节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-03-15
难易度:Medium
关键字:essential, hiss, lavish, relative, celebration, lot, synagogue
Hello again.
Today we are learning more about the history of Purim, a Jewish festival
celebrated around this time every year.
It is called Purim because Haman, the villain in the story, cast lots against
the Jews.
The lot was called the pur.
Well, throughout history, Jews have gathered in synagogues to hear a reading of
the story every Purim.
People go in costume, and they boo and hiss whenever Haman's name is mentioned.
Let's learn more about this festival now.
Saved by the Queen.
The tradition of dressing up comes from the fact that Esther at first didn't let
people know she was Jewish.
Special food is also part of the festival.
Jewish people enjoy a lavish meal.
They also give baskets of food and drink to friends and relatives.
Many people eat hamantaschen, a three-cornered pastry with fruit or sweet cheese
filling.
Adults and children enjoy the celebration.
They remember a brave queen who trusted God to use her to save her people.
(Music).
All right.
(Chinese).
And now let's go back to our teachers.
Thank you, Michelle.
Well, we are still learning about the story reading in this first section.
We read: The tradition of dressing up comes from the fact that Esther at first
didn't let people know she was Jewish.
Right.
Her cousin Mordecai wisely advised her to keep that fact a secret.
So in a way, Esther was an actor.
Hey, I like that.
She was an actor hiding the fact that she was Jewish.
She hid this information from people at first, so eventually she told people.
But let's look at that phrase for a minute: at first.
What does this mean?
This means there was a change that took place at sometime.
So at the beginning it was one way, and after a while it's another way.
Let's use this phrase.
When Sarah went to the new school, at first she was a bit shy.
But after a while she became the most outgoing girl in her class.
You know, there's a song that says: If at first you don't succeed, you got to
get up and try again.
It's true.
Don't give up.
At first you may not be good at something.
But keep going, keep practicing, and you will improve.
Maybe you go to a new place, and you don't like it at first, but then you grow
to appreciate many things about it.
Well, at first Esther didn't let people know she was Jewish.
So when you don't let people know about something or something about you, in a
sense you are covering up something about yourself.
And that's what costumes do - they cover the real you.
And back to the sentence: The tradition comes from the fact that Esther did
something.
Let's learn something more about this sentence with Liz in the Grammar Gym.
Hi there, friends.
My name is Liz. And thanks for joining me here at the Grammar Gym.
We read in today's lesson:
The tradition of dressing up comes from the fact that Esther at first didn't let
people know she was Jewish.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
Basically it means because Esther at first didn't let people know she was
Jewish, people later came up with this tradition of dressing up.
Notice the pattern in today's sentence: [Situation 1] comes from the fact that
[situation 2].
This sentence pattern is useful when you want to describe how situation 1 is the
way it is because of situation 2,
especially when you want to talk about traditions and practices.
For example:
In many northern places, the practice of pickling vegetables comes from the fact
that people needed a way to keep food during long cold winter months.
Or: This new rule that stores will no longer give plastic bags comes from the
fact that we need to save our environment and stop throwing away so many plastic
bags.
If you turn to today's Grammar Tip section in your Studio Classroom magazine,
you'll find more example sentences there.
And that's all the time we have for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
Thank you so much, Liz.
Well, moving on from the reading and the costumes, we read now: Special food is
also part of the festival.
And I'm so happy about that.
Every good festival will have food.
Well, you should definitely visit a synagogue during Purim sometime because they
don't just have finger foods or little snacks to munch on, no.
Jewish people enjoy a lavish meal.
And if something is lavish, that means there is plenty, there is a lot.
And if a meal is lavish, there's a lot to choose from.
Now this word can also be a verb.
If you lavish someone with praise, for example, then you are giving them a lot
of praise.
I believe God has lavished His love on us.
He gives us a lot of love.
We just have to open our eyes to see it.
And He has always lavished His love on His people.
So you can lavish someone with something, or you can enjoy a lavish something,
like a lavish meal like at Purim.
Well, we read on: They also give baskets of food and drink to friends and
relatives.
Wait a minute, baskets of food and drink?
Shouldn't that be drinks, with an S?
Uh... no. Here, food and drink is fine.
If it's written without an S, then it is just the idea of anything you can
drink.
When you add an S to the word - drinks - then the idea is that you can count
these drinks individually.
So "drink" here is kind of written like food.
We get the idea that there are plenty of things to eat and drink but we don't
know how many.
Well, we read about a certain kind of food, and this isn't a word I use every
day: hamantaschen.
Hamantaschen is a triangular pastry with fruit or sweet cheese inside.
Um, why do you say triangular?
Because our lesson says it is a three-cornered pastry.
If it's got three corners, it's triangular.
I see.
Well, I'd like to try one of those if I ever get the chance.
But we read on here that adults and children enjoy the celebration, in which
they remember a brave queen who trusted God to use her to save her people.
Sounds like a wonderful festival!
Well, I think we have a wonderful review skit coming up next.
And then we'll join Linda for the Editor's Summary.
Drama, power, romance and conflict, that's my story.
And it's a great story, Queen Esther.
But is it really true?
Yes, it's all true.
Well, that makes the story even better.
So you were the queen.
Yes. My husband, the king, ruled the Empire of Persia.
He must've had a lot of power.
Yes. And the second in command was Haman.
Ooh, boo!
He was very angry and a selfish man.
Yes, and he was angry at my cousin Mordecai.
Why? What did Mordecai do to upset him?
Well, Mordecai would not bow down to him.
Well, good for him.
But Haman was so angry, he fooled the king into condemning all the Jews to
death.
Kill all the Jews? No!
But I told the king that Haman wanted to destroy my people.
Well, good for you, yes!
And the king immediately sentenced Haman to hang.
Hooray! Queen Esther, you saved your people.
No. God saved my people, and He used me.
And Jews celebrate that today.
Yes. Every year we have a festival and enjoy a lavish feast with friends and
relatives.
I'm sure you will be remembered as a brave queen who trusted God and saved her
people.
What a great story!
And it's all true.
Even better!
Why is the festival Purim called Purim?
Well, in our story of Purim, we find that Haman, the villain, cast the pur, or
the lot, against the Jews.
During the celebration every year, the Purim story is always read.
Some adults and children dress as characters from the story.
And of course there's always a lavish meal, and baskets of food and drink are
given to friends and relatives.
This festival is a reminder to the Jewish people that God used a brave queen who
trusted Him to save them all.
Thank you, Linda.
You know, I didn't know much about Purim before.
But I'm really glad I read this lesson.
And I hope I get the chance sometime to celebrate Purim.
That would be a lot of fun.
I'm sure you would surround the table that is lavished with food.
You're right about that.
Well, thank you for joining us, friends.
And we will see you next time right here at Studio Classroom.
See you then.