Be in English.mp3
English Beyond The BOOKS
Hearing world, unlimited fantasy, Welcome to the radio station of XXMU. We are a team, yes we can. This is Be in English, I’m Ryan. What have you done in the past holiday of the National Day? Going on a trip? Study hard to make up? Or just stay inside and enjoy the birthday of our nation? Well I have read some books in the holiday and today’s speak smart is all about the books. So after the song, please stay tuned.
Everyone knows what a book is. We read books to get information. We read books for stories. A book can be like a time machine that takes a reader on a trip into the past or future. People who love to read and love books are called bookworms. Like the actual insects that feed on the pages and paste of books, bookworms eat up every word on the printed page. Even with the invention of electronic books, or e-books, book lovers are still called bookworms. Besides pages and paste, a book is made up of several parts.
Let's begin with what we usually see first – the cover. In American English we like to say do not judge a book by its cover. This means you should not judge something or someone simply by how it looks on the outside. The cover of a book may look appealing. But that does not mean the inside is well written. This expression is usually used with people.
Another part of a book is the page. If we say a book is a real page-turner it means it is very well written and very suspenseful. You cannot wait to turn the page to find out what happens next! However, to turn the page means something different. This means to stop thinking or dealing with something unpleasant. A chapter is also part of a book. It can also mean a part of history or a person's life. Sometimes these two are used together as in this example, "It is time to turn the page on that dark chapter in history." This can also be used in a personal example, "She needed to turn the page on the sad chapter in her life." Instead of turning the page or starting a new chapter, you can be on the same page with someone. To be on the same page means you agree about something. It is as if the two of you are reading from the same book and have stopped at the same place.
When you do stop reading in a book, especially a borrowed book, you may want to think twice before dog-earring the page to mark your spot. To dog ear the page of book means to bend the top corner slightly like a dog's ear. And this upsets many book lovers. So, do not dog ear someone else's book and definitely do not tear a page out it ...
Besides reading books, did you know you can also read people?To read someone like a book means you are able to understand someone very clearly. It is easy to read someone like a book when they are an open book. A person who is an open book shares their thoughts and shows their feelings very easily. A closed book is the opposite. It describes something that is difficult to understand or a person who does not share personal details. This expression can also mean something that has completely ended. For example, if you have a friend who went through a difficult divorce you could say her marriage is a closed book. And one she does not want to read again.
All this opening and closing of book, makes me think of studying. Students facing a tough exam must hit the books. This sounds violent. But, it simply means to study long and hard. No one has to physically attack the books, although after hours and hours of studying, a student may want to.
And some of my old classmates had done such attack, they just simply torn the book apart and thrown them away despite there’s still some exams to go before we leaving high school.
So this is the end of our program, if you have any ideas, please DO NOT FORGET to leave a message in the comment section of our Wechat Official Account. I’m Ryan. See you next week on Wechat, Bye.
