节目资讯
刊物:空中英語教室
日期:2012-03-28
难易度:Medium
关键字:curfew, limitation, at ease, likelihood, bring up
(Music).
Welcome, everybody, to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
So happy you've joined us today.
My name is Steve.
If you're a teenager or the parent of a teenager, then I think this month's
VIEWPOINTS feature will be especially interesting and relevant.
The topic is "Curfews." That is what time parents require a child to be home at
night.
For many families, the curfew is a source of conflict.
Mom and Dad want the child home earlier while the child wants to stay out later.
How late is too late?
Let's jump into our lesson and read together on page 50.
Curfews.
How late is too late to stay out?
Mom, I'm going to hang out with my friends tonight.
I'll be home late.
You won't be home later than 11 p.m., will you?
I don't want you out past then.
Mom! Why are you putting limitations on my time with friends?
You know the friends I'll be with tonight.
I'll be safe.
You don't have to worry.
Your dad and I feel more at ease knowing that you're safely at home and we want
to go to bed at night.
What's the likelihood of me getting into trouble at night when I'm with my
friends?
(Music).
Hello, friends.
Thank you for joining us in the studio.
OK. Today we're back into a VIEWPOINTS article for the month.
Now we all know the VIEWPOINTS are to talk about two sides of an issue.
Now for any of our students out there, for high school, junior high students,
this topic is probably something you have argued with your parents about at some
point.
And that is curfew.
OK. Now a "curfew" is the time that you need to be somewhere.
For most people, it's talking about the time that you need to be home.
Hmm. Now how late is too late to stay out?
Now that's a very common question we argue with our parents about.
I know I never fought with my parents, but we definitely had discussions about
curfew.
What is too late?
Because your parents may think you need to be home by a certain time, but you
think you should be allowed to stay out later with your friends.
So what time is too late?
OK. Now we're going to start off seeing a conversation, just like most of our
VIEWPOINT articles, between Sara and her mother.
OK, so Sara, let's get started.
She says: Mom, I'm going to hang out with my friends tonight. I'll be home late.
OK. So this starts off: Sara is letting her mom know what time she'll be home.
So this is already a little bit interesting.
Her mom says: You won't be home later than 11 p.m., will you?
Hmm. Now you said she actually said what time she'll be home.
I don't agree with you, Ryan.
I think that she's telling her mom: I'm going to be late.
But by not saying a specific time, that allows her to come home whenever she
wants to come home.
So as a mother, her mom, of course, would be concerned.
That's true.
In fact, by using the word "late," she's probably just saying it'll be very
late.
I will be home after whatever curfew you want to make for me.
That's right.
And her mom says: You won't be home after 11 p.m., will you?
She says: I don't want you out past then.
And you can see that this makes Sara upset.
She says: Mom! Why are you putting limitations on my time with friends?
So 11 p.m. actually is a very common... common curfew time, really.
I think actually that's later.
My curfew time was 10 p.m.
So here Sara should be happy with 11 p.m., but she still thinks that that's
putting limitations on her time with friends.
Now a "limitation" is the controlling factor of something, so the act of
controlling something.
So she feels like her mother is controlling the amount of time she has with her
friends.
You are limiting me.
Yeah. You can see the word like Kaylah just used "limit" in the word
"limitations." And that means it can't be any more than that.
So here Sara is complaining; she wants more time with her friends.
And she has a reason.
She says: You know the friends I'll be with tonight.
I'll be safe. Don't... you don't have to worry.
Now this is very... it's something I know I said to my parents was: You know all
of my friends.
Why is it... why are you concerned?
You don't need to be scared.
You know we're good kids.
Yeah. I know for me, as a kid, when my parents gave me a curfew, it made me feel
like they didn't trust me.
Maybe you feel the same way.
Yes, the trusting.
We don't want our parents worrying about us.
But as parents, naturally, the thing they do is take care of us.
And the in that... part of that is worrying about our safety.
Right. But yeah, her mom explains:
Well, your dad and I feel more at ease knowing that you're... knowing that
you're safely at home when we want to go to bed at night.
Now this makes sense.
They want to be "at ease." That means they are relaxed.
They're comfortable with this.
