节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2013-01-07
难易度:High
关键字:hemisphere, hibernate, gemstone, in a nutshell, garnet, pomegranate
Hey, hey, hey.
Welcome the Studio Classroom.
My name is Gabe.
I'm Teacher Carolyn.
And I'm Nathanael.
And we're glad you could join us for today.
Our lesson is called January.
Yes, of course, we're in the month of January.
We see something here at the very beginning.
If you open your magazine, there is a sentence.
Shakespeare wrote in The Winter's Tale "that blast of January would blow you
through and through." Well, I like Shakespeare.
And I know that my friends here like Shakespeare.
What is Shakespeare known for, Nathanael?
Well, of course, Shakespearean is known for writing plays.
He has a lot of great plays; some of them are very sad, but some of them are
quite funny too.
They are.
I can think of Romeo and Juliet; most people know about Romeo and Juliet.
What comes to mind when you think of Shakespeare, Carolyn?
Well, I also think of Hamlet is another great play that he wrote, but also kind
of sad one.
It's a pretty sad one.
He wrote plays.
He wrote some poetry, lots of different things.
Well, we have this quote from him, it's about January.
And today's lesson is all about January, special things in January.
So without any further ado, let's get into the reading for today.
(Music).
January.
Shakespeare wrote in The Winter's Tale "that blast of January would blow you
through and through".
J - Japanese New Year, Shogatsu, is celebrated from January 1 to 3.
During Japan's most important holiday, businesses close and families gather
together.
A - American National Pie Day is celebrated on January 23!
Around since the ancient Egyptians, pies evolved over the centuries into the
dessert Americans eat today.
In fact, pies have become so American that the expression "as American as apple
pie" can be widely heard.
N - The northern hemisphere experiences its coldest time of year.
Ice and snow cover the land in many places, and blizzards turn the air white.
Many animals sleep day and night, hibernating until spring.
In contrast, the southern hemisphere experiences its warmest time.
Well, we see here in our lesson something called an acrostic.
You can see that the letters of the word "January" are the beginning of
sentences.
So "J" is Japanese New Year.
"A" is American National Pie.
"N" - the northern hemisphere.
These letters make up an acrostic.
This is kind of a literary device or a tool that people can use to help you
remember something.
And just for fun, I came up with an acrostic for Carolyn's name.
Are you ready, Carolyn?
I am ready.
I really want to know what you came up with for my name.
OK. So Carolyn's name is spelled C-A-R-O-L-Y-N.
Here is my acrostic. OK.
Caring,
Awesome,
Really Octopus-Loving,
Yes, I'm cool,
Now.
How did... how did you like that, Carolyn?
That... that was a pretty interesting acrostic, Gabe.
And actually, I have one for you too.
Oh, cool!
Yes! OK. So here... here's your name, Gabe.
Gabe is spelled G-A-B-E.
So his is...
Gentleman,
Agreeable,
Blessed,
and Energetic.
Oh. That's so sweet.
That was really nice, Carolyn.
I like your acrostic.
And um, I hope you like that I put "Octopus-Loving" in there because I know you
like animals.
I do! And actually, I really like octopus, so.
That's very appropriate.
Awesome! Cool!
Awesome caring, awesome Carolyn.
Excellent.
And of course, Nathanael, we can come up with an acrostic for you as well.
What do you think?
I think my name is maybe a little bit long for an acrostic right now.
That's OK.
We'll think of one.
So "January," you can use this word to make an acrostic.
We found out Japanese New Year, Shogatsu, is celebrated from January 1 through
3.
And during Japan's most important holiday, businesses close and families get
together.
Now Nathanael, do you know anything about Shogatsu?
I really don't know much about this holiday.
I've only been to Japan's airports.
I'd never really been in the country, so I don't know anything about their New
Year.
OK. So they have a pretty unique New Year.
Actually, I don't know much about it either.
Carolyn, have you been to Japan to celebrate Shogatsu?
Well, I have been to Japan, but it was in the summer.
So I missed Japanese New Year at the beginning of January.
But it sounds like a really great holiday to celebrate in Japan.
Well, I say we find some time at New Year's to go to Japan and celebrate
Shogatsu.
That way, we can know more about this.
Well, we have another letter here.
What is the next letter here, Nathanael?
Well, of course, it is "A," the second letter of January.
