ONE MINUTE ENGLISH Potato

Potato Noun [C or U] plural potatoes A round vegetable which grows underground and has white flesh with light brown, red or pink skin, or the plant on which these grow: boiled/ roasted/ fried potatoes.

Potato chip noun [C] American word for crisp (potato).

Potato salad noun [C] Small pieces of cooked potato mixed with mayonnaise (= a thick cold white sauce).

Baked potato noun [C] (UK also jacket potato) A potato baked whole without the skin being removed.

Couch potato noun [C] Informal disapproving A person who watches a lot of television and does not have an active style of life. Hot potato noun [C] A problem, situation, etc. that is difficult to deal with and causes a lot of disagreement: e.g. The abortion issue is a political hot potato in the United States. Drop sb/ sth like a hot potato INFORMAL To quickly stop being involved with someone or something because you do not like them or you think they will cause problems for you: e.g. He dropped the p lan like a hot potato when he realized how much it would cost him.

P.2Forward

Sweet

Sweet-talk Verb [T] noun [U] INFORMAL To talk to someone in a pleasing or clever way in order to persuade them to do or believe something: e.g. The salesman tried to sweet talk me into buying a bigger car.

Sweet tooth If you have a sweet tooth, you like eating sweet foods, especially sweets and chocolate. Revenge is sweet SAYING Said when you feel satisfaction from harming someone who has harmed you. Keep sb sweet To try to keep someone satisfied and pleased with you: e.g. We’re allowing the French engineers to use our computers, to keep them sweet in case we need their help later on. Be sweet on sb OLD-FASHIONED INFORMAL To like someone very much in a romantic way: e.g. She’s still sweet on him after all this time! Sweet fanny adams (ABBREVIATION sweet FA) OLD-FASHIONED SLANG Nothing: e.g. And what does she know about it? Sweet Fanny Adams!

Go your own (sweet) way To do what you want without considering other people: e.g. It doesn’t matter how much good advice I give Cathy, she always goes her own sweet way.

P.3Forward

Chicken Chicken (BIRD) Noun [C or U] A type of bird kept on a farm for its eggs or its meat, or the meat of this bird which is cooked and eaten: A male chicken is called a cock and a female chicken is called a hen. e.g. We’ve having roast/ fried chicken for dinner. Play chicken SLANG To play dangerous games in order to discover who is the bravest: e.g. They would play chicken by driving head-on at each other until one of them lost their

nerve and swerved out of the way. Chicken noun [C] INFORMAL A coward: e.g. Jump, you chicken!

Chicken Adjective [after verb] CHILD ’S WORD Cowardly: e.g. Why won’t you jump? Are you chicken?

Chicken out phrasal verb SLANG DISAPPROVING To decide not to do something because you are too frightened: e.g. I was going to go bungee jumping, but I chickened out.

Run round like a headless chicken To be very busy doing lots of things, but in a way that is not very effective.

P.4Forward

Apple

Apple Noun [C or U] A round fruit with a firm white flesh and a green, red or yellow skin: To peel an apple Apple pie/ sauce An apple tree

The big apple noun [S] INFORMAL New York City: e.g. She’s planning a trip to the Big Apple.

Be in apple -pie order UK OLD-FASHIONED To be perfectly arranged and tidy: e.g. Their house is always in apple-pie order.

Apple of sb’s eye OLD-FASHIONED The person who someone loves most and is very proud of: e.g. His youngest daught er was the apple of his eye.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away SAYING This means that eating an apple each day can help to keep you healthy.

P.5Forward

p.6Forward

Make ‧ Make a difference 影響、很重要 e.g. Even a small donation will make a difference. It will help us. 即使是一筆很少的捐助都是有用的。

Make both ends meet 量入為出 e.g. Although they are poor, they make both ends meet. 雖然他們很窮，但他們還能量入為出。

Make every effort 竭盡全力 e.g. Students should make every effort to study well. 學生應該竭盡全力學習。

