节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-08-02
难易度:Low
关键字:remain, hold one's breath, pilot, gaze, stabilize, fire
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And my name is Carolyn.
And you're joining us for the second day of our lesson: Hualien From a Hot Air
Balloon.
Now of course we joined Nathanael as he began this story yesterday.
And he was with his friends, and they were waiting to see if they could even
have the chance to go up in a hot air balloon.
Of course the weather was kind of bad, and so there was a red flag at first.
But by the end, there was a yellow flag, which meant proceed with care.
Now they're going to go up into a hot air balloon, which is taking them pretty
high off the ground.
Carolyn, have you ever been up to a very high place?
Well, I've been to a couple.
I've been to some very tall buildings like the Empire State Building in New
York, and also Taipei 101 here in Taipei.
But I think probably the highest place I've been to was actually a mountaintop
when I was hiking.
Well, I love hiking to the tops of high mountains as well.
You can get great views of the city below or whatever is below.
Of course, if you've been in an airplane, then that is also very high up.
If you're flying in a hot air balloon, it's not quite as high, but you'll get a
great view, especially if you're in Hualien.
Let's continue with our story - Hualien From a Hot Air Balloon.
Hualien From a Hot Air Balloon.
The first group boarded one balloon, which remained tied to the ground.
Lifting off slowly, the white shape in motion was exciting to watch.
Once it rose to a certain point, the wind suddenly started to carry it off.
Many held their breath as it began to fall just as quickly.
We soon relaxed as the balloon stabilized.
After several minutes in the air, the balloon touched ground while a blue one
rose.
Oh, this sounds like a very exciting experience and maybe even making people
feel a little bit nervous.
But going back to the beginning of our reading for today:
The first group boarded one balloon, which remained tied to the ground.
So the first group of people got to go into a balloon as "they proceeded with
care" as we learned yesterday.
But they were able to go into the first balloon, which remained on the ground.
So they weren't up in the air yet because we see that word from our Word Bank -
the word "remain".
That's right. And this word "remain," it means still.
So the balloon is still on the ground.
It remains on the ground.
But you can use that word in different ways.
Maybe there is a group of people, and four people leave, but then two remain.
Two did not leave.
They remained at the place.
They didn't leave.
That's right.
So "remain" just means to continue to be that way or to stay that way.
Maybe you put something on the shelf, and it has remained there for a very long
time.
You haven't used it since you put it on the shelf.
Well, continuing on in our article, how... how do we do that, Gabe?
All right.
Well, lifting off slowly, the white shape in motion was exciting to watch.
So Nathanael and his friends are not in the hot air balloon.
They're observing from the side.
They can see this white shape, and it's exciting to watch.
It would be very exciting to see this white hot air balloon just rising into the
sky.
And Nathanael continues: Once it rose to a certain point, the wind suddenly
started to carry it off.
Now if something is carried off, then it is moved, and maybe you didn't expect
it to happen.
It leaves, and you didn't know that it was going to leave.
So the wind started to suddenly carry off the balloon!
That's right.
So we see here the balloon is not remaining on the ground like before.
It's being carried off.
Now it rose to a certain point, and then it suddenly carried off.
And Nathanael continues:
Many held their breath as it began to fall just as quickly.
OK. So it suddenly was carried off, and it began to fall just as quickly.
So what did people do?
They held their breath.
So they were very nervous, they were very anxious.
And this phrase is from our Word Bank.
So if you hold your breath, maybe you take a big breath of air, and you're so
nervous that you don't release the air.
You just hold it inside.
And this would be something that would make people very nervous to see if a
balloon is suddenly falling from the sky.
That's right.
They're not sure what's going to happen.
Maybe something dangerous will happen.
They're not sure, so they... hold their breath.
Well, what makes you hold your breath?
You're kind of anxious or nervous about something, and so you forget to breathe.
You hold your breath.
What makes you do that?
Well, maybe you're waiting to hear about your test results.
You've taken a very big exam, and you are holding your breath waiting to hear
your final score.
That could be something that makes you very nervous.
And I know I would be holding my breath.
All right.
Well, that's one thing that can make you hold your breath.
But of course Nathanael continues:
We soon relaxed as the balloon stabilized.
All right.
So relaxing is the opposite of holding your breath. All right.
And if you see a balloon stabilizing, that means it's not going up and down.
It's kind of level.
It's calm. It's stabilized.
This makes me think of uh, sometimes in a hospital room where you see a heart
monitor.
And the heart rate of someone stabilizes.
It might be going very fast at first, or very slow, and now it stabilizes.
That's right.
So the balloon returned to normal.
It was no longer being carried off by the wind or falling quickly.
They were safe.
And we continue reading:
After several minutes in the air, the balloon touched ground while a blue one
rose.
So remember, there's more than one balloon, not just this white balloon, but
there's also a blue one.
Well, it seems like there are probably lots of beautiful different color
balloons, hot air balloons here in Hualien.
So after several minutes in the air, this blue one... the balloon touched
ground.
Now when a balloon touches ground, another word we could use is it "lands." It
comes back down to earth.
So it touches the ground.
That's right.
So the white balloon has finished its journey into the sky.
Those people would be able to get off of the balloon.
And hopefully they aren't too shaken by their experience of being carried off.
And now the people that are in the blue balloon will get to go up in the air.
That's right.
Now of course we see this word "rose." That's the past tense of the word "rise".
Right now it's time for us to learn something different with Steve and Ken in
the Information Cloud.
There are some idioms that have to do with air.
And then we're going to watch a fun video followed by Michelle in the Language
Lab.
Prepositions in articles are very short and may seem insignificant, but they do
make a difference.
Let's take a look at some examples.
Our lesson today mentions hot air balloons being in the air.
So "in" is the preposition there.
Change it to "on." "On the air" has a totally different meaning.
Studio Classroom is on the air.
It's being broadcast on the radio and television.
OK. Now let's take out the definite article "the," and add the word "walk."
Walking on air.
This refers to a very happy and excited mood caused by the occurrence of
something good.
An example might be: Ever since she met Derek, she's been walking on air.
Now let's change the preposition to "up." "Up in the air" can mean being in
mid-air like a hot air balloon.
But it can also mean that something is not yet decided.
For example, my plans for the winter are still up in the air.
I have not decided on what to do this winter.
OK. Finally, back to "in the air." Besides the literal meaning, this phrase can
also refer to something being in circulation or in people's thoughts.
For example, there's a rumor in the air that they're going out of business.
Or Christmas is in the air.