节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-01-14
难易度:Medium
关键字:sense of humor, weird, participant, reside, Twitter, Oscar, media


























00:00
















00:00





















(Music).
Hello, everyone.
My name is Gabe.
And my name is Carolyn.
Welcome to Studio Classroom.
Today we have an interesting lesson about an actor and an inspiring event he
began.
Now the lesson is called Anything but Normal.
What kind of things would you be willing to do if you were part of a worldwide
scavenger hunt?
How crazy would you be?
Well, we are about to learn about the greatest international scavenger hunt the
world has ever seen.
Yes, where anything you do is anything but normal.
Let's enjoy our first reading now.
Then we'll join Michelle in the Language Lab.
(Music).
Anything but Normal!
How one actor inspires normal people to do crazy things.
Actor and Twitter celebrity Misha Collins has a unique sense of humor.
Ask anyone who's participated in the annual, week-long scavenger hunt he
organizes.
Called GISHWHES, or Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever
Seen, the event involves completing tasks for points.
The tasks range from heart-warming - giving hugs - to just plain weird - making
clothes out of cheese!
The 15-member teams supply photos or videos to prove they've completed tasks.
Teams must provide exactly what's requested to get full points.
If the list calls for a photo with a real Oscar-winning actor, the team must
somehow find one.
And the actor must be holding the Oscar!
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
Thanks, Michelle.
Well, so far we've read about a couple of the crazy things you might have to do
if you participated in this one-of-a-kind scavenger hunt.
The things you must do really are anything but normal.
And I think we should take a look at that phrase: anything but.
That's right. It is a great phrase to use if you want to explain that something
is not a certain way.
This scavenger is not normal, and the things you will do are not normal, so it
is anything but normal.
But let's use this in another way.
Simon is always joking around.
So if you ask him a question, you can expect the answer to be anything but
serious.
Great! Or the monkey in the zoo looks so cute, but be careful, he's anything but
nice.
Try using this phrase sometime today.
Well, we're learning about how one actor inspires normal people to do crazy
things.
Those sound like opposites to me, normal and crazy.
Of course crazy here could mean unusual or really strange.
And what is this actor's name?
Misha Collins.
If you're not sure who he is, have you seen the TV series Supernatural?
He plays the angel Castiel.
Ah! And "he has a unique sense of humor," as we read here in our lesson.
What kind of a sense of humor do you have?
What kinds of things do you find funny?
Everyone has a sense of humor.
Wait a minute, Carolyn. Everyone has a sense of humor?
What about people that aren't funny?
I mean, I know some people that never tell jokes.
I don't even think they know any.
They're just so serious all the time.
Well, I think you're thinking of the word "humorous," Gabe.
Ah.
Some people are very humorous.
They are great at making people laugh by the things they say and do.
Many actors are humorous.
And of course, comedians need to be humorous to be good at their jobs.
OK, so being funny is being humorous.
And while some people are very humorous, everyone has a sense of humor.
That means everyone finds some things to be funny.
You may not be a very funny person, but you still think different things in life
are funny, right?
What do you find funny?
The things you think are funny help people understand your sense of humor.
So how would you describe your sense of humor?
Well, maybe you think it's normal.
We usually describe other people's senses of humor.
She's got a funny sense of humor.
Or you need to get used to this sense of humor.
Gabe has a weird sense of humor.
Hey!
OK... OK. Well, we've talked about this long enough. Back to the article.
Misha Collins has a unique sense of humor.
Ask anyone who's participated in the annual, week-long scavenger hunt he
organizes.
Ask anyone who's done something.
That's a good phrase to know if you think people might not believe your words.
The author of the text made a statement by saying "Misha Collins has a unique
sense of humor." You don't believe the author?
Well, then you can ask anyone who has participated in the scavenger hunt he
organizes.
They will tell you he has a unique sense of humor.
Right. And we're going to find out a little bit about this sense of humor here.
But first, do you see that word "week-long"?
That means it lasts for a week.
But you can put other periods of time there, too.
Yes, like "year." You could talk about your year-long service in the military.
Or you had to go through a month-long training for your new job.
The training lasted for a month.
OK. So this scavenger hunt lasts for a week.
And what's it called?
GISHWHES, or Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen.
And I think Steve and Ken are waiting in the Information Cloud to talk more
about that little word: or.
Today let's take a look at one of the simplest words in the English language,
the word "or." We all know what it means, right?
It usually lets us choose between one thing or another.
Would you like your coffee hot or iced?
That's the definition we're most familiar with.
However, "or" is also used to indicate a synonymous or equivalent expression.
For example, some people suffer from acrophobia or the fear of heights.
Here the word "or" is not offering us a choice between two things, but it
further explains what acrophobia means.
The usage of "or" is especially useful when we want to explain something that
the reader may not know the meaning of, like acrophobia.
So one way you can interpret this "or" is to read it as "which means." In our
lesson today, we see the abbreviation GISHWHES.
"What does that mean?" you might wonder.
Well, as if hearing our question, the author immediately follows it with: or
Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen.
(Chinese).
Thanks, guys.
Well, back to this unique scavenger hunt, the tasks range from heart-warming to
just plain weird.
Let's look at that phrase: to range from one thing to another.
That means there are all kinds of something, but you don't have enough space or
time to list everything.
So you just say it ranges from one thing to another.
Right. Our author found out about a lot of tasks while doing research, but he
could only list a couple because of space.
So he chose heart-warming and weird.
But of course, in between, there are lots of other kinds of tasks.
Perhaps there were some difficult tasks, some silly ones, some embarrassing ones
and others.
He could also say the tasks range from heart-warming to difficult to silly to
embarrassing.
That's right.
He could, but he just chose to list two things, not many.
Now some of the tasks are just plain weird.
Another great phrase: just plain something.
That means there's no other way to describe it.
This task is... is... it's weird.
I can't think of any other word.
It's just plain weird.
Or you could say: I really didn't like the movie I saw just now. It was just
plain boring.
OK. Well, now that you have more of an understanding of these words, go back and
reread the first section.
Well, we will talk... we'll have more to talk about in the next fewmoments.