Make it 及時到達、參加 e.g. There’s a party tonight. Can you make it? 今晚有晚會，你會來嗎？

Keep Keep down 壓低聲音 e.g. Keep it down. I can’t hear the television. 小聲點，我聽不到電視。

Keep it up 繼續下去 e.g. Good work. Keep it up. 做得好，繼續下去。

Keep out 禁止內進 e.g. Private – Keep Out 私人重地、禁止內進

Keep one’s hair on 保持鎮靜、別發脾氣 e.g. ‘Hurry up!’ ‘Keep your hair on. I’m coming.’ 冷靜點，我就來。

p.7Forward

White

White lie 美麗的謊言 e.g. He always tells white lies. 他經常說無害的謊話。

White hope 可望帶來成功的人 e.g. He is the great white hope of our football team. 他是我們球隊中被寄以厚望的人。

A white elephant 沉重的負擔、無用的東西 e.g. This set of furniture is really a white elephant. 這套家具真是無用的東西。

Look

Look ahead 計劃將來 e.g. If you want to study at the best university, you should look ahead and start planning now. 如果你想入一間好的大學，現在便要開始計劃。

Look into 調查 e.g. The police are looking into the car accident. 警察正調查這? 交通意外。

Look out 留意 e.g. Look out! You nearly hit the car in front. 留意 / 注意! 你差點撞到前面的車。

Look over 仔細檢查 e.g. I have looked my test paper over to make sure that I did not

make any mistakes. 我已經仔細檢查我的測驗卷確保? 有錯誤。

OFF

There are some useful, common phrasal verbs associated with Off. Namely: turn off, set off, take off, break off, call off, cut off

1. Turn off turn sth off: to stop the flow of electricity, water, etc by moving a switch, tap, etc 關掉

(電器、水龍頭等) e.g. What do you do with the lights before you leave the classroom?

Turn the lights off.

2. Set off set sth off: to cause something to explode or make a loud noise 使(某物)爆炸 e.g. What do the terrorists do with the bomb?

They set off the bomb.

3. Take off: the moment when an aircraft leaves the ground and starts to fly (飛機)起飛 e.g. What would you say when the plane start s flying to the sky? It takes off.

4. Break off: stop or discontinuous 突然終止某種關係

e.g. They break off their relationship, because they can ’t get along any more.

5. Call off call sth off: to cancel sth 取消 e.g. The football match was called off because of the

bad weather.

6. Cut off: to disconnect a telephone line while people are talking (在別人 通話時 )切斷電話線

e.g. We were cut off in the middle of our telephone conversation.

p.8Forward

Out

1. Break out start suddenly or escape

2. Carry out fulfill, execute (e.g. an order)

3. Come out be revealed, exposed (e.g. truth)

4. Get out leave

5. Give out distribute

6. Go out be extinguished become unfashion able leave temporary

7. Keep out be careful

8. Make out understand discover the meaning of

9. Run out become short of supplies unexpected or meet suddenly come to an end

10. Stand out be significant

11. Take out remove, extract

12. Turn out turn to the other side

13. Set out start a journey

P.9Forward

Up

On

Break up terminate disperse demolish, scatter

Bring up educate, rear raise, mention ( a question)

Cut up cut into pieces disconnect e.g. water supply

Draw up attract compose, make (e.g. contact)

Get up rise ( from bed) Give up abandon Keep up maintain, continue

improve (e.g. the situation Look up

find out (e.g. from the dictionary Make up use cosmetics Set up establish Take up occupy (e.g. time) Turn up increase the volume

Call on visit Carry on continue Fall back on w ithdraw, retreat Get on board (e.g. a plane) Go on continue Keep on continue Put on w ear,

increase ( weight) Take on assume ( a task)

P.10Forward

p.11Forward

1. Gas explosion (noun) 氣體爆炸 e.g. There was a gas explosion in Kowloon yesterday. 2. Victims (noun) 罹難者 e.g. One of the victims was a policeman. 3. Fatal (adjective) 毀滅性的 e.g. This was a fatal accident. 4. Protest (noun) 抗議 e.g. Five thousand residents took to the streets in the biggest protest in Macau on 1st May. 5. Protest (verb) 反對 e.g. They all protested the government ’s policy on imported labour. 6. Protester (noun) 抗議者 e.g. Some protesters were arrested by the police. 7. Defeat (verb) 擊敗 e.g. In the last match France defeated Germany. 8. Draw (noun) 平手 e.g. The match ended in a draw. 9. Lead (noun) 領先地位 e.g. France is in the lead. 10. Priority (noun) 優先權、優先考慮的事 e.g. The badly wounded have priority for medical

attention over those only slightly hurt. 11. Blame (verb) 指責 e.g. Many candidates blamed the HKEAA for not checking

the question papers carefully. 12. Measure (noun) 措施 e.g. The HKEAA has promised to take measures to prevent similar events from happening again.

