TRANSCRIPT FOR LESSON 4: RISING DOLLAR
Hello. I’m Margot Politis. Welcome to Study English, IELTS preparation. Today we’re going to be making comparisons, and looking at some tricky prepositions of time. But first, let’s listen to an academic talking about the Australian economy and the Australian dollar. See if you can hear him use some comparative adjectives.
"It couldn’t have come at a worse time, in the sense that with business investment weakening, and with the housing market, at least in activity terms, having turned, that’s where the timing is unfortunate for us. The stronger the value of the Australian dollar and the longer it stays strong, the weaker our economic activity will be next year.
I think growth in 2004 will be comparatively weak. My own prediction is that throughout the year growth will be around about 2 per cent. Being around the Reserve Bank's board table at this time I think would not be a comfortable place to be. The bank is probably in a bigger dilemma over what to do with interest rates with monetary policy than at any time that I can remember."
Dr Ian Harper is discussing the value of the Australian dollar, and the growth of the Australian economy, including interest rates. He describes all these factors by comparing information. Listen to him talk about the value of the dollar.
"The stronger the value of the Australian dollar and the longer it stays strong, the weaker our economic activity will be next year."
The stronger the value of the dollar, and the longer it stays strong, the weaker our economic activity. The adjectives used in the clip are strong, weak and long.
The Australian dollar is strong.
It is stronger than it used to be.
It has been strong for a long time.
It is making economic activity weak.
The longer it stays strong, the weaker the economic activity.
Let’s look at comparative adjectives a bit more closely. With single syllable words, we add –er’:
strong => stronger
long => longer
weak => weaker
big => bigger
But not all adjectives follow this simple pattern. Some are irregular.
It couldn't have come at a worse time.
It couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Worse. Worse comes from the adjective bad:
bad => worse.
Irregular adjectives are often best learnt with the superlative or ‘most’ form:
bad, worse, worst
and
good, better, best.
When comparing, there are 2 ways to do it.
To say 2 things are the same, we use as ______ as: Growth is as slow as it was last year.
When saying one thing is more than the other, we use the comparative form. We usually use the word ‘than’ when comparing: Growth is slower than last year.
The superlative form, the ‘most’ or ‘-est’ form, is used with the word 'the': Growth is the slowest it’s ever been.
Notice that we usually use 'more' and 'most' with adjectives that have more than 2 syllables. So we have:
slow, slower, slowest,
but
beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful.
OK, now we’re going to look at some prepositions of time. Listen for one in this clip…
"I think growth in 2004 will be comparatively weak."
He says ‘in 2004’. ‘In’ is a preposition of time. The prepositions of time are: at, on and in. Let’s look at how they’re all used.
At - is used for times. For example: The lecture is at 7 o’clock.
On - is used for days and dates: The lecture is on Thursday. The lecture is on the 27th of October.
In - is for periods of time, and for months, years and seasons: The lecture is in the morning, in June, in 2004, in winter.
So we’d say: The lecture is at 7 o’clock, in the morning, on Thursday, on the 27th October, in 2004. Notice that we say: in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, but we say: at night.
Now let’s test you on these prepositions:
"I saw her _ _ _ _ _ Tuesday, _ _ _ _ _ 3 o’clock _ _ _ _ _ the afternoon." We’ve got the choice of in, at, or on.
I saw her on Tuesday, at 3 o’clock, in the afternoon.
"They went shopping _ _ _ _ _ night _ _ _ _ _ Friday last week. Shops are open late _ _ _ _ _ summer."
They went shopping at night, on Friday last week. Shops are open late in summer.
OK, now let’s listen to the whole clip again. See if you can hear how much he thinks the Australian economy will grow…
"It couldn’t have come at a worse time, in the sense that with business investment weakening, and with the housing market, at least in activity terms, having turned, that’s where the timing is unfortunate for us. The stronger the value of the Australian dollar and the longer it stays strong, the weaker our economic activity will be next year. I think growth in 2004 will be comparatively weak.
My own prediction is that throughout the year growth will be around about 2 per cent. Being around the Reserve Bank's board table at this time I think would not be a comfortable place to be. The bank is probably in a bigger dilemma over what to do with interest rates with monetary policy than at any time that I can remember."
