节目资讯
刊物:空中英語教室
日期:2012-02-08
难易度:Medium
关键字:anxiety, rest up, self-centered, assurance
(Music).
Jeremy Lin loves playing basketball.
He always has.
In fact, he plays for the NBA.
It's what he does for a job.
But the stress of playing for the NBA, the media attention,
always being compared to other players and the fear of disappointing his fans
caused him so much stress that he no longer enjoyed playing the sport.
But Jeremy, being a very smart man, turned to his faith.
He turned to God - his first love.
And there and his love of Jesus also found his love of basketball again,
completely changed his perspective.
Well, join us on page 20 on line 21.
(Music).
Jeremy Lin.
He realized that much of this anxiety and stress came from self-centered desires
like wanting to be famous.
Instead, Lin chose to see basketball as a way of serving God.
As he said in an interview, "I'm not working hard and practicing day in and day
out so that I can please other people.
My audience is God." Lin is confident that God loves him whether he plays well
or not.
This assurance gives him peace in spite of the pressure he faces.
Now Lin tries to play each game with joy and gratitude for the opportunities he
has been given.
So Jeremy realized that a lot of his anxiety and stress came from self-centered
desires like wanting to be famous.
So we talked about his stresses and the media and wanting to please other
people, but all of that comes from a self-centered desire.
Right, exactly. So most of his anxiety, his worry came from being self-centered.
And the word... or phrase "self-centered" means you only care about yourself.
You only want things for yourself, not others.
That's right.
He wasn't thinking about the people around him.
Instead, he was only focused on wanting to be famous.
Yeah, so he just wanted to be famous, he wanted people to like him and he didn't
care about the sport as much.
He was worrying about what they would think.
That's right.
Instead, Lin chose to see basketball as a way to serve God.
So instead of thinking about himself and his desire, his want to be famous, to
be loved, to be liked, he decided to think of it as a way he can serve God.
Right, a way to give to God, a way to live his life for God.
And we'll see how he does that here.
He says in an interview: I'm not working hard and practicing day in and day out
so that I can please other people.
That is a very good point.
And I'm glad he realized it because in that, he found his joy, his love of
basketball again.
And he used a great phrase here.
So let's visit Liz with Grammar on the Go.
Hello, friends. How are you doing today?
My name is Liz, and it's time for Grammar on the Go.
So we've been talking about Jeremy Lin.
And for today's grammar focus, we're looking at the sentence:
I'm not working hard and practicing day in and day out so that I can please
other people.
Notice the phrase, day in and day out.
It's an idiom that means every day.
So Jeremy Lin is saying that he is not working hard and practicing every day
just so that he can please other people.
"Day in and day out" is often used in spoken situations.
When something happens every day, it happens again and again.
Day after day as each day comes and goes, it's day in and day out.
Let's look at some example sentences.
Let's suppose you and your team are given an assignment.
It normally would take two weeks to complete this kind of an assignment, but
your team only has one week to do it. So you can tell your team:
We will have to work day in and day out to get this assignment done in one week.
Or let's suppose you need to explain to a child how it's a huge responsibility
to own a puppy. So you can say:
Having a puppy is fun, but it's also a huge job. You have to take care of it day
in and day out.
Now friends, if you'd like to see some more example sentences, you'll find them
in today's Grammar Tip section in your Studio Classroom magazine.
That's it for today.
This is Liz with Grammar on the Go, signing off.
Bye-bye.
All right. So during this interview,
Jeremy Lin wanted to make sure people knew now he is not playing basketball and
working day in and day out just to please other people.
He says, "My audience is God." And that's great.
That is the best audience you can have.
So he plays to please God, not to please other people.
And in that can relieve a lot of his stress in the game.
Exactly. And God sees everything. And so of course, God is his audience.
And an audience is to be watching something, so.
Of course God is always watching him play, he should be playing for God.
Well, we are an audience, we also enjoy watching Jeremy play.
But we've also enjoyed his interview; so let's join that interview one more
time.
Jeremy, it's great to have you on the show again today.
Tell me, I know you've been doing some coaching with younger players.
How is coaching different from being a player?
I think it is very different just because instead of playing and not thinking,
you really have to break everything down step by step and explain it
fundamentally to the kids.
And so it takes more time till you really think everything through to be very
detailed versus trusting in your own instincts.
Well, Jeremy definitely has some wonderful answers to all of the questions.
