节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-09-02
难易度:Low
关键字:delight, childhood, tragedy, guardian, pass away
Well, today in our lesson The Tale of Tolkien, we're learning about the story
behind the stories of Middle Earth.
We're talking about the person who authored the books The Hobbit and The Lord of
the Rings.
And of course they were made into movies as well.
And we're learning a little bit about his background.
Of course, he grew up in the beautiful English countryside.
And that's where he spent his childhood.
Well, let's continue learning more about Tolkien's background in the next part
of our reading for today.
(Music).
The Tale of Tolkien.
But Tolkien's early life was also touched by tragedy.
His father died when Tolkien was 4.
Then Tolkien's mother passed away when he was 12.
Love, War and Studies.
As a teenager, Tolkien fell in love with a girl named Edith Bratt.
But his guardian forbade him to contact her until he turned 21.
Tolkien obeyed and focused on school.
But he didn't forget Edith, and he contacted her on his 21st birthday.
His patience paid off.
They were married in 1916.
(Music).
Wow, he certainly didn't have an easy life.
It started out so wonderful with his childhood in the English countryside.
But here we learned something a little bit sad about his childhood.
We read: But Tolkien's early life was also touched by tragedy.
And that word "tragedy" from our Word Bank, Gabe, what is a tragedy?
Well, a tragedy is something sad that happens in your life.
Of course you have many happy moments, I hope.
But then sometimes tragedies happen, things that are not that great, things that
affect your life in a bad way.
And of course, death is a tragedy.
If you know someone close to you who has died, you could call that a tragedy.
And that is what happened to Tolkien.
We learn: His father died when Tolkien was 4.
So he was only four years old, and that is certainly a tragedy.
It's true.
Now you could also use the word "tragic" to describe this kind of situation.
It was a... it was a tragic situation.
Well, his father died when Tolkien was 4, but... but that's not all.
Now we learn here that then Tolkien's mother passed away when he was 12.
So just within, you know, 8 or 9 years, both of his parents passed away.
That really is a kind of a tragic thing to happen in someone's childhood.
It is.
And we see a phrase there, the phrase "passed away." And that is a nice way to
say that someone has died.
And I think that Steve and Ken have something that they want to share with us
about this situation in the Information Cloud.
Last month we talked about a euphemism for dismissing someone: letting someone
go.
Let's take a look at another popular euphemism: passing away.
"Passing away" is just one of many euphemisms for the "D" word.
Others include having gone home, having gone to meet one's maker, having
departed or being in a better place.
Now besides "pass away," we can also use "pass on." But don't say "pass out."
That means something else.
Right. "Pass out" means to faint and become unconscious.
So why all the euphemisms for death?
Well, sometimes saying "he died" is just too blunt.
And people will use "he passed away" as a more sensitive way to say the same
thing.
You know, that's especially true in Chinese culture, which has an abundance of
euphemisms.
That's true, Ken.
I know that Chinese people are particularly sensitive to any mentioning of
death, and to say "he died" is very blunt and can sound harsh.
But unlike the Chinese, a lot of Westerners don't mind speaking about it.
Yes, they feel it is a serious matter, but no euphemism is needed.
I agree.
But there are always some people who prefer a euphemism, especially the family
of the deceased.
And especially on occasions such as a funeral.
(Chinese).
Thank you, guys.
Well, let's continue with the next section of Tolkien's life, his background
here.
It's called Love, War and Studies.
OK. So we read here: As a teenager, Tolkien fell in love with a girl named Edith
Bratt.
Well, he fell in love with this girl.
Have you ever fallen in love with somebody?
Well, that is an interesting question.
And we see that Tolkien fell in love when he was a teenager, and the girl was
named Edith Bratt.
However, it was not an easy situation for him.
We read: But his guardian forbade him to contact her until he turned 21.
Now we just learned that both of Tolkien's parents died when he was quite young.
And so he had a guardian looking after him.
And that's a word from our Word Bank.
The word "guardian" is... means a person who looks after someone that needs to
be taken care of,
usually someone who is an orphan or doesn't have someone there to watch them.
That's right.
And my parents actually had planned if something happened to them, some tragedy
happened and took their lives,
they had planned for me and my siblings to also have a guardian.
My aunt Mary Alice would have been our guardian.
But of course now we're adults.
If something happens, we don't need a guardian.
But you can use this word kind of like that.
That's right.
So Tolkien had a guardian looking after him because both of his parents were
gone.
And his guardian forbade him from contacting this young girl Edith until he
turned 21.
And that word "forbade," or forbid, means to not allow someone to do something.
All right.
So he wasn't allowed to contact this girl that he fell in love with until he
turned 21.
All right.
Well, Tolkien obeyed (very good) and focused on school.
All right. Well, maybe that's what his guardian was encouraging him to do, was
to just focus on his studies and not just think about love or romance.
He needed to focus on studies for that time.
That's right.
But he didn't forget Edith, and he contacted her on his 21st birthday.
So he remembered her throughout his teenage years.
And when he turned 21, he was ready to talk to her.
Which is really interesting - he had something to look forward to, and maybe it
even helped him in his schoolwork.
Does that describe you sometimes?
You have a reward, you're looking forward to something, and so it can help you
in whatever you're doing right now.
I think this can be a great way to help you in life.
It certainly can.
And we learn that his patience paid off.
And "pay off" is a great phrase.
What does that mean, Gabe, if something pays off?
This is a great phrase, yeah.
If something is paid off, that means you worked hard for something.
Or here, patience.
You were waiting for a long time for something, and then it was worth it.
It paid off.
It was worth it.
It's OK in the end.
Actually, you're so happy that you waited, or you're so happy that you worked so
hard.
That's right.
And his patience paid off because they were married in 1916.
So the girl that he fell in love with as a teenager became his wife later in
life.
Well, right now it is time for us to join Michelle in the Language... Lab and
learn something with her.
(Chinese).
And now let's return to our teachers.
We've just finished the first lesson in this article on J.R.R. Tolkien - The
Tale of Tolkien.
Now at the end, we read that his patience paid off.
So waiting really worked out for him.
It was a good thing.
Has patience ever paid off for you?
I know it has for me.
Gabe, have you ever had being patient work out?
Yeah. I was thinking about that, Carolyn.
Um, I think maybe getting my job here at Studio Classroom was a case of having
my patience pay off.
Because my father was in the United States for a little bit of time, I was in
Taiwan and I was thinking about going back to the States at that time.
I decided to wait for him to come back before I moved to the U.S.
And during that time, people introduced me to Studio Classroom.
So in that way, my patience paid off and I got a job I really enjoy.
Well, that is great.
Your patience did pay off.
We are glad that you are here.
And I'm happy to be here.
And we hope that you are, too.
Continue learning English with us here at Studio Classroom.
And we'll see you next time.
See you next time.