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VOA慢速英语2019--日常言语的三种常见形式

时间:2019-06-15 22:50:46

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(单词翻译)

Three Common Forms in Everyday Speech

Have you ever had someone “repair” a home appliance but it kept breaking?

I have been having trouble with my sink for a month. Yesterday, the maintenance1 man repaired it…again.

And it worked fine…once.

But then last night, I turned the water on low and walked away for just a few seconds. When I returned, I noticed water all over the floor. I was about to go to bed. But instead I had to clean up the mess.

Ugh, the sink keeps leaking. So, in a little while, I'll go ask the building supervisor2 to replace it.

I just used three ?conversational3 English forms in my sad sink story. All are common to American English and some are common to other Englishes. They involve the words “about” “keep” and “go.” On today’s program, I will talk about them.

Be about to + verb

And, I am about to begin.

English speakers use the form “be about to” to emphasize that an action will happen very soon. It is a friendly form we use in speech every day. For example, I told you I was about to go to bed. That means I was at the point of starting that action.

We can also use “be about to” for such subjects as things and ideas. We can say, for example, “It’s about to rain” and “The proposal is about to be released.”

The sentence structure is the verb be + about to + base verb. The base form of a verb is its shortest form with no -s ending.

Listen to a quick exchange between friends hurrying to an event:

Hi, Jonathan.

Hey, Sue4. Have you left the house yet?

No, but I was just about to put on my shoes.

Perfect, I’m about to hop5 on the metro6. See you in a few!

Sue said, “I was just about to put on my shoes.” Note her use of the past tense “was.” We can use “be about to” with the present or past tense of the verb “be.”

Note also that the word “just” is common with this form. If people say they are just about to do something, it means they expect to do it right now.

The negative form of “be about to” has a completely different meaning, however. It means someone feels a strong desire or willpower to do something. For instance, “I’m not about to miss this show. I paid $70 for the ticket!” It's like saying, “I will go to the show and won’t let anyone or anything stop me.” The negative is not always considered friendly, so use it carefully!

Keep (on) + gerund

Now, let’s move to the verb “keep” plus a gerund, which is the -ing form of a verb.

When we use this form, it means that something is happening continuously or again and again. Earlier, you heard me say, “The sink keeps leaking.” The verb “keep” is followed by the gerund “leaking.”

We often use keep + gerund to show irritation7 that an action or situation has not stopped. We also sometimes use it with the preposition “on.”

Students keep playing with their mobile phones in class, for example. The cat keeps on scratching the chairs. And my teammate keeps hitting the ball too far!

Other times, we use it to give directions or tell someone how to do something. Listen to this person give a friend directions to her house and tell them what to do when they arrive:

Keep walking straight until you see a flower shop on the right. My house is the first building behind the shop. Dinner preparations are on the table. When you boil the noodles, please keep stirring them. Otherwise, they’ll stick together. Thanks!

You heard the speaker say, “Keep walking straight…” to tell them to continue walking. They also said, “Please keep stirring” the noodles to make sure the friend does this continuously.

Go / Come (and) + verb

And finally, we have the form go / come + verb.

In spoken English, we often add the verb “go” or “come” to other action verbs. When we do this, we are talking about an action in the future.

I said, for example, “So, tomorrow, I’ll go ask the building supervisor to replace it.” The structure is go / come + base verb. I used the base verb “ask.”

Use of “go” and “come” do not change the meaning of what we’re saying. Instead, they make our speech sound friendlier or more natural.

Listen to how our speaker uses the verbs “come” and “go” here:

Come visit me in July! You can stay for the long weekend. There is a huge film festival happening. So we can go see a lot of movies in a short time.

The speaker’s use of “come” in “Come visit me in July," for instance, sounds more natural in everyday speech than “Visit me in July!”

Another version of this form adds the word “and.” An example would be, “Come and visit me in July!” The “and” is common to British and other Englishes but only in some parts of the United States.

Well, that’s all for today. Go listen for these forms wherever you hear English being spoken. Then, come tell us what you find!

I’m about to sign off and go find the building supervisor. See you soon!

I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

appliance – n. a piece of equipment, often operated electrically, especially for use in the home

mess – n. a very dirty or untidy state or condition

conversational – adj. relating to or suggesting informal talk

emphasize – v. to give special attention to

hop on – v. to get onto something that is moving, such as a train or bus

negative – adj. expressing denial8 or refusal

ticket – n. a piece of paper that allows you to see a show, participate in an event or travel on a vehicle

irritation – n. the state of feeling annoyed, impatient or slightly angry

scratch – n. to make a line or mark in the surface of something cutting it with something rough or sharp

noodle – n. a thin strip of dough made from flour, water, and eggs and that is cooked in boiling liquid


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1 maintenance U8rzP     
n.维修,保养,扶养费,维持,保持
参考例句:
  • His small farm provides maintenance,but not much more.他的小农场能使他们维持生活,但仅此而已。
  • He has to pay maintenance to his ex-wife.他必须给前妻赡养费。
2 supervisor RrZwv     
n.监督人,管理人,检查员,督学,主管,导师
参考例句:
  • Between you and me I think that new supervisor is a twit.我们私下说,我认为新来的主管人是一个傻瓜。
  • He said I was too flighty to be a good supervisor.他说我太轻浮不能成为一名好的管理员。
3 conversational SZ2yH     
adj.对话的,会话的
参考例句:
  • The article is written in a conversational style.该文是以对话的形式写成的。
  • She values herself on her conversational powers.她常夸耀自己的能言善辩。
4 sue PUAzm     
vt.控告,起诉;vi.请求,追求,起诉
参考例句:
  • If you don't pay me the money,I'll sue you.如果你不付给我钱,我就告你。
  • The war criminals sue for peace.战犯求和。
5 hop vdJzL     
n.单脚跳,跳跃;vi.单脚跳,跳跃;着手做某事;vt.跳跃,跃过
参考例句:
  • The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛,看谁单足跳跃最快。
  • How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远?
6 metro XogzNA     
n.地铁;adj.大都市的;(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国,主要经营零售)
参考例句:
  • Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗?
  • The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。
7 irritation la9zf     
n.激怒,恼怒,生气
参考例句:
  • He could not hide his irritation that he had not been invited.他无法掩饰因未被邀请而生的气恼。
  • Barbicane said nothing,but his silence covered serious irritation.巴比康什么也不说,但是他的沉默里潜伏着阴郁的怒火。
8 denial Zm0zb     
n.否认;拒绝,拒绝给予
参考例句:
  • The newspaper printed a denial of the untrue story.报社刊登了否认不实消息的声明。
  • Her denial of my advice hurts me.她拒绝我的忠告伤害了我。

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