节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-04-26
难易度:Low
关键字:troop, turning point, impact, statue, tragedy, slavery
Hello, my name is Gabe.
And I'm Carolyn.
And you are watching Studio Classroom.
Thanks for joining us.
Our lesson is by a Taiwanese citizen, Pauline Lin, and it is about her family's
experiences in America.
Sadly, this is the last lesson of her series, but she is sharing about a place
she thinks is worth visiting--- Gettysburg.
If you're an American and you hear the word "Gettysburg," you may think of the
American Civil War or the Battle at Gettysburg.
This is an extremely important place in American history.
So let's read something about it now in our lesson called "Learn From the Past."
Open your magazine and let's begin.
(Music).
Learn From the Past.
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
One major event in American history is the Civil War.
When the South fought the North over slavery, a number of battles were
important.
One was at Gettysburg, where President Lincoln gave his famous "Gettysburg
Address."
In 1863, General Lee and his troops lost the Battle of Gettysburg.
This was the turning point of the Civil War, and Gettysburg.
National Military Park honors this battle.
The Gettysburg Cyclorama, a 360-degree painting of the final attack, makes a
strong impact on its viewers.
(Music).
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
Thank you, Michelle.
Today we are learning all about Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
Now I find that a little odd.
What... what do you find odd?
Well, if you look in your magazine in yesterday's lesson, Pauline wrote that we
would enjoy the Historic Triangle in Virginia if we were history buffs.
So?
So we learned about two of the places in the Historic Triangle, Jamestown and
Colonial Williamsburg.
And both of those places are in Virginia.
But today's location is not in Virginia.
It's in Pennsylvania.
You're right! That is odd.
If we were to follow the Historic Triangle, then we should be learning about
Yorktown now.
Maybe it disappeared like things in the Bermuda Triangle.
Gabe, we're not talking about the Bermuda Triangle.
Anyway, we do know that Pauline visited Yorktown.
But it seems like she got more excited about Gettysburg, so that's what we're
learning about today.
So let's learn from the past with Gettysburg.
We read: One American event in American history is the Civil War.
Now in an earlier lesson this month, you learned about the Civil War. Remember?
Right.
One of the purposes of the Pony Express was to get news about the war from St.
Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California.
The Civil War was a defining war in American history.
Right. And the major issue was "slavery."
We read that "The South fought the North over this issue."
Let's look at that phrase: to fight over something.
When you fight with someone over something, there is something that is important
to both of you but you disagree about it.
So the issue here is "slavery."
Should white people be allowed to have black slaves?
Well, the North disagreed with that idea.
"No," they said, "black people should be free, not slaves."
But the South had another idea.
They argued that slavery was OK, so the South fought the North over this issue.
But we can use the phrase, "to fight over," in other ways.
For example, little kids sometimes fight over toys.
Both kids want to play with one toy, so they fight over it instead of sharing
it.
That's true.
But you know, people of all ages fight over things, not just kids.
If something is valuable, people fight over it.
For example, when the old man passed away, his family fought over his wealth.
Oh, that's sad.
And that happens often.
People fight over money all the time.
But another very important issue, at least in American history, was slavery.
Now you already saw the word "war," and now we see "battle."
A number of battles wore... were important.
But what's the difference?
Oh, between "war" and "battle"?
Well, a war is more general. It's an open conflict between two groups.
A "battle" is an individual encounter where the people of those two groups fight
each other.
In many major wars, there are some famous battles.
For example, during the Second World War, the Battle at Pearl Harbor in America
and the Battle at Normandy in France were very significant.
And during America's Civil War, Gettysburg was one of the most significant
battles fought.
This is where President Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg Address.
He probably said something like:
"OK, write this down. My address is..." And then he gave his address.
Uh, no, Gabe. That's not what "address" means here.
Here, Lincoln's address is a formal speech.
The word means "to speak to" when used as a verb.
Right. It does have a different meaning here.
For example, the teacher addressed the class about a problem.
If you meet someone and you're not sure what you should call him or her, you
could ask, "Excuse me, how should I address you?"
That person might say, "Call me Mr. So-and-so," or "I'm Dr. So-and-so."
Or they might just tell you to call them by their first name.
But that is a good question to ask someone when you meet them, especially if
they're older.
Now back to the Gettysburg Address.
Like you said just now, it was a formal speech.
And Lincoln started out like this: Four score and seven years ago...
Carolyn, do you remember any of the rest?
Well, let's see.
"Four score and seven years ago, our fathers brought forth on this continent a
new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men
are created equal."
Amazing, and that's not it.
You see, Carolyn and I had to memorize this in school.
That was a while ago, I... I forgot most of it.
But of course, we remember the first couple of words or lines because Lincoln
used an English word in a different way, the word "score."
Score actually means the number "20."
So "four score and seven years ago," what does that mean?
You guessed it... 87 years ago!
Eighty-seven years before Abraham Lincoln gave that address is when America
declared its independence.
All right, so that was the Gettysburg Address.
And we learn here about one of the people fighting in Gettysburg, General Lee.
No... he wasn't Chinese. That's not (Chinese).
Robert E. Lee was a general of the South and probably would have become their
president if they won the war.
But he and his troops didn't win.
Now a troop is a group of soldiers as you can see in this picture.
Of course troops would have looked very different back 150 years ago.
But these are modern troops.
Well, next our author talks about the Gettysburg Cyclorama, which is a
360-degree painting of the final attack at Gettysburg.
Notice the word "attack" here.
It's used as a noun.
Often we use it as a verb, too.
Right. We could say "we are under attack" or 'they are attacking us."
And this 360-degree painting is a painting of the last attack at Gettysburg.
And she says it makes a stronge impact on its viewers.
If something "has a strong impact on you," that means you will never forget it.
Sometimes people can make a strong impact on us, or sometimes we say someone
makes a deep impact on our lives.
Or perhaps an experience made a deep impact on your life.
It's something that happened in life that really affected you.
You will never forget it.
Well, Liz is someone who makes a positive impact on our show.
And she is waiting in the Grammar Gym right now waiting to talk to us about that
360-degree painting.
Let's join her.
Hi, friends.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym.
My name is Liz.
In today's lesson we see this sentence:
The Gettysburg Cyclorama, a 360-degree painting of the final attack, makes a
strong impact on its viewers.
Notice how there's a comma between "the Gettysburg Cyclorama" and "a 360-degree
painting."
"360-degree painting" describes "Gettysburg Cyclorama."
But this description is just additional information and does not affect the
sentence itself.
Another example: Pumpkin pie, my favorite dessert, is a Thanksgiving tradition.
"My favorite dessert" describes "pumpkin pie."
However, listeners don't really need to know that it is my favorite dessert.
In other words, the sentence is fine without that phrase "my favorite dessert."
And since that phrase can be taken out, we put in a comma.
Now if you are giving information that is necessary and not having this
information would make the subject unclear, then commas are not needed.
For example:
Mr. Brown has two sons.
His son James is a teacher, and the other is a lawyer.
To be sure that listeners know which son we are talking about, no comma is added
between "son" and "James."
So remember, if the information after the subject doesn't affect the meaning of
the sentence, then add a comma.
Otherwise, don't put in a comma.
And if you need more examples, then check out today's Grammar Tip section in
your magazine.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.