节目资讯
刊物:娱乐时尚
日期:2009-01-20
难易度:Medium
关键字:frenzy, come into one’s own, opponent, quirk, Feli
Hi, everyone.
Welcome back to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Well, you know I learned something new before the break.
Japanese anime is almost one hundred years old.
I never knew that.
So you can see this art form really does have quite a history.
But it wasn’t really until fifty years ago that the anime art form really began
to gain momentum.
From its center in Japan, it slowly started spreading around the globe.
In this portion of the lesson,
we’ll discover some of the unique story lines that together with the artwork
make anime different from traditional cartoons and comics.
OK.
Here are today’s key words and example sentences.
opponent.
The political candidate spoke out against his opponent’s policy on education.
The second word is quirk as in:
By some strange quirk, Matt and Allyson met again after twenty years and fell in
love.
All right, friends.
Please open your magazines, if they’re not open already, to page thirty-three.
And the reading today will begin on line thirteen.
Amazing Anime.
The stories.
Anime and manga tell a variety of stories.
With Japan’s technological advances,
it’s no surprise that many stories feature spectacular battles between giant
robots (sometimes called ”mechs”) or super computers.
Other stories involve a game of wits,
where the main character attempts to defeat his or her opponent in a
suspense-filled drama.
For those who prefer softer stories, plenty exist.
Anime romances differ from Western ones because they frequently involve some
humorous twist or quirk, like a magical character.
Now let’s talk about the stories in anime.
OK, anime tells a lot of stories.
In fact, we see our author tells us that anime and manga tell a variety of
stories.
Yesterday we learned that there’s something for everyone.
It’s not the same story.
It’s not the same theme in every animated cartoon.
That’s right.
And with Japan’s technological advances, with Japan coming up with a lot of new
technology,
it’s really... the article says,
it’s no surprise that a lot of the stories in the anime movies and... and
programs feature spectacular, big, exciting battles between giant robots,
uh, sometimes they’re called ”mechs”.
Giant robots and the super computers.
Now this is really interesting to me because they make things that aren’t alive
come alive in anime.
And there are... there are spectacular battles.
Now Esther, what is a battle?
Well, a battle is when you have two sides or two or more sides, and they are
fighting against each other.
So you often hear battles and wars. Or in computer games, you’re fighting your
opponent.
Right.
But here we have battles between things like giant robots and super computers.
Wow, that sounds pretty exciting.
And again, Chip, what do we call these giant robots?
Mechs,
which probably comes from mechanical or some... something mechanical or some
kind of machine.
Right, it looks like... kind of like a shortened form of the word:
machine.
Well, maybe this is the kind of anime you like.
But if not, there are other kinds of anime.
Other stories involve something called a game of wits.
Now let’s look at that phrase for a minute.
Right.
A game of wits.
Your wit is how smart you are.
So we sometimes say a person who is very smart or they can think very quickly,
we say that person is witty.
So your wit is how smart you are.
And in a game of wits, people are competing to see who is smarter or we can use
their wisdom to beat the other person.
Ah... these are very popular as well.
This kind of entertainment went through anime.
So there can be sometimes a game of wits,
and it’s kind of like your brains are battling it out.
And again, as Esther mentioned, the main character attempts to defeat his or her
opponent in a suspense-filled drama.
Now let’s stop there for a minute because we have a lot of words we need to
define, don’t we?
That’s right.
First of all, an opponent is sometimes an enemy.
But really an opponent is anyone who you are competing against.
OK, so in this competition, there is an opponent.
You are competing against the opponent and you want to win.
We can also say you are opposed against this person.
And there’s a lot of suspense, isn’t there?
Esther, I don’t know about you,
but I love suspense.
And I like suspenseful books and movies and novels.
What is suspense?
Well, suspense is that feeling of excitement,
the feeling of not knowing what is going to happen.
So you feel some tension if you’re like there is something going on but you’re
not quite sure what it is,
and you’re very excited about it.
Yes.
You’re kind of waiting for what is going to happen next.
So some people love the battles.
And they love the... the... the competition and the suspense of anime.
But you know what?
If that’s not really your thing, don’t worry because anime also has a softer
side.
That’s right.
It sounds like there are also some romantic stories in the anime,
and also some stories which give you a twist where your expectations are um,
surprised,
where something happens that you didn’t expect.
Right.
And this is what our author says - is a bit different from Western anime.
Japanese anime can be different because in their softer stories or their more
romantic stories.
there’s usually a humorous twist or a quirk, like a magical character.
And this is what the Japanese love.
Esther, can you tell us what a quirk is?
I sure can.
A quirk is something very strange that happens by chance,
something that you didn’t expect would happen.
Oh.
If somebody has a quirk, it is something a bit unique.
It’s a bit strange.
So sometimes these kinds of stories, uh, they might also be suspenseful.
You’re left hanging a little bit and it... it might also be funny.
Our author tells us that some of this anime is humorous.
Well, we definitely have much more to talk about.
But right now we need to stop for today and visit the Chat Room.
Hi, everyone.
Welcome to the Chat Room.
My name is Ken.
And my name is Linda.
And today I’d like to talk a little bit about character and characteristic.
Good idea.
You know, I find those words very confusing at times.
It talks about characters drawn in an Asian style in our article.
Now this refers to the people or parts in a story or movie, right?
Right you are.
And this is one usage.
And then the other major usage is a person’s character.
That means the combined features are traits of someone.
Mm.
Could you give me an example?
Sure.
These are traits like being brave or impulsive, funny, honest, or even
dishonest.
There are many, many character traits or characteristics of a person.
Characteristics?
Yes. A characteristic is like one trait or a distinguishing trait.
Like those I mentioned before are all characteristics.
And a person’s character is made up of a combination of all of those
characteristics.
Oh, I get it.
(Chinese).
Her character is very different from her husband’s.
(Chinese).
characteristics.
(Chinese).
trait.
(Chinese).
Now I’ve also heard someone call a person of character.
What does that mean?
Aren’t we all people of character?
Well, we all have a character.
But a person of character means someone with high or honorable morals or
principles,
someone you can really trust and look up to.
So he is a character then, right?
Well, that is a different meaning.
If I say Ken is really a character, that means that you do things that are
somewhat unusual and people noticed them.
Usually we say this about people that do things a little bit differently than we
would expect.
(Chinese).
person of character.
(Chinese).
a man of character.
(Chinese).
... is quite a character.
(Chinese).
He is a real character.
(Chinese).
And here is a woman of real character,
Michelle,
who will now give us some Language Tips.
Hi, everyone.
I’m Michelle.
(Chinese).
And that’s all for today’s Language Tips.
I’ll see you tomorrow.
Bye-bye.
Thank you very much, Michelle.
Friends, do you enjoy Japanese anime?
If you’re not familiar with it, check it out the next time you’re at a
bookstore.
Then maybe you’ll understand a little more why it’s exploding in popularity.
Now besides unique artwork and unusual story lines, anime’s characters
themselves are quite special.
Join me tomorrow as we learn about them.
So friends, from all of us here at Studio Classroom Worldwide,
we hope you have a great day.
Bye-bye, everyone.
(Music).