In Chinese you have many four character idioms or sayings that help you express your

feelings more colourfully. In English you can use sayings that come from sports.

When you are in trouble, you can say that you’re in for the high jump. For

example: “Peter, why haven’t you done your homework? You know Miss Chan is going to be

really angry! You’re really in for the high jump now… ”

Or we can say: “Peter, I can’t believe that you didn’t do your homework, You’re really skating

on thin ice… ” This means that Peter is going to be in big trouble very soon!

If we want to express that something is unfair, we say that it was below

the belt. For example: John, why did you call Sue stupid after she lost her wallet? That really

was below the belt!” Now, John seems to be the kind of person who would also like to take

people for a ride, meaning that he deceives and tricks people. “Haha, you’re so stupid. I can’t

believe you believed me! I was just taking you for a ride! ”

There’s an interesting way of saying giving up using a sporting idiom. Do you watch boxing?

When someone is taking a beating and is losing badly, then his corner may throw a towel into

the centre of the ring signalling that they give up; they want to end the fight. However, of

course you should not be thinking of doing this, but giving it your best shot, that is doing your

very best.

p.12Forward

p.13Forward

Beijing Trip

During the Easter holiday, I joined a 10-day exchange tour to Beijing, China’s capital. Since this was my very first time, I was thrilled.

In Beijing, we attended university lectures about the various aspects of China and their respective developments, for instance; education, international relationship and politics. Among them, I was especially interested in China’s latest development in astrological technology. In the central astrological control centre, I had a chance to chat with one of the most famous Chinese astrologists, Fai Chuen Lung, who had successfully finished a remarkable space trip recently.

Apart from the academic studies, I also visited a variety of tourist attractions, such as the Great Wall and the Ancient Palace. Having been to the sites in person, instead of just looking up pictures in books, I felt touched by their marvelous designs and the underlying stories. This experience not only aroused my interest in the Chinese history, but also enhanced my sense of belonging to my motherland, China.

Truly, I feel proud to be a Chinese, particularly after this trip. I feel obliged to contribute to its development and to play an active role in building up its bright future. I do believe that if all Chinese can work closely together, China will soon become one of the most powerful nations in the world. (Ms Lai Ming Lee, Melody)

“Ding" me if you can! Playwright: TSANG, Louis Hee-choi. Date developed: February 25, 2006 . Characters: Narrator Deborah – a form 4 student Tracy – a form 4 student Daisy – a form 4 student Hacken – the show host of the “One Ding Talents Show” Wing Wing – the show host of the “One Ding Talents Show” David - a form 4 student Peter -a form 4 student 4 dancers (Pom Pom girls) The tv show director - Mr. Tsang

Scene 1 (Restaurant scene) (about 4 minutes) Narrator: An old proverb tells us that one has to work hard in order to succeed. However, there are still those who believe that they can achieve success without really putting in any effort or hard work. This story is about a small group of S4 students. It is a story about success due to hard work. (“Ding”! Tracy and Daisy freeze at their table as the narrator starts describing them) Right here with me are Tracy and Daisy. They enjoy talking on their mobile phones, shopping, watching TV, playing computer games, etc. They don’t enjoy studying, because they believe that one day they will be pop singers. They are always the last in the class but they are still proud of themselves. (“Ding”! Deborah and her friends freeze at their table) This is Deborah. She is a kind-hearted and diligent student. She studies hard and always comes top of her class. These two are David and Peter. They are Deborah's best friends. (“Ding”! Everyone unfreezes) Well! Today is a big day, (moving to the front) the day when they receive their exam results. Here they are having their lunch after getting their results. Let’s look at how they did. Daisy: Tracy! I can’t believe this exam report. I failed in 6 subjects again. Tracy : I can’t believe it either! I failed in 7 subjects… .more than you did! Daisy: (giving a dirty look to Deborah, who is sitting at the other table) You know, all our teachers are very prejudiced. They only like Deborah and that’s why she always gets the highest mark. Tracy : You’re right! All the teachers are fond of her because she knows how to please them. That’s why she always comes first in class! David: Oh! (Standing up at the other table with anger) Cut that all out! Deborah is a good student and she studies hard.

