being able to cover a payment means you have enough money to pay for an entire
amount that's due.
For example, a person might decide not to live in an expensive neighborhood
because they're afraid they can't cover the rent.
OK. That explains you paying my coffee.
And thanks for doing that, by the way.
But what about telling your co-worker to cover the desk?
Oh, right.
I was telling her to take care of the counter while I'm away.
I also could have said "Thanks for covering for me," which means thanks for
doing my job while I'm away.
You don't have people cover for you often, do you?
No, I don't, Ken.
I prefer to run the counter myself.
Well, if you only have ten minutes, I suppose we'd better get going.
Right.
We need to cover three blocks in a short amount of time.
And I'm guessing that "cover" here means to travel three blocks.
Right on.
OK. I'll be with you in a moment.
(Chinese).
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
And that concludes our Language Tips today.
I'll see you tomorrow.
Bye-bye.
Thank you, Michelle.
We appreciate that.
OK. So tracking your expenses makes you aware of what you are spending money on.
And it makes it easier for you to create a realistic budget.
Using the envelope method helps you control your spending and makes it easier to
adjust your budget.
And finally, having an emergency fund gives you the ability to deal with
unexpected events but still letting you stick to your budget.
Friends, we hope this Studio Classroom lesson was helpful not just with your
English but with your finances too.
So until we meet again, I hope you have a great day. Bye-bye.