节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-09-18
难易度:Low
关键字:unique, instead, admire, shade, Shenandoah National Park, leaf peeper,
overlook
In our lesson Country Roads, Take Me Home, we're learning about what makes
America unique in the season of autumn.
Of course our author mentions that many Asians celebrate the Moon Festival in
autumn.
Why would she say that, or why would she mention that?
Well, because she herself is Asian.
So she's used to celebrating the Moon Festival.
But now she's in Virginia, and they're going to visit the Shenandoah National
Park.
We're going to learn a little bit more about this in the next part of our
lesson.
So let's get started right now.
(Music).
"Country Roads, Take Me Home".
John Denver described it in his song "Take Me Home Country Roads." Skyline
Drive,
which runs through the park, attracts over 2 million visitors every year.
They go to admire the fall leaves.
Like most leaf peepers, we left early on a Saturday.
A long line of cars was already waiting to enter the park.
We drove at a leisurely pace and enjoyed the gold, orange and red leaves.
Overlooks provided places to take pictures.
Around bends, valleys of different shades of colors caught our eye.
(Music).
Sounds like Pauline and her family are enjoying a beautiful view of these leaves
in Shenandoah National Park.
Well, let us begin at the beginning of this section of the reading.
John Denver described it in his song "Take Me Home Country Roads," so.
She's getting ready to describe some of the things that she got to enjoy that
are also included in the words or the lyrics of John Denver's song.
Are you familiar with this song, Gabe?
Yeah, I was just going to say that is a very famous singer.
And I am very familiar with this song Take me Home Country Roads.
Actually it's a popular or a famous song in many different areas of the world.
Um, I know that the President of Taiwan loves this song Take Me Home Country
Roads.
And you were mentioning something about going to Japan, and people like it
there, too?
It's true.
When I went to Japan, I went and sang some karaoke with my friends.
And they all knew this song.
I was very surprised.
And when I introduced myself as being from West Virginia, they knew that West
Virginia was a state because of this song.
Interesting.
So it is world-famous.
It's got a very catchy tune and very positive message.
Well, let's continue learning.
Skyline Drive, which runs through the park, attracts over 2 million visitors
every year.
So not a few people go to this park.
No. It is very popular, and I think especially in the fall.
Now it's time for us to go see Liz in the Grammar Gym.
Hello, friends.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym.
My name is Liz.
The writer mentions in today's article:
The Skyline Drive, which runs through the park, attracts over 2 million visitors
every year.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
Today our focus is on the word "to run." In the sentence we're not talking about
moving with your feet in a very fast way, no.
Instead, "run" is used to describe how something long and skinny goes through an
area.
In today's sentence, what is long and skinny?
It's Skyline Drive, and it goes through the park.
It runs through the park.
We can also use "run" to describe a river, like:
A river runs through the middle of the jungle.
We can use "run" to describe a power line, like:
The power lines run along the east side of the building.
If you turn to today's Grammar Tip section, you'll find more example sentences
there.
And that's it for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
Thank you, Liz.
Well, before the Grammar Gym, we were talking about Skyline Drive.
And we're talking about people - 2 million people that go every year.
Or this place attracts over 2 million visitors.
They go to admire the fall leaves.
OK. That's what they're doing.
And we are going to talk about that word from our Word Bank - admire.
Carolyn, what does it mean to admire something?
Well, if you admire something, then you really enjoy it.
You think it's beautiful, and perhaps you want to look at it.
Maybe you go outside on a clear night to admire the stars.
You just look up and enjoy watching them.
OK. So you can admire things like leaves and... and stars in the sky.
I love admiring the clouds if they're going by really quickly at night.
I also use this word to talk about people.
When I admire somebody, that means I look up to them.
I respect them for some reason.
I admire that person.
That's right.
So maybe you think they are beautiful, but maybe you think that they have a good
heart.
They are a good person, and you really like them.
So you want to let them know that you think that they're a great person.
That's right.
Well, we're learning more about these fall leaves and the people that like to
admire them.
