节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-10-07
难易度:Medium
关键字:pyramid, currently, chairman, journalist, pool cue, Guinness World Record,
Guinness Brewery, game bi
We've just begun our article Reaching for Records.
And so far we've been talking about Ashrita Furman, who has set over 450 world
records and currently holds 150 records including one for holding the most
records.
And one of the records we talked about that he set recently was that he balanced
a pool cue on his finger, walking around the Pyramids of Giza in 2005.
This was quite amazing.
Well, we have many more records and a little bit of history we want to talk
about next in our lesson.
Reaching for Records.
Guinness World Records.
Guinness World Records began with a question.
While hunting, Sir Hugh Beaver, then chairman of the Guinness Brewery, wondered
what the fastest game bird in Europe was.
Beaver couldn't find a book that answered his question, so he decided to create
one.
In 1954 Beaver asked two sports journalists to help him collect records.
And in 1955 The Guinness Book of Records, as it was then called, was published.
That very year, it became a bestseller.
Later editions have sold over 130 million copies and have been translated into
more than 25 languages.
(Music).
All right, that's great.
Now we have a little bit of the history of the Guinness World Records book.
So let's go back to the top of this section here.
We read: Guinness World Records began with a question.
So someone had a question, OK.
While hunting, Sir Hugh Beaver, then chairman of the Guinness Brewery, wondered
what the fastest game bird in Europe was.
So his question: What is the fastest game bird in Europe?
Well, that is a good question.
And he wanted to know the answer.
But we learn a little bit about this man, Sir Hugh Beaver.
He was then chairman of the Guinness Brewery.
And chairman is a word from our Word Bank.
If you are chairman, then you are in charge of an organization or a committee or
a group of people.
You lead them and you sit in the chair.
Well, that's right.
And so often you will start the meetings.
When you all come together, the chairman will begin the meeting.
And of course, you're in charge.
OK. So he's the chairman of the Guinness Brewery.
Have you ever been there?
That is in Dublin, Ireland.
And of course Guinness is famous not for their record books at first.
They were first famous for their beer or their Guinness draft.
That's right.
But here they're talking about a world records book, the Guinness World Records
book, that was started because of this question wondering what the fastest game
bird in Europe was.
And a game bird, of course, is just a type of bird that you hunt.
That's right.
And so there was a question this man had because there was a debate.
Was it the golden plover or was it the grouse?
Which one was the faster game bird?
And of course he found out the golden plover was faster.
I'm not sure what the fastest game bird is now.
But at least at the time, he found out which one was faster.
And of course, this inspired him to create a book of world records.
That's right.
And right now Steve and Ken have something they want to tell us a little bit
about this man's name in the Information Cloud.
In medieval England, men were knighted by a king or queen in recognition for
special service to their country, especially outstanding military service.
It was a great honor.
Knights were given all the rights and privileges of nobility and a good measure
of military authority.
Knights were allowed to put the honorable title "Sir" before their names.
Then beginning in about the late 1500s, kings and queens began knighting
civilians as a way of honoring their contributions to society.
The man in today's lesson, Sir Hugh Beaver, was knighted in 1943 for his service
to the British government.
Today, people from all over the world are being knighted by the British monarchy
for achievements in science, entertainment, politics and other fields.
However, only knighted citizens of British Commonwealth countries may place the
title "Sir" before their name.
Knighted non-Brits, like Americans Steven Spielberg and Bill Gates, have to
settle with placing the letters KBE, signifying Knight of the British Empire,
after their names.
By the way, women can also be knighted.
They can receive the honors of knighthood, too.
However, instead of Sir, their title is Dame.
Judi Dench, the famous British actress, for example, is a Dame.
(Chinese).
Well, thank you, gentlemen.
I suppose I won't call you "sir," but we are talking about Sir Hugh Beaver right
now.
And Beaver couldn't find a book that answered his question.
So what did he do?
He decided to create one!
He made his own.
All right, the Guinness World Records book.
It's been called by different things in history, but today it's called the
Guinness World Records.
And in 1954 Beaver asked two sports journalists to help him collect records.
All right. So he wasn't just working on his own, he had the help of some other
people.
That's right.
And these people just happened to be journalists, a word from our Word Bank.
And a journalist is someone who reports on the news.
They are very good at gathering information.
So I'm sure they would be very helpful in collecting these records.
That's right.
Actually, if you're a news reporter, then you're probably also a journalist of
some kind.
And if you want to do this for a job or career, maybe in university you would
study journalism.
J-O-U-R-N-A-L-I-S-M.
You might want to study journalism.
Now of course Beaver asked two sports journalists to help him collect records.
OK, so these people already knew a lot about sports.
They're the best people for this job.
That's right.
And in 1955, so a year later, the Guinness Book of Records, as it was then
called, was published.
So it's been through some name changes.
And it was originally the Guinness Book of Records.
That's right.
It was then called the Guinness Book of Records.
You... we could say it's now called the Guinness World Records. OK.
And this was published in 1955.
That very year, it became a bestseller.
So right away it was a bestseller.
It was one of the most bought books of the year.
That's right.
Well, it sounds like many people had questions that they wanted answered.
And this book provided those answers in a very convenient location.
Later editions had sold over 130 million copies and have been translated into
more than 25 languages.
Well, this sounds like a very popular book.
Well, it certainly is.
Actually, the 2009 issue of the Guinness World Records book was the bestselling
copyrighted book ever in history.
So of course this is a very popular book.
Right now it's time for us to go and enjoy a review skit, followed by Michelle
in the Language Lab.
Ah, it's a fine day for hunting, Sir Beaver.
Indeed, yes.
Look at all the game birds!
Now which one should I shoot first?
Ah, yes, Sir. Slow birds are easier to hunt.
I'll... I'll shoot uh, that one.
Oh... missed.
Those game birds are really fast.
Yes, Sir. They are very fast, Sir.
I wonder if those game birds are fastest in Europe.
That's a good question, Sir.
I'll look it up, Sir.
Look it up? Where?
Yes, um... at the library, Sir.
I'll find a book about fast birds.
I've already looked.
There isn't one.
Well, that's a pity, Sir.
Why don't you make one?
Yes, I can write a book about the fastest game birds.
Oh, and the fastest dogs and the fastest cars and the fast everything else!
Yes! That's brilliant.
I'll create a book of records.
Very good, Sir.
But how will you get the information?
I'll get sports journalists to help me collect records.
Oh, that would be a wonderful book, Sir.
No doubt about it, it will be a bestseller.
Indeed.
Now let's hunt for more birds.
Yes... uh, slow birds, Sir.
Oh, there's one!
Oh, that one's already dead.
(Chinese).
Now it's time to go back to our teachers.
Today we're talking about Reaching for Records.
And we've already learned about somebody who has set and broken and holds many
records.
And of course this is all recorded in the Guinness World Records book.
Have you ever used the Guinness Book of World Records to answer one of your own
questions?
Carolyn, do you ever use this book?
Well, I think it can be a very helpful book.
And I did use it actually for a Studio Classroom article...
What?
... in January. Yes.
What is... or The largest snowflake in history.
Oh, yeah. That's right.
Carolyn wrote that article.
And of course we learned about the largest snowflake in history.
And you found that answer where?
In the Guinness World Records.
All right.
Well, you can use this book to find out lots of interesting information.
Of course, we have more to learn about Reaching for Records next time right here
on Studio Classroom.
See you.