He's good at this interview thing.
Yes, he really is.
He does seem like a great person, a very interesting man, very talented but also
very good.
That's right. He seems very confident.
Well, he is confident that... he's confident in himself.
He's confident because he knows that God loves him whether or not he plays well.
So no matter how he plays, an audience, a fan member might not like him after a
game because he didn't play very well.
But he knows that God loves him no matter how he plays just like God would love
all of us no matter what we do that could be wrong.
Exactly. And that would make him very confident, which means you believe in
yourself.
And so he believes he can play well not only for fans but for God.
That's right.
This assurance gives him peace in spite of the pressure he faces.
Now an "assurance" is a promise.
That's basically a fancy word for saying a promise.
He knows he's promised that this is going to be true, that God will love him no
matter how he plays.
Exactly. So it doesn't matter; he doesn't have to worry anymore.
He just believes God will love him no matter what.
And that relieves him of the pressure that he faces.
Well, now Lin tries to play each game with joy and gratitude for the
opportunities that he has been given.
OK. We remember that "gratitude" means to be thankful.
So he is very thankful that he's gotten so many opportunities.
That's right. And now we have one more question for Jeremy Lin.
So Jeremy, could you tell us, you have a lot of fans out there, do you have any
advice for us?
I would just say to enjoy playing basketball and remember it is a game.
And if you're not having fun playing basketball, then really, in my opinion,
there's no purpose to play.
And so, just remind everyone, just make sure you guys have fun, you smile, you
hang out with your friends.
It should be an enjoyable time every time you get on the court.
Jeremy, it's been great meeting you.
Thanks for coming on the show.
I appreciate it.
Best of luck in the future.
Thank you.
Hey, Ken.
Oh. Hi, Bryan.
Is anything wrong?
You look kind of upset.
I had such a bad day at work today.
I'm sorry to hear that, Ken.
What happened?
Well, it just seemed like everything was going wrong.
There was an accident on the highway.
And I was late for work in despite of my best efforts.
Once I got here, I kept finding mistakes and needing to keep working on
assignments I thought I had finished.
That sounds really frustrating.
Say, are you too stressed out for an English lesson right now?
Oh, no. I'm always ready to learn English.
OK. When you were talking just now, you said you were late for work "in despite
of" your best efforts.
That's actually a mistake.
You should have said you were late "in spite of" your best efforts.
So "despite" isn't a real word?
"Despite" is a word.
It actually means the same as "in spite of." But you don't use it with "in" and
"of".
So could I have said I was late despite my best efforts?
Yes, that would be correct.
"Despite" and "in spite of" mean the same thing, and both can be used in either
formal or informal contexts.
So any time you say one, you could also say the other.
That's easy to remember.
Hey, Bryan, doesn't "spite" have another meaning?
Yes. It can also mean feeling angry and wanting to hurt someone, especially when
the anger is the reason you want to do something.
Hmm. Can you give me an example?
Sure.
People talk about doing things "out of spite." For example, someone might spread
rumors about another person out of spite.
OK. That makes sense.
Well, thanks for the English lesson, Bryan.
Despite everything that has happened today, I feel much happier now.
You're welcome.
I'm glad I can help you relax after your tough day.
(Chinese).
(Chinese).
And I hope you remember what we talked about today.
Make sure you come back next time for more Language Tips.
Well, thank you again, Michelle.
And friends, please be sure to put those words into practice.
OK. OK.
OK what?
Kaylah, I understand why you like Jeremy Lin so much.
Oh, I'm glad.
What changed your mind?
Well, I was so interested in him, I... I started looking up some interesting
facts.
Like what?
Well, did you know that his favorite food is sushi?
No, I didn't.
Did you know that in an interview, he said when he is done with his basketball
career, he is considering becoming a pastor?
Wow! No, I didn't know that.
But it makes me respect him even more.
And he really is a wonderful role model.
And he is always encouraging his fans to chase their dreams.
You know, and I agree with him.
Friends, don't let fear stop you from trying.
Right. Give it your best and know you can't do it on your own.
You aren't working to please other people.
Well, Jeremy said it best.
I'm not working hard and practicing day in and day out so that I can please
other people. My audience is God.
Well, friends, I hope you have enjoyed talking about Jeremy Lin.
Well, I have.
I know you have, Kaylah.
Friends, please join us next time for another lesson right here at Studio
Classroom.
Bye-bye.