Skipping School (1)

Is it ever OK to skip school?

Miranda is at Violet's home, studying for a test.

Vi: Hey, Miranda, would you please help me with this last problem?

Mi: Sorry, Vi. It's pretty late. I'd better head home.

Vi: But I really need your help. The algebra test is tomorrow at 1:00.

Mi: Here's an idea. Why don't we both skip school until lunch, so we can study more tomorrow?

Vi: Skip school! Where did you get the idea that it's OK to skip?

Mi: Well, we'd be skipping for a good reason. We're going to study for a test, and it's not like we're doing poorly in the other classes. We can miss a class period or two.

Vi: But if we do skip, we might miss a lot of really important information in the other classes.

Mi: We can just get the notes from our study partner, Tessa. You know she takes really thorough notes.

Vi: I know she does, but our absence would be noticeable. I don't want our teachers to get upset.

Mi: They won't get upset. It's not like we skip school all the time. After all, sometimes there are good reasons to skip. What about when someone has a family emergency? I think teachers understand when someone has to miss class.


Info Cloud
Teaching Topic: It’s not like …

As humans, when we feel like someone is challenging or criticizing us, we tend to want to justify ourselves.

Right! And what better way to do that than to compare ourselves to people we think aren't as good as we are.

And, this is what Miranda does in today's dialog two times.
And, she does it using the phrase, "it's not like."

Miranda feels like Violet is challenging her, so she tries to justify herself by saying "It's not like we skip school all the time."

Here, what she's really saying to Violet is, "If we did skip school all the time, like the bad students do,
then, and only then, would you have reason to challenge my idea."

Now, let's pretend a man is dieting and his wife catches him eating a piece of chocolate cake.
So, she scolds him.

The man, wanting to justify himself, might say, "Well, it's not like I ate the whole cake!"

Similar phrases which are used for the same purpose include "at least" and "it's not as if."

Right! At least I'm not like them. And, it's not as if I did what he did.

又不是說.....
- It's not like we skip school all the time.
又不是我們一天到晚翹課
- Just because someone skips school doesn't mean they don't think their classes are worthwhile.
通常和不如己者比較，因此容易滿足現狀，不付出努力，下場往往就是被淘汰


Language Lab
skip school phrasal verb.逃學、翹課
skip [past tense and past participle skipped, present participle skipping]
to not do something that you usually do or that you should do [= miss]:
- The boy skipped school today and was caught by his parents.
這個男孩今天翹課，被父母逮到
- Skipping school might be a warning sign of a trouble teenager.
翹課可能是一位青少年出狀況的警訊

algebra n.代數、代數學
a branch of mathematics that uses numbers and letters that represent numbers
- Algebra wasn't my favorite subject.
代數並非我最喜愛的科目
- Many of my classmates are having trouble solving these algebra problems.
我的許多同學都沒有辦法解答這些代數問題

thorough adj.詳細的、徹底的
/ˈθɚroʊ/
including every possible part or detail
- The police did a thorough investigation of the incident.
警方對這個事件作了詳細的調查
thoroughly adv. [=completely]
- The lawyer studied the case thoroughly.
這位律師將這個案子詳細地看過

noticeable adj.顯而易見的、明顯的
able to be easily seen or noticed
- There has been a noticeable improvement in Victor's health.
Victor的身體狀況最近有明顯的進步
- The differences between the twins are hardly noticeable.
這兩個雙胞胎的差異非常不明顯


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