节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-04-03
难易度:Low
关键字:dash, run the risk, self-pity, the Bambino, World Series
Hello, and welcome to Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
I'm Carolyn.
And you're joining us for the second day of our lesson - More Than a Game.
We've been talking about baseball but not the rules, not really the game.
We're talking about lessons you can learn from the game of baseball.
And we learned about one yesterday that you can't let outside situations make
you feel defeated.
You need to focus on the task at hand and control your own performance.
We have more to learn from today.
But since we are talking about baseball, I do wonder if you have ever been to a
baseball game.
Carolyn, have you been to a baseball game before?
Well, I've been to many baseball games since I used to play.
But I also got to see a really great baseball game when I was in Japan as an
exchange student.
The high school I was going to had a baseball team.
And at the end of the game, they let me keep the ball.
What, no way! You got to keep a ball from a baseball game?
That's so cool.
Well, I've been to a couple of baseball games.
I used to think baseball was kind of boring, but I think I'm getting more and
more interested in baseball.
It's actually quite an exciting sport to watch.
Well, we have some more lessons to learn from the game of baseball today.
So let's get started with the first reading in today's lesson.
(Music).
More Than a Game.
"You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first." - Frederick B.
Wilcox.
If you don't take some chances, you probably won't improve.
A runner on first or second base can try to "steal" the next base.
He does this by dashing there as the pitcher prepares his fastball.
Stealing a base is not easy, but it might be worth running the risk.
We face choices like this every day: stay safe or take a risk.
Well, I like that quote at the very beginning of our lesson.
It says: You can't steal second base and keep your foot on first.
This was said by Frederick B. Wilcox.
And he says that you can't steal second base and keep your foot on first.
Carolyn, what is a base?
Well, a base in baseball is where you want to run to.
So you have four bases.
You have first, second and third base and then also the home plate.
And you need to run to each of those bases in order to score a point.
All right. That's right.
You need to run around those three bases and get to the home plate in order to
get a point.
And we're going to find out about "stealing" pretty soon.
Our first sentence here is: If you don't take some chances, you probably won't
improve.
Would you agree with that, Carolyn?
Well, I think sometimes it is important to take a chance so that you can make
progress.
If you stay in the same place the entire time and you don't try to make a change
or you're afraid to make a change, it's difficult to improve sometimes.
That's right.
So it is good to take some risks, to take some chances, and then you can
improve.
We continue: A runner on first or second base can try to "steal" the next base.
Now we're talking about bases here.
And you can steal a base from first or second base.
Um, Carolyn, when we're talking about this word "stealing" a base,
does that mean someone is going to pick up the base and run home with it without
paying?
Eh, no, no, no. It's not that kind of stealing.
It means that they're going to run when they aren't supposed to.
So when the pitcher is getting ready to throw the ball, they start running
before the pitch is actually thrown.
All right.
And sometimes this can be risky.
It can be dangerous because the pitcher might see and throw it to the next
baseman, and you will get out.
All right.
So you might want to steal a base if you are playing baseball, but it is a risk.
Well, how do we continue with this lesson, Carolyn?
Well, we see that he does this by dashing there as the pithcer prepares his
fastball.
So they're explaining how you steal a base here.
And you do this by dashing, so you run very fast.
This word "dash" means to run quickly, usually for a short distance.
All right.
So "dashing." Actually the first thing that I think of when I hear this word is
that song - "Dashing through the snow. Jingle bells." Right?
You know that song.
Dashing, that means you're going very fast through the snow.
But of course, here we're talking about running.
And there is actually a race, or a really short race called the 100-yard dash or
the 50-yard dash.
That means you're running as fast as you can to cross the finish line when you
dash.
That's right.
And here the person is dashing to the next base while the pitcher prepares his
fastball.
And "his fastball" means that he's going to be throwing this ball very fast to
80 miles an hour, probably.
That's right, a fastball.
That's especially fast.
There are other kinds of ways to pitch.
You might throw a curveball.
It might not be as fast, but it can be tricky for the batter.
So there are different ways to pitch.
And many pitchers like to pitch fastballs.
Well, stealing a base is not easy, but it might be worth running the risk.
I like this idiom here in this article especially because you do need to run in
baseball, and it's an idiom that really means to take a chance.
How else might you use that idiom, Carolyn?
Well, you can use it here that running a risk is a good thing.
But you might also say: Well, if I don't practice every day, I run the risk of
forgetting how to do it.
All right. You might run the risk of forgetting how to do something.
I know some baseball teams like to buy baseball players.
And they maybe have a contract for five or ten years.
When you do that, you run the risk of your baseball player getting older and not
being able to play as well, but you still have to pay them the money.
That's a risk that you might take.
You run that risk.
That's right.
Well, we have one more sentence here in this paragraph.
We face choices like this every day: stay safe or take a risk.
So many times throughout our day, we do find times when we have to make a
choice; and it might be a risky choice.
That's right.
So you face a choice.
You have a choice you need to make.
That's called facing a decision or facing a choice.
And the choice is stay safe or take a risk.
Well, which one would you prefer to do?
Which one are you more likely to do?
Carolyn, what about you?
Would you be more likely to stay safe or to take a risk?
Well, I am a very cautious person, so I'd like to stay safe.
But sometimes if there is a challenge in front of me, I take the risk and try to
do my best and see what happens.
All right.
That's good.
Sometimes it is good to take a risk.
I think if you have a business, you need to take risks.
Otherwise, you won't make more money.
Sometimes it is good to take a risk.
Even if bad things happen, other good things also might happen.
So it can be good to take a risk.
And especially in baseball, people steal bases.
That is taking a risk.
But it could earn you some points.
Right now it's time for us to continue learning with Steve and Ken in the
Information Cloud.
And then we'll go see Michelle in the Language Lab.
Hi, friends.
If you ever have a chance to go see a baseball game in the U.S., there's
something you have to do during the seventh inning.
That's right.
Immediately after the top of the seventh inning, you should stand up and sing:
Take me out to the ball game.
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack.
I don't care if I never get back.
OK, OK, I think they get it.
"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is the third most often-played song in America
after Star Spangled Banner and Happy Birthday to You.
It's a tradition in the U.S. to sing this song during the so-called
seventh-inning stretch.
Now that's when fans stretch their arms and legs and other muscles in the middle
of the seventh inning.
How did this tradition begin?
Legend has it that President William Howard Taft was at a baseball game once.
And after sitting there watching the game for six innings, he started feeling
sore.
So he stood up to stretch.
And upon seeing the President stand up, the rest of the spectators at the
ballpark felt obligated to join the President in his gestures.
And the tradition of the seventh-inning stretch was born.