节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-03-07
难易度:Medium
关键字:parallel, location, issue, category, Paralympics, disability
Welcome back.
Today we are having a very informative meeting about the Winter Paralympics
Games of 2014, which, by the way, started today.
I hope you will have a chance to see some of them on TV or online.
And I'm glad you are joining us here at Studio Classroom as we learn about the
Paralympics in English.
We've just started talking about the kinds of disabilities Paralympic athletes
have.
Let's continue learning about this now.
(Music).
The 2014 Winter Paralympics.
Paralympic athletes may also be affected by several other disabilities, such as
muscle or mental issues.
That's why three of our five sports are divided into standing, sitting and
vision-challenged categories.
I recommend that you try to watch a little of each category.
How do these categories affect the events?
Standing events can look so much like their Olympic versions that you won't know
you're watching a Paralympic event.
For the other two categories, special sit skis are used for sitting events, and
guides lead vision-challenged athletes.
Ice sledge hockey and wheelchair curling are only open to athletes with
lower-body disabilities.
(Music).
(Chinese).
And now let's go to our teachers.
Thank you, Michelle.
In this section we are still learning about the different kinds of disabilities
that Paralympics athletes have.
Of course we already talked about some who have lost limbs due to illness or
injury and others who have poor vision.
And we read here Paralympic athletes may also be affected by several other
disabilities, such as muscle or mental issues.
Now let's take a look at the phrase: to be affected by something.
What does this mean?
Well, if something affects you, it causes you to be a certain way.
So if you're affected by something, that means your life is changed because of
that thing.
So people's lives are affected by disabilities.
But of course, all of our lives are affected by many things.
We are affected by our families, our backgrounds, our education.
We're affected by the country and society in which we live.
All of these things affect the way we think and live.
And it's good to think about the things we are affected by.
We don't just believe something, but why do we believe what we believe?
In Chinese, some people say (Chinese).
But for some things, it's good to (Chinese).
What are your decisions affected by?
Why do you do what you do?
Or perhaps we could use this phrase in another way to talk about our plans being
affected by something.
For example, my plans to go hiking this weekend could be affected by the weather
on Saturday.
I might change my plans depending on the weather.
And what are your plans affected by?
Well, the lives of people are affected by disabilities, and those could include
muscle or mental issues.
We read: That's why three of our five sports are divided into standing, sitting
and vision-challenged categories.
When we read that the three sports are divided into certain categories, we know
that there are not just three sports being played the same way,
but each of these three sports can be played a few different ways depending on
the disabilities of the athletes.
I often use the words "divide into" when I'm talking with a class, and I want to
split the students up into smaller groups.
I might just tell them divide into groups of three or four people.
That means there may be several groups, and each group has three or four people.
If you've ever been involved in a choir of some kind, the choir is usually
divided into four basic voice types:
soprano, alto, tenor and bass; high and low voices for women and men.
And if you are watching the Paralympics, you will notice that a few of the
sports are divided into several categories.
Our author recommends that you try to watch a little of each category.
Yes. He says: I recommend that you do this.
I like using that phrase: I recommend.
It's a suggestion, of course, not a command.
But this reminds us that our lesson is written to make us feel like we're on a
tour, a tour of the Winter Paralympics.
Yes. And when you say "I recommend," it becomes personal.
Sometimes I go to a restaurant and ask the server: What dish is really good
here?
The server might respond: Well, I recommend this dish.
If he says that, I know he's tried that dish himself and really likes it.
Right. And if you want someone to know how you feel about something, you could
even add the word personally.
For example, I personally recommend this vegetarian restaurant near the Taipei
Airport called Sophie's Garden.
It's a little expensive, but the food is so delicious.
You know, you recommended that restaurant to me before, Carolyn.
I'll have to check it out.
Well, let's move on to this next section.
How do these categories affect the events?
We read: Standing events can look so much like their Olympic versions that you
won't know you're watching a Paralympic event.
Right now let's join Liz in the Grammar Gym to talk about this sentence.
Hi there, friends.
I hope you're all doing well today.
My name is Liz, and thanks for joining me here at the Grammar Gym.
In today's lesson we see this statement:
Standing events can look so much like their Olympic versions that you won't know
you're watching a Paralympic event.
Our focus today is on the sentence pattern:
Something looks like something that you won't know something else.
It's normal to find two things that are similar.
But sometimes we want to let people know just how similar two things are that
these two things are so similar that it's hard to tell the difference.
And that's what today's Grammar Tip sentence pattern is good for.
For example:
This restaurant's soy cheese burgers look so much like regular cheese burgers
that you won't know you're eating a vegetarian dish.
Or: These hidden cameras look so much like stones in a garden that you won't
know you're being watched as you walk around them.
If you have a copy of this month's magazine with you, be sure to check out
today's Grammar Tip action for more example sentences.
That's it for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
Thanks, Liz.
Here in this sentence we see the word version.
Maybe a Paralympic event is a running race that would look very similar to the
Olympic version of the race.
Right, it's just that Paralympic runners might have a fake leg or two.
Here you might use the word counterpart instead of version.
It's a high-level word, but it's a good one to know.
A counterpart is something that functions in a similar way as something else.
For example, the Paralympic marathon is similar to its Olympic counterpart.
They are not exactly the same, but they have the same goal: to challenge runners
in an extremely long race.
And let's use the word counterpart in another way.
If you say an acoustic guitar makes a better sound than its electric
counterpart, that means you think an acoustic guitar sounds better than an
electric guitar.
Or the women in that country are not as free as their male counterparts.
That means the men in that country have more freedom than the women.
Well, keep your eyes open for the word counterpart in the things that you read.
Right now, though, let's join Linda for our Editor's Summary.
Today we have been talking about the Paralympics in Sochi, Russia, the same
location as the Olympics last month.
What does Paralympic really mean?
Well, parallel - to be alongside of - the Olympics.
This is the Olympics for disabled people.
And the disabilities are varied.
Some people have lost limbs while others may not see very well or have mental or
muscle problems.
There are three categories for the five sports in the Paralympics.
Those categories include standing, sitting and vision-challenged.
Thank you, Linda.
Well, I think this is a good intro to the 2014 Winter Paralympics.
Do try to watch them if you have the chance.
And of course we have more to learn about the Paralympics next time, so do come
back to join us right here at Studio Classroom.
We shall see you then.
(Music).