节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-02-14
难易度:Low
关键字:annually, predict, shadow, humility, groundhog, leap year
So far we've learned of three different kinds of holidays that occur within
February.
The first, of course, is Valentine's Day, probably the most popular and
well-known.
The second is National Chocolate Lover's Month which maybe a lot of people don't
know about.
And last there was Lunar New Year, which of course is popular in the East but is
celebrated around the world, also.
Let's continue to learn about what happens in February with the second reading
of this article.
February.
While Groundhog Day, February 2, would not count as an important holiday, people
enjoy the fun.
A groundhog or other furry creature predicts the coming of spring on this day.
If it sees its shadow, people can expect six more weeks of winter!
If it doesn't see its shadow, an early spring will come.
February's flower is the violet, which represents faithfulness and humility.
The amethyst, February's birthstone, represents sincerity.
Every four years there is a February 29, but February still remains the shortest
month.
School children learn this through an English rhyme:
30 days hath September,
April, June and November; all the rest have 31 excepting February alone,
which has 28 days clear and 29 in each Leap Year.
We're learning some interesting facts about February here.
The first one is about Groundhog Day.
Let's read that first sentence together.
While Groundhog Day, February 2, would not count as an important holiday, people
enjoy the fun.
That's right. It's not a huge holiday.
But what can we learn about Groundhog Day, Carolyn?
Well, it says a groundhog or other furry creature predicts the coming of spring
on this day.
So a groundhog is kind of like a giant squirrel that lives in the ground.
It's a member of the squirrel family.
But we see in this sentence a key word from our Word Bank, "predicts." And if
you predict something, then you think it will happen in the future.
Gabe, what can you predict?
What can I predict?
Well, I cannot predict the future, I can tell you that.
It's hard... it's hard to predict the future.
I know some people will try to say that they can predict the future.
Sometimes I like to predict what someone might say about something.
The more that Nathanael, Carolyn and I work together, we can kind of predict who
will speak next and what we might say.
For instance, I predict that Nathanael will talk next.
Nathanael, how do you use this word: predict?
Oh, what a good prediction, Gabe!
Well, I think that every day on the news someone predicts what the next day's
weather will be like.
All right, so this is someone that predicts the... the weather.
That's the weather forecast.
Well, we're learning about this groundhog, this furry creature related to the
squirrel.
Yes.
And we continue:
If it sees its shadow, people can expect six more weeks of winter!
But what if it doesn't see its shadow, Nathanael?
Well, if it doesn't see its shadow, an early spring will come.
So this is the way that it predicts what the weather will be like, or what the
season will be like following Groundhog's Day.
All right.
So we see a word there.
It's a very important word for Groundhog Day.
It is the word "shadow" right from our Word Bank.
Your shadow is, uh, well, it's that dark spot around you when the light from the
sun is on the other side.
There are shadows all over the place.
If you just look around where there's no light, there's probably a shadow from
an object.
How do you use that word, Carolyn?
Well, you could say, "I can't see my shadow! There's no light," if you're in a
dark room.
Or if there is light shining on a wall, you could make a shadow puppet with your
hand.
All right, a shadow puppet. Yeah, that sounds fun.
Um, this makes me think of another word: shade.
Nathanael, can you talk about the difference between shadow and shade?
Yes. Well, we talked about shadow being kind of a dark area where there isn't
light.
But a shade can be a different form of the color.
Maybe there's a darker blue and a lighter blue.
Those would be called different shades of blue.
Different shades of blue.
So you've got shadows and shade.
Of course, you might also rest in the shade of a tree, the... the tree's shadow.
It's a bigger shade, and it usually means, uh, something cool.
It's a little cooler than the rest outside.
Well, we're learning about Groundhog Day.
But we're also learning about February's flower, which is the violet.
Our article continues:
The violet represents faithfulness and humility.
Humility is also from our Word Bank.
Carolyn, can you talk about this word, please?
Well, if you have humility, it means that you are humble.
You don't brag about things that you can do.
You are very humble.
You're very humble.
No, no, no, you are, Carolyn.
You're very humble.
Oh, oh, well, thank you.
I guess I have a lot of humility.
Well, don't brag about it.
Whoa, whoa, whoa!
Whoa, whoa, whoa! Yeah, keep the humility.
No, it's true.
We sometimes joke about, uh, if someone has humility, they can...
they can say everything but they can't say, "I'm a humble person," because that
would mean they don't have humility.
However, humility is a good thing to have.
It's good to have faithfulness and humility.
Well, Nathanael, how does our article continue?
It continues by saying the amethyst, February's birthstone, represents
sincerity.
Now, if you have sincerity or if you are sincere, it means you're caring, you're
honest; you mean what you say, you do what you think is important.
Those are both parts of sincerity.
But this amethyst, this birthstone, I just found out that Carolyn is actually
wearing the amethyst today.
Yes.
The amethyst is a small purple-colored quartz of stone.
And I have one on my necklace here today.
Well, it's very nice.
It's a nice-looking amethyst necklace, Carolyn.
Looks like Carolyn is a person of sincerity and faithfulness and humility.
Well, let's continue.
Carolyn, actually, would you like to continue our article for us?
Sure. It says: Every four years there is a February 29, but February still
remains the shortest month.
Yes.
So despite the fact that February gets an extra day, it is still the shortest.
It still remains...
And let's look at that phrase: still remains the something.
What does that mean, Gabe?
Well, if something remains something, that means even after everything else is
considered, it's still this way.
For instance, I might say, "People come and go, but you remain my constant
friend." You're still my constant friend.
Is there another way you could use that word, Nathanael?
Well, there are other words connected to "remain." We might say "remainder." The
remainder is what's left over.
That's another form of this word. It's a noun.
All right.
And February still remains the shortest month.
Well, friends, we have a rhyme here.
School children learn this through an English rhyme.
And let's read this all together, OK?
Here we go.
30 days hath September,
April, June and November; all the rest have 31 excepting February alone,
which has 28 days clear and 29 in each Leap Year.
All right. That has some old English.
The word "hath" really means "has." And I think you can figure out the rest of
what this poem means.
Right now it's time for us to enjoy some time with Michelle in the Language Lab.
(Music).
OK. (Chinese).
And let's get back to our program.
Though we've talked about a lot of holidays already, there are actually some
other very important holidays in February for the United States.
What is one of those, Carolyn?
Well, Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday is in February, so the month is
remembered as Black History Month.
And also on the third Monday of every February we celebrate Presidents' Day, so
in this month that falls on February 20.
Those are some holidays that you might celebrate in the United States.
Yes, those are very important historical holidays for February.
Well, we hope that you enjoy February and have some holidays of your own.
We want to say goodbye and see you next time on Studio Classroom.
Goodbye!
Goodbye!