Hi, guys! It’s Tuesday again, so like I said last week, I’m back with another Learn English Through TV workbook for you all – and I have a little bit of a bonus exercise in this post too!
So this week’s workbook is on Modern Family S01E02 – The Bicycle Thief. I haven’t actually re-watched season one of Modern Family in a long time; I forgot how fun it is.
First things first, here’s the link to this week’s workbook.
Now, we’re going to take a quick look at this picture (or the text below, if the picture won’t load):
“We’re gonna drink some wine, eat some good food… You know, we would do this more often, if it wasn’t for, you know, Manny.”
“It’s good. He keeps us grounded.”
“Like fog at an airport.”
Now, what I’d like you to do is take a look at that word grounded, because that’s the word that the joke in this scene relies on.
There are three meanings of the word grounded:
- if a person (usually a child or teenager) is grounded (usually by their parents), then they are being punished for something and are not allowed to go out
- if an aircraft is grounded, it cannot fly for some reason
- if a person is grounded (described as a grounded person), then they are sensible and make good decisions – they don’t usually do stupid things.
- So which version of grounded is used in the second piece of speech there (said by Gloria)?
- Which version is used in the third piece of speech (said by Jay)?
- What is the joke in this scene?
And some final questions you can answer if you like (maybe try writing your answers and posting them on lang-8?)
- Were you ever grounded as a teenager? If yes, what for? If no, what other punishments were common in your family?
- Have you ever been on a plane that has been grounded? Have you had a flight that has been delayed? What was your worst trip?
- Would you say you are a grounded person? If yes, why; if no, why not? Who is the most grounded person you know?
See you all next week! 🙂