节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2014-01-31
难易度:Low
关键字:regional, absorb, creative, melt
Hello, hello, hello and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And my name is Carolyn.
And today we are continuing our lesson on hot pot.
It sounds like a very tasty lesson to end the first month of the new year.
I agree.
Today we're going to be talking about some of the strange flavors of hot pot
that you can try.
And there are some very interesting flavors out there, so.
Open up your magazine to the last lesson for this month starting with the
section The strange sorts.
After the reading, we'll have Michelle teach us some important words from the
lesson.
So open up your magazine and let's get started.
(Music).
Everyone Likes Hot Pot.
The strange sorts.
If you've spent any time in Asia, you've probably enjoyed some hot pot.
After you've tried all the regional versions, seek out special kinds, like dry
hot pot.
The ingredients and flavor are just like those of Sichuan hot pot, but all are
pre-cooked.
For something more traditional, find a restaurant with Japanese paper hot pot.
The paper pot absorbs some of the fat, so diners eat less of it.
The pot can last for three hours.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
It is a great time of the year to go out and enjoy hot pot.
There are certainly some interesting flavors out there, too.
There really are.
As our author writes, there are some strange sorts.
Let's take a look at that word: sorts.
Well, sort is another word for kind, type or variety.
So this section could also be called the strange kinds or the strange varieties.
But if you look at the sections from yesterday's lesson, you will see why the
author chose to use the word "sorts" instead of another word.
You're right, Gabe.
The author is pairing words together that begin with the same letters: hungry
history, familiar flavors, strange sorts.
That's a fun way to label things.
Choose words with similar sounds.
Now we've learned about this before in the Information Cloud.
It's called alliteration, OK, the repetition of the same sounds at the beginning
of words.
And this is a great way to make things sound better or make them easy to
remember.
And in the section "The strange sorts," the first sentence also has a great
grammar structure for us to look at.
That was some really good alliteration, Carolyn, the great grammar there, and
also here section, strange sorts, sentence structure.
But yes, we see the pattern: if you've... you've probably...
OK. This is used to show a connection between two things,
such as if you've traveled to another country, you've probably met a lot of
interesting people.
Those two things are certainly related, Gabe.
And it is probably true.
It's also probably true that if you've traveled to Asia, you've eaten hot pot,
especially if you went during winter.
All right. So the next time you want to eat hot pot, try seeking out special
kinds.
That's a great phrase as well: seek out.
If you seek something out, then you look for it and you really want to find it.
For example, the chef is seeking out talented young chefs to work in his
restaurant.
He needs more young people to help him cook hot pot.
Is he cooking hot pot?
Well, another example is you can seek out special types of hot pot.
One of which is dry hot pot.
It has the same flavor as Sichuan hot pot, but everything is pre-cooked.
Oh, how interesting.
Yeah.
Pre-cooked hot pot.
Doesn't that take all of the fun out of cooking the food yourself?
Well, it does mean you don't cook.
But many people argue that the food actually tastes better.
Many hot pot restaurants are known for their special blends of spices, but all
of the great flavor gets lost when you boil the meat and vegetables.
Oh, I see.
So by having the chefs cook everything first, and then serve it to you in a hot
pot,
you are able to enjoy the full flavor of each of the foods and appreciate their
special blend of spices.
You're exactly right.
You know, it also helps save time if you don't have a couple of hours just to
sit down and cook everything yourself.
Gabe, that word pre-cooked is interesting.
I think Steve and Ken want to tell us more about that in the Info Cloud.
You're right.
Let's join them now and see what they have to say about the disappearing hyphen.
You may recall we talked about the hyphen not so long ago citing the importance
of some of its functions.
However, it's not difficult to see that the use of the hyphen has been on a
downward trend.
Even though the hyphen is far from becoming obsolete, hyphenated words in
English usually undergo a transformation.
They begin hyphenated, and as they become more familiar, the hyphen is lost.
And during the transition, both forms can be seen for a while.
You will see words like pre-recorded or pre-cooked, which appear in today's
article, either spelled with or without the hyphen in the middle.
Right. And there's an interesting phenomenon.
American English tends to lose the hyphen quicker than British English.
This probably shows that Americans are more tolerant of new words. Who knows?
And because of this difference, there may be long periods of time when different
spellings can be seen on opposite sides of the Atlantic.
Here's an example of a complete transformation.
Back when email first appeared, people always wrote e-mail with the hyphen.
Now, however, it almost always appears without the hyphen no matter where you
see it.
(Chinese).
Thanks, guys.
I wonder what words will lose their hyphens next.
You know, I really don't know.
But I do know that we have more to learn about unique types of hot pot.
The next one in the article is from Japan.
Ah, but not shabu-shabu.
No.
This one is paper hot pot.
The pot is made of paper and absorbs some of the fat from the food as it cooks.
So this might be a slightly healthier option.
Yes, slightly healthier option.
Well, some restaurants even offer different flavored paper for the pots.
You could try traditional flavored paper, seafood paper or even sweet-and-sour
soup flavored paper.
Well, that sounds like a lot of fun.
But you don't want to take too long while you're eating, otherwise the paper pot
will break.
They only last for three hours.
So I guess they probably wouldn't have that kind of hot pot at an
all-you-can-eat buffet.
Well, we will be right back to continue our lesson on hot pot right afterthis.