节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-08-09
难易度:Medium
关键字:detective, suspicious, exception, anniversary, mastermind, plastic surgery

In the second day of our article on The Great Train Robbery, we've been talking
about The Hunt.
A group of detectives from Scotland Yard are now looking for the robbers.
And they got a report about some suspicious activity happening on Leatherslade
Farm, which turned out to be the thieves' hideout.
Now I'm very excited to hear how this story concludes in the next part of our
reading.
Let's read it now.
(Music).
The Great Train Robbery.
The Man Who Ran.
The exception was Ronnie Biggs, who escaped from prison in 1965 and ran from one
country to another.
Hiding behind plastic surgery, he was discovered in Brazil but avoided capture
several times.
Finally in 2001, over 30 years after his escape, an unhealthy Biggs turned
himself in to serve his jail time.
In 2009, he was released for compassionate reasons a day before his 80th
birthday.
He happens to share the date with the anniversary of his famous crime.
(Music).
OK, now we're learning about The Man Who Ran.
Of course most of these robbers were caught, put in prison for a time and let
loose by 1978.
But now we're talking about this man Ronnie Biggs, who ran, he got away... at
first. OK.
The exception was Ronnie Biggs, who escaped from prison in 1965 and ran from one
country to another.
OK, so he was caught at first, but he escaped within a couple of years and went
from one country, one place to another.
That's right.
And he was the exception.
So there were 15 men who were involved in the robbery.
All of them were caught eventually after some time.
But Ronnie Biggs was an exception because he escaped.
Now let's look at the word "exception." It's from our Word Bank.
And if something is an exception, that means that it is different.
It doesn't follow the rules and do things the way that everything else is being
done.
That's right.
So maybe you could use this phrase like this:
You're not supposed to eat in class.
But you could say: Oh, teacher, could you please make an exception for me? I'm
really hungry!
So you could use that phrase like that.
Or you might say that there is no exception for this thing.
There's no exception.
Everyone must do the things the exactly the same way.
Well, he did escape.
And we will find out how he was able to hide for so long.
We read: Hiding behind plastic surgery, he was discovered in Brazil but avoided
capture several times.
So he had plastic surgery done so that he looked different from the pictures
that the police had.
It's true. And that's... that's what happens.
Many people get plastic surgery done for different reasons.
They want to look different in some way.
Usually people might want to look better in some way, and so they'll get plastic
surgery.
Um, but this man, Ronnie Biggs, he wasn't doing it so that he could look better.
He really just wanted to hide and get away from the government.
But he was discovered several times and avoided capture several times, so.
People knew that he had changed his appearance, the way that he looked.
And they tried to catch him, but he was able to escape each time.
That's right.
This kind of reminds me of a movie that came out a couple years ago with
Leonardo DiCaprio - Catch Me If You Can.
He also got away several times after being discovered.
Well, we're learning about Ronnie Biggs here.
And finally in 2001, over 30 years after his escape, an unhealthy Biggs turned
himself in to serve his jail time.
I can't imagine the kind of things that this guy has experienced, trying to run
from one place to another to another just to get away from the police for over
30 years!
That is a very long time to be running and hiding.
And I'm sure that it was really not easy.
So he decided to turn himself in.
And Steve and Ken have something they'd like to tell us about that phrase in the
Information Cloud.
Hi, friends.
Here's a piece of advice.
If you often feel tired during the day, maybe you should turn in early.
Yes, turn in early, or go to bed early.
"Turn in" is just an informal way to say go to bed.
So what time do you turn in, Steve?
Well, Ken, I normally turn in at 11 o'clock on most nights.
Now let's play with this phrase a little and add a direct object: turn someone
in.
It's now a new phrase with a very different meaning.
Ken, if you don't go to the police and make a confession, I'll turn you in.
No. Don't turn me in.
I will turn myself in.
Friends, we hope you got that.
