节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-10-16
难易度:Low
关键字:major, reserve, tulip, jewel, Silk Road, mammal, yurt
So far in today's lesson, we've learned about a couple of interesting places
that you might want to visit.
One, if you're interested in history, are the ancient towns of Otrar and Taraz.
These are ancient cities along the Silk Road.
And of course if you are interested in history, this might be the place for you.
But you could also visit beautiful scenery and see animals and birds in the
Aksu-Zhabagly Nature Reserve.
And this is the oldest nature reserve in Central Asia.
I think that's somewhere I would like to visit.
Well, what about you?
Of course we have more to learn about Kazakhstan in the next part of our lesson.
(Music).
Kazakhstan - The Land of Wonders.
The area is also called the Kingdom of Tulips.
It is believed that tulips grew here long before they appeared in Holland.
Stay in a guesthouse in the nearby village of Zhabagly.
Or you can sleep like a Kazakh in a traditional yurt!
Traveling to Kazakhstan is definitely for those looking for adventure and the
road less traveled.
But it's well worth the effort to enjoy the wonders of this jewel of Central
Asia.
(Music).
Well, this does sound like a very beautiful and very special place to go.
Now we were still talking about this nature reserve, the Zhabagly Nature
Reserve.
And the area is also called the Kingdom of Tulips.
Now "tulip" is from our Word Bank. And that is a kind of beautiful flower.
A tulip is a very colorful flower.
And it's shaped like a cup.
Mmhm.
When it opens, it's shaped like a nice little cup.
And they bloom in spring.
That's right.
And actually, when I think of tulips, I think of Holland because Holland is
famous for their tulips.
But we read here:
It is believed that tulips grew here long before they appeared in Holland.
I did not know that.
I thought that maybe they were... you could find them most in Holland.
But they first appeared here in Kazakhstan.
Yes, that is what many people believe.
But Holland still sells and grows the most tulips in the world.
That is one of their major products that they send out to other places.
OK, so that's probably why I thought that they came from Holland mostly because
they still do sell them to other places.
But if you want to see some tulips, then you don't only have to go to Holland.
You could visit Kazakhstan as well, the Kingdom of Tulips here.
And you could stay in a guesthouse in the nearby village of Zhabagly.
Interesting.
Would you like to stay in a guesthouse there, Carolyn?
Well, that sounds like a very good idea, very inviting.
Or you can sleep like a Kazakh in a traditional yurt!
Now that does sound exciting.
Friends, maybe you saw a yurt behind Carolyn just now.
There was a picture of one of these traditional yurts.
It's a portable kind of home that people use when they're traveling from place
to place.
If you're a nomad living here in Kazakhstan, then maybe you have one of these
yurts that you travel with.
That's right.
And we see an interesting phrase there: to sleep like a Kazakh.
And we can use that phrase in other ways.
To do something like a something else.
Gabe, what is one example you can think of?
Well, sometimes people say: I lived like a king.
I lived like a king when I was traveling overseas.
Or you might say: Man, that person eats like a horse!
It's kind of an idiom that means that person eats a lot.
He eats like a horse.
Perhaps you hear someone singing, and it is beautiful, you might say that that
person sings like an angel.
Nice. OK. So there are different ways to use that phrase.
And here we read: You can sleep like a Kazakh in a traditional yurt.
Well, we've learned a lot about Kazakhstan, the many different things that you
can do and see there.
Travelling to Kazakhstan is definitely for those looking for adventure and the
road less traveled.
I think that is very true.
And there is a lot in that sentence.
We see: It is definitely for those looking for adventure and the road less
traveled.
These are both great phrases.
And we have a couple of... people who would like to tell us about them.
We have Liz in the Grammar Gym waiting for us.
And then Steve and Ken have something they would like to share as well in the
Information Cloud.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym, friends.
My name is Liz.
In today's article we see this sentence:
Traveling to Kazakhstan is definitely for those looking for adventure and the
road less traveled.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
It just means traveling to Kazakhstan is definitely for those people who are
looking for adventure and the road less traveled.
Our focus today is on the pattern: [something] is for those [verbing].
This is a good pattern to use when you want to explain how something is
appropriate for a certain group of people.
Let's have a look at some example sentences with this pattern.
The newest comedy show is definitely for those looking for a good laugh.
Or: The new department store is definitely for those looking for a good bargain.
Now it's your turn.
Think of something that is perfect for a certain group of people and practice
using this pattern.
And if you turn to today's Grammar Tip section, you'll find more example
sentences there.
That's it for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
You may recall that earlier this year we talked about getting off the beaten
path.
And that means don't go to a place where there are already thousands of
tourists.
Visit a place where there aren't so many people around.
We see a similar idea in our lesson today.
Our author tells us to take the road less traveled.
The result of getting off the beaten path or taking the road less traveled is
the same - more excitement and a greater sense of adventure.
Right.
Taking the road more often traveled may be more stable and easier to walk on,
but it's a little boring.
Mmhm.
Now the phrase "the road less traveled" comes from a poem written by American
poet Robert Frost in 1916, titled The Road Not Taken.
Many people mistakenly think the title is The Road Less Traveled, but it's not.
The phrase actually comes from the second to the last line of the poem:
I took the one less traveled by.
Again, the correct title is The Road Not Taken.
OK. The road that Frost describes is a metaphor for life.
Someone who takes the road less traveled is acting independently,
freeing themselves from the conformity of others who choose to take the road
more often traveled.
(Chinese).
Thank you, guys.
Well, let's get back into this lesson here.
We just read that traveling to Kazakhstan is definitely for those looking for
adventure and the road less traveled, a road that people don't usually take.
We read here:
But it's well worth the effort to enjoy the wonders of this jewel of Central
Asia.
So it's worth the effort.
Let's look at that phrase.
What does that mean, Carolyn, it's worth the effort?
Well, if it's worth the effort, then all of the time, all of the money or
anything that you put into it,
the struggle that you have to go through, it's worth it in the end.
So you might say that something is worth the time, it's worth the money.
You could say that it's worth the stress.
Raising children is very difficult, but it is worth it in every way.
That's right.
So it's worth the stress.
Usually you think of these things as being bad.
Maybe something is very painful, and you cry a lot.
Well, it could be worth the pain.
You worked hard on a show or a project.
And it was very difficult, it was painful.
But in the end, the magnificent show was worth the pain.
That's right.
And there is another word in that sentence, jewel, from our Word Bank.
Now a jewel is something that is very precious.
Usually we use it when talking about stones like a diamond or a sapphire.
But here we're talking about something that is very valuable like this place
here.
Kazakhstan is a jewel of Central Asia.
I like that our author used this word "jewel" to describe Kazakhstan.
It could be a very valuable place somewhere that you might want to visit.
I certainly do!
Well, now it's time for us to learn something new with Michelle in the Language
Lab.
OK.
(Chinese).
And now it's time to hear more from our teachers.
We've learned so many amazing things about this land of wonders, the country of
Kazakhstan.
And today we talked a little bit about living in a yurt when you are going to
this nature reserve or you could go to the reserve itself.
Now Gabe, would you want to stay in a nearby yurt or go see the animals at the
nature reserve?
Oh, Carolyn, that's a hard question.
I can't have both?
Well, it would be nice to have both, certainly.
But, uh, only choose one!
If I had to choose one, I would see the animals in the nature reserve.
But of course I would try to take my yurt with me into the nature reserve.
Well, I don't know if they'll let you do that.
But maybe you can talk about it to debate with your friends in English.
What would you rather do?
We'll see you here next time on Studio Classroom.
See you then.