节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-03-05
难易度:Low
关键字:snorkel, shallow, urge, eventually, Frisbee, kite surfing, fin
We're joining Ian Ludwig and his experiences in the exotic place of Zanzibar.
And of course, earlier today we were talking about his times on the beach.
They went to a couple of different beaches.
They snorkeled, they played Frisbee.
They enjoyed some seafood.
They swam, they read and they danced to African music.
They're having a lot of fun so far.
Let's continue and find out what the second part of our reading is for today.
(Music).
Zanzibar.
Very early on the morning of the fifth day, we journeyed to the island's
southern tip.
There we met a fisherman, who, when he saw us, said, "Are you ready to swim with
dolphins?" Dolphins!
He told us the dolphins came every morning to eat and play.
So we rode out and waited in the boat until we saw a dolphin fin.
The fisherman drove the boat near the dolphins and urged us to jump in.
So we did!
The dolphins were shy, but we could hear them talking to each other.
Eventually they swam closer.
One came so close I could have touched it!
(Music).
Well, they're doing some very exciting things on this vacation.
We're going talk about them now.
The first sentence of this part of the article says:
Very early on the morning of the fifth day, we journeyed to the island's
southern tip.
OK. So they're going to a particular part of the island to do something new, do
something new there.
Let's see.
What... what do they say first about what they're going to do there, Carolyn?
Well, we see: There we met a fisherman, who, when he saw us, said: Are you ready
to swim with dolphins?
So that's a bit of a long sentence with a lot of commas just trying to explain
the situation to you.
But are you ready to swim with dolphins?
Now Gabe, have you ever swum with dolphins?
No, I've not swum with dolphins.
I've seen dolphins play up close before in the ocean, but I would love to get
the chance to swim with dolphins.
And Ian says, "Dolphins!" He's excited about this, too, "dolphins" with an
exclamation mark.
If you're excited about something, maybe you could just write that one word and
put an exclamation mark behind it.
"Dolphins!" That does sound exciting.
That's right.
He says that for emphasis.
It's his response to what the fisherman said.
And then he continues, "He told us the dolphins came every morning to eat and
play." So the fisherman sees them a lot.
Continuing on, what does it say, Carolyn?
It says: So we rode out and waited in the boat until we saw a dolphin fin.
so it wasn't immediate, not right away that they were able to see the dolphins.
They had to wait a little bit until they saw the dolphin's fin.
That's the part that sticks up out of the water on the dolphin's back.
So what happened next, Gabe?
Well, yes, they saw the dolphin fin.
The fisherman drove the boat near the dolphins.
And I want just to talk about that word "fin" for a minute.
If you see a fin in the water, it's not necessarily a good thing.
When I usually think of a fin, I think of shark fin because sharks also have
that thing on their backs sticking up.
And maybe you've seen some movies where there's a shark fin along the top of the
water, and it's coming towards the person.
That's kind of scary.
Nathanael, would you rather see a dolphin fin or a shark fin?
Well, depending where I was, I might choose one or the other.
It might be interesting to see a shark fin at a zoo or a place like that.
But if I was in the water, I definitely would want to see a dolphin fin. OK.
So this sentence: The fishermen drove the boat near the dolphins and urged us to
jump in.
Urged us to jump in.
What does it mean to urge someone to do something?
Well, we're going to talk about this word "urged" because that is a Word Bank
word today.
To urge someone to do something, what does that mean, Carolyn?
Well, if you urge someone to do something, then you tell them to do something,
you really want them to do it.
And you might urge your friend to continue.
Don't give up.
If they're in a race, you can cheer them on and urge them to finish the race.
How else might you use this word, Gabe?
Well, maybe someone is sick, and they're not taking their medicine like they
should, you could urge your friend to take their medicine.
It's something that they need to do.
I urge you to sleep and to rest well.
Drink plenty of water.
You must do these things.
Actually, if someone starts a sentence with "you must do something," you can
also say that person is urging you to do something.
OK, great examples.
And now there's also another phrase right after "urged" that we want to talk
about: jump in.
Urged us to jump in.
That's a bonus phrase for us today that we want to look at.
"Jump in" can be taken literally, as in this case when they're actually jumping
into the water.
But we can also use it in a more general way, can't we?
Yes. So if you jump into something, then maybe you weren't expecting to do it or
you didn't really prepare for it.
And here I think it could be either meaning because they didn't know they were
going to swim with dolphins.
So they jumped into this experience.
That's right.
How else can you use this, Gabe?
Well, I do think about Ian and his friends.
It seems like they just jumped into the culture there at Zanzibar.
They jumped into this adventure.
They didn't maybe know much about it before, but they just jumped in and got
going.
Yes, you just get started.
When you jump in, sometimes we just say to another person, "Just jump in." It
may seem scary now.
But once you get started, it will be fine.
So what did they do?
Well, the article says: So we did.
They jumped in.
And now we get to enjoy another video about Zanzibar today.
Let's take a look.
(Music).
Well, it's good to be actually able to see what they were doing there in
Zanzibar.
It's pretty fun.
OK. The next sentence of the article says:
The dolphins were shy, but we could hear them talking to each other.
That's... that's an interesting idea.
I think you might have heard these kind of squeaking noises of dolphins talking
to each other before.
Would you please continue, Gabe?
Of course.
Eventually they swam closer.
The dolphins seemed shy at first, but over time they swam closer.
Let's take a look at that Word Bank word: eventually.
This means it will happen sometime in the future.
Eventually this will happen.
Carolyn, how could you use that word?
Well, I need to get some groceries, but I don't really have a lot of time.
Eventually I will go to the store and buy them.
All right.
Eventually I'll go to the store.
Some people say I don't want to get married now, but eventually I will get
married.
Sometime in the future I will be married.
How might you use that word, Nathanael?
Well, eventually I would like to visit Europe.
I've never been there before, but I will eventually.
The last sentence of this section says:
One came so close I could have touched it.
To be that close to a dolphin that you could almost touch it, that's a cool
experience.
And now let's go to talk to Michelle one more time in the Language Lab.
OK.
(Chinese).
Now I'll get the time back to our teachers.
Well, today we saw that Ian and his friends interacted with some dolphins.
So we're going to talk a little bit about some exotic animals that we have
played with or interacted with in some way.
I know that I've fed some bananas to elephants before in Thailand.
And they would bow to me when I fed them.
What have you done, Carolyn, with animals like this?
Well, I don't know if it's a very exotic animal for everyone, but West Virginia
has a lot of deer.
So growing up, it was very easy if you were walking through the woods to come
across a baby deer.
And they're very shy.
But many times you could feed them or even pet them.
Well, one exotic animal that I got to hold actually was a koala.
When I was filming for Let's Talk in English a couple of years ago, I held a
koala.
And it's true what they say koalas are often sleeping.
They just seem like a very sleepy creature.
OK. Well, we have more to talk about regarding Zanzibar tomorrow.
So please come back.
There's more experiences that Ian had.
We'll see you next time on Studio Classroom.
Goodbye.
Bye-bye.