节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-10-15
难易度:Low
关键字:magnificent, swoop, remote, flock, Sunkar Raptor Sanctuary, falconry,
nomad
(Music).
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And my name is Carolyn.
And your English will improve today.
We're continuing to learn about Kazakhstan - The Land of Wonders.
And I do wonder if you like to travel to out-of-the-way places.
We talked about how Kazakhstan is not a place that many tourists go to because
it is out of the way.
But maybe you like traveling to things that are out of the way.
What do you think, Carolyn?
Well, I think it can be pretty fun if you plan your trip well and you know where
you're going that's out of the way.
Or maybe you really like an adventure, so you don't really plan.
You just go, and you find a wonderful destination that is very out of the way.
But for me, I like to know exactly where I'm going, especially if it's out of
the way.
OK. So you want to make sure that you're traveling safely whenever you travel.
I like to visit out-of-the-way places but not too often.
So every once in a while, it's good to get out and do something a little bit
different.
That's a little bit inconvenient, but it can still be an exciting experience.
Well, it's time for us to learn more about Kazakhstan in today's lesson.
(Music).
Kazakhstan - The Land of Wonders.
Six miles south of Almaty in the foothills of the Alatau Mountains sits the
Sunkar Raptor Sanctuary.
Here you can discover Kazakhstan's ancient hunting tradition - falconry.
The sanctuary has hundreds of raptors, including the golden eagle that Kazakhs
favor for hunting.
During the daily falconry show, watch these magnificent birds fly high above
you.
Continue watching as they swoop down to the ground.
These eagles can spot a target from 3.22 kilometers up in the air.
And then they dive down upon it at over 190 kilometers per hour!
(Music).
Well, falconry sounds really cool.
Sounds like something that I would like to try some day.
Let's go back at the top of our section here.
It says:
Six miles south of Almaty in the foothills of the Alatau Mountains sits the
Sunkar Raptor Sanctuary.
OK. So we're leaving the city of Almaty, and we're going to the foothills of
these mountains.
The foothills are like the small hills that surround a big mountain or a
mountain range.
That's right.
And at this particular mountain range, there is the Sunkar Raptor Sanctuary.
Now a raptor sanctuary would be a place where they take care of large birds, and
uh, very, very large birds, not uh...
not like your little small birds that you see eating seeds but birds that hunt
other animals.
That's right.
We call those birds of prey, birds that prey on other animals.
Birds like eagles or falcons or hawks, or even many owls are birds of prey.
These are raptors that you might find at this raptor sanctuary.
Well, here you can discover Kazakhstan's... ancient hunting tradition -
falconry.
And this is something that I would love to do.
Falconry, what is this, Carolyn?
Well, they train falcons to hunt for them.
So to find animals to...
Because falcons have very good eyesight and are very fast,
they can fly long distances and find animals, report back to the hunter or even
catch the animal if it is small.
All right.
So this activity is called falconry.
And if you're a person who is good at this, you can be called a falconer.
F-A-L-C-O-N-E-R, falconer.
Now the sanctuary has hundreds of raptors, including the golden eagle that
Kazakhs favor for hunting.
Well, they favor the golden eagle, which would be a much larger bird and
probably has fantastic eyesight.
Now if you go to the raptor sanctuary, you can enjoy something very fun.
We read: During the daily falconry show, watch these magnificent birds fly high
above you.
So they have a daily show when you can watch this falconry take place.
That's right.
Now you've probably noticed by now that falconry doesn't just involve falcons,
as we read here.
We're talking about the golden eagle.
So falconry is an activity where you can use all kinds of birds of prey to hunt
for other things.
Falconry.
Now we see a word from our Word Bank here.
It is magnificent.
Magnificent, what does that mean, Carolyn?
Well, if something is magnificent, it is very impressive.
There's a lot of skill involved, and it's probably very beautiful or even
amazing.
That's right.
So you could talk about a magnificent show that your friend was in.
Of course, there was a lot of skill involved in that show.
Or maybe you're talking about the magnificent scenery everywhere around you.
It is magnificent.
That's right.
And here the birds are described as being magnificent.
And I'm sure that they put on a magnificent show as well.
Now you can continue watching as they swoop down to the ground.
And swoop is another word from our Word Bank.
That is an action word, a verb.
And it means to fly from a high place and go down very quickly, like an owl or
an eagle or a falcon would swoop down when they see a small animal that they
want to catch.
That's right.
And usually I use this word when I'm talking about birds doing that very thing.
They swoop down to the ground.
OK. So these birds of prey, they do this.
And we read on:
These eagles can spot a target from 3.22 kilometers up in the air.
All right, 3.22 kilometers above the ground, and they can see their target from
that distance?
It's very impressive.
They have amazing eyesight or magnificent eyesight.
It's hard to believe that they can see over three kilometers from the air.
That's right.
And so what did they do?
They don't just stay up in the air, of course.
And then they dive down upon it at over 190 kilometers per hour.
OK. So now these birds are diving.
And diving is a word that I usually use when I'm talking about swimming in the
water.
I dive into the water.
But here it's used in another way, Carolyn.
It is used in another way, because when we talk about coming from the air down
to the ground, if you swoop, you're going to go back up into the air.
But if you dive, you're only going down, and then you will probably stop.
You're going to reach your destination.
That's right.
So these birds are diving down at over 190 kilometers per hour.
That's very fast.
Well, you see that word there, "at." Usually this is followed by a place of some
kind.
You're talking about a place.
But here in our lesson, we're talking about a speed.
So you can use the word "at" to describe a certain speed.
So you could say, um, during our vacation, we were driving at around 75
kilometers per hour.
We were driving at that speed.
That's right.
Well, right now it is time for us to go to a place.
We are going to the Language Lab to learn something with Michelle.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.