节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-04-27
难易度:Medium
关键字:assignment, pace, turn in something, concept, sink
Hi, everybody.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Thanks for joining us.
My name is Steve.
OK.
Raise your hand if you like doing homework.
Oh. I see more raised hands than I expected.
Good.
Well, then you'll find our VIEWPOINTS lesson interesting because this month
we're asking: What kind of homework is best?
Oh. You didn't know there were different kinds of homework, did you?
Well, there are.
Among others, there's what we call long projects and daily practice.
And to help us understand the pros and cons of these are two friends Jane and
Ben.
Let's begin with their conversation on page 50.
(Music).
What Kind of Homework is Best?
Long projects or daily practice? Which is better?
Jane and her friend Ben are studying together.
I wish I didn't have such a long homework assignment.
It's so extensive and so much work!
I think your project sounds really interesting.
You just have a due date and can work on it at your own pace.
Having individual homework assignments every single night is more work.
I never have a night off!
I would much rather have different assignments every night.
Then I could turn in the homework and not have to think about it anymore.
It would be so nice!
(Music).
Hello, friends.
Thank you so much for joining us here in the studio.
My name is Kaylah.
And my name is Brandon.
We have an exciting topic today.
Well, it may not be exciting for everyone.
But we're talking about homework today.
Brandon! How is that exciting to anybody?
You're right.
I was just trying to make it a little exciting.
It is helpful to have homework.
But if you're like me, you probably don't like homework.
Then I'm like you, Brandon, because I know I never liked homework.
It's never fun.
But today we are in our VIEWPOINTS article where we know we discuss two
different sides of one problem.
Now you may be thinking: Oh. The question is, "Should we have homework or not?"
But that is not the question.
Today we're talking about which kind of homework is best.
That's right.
Should we have long projects or daily practice?
Which is better?
Should we have these daily assignments or should we just work on one project for
many days at a time?
Well, Brandon, I know we haven't started teaching the article yet, but do you
have a preference?
What do you think is better?
Well, I kind of like the idea of daily assignments because you can finish them
quickly and hand them in, and you're done!
OK. Well, that's your... your opinion.
We'll see what our two characters are talking about in today's VIEWPOINTS
article.
All right.
We start with Jane and her friend Ben are studying together.
That's usually where homework takes place.
You study, and you do your homework.
And so we see Jane and Ben are doing exactly that.
That's right.
They're taking time to work on the schoolwork together.
Well, we start our conversation with Jane.
She says: I wish I didn't have such a long homework assignment.
That's right. Sometimes I have said that.
In the past I wish I didn't have such a long homework assignment.
But an "assignment" is something that your teacher gives you, something that you
have to complete, and then you have to hand it in.
Maybe you have a report that you have to work on and hand in, or something in
math class.
That would be your assignment for that class.
That's right.
So if we're putting it simply, it's a piece of work that you are given to do and
have to turn back in at some point.
Now we are talking specifically, Brandon, about school in this article.
So we know that's homework, would be assignments from your teacher that have to
do studies.
But you can also have work assignments.
For example, you could be told at your office that you need to design a new
Facebook page for the company.
Now that would be an assignment.
That's right.
So we have assignments whether we are in school or at work.
And we see here that Jane says it's so extensive, so much work is involved here!
So she says it's extensive.
That means there's a lot of work involved.
It's going to take maybe a lot of time to finish this assignment.
That's right. Time and energy have to go into this project she's working on.
Well, Ben says: I think your project sounds really interesting.
You just have to... a due date and you can work on it at your own pace.
So he's making a point that even though it's a long assignment, you get to do it
at your own time, on your own pace.
That's right.
And we see here that there is a due date.
And so you just hand it in when it is time to hand in the assignment.
Maybe you have two weeks to work on it.
And then the assignment is due, you must hand it in.
And you can work at your own pace.
I like this, Kaylah.
You can work at your own speed.
That's right.
"Pace" means speed that something is moving.
So if you think about a turtle, they move at a very slow pace.
And a car would move at a very fast pace.
But this is not actually movement.
This is not physically moving somewhere.
This is the progress you make on your assignment.
So you can go at your own pace.
Maybe you have a month to do it, and you do a little bit every day.
Or maybe you do it all in the last two days.
Whatever your pace may be.
Well, Ben goes on to say: Having individual homework assignments every single
night is more work.
And we see here the phrase "every single night." He's emphasizing that he has to
do these assignments and work on them all the time.
And he thinks it's just too difficult, Kaylah.
He says, "I never get a night off." And if you work at your own pace, you could
choose a night off.
Well, Jane says: I would much rather have different assignments every night.
Then I could turn in the homework and not have to think about it anymore.
So Jane says that she could turn in that homework and not have to think about it
anymore.
If you "turn something in," you produce which you have been working on.
And so maybe you've been working on a paper, and so when... once you are
finished, you turn that in to your teacher.
That's right.
You take the final and finished product, whatever it is, and return it to the
person who gave you the assignment.
So as a student, you would turn in your assignment to a teacher.
And in an office, you would turn in your assignment to your boss.
So Jane is thinking: I would rather have these different assignments every day.
And she can just quickly finish them and turn them in, and she doesn't have to
think about them anymore.
What do you think, Kaylah?
Would you rather have these assignments every day or would you... rather work in
a long-term project?
Well, I'm... I'm interested to see where Ben and Jane take their discussion.
Jane thinks it would be so nice, very convenient to just turn it in and never
think about it again.
But I don't know, Brandon.
I kind of like projects because I like being able to develop it and, like Ben
said, I do like working at my own pace.
That's a good enough reason, I think.
And so, well, we've been talking about homework today and assignments and all of
these different things at school.
Maybe you're not in school, but maybe have assignments at work, so you can think
about it for yourself.
Do you like projects, or would you like to have small tasks that you do on a
daily basis, you can finish it, go home and have a good night's rest?
Well, you think about that.
And right now, we're going to join Ken in the Chat Room.
Hey Ken. Are you OK?
No, I'm not.
Take a look at this letter.
OK.
Oh. This is a notice from the library.
I'm afraid you have three books overdue, and you have to pay...
$15! That's crazy!
Why didn't you warn me about this, Bryan?
Oh. I'm sorry, Ken.
I don't keep track of everybody's due dates.
I suggest that you sign up for e-mail notices.
That way you can receive automatic reminders.
Well, I didn't know about that.
I'm terribly sorry about this.
But just remember, our due dates are pretty serious.
They are not suggestions.
I got it.
And I'll sign up for those e-mail notices too.
Say, I know that due dates are the dates when I must bring the books back, but
you said "overdue." What's that?
"Overdue" describes something that has not been returned by the due date.
"Overdue books usually bring fines" meaning you have to pay money.
OK. Let's change the subject.
Hey, speaking of overdue, I opened up some overdue milk last night, and boy, did
it smell!
Ken, "overdue" refers to books.
"Expired" would refer to milk.
Expired, huh? What about that date that's printed on the milk carton?
Is that a due date as well?
No. That's called an expiration date.
If you keep the milk past that date, you can say the milk has expired.
That's another new one.
I knew that time could expire, but not food like milk.
Well, Ken, why don't you let me treat you and your wife to dinner this weekend.
I feel bad about your fine.
Well, thanks for the offer, Bryan.
But it was my fault.
I deserve that fine.