节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-04-03
难易度:High
关键字:cannon, wilderness, vast, route, at full tilt, relay station
Hello again.
Today we are learning about the Pony Express.
What would you do if you wanted to get news from where you live to a place 2,000
miles away?
Well, I know your answer -- Facebook.
OK. Now pretend the year is 1860, and there is no Internet or transportation
connecting the two places.
Well, this was the situation in America.
People in California wanted to hear news about things 2,000 miles away, so the
Pony Express was born.
A chain of riders rode 90 miles each on horseback to get the news out.
Let's learn more about the history behind the Pony Express now.
(Music).
The Pony Express.
Four months earlier...
In December 1859 William Russell, owner of a transport company, decided to meet
that need.
He and partners William Waddell and Alexander Majors worked constantly for
months.
They selected a route from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California.
Then they purchased 400 horses, hired workers and set up relay stations every 10
to 15 miles.
Riders would change horses at these stations, and every 90 to 120 miles a new
rider would take over.
(Chinese).
And now let's go to our teachers.
Thank you, Michelle.
Well, now we learn about the man who founded the Pony Express.
Our section is titled "Four months earlier..." describing things that happened
before Johnny Fry rode out.
We read: In December 1859 William Russell, owner of a transport company, decided
to meet that need.
Now he owned a transport company, which means he was already used to the idea of
taking goods from one place to another.
Right. So it makes sense that he would have an idea for delivering mail more
efficiently.
So he decided to meet that need. Wait, what need?
Well, if you remember, before our break we read that as war among the states
seemed likely, people wanted news more quickly.
They needed news quickly.
Or to use the word "need" as a noun, we need... the need was to have news
quickly.
Great. And Russell was going to meet that need.
That means he was going to do something about it.
Well, how else can we use that phrase?
Most companies and organizations today are meeting different needs.
What kinds of needs do you have?
There's probably a company out there whose specialty is meeting your need.
And if there isn't yet, maybe you're the person to meet the need.
Most jobs meet needs.
It could be a big need or a small need.
But there are always needs to be met.
And one obvious example of an organization that meets needs is Studio Classroom.
Our founder realized a need for people to learn English, so she wanted to meet
that need.
And we still try to meet that need today.
Well, the founders of the Pony Express William Russell, William Waddell and
Alexander Majors worked constantly for months.
That means they worked for several months, not just one or two.
Right. You could say specifically how many months, or you could simply say they
worked for months if the number is not really important.
You could use the word weeks or years or some other time period as well.
Well, right now it's time for us to learn something new with Steve and Ken in
the Information Cloud.
Look up the word entrepreneur, and you'll find definitions like someone who
starts, operates and takes the risks of a new business,
generator of new ideas which lead to new products, new services and increased
efficiency.
Now the three men who started the Pony Express most definitely fit this
description.
They identified a need, and then built a business to meet that need, namely a
super fast mail delivery service.
Now there's another business word that's related to entrepreneur, even its first
seven letters are the same, though not in the same exact order.
It's the word enterprise, which is defined as any undertaking that takes daring
and energy.
Perfect, like the Pony Express.
Today, though, you won't hear enterprise used as much as the more fashionable
word "venture," which basically means the same thing.
All right.
There's one more shorter word that's hiding in entrepreneur, entre, which is the
French version of enter.
Well, it's a fact when entrepreneurs enter into starting a new enterprise, they
fail more often than they succeed.
The three entrepreneurs who started the Pony Express made around $90,000.
But they spent more than twice that on horses, supplies and salaries.
(Chinese).
Thank you, guys.
Well, back to the Pony Express founders, we read that they selected a route from
St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California.
They selected a route, eh?
Well, that gives me the idea that maybe there were a few possible routes to
choose from.
Well, this is the route they decided on.
The route can be found in eight states, and it ended up in California.
That's a long ride.
You know, it really is.
It's a good thing it was shared among many riders.
They purchased 400 horses, hired workers and set up relay stations every 10 to
15 miles.
What's a relay?
Ah. It's the act of passing something along from one person or group to the
next.
So they had relay stations so that they could relay the mail from one person to
the next to keep it going.
Hey, you just used that word as a verb.
You can relay something to someone else.
Sometimes someone will tell me to relay a message to someone else.
That person doesn't talk to someone directly.
They tell me to give the message, so I am relaying the message.
Good point.
Now there's another time we may hear the word relay.
Have you ever been part of a relay race?
You and a few other teammates relay something called a baton to each other in
order to win the race.
That's right.
So each person runs as fast as they can to the next person in the lane.
The team that ends first wins.
Well, I don't think the Pony Express was a race unless you want to say it was a
race against time.
And now it's time for us to join Linda for the Editor's Summary.
Our HISTORY article is about the riders who carried mail by horse across the
United States.
Its official name? The Pony Express.
It started on April 3 in 1860 and ended in October of 1861.
But the service was very successful while it lasted.
Riders carried mail to a certain point and passed their bag of mail off to
another rider until the mail reached its final point of delivery to a selected
city.
A common route was between St. Joseph, Missouri, and Sacramento, California.
A group of men bought 400 horses and established relay stations every 10 to 15
miles where the riders would change their horses.
The riders themselves changed about every 100 miles.
So today we learned why the Pony Express existed and how it was founded.
And I think we have more to learn tomorrow.
Yes. Was working for the Pony Express always safe?
Come back and find out next time right here at Studio Classroom.
Make sure you join us then.
See you.
(Music).