English, baby!

简体
take off
开始起步

Date: Jul 05 2012

Themes: Celebrity

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Quote

1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.

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“I thought I was going to be married and have two children by the time I was 21, but then my career started to take off, so that dream ended.”

- Actress Cameron Diaz on her parenting plans. (Redbook)

Definition

1. Definition - Study the definition.

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develop quickly; become suddenly popular

2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.

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No matter how many times you’ve flown, the moment when a plane takes off still feels pretty amazing. One minute you’re on the ground, and the next minute you’re soaring through the sky like a bird.

In the same way, Cameron Diaz probably felt amazed when her career as an actress took off. One day she was struggling to make it like so many others, and then suddenly, she was flying high as a famous movie star.

When something takes off, it starts or develops quickly and suddenly, like when a plane becomes airborne. Often, when we say that someone or something took off, we mean it suddenly became popular, as in, “Our band really took off after one of our songs was picked for the soundtrack of a movie.”

It’s also common to refer to one’s career taking off. If your career takes off, you suddenly become more successful—and probably a lot more busy. That’s why Cameron Diaz says she had to put aside her dream of having children at a young age once her career started to take off. She was too busy working to focus on settling down and having kids.

Has your career taken off already, or are you still waiting for it to take off? What is more important to you, having a career or having a family?

Examples

1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.

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“Ever since we had that song on the radio, our band has been taking off.”

“The party took off when the cheerleaders arrived.”

“When you go to college, your social life will take off.”

Winners

1. Winners - See who guessed the slang definition correctly.

	start by sofree
	Succeed, starts to progress in a positive way. by Quynh Mai
	started to develop rapidly and it was like a rise of a plane)) by Orchestra
	When a plane begins to fly by mehri.nejatifar
	It means that her career started to move/flurish by Grace Nath
	To develop by cubi1604
	on the way;begin by Ahshan
	My career started to be popular & successful by Sally Turquoise
	"Take off" means something like starting something big... in the case of Cameron Diaz, it could mean getting famous and sucsess at her career. by Andreus Felipen
	It means become successful. by Englishty
	To achieve wide use or popularity; to become seccessful or popular very fast. by merllan
	to be launched (as if a rocket ship), and continue to soar higher. by dyanramos
	To achieve wide use or popularity. by Eleniya
	to success, to go the way you don't expect it, getting more than you thought by dearpesar
	to become very successful suddenly by anges491

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Comments

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Englishty

Egypt

Actually it’s a very hard question: having a career or having a family. I believe that no one gets everything, for me at this time of my life i want to develop my career and make it so successful and make all my dreams come true so i put aside the marriage and having kids maybe because i can’t focus on two things at the same time, i know that many women put raising a family and having a children first before their career but for me now i can’t think about anything but my career but who knows maybe later i would be interested in raising a family.

asal.71

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

for me, both of them is important .im a woman and i will become happey and successful when i have both of them together. but we must behave to don’t have bad effect with them. i think good career help us to grow children in good situation.because the parents are in social and they know most of problems that children involve them.then the parent can help children in every side.

in my opinion ,evry thing that i said above become truth when you have confidence and power to manager.the pwer of manager helps us to get them .in this way having perfect plan is great.

no0oudy

Saudi Arabia

just do it again with other ways, and never give up .

tjftina

China

in my opinion, having a family is more important, especially to women. if a woman just has a successful career but not have a happy family, it’s a pity! children can give you amazing feelings. no child of life is not complete.

mary888

Jordan

I like to have a family and raise my children,that’s the great job that a woman have to do.. my life will take off when i see my children well-grown and successful

Joy900

Japan

Baset : good morning , sorry , I was busy with some ladies at work !

Kiroly

China

Now I’m a housewife, but I don’t like the life now, because it lets me passion. I’m still struggling. Learning can enrich myself. I need to find a good job and wait the career takes off. But all things are contradictory, we want to have a child. If the baby born，I think I will choice stay in the home and take care of him or her。

The Last Joke

Yemen

Somehow it’s so sad to say that my career doesn’t take off , I feel very small and ashamed for not working . In the meantime , career change doesn’t happen overnight, and it isn’t easy to get overwhelmed with all the steps to successfully change careers. However,

1-I break down large goals into smaller ones, and try at least with one small thing a day to keep going.

2- I focus on the things i love to do: What i dreamed of doing in the past? What do i naturally enjoy doing?

3- I look for clues everywhere. Take note of projects make me happy, and pay attention to times when i’m really enjoying myself. or i reflect on stories of people i admire.

4- I’m being patient: Just remembering that my search may take some time and you might have to go down a few different roads before my career take off or finding the right career path.

Man proposes, Allah (God) disposes !!