His prediction is for growth to be about 2 percent. We write 2 percent like this: 2%. Percent comes from the Latin phrase per centum, by the hundred or in every hundred. It’s used to express proportions out of a hundred, including rates of interest. Percent is always used with a number. So we say:
Twenty percent of students attended the lecture.
That means: 20 out of every hundred students attended.
Or ‘She got 90 percent in the test.’ means she got 90 out of every hundred questions right.
Or: Growth will be around 2 per cent. We also have the word percentage. Percentage is a noun. It means the portion or amount of something.
So we say:
What was the percentage of students who attended the lecture?
20 percent of students attended the lecture.
She got 90% in her test.
That is a high percentage.
OK. Now let’s test you using percent or percentage:
The _ _ _ _ _ of high school students that go to university is about twenty _ _ _ _ _.
The percentage of high school students that go to university is about twenty percent.
The bank has raised the interest rate by two _ _ _ _ _.
The bank has raised the interest rate by two percent.
The _ _ _ _ _ of married women in the workforce rose from 50 to 60 _ _ _ _ _.
The percentage of married women in the workforce rose from 50 to 60 percent.
If his answers are all correct, he’ll get 100 _ _ _ _ _ on the test.
If his answers are all correct, he’ll get 100 percent on the test.
So you should notice that the signal for using percent is that there’s always a number first. And of course, you can always use the percent sign [%] instead of writing out the words. And that’s all we’ve got time for today.
LESSON 4: RISING DOLLAR - ĐỒNG ĐÔLA TĂNG GIÁ
Hello. I’m Margot Politis. Welcome to Study English, IELTS preparation. Today we’re going to be making comparisons, and looking at some tricky prepositions of time. But first, let’s listen to an academic talking about the Australian economy and the Australian dollar. See if you can hear him use some comparative adjectives.
Chào các bạn. Tôi là Margo Politis. Chào mừng các bạn đến với chương trình Study English, IELTS preparation. Hôm nay chúng ta sẽ học về các phép so sánh và xem xét một số giới từ khó dùng để chỉ thời gian. Nhưng trước tiên hãy nghe một bài giảng về nền kinh tế Úc và đồng đôla Úc. Hãy xem bạn có thấy người nói sử dụng một số tính từ so sánh hay không.
"It couldn’t have come at a worse time, in the sense that with business investment weakening, and with the housing market, at least in activity terms, having turned, that’s where the timing is unfortunate for us. The stronger the value of the Australian dollar and the longer it stays strong, the weaker our economic activity will be next year.
I think growth in 2004 will be comparatively weak. My own prediction is that throughout the year growth will be around about 2 per cent. Being around the Reserve Bank's board table at this time I think would not be a comfortable place to be. The bank is probably in a bigger dilemma over what to do with interest rates with monetary policy than at any time that I can remember."
"Thời điểm tồi tệ hơn vẫn chưa xảy ra, có nghĩa đầu tư đang suy giảm và sau đó đến lượt thị trường nhà đất, ít nhất là về chu kỳ hoạt động; đó mới thực sự là thời điểm bất hạnh đối với chúng ta. Đồng đôla Úc càng mạnh bao nhiêu, thời gian mà nó mạnh càng kéo dài bao nhiêu thì các hoạt động kinh tế của chúng ta vào năm tới sẽ càng yếu bấy nhiêu.
Tôi cho rằng tăng trưởng năm 2004 sẽ tương đối thấp. Dự đoán riêng của tôi là nhìn chung cả năm, sự tăng trưởng sẽ ở mức 2%. Tôi nghĩ rằng không khí xung quanh bàn họp của ban lãnh đạo Ngân hàng dự trữ [quốc gia Úc] lúc này chẳng dễ chịu chút nào. Ngân hàng đang ở vào thế tiến thoái lưỡng nan khó khăn hơn giữa lãi xuất và chính sách tiền tệ so với bất kỳ thời điểm nào trước đây mà tôi còn nhớ."