And what the line says is: American National Pie Day is celebrated on January
23.
OK. January 23, American National... wait.
American National Pie?
Well, that sounds great, and it sounds delicious.
We find: Around since the ancient Egyptians, pies evolved over the centuries
into the dessert Americans eat today.
Well, I want to talk about that word "evolve." When I think about the word
"evolve," sometimes I think about evolution,
which is the science that teaches that we came from other creatures like monkeys
and things like that.
But how does this word "evolve" differ from the word "evolution," Carolyn?
Well, here "evolve" means to change from one thing to another over a slow
process.
And "evolution" is more the science of how to evolve.
And here we're talking about pie, not animals.
That's right.
So it is a little bit different.
And we see, of course, you can use this word "evolve" in different ways.
Um, a pie can evolve - so it used to look one way but now it's made in a
different way.
Um, I think of computers.
Computers have evolved since they were first invented.
The Apple computer used to look a lot different before then it does now.
It has evolved.
What else evolves?
Of course, we do think about the times changing.
The times can evolve and history being very different for each part of time in
history that we have experienced.
OK, so things evolve.
And we continue on.
In fact, pies have become so American that the expression "as American as apple
pie" can be widely heard.
I think right now it's time for us to enjoy some time with Steve and Ken in the
Info Cloud.
Hey, guys.
Hi, teachers.
Ken, what do you think of when you hear the word "America"?
America... Hmm, I think of baseball.
I know you're a big fan of Major League Baseball.
And baseball is indeed a symbol of American culture.
In fact, if you'd like to describe something that's typically American, you can
say that it is as American as baseball.
Or as American as apple pie!
Hmm, apple pie.
Yes, apple pie is American.
It's also a very popular phrase - as American as apple pie.
Even though apple pies come from Europe, and the pies aren't as popular in
America as they once were,
but apple pie is probably the earliest symbol of American culture.
This phrase comes into existence in the 1920s and 30s, and really took off in
the early 40s during World War II.
Of course, there are many other things that represent American culture.
Hot dog is one.
And Chevrolet, which is an American automaker.
Yes! The Chevrolet Corvette is one of my favorite cars.
And you can't get any more American than that.
You know, Ken, that car makes me proud to be an American.
I bet it does.
(Chinese).
Thanks, Steve and Ken.
I love those guys. OK.
The third letter of January is "N," which stands for the northern hemisphere
experiences its coldest time of year.
OK. Here's a word: hemisphere.
We need to talk about this word "hemisphere." Northern hemisphere, there're also
southern hemispheres, western, eastern.
Carolyn, what exactly does this "hemisphere" mean?
Well, hemisphere, the first part of the word is "hemi." "Hemi-" means half.
And "sphere" means part of a circle like a circular object, like a ball.
So "hemisphere" means half of a sphere or half of a 3-D circle.
OK. So this, of course, is talking about the top half of the world.
And going on in this letter we see: Ice and snow cover the land in many places
in the northern hemisphere, and blizzards turn the air white.
Gabe, have you ever seen a blizzard before?
Uh, not really, I've never been in a blizzard.
That seems kind of scary.
It's a snowstorm.
I haven't been in a blizzard yet... maybe one day.
We find out something else about the northern hemisphere.
Many animals sleep day and night, hibernating until spring.
We see another key word here: hibernate.
Some animals hibernate.
And what does that mean, Carolyn?
Hibernate means that you sleep for a... a long period of time, so.
Some animals that hibernate are bears.
And they sleep for up to six months in the winter.
OK. So animals like bears can hibernate.
But can humans hibernate, Nathanael?
I don't think so.
Usually we just sleep a few hours at a time, though I think I've had some
roommates who seem like they hibernate.
They're always sleeping.
Yes. Some people seem like they are hibernating.
We find: In contrast, the southern hemisphere experiences its warmest time.
And there's that phrase: in contrast.
That means you're comparing one thing to another.
You could use this sentence like this:
Yesterday's weather was great.
In contrast, today it's really rainy.
How else could you use this phrase?
Well, I could say that my hair is blonde, and my eyes are blue.
In contrast, my sister's hair is brown and her eyes are green.
All right, in contrast.
Well, right now it's time for us to spend some time with Michelle.
I think she's waiting for us in the Language Lab.
Let's all say Hello to Michelle.
Hello, Michelle!
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.