节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-04-29
难易度:Low
关键字:landslide, boulder, determine, stare, compass
Hello. My name is Gabe.
My name is Carolyn.
And today we are continuing our idioms lesson "Into the Jungle."
And we learned several plant idioms yesterday like "out on a limb."
Let's find out what happens to Flora and the team she is working with today.
Yesterday they were trying to reach the nearby mountains when it started
pouring.
So , open up your magazine to the second day of our lesson, and let's find out
what happens next.
(Music).
Into the Jungle.
Then came a loud bang.
Jared looked up and shouted, "Landslide!"
Then Flora saw rock and mud flowing down the hill toward them.
She felt sure they would soon be pushing up daisies.
Jared grabbed her hand, and they ran as fast as they could.
Falling boulders hit the ground behind them.
The pair didn't stop until it was quiet again.
Flora felt relieved, but Jared said, "We're not out of the woods yet."
Then Flora realized the rest of their team had disappeared.
(Chinese).
Thank you so much, Michelle.
Wow! This story just got very exciting.
Yesterday we were introduced to our characters, and today we read about them
being in a very scary and dangerous situation.
You are right about that.
And at the very beginning, we have a lot of excitement.
There was a loud bang, and then Jared yelled one very important word:
"landslide."
The bang they heard was probably made by the rocks that were falling down the
mountain.
A landslide would probably be very noisy if there were a lot of big rocks.
And there seemed to be a lot of large rocks falling down the mountain in our
story.
However, Flora saw rock and mud flowing down the hill.
Should it be "rock" or "rocks"?
Was there only one rock falling?
Good question, Carolyn.
So let's talk about it.
If you use the singular form of the word "rock," without an S, then it is
referring to rocks in general.
OK, so instead of focusing on individual rocks, it gives you the image of many
rocks together, so you would just say "rock."
For example, you could say that "There is a large pile of rock outside."
There is probably more than one rock since it is a pile, but you would still use
the singular form of the word "rock."
However, if you wanted to talk about each individually or emphasize that there
are many different rocks, then you should add the S at the end of the word.
To use our previous example, you would say "There is a large pile of rocks
outside."
In this sentence, you draw attention to the fact that there are different rocks
in the pile instead of the fact that the pile is made of rock.
So, in our lesson we read that "there was rock and mud flowing down the hill."
That probably means that there were a lot of rocks, but you can't really see
them falling one by one, they're all flowing down the hill together.
And that would be a very scary thing to see.
Nature can be very unpredictable.
You never know what is going to happen when you are out in the jungle.
This is very true.
And having rock and mud flowing towards you at an uncontrollable speed would be
very scary.
Now we see that word "toward."
And Steve and Ken have some information they would like to share with us in the
Information Cloud.
Let's see what they have for us today.
Today let's take a look at a fairly basic word: "toward."
Now we usually use it as a preposition describing either a position as in "He
kept his back toward me." or actual motion "We drove toward home."
But sometimes we see this word written with an S, "towards."
"So how are the two words different?" you may ask.
Well, both "toward" and "towards" are considered standard English.
Now the British tend to use "towards," with an S, whereas Americans mostly say
"toward," without the S.
And the same goes for "afterward" and "afterwards," "forward" and "forwards,"
"backward" and "backwards."
So you can feel free to say either "we drove toward home" or "we drove towards
home."
OK. Now here's a question some of you might ask: What about the word "untoward"?
It sure sounds like it should mean the opposite of toward, that is, "away,"
right?
Well, not quite.
Even though "toward" is most commonly used as a preposition, it can also be used
as an adjective, meaning "having a successful or good outcome."
So the adjective "untoward" has the opposite meaning - unfortunate.
That was an untoward incident. I'm sorry to hear it.
Now for a memory trick, think of how you would want to move toward something
fortunate, but you would want to move away from something untoward, or
unfortunate.
(Chinese).
Thank you, gentlemen.
It is good to know what the difference is between "toward" and "towards."
But back to our very exciting story.
Flora, Jared and the rest of the team are facing a landslide.
And Flora felt sure that they would be pushing up daisies.
Now that's a great idiom, but before we talk about it, let's look at the phrase
"feel sure."
If you are sure something will happen, that means that you have no doubts about
it.
It is certain, true or real and will definitely happen.
However, we also see the word "feel."
That means it is not necessarily true.
Feelings are unique to each individual person.
So what one person feels may not be the same thing that another person feels.
So to use this phrase, you could say, "Sara felt sure that she would pass the
test without any problems, but her mother felt sure that she needed to study
more."
So two people have different feelings about the same thing.
Right. And in our story, Flora felt sure that they would be pushing up daisies.
But perhaps other people on the team didn't feel the same way.
Maybe they felt sure that they needed to run.
You might be right about that.
And now we should look at that idiom: pushing up daisies.
If someone is "pushing up daisies," that means that they are "no longer alive."
They have died and are buried in the ground.
So why does this idiom sound so cheerful?
It uses the word "daisies," and daisies are a very pretty flower, but they are
also a common flower that grows in fields where people might be buried.
So, if someone is buried under the ground and there are flowers growing above
them, you could say that they are "pushing up the daisies," which is why this
phrase is used to talk about someone that has been buried.
Well, I certainly hope that Flora and the rest of the team will not be pushing
up any daisies anytime soon.
Jared helped Flora to run away from the landslide, and the pair didn't stop
running until it got quiet.
And it was just the pair of them.
Since we see the word "pair," we know that there were only two people.
But what about the rest of the team?
What will happen to them?
I'm sure we will find out.
But first, let's take a look at a phrase that you just used, Carolyn: "the rest
of."
This is used to talk about things that are separated from the main part.
Can you give us an example?
Oh, sure.
I have some of my things in my apartment in Taipei.
But the rest of my stuff is in America.
So not all of my things are in Taipei, but the most important things that I use
every day are here.
Great example.
You could also say "There is some food sitting out on the table for you.
But if you are still hungry, the rest is in the fridge."
So there is some food on the table, which is the most important because you can
eat it right away.
But there is still more food in the fridge.
So, Flora and Jared are safe, but they don't know where the rest of their team
is.
Flora and Jared are our two main characters, but they weren't the only ones
trying to escape from the landslide.
You're right about that.
Well, we will have to wait to find out what happens next right after this.