Dr Ian Harper is discussing the value of the Australian dollar, and the growth of the Australian economy, including interest rates. He describes all these factors by comparing information. Listen to him talk about the value of the dollar.
Tiến sỹ Ian Harper đang thảo luận về giá trị của đồng đôla Úc và sự tăng trưởng của nền kinh tế Úc, bao gồm cả lãi suất tiết kiệm. Ông mô tả tất cả các nhân tố này thông qua phép so sánh. Hãy nghe ông nói về giá trị của đồng đôla:
"The stronger the value of the Australian dollar and the longer it stays strong, the weaker our economic activity will be next year."
The stronger the value of the dollar, and the longer it stays strong, the weaker our economic activity. The adjectives used in the clip are strong, weak and long.
Đồng đôla Úc càng mạnh bao nhiêu, thời gian mà nó mạnh càng kéo dài bao nhiêu thì các hoạt động kinh tế của chúng ta sẽ càng yếu bấy nhiêu. Các tính từ được sử dụng trong đoạn này là strong, weak and long.
The Australian dollar is strong.
It is stronger than it used to be.
It has been strong for a long time.
It is making economic activity weak.
The longer it stays strong, the weaker the economic activity.
Let’s look at comparative adjectives a bit more closely. With single syllable words, we add –er’:
Chúng ta hãy xem xét các tính từ so sánh kỹ càng hơn. Với các từ có một âm tiết, ta thêm '-er' vào sau tính từ đó để tạo ra tính từ so sánh.
strong => stronger
long => longer
weak => weaker
big => bigger
But not all adjectives follow this simple pattern. Some are irregular. Nhưng không phải tất cả các tính từ đều theo quy tắc đó. Một số là bất quy tắc:
It couldn't have come at a worse time.
It couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Worse. Worse comes from the adjective bad:
bad => worse.
Irregular adjectives are often best learnt with the superlative or ‘most’ form: Các tính từ bất quy tắc nên được học thuộc lòng, cùng với dạng so sánh cao nhất:
bad, worse, worst
and
good, better, best.
When comparing, there are 2 ways to do it. To say 2 things are the same, we use as ______ as: Growth is as slow as it was last year. When saying one thing is more than the other, we use the comparative form. We usually use the word ‘than’ when comparing: Growth is slower than last year. The superlative form, the ‘most’ or ‘-est’ form, is used with the word 'the': Growth is the slowest it’s ever been.
Khi so sánh, có hai cách để thực hiện điều đó. Để nói hai vật là giống nhau, ta dùng cấu trúc as ______ as: Growth is as slow as it was last year. Khi nói một vật lớn hơn vật khác, ta dùng dạng so sánh hơn. Ta thường dùng từ 'than' để so sánh: Growth is slower than last year. Dạng thức so sánh nhất, tức dạng 'most' hoặc '-est' được sử dụng với mạo từ 'the': Growth is the slowest it’s ever been.
Notice that we usually use 'more' and 'most' with adjectives that have more than 2 syllables. So we have:
Chú ý rằng ta thường dùng 'more' và 'most' với các tính từ có nhiều hơn 2 âm tiết. Do đó ta có:
slow, slower, slowest,
but
beautiful, more beautiful, most beautiful.
OK, now we’re going to look at some prepositions of time. Listen for one in this clip…
OK, bay giờ ta sẽ xem xét một số giới từ chỉ thời gian. Hãy nghe một giới từ trong đoạn băng sau:
"I think growth in 2004 will be comparatively weak."
He says ‘in 2004’. ‘In’ is a preposition of time. The prepositions of time are: at, on and in. Let’s look at how they’re all used.
Ông ta nói 'in 2004'. 'In' là một giới từ chỉ thời gian. Các giới từ chỉ thời gian bao gồm: at, on và in. Hãy xem chúng được sử dụng như thế nào
At - is used for times. For example: The lecture is at 7 o’clock.
On - is used for days and dates: The lecture is on Thursday. The lecture is on the 27th of October.
In - is for periods of time, and for months, years and seasons: The lecture is in the morning, in June, in 2004, in winter.