And we continue here.
Like most leaf peepers, we left early on a Saturday.
That's kind of fun, Carolyn, that she refers to her and her family as leaf
peepers.
Yes. So to peep is not a sound here, like a small animal might make a peep, a
small bird.
But here we're talking about using your eyes to peep - means to take a look at
something.
And so they are leaf peepers, they are looking at the leaves.
So looking at the leaves, and everyone else is getting up early on Saturday
morning to go look at the leaves as well.
Let's take a look at what Steve and Ken have to share with us in the Information
Cloud right now.
Leaf peepers are people who travel some distance to look at and take pictures of
fall foliage.
And because of the unusual scenic beauty, I would imagine peepers would want to
take their time peeping.
Which means the word "peep" isn't exactly the best word choice because,
according to the dictionary, peep means to take a quick look at something.
So why was this word ever chosen to be paired with the word "leaf"?
One reason could be meaning.
Generally when people peep, they do it because they're curious.
And I think curiosity is one reason people spend time and money to go look at
colorful leaves.
True. But there's also the issue of sound.
When combined with "leaf," peep really rolls off the tongue, which means it's
easy to say.
Right.
Both words have the long E sound: leaf, peep.
If we were to choose better verbs that suggest a leisurely look at something,
verbs like stare or gaze in place of peep,
the phrases become more complicated to pronounce.
They may be more accurate in meaning, but listen - leaf starers and leaf gazers.
These phrases don't quite roll off the tongue like leaf peeper does, do they?
(Chinese).
Thanks, guys.
It's always great learning new things with you.
Now continuing on with the article.
A long line of cars was already waiting to enter the park.
Now you remember over 2 million visitors come to this area each year.
So it's not surprising that there was already a line of cars waiting when
Pauline and her family arrived.
That's right.
So they had to wait for a little while.
But she says: We drove at a leisurely pace and enjoyed the gold, orange and red
leaves.
All right.
So even before going into this park, there's already a lot to enjoy on the way.
On the road there, they could see these beautiful different-colored leaves.
And that area is very beautiful.
We read on:
Overlooks provided places to take pictures.
And an overlook is a great place to stop and rest, take lots of pictures and
enjoy the view.
And sometimes when they're making roads, they will make a special place so that
you can pull off to the side of the road and take pictures or just enjoy the
scenery.
Well, we continue here.
Around bends, valleys of different shades of colors caught our eyes... or caught
our eye.
So let's take a look a word here from the Word Bank.
It is "shade." And when we're talking about colors, maybe a color has many
different shades.
That's right.
So it might be a light shade of a color or a darker shade.
My shirt has many shades of pink.
That's right.
There is light pink and dark pink and hot pink, many different shades, so.
They had different shades of leaves.
OK.
And of course these things caught their eye.
Let's take a look at that word "caught." If something catches your eye, that
means you focus on it.
Maybe you're focusing on something else.
But then you see it once, and you maybe look at it again.
It catches your eye, and you just want to keep looking at it.
That's right.
Well, right now it is time for us to go to the Language Lab and learn something
with Michelle.
OK.
(Chinese).
And keep watching as our lesson continues.
Today we've been enjoying a great article by Pauline about her family's trip to
Shenandoah National Park.
And while they were there, they enjoyed many different shades of leaves that
were changing color.
Now Gabe, have you ever been to a place where the leaves change color?
Hmm, yeah, actually many places in the world where it's not so dry that it's
like a desert.
Actually in Taiwan, there are some places where the leaves do change color.
But I'd say also Maryland; I spent some time in Maryland, really close to
Virginia, right next to Virginia actually.
And the leaves there do change color in the fall.
Carolyn, it seems like all up and down the East Coast in America, the leaves do
this and... during the fall.
They do.
They do, indeed.
And it is a beautiful thing to see.
If you have time, go somewhere and enjoy the colors changing on the trees, so.
We will learn more from Pauline in our next lesson here on Studio Classroom.
See you then.