So they are more relaxed, more comfortable if she's already home before her
parents go to bed so they don't have to worry about her after they go to sleep.
But this sentence has great meaning but is also really well-written.
So it's our Grammar on the Go sentence, so let's check in with Liz.
Hi there, friends.
How are you doing today?
My name is Liz, and it's time for Grammar on the Go.
So how late is too late to stay out?
That's our focus in today's VIEWPOINT article.
Sara wants to be with her friends, but her mother is worried.
She tells Sara:
Your dad and I feel more at ease knowing that you're safely at home when we want
to go to bed at night.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
Our focus today is on the pattern:
Subject + "feel" + adjective + "knowing that"...
This is a good pattern to use when you want to describe how a person feels when
they know about something.
In the case of today's sentence, Mom is saying that she and Dad feel better if
they know that Sara is safely at home.
We often use this sentence pattern to talk about how one feels after they hear
some good news.
For example, let's say Jonathan got lost in the mountains but was found unhurt
the next day. So we can say:
Jonathan's family feel relieved knowing that Jonathan is safe and on his way
home.
But this sentence pattern, subject + "feel" + adjective + "knowing that...," can
be used to talk about negative feelings too.
For example, let's say Charlie has a very sick friend in the hospital.
Charlie wants to help his friend but there is nothing he can do, so we can say:
Charlie feels bad knowing that he can do nothing to help his sick friend.
If you turn to today's Grammar Tip section, you'll find more example sentences
there.
And that's it for today.
This is Liz with Grammar on the Go signing off.
Bye-bye.
OK. So we see that Sara's mom wants to make sure that she is back home early
enough so that her and her father can go to bed.
That's right. They want to go to sleep and not be worried about it.
Now Sara says: What's the likelihood of me getting into trouble at night when
I'm with my friends?
Exactly. Now we know that her friends are safe as Sara says that her mom knows
who her friends are,
so she's not worried about the likelihood of getting into trouble.
That's right.
The "likelihood." That's a great word.
We see there's kind of two words combined in here.
Now "likely" means something is going to happen like the possibility that it
might happen, likely.
Now "likelihood" would be...
Well, that's actually the noun form.
It says the chance that something could happen, so.
Here she's saying: Well, the chance of me getting into trouble at night is not
very high because I'm with my friends.
And that's something we often argue.
We say, "My friends are good. We were well-behaved kids. So what's the big
deal?" Now are your friends very well-behaved?
Maybe your parents are a little bit concerned.
Also, you don't know what goes on.
You don't know what your parents are actually thinking through.
They're not worried just about you and your friends but everybody else in the
world as well.
So we're going to continue this argument between Sara and her mom.
That's right. Yeah.
And remember, sometimes you might think you'll be safe,
but your parents are older, they have been through experiences, and they might
know a little bit more.
All right.
Right now let's visit the Chat Room.
Excuse me, Bryan.
Can I ask you a question?
Sure, Ken. What's up?
Well, I just got an e-mail from a friend asking me if I wanted to hang out.
I'm not sure what "hang out" means.
You know, the only time I hang something out is when I'm hanging the laundry out
to dry.
I hang my laundry out to dry too.
But "hang out" itself is an informal expression that means to spend time or pass
the time with someone.
You can hang out with your friend at the mall, for example.
Or we can hang out here in the library.
You certainly can.
And you can also put the two words together and form the word "hangout," which
refers to the place you hang out in.
So can I say the library is my favorite hangout?
Ken, I think that's an understatement.
What about hang around?
Is that different from hang out?
Well, "hang around" can have the same meaning as "hang out." But "hang around"
is usually used to mean hang around while waiting for something.
You can hang around in the library hoping to see your friends George and Mary.
Could I say I don't plan to hang around until the show is over?
Sure. That's a great example.
So you hang around by yourself, but you hang out with others.
Yes, you can say that.
And there's also a more negative usage of hang around.
If you see a suspicious-looking man, for example, hanging around in your
neighborhood, you should probably call the police.
So if I want to talk about spending time with somebody and having a good time,
it's better to say: hang out.
Yes, that's the more common expression.
Well, thanks for explaining all that.
You're welcome.