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
Today's lesson is filled with thrills and excitement.
Flora and Jared have been separated from the rest of their team after running
away from a sudden landslide.
Rock and mud flowed down the hill toward them, and they had to run as fast as
they could to escape.
What will happen to them next?
Let's continue with the next part of our reading to find out.
(Music).
Into the Jungle.
"Finding the others will be like looking for a needle in a haystack," Flora
complained.
"We'll go back to camp and hope to meet them there," said Jared.
He took out a map and compass and tried to determine the way.
While he was thinking, Flora wandered near a river, looking at the plants.
But then she saw a snake staring at her.
And this was no garden-variety snake.
It was three meters long!
(Chinese).
And now let's go to our teachers.
Thank you, Michelle.
Yikes! Flora needs to be careful.
She's not used to going out into the jungle, and she is having a very bad time.
I think you're right.
There are a lot of things going wrong on her first trip into the jungle.
But while that might be true, she is also using a lot of great idioms.
So , let's look at the first one she uses: "needle in a haystack."
Now this means that "something is going to be very difficult to find."
Pieces of hay are long, thin, straight and pointy.
They are also light in color.
A needle is usually silver, or if it's made of wood, it could be brown.
And needles are also long, thin, straight and pointy.
So if you lose a needle in a stack of hay, it would be extremely hard to find.
If you ever managed to find it, it would take a very long time.
So we use this idiom when we think something is impossible.
For example, "Finding my small note in this huge pile of papers will be like
looking for a needle in a haystack."
It will be impossible to find.
Another example would be "Finding that file on my computer would be like looking
for a needle in a haystack."
There are too many files to look through.
Fortunately, technology makes searching for things a little bit easier because
there are search functions.
But there is no search function when you are out in the jungle, so Flora and
Jared might be between a rock and a hard place.
That's another great idiom, Gabe.
It's not in our lesson, but "between a rock and a hard place" means that you are
"faced with a difficult decision and you don't like any of your options."
For Flora and Jared, they could wander around the jungle looking for the rest of
the team, but that could be very dangerous.
They could also return to the camp and try to meet them.
But what if the two of them got lost or what if they get lost?
Or what if the rest of the team doesn't make it back to camp?
The options just don't seem very good.
No, they don't.
So you can say that they are stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Have you ever been in that type of situation?
You needed to make a decision, but all the options were bad.
What did you do?
What was the result?
Talk about that in English.
Well, Jared thinks that they should go back to the camp to meet the rest of the
team.
But what does "camp" mean?
Is there a campground nearby?
Were they going camping?
Uh, probably not the kind of camping that most people enjoy.
Here "camp" is used to refer to the area that the team was using as their main
location.
The camp is where they would sleep and eat and probably discuss their research.
So returning to the camp would be a good idea.
However, they have to be able to find the camp first.
Everyone was running from the landslide.
And now they don't know where they are or in which direction the camp is.
Well, which is why Jared took out a map and a compass.
He's hoping to be able to figure out which way they need to go to get back to
the camp because they are lost in the jungle.
Unfortunately, for Flora, she ran into a snake.
And as we learn in our lesson, this was no garden-variety snake.
This snake was huge!
Yes. It was three meters long.
There are many dangerous animals that live in the jungle.
And some jungles have giant snakes.
Actually, there are giant snakes that can be found all over the world.
One type of snake, called the "green anaconda," can reach length of over nine
meters.
Well, that is certainly one snake I never want to see up close.
In a picture it's OK, but not up close.
Not only are they one of the longest snakes, but the green anaconda is also the
heaviest snake.
It can weigh more than 227 kilograms.
Oh. Well, despite their huge size, they usually only live ten years in the wild.
Fortunately, the snake Flora ran into doesn't seem to be a green anaconda since
it's only three meters long.
But that's still a huge snake.
And there are plenty of dangerous snakes that are that large.
Some of them are venomous while others are, like the python or anaconda, which
squeezes their prey.
Either way, I hope Flora and Jared will be able to get back to the camp safely.
But right now it's time for us to join Liz in the Grammar Gym to talk about one
of the phrases we see at the end of the lesson.
And that's not all.
Of course we'll go and see Linda for the Editor's Summary as well.
Hi, friends. How are you doing today?
Welcome to the Grammar Gym.
My name is Liz.
In today's lesson we see this sentence:
And this was no garden variety snake.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
And our focus is on this expression: this was no [something].
Now native speakers use this expression to mean "this was not the usual
[something]."
So, going back to today's sentence, the writer is saying that this snake was not
the normal kind of garden-variety snake that people think of.
Use this expression when you want to tell people that something is not the usual
kind that most people would think of.
For example:
The hotel manager has seen all kinds of visitors, but yesterday's guest was no
everyday visitor.
Or: The doctor thought his patient had the flu, but this was no ordinary flu.
Now it's your turn to practice.
Think of something that is not the usual kind of thing that people think of, and
practice using this expression.
And if you need to see some more examples, they're available in today's Grammar
Tip section in your Studio Classroom magazine.
That's all the time we have for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
Today we see the jungle team by the mountain where they hear a loud bang and see
mud and rocks coming toward them down the hill.
Landslide!
They ran and ran and ran and didn't stop until it was quiet.
And even though Flora began to feel relieved, Jared told her they weren't out of
the woods yet.
And then Flora realizes the rest of the team is not with them.
So Jared looks at the map to figure out how to get them back to camp.
And Flora wanders off to look at the nearby river and runs into more than that.
And what did she see staring at her?
A three-meter-long snake!
Thank you, Linda.
Well, today's lesson "Into the Jungle" has been even more exciting than
yesterday's lesson.
That's right.
Today we had landslides, boulders, getting lost in the jungle, being separated
from the rest of the team and finding a giant snake.
You know, I have seen snakes before in the wild -- not a huge one like the green
anaconda in our lesson.
But actually, just a couple of months ago at Christmas, my family and I were in
Kenting.
My dad was making a barbecue, and he told me to go and find some stones.
Well, I saw a stone next to a tree, and I went to reach for it.
And as I did that, I noticed something green and curvy right next to my hand.
Oh, Gabe, was... was it a snake?
Carolyn, it was a snake!
And you know, its head seemed to be kind of triangular.
Is that a good thing or is that kind of dangerous?
Oh, that's very bad, Gabe.
That would be a viper, which means it is venomous.
Caroly, I tell you, I was pretty scared.
I pulled my hand back right away.
I'm glad that snake did not bite me.
Well, I'm glad that you were very lucky.
And I hope that Flora is lucky as well.
Be sure to join us again tomorrow as we continue our story and learn some more
idioms.
Right here at Studio Classroom.
(Music).