节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-01-07
难易度:High
关键字:renowned, sprawl, Carnival, mascot, snowshoe, Lent
Hello, friends.
And welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And I'm Carolyn.
And your English will improve today.
Now have you ever played in snow?
Have you ever dreamt of building snow sculptures?
Yes? Then you could participate in the Sapporo Snow Festival.
That's the next awesome winter festival we will be learning about here at the
studio.
We are going from Harbin, China, yesterday to Japan today.
So let's get started.
And of course, after the reading, we'll learn some important words with
Michelle.
(Music).
The World's Best Winter Festivals.
Sapporo Snow Festival.
Every year 2 million visitors enjoy the winter festivities in Sapporo, Hokkaido.
This internationally renowned winter festival got its start in 1950, when some
local high school students built six snow statues in Odori Park.
Since then, the festival has grown to include sprawling snow sculptures as well
as a snow-sculpting contest.
This contest draws competitors from all over the world, even from countries that
get no snow at all!
Visitors who enjoy other winter activities can participate in guided snowshoe
trips, get an ice skating lesson, explore a historical village of Hokkaido and
more.
(Music).
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
Thank you, Michelle.
Well, if we go straight to the beginning of this section, we can see how popular
the Sapporo Snow Festival is.
Two million people enjoy the festivities there every year.
Whoa, whoa, wait a minute, Carolyn.
I thought this was the Sapporo Snow Festival, not the Sapporo Snow Festivities.
Uh, it is, Gabe.
Those words are very similar, though.
Actually, sometimes festivity can also mean festival.
In our article, we read about enjoying winter festivities.
Here "festivities" means the events that take place at a festival.
Ah, I see.
Now festivities could also refer to the overall feeling that is created at
festivals and celebrations.
And I wonder about the festivities in the Sapporo Snow Festival.
I've never heard of them before.
Are you serious, Gabe?
Never heard of the Sapporo Snow Festival?
It's an internationally renowned festival!
You know what that means, right?
Well, yeah. I know if it's renowned, that means it's famous or many people know
about it.
Well, I don't know about it.
But that's OK because now I'm learning about it.
It's OK, Gabe.
Even though it's internationally renowned, I've never experienced it, either.
You know, sometimes we also say something is world-renowned.
That means the same thing as internationally renowned.
But if you write "world-renowned," remember to add that hyphen between the words
world and renowned.
Good point.
And they're both great words to know.
We read that this festival got its start in 1950.
Well, let's take a look at that phrase: get its start.
Actually, I think Liz wants to explain this in the Grammar Gym.
Hello, friends.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym.
So glad you can join me here.
My name is Liz.
In today's lesson, we see this sentence:
This internationally-renowned winter festival got its start in 1950.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
Our focus today is on the phrase: got its start.
It means how something or someone began.
So today's sentence just means this internationally renowned winter festival
first got started in 1950.
Let's look at some more example sentences.
To get one's start can be used to talk about how a program got started, like:
This youth program got its start at the local community center twenty years ago.
We can also use this phrase, to get one's start, to describe a person's career,
like:
The talented young actor got his start when he was assigned by his teacher to be
in the school play.
If you'd like to see some more example sentences with this phrase, then check
out today's Grammar Tip section in your Studio Classroom magazine.
And this is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
Bye.
Thanks, Liz.
Well, "get its start" kind of reminds me of another phrase: to get off to a good
start.
That means to begin something well.
To get off to a bad start, on the other hand, means to begin something poorly.
But I think we got off to a good start today.
And let's continue learning about this Japanese snow festival.
Since its start in the 1950s, the festival has grown to include sprawling snow
sculptures as well as a snow-sculpting contest.
Sprawling, that's a fun word.
Let's talk about that for a minute.
OK. Here we read that snow sculptures can be sprawling.
That means they cover a big area.
You could describe a big city as sprawling as well.
Los Angeles in a sprawling city.
It seems to go on for miles in every direction.
That is true.
Now you could also say that someone is sprawling.
Now if they are lying down with their arms and legs stretched out in kind of a
disorganized way, they are sprawling.
Sometimes after a long day at work, I just like to go back to my apartment and
sprawl on the couch while watching TV.
That's a relaxing way to end your day, Gabe.
And actually this word "sprawling" reminds me of Fat Monkey that we talked about
at the beginning of the month.
And the monkey just sprawled out in a park.
Well, we are talking about sprawling snow sculptures here at Sapporo.
And if you go, you could also maybe participate in a snow-sculpting contest.
This contest draws competitors from all over the world.
Let's take a look at that word: draw.
Many artists like to draw things with pencils and other utensils.
But the word means something different here. Right, Gabe?
Well, that's right.
Here the word "draw" means to attract.
So being that this is a world-renowned sculpting contest, many artists know
about it and are therefore attracted to it and want to get involved.
They are drawn to it.
But how else can you use this word?
Well, uh, if you leave your trash out for too long, it will draw flies.
You don't want to draw flies.
You're right about that.
Well, if you're not an artist, don't worry.
You don't have to make a snow sculpture.
But there are many other activities you can do at this snow festival.
Have you ever worn snowshoes before?
You could try going on a snowshoe trip.
A snowshoe trip actually sounds like fun.
And it looks like fun, too.
You know, you could also try ice skating or maybe explore a historical village
right there in Hokkaido.
Hey, Carolyn, of the things mentioned here, which sounds most interesting to
you,
snowshoeing, ice skating, snow sculpting, exploring a historical village in
Hokkaido?
Well, I know! I haven't really done any of those things.
So if I went to this Japanese festival, I'd really like to try all of them.
Well, we have a lot more to learn later, so we'll be back in just amoment.