节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-11-01
难易度:Medium
关键字:blast, assign, intelligence, cashew, chrysanthemum, veteran, take the cake

Hi, friends. Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Thanks for joining us today.
My name is Steve.
Well, a new month is upon us.
And to help kick things off, we're going to do something we normally don't do,
and that is focus on the month itself.
Now let's be honest.
Unless we have a birthday or an anniversary in November, it's not really one of
our favorite months, is it?
But as we'll soon discover, there are things about November that are fun and
worth celebrating.
So let's dive into our lesson on page 12, and learn about the eleventh month - a
month full of surprises.
November.
The eleventh month is full of surprises.
November doesn't usually top the list of people's favorite months.
Falling between harvest and winter, November is often associated with gray days
and blasts of cold wind.
But despite its poor reputation, November is a very interesting month.
For instance, the month's name comes from the Latin word "novem" meaning nine.
That's because November was once the ninth month in the Roman calendar.
In the early 20th century, a flower was assigned to each month.
Each flower was chosen according to when it blooms.
The meanings of each flower come from old stories about the flower.
Hello, friends, thank you so much for joining us right here in the studio.
My name is Kaylah, and Happy November!
That's right.
It's November, friends.
My name is Ryan.
And now today we get to talk about this month that's really full of a lot of
surprises.
That's right.
November is the eleventh month in the calendar, and it's full of surprises.
So we're going to look at some of the things you might not know about the month
of November.
All right.
Well, November usually doesn't top the list of people's favorite months.
I know. November isn't actually my favorite month of the year.
But what does it mean if it tops the list?
Now to top the list means when you are creating a list, you put it at the very
beginning.
So you consider it like the top of the page, which should mean it's probably one
of the best on your list.
So November is probably not your favorite month.
It's probably not at the very top.
I know it's not my favorite month.
I prefer spring, or maybe a little earlier in the fall when the weather is nice
and cool and it's beautiful outside.
There are lots of colors.
I like that.
So what month would you actually choose to be your favorite?
That's a hard choice.
I guess it depends on where I'm living.
If I'm in America, it's probably different than if I am in Taiwan.
In Taiwan, it would definitely be October.
But in America, maybe, I don't know, April?
April. OK.
Well, I didn't know that your favorite would change depending on where you live.
But if you like the weather during a certain month, that would actually be a
good reason.
In the case of November, it falls between harvest and winter.
What does that mean?
Now, to fall between does not actually mean it's dropping.
That means that's where it is.
It is located between the harvest time, which is when we take the crops and
bring them in.
It's thought to be very beautiful because the... the leaves change colors.
And the next comes winter.
But November's kind of between the two.
Exactly.
It falls between those.
And so if... uh... if harvest, you know, the leaves are colorful and beautiful;
winter, it's very cold.
Well, November is in the middle when it is associated with gray days and blasts
of cold air.
OK. Now gray days is when the sky's not very beautiful.
But we have this word, a "blast" of cold air.
Now a blast is a sudden, strong blowing wind.
So if you've ever been out and all of a sudden this huge blowing wind comes in,
it just... goes straight through you and it's so cold, you would consider that a
blast of wind.
Right.
Blasts are very strong and very fast.
And so if it's very windy and very cold, that means it would be a very strong
blast of wind.
And November is associated with that.
That means when you think of November, you often think of really cold wind.
OK. So this is not a very good thing.
So despite its poor reputation...
Now reputation is what people think of you or of something.
Now despite it not having a good one, November is still a very interesting
month.
That's right.
There is a lot of wonderful things that happen in November.
For instance, that means "for example," the month's name comes from the Latin
word "novem" meaning nine.
OK, that doesn't make sense.
Novem, nine?
This is the eleventh month.
Well, the reason is because November was once the ninth month in the Roman
calendar.
... In Roman, they would've spoken Latin.
So that's why it would come from the Latin word.
That's right.
Originally, their calendar began in a different month, so that meant November
was the ninth month in the calendar.
Well, now in the early 20th century, a flower was actually assigned to each
month.
OK. So we're looking at different interesting things.
One is the name comes from somewhere very interesting.
Next, let's look at the flower assigned to it.
Now, to be assigned to something means to be given... or given a part of
something, so it's to be put with another piece.
Exactly.
So here each flower was given for each month, and each month had a flower.
Each of those flowers was chosen according to when the flower blooms or opens.
Now not just because they're blooming as a flower special but each flower has a
meaning.
And the meaning of each flower comes from old stories told about that flower.
So what makes the November flower so special?
Well, it's going to be those stories that give it a very special meaning.
Now friends, do you know what flower that is?
I'm not sure you do.
We'll look at it after we visit the Chat Room.
Are you OK, Bryan?
No, not really.
I have a really bad toothache.
How did that happen?
I'm not sure, but it must be a cavity.
Going to the dentist tops my to-do list right now.
Tops your to-do list?
Did you use "top" as a verb?
Yes, I did.
To top something means to be at the top of it.
So if something tops the list, it's at the top of a list.
Oh, so it's like a priority.
That's right.
Something at the top of a to-do list has top priority.
And for me, the number one priority now is visiting the dentist.
Hey, speaking of priority, I've never seen priority seats here in the US when I
take the bus.
But in Taiwan, there are priority seats on buses and the metro.
Priority seats?
What are you talking about?
You know, seats that are reserved for the disabled, the elderly, and pregnant
women.
Oh, we call that priority seating, but that's mainly reserved for disabled
people.
It's not for the elderly or pregnant women?
Ken, if I saw a pregnant woman on the bus, I would get up and offer my seat to
her.
It's common courtesy.
I don't think you need to reserve a special priority seat just for her.
What about the elderly?
I don't know about the seniors in Taiwan, Ken.
But in America, most senior citizens are pretty independent and don't like to
admit that they're too old to be entitled to a special seat.
Hmm, interesting.
So I don't need to give up my seat to an old person on the metro?
Ken, it is always a good idea to give up your seat to someone in need.
But just keep in mind the person you call old may not see himself as old and may
just turn down your offer.
I see.
Well, thanks for the tips and take care of that tooth.
I will. Ah.