节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-12-10
难易度:High
关键字:stroll, performer, assortment, marvelous, flamenco, tapas bar
Oh! Hello again, everybody.
Uh... that was nothing.
I was just practicing my flamenco.
As I learned in today's lesson, no trip to Madrid is complete without seeing a
performance of this famous Spanish art form, flamenco.
That is one of their many different kinds of entertainment there.
And of course something else we learned so far is about a taste of Egypt in
Madrid.
Well, we have more to learn about this wonderful, fabulous city of Madrid.
So let's do that now.
Things to Do in Madrid.
Food.
Madrid has a wide assortment of restaurants,
but because the Spanish typically eat late - around 9 or 10 p.m. - it's
difficult to find good dinner food earlier.
If you get hungry before then, the best solution is to try a tapas bar where
light snacks are served.
Be sure to try the jamon, dry-cured ham; Spain is famous for it.
Time for a break.
After a day of touring, relax in 350-acre Retiro Park, with its beautiful
gardens, fish pond and lake.
It is the perfect place to reflect on all you've enjoyed in this marvelous
Spanish city.
There is certainly a lot of splendor in this city of Madrid.
Now it is time to discuss a very important part when you are visiting any city -
food.
Madrid has a wide assortment of restaurants,
but because the Spanish typically eat late - around 9 or 10 p.m. - it's
difficult to find good dinner food earlier.
Hmm. Well, I would love to try this food, but maybe earlier in the day, not at 9
or 10 p.m.
I don't know why I have to wait that long, but let's talk about a word here from
our Word Bank.
It is the word "assortment." Now of course there's a wide assortment of
restaurants.
Another word you could use is "variety." There are many different kinds of
something.
That's right.
Now if you remember before, we had talked about a flea market.
There is a wide assortment of items that you can buy and look at and find at a
flea market.
Or maybe you buy a box of chocolate for somebody.
But it's not just one kind of chocolate.
There is an assortment of chocolates inside that box.
Or how many clothes do your own?
Do you have an assortment of different kinds of clothes?
There are many ways you can use this word assortment.
And of course if you visit Spain and visit Madrid, you'll notice that the
Spaniards eat a little later in the day, around 9 or 10 o'clock at night.
That's right.
And you might find this strange, but don't worry.
Steve and Ken are going to explain how and when Spaniards eat for us in the
Information Cloud.
If you ever visit Spain and you want to blend in with the locals and get an
authentic feel for the culture,
you will need to be very flexible about when you eat your meals.
Right, because the Spaniards have unquestionably one of the most unusual eating
schedules in the world.
OK. A typical Spanish day starts at 8 a.m. with breakfast... nothing unusual
there.
But then around 11:30, they have a mid-morning snack, bigger than a coffee break
but smaller than a proper sit-down meal.
Two hours after that, lunch.
Now the two-hour lunch break isn't necessarily for napping.
It's to give workers plenty of time to go home, make lunch and eat it.
At 4 o'clock, it's back to work.
Then around 6, there might be another little snack to hold them over until
dinnertime.
Now a 9-o'clock dinnertime is considered early.
A 10-o'clock dinnertime is more the norm.
But because it's so late in the day, dinner isn't normally a big, heavy meal.
So that's how the Spanish do it!
They have five meals a day instead of three.
I think I could get used to that.
(Chinese).
Thank you, guys.
Well, I am getting hungry just thinking about eating.
And you know, this also reminds me of my trip to Greece.
I was playing in the beach with some kids, and it was around 12:30 noon.
I was getting hungry.
And I was like, "Well, when are we going to have lunch?" They laughed at me and
they said, "We don't eat until 2:30 or 3:00.".
So it seems like a lot of European countries are similar in that they eat at
different times throughout the day than I'm used to.
That's right.
So it's important if you are traveling that you make sure you understand the
food culture of that country.
Now don't worry.
We will continue with our lesson.
If you get hungry before then, the best solution is to try a tapas bar where
light snacks are served.
So even if you are hungry and it's not quite 9 or 10 p.m., don't worry, you can
go to a tapas bar.
And what should they try there, Gabe?
Well, of course "tapas" is another word for snack or a light snack.
Now what should you try?
Be sure to try the jamon, dry-cured ham; Spain is famous for it.
So maybe you could say it's a delicacy in Spain, this jamon.
Now notice that word.
It's spelled with a "J." But of course in Spanish, J is pronounced like an H,
jamon.
And now we come to the part of our lesson where we get to relax.
We've done so much exploring in this city, and it is time for a break.
After a day of touring, relax in 350-acre Retiro Park, with its beautiful
gardens, fish pond and lake.
And with all those things, it does sound like a very beautiful place to just
relax.
That's right, relax, or rest, as the name Retiro Park implies.
Retiro kind of sounds like the word "retire," which is another word for to rest
or take a break.
And I would love to visit this place.
Three hundred and fifty acres!
That is not a small park.
That is quite large.
Yes. So there is plenty of space for everyone to go and relax.
And we read:
It is the perfect place to reflect on all you've enjoyed in this marvelous
Spanish city.
All right. Well, we have a lot to reflect on here in our lesson.
And what does it mean to reflect on something?
That means maybe you take time to think about something, and you're considering
it.
Maybe if you like to write your thoughts down in a journal, that could also be
reflecting.
You're reflecting on your life, and you write your thoughts down.
That's right.
And in this sentence we see a word from our Word Bank: marvelous.
Now if something is marvelous, then it is extremely enjoyable or exciting.
So you might say my Spanish dinner at 9 p.m. last night was marvelous.
It was so wonderful.
It was marvelous.
It was wonderful.
It was a splendid dinner.
Now this word marvelous it sounds like the word marvel, or the word marvel is in
that word.
And a marvel is, of course, a wonder of some kind.
You might marvel at something.
Or you could describe it as being marvelous.
You had a marvelous dinner.
Well, we are going to continue learning about this wonderful city, this
marvelous Spanish city of Madrid by watching a video.
And then we'll continue learning with Michelle in the Language Lab.
(Music).
All right.
(Chinese).
OK. Get ready to learn more from our marvelous teachers.
Well, the past two days we have been learning all about Madrid, the Spanish
capital.
Now what would you do if you only had one day to visit this marvelous city?
There are so many things to do! Gabe?
Hmm, good question.
Well, I love art.
I would be tempted to visit the art museums.
But if I could only choose one thing, I would love to go see a flamenco
performance because that's something that seems very unique to Spain and Madrid.
I would love to see that kind of performance.
What about you, Carolyn?
Well, I would definitely like to spend some time at a cafe seeing a flamenco
performance.
I'd also really like to visit the Royal Palace and see those lavish rooms.
Well, what about you?
What would you like to do if you only had one day in Madrid?
Thank you for joining us for our lesson about Madrid.
And of course, we'll see you next time right here at Studio Classroom.
See you.
(Music).