节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-08-07
难易度:High
关键字:frigid, traverse, minimal, disregard, junket
We are on the third day of our article Adventures for a Cause.
And today we started out learning about the Ice Run, which is a journey through
frigid temperatures in Siberia on an old Ural motorcycle.
It sounds very exciting.
And we just learned a little bit about the Mototaxi Junket.
We have a lot more to learn about this great adventure next in our reading.
Adventures for a Cause.
Peru's mototaxis resemble 125cc scooters with a wide seat on the back and
minimal steering and brakes.
Riders take them across Peru, traversing mountains so high that the mototaxis'
motors sometimes struggle to start, then plunging into the Amazon rain forest
basin.
So there you have it - six of the craziest journeys ever.
Do you have a taste for adventure, a disregard for comfort or safety and a
desire to help save rain forests?
Then join the Adventurists in their quest to make the world a better - and more
exciting - place.
We're continuing to learn about the Mototaxi Junket here, a pleasurable journey
in these little vehicles.
We're in Peru now.
Peru's mototaxis resemble 125cc scooters with a wide seat on the back and
minimal steering and brakes.
Wait a minute, 125cc scooter?
Like mine! I have a scooter that's 125 cc's.
Maybe I could take my scooter to Peru.
Well, does it have a large seat on the back like a mototaxi?
Huh, no. No, it doesn't, Carolyn.
Maybe I can't take my scooter to Peru.
Well, maybe not for this adventure, anyway, because it has minimal steering and
brakes as part of the excitement.
And we see that word "minimal" from our Word Bank.
If something is minimal, then it is extremely small.
There is very little of it.
And here the steering and brakes are minimal.
That's right.
They're minimal, the least that you can survive with.
It's the least of something, minimal.
So for instance, um, my... my friend Joanie, she works really hard.
She gets minimal sleep every night.
She doesn't sleep very much.
Well, we want to "minimize," which is the verb form of this word, our delay.
We want to continue on with our lesson.
Riders take them across Peru, traversing mountains so high that the mototaxis'
motors sometimes struggle to start, then plunging into the Amazon rain forest
basin.
Wow! This sounds like quite a journey.
That sounds so cool, Carolyn.
You're taking your scooter up there, up these mountains, and then sometimes it's
so high that the motors struggle to start.
It's a struggle.
And that means it's not easy.
There's trouble.
It's a struggle to start, but then you go down the mountain.
And our author uses a word here "plunge." What does that mean, Carolyn?
Well, if you plunge into something, then you go down very quickly.
And a lot of times I think about using this word with water.
"You plunge into the water" means that you just jump in and go down very fast.
But here they're plunging into the rain forest basin.
So they're going down into the jungle.
Well, that does sound exciting.
Now it's time for us to watch an exciting video introducing this Mototaxi
Junket.
Seriously impressive how far you could see.
... is absolutely kicking, and I still got it.
We found the problem, we're going to fix it.
(Music).
And the drop-off, it's about 6 to 8 inches from the right wheel.
Basically at any point in time, anything can happen!
(Music).
Probably the most difficult thing any of us have ever gone through... in life, I
would dare say.
It was about 100 yards of concrete. We got very excited.
There's 105 kilometers of roads that the locals say will swallow uh... um... the
mighty beast.
(Music).
(Music).
We're very high, and it's very, very cold!
(Music).
We're literally stuck in the middle of the Amazon with no way out.
(Music).
Well, that does look like a very exciting adventure through Peru.
Continuing on to the next papragraph:
So there you have it - six of the craziest journeys ever.
And these are very exciting and eccentric vacations or trips to be taking.
It's true.
And there's a phrase at the beginning of that sentence "so there you have it."
And I think we should let Liz talk about this in the Grammar Gym.
Welcome to the Grammar Gym, friends.
My name is Liz.
We see this sentence in today's article:
So there you have it - six of the craziest journeys you could possibly take.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
Our focus is on the phrase at the beginning of the sentence: So there you have
it.
It is an expression that means that's it.
Native speakers usually use this expression when they've just finished talking
about something, and they want to let their listeners know that they're done.
If you're giving a speech, it's a great way to begin your conclusion with.
You can also use this expression to put focus on something.
For example, introducing a famous artwork like:
There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, the Mona Lisa.
If you look at today's Grammar Tip section, you'll find more examples there.
And that's it for today.
This is Liz from the Grammar Gym.
See you next time.
Thank you, Liz.
OK, so let's continue.
Do you have a taste for adventure, a disregard for comfort or safety and a
desire to help save rain forests?
OK. Let's look at that sentence there.
If you have a taste for adventure, that just means you have an excitement when
it comes to adventure.
You're interested in doing this.
But what's our key word here, Carolyn?
Our key word is "disregard." And that means to not pay attention to something or
not really care about it or think that it is important.
That's right.
So maybe in a positive way, you might regard something as important.
But here it's disregard, it's kind of negative.
You might say to somebody um... you know, I... I shared my thoughts with you but
you just disregarded my opinion.
You didn't think it was very important.
Right.
Well, we do not want to have disregard for other people or for their safety.
But here the Adventurists are talking about themselves.
And if you have a disregard for comfort or safety and a desire to help save rain
forests,
then join the Adventurists in their quest to make the world a better - and more
exciting - place.
All right. This is their quest.
That's another word for mission or purpose.
Their purpose is to make the world a better and more exciting place.
And of course I know someone else who also likes to make our worlds a better
place - Michelle.
She is in the Language Lab waiting for us now.
OK.
(Chinese).
OK. Get ready to learn more from our teachers.
Well, over the last couple of days, we've learned about some exciting adventures
that some people are crazy or eccentric enough to go on.
And of course they raise a little bit of money, but they have a great cause in
mind - saving the rain forests.
Now I wonder which one of these adventures you would like to participate in, if
there are any that you would.
Carolyn, would you like to participate in any of these?
Well, I would first have to raise 1,000 pounds to participate because this is
for charity.
But I think that I really like this last one we talked about, the Mototaxi
Junket.
I've driven a scooter before, so I know how to do that.
And I think it would be very interesting to be going through Peru on this
adventure.
I agree! And Carolyn, I just thought of something!
Maybe I could take my scooter, give it a wide seat, make the steering and brakes
really bad, and then take it to Peru.
We can do the Mototaxi Junket together.
Well, that would be quite an adventure.
Well, we will see you here next time on Studio Classroom.