节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-04-26
难易度:Low
关键字:exhaust, greeting, marathon, landmark


























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11:48





















If you're just joining us in the first part of our lesson today, we learned
about a runner who ran from the city of Marathon to Athens,
which was just a little over 42,000 meters.
And he yelled, "Greetings, we win!" There was a war or a battle, and the Greeks
won.
And so that distance between Marathon and Athens gave us the distance for our
modern-day marathons.
Well, we're going to learn a little bit more about these great races in the
second part of our reading today.
The Greatest Races.
The first marathon held in 1896, was a selection race for the first modern
Olympics.
It had about a dozen runners.
But more races, including the Olympic marathon, soon followed.
The next year, the first annual marathon was run in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Today about 800 marathons take place in cities every year.
Location, location, location.
Running a marathon is extremely difficult.
But some runners can enjoy the sights as they go.
Marathons in Paris and London take runners past these famous cities' most
impressive landmarks.
It would be very interesting to run through these different cities.
Well, we see at the beginning of this reading:
The first marathon held in 1896, was a selection race for the first modern
Olympics.
So this was a special race.
We hadn't really started having marathons as competitions.
It was a selection race for the Olympics.
That's right, a selection race.
And when you select something, that means you are choosing something.
So maybe they were choosing who would be the first Olympic runners.
We find that it had about a dozen runners.
So about 12 runners were in this selection race.
So not very many people were participating in marathons at this time.
But then we continue to see:
But more races, including the Olympic marathon, soon followed.
So there were many more marathons to occur later.
And the Olympics even now has a marathon event.
That's right.
Well, we continue.
The next year, the first annual marathon was run in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
So in 1896 was that selection race.
And the next year, 1897, was the first marathon, or the first annual marathon.
That means that's the first time it started happening on a yearly basis.
That's right.
And today about 800 marathons take place in cities every year.
So we went from having just one marathon as a selection race for the Olympics to
having about 800 marathons a year.
That is a lot.
So that means there are many places in the world that you can go and participate
in a marathon.
Or if you don't want to participate, you can go and stand on the sidelines and
take pictures and cheer your friends on while they run their marathons.
That's right.
It is a lot of fun to go to a marathon and to watch just as someone who enjoys
watching a race.
It is a very great time.
Well, let's go to the next section.
It has three words that are all the same: Location, location, location.
Running a marathon is extremely difficult.
Whoa. Yeah, that's easy to believe. Right, Carolyn?
I think so.
It is very easy to believe that running a marathon is difficult.
It takes a lot of training and practice.
That's right.
But we continue.
But some runners can enjoy the sights as they go.
The sights... Uh, what are we talking about here, Carolyn?
Well, those would be things that you can see while you're running.
"The sights as you go," it means that you are able to look at things while you
are running this race.
And it's a pretty long race, so you should be able to see a lot of things.
Well, I hope so.
Actually, that's one of the nicest things about not running around a track.
If you're actually running outside in nature or through a city, there are many
things to see.
There are many sights.
That's right.
And in our article we see:
Marathons in Paris and London take runners past these famous cities' most
impressive landmarks.
So if you participate in a marathon in London or Paris, or maybe some other
cities, you will get to run past some of their very impressive landmarks.
And a landmark is a word that we want to talk about today.
If something is a landmark, what does that mean, Gabe?
Well, a landmark is something that most people recognize or it is noticeable.
It's a noticeable place on... in a place or like on a map.
So there are some very big landmarks.
Like in Paris, I can imagine one of the most famous landmarks is the Eiffel
Tower.
What's another famous landmark that you might see in one of these cities,
Carolyn?
Well, I know that if you come to Taipei, you would see Taipei 101.
It is a very famous landmark here.
But landmarks can also be part of nature.
If you go to the Grand Canyon, that is also a very famous landmark.
That's right.
You don't have to just talk about landmarks as being something big and famous.
Maybe you're trying to give directions to one of your friends to get to your
house.
And there is a more noticeable place in your neighborhood.
Oh, you need to turn left at the post office.
Everyone knows where the post office is.
That is a landmark in our neighborhood.
That's right.
So there are many different kinds of landmarks.
And if you run a marathon in a big city like Paris or London,
you should be able to see some of their very, very famous landmarks that many
tourists want to visit.
All right.
Well, it's time for us right now to visit a review skit... or have fun with a
review skit.
And then we'll see Michelle in the Language Lab.
Oh. You look exhausted.
I am. I'm getting ready to run a marathon.
A marathon? Well, what is that?
A marathon is a... very long race.
Exactly how long is a marathon?
It's 42,195 meters.
Wow! That is long.
But why is it 42,195 meters?
Well, it all started about 490 B.C.
A man was running to deliver a message.
Oh, like a messenger?
Yes. He was running to Athens, Greece, from a town called Marathon.
Oh. So how far did he have to run?
He ran 42,195 meters.
Oh, so that's where the name marathon comes from?
Yes, the name and the distance.
Oh. So what news did the messenger bring?
Well, he brought news of a battle.
He raced into Athens and shouted.
Well, what did he shout?
What was the message?
Greetings! We win!
Wow! That was good news.
Yes.
But then he fell down, dead.
Oh. Well, that's bad news.
Yes.
Hey, did that really happen?
Well, the story may or may not be true.
However, because of it, people run the distance between Marathon and Athens.
Oh, 42,195 meters.
That's right.
And it's called a marathon.
Wow! A marathon.
That's interesting.
And... exhausting.
(Chinese).
OK. Get ready to learn more from our teachers.
Today we've learned a little bit about the history of the marathon and how it
got its name.
We've also talked a little bit about places that you can run marathons through
big cities and some of the impressive landmarks you might see.
And I wonder: Would you want to run a marathon?
What do you think, Gabe?
Would you be interested in running a marathon?
Well, yeah. That does interest me.
I think I would have to prepare well for it by exercising months in advance.
But let me tell you, I do like the kind of marathon that Steve and Ken were
talking about in the Information Cloud.
Maybe like a movie marathon where I watch many movies back to back.
That sounds a little more appealing to me, Carolyn.
Well, that is a different kind of marathon.
And if you want to run a marathon in one of these races,
you should definitely take time to train and make sure that your body is able to
handle running such a long distance.
Well, we have a lot more to learn about marathons tomorrow in the rest of our
lesson.
So we'll see you then.