节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-09-19
难易度:Low
关键字:amaze, formation, column, breeze, spectacular, limestone
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And my name is Carolyn.
And your English will improve today.
Of course our lesson, we're continuing to learn from Pauline as she experiences
Virginia and some of the wonderful things there in the season of fall.
But actually, since it is fall, many Asians celebrate a very special holiday.
Carolyn, what is that holiday?
It is the Moon Festival.
And we mentioned that yesterday.
And actually, today is Moon Festival.
That's right.
So Carolyn and I wanted to tell you...
Happy Moon Festival!
Well, we hope you enjoy the Moon Festival.
And of course, we hope you enjoy learning more about Pauline's experiences in
Virginia.
Let's get started with today's part of our lesson: "Country Roads, Take Me
Home".
(Music).
"Country Roads, Take Me Home".
After leaving Skyline Drive, we visited a well-known cave, Luray Caverns.
Found in 1878, this cave is one of the most spectacular caves in the world.
We were amazed by the limestone shapes inside.
The most famous one is the world's largest musical instrument, the Great
"Stalacpipe" Organ.
Fortunately, we were able to hear a piece of music.
Other famous formations include Dream Lake, Totem Poles and Saracen's Tent.
Dream Lake is a mirror-like surface which reflects the stalactites above the
lake.
OK, so let's go back to the beginning of our lesson here.
We read: After leaving Skyline Drive, we visited a well-known cave, Luray
Caverns.
Luray Caverns.
Well, I've never been there, but it is a well-known cave in Virginia.
That means a lot of people know about this.
And a lot of people do know about it.
The last time I was in the United States, I drove past Luray Caverns.
And actually, I've gone past the caverns almost every year that I've been alive
because...
Really? So Carolyn, did you go in?
Oh, no. I... I haven't been in.
But that road, there's a road that goes past Luray Caverns, and that's the road
that my family always use when we go to visit my grandparents.
That is really cool.
So if you go in the fall, I guess you have a chance to see the changing of the
colors of the leaves as well.
I do. But you know, the leaves change color in West Virginia as well.
It's all mountains there, too.
But Luray Caverns is very special and very big and well-known.
Continuing in the article:
Found in 1878, this cave is one of the most spectacular caves in the world.
And I think it's very true.
We can look at some of the pictures of the cave, and they are very impressive.
All right.
It looks like an impressive cave, a very spectacular cave.
If something is spectacular, that means you can see a lot that makes you go
"Wow!" It amazes you. OK.
So maybe you might talk about a spectacular show that you saw.
And you will see some spectacular things in Luray Caverns.
Well, she continues.
We were amazed by the limestone shapes inside.
All right.
So we know what's inside of this cave now, and they amazed Pauline.
Let's look at that word from our Word Bank: amazed, or amaze.
Carolyn, what amazes you?
What does that mean?
Well, if something amazes you, then it surprises you but in a good way.
You think something is just so wonderful.
You might say that you are amazed by someone's language skill.
Your Chinese is amazing, Gabe.
It just amazes me.
(Chinese).
(Chinese).
Anyway, it's true with English as well.
You could say your English amazes me.
You have really good English.
OK. So what are you amazed by?
Well, we're learning from Pauline and her family.
And they were amazed by these limestone shapes inside Luray Caverns.
That's right.
And we've learned that the most famous one is the world's largest musical
instrument.
There's a musical instrument inside the cave.
And it is called the Great "Stalacpipe" Organ.
Now this is a very unique name.
It's the stalacpipe organ.
Why is this special, Gabe?
It's really, really special.
I would love to see this stalacpipe organ.
Actually in your magazine, there's a sidebar talking about stalac... stalacpipe,
stalactites and stalagmites. OK.
Here this is kind of... they're having fun with the word stalactite.
And a stalactite is one of those things that hangs from the ceiling.
It's a rock formation hanging from the ceiling, especially inside of a cave.
Now how is that different from a stalagmite, Carolyn?
Well, so a stalagmite comes up from the ground.
And actually, it's not growing out of the ground but water drips from the top of
the cave down, and some of that deposits limestone on the top.
And when the water falls, there's also some limestone left on the bottom of the
cave,
which is why a lot of times you see a stalactite right above a stalagmite.
All right.
Well, it's good to remember how these words are different.
One way you can do that is to see that right in the middle of stalactite is a C.
Think of the word "ceiling." A ceiling is above you.
Stalagmite, right in the middle is the letter G, so that's the ground.
The ground is underneath.
Stalactites from above, and stalagmites from below.
That's right.
Well, here we are talking about the stalacpipe, stalacpipe organ made of
stalactites and stalagmites.
And fortunately, we were able to hear a piece of music.
So this isn't just something that looks like an organ, you can actually hear
someone play music on this organ.
Well, would you like to hear some of the music from this stalacpipe organ?
You're in luck.
Fortunately, we're going to do that right now.
You'll be able to enjoy some pictures from inside Luray Caverns as well as hear
a piece of music.
Here we go.
(Music).
Well, I can understand why Pauline was really amazed by these caves and the
formations inside.
Now we want to talk about that word from our next sentence.
Other famous formations include Dream Lake, Totem Poles and Saracen's Tent.
And we do have that word from our Word Bank: formations.
Now what does it mean if something is a formation?
Well, it's a natural something that was formed outside.
So it was not created by humans like a sculpture.
It's formed by nature somehow.
And of course there are many rock formations around the world.
And of course in Luray Caverns, there are these stalactites and stalagmites and
other rock formations.
That's right.
And we learn that it doesn't have to be made of rock to be a formation.
Dream Lake is another formation.
And Dream Lake is a mirror-like surface which reflects the stalactites above the
lake.
So this is a body of water.
Well, I certainly would like to see Dream Lake and some of these other places
mentioned here.
For now it's time for us to learn something else with Michelle in the Language
Lab.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.