节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-06-19
难易度:Low
关键字:musical, road trip, concert, injure, kayak, legacy, aviary
Well, it is summertime, and I hope that you are getting ready to enjoy a nice
summer.
This year, take a little break.
Take a break from the heat and cool off by going to a swim or fitness center.
You also might go out and enjoy a musical in a park or put on by another theater
company.
There are so many things to do this summer.
Maybe you want to take a road trip or a beach vacation.
Well, we have lots more to learn from Pauline and her family, and what they will
be doing this summer.
Let's start our second reading for today.
(Music).
What Time Is It? Summertime!
The Music Center, shopping malls and Town Center host free outdoor concerts
every week.
And sports lovers canoe or kayak along the river or bike and hike on the trails
all summer.
So what is my family doing this summer?
On weekends, we're going to different state and regional parks.
Rock Creek Regional Park's Lake Needwood is our favorite place to hike.
The nature center there helps us understand this area's history.
My children love the Legacy of the People exhibit.
Outside they visit the aviaries to see their "feathered friends" - a
wing-injured American bald eagle and a half-blind owl.
(Music).
All right.
Well, we've learned a little bit now about Pauline and her family.
She says that sometimes they take their children to go and enjoy these things.
Well, let's go to the top of this section here.
We're learning about the Music Center.
The Music Center, shopping malls and Town Center host free outdoor concerts
every week.
Well, that sounds like a fun summer activity - going to an outdoor concert.
That does sound like a really great thing to do in the summer, especially since
they are free and they are every week.
But let's take a look at that word "concert" from our Word Bank.
A concert is a musical performance.
And usually I think of it as one that is live.
You get to enjoy it while they are performing, not just listen to a recording of
it.
That's right.
Of course if you want to listen to a recording, sometimes they make DVDs of
these live concerts, and you can listen.
But it's not as fun as going to a live concert.
Of course there are many different kinds of concerts.
What kinds of concerts do you enjoy attending?
Pop music concerts?
Or maybe something a little more classical?
Of course there are many different kinds of concerts.
And there are concerts every week where Pauline and her family have moved to
Washington D.C.
And sports lovers canoe or kayak along the river or bike and hike on the trails
all summer.
So it sounds like there is a lot to do in her neighborhood.
That's right.
What can you do in the river?
You can canoe or kayak.
A canoe and a kayak, these are two different kinds of boats.
They're not big ships.
They're small boats that you can use fairly easily.
What's the difference?
Well, there are some little differences.
But if you want to go quickly, use a kayak.
That is much faster.
Yes, it is.
Well, but she uses this word "all" summer.
All summer.
So here we're not talking about something you can really see.
She's talking about time.
Gabe, how can we use this word "all" to talk about time?
Well, in almost any way you want to talk about time.
So for example, you could say: We did this all day.
We hiked all day long.
Or what about all year?
They were living with us all year long, not just for a couple of days or a
couple of weeks but all year.
That's right.
So you can use this word to talk about time.
Continuing in our article.
So what is my family doing this summer?
Pauline asks us.
And she answers how, Gabe?
Well, she says: On weekends we're going to different state and regional parks.
So within the United States, there are many different kinds of parks.
Some very famous ones like Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Canyon.
But there are also some smaller ones, some state and regional parks.
That's right.
And the park that it sounds like they want to go to is called Rock Creek
Regional Park.
We see: Rock Creek Regional Park's Lake Needwood is our favorite place to hike.
So they love going here to go hiking.
The nature center there helps us understand this area's history.
That's right.
Actually this is a very popular place in that area.
It's 75 acres and it's very popular among fishermen.
So if you like fishing, maybe you want to go and visit Lake Needwood.
And of course you can learn a little bit about the area's history there as well.
And she gives us some other reasons why they enjoy going there so much.
She writes: My children love the Legacy of the People exhibit.
And I'm not quite sure what that exhibit would be, Gabe.
Well, at this exhibit, you can learn about the lives of Maryland pioneers and a
tribe of Indians that lived there.
And of course, a legacy is something that is handed down from people in the past
to us now; so the Legacy of the People.
That's right.
So they can visit this exhibit.
They can also do some other things there as well.
Outside they visit the aviaries to see their "feathered friends" - a
wing-injured American bald eagle and a half-blind owl.
So they like to go to the aviaries here to visit their "feathered friends,"
Gabe.
Well, a feathered friend, that's slang for any kind of bird.
And an aviary is a large space where birds can fly around.
It's contained, so they can't just fly off wherever they want to, but it's not
small like a cage, either.
That's right.
So it is a great place to be able to see birds flying around, and you can see
many different kinds of birds there.
And at this one they have a wing-injured American bald eagle.
Now "injured" is one of the words from our Word Bank.
If you are injured, then you are hurt.
So this bald eagle has an injury or it is hurt on its wing, so it probably
cannot fly.
Good, OK.
It has an injury; that's not good.
But I say good because there are different ways you can use that word.
"Injury" is the noun.
"Injured" might be an adjective.
If your foot is injured, that's an adjective.
Or you might injure your foot, a verb.
So there are different ways you can use this word.
Well, right now it's time for us to continue learning something with Steve and
Ken in the Information Cloud.
This is very important, especially if you are writing English.
And then we'll learn some more with Michelle in the Language Lab.
Former U.S. President Woodrow Wilson once said:
The hyphen was the most un-American thing in the world.
And Britain's Winston Churchill said hyphens were a blemish to be avoided
wherever possible.
Yes, many people believe the hyphen (-) is a punctuation mark that has outlived
its usefulness.
As evidenced by words that are born with hyphens but then slowly and discreetly
abandon them.
Does anyone remember when the word tomorrow had a hyphen after the t-o?
If not, then surely you remember when the word e-mail was always written with a
hyphen after the e.
Well, not so much anymore.
But don't worry, people.
The hyphen is not going anywhere.
Good thing, too.
Hyphens still have a handful of important functions.
For example, they facilitate understanding by neatly dividing words.
Right.
They prevent what some people call letter collision.
Imagine encountering words like coat-tail, shell-like, re-enter and de-ice
without their hyphen.
What a mess!
You are right.
Well, another important function of hyphens is they help prevent ambiguity.
For example, a half-blind owl isn't the same as a half blind owl, is it?
And an old-furniture dealer is quite different from an old furniture dealer.
(Chinese).
(Chinese).
And now it's time to go back to our teachers.
All right.
So far today we've learned a little bit about what our author and her family are
doing this summer.
But what about you?
Do you have any fun plans for this summer?
Carolyn, what about you?
Well, I think this summer I will probably spend my weekends going hiking and
maybe even go to a cold spring or two to relax and cool off.
What about you, Gabe?
I think I'll be spending a lot of time at the beach.
I love going to the beach, especially during the summer.
What about you?
Do you have any fun plans for this summer?
Talk about that with a friend or a family member.
And of course, we will see you next time right here on Studio Classroom.