Ep.13 Get to the Bottom of Something

英語 × 英文 × 樂詞不疲

❶　Intro
One day you come home from school or work, and you find that your front door is open. At first you’re afraid that someone has broken into your house and has taken your things. But when you get inside, you see something surprising and wonderful. There are flowers and chocolate on your kitchen table, and someone has cleaned the house, too. Even though it’s a good surprise, you still want to know how it happened. You still want to get to the bottom of this situation and learn who decided to give you such a lovely gift.
To get to the bottom of something is to figure out a puzzle or a mystery. It doesn’t matter if it’s something good or something bad… it’s just something that has confused you. In every police show on television, someone is trying to get to the bottom of a crime or something that cannot be explained. It can be challenging work, but it can be fun, too. Wouldn’t you want to know who came into your house and did all of those nice things for you?
Something strange is happening at Rafael’s yoga studio, and Jessica wants to get to the bottom of it. Will she succeed? Read on to find out in today’s English lesson.
❷　Dialogue
Jessica: That was a great class, Rafael. You’re a wonderful yoga instructor.
Rafael: Thanks, Jessica. I spend a lot of time preparing, and I want my classes to be both challenging and creative.
Jessica: They definitely are. Like the Eight Angle Pose, and The Grasshopper? And parivritta surya yantransana, or whatever it’s called? I’ve never even heard of that one! Oh, someone left their water bottle.
Rafael: Another item to add to my collection.
Jessica: Your collection?
Rafael: Yeah. There’s this woman who comes to my classes who is obsessed with pink.
Jessica: Wow. She is totally obsessed with pink.
Rafael: Pink yoga mat. She wears pink clothes. I wouldn’t be surprised if she drives a pink car.
Jessica: So, the real question is, why is she leaving all of this pink paraphernalia at the studio?
Rafael: I’ve been wondering the same thing myself for weeks. I’m kind of embarrassed to talk to her about it, though.
Jessica: That’s so weird. You have to get to the bottom of this. So, what is pink girl’s name? Pamela, Patricia, Paulina…?
Rafael: Emma.
Jessica: Emma?
Rafael: Yeah.
Jessica: You like her, don’t you?
Rafael: No, no, no. No, she’s my student. That’s totally unprofessional.
Jessica: Oh, I don’t know. Lily’s dating Brian, and they met through work.
Rafael: Yeah, yeah. You and Lily are close. How is that? Does Lily feel weird when Brian’s on location?
Jessica: Oh, no you don’t. You’re just trying to change the subject. We were talking about Emma. I am totally going to get to the bottom of this.
❸　Discussion
Rafael has a student named Emma, and she seems to be obsessed with the color pink. Her clothes are pink, her yoga mat is pink, and her water bottle is pink. But what’s especially strange is that Emma keeps leaving her things at Rafael’s yoga studio. Is she really forgetting them, or is she doing it on purpose?
From the way he talks about her, Jessica believes that Rafael likes Emma. The problem is that he’s Emma’s teacher, and she’s Rafael’s student. He doesn’t think that asking Emma out would be the right thing to do, but Jessica doesn’t think it’s a big deal. In fact, it seems like Jessica wants Rafael to take action!
Will Jessica have to work hard to get to the bottom of this? Or is it obvious what Emma and Rafael are feeling? Do you work hard to get to the bottom of things?
❹　Grammar Point
Relative Pronouns
Rafael tells Jessica, “There’s this woman who comes to my classes who is obsessed with pink.” He uses the relative pronoun “who.”
Relative pronouns are used to give more information about a person or a thing. There are five relative pronouns: who, whom, whose, which, and that.
The word relative means these pronouns relate, or tell about, the word they modify. For example, “The man who drove my car is my brother.” Who is a relative pronoun that gives more information about “the man.”
When talking about people, we use who (for the subject) and whom (for the object). For example, “My friend who just had a baby quit her job,” or, “My friend whom I met for drinks last night is moving soon.”
The relative pronoun whose is used to show ownership, as in, “The person whose car this is must have a lot of money.”
Both which and that are used to modify things. For example, “This is the book that I was talking about,” and, “That house, which has a big yard, would be good for a large family.”
Which is correct, “There is the woman who lives down the street,” or, “There is the woman that lives down the street”?
❺　Quiz
⒈ What is one yoga pose that Rafael teaches in his classes?
❶ The Spider.
❷ The Grasshopper.　✓
❸ The Snake.
❹ The Worm.
⒉ What color does Rafael’s student like?
❶ Yellow.
❷ Red.
❸ Purple.
❹ Pink.　✓
⒊ If you want to talk about something new, you will __.
❶ wondering
❷ get to the bottom of this
❸ change the subject　✓
❹ on location
⒋ Which sentence uses a relative pronoun?
❶ The guy who drives the bus is so nice.　✓
❷ Who’s the guy driving the bus?
❸ I want to know who drives the bus.
❹ Who do you think drives the bus?
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