节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-04-01
难易度:High
关键字:collide, rival, upper hand, anticipate, impaired, softball, blindfold
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And my name is Carolyn.
We're glad you are joining us for a lesson called Competitive Fire.
Competitive Fire - The Game of Beep Baseball.
Now I've heard of baseball before, but what is beep baseball?
Have you ever wondered if blind people can play outdoor sports like baseball?
It's possible, and that's what we will be learning about today.
So open up your magazine, and let's get started reading about beep baseball.
Competitive Fire - The Game of Beep Baseball.
Blind athletes demonstrate great skill on the baseball field.
Beep baseball player Dee Butler describes the game as "almost like playing
football, baseball and track all in one." Indeed,
anyone who attends a beep baseball game will see players sprinting to base,
diving for balls and occasionally colliding with one another.
Although the sport is designed for blind or visually impaired players, there's
no room for pity here.
These players show intensity that rivals that of professional athletes.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
Thank you, Michelle.
So that's a short introduction to beep baseball, a sport designed for blind or
visually impaired players.
But what does the "beep" refer to in beep baseball?
Well, we will get to that in the next section of our lesson.
But I have a question.
Why is it called competitive fire?
What does fire have to do with baseball?
Good question.
Fire can mean a lot of things, right?
It can mean passion, for example.
When someone used to be excited about something but now they're not, sometimes
we say their fire has died down or their flame has gone out.
OK. So it can mean passion.
But what else do you notice about fire?
Fires can spread.
It starts out as only a spark or a small flame, but many fires spread quickly.
So perhaps in the same way, beep baseball started out as something small,
but as we'll see in our lesson, it is being played by more and more people
around the world.
And maybe as we go through the lesson, you can think of other ways that this
sport, beep baseball, is like fire.
Well, we read here: Blind athletes demonstrate great skill on the baseball
field.
And where do people play baseball?
We can call it a baseball field, or a lot of people call it a baseball diamond
because it is in the shape of a diamond.
You can call it either of these things.
And blind athletes demonstrate great skill.
That means you can see how much skill they have when they play.
When we demonstrate something, often that means our purpose is to show someone
else how to do something.
Right. But here, that's not the purpose of these players.
The purpose of these players is to play.
What else can you demonstrate in this way?
Perhaps someone demonstrates their grasp of the English language by speaking
fluently.
If you demonstrate good manners, that means others can see that you have good
manners.
Or maybe you demonstrate skills in some area or a skill in some area.
You demonstrate good piano-playing skills, for example.
And of course, many blind athletes demonstrate great skill on the baseball
field.
We read on about a beep baseball player whose name is Dee Butler.
She describes the game as almost like playing football, baseball and track all
in one.
She describes the game as something.
And that's a great phrase to know.
How do you describe things?
Use the word "as," too.
For example, Carolyn, I would describe you as a smart lady and as a friend who
is careful to do what is right.
Well, thanks, Gabe.
I describe you as a friendly guy who likes to be creative.
Well, that's true.
Now what about you?
How would you describe someone or something?
Remember to use describe and as together.
We read there that anyone who attends a beep baseball game will see players
sprinting to base, diving for balls and occasionally colliding with one another.
When you sprint, you are running as fast as you can.
And collide is a word that means to run into something or someone.
But what about that word "dive"?
I thought only swimmers dive.
And they dive into the water, like the guy in this picture.
Yes, it's going in head first, with your hands above your head into the water.
Do you know how to dive?
Now the word "dive" in our lesson doesn't mean going head first into the water.
It means doing a similar action but toward the ground.
Ooh... ouch.
Well, yes, diving into the ground can hurt, so you need to be careful.
But many sports players dive, usually in order to catch something like a ball.
So baseball players dive to catch a baseball; football players dive to catch the
football.
I love playing a sport called Ultimate where we sometimes dive to catch a
Frisbee.
And back to beep baseball, we read that the sport is designed for blind or
visually impaired players.
So if someone is not completely blind but they have serious problems with their
sight, we may say they are visually impaired.
And the word "impaired" implies a disability of some kind.
Many people have speech impairments, which means that they have some kind of
trouble speaking properly.
Now we read here that although beep baseball players may be visually impaired,
there is no room for pity.
Of course.
This means that those who watch these baseball players should not pity the
players.
But let's visit Liz in the Grammar Gym and see what she says about this phrase.
Hello, friends.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym.
My name is Liz.
Here's our Grammar Tip sentence from today's lesson.
Although the sport is designed for blind or visually impaired players, there's
no room for pity here.
Notice the phrase: no room for.
Normally when we talk about room, we're talking about an open space or a place
inside a building with walls around, and people can go in or out of.
But when we're talking about "no room for," we're not talking about rooms like
living rooms, bedrooms or bathrooms.
Instead, room means opportunities.
So "no room for" means there's no opportunity or chance for something.
In other words, it's unacceptable.
In the case of today's sentence, the writer is saying that although beep
baseball is designed for blind or visually impaired players, the players can't
expect to get any pity from anyone.
Use this phrase, no room for, to describe situations where a certain feeling or
action is not acceptable.
For example: In this professional work environment, there is no room for gossip.
Or: The dance program is very strict, and there is no room for whining.
If you'd like to see some more example sentences, they're available in today's
Grammar Tip section in your magazine.
And that's it for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
Thank you, Liz.
All right. Now let's use this phrase "to have no room for something" in another
way.
A doctor performing surgery on a patient has little or no room for error.
Right. A small mistake could cost someone their life.
Or maybe many people think that seeing is believing; when they can see something
with their eyes, there is no room for doubt.
OK, so use this phrase sometime today.
Well, with English, there's always room for improvement.
And we have more ways toimprove right after this.