The phrase "turn oneself in" means to give yourself up to the authorities.
Now let's change the direct object to a thing.
Do you have a paper to turn in to your teacher tomorrow?
Or do you have homework to turn in?
When you turn in your homework or paper, you are handing it in to your teacher.
(Chinese).
Thank you, gentlemen.
So just before the Information Cloud, we saw that Biggs turned himself in to
serve his jail time.
"Serving" used in this way, that means you are doing something that you should
do that the police have... or the government says that you need to do.
You're serving your jail time, or you're doing something that they require. OK.
So we're continuing learning about Ronnie Biggs.
In 2009, he was released for compassionate reasons, a day before his 80th
birthday.
Well, that was just a couple of years ago that he was in jail, and he was
released for compassionate reasons.
What does it mean to be compassionate?
Well, if you are compassionate, that means that you are very caring, that you
are concerned about other people.
And I have a feeling that these compassionate reasons had to do with his health.
Because if he was almost 80 years old, just the day before his birthday, he
might not be in the best health.
Especially since he's been trying to run and hide from the police for so long,
he might have had some difficulty taking care of his body.
That's right.
And he did humble himself, he turned himself in.
Maybe that has something to do with these compassionate reasons, too.
So he was let out the day before his birthday. OK.
And he happens to share the date with the anniversary of his famous crime.
OK. Let's talk about this word "anniversary." This is from our Word Bank.
An anniversary is something that happens every year.
You celebrate something once every year on its anniversary.
That's right.
So an anniversary could be something like a wedding anniversary, the day that
you got married.
You celebrate that day on the same day every year.
So if you were married maybe in 2010 on August 10, then in 2011, August 10, you
would also celebrate.
And this year 2013, August 10 would be the anniversary, and you would celebrate
again.
That's right.
And so this guy, Ronnie Biggs, he came out of jail on the same day as his famous
crime, the anniversary of this crime.
So he shares a birthday with this crime.
That means he was robbing on his birthday, Carolyn.
Uh, maybe he was hoping to get a nice big birthday gift on the train.
Well, it very well could be.
August 8 was the anniversary and his birthday.
And he was let out the day before.
Well, right now it is time for us to enjoy a review skit.
And then we'll join Michelle in the Language Lab.
Today is the anniversary of the Great Train Robbery.
Yes! Our robbery was so successful!
Yes, but too bad there are no clean getaways.
Yeah, too bad.
I remember it all.
It was about 3 in the morning, the Night Flyer rolled to a stop.
Yeah. It was halted by a red signal light.
Yes. And when the fireman stepped off the train, we seized him!
We sure did.
We were dressed as track workers.
Remember?
I do.
We entered the cab and hit the driver over the head.
And then unhooked the engine and the first two cars, and the Night Flyer moved
on.
Next stop - Bridego Bridge! Ha...
Unloading 120 mialbags wasn't easy.
But we did it, and then tossed the driver and others into the car.
Mission complete!
The 15 of us made off with the goods without a trace.
Yep, about 2.6 million pounds!
Our crime earned its name - The Great Train Robbery!
Oh, our robbery was successful.
Yeah. Too bad there was no clean getaway.
No! Too bad.
Well, we've got to go now.
Yeah. See you in 25 or 30 years.
OK.
(Chinese).
And now I'll give the time back to our teachers.
Well, I did enjoy learning about Ronnie Biggs here in this last section.
And actually, if you're curious about him, there is a book that he wrote, an
autobiography.
It's called Odd Man Out - The Last Straw.
Carolyn, what was something that you really enjoyed learning about this Great
Train Robbery or these robbers?
Well, it was a very exciting story just reading about it.
And I'm sure that Ronnie Biggs' book is probably also very interesting to read
and get an inside look at what happened.
That's right.
Well, friends, thank you for joining us for this exciting lesson about a big
historical event.
And we'll see you next time right here at Studio Classroom.
See you then.