节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-03-28
难易度:Low
关键字:cricket, native, scoop, spice, safari, curry
Hello, everyone. And welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
I'm Carolyn.
And you are joining us for a great lesson as we continue learning about Sri
Lanka.
Yesterday we enjoyed learning a little bit about Sri Lanka's environment and
history.
There are so many great places to visit, but Sri Lanka is not just limited to
things you can see.
No. They also have things you can do.
So open up your magazines to the second day of our lesson on Sri Lanka, and
let's begin.
(Music).
Sri Lanka.
Do.
Cricket is Sri Lanka's most popular sport.
Try to get tickets to a match when you're there.
But don't stay in town too long.
There's more to see and do in the countryside!
There you can take a bike tour through Sri Lanka's hill country.
Visit some of the tea plantations in the mountains, or tour a tea factory.
Go on a jungle safari and catch a glimpse of the native wild animals.
Or learn more about local culture and history in one of the old villages.
There's no wrong way to spend a day!
(Chinese).
Thank you, Michelle.
There are certainly a lot of things to do when visiting this island.
The first thing we learn about is cricket.
Wait. Hold on a second, Carolyn.
I thought cricket was that tiny little insect that makes a lot of noise when I'm
trying to sleep.
How can a cricket be an activity?
Do you try to see who can maybe throw them the farthest?
No, Gabe.
While, yes, cricket is the name of a small insect similar to a grasshopper, it
is also the name of a sport.
This sport is a little similar to baseball; you have a person with a bat, and a
person with a ball.
Oh, yeah. And the person throwing the ball is called a bowler, not a pitcher.
And the bat is flat, not round like a baseball bat.
Well, if you remember from yesterday's lesson, Sri Lanka's history included a
time of colonialism.
And one of the countries that colonized Sri Lanka was England, which is where
cricket originated.
When the English came to Sri Lanka, they brought cricket with them.
And that explains why cricket is Sri Lanka's most popular sport.
The author of our lesson recommends that you try to get tickets to a cricket
match if you have time while visiting.
But there are plenty of other things to do, so you don't want to spend too much
of your time in town.
Go out and explore.
I personally think that's great advice.
So what kinds of things can you do?
Where can you explore?
Sri Lanka's hill country.
That's right.
And let's look at that phrase.
There are so many ways to use the word country.
In many of our lessons we see things like country or countryside, but this is a
little bit different.
Right. Here we're talking about the hill country.
That means the area of island that... of the island that has hills or small
mountains.
You could also say mountain country.
So if you want to describe a place, you can choose something that is common in
that area, and then say the word country.
For example, you could say we like to go to apple country in the fall to pick
apples.
Or we always spent our summers in farm country.
There were farms everywhere you looked.
Or I grew up in mountain country.
My hometown was surrounded by mountains.
So what kind of country are you from, hill country, plains country, mango
country?
Talk about it in English.
Our author recommends that you take a bike tour through the hill country in Sri
Lanka.
And there is certainly a lot to do there.
Yes, there are many animals that are native to this island, both large and
small.
From butterflies to elephants, Sri Lanka has a wide variety of animal life.
If you travel out to the hill country, you might be lucky enough to catch a
glimpse of some of these unique animals on this island.
And we should take a glimpse... I mean, a look at that phrase, Carolyn.
We've talked about this before, but it's been a while.
What does it mean?
Well, it's always good to review.
To catch a glimpse means to look at something for just a short period of time.
Maybe you went shopping in New York and caught a glimpse of a famous musician.
Or if you are exploring the hill country of Sri Lanka, you might not get to see
a lot of animals up close, but you could catch a glimpse of them.
I think it would be amazing to catch a glimpse of different animals in their
natural habitat,
although there are some animals that I would prefer to just see at the zoo.
What?! What do you mean, Carolyn?
Well, animals are beautiful creatures, but they can be dangerous.
As much as I love jungle cats, I wouldn't want to see one in the actual jungle.
Yes... uh, that's a very good point.
I see your point.
You definitely want to be careful.
Wild animals are... well, they're wild.
They aren't used to being around humans, and they could attack.
Yes. They aren't pets, but it would still be really wonderful to catch a glimpse
of a few animals in the jungle.
Hey, have you ever seen animals in the wild, Carolyn?
I have, many times.
I've seen monkeys, deer, foxes, turkeys, bobcats and even a bear.
I don't want to see another bear in the wild.
Well, I don't blame you.
And we've been using a phrase: in the wild.
Let's take a look at that.
It means that something lives in nature or away from humans.
As you've already heard us using this phrase, we usually talk about animals that
live in the wild.
This is because animals prefer to live away from humans.
And you could also say that something grew up in the wild.
For example, that lion was born in the wild, but now it lives at the zoo.
Or if an animal has lived with humans its whole life, you could say that it has
never lived in the wild and wouldn't know how to take care of itself.
Well, there are many different things to do in Sri Lanka.
And our lesson also says that you could go to a tea plantation.
There is actually a very famous tea from Sri Lanka.
Yes, Ceylon tea.
But why is it called Ceylon tea, not Sri Lanka tea?
This is a great question.
And Steve and Ken are waiting for us in the Information Cloud to tell us more
about this island's names.
Not so long ago, Sri Lanka was known by the Portuguese-inspired name Ceylon.
Going back much, much further, we discovered Sri Lanka was once known by the
Arabic name Sarandip.
Now there's an ancient Persian tale that recounts the adventures of the Three
Princes of Sarandip.
While on a long journey, these three wise brothers discovered many things that
were amazing and exciting.
But the strange thing about their incredible discoveries was they were all by
accident.
Right.
One prominent 18th-century British author inspired by this fascinating story
coined the word to describe when a person finds good and desirable things while
not searching for them.
He called it serendipity.
Simply put, serendipity is a happy accident or a pleasant surprise.
Yes, but there's a little more to serendipity than simply being in the right
place at the right time.
Serendipity also includes the idea that the pleasant surprise happens because
one is prepared for the unexpected.
We can find many real-life examples of serendipity, especially in the fields of
science and medicine.
The most famous example might be when Sir Alexander Fleming's prepared mind
discovered - or should I say stumbled onto - penicillin.
That's serendipity.