New Year Resolutions

New Year Resolutions
NB: This is not an accurate word-for-word transcript¹

Dan: Hello and welcome to this week’s 6 Minute English. I’m Dan Walker Smith
and today I’m joined by Kate.
Kate: Hi Dan. Happy New Year!
Dan: And Happy New Year to you!
Kate: So what did you do on New Year’s Eve?
Dan: Well, this New Year I went to a party in East London with lots of friends; lots
of dancing. Good times really.
Kate: That sounds great fun - a great way to bring in the New Year!
Dan: It was. It was very good indeed. And, of course, as well as celebrations, New
Year is also the traditional time to make resolutions, which are plans to
improve yourself. So what were your resolutions this year?
Kate: I don't actually think I've made any yet, but I suppose now I think about it, I'd
like to do more exercise, be healthy and travel more.
Dan: They sound like good resolutions. The aim of most resolutions is to ‘turn over
a new leaf’. That is, to make yourself better by changing your routines and
habits. It’s making a fresh or new start in your life.
So the question for this week is:
6 Minute English ? bbclearningenglish.com 2010
What is the most common goal for people making New Year’s Resolutions?
Is it:
a) to sort out their finances² and money
b) to lose weight
c) to learn a new language
Kate: Hmm, that's a tricky³ one. But thinking about it, we've just had Christmas-time,
where people tend to eat an awful lot or overindulge themselves. So I'm going
to go for b, to lose weight.
Dan: OK, we’ll see if you’re right at the end of the programme.
Now generally, there are two main types of resolution:
To give up something is to stop it, such as when someone says they’re giving
up smoking or giving up fattening⁴ foods.
Kate: And to take up something is to start a new activity for the first time. For
example you can take up the guitar, or take up a new sport. A lot of people say
that their New Year’s Resolutions are to give up a bad habit or to take up a
new hobby.
Dan: Now we’re going to hear some of the resolutions a British radio DJ has made
for 2010. You're going to hear the expression 'carry on'. Can you explain what
this means Kate?
Kate: Sure. Well 'carry on' means to continue to do something as you were before.
So if, for example, last year I went swimming every day, I could say 'I want to
carry on going swimming', which means just to continue the same actions as
you were doing before.
Dan: OK, so let's listen. What resolutions does the speaker have for this year?
Extract⁵ 1
Right, New Year's Resolutions 2010. It's the end of a decade. I think that what I would
just like to do is carry on working hard; carry on being happy and healthy. So keep on
exercising in the park, keep on eating well and keep on sleeping well. And that’s about it
– nothing else. Nothing too big, nothing too heavy, ‘cos experience tells me that if you try
to ask yourself to do too much stuff it will eventually not happen.
Kate: OK, that was a bit different, as she’s not giving up or taking up anything, but
she wants to carry on or continue what she’s already been doing. There are
some pretty common or usual resolutions there: doing exercise,eating healthily
and sleeping well – quite similar to the ones I made actually.
Dan: Well, she's not exactly turning over a new leaf in the New Year, but just
keeping herself healthy with resolutions she can achieve.
As well as keeping healthy, one of the most common New Year's resolutions in
the UK each year is to stop smoking.
Kate: Yes, and it’s also one of the hardest resolutions to keep, so this year the British
government is launching a new campaign for people who want to stop
smoking. Have a listen to the next report. Can you hear how many people tried
to give up smoking last year and how many actually succeeded?
Extract 2
More than three quarters of a million smokers⁶ tried to give up last New Year. But fewer
than 40,000 have managed to keep that resolution.
Kate: Oh dear, not a great success rate then. Only around five per cent of the smokers
managed to keep their resolution.
Dan: Resolutions are basically promises to yourself, and like promises, you either
keep them or break them. That is, you either successful in keeping to your
plans, or you're not and you go back to your old habits.
Kate: Well we’re almost out of time now, so let's go over some of the vocabulary
we’ve come across today:
First of all, we had resolution, which is a kind of promise you make to
yourself to improve yourself or your actions.
To turn over a new leaf is an expression meaning to make a new start in your
life.
To give up something means to stop it.
Whereas⁷, to take up something is to start it for the first time.
Then we heard to carry on, which means to continue with an action that
you’re already doing.
And finally to keep or break a resolution, is either to persist⁸ with your new
changes or to go back to your old routine.
Dan: Oh and there’s just time to answer the question I asked at the beginning of the
show: What is the most common goal for people making New Year’s
resolutions? Is it:
a) to sort out their finances and money
b) to lose weight
c) to learn a new language
Kate: And I said b, to lose weight
Dan: Actually it's both a and b. Most men want to sort out their finances and most
women apparently⁹ want to lose weight in the New Year.
Kate: Ah, a trick question then.
Dan: A trick question indeed.
Kate: But I'm sure there must be some women out there who want to sort out their
finances.
Dan: And there must be some men who want to lose weight.
Kate: Of course! So Dan can you tell me if you have any resolutions for the coming
year?
Dan: I've actually signed up to run a marathon, so I'll be doing that in April. I'm
training quite a lot at the moment; it's beginning to kick in.
Kate: Wow, well that's very impressive. Good luck with this year's resolution.
Dan: We'll see how it goes in April.
So from all of us here at BBC Learning English, thanks for listening. I hope
you're sticking to your resolution and have a very Happy New Year! Goodbye!
Kate: Goodbye!
 

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 finances   

n.(pl.)财源，资产

参考例句：

• I need a professional to sort out my finances. 我需要专业人士为我管理财务。
• The company's finances are looking a bIt'shaky. 这个公司的财政情况看来有点不稳定。

3 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

4 fattening   

adj.（食物）要使人发胖的v.喂肥( fatten的现在分词 )；养肥（牲畜）；使（钱）增多；使（公司）升值

参考例句：

• The doctor has advised him to keep off fattening food. 医生已建议他不要吃致肥食物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We substitute margarine for cream because cream is fattening. 我们用人造黄油代替奶油，因为奶油会使人发胖。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 extract   

vt.取出，提取，获得，摘录；n.摘录，提出物

参考例句：

• The article was a choice extract from her writings.这篇文章是从她的著作中摘录出来的精粹。
• We can extract oil from olive.我们可以从橄榄中榨油。

6 smokers   

吸烟者( smoker的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many smokers who are chemically addicted to nicotine cannot cut down easily. 许多有尼古丁瘾的抽烟人不容易把烟戒掉。
• Chain smokers don't care about the dangers of smoking. 烟鬼似乎不在乎吸烟带来的种种危害。

7 whereas   

conj.而，却，反之

参考例句：

• They want a house,whereas we would rather live in a flat.他们想要一座房子，而我们宁愿住在一套房间里。
• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。

8 persist   

v.持续，存留；坚持不懈，执意

参考例句：

• The bad weather will persist all over the country.这种坏天气将在全国各地持续下去。
• His strength of will enabled him to persist.他的意志力使他能坚持下去。

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。