So we’d say: The lecture is at 7 o’clock, in the morning, on Thursday, on the 27th October, in 2004. Notice that we say: in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, but we say: at night. Now let’s test you on these prepositions:
Do đó chúng ta nói: The lecture is at 7 o’clock, in the morning, on Thursday, on the 27th October, in 2004. Chú ý rằng ta nói: in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening, nhưng lại dùng: at night. Hãy cùng kiểm tra cách sử dụng giới từ của bạn:
"I saw her _ _ _ _ _ Tuesday, _ _ _ _ _ 3 o’clock _ _ _ _ _ the afternoon." We’ve got the choice of in, at, or on.
I saw her on Tuesday, at 3 o’clock, in the afternoon.
"They went shopping _ _ _ _ _ night _ _ _ _ _ Friday last week. Shops are open late _ _ _ _ _ summer."
They went shopping at night, on Friday last week. Shops are open late in summer.
OK, now let’s listen to the whole clip again. See if you can hear how much he thinks the Australian economy will grow…
OK, hãy nghe lại toàn bộ đoạn video một lần nữa. Hãy xem bạn nghe thấy ông ta nghĩ nền kinh tế Úc sẽ tăng trưởng được bao nhiêu ..
"It couldn’t have come at a worse time, in the sense that with business investment weakening, and with the housing market, at least in activity terms, having turned, that’s where the timing is unfortunate for us. The stronger the value of the Australian dollar and the longer it stays strong, the weaker our economic activity will be next year. I think growth in 2004 will be comparatively weak.
My own prediction is that throughout the year growth will be around about 2 per cent. Being around the Reserve Bank's board table at this time I think would not be a comfortable place to be. The bank is probably in a bigger dilemma over what to do with interest rates with monetary policy than at any time that I can remember."
His prediction is for growth to be about 2 percent. We write 2 percent like this: 2%. Percent comes from the Latin phrase per centum, by the hundred or in every hundred. It’s used to express proportions out of a hundred, including rates of interest. Percent is always used with a number. So we say:
Dự đoán của ông ta về việc tăng trưởng là vào khoảng 2 phần trăm. Chúng ta viết 2 phần trăm như sau: 2%. Phần trăm (percent) có gốc từ tiếng La-tinh là 'per centum' có nghĩa theo từng trăm một. Nó được sử dụng để thể hiện một phần cuả một trăm phần, bao gồm cả lãi xuất tiết kiệm. Percent luôn được dùng với một con số. Do vậy chúng ta có:
Twenty percent of students attended the lecture.
That means: 20 out of every hundred students attended.
Or ‘She got 90 percent in the test.’ means she got 90 out of every hundred questions right.
Or: Growth will be around 2 percent.
We also have the word percentage. Percentage is a noun. It means the portion or amount of something.
Chúng ta cũng có từ 'percentage' là tỷ lệ phần trăm. Nó là một danh từ. Nó có nghĩa là tỷ lệ hay số lượng của một cái gì đó. Nó không đi cùng một con số nào cả.
So we say:
What was the percentage of students who attended the lecture?
20 percent of students attended the lecture.
She got 90% in her test.
That is a high percentage.
OK. Now let’s test you using percent or percentage:
The _ _ _ _ _ of high school students that go to university is about twenty _ _ _ _ _.
The percentage of high school students that go to university is about twenty percent.
The bank has raised the interest rate by two _ _ _ _ _.
The bank has raised the interest rate by two percent.
The _ _ _ _ _ of married women in the workforce rose from 50 to 60 _ _ _ _ _.
The percentage of married women in the workforce rose from 50 to 60 percent.
If his answers are all correct, he’ll get 100 _ _ _ _ _ on the test.
If his answers are all correct, he’ll get 100 percent on the test.
So you should notice that the signal for using percent is that there’s always a number first. And of course, you can always use the percent sign [%] instead of writing out the words. And that’s all we’ve got time for today.
Vì vậy bạn nên để ý rằng tín hiệu của việc sử dụng từ 'percent' là luôn có một con số đi trước nó. Và tất nhiên bạn có thể sử dụng ký hiệu phần trăm [%] thay cho từ percent. Đó là tất cả bài học của chúng ta hôm nay.