p.14Forward

Peter: Right!(standing up and pointing at them) You two are just jealous of her. Why don’t you study hard yourselves and get good marks? Deborah : Oh! Please don’t fight with Daisy and Tracy! We are all good friends and we shouldn’t quarrel over silly things Daisy: Oh no! I don’t want to be your friend! You’re only a bookworm! And I simply don’t like you! Tracy : Deborah, you think you are so talented and smart! Let me tell you, you are only good in school. Once you step out of this school, you aren’t worth a thing! Deborah : That is enough! I am not a bookworm. I have other interests too! Daisy: So you’re saying that there are some things you’re talented at? Hahahaha… .talking about talents, let me tell you a little secret… We are going to the “One Ding talents Show” tomorrow. Watch the TV show tomorrow night and you will see how talented we are! Tracy : Right! Make sure you guys sit ing in front of the TV and see us become winners of the “One Ding Talents show”. Daisy & Tracy: Hahahaha, Bye, Bye now! (Daisy and Tracy leave the restaurant!) Peter: Oh, Deborah, I hope that didn’t upset you. Deborah : No, no. It didn’t. Don’t you worry! David: (pulling out a letter from his pocket) Let me… . tell you guys a secret too! We are… ..we all are going to the “One Ding Talents Show.” tomorrow too! (Showing the letter) Deborah : (Looking surprised) We are! (Quickly taking the letter) How come my name is on the letter too? Peter: (quickly grabbing the letter) Oh my God! My name is also on the letter too! Deborah : You mean we’re going to the same show as Daisy and Tracy tomorrow? Unbelievable! What is going on here? David: Calm down! Let me tell you what happened! When I applied for the show, I filled in both of your names too! Deborah : How come you didn’t tell us? David: I wanted to give you a big surprise! Deborah and Peter: A big surprise? (With eyes wide open) Oh, no, no… … help us! (Pretending to faint) David: Don’t worry. You can both sing well … . Or… ..Mmm… . even if you don’t sing, you can dance and perform other stuff too! Deborah and Peter: Oh, no.. No… … . we are dead! (Pretending to be dead at the table) David: Wake up! Wake up… … Deborah, wake up! Peter, wake up… …

***** End of Scene 1 *****

p.15Forward

p.16Forward

Scene 2 (The “One Ding Talents Show” scene) (about 10 minutes) Narrator: Life is like this! Filled with competitions, whoever or wherever you are! In school, Daisy, Tracy and Deborah are competitors. In this so-called “One Ding Talents Show, they are also compet ing with each other too. Daisy and Tracy want to show Deborah how talented they are. Who will be the winner of the show? Don’t worry! We’ll soon have the answer. Just sit patiently and watch… … .. (Hacken and Wing Wing are standing at the front of the stage and the director moves in and says “camera”.) Hacken: Good Evening , ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the “One Ding Talents Show”. I am Hacken, your show host!

Wing Wing: Good evening! I am Wing Wing, your other show host too! Hacken: Tonight we are going to have a group of talented contestants showing us how talented they really are. Wing Wing: Let’s welcome our first contestant. His name is Peter Pan. (Everyone applauds) (Hacken and Wing Wing move to their seats to watch the show)

(Peter moves in and bows at the audience)

Hacken: Peter, what are you going to perform for us tonight?

Peter: I am going to be “Leon Lai” and sing his song “Try to remember”

Wing Wing: Why would you like to be “Leon Lai”? Peter: Why? Oh! Very simply! I think I am as good looking as Leon. (Turning to the audience) Would you agree? (Everybody laughs) (Hacken and Wing Wing look as if they are going to vomit!)

Hacken: OK! OK! Please start!

