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 again.
Today we are discussing popular dance moves that start with S.
So far we've talked about the sprinkler...
Which looks like this.
And of course we have the shopper...
Which looks like this.
And of course, there is the shower...
Which looks like this.
And of course, we can't forget sprockets!
Which looks like this.
Excellent!
That was great.
But wait a minute, Carolyn.
Everyone looks kind of confused.
Well, we respond to your confusion by saying...
April Fool!
Yes, today is April 1, so we couldn't resist playing a little joke on you.
Of course we're not talking about dance moves that begin with S.
We're discussing beep baseball.
Let's continue now.
Competitive Fire - The Game of Beep Baseball.
Beep Baseball Basics.
The beep refers to the noise the softball-sized ball makes during a game.
The sound acts as a cue to both batters and fielders.
Other than the pitcher, catcher and special teammates called spotters - all of
whom are sighted - players must wear blindfolds on the field.
This prevents players with partial vision from having the upper hand.
Unlike regular baseball, the batter, pitcher and catcher are on the same team,
so the pitcher's job is to help the batter get a hit!
Before throwing the ball, the pitcher calls out, "Ready ... pitch!" That signal
helps the batter time his swing and allows the six fielders to better anticipate
the ball.
(Chinese).
And let's go to our teachers.
Thank you, Michelle.
Well, I would say that Michelle was a little bit nicer to everyone; she didn't
play any jokes on us.
Yeah. I like Michelle.
Well, we just learned about the basics of beep baseball here, and Gabe, your
original question was also answered.
We found out what the word "beep" is all about.
Right. It refers to the noise that this ball makes.
Inside each ball is a pin that you can pull out.
And when you pull it out, the ball starts to go Beep... Beep...
OK, Gabe... Gabe, we get the point.
Beep-beep.
Yes. Thank you, Gabe, for your beeping noises.
As you can see, the word "beep" sounds just like what it means.
Sometimes people also use the word "beep" when talking about using the car... or
their horn on their car.
Hey, you're right about that.
The car goes: Beep, beep... beep...
Gabe, it doesn't keep beeping unless the horn is broken.
Oh, a broken horn... beep.
Right. Well, let's get back to beep baseball, and we see that the ball is
described as a softball-sized ball.
Wait, what's a softball?
It is a little bigger than a baseball, it's not wound as tightly as a baseball
is, and it is usually pitched slowly.
Have you ever played softball?
I've played before.
It can be pretty fun.
In beep baseball, the ball was actually pitched the same way as a softball.
Now we see here a beep baseball is a softball-sized ball.
You can actually use the word "sized" with other things if you want to describe
something else.
Right. And since most people are not familiar with beep baseballs, this is a
pretty good description, a softball-sized ball.
Now how else would we use this word?
Often I hear people describe small portions of food that can be eaten in one
bite as bite-sized.
Like a bite-sized cupcake is a really small cupcake.
You could also use the word in a way that's more fun.
You could talk about your monster-sized headache.
That means you have a really bad headache.
Aw, that's no fun.
Well, back to beep baseball, this softball-sized ball makes a beeping noise.
And we read that the sound acts as a cue to both batters and fielders.
Act as, what does that mean?
That means it has a certain function or purpose.
So here, the beeping ball's function is to let batters and fielders know where
it is.
But let's use the phrase "act as" in another way.
OK. I use a rain jacket to protect me from the rain, of course. But on really
cold days, when it's not raining, it also acts as a shield from the cold wind.
Or some car windows act as mirrors.
I often see people looking at car windows to see how they look.
And sometimes I even do that myself because the windows act as mirrors.
You know, I do that, too.
It's fine until I realize there's someone inside the car.
Well, what else acts as something else?
Try to use that phrase today.
We read next about some players on the field: pitchers, catchers and special
teammates called spotters.
We'll learn more about that tomorrow and what spotters do.
But let's look at the word "pitcher" for a moment.
Yes. A pitcher is a container that people use to pour drinks into glasses and
cups.
If you're at a restaurant, the server may come by and fill your cup with water
from a pitcher.
Do you ever use a pitcher?
Gabe... OK, that's enough April Fool's jokes.
All right, all right.
Well, this item is also spelled P-I-T-C-H-E-R.
It's not the kind of pitcher we read about in our lesson today.
The pitcher on a baseball team pitches or throws the ball to the batter.
Thank you.
And the catcher is the person behind the batter who catches the ball that the
batter does not hit.
In the game of beep baseball, the pitcher, catcher and spotters are all sighted,
which means they can see.
That's right.
Well, right now it's time for us to enjoy something with Steve and Ken in the
Information Cloud.
The word "track" can mean one of several things.
If I say I run on the track every morning, I'm talking about the oval running
track around a grass field that you find on most school grounds.
That's right.
Another way to say running on the track is running laps.
So Ken, I'm guessing that you might run about 15 or 20 laps every morning,
right?
Well, five is more like it. But yes, that's one meaning of track.
But I can also say I used to run track.
In this sentence, track is referring to the sport of track and field.
Track and field comprises various competitive athletic contests based on
running, jumping and throwing.
And if you're on the track team, you participate in one or several of these
contests or events.
Since running, jumping and throwing are natural forms of human physical
expression,
track-and-field style events are among the oldest of all sporting competitions
dating back to the ancient Olympic Games.
And if you talk about someone's track record, you're referring to a history of
someone's performance or achievements as in:
Hmm, this applicant has an excellent track record.
As the name suggests, track record comes from records that took place on a
track.
(Chinese).
Today we learned about beep baseball, a sport for blind or visually impaired,
which just means hard of seeing people.
Can you believe it?
We see that the ball is the size of a softball, and it beeps during the game.
And to make sure everyone is equal, only the pitcher, the catcher and the
spotters don't have to wear blindfolds.
And don't get confused because the batter, the pitcher and the catcher are all
on the same team.
The pitcher, in fact, helps the batter be prepared to hit the ball by calling
out, "Ready... pitch!" just as they're going to pitch the ball.
This helps the batter prepare to bat, and the fielders prepare to catch the
ball.
Thank you, Linda.
Well, there you have it, the basics of beep baseball.
And of course, we have a lot more to learn.
So we will see you again tomorrow right here on Studio Classroom.
See you then.
(Music).