节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-06-08
难易度:Medium
关键字:urban, terrify, conceal, constrict, slither, antivenin
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
And my name is Carolyn.
And thank you for joining us for our second day when this lesson called
Snakebites.
Now I don't really like getting too close to snakes.
But yesterday we did learn about a couple of snakes, and these have venom.
One is the king cobra, another is the inland taipan.
Today we're going to be learning about one called the Russell's viper.
But why all these different names, cobra, taipan, viper?
Carolyn, do you know anything about these names?
Well, there are some differences.
In English, we like to classify things and have specific names for different
types of animals, different types of plants.
And these names help us to tell the difference between them.
Cobras usually have a hood or extra skin around their neck that expands when
they become threatened or scared, and they are poisonous.
Taipans live in Australia, and their name comes from an aboriginal word that
sounds like taipan.
And the viper that we're learning about today is very scary and very unique.
Their fangs are hinged so they can move up and down, and it allows them to bite
many times very quickly.
Whoa! That does sound scary.
OK. That's about the Russell's viper which we're about to learn about.
So please open up your magazine if you haven't already done so, and let's get
started with the first reading of the day.
(Music).
Snakebites.
Russell's viper.
This snake lives throughout Asia, including India, southern China, and on the
island of Taiwan.
It prefers grassy fields but can be found in forests and urban areas.
It bites more people and causes more deaths than any other poisonous snake.
What to do.
Snakes may be terrifying, but most are more afraid of you than you are of them.
So if you see a snake, stand back and lead it slither away.
We are talking about snakebites and how we need to watch out for poisonous
snakes.
Yesterday we talked about two words: poisonous and venom.
And I think that Steve and Ken have some more information they like to share
with us on those two words.
Is an animal poisonous or venomous?
Using these two adjectives interchangeably is, strictly speaking, incorrect.
So what's the difference?
First, we must look at how the animal's toxin is transferred.
Right.
Venomous creatures transfer their toxin actively - that is they intentionally
deliver it, usually through fangs or a stinger.
This means all the snakes in our lesson are venomous, not poisonous.
Because poisonous creatures will only transfer their toxins passively, like when
they are ingested or touched.
An example of this is the poison dart frog.
If some larger animal eats it or even touches it, the poison on the frog skin
will get into the animal's system and kill it.
Which leads us to the second distinction between poisonous and venomous - and
that is how does the creature use its toxin?
Poisonous creatures, like the dart frog, use their toxin for defensive purposes
whereas venomous creatures use their toxin for offensive purposes.
In other words, a poisonous creature's toxin serves as protection against
predators whereas a venomous creature uses its toxin to kill its prey.
Correct, so.
The blowfish, poisonous or venomous?
Poisonous.
And the scorpion?
Venomous.
You got it.
(Chinese).
Thanks.
Well, if those guys were too fast, you can read that information on page 23 in
your magazine.
Well, let's get started talking about this Russell's viper.
This snake lives throughout Asia, including India, southern China, and on the
island of Taiwan.
Well, it lives in these different places.
And you might want to watch out for the Russell's viper if you are in any of
these places.
Now Carolyn, why do we say "on" the island of Taiwan instead of "in" the island
of Taiwan?
Well, it is a little bit different because it's an island.
It's surrounded by water.
So you are on it, you're not really in it.
Other places we might say, "Well, I am in the United States." But because we
specify Taiwan as an island, we say "on".
OK. Interesting.
Well, you can see this Russell's viper maybe on the island of Taiwan.
And what else do we find out about it, Carolyn?
Well, this snake, it prefers grassy fields but can be found in forests and urban
areas.
So it likes grassy fields, but you can find it other places like urban areas.
Let's look at that word from the Word Bank.
What does an urban area mean, Gabe?
Well, when I think of the word "urban," I think of a city.
So you're not in the countryside, you're in an urban area.
Urban, maybe the opposite of this word is rural, R-U-R-A-L.
That's kind of more to do with the countryside, not within the city.
But you might be able to find the... the Russell's viper in urban areas.
That's kind of scary to think about.
That is very scary.
And we learn something that is also scary in the next sentence:
It bites more people and causes more deaths than any other poisonous snake.
So this is a snake that you really want to watch out for if you live in an area
that has this type of snake.
That's right.
Well, what to do?
What can you do?
Snakes may be terrifying, but most are more afraid of you than you are of them.
And I think that's true.
That's something that many people try to remind you about snakes is that they
are more afraid of humans than you are of snakes.
So they may be terrifying, but remember that.
Let's take a look at that word from our Word Bank.
It is "terrifying." If something is terrifying, it makes you afraid, it makes
you frightened.
Of course, you see it here as a verb.
So you could terrify somebody; or snakes might terrify you.
That's right.
And if something is terrifying, it is very scary.
Maybe you think flying is terrifying.
Many people are afraid of flying.
But you do not need to be terrified of snakes because there are things you can
do.
What does the next sentence tell us, Gabe?
Well, so if you see a snake, stand back and let it slither away.
We just learned that most snakes are more afraid of you than you are of them.
If you see one, just stand back, let it slither away.
And of course slithering is the action that a snake does.
If you talk about a snake, and you want to use a verb, I think "slither" is the
best one.
It doesn't walk away, it doesn't have legs.
It slithers away.
That's right.
And it is important to stand back from the snake.
You want to give it space because if a snake feels cornered or like it can't get
out, it will try to attack or bite you.
And if it is a venomous snake, that can be very, very bad and even fatal.
That could be fatal, bad.
It could be terrifying.
Well, I do want to talk about that key word a little bit more because Carolyn
used it as an adjective - terrified.
You might be terrified of something like heights.
T-E-R-R-I-F-I-E-D.
Well, what are you terrified of?
What terrifies you?
For some people, it might be earthquakes.
Carolyn, is there anything that terrifies you or that you are afraid of?
Well, I am actually terrified of spiders.
I do not like spiders, and especially since some spiders are also venomous.
I... I am very concerned about finding spiders in my apartment.
All right.
So you might be terrified of some spiders.
I think some people are terrified of cockroaches.
Some people if they see a cockroach, they... they faint.
They don't know what to do.
They are terrified.
Well, you might see some of these things in urban areas - spiders, cockroaches,
and sometimes even snakes.
But always remember, these little creatures are more terrified of you than you
are of them.
Well, it's time for us to learn something else with Michelle in the Language
Lab.
And then we'll take a break.