再說一遍徵求同意 Asking Permission
RUTH: It's good to be back with you today. My name is Ruth Lowton and I welcome you to another in the English language series 'Say It Again'. Aries is here today. She is studying accountancy at a University in England. Aries, today we're looking at asking permission to do something. Do you mind if I ask you some questions about the differences you're finding between life here in England and in your home city, Singapore?
ARIES: No I don't mind.
RUTH: You told us in previous programmes that your mother, father and two sisters live in Singapore. Would you tell us a little about your house?
ARIES: Well, in Singapore, we have marble flooring so that the floor gives a cooling effect. It's so different to the house we live here. We have carpet to keep us warm and it's not a common practice to wear shoes within the house.
RUTH: So is it very different to the house you live in in England?
ARIES: It's not the same. I live in a flat in university and we only have a room and we have a shared kitchen with the other nine people and we have a parlor. Well, I still much prefer my own flat in Singapore because it is still a house. We have our own living room and own kitchen.
RUTH: So Aries, a popular topic of conversation in Britain is our weather. Singapore is nearer the equator than we are here. Do you have the same four seasons as we do here in England? You know - Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter?
ARIES: You're right Ruth. It is different for us in Singapore. Living in England, I have to wear all types of clothes depending on the season like windbreaker, overcoat, a few layer of clothing and boots in winter.
RUTH: As I said earlier in the programme, today's English language lesson is about asking permission to do something. I asked Aries, 'Do you mind if I ask you some questions?' I could be asking a friend, 'Do you mind if I don't go out with you tonight?' This is a polite way of asking permission from someone if you can do something. In English, we don't just say, 'May I?' But we put a polite phrase in front of the question. So I could say, 'Do you mind if...' Let me put it into a proper sentence for you. 'Do you mind if I borrow your bicycle to go shopping?' Aries, why don't you repeat it after me? 'Do you mind if I borrow your bicycle to go shopping?'
ARIES: 'Do you mind if I borrow your bicycle to go shopping?'
RUTH: You could also say, 'Do you mind if I look over your lecture notes?'
ARIES: 'Do you mind if I look over your lecture notes?'
RUTH: Yes! That's right. You can also say, 'Is it alright if...?' I'll use this in a sentence. Say it after me with Aries. 'Is it alright if I borrow your bicycle?'
ARIES: 'Is it alright if I borrow your bicycle?'
RUTH: You could also say, 'Is it alright if I look over your lecture notes?'
ARIES: 'Is it alright if I look over your lecture notes?'
RUTH: All those sentences we've practiced are right, but if you are speaking to your professor, it will be even more polite to say, 'Would you mind if...?' You don't say, 'Do you mind...?' That isn't polite to an older person. So say this next sentence after me with Aries. 'Professor, would you mind if I left your lecture five minutes early to catch the train?'
ARIES: 'Professor, would you mind if I left your lecture five minutes early to catch the train?'
RUTH: In our drama today, Jim and his sister Grace, are using one of the sentences we've been practicing today. 'Is it alright if I borrow your bicycle?' Listen out for this sentence.
Conversation
RUTH: Did you hear that sentence, Aries?
ARIES: Yes, Jim asked Grace if he could borrow her bicycle.
RUTH: Can you remember her reply?
ARIES: Yes, she said 'no' at first. He had to ask her a number of times.
RUTH: Can you give me one of Grace's reasons for not lending him her bike?
ARIES: She said that it might get stolen.
RUTH: Can you give me another reason?
ARIES: Would you let me hear the second part of the drama again? That should help me.
Conversation
ARIES: Grace wanted to know if Jim would clean it after he used it.
RUTH: Yes, she also wanted to make sure that sheˇll be safe when she came to ride it next.
ARIES: I'll like to have seen a very muddy Jim bring home a broken bike and carrying a wheel.
RUTH: In our true story today, Danny is reading about Alexander Elkind. Alexander comes from Russia. He'd been brought up to believe that there is no God. It was only as Alexander grew older and began to ask questions himself that he began to realize that there really is a God. Listen to how he heard about the true God.
Story Testimony
'There is no God', 'There is no God'. This was the message I heard every time I switched on the radio. 'People who say 'God lives' are fools. They lie.' Our State radio declared this message daily. There's no foundation for what anyone may believe about God. This wasn't a new message for me. I heard this through all my years at school and university. My parents believed this message and I could see nothing different.
One day after hearing this message for many years, I started to think for myself. I asked the question, 'If there is no God, then who decide the design for all that exists on earth? Someone', I reasoned 'must have thought of the design for everything.' I read some books by our great authors, but I decided that they proved nothing. I began to wonder why so many people needed to write so many books in order to prove that there is no God.
Then one day, I tuned to a different station on my radio. What I heard seemed to be nearer the truth. I began to visit some churches and listen to other people talking of the existence of a living, loving God. I tried to pray to this God for myself. 'God, I'm sorry for all my wrong doings, please prove to me you are alive. Please change my life by giving me your Holy Spirit. Please give me power to say 'no' to my selfish desires.'
It was as if I became a new person. I realized that at last I could begin to think and reason for myself. At last I felt a real person. My parents call me a fool. However they can see my life has changed. I now help other people find this new life.
RUTH: It was in a radio programme that Alexander heard about the living God. I know of other people who've heard about the living God and his Son Jesus Christ by listening to their radios. As well as encouraging you to learn English, I pray that you also will find out more about God by listening to this programme.
RUTH: Do you remember the questions we started with at the beginning of the programme, Aries?
ARIES: Yes, I think I can remember them. The first one was, 'Do you mind if I borrow your bicycle to go shopping?'
RUTH: The second sentence we practiced was, 'Is it alright if I look over your lecture notes?' And the third, more polite way was, 'Would you mind if I left your lecture five minutes early to catch the train?' Why don't you practice these sentences this week and try to find different situations where you can use them. That's all we have time for today. Next week, we are going to continue practicing asking permission and also, there will be some polite ways of refusing permission. Aries and I would like you to join us again next week. So until then
BOTH: Goodbye
