节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-08-03
难易度:Low
关键字:sum up, sway, release, pilot, balloon, Hua Hin
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And I'm Carolyn.
And you're joining us for day three of our lesson about Hualien From a Hot Air
Balloon.
We've been enjoying Nathanael's experiences with his friends as they got to take
a trip up into the air in a hot air balloon.
What was the first part of his story about, Carolyn?
Well, on the first day we talked about and learned what Nathanael and his
friends were there to do.
They were on a mission to participate in Hualien County's first hot air balloon
event.
So this is the first time that they had a hot air balloon event in Hualien
County.
And they wanted to participate.
And it sounds very exciting with fire breathing into the balloons and just
rising into the air.
Now what did we discuss on the second day?
Well, we learned about how some people went up into the air.
And you could see that with the wind, you're not sure where the hot air balloon
is going to go.
So many people were holding their breath as the hot air balloon would come
quickly down to the ground.
And of course Nathanael and his friends were able to get into a white hot air
balloon.
And they enjoyed a beautiful view as they gazed down below.
Well, it's time for us to continue with his story - Hualien From a Hot Air
Balloon.
Hualien From a Hot Air Balloon.
Our view from the balloon can be summed up in one word - beautiful.
Hualien's fields and mountain peaks shone bright green against the blue sky.
And watching the people far below us was a relaxing moment in a busy day.
The wind blew gently, causing us to sway a little from side to side.
While in the air, Tawin told us of some of his experiences.
He even told us of a close call he had experienced in Malaysia.
Well, Tawin does seem like a professional.
It seems like he's done this many times before.
Let's go back at the top of our lesson here today.
Nathanael writes:
Our view from the balloon can be summed up in one word - beautiful.
Well, let's take a look at those words from our Word Bank: sum up.
When you sum something up, that means maybe you can describe something with a
lot of words, but you only use a few.
You sum it up.
You make it short.
That's right.
So they just want to provide a short description of what this experience was
like.
And it was beautiful.
So just one word can be used to express what they saw, and it was just
beautiful.
Well, sometimes your teacher might ask you to sum up your experiences, to say
something in a very short way.
Maybe you went on a vacation somewhere, and you have a lot to share, but you
only have a little bit of time.
You need to sum up your vacation for your friends.
That's right.
And maybe you had a very busy, busy weekend.
There were so many things going on.
But to sum it up, my weekend was just busy.
All right.
One word.
I like that phrase, though, to sum it up.
To sum it up, my weekend was busy.
And of course, this is a beautiful sight in Hualien.
Nathanael continues.
Hualien's fields and mountain peaks shone bright green against the blue sky.
I like that contrast - the bright green mountains against the blue sky.
That would be very beautiful to sum it up in just one world... word.
And Hualien has mountain peaks, but there are also fields.
So they are in a big field right now where they are uh, enjoying this hot air
balloon event.
So the balloons are in a field.
And there are mountains all around.
The sky is blue.
This would be just a wonderful thing to get to enjoy.
That's true.
And I love the word he uses here, too: shone.
So it's like it's shining; it shone bright green.
OK, Nathanael continues.
And watching the people far below us was a relaxing moment in a busy day.
So I didn't realize they were really busy until now in our lesson.
I... I guess they were really busy.
But this was a relaxing moment.
Yes. So it must have been very peaceful to just be lifted up into the air,
looking down as the people are getting smaller.
Things are getting a little bit further away, and you can just relax.
And hopefully they trust their pilot Tawin to take them where they are supposed
to go.
It's true.
Well, I do like a phrase here in this sentence.
It's a relaxing moment in a busy day.
Sometimes we use these words to contrast two things, something in a something
else.
For instance, I might say Carolyn is a warm light in a sea of darkness.
Carolyn, you are!
You're... you're a beacon of light in a sea of darkness.
Oh. Well, thank you, Gabe.
Well, let us continue reading.
The wind blew gently causing us to sway a little from side to side.
So they weren't being carried away like the first group had, but they did sway a
little bit from side to side.
And let's look at that word "sway." Sway just means to move back and forth.
So maybe you like to sway to music instead of just dancing, you just sway a
little bit.
How else can you use this word, Gabe?
Well, yeah, I think of music and dancing.
But of course I also think about some people who have a hard time making up
their mind about something.
They can't make decisions.
They sway from side to side.
They sway because they're not able to make a decision very easily.
Well, we also want to make sure that you keep your balance.
So if you sway from side to side, you might be about to fall.
So we should be carefully if we begin... if we see someone begin to sway.
Maybe we should reach out a hand and help them stabilize.
I think so, too.
I saw a friend actually swaying from side to side when I was younger.
And then he fell forward, he fainted.
I guess I could have stopped him if I knew what was going on.
So, use that word "sway" sometime today.
And let's continue with Nathanael's story.
While in the air, Tawin told us of some of his experiences.
So of course they're up there enjoying the scenery, but they're also hearing
some cool stories as well.
Yes. So the pilot Tawin is just telling about some of his experiences.
He even told us of a close call he had experienced in Malaysia.
So it sounds like there was something very exciting that happened while he was
in Malaysia.
But it was a close call.
Now that is a very interesting word, isn't it, Gabe?
I think so, too.
A close call.
That means it was a very near-death experience perhaps.
We're not exactly sure what Nathanael means by this.
I know Liz wants to share more about this phrase in the Grammar Gym.
And then of course, we'll spend some time with Michelle in the Language Lab.
Hi, friends.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym.
My name is Liz.
And here's today's Grammar Tip sentence:
Though he clearly enjoyed his job, he told us of a close call in Malaysia.
Our focus is on the phrase: close call.
It's an informal expression we use to talk about a dangerous situation that
somebody almost did not escape from.
For example, if a person is driving and almost gets hit by another car, we can
say that that was a close call.
Or we see in movies how secret agents try to get out of a building and barely
escape without being noticed by the guards, that's a close call.
Or if you're trying to hide something, and someone else almost finds out what
you're doing, but you're still able to keep things hidden, then that is also a
close call.
If you have a copy of this month's magazine with you, be sure to check out
today's Grammar Tip section for more examples.
And that's it for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.