节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-03-22
难易度:Medium
关键字:obstacle, illustrate, graceful, prominently, octagonal, pavilion
Well, we've been learning all about bridges.
And earlier today we learned about a bridge in Iran called the Khaju Bridge over
the Zayandeh River.
And we found out that this bridge illustrates the different roles that bridges
can play.
There is an art gallery on this bridge in an octagonal pavilion, so an
eight-sided building almost.
There's an art gallery there.
It sounds like quite a sight, something that you might want to visit.
Well, it's time for us to get started with the second reading for today.
(Music).
Amazing Bridges.
Bridges in language and culture.
Bridges also play a role in the English language.
We warn people not to cross a bridge until they come to it and not to burn their
bridges.
The past becomes water under the bridge.
Culturally, bridges are a symbol of change.
They feature in songs like "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and movies like the
Bridge on the River Kwai.
They also feature prominently in stories from around the world.
From transportation to culture, bridges play important roles in our daily lives.
In this section, you see that we're not talking about actual bridges that you
can cross exactly in this section,
but other kinds of bridges - bridges in language and culture.
So let's start this section.
It says, "Bridges also play a role in the English language," as we see here.
And the next sentence is very interesting because it has a lot of different
expressions that you might not have heard before.
Can you start this sentence, Carolyn?
Certainly.
We see: We warn people not to cross a bridge until they come to it and not to
burn their bridges.
So here we have two great bridge-related phrases.
The first one is not to cross a bridge until they come to it.
And we do want to talk about this phrase.
Gabe, can you explain what this means?
Well, if you don't cross a bridge until you come to it, that means maybe you
have many things you are going to decide about.
And maybe some things in the future that you need to decide, but if you worry
about it now, that's not a good thing.
Don't cross that bridge until you come to it.
You can decide on it in the future.
Don't cross the bridge right now.
Cross the bridge when you come to it.
That's right.
So when you actually face that problem or that situation, then you can deal with
it.
Don't waste time worrying about it now.
And the second one in there was not to burn their bridges.
Nathanael, what does this phrase mean?
Well, don't think about it literally, but think about it maybe mostly in terms
of relationships.
You don't want to ruin relationships or burn the bridge between two people.
You want to make sure that you're still on good terms, that your relationship is
still good even when you... maybe you have to say goodbye.
Or there's a lot of different cases when you could use it.
What might be a situation, Gabe?
Well, I have to say that I have burned my bridges in the past with people that
used to be friends.
And I hurt them; I accidentally burned my bridges.
And we don't have a good relationship now.
Have you burned your bridges?
Well, I hope not.
You want to try to maintain good relationships.
Well, you can go back, get in touch with somebody, and there are no hurt
feelings.
Everything is good.
Don't burn your bridges.
But Carolyn, what's the third idiom that we see here?
Yes, there is a third one.
We see that the past becomes water under the bridge.
And if water is going under the bridge, it's not the same water.
It continues to flow.
And it's different water, and it goes far, far away, so.
This is a really great phrase.
And Nathanael, could you use this phrase for us?
Oh, sure. Of course.
It means that something has already happened, it's already passed.
So maybe you did something bad to me in the past or something that I didn't
appreciate, and I was mad then.
But now it's water under the bridge.
It's over.
I've forgiven you.
And we're OK now.
That's right.
So maybe you feel like you burned bridges, but the other person is forgiving.
They might say it's water under the bridge.
It's kind of the opposite of that first idiom, cross a bridge when you come to
it.
You're worried about something in the future.
But here we can learn that you don't have to worry about something in the past.
It's water under the bridge.
Well, we continue in our lesson, it says:
Culturally, bridges are a symbol of change.
And how do we continue, Nathanael?
Well, they feature in songs like "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and movies like
the Bridge on the River Kwai.
Both of these are very famous things in, at least, American culture.
But I think that many English speakers know of this song and this movie.
Do you know this song, Carolyn?
I do know this song.
It's very well-known.
Like a bridge over troubled water... Yeah, so it's... it's a very nice song.
And we see that bridges in our article also feature prominently in stories from
around the world.
So not just songs and movies, but also stories.
And there is the key word here, "prominently" from our Word Bank.
And if something is prominent, then it is very important.
It is a key point.
Gabe, can you tell us more about "prominent"?
Well, yes.
You just used this word as adverb and as an adjective.
Usually I use the word as an adjective, prominent.
He's a prominent person on his campus.
A lot of people like him.
They need him, they listen to him.
He's a prominent person, prominent figure.
Um, or you could also talk about a prominent person in history, like an
important president or a leader of a country, a prominent person in history.
How could you use that word, Nathanael?
I was thinking if you tell someone directions to go somewhere, you might say
something like:
Oh, you won't have any trouble finding it.
It's a very prominent building.
It sticks out.
It's easy to see.
OK, moving on.
Next sentence says: From transportation to culture, bridges play important roles
in our daily lives.
And a lot of different roles, too.
And now it's time to see a review skit, after which, we'll talk to Michelle in
the Language Lab.
Wow! Bridges are really amazing.
Yeah. They come in many shapes and sizes.
Some are simple.
Some are architectural wonders.
Bridges are also an important part of our transportation system.
Right.
And in addition to spanning obstacles, bridges play other roles.
Yeah. They play a role in the English language.
Right.
Huh? They do?
Sure.
Sometimes people say: Cross that bridge when you come to it.
Oh, yeah.
That means you can deal with the situation later when it comes up.
That's right.
Sometimes people warn others not to burn their bridges.
Oh. When you're crossing a bridge to something new like a new job, don't ruin
those old relationships.
Hmm, that's good advice.
You may need to cross back over the bridge someday.
Yeah. Oh, and how about the phrase "water under the bridge"?
Oh. Once the water passes under a bridge, it's gone.
That's just like things that happened in the past.
They're like water under the bridge.
They're gone.
So culturally, bridges are a symbol of change.
That's right.
And they feature in songs, too.
Oh, yeah.
London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down.
And like a bridge over troubled water, I will lay me down.
Hey, and don't forget Bridge over the River Kwai.
Yeah! Hey, let's do that one.
(Music).
Hey, wait for me.
OK.
(Chinese).
And keep watching as our lesson continues.
We talked a lot about a lot of different kinds of bridges today that do very
different things.
So which one do you think was the most impressive or the most interesting,
Carolyn?
Well, I really like the Magdeburg Bridge in Germany where it's a bridge that
doesn't have cars on it, but a bridge that has water on it for boats to travel.
I think it's a very interesting idea to have a river over a river.
That does sound really cool, kind of an optical illusion like this little pen
trick that I did yesterday.
How very exciting.
I also think about the Khaju Bridge I would like to visit because I think it
will be fun to visit Iran as well and see what else they offer there.
It does look like quite an interesting sight, too.
What bridge did you find most interesting?
You can think about that.
We hope you enjoyed this article.
And come back and see us next time on Studio Classroom.
Bye-bye.