Peter: (singing) Try to remember the kind of September when … … …

(The judges look at each other and one of them quickly presses the “Ding”) Hacken: Sorry Peter! You can’t sing at all. Can you perform anything else? Peter: Sure! I can play ‘change faces’. (He pulls out a stack of paper masks and tries to “change faces”. But his clumsiness makes him drop all the paper masks… .and everybody laughs)

Hacken: Oh! (Pretending) Very nice! Very nice! (Hacken “Dings” him this time) Next please! Peter: Oh! This is unfair! My face masks are nice! (And he steps down) Hacken : Let’s welcome our next contestant. His name is David Tam. (David steps on the stage)

David: My name is David and I am going to be Chan Wai Man and sing an old song named “Can’t forget”. Wing Wing: Chan Wai Man? He is much fatter than you are. Hehehe! Only joking! You may start now. David: (singing with funny, exaggerated expressions ) Can’t forget… ..Can’t forget … … ..Can’t forget Can’t forget… . Wing Wing: You are driving us crazy with all these “Can’t forget, Can’t forget”. Do you remember any lines other than “Can’t forget”? David: No, I’ve forgotten all the other lines or words in the song. I can only remember “Can’t forget… .Can’t forget… .”(He sings again… )

(Hacken “Dings” him again many times urging him to stop). Hacken: Oh! Thank you. Thank you. You can go now. And may I ask you something? Do you remember who your father is? David: Of course, I do! Hacken: That’s good! At one point, I thought you had forgetten everything, including your own father! David: Hehehehe… … I like your joke! Hehehehe (Everybody laughs as David moves down stage, pouting) Hacken: Our next contestants are two girls, Daisy Ho and Tracy Ho. Let’s welcome them! (Daisy and Tracy step out onto the stage) Daisy: We are Daisy and Tracy Tracy : And we are going to play “Twins 2006” Hacken: Twins 2006? Wow! What a cute name. You may start now. Daisy and Tracy: (Each wearing a gold wig and holding an umbrella) I am singing in the rain… ..I am singing in the rain… .I’m… (They dance with clumsy steps . One of them accidentally drops her umbrella) (Wing Wing “dings” them out and the two girls are furious.) Wing Wing: Can you perform other songs, related to rain?

p.17Forward

Daisy and Tracy: : Related to rain? (after thinking for a bit) Yes, of course. (Singing) The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain. The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain… … (Their voices are so sharp that everyone cover their ears with their hands) (Wing Wing “dings” them out again and they pout when walking off stage) Hacken: Our last performer is Deborah Au and let us welcome her. (Deborah enters the scene with the audience, applauding) Deborah : My name is Deborah Au and I would like to sing a song named “Deborah”. Deborah : (singing) Deborah… .. Woo Woo you’re so fine! … . (She sings so well that the judges enjoy it and let her sing for a while before “dinging” her.) Hacken: You’ve got a nice voice. What else can you perform for us? Deborah : I can recite an English poem for you. hacken: Go ahead! Deborah : (reciting the poem while everyone keeps quiet to listen to her) (Everyone applauds after she finishes her poem.) Hacken: Well, Deborah, you have done a great job. Your English pronunciation is really good and you also express such feelings in your recitation Wing Wing : You are so good that no one wants to “Ding” you. Deborah : Thank you! (Smiling) Hacken: (Turning to the camera) In a few minutes, we will have the result from our audience. (The pomp pomp girls come out to dance for a little while) Hacken: Ladies and gentlemen, I have the result with me for tonight. The winner is Deborah Au. (Everyone applaud. Music starts and Deborah, the champion, dances with the pomp pomp girls. Hacken and Wing Wing presents the Champion Cup to Deborah. Then, Hacken and Wing Wing move to the front and speak into the camera.) Hacken: That’s all we have tonight. Thank you for watching. We will see you next week. Wing Wing: See you next week! (Both swinging their hands to wave good-bye) (The director comes out and says “cut”. Everybody leaves the scene leaving only Tracy and Daisy on stage, yelling and protesting by themselves) Daisy and Tracy: It’s unfair! We protest! We protest! (They keep yelling on stage for a little while even though everyone is long gone)

p.18Forward

p.19Forward

Hacken: (Returning to stage) The show is over! Didn’t you hear the director says “cut”? Please leave the stage. The show is over! (He steps down from the stage)

Daisy : The show is over? No, no! The show is not over! No one can “ding” us out. Tracy and Daisy: We are the best! We are the best… … . . (Light fades out)

******* End of Scene 2 ******* Scene 3 (restaurant scene) (about 3 minutes) Narrator: The show is over! Yes! That show is over! But other shows in life must go on. One year later, in the same restaurant, the same students meet again. They have already finished their Hong Kong Certificate Exam. And today is another big day for them. Why is it such big day? It is the day that the Certificate Exam results are released for all Form 5 students in Hong Kong. Only those who work hard get their success and rewards. Old sayings, no matter how old they are, can be an everlasting truth for everyone. On this big day, the results bring joy and happiness to some students. But for others, they bring tears and sorrow… .. (Deborah, David and Peter walk into the restaurant and sit down.) Peter: I can’t believe it. I’ve passed all subjects … . David: I can’t believe I got 2 Bs … . That is more than I had ever expected. Peter: How about you, Deborah? Don’t just smile… What did you get? Deborah: Oh! Just about average! No big deal! (Acting very humbly) David : About average? (Grapping her report slip and looking at it with Peter) 2 As and 3 Bs … . Oh my God. You did so well! Peter: You’re making us really jealous of you now! Hehehe! David: It’s great that the three of us can go to F.6 in Chan Shui Kui… ..We don’t have to separate … .How nice! (They smile and nod their heads in agreement. As they were chatting, Daisy and Tracy moves in, sobbing like babies) Daisy: Boo… .Boo… .. I’ve failed in all subjects. My mother is going to kill me. . Boo… .Boo… Tracy : Bo… ..Boo… .Me too! I’ve got “F” in all subjects. I have no face to look at anyone anymore. Boo… ..Boo Daisy: At one point, we thought we could be great singers like the “Twins”… .but now our dreams are all broken.

p.20Forward

Tracy : Right! We can’t be great singers and we can’t go to Form six… .Boo… Boo… . what else can we do? Deborah : Please don’t cry! It’s not the end of the world! You still have opportunities! Daisy: What opportunities? We’re such failures! Boo… … Boo… .. Deborah : Oh! Please don’t say that! You’re not failures. If you’re willing to repeat F.5, maybe you can pass the Exam next year! Tracy : Boo… .Boo… . We’ve failed in all subjects … ..I don’t think the school will let us repeat here … ..Boo… Boo… .. Deborah : Maybe we can talk to Mr. Kwan and ask him for special permission for you to repeat. Daisy and Tracy : Special permission? Really? David: Yeah! Mr. Kwan is an understanding person and I think he would give you a second chance. Peter: But you have to really change your lazy habits and work hard in order to be successful in the future! Tracy and Daisy: Sure! Sure! (T hey both nod their heads seriously) Daisy: Deborah! Thank you for still caring for us after all the bad things we have done to you. Tracy : Right! We had made a lot of mistakes in the past. We were so rude to you and yet you are still kind to us! Deborah : Please don’t say that! We are all humans. Humans are bound to make mistakes. Besides, friends are forever! Aren’t they? David and Peter: Yes! Friends are forever! Tracy and Daisy: Yeah! Friends are forever! All: Yeah! (Raising their victory sign) (The song “Deborah” is played… … .the cast proceed to the front, hand in hand, expressing thanks to audience)

********** The End **********

p.21Forward

Answers:

CROSSWORD (p.25) Across: 1.thin; 4. plan; 6. or; 7. spill; 8. follow; 10. one;

11. spoon; 12. blue Down: 1. tortoise; 2. nap; 3. balloon; 4. plate; 5. nineteen; 9. wind GUESS THEIR JOBS (p.25) John is a butcher; Bill is a postman; Tom is a nurse; Susan is a bus driver; Arun is a schoolboy; Dawn is a schoolgirl; Mary is a policewoman; David is a firefight er WHAT IS HAPPENING? (p.26) 1. c; 2.b; 3.c; 4.a; 5.c; 6.a ODD ONE OUT (p.26) 1. toothbrush; 2. soil; 3. spade; 4. saucepan; 5. spoon; 6. tractor; 7. brick; 8. flowers

Available through our website: http://www.cskms.edu.hk Contributors: Mr. Elvin Tao (NET) Ms Melody Lai Ms Susanna Lee Ms Claudia Lui Ms Jessica Tse Mr Louis Tsang Proofread by: Mr. Elvin Tao (NET) Ms Amy Lai (Junior Panel Chairperson) Prepared & Edited by: Terry Lam (English Teaching Assistant) Consultant : Ms Amy Lai (Junior Panel Chairperson)