节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-11-03
难易度:Low
关键字:balance, university, community center, afford
Hi, friends.
Thanks for joining us here today at Studio Classroom Worldwide.
My name is Steve.
Now sword fighting has always been romanticized in movies and books, but few
know how hard it really is to master.
As is true with other sports, fencing requires as much mental as it does
physical discipline.
Yes, good fencers train their bodies to be strong and fast to use powerful yet
efficient movements,
but they also train their minds to think quickly and stay focused.
Now let's continue learning about this somewhat obscure but very exciting sport,
fencing, down on the right side of page 15.
Grab Your Sword!
Fencing has come a long way in the last few hundred years.
Even today the sport continues to change and develop.
Wheelchairs fencing, for example, has become a popular sport at the Paralympics.
In general, fencing requires good footwork and balance.
Since fencers in wheelchairs have limited movement, they need to have excellent
sword skills.
As a result, wheelchair fencing's swordfights are very fast and exciting.
(Music).
Hi, friends.
Thank you for joining us.
My name is Ryan.
And my name is Kaylah.
And today we're back looking at the fast, exciting sport of fencing.
Now we learned that fencing has three different styles.
Ryan, what are those?
OK. We looked at the foil, the epee and the sabre.
And we talked very quickly about the differences between those, Kaylah.
Let's recap.
What is the foil like?
Well, the foil requires a lot of defensive skills, a lot of protecting yourself.
And then the epee uses very good timing and control of the sword.
As we said, "You... it requires a lot of speed," so that's where timing comes
in.
Absolutely. And the sabre acquires a lot of strength.
You have to hit with a lot of force.
Now fencing has come a long way in the last few hundred years.
This is a very true statement, and we're going to look at where it's gone.
But first, that's our Grammar on the Go, so let's visit Liz.
Hi there, friends.
Greetings from Lisbon, Portugal.
My name is Liz.
And it's time for Grammar on the Go.
I'm in front of the sculpture.
And you can see that swords were a big part of the culture back then, and
swordfights were common.
We've learned from today's article:
Fencing has come a long way in the last two hundred years.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
Now today our focus is on the phrase: to come a long way.
Normally, a long way means a long distance, like:
The hotel was a long way from downtown.
But in the case of today's sentence, to come a long way is an idiom that means
to make a lot of progress or improvement.
So today's sentence just means in the last two hundred years, fencing has gone
through a lot of changes to become the kind of sport it is today.
This idiom is usually used to praise someone or something for having gone
through a lot of changes and is now much better than ever before.
For example:
Since the 19th century, women's rights have come a long way.
Or: The health care system has come a long way for the people living in the
mountain villages.
Now friends, if you have a copy of this month's magazine with you, be sure to
check out today's Grammar Tip section for more example sentences.
That's it for today.
This is Liz with Grammar on the Go, signing off, in Lisbon.
See you next time.
OK. So fencing has changed a lot over the last few hundred years.
That's right.
It has come a long way.
But even today the sport continues to change and develop.
So it was changing over time, but it still is changing.
We're still adding and developing it.
Yeah. I like that word "develop." If something develops, that means it grows and
it changes into something that is better or newer.
That's right.
And it's developing into different areas.
You might think, "Oh, it's just fencing. It was used as an activity to defend
your truth." But now it's even more.
The sport hasn't just stopped.
It continues to add rules and new areas and categories to compete in.
Yeah, new ways to play.
In fact, friends, we have an example for you.
Wheelchair fencing has become a popular sport at the Paralympics.
Remember those?
OK. Now first let's look at Paralympics.
We learned about them in July this year.
We talked about them as an Olympic sport for people that have certain
disabilities.
That's right.
And so in order for people who do not have legs or can not walk to play fencing,
they need to use a wheelchair.
And a wheelchair is simply a chair that has wheels that is designed for you to
be able to move around.
Now this is incredible to think about fencing from a chair because, in general,
fencing requires good footwork and balance.
Ah. Now this is what is really important in fencing.
Two things: footwork...
First of all, footwork is the way that you move your feet in order to stay up
bright and, well, balanced, and we'll talk about that in a second.
Now friends, if you've ever seen fencing, you will see it's done on a straight
line.
It consists of moving back and forth, and you have to stay with your partner in
a specific way.
Now footwork is one of the hardest parts of fencing, requires a lot of practice.
And if you have time, friends, I suggest maybe visiting YouTube to see just how
incredible their feet move.
Now Kaylah, somewhere else I can think of where footwork is important is
dancing.
You need to know how to move your feet in order to, well, keep in time and stay
balanced.
That's right.
Now balance is part of dancing, but is a huge part of fencing.
To "balance" means you are able to keep equal weight and force on your two feet.
In other words, you don't fall down.
OK, so this is a requirement for fencing.
But since fencers in wheelchairs have limited movement, they need to have
excellent sword skills.
That's right.
So we said footwork, if you're in a wheelchair, you're not going to be using
much footwork, and balance will be a bit easier because you are sitting down.
So when you're competing as a wheelchair fencer, you have to have incredible,
excellent sword fighting skills.
Yeah, you... if we use the words "sword" and "skills," that means you're good
with using a sword.
And of course you need to have that because you are limited, which means you
don't have everything you need in order to move.
Now because of this, or we use this phrase "as a result" meaning because of a
situation,
the wheelchair fencing's swordfights are very fast and exciting.
Now if you watch standing fencing, it can be very exciting as well, Ryan.
But it is a lot more about the way their whole body moves.
So... but that's different in a wheelchair fighting.
Right. Well, this is how we see they're different is usually in fencing, you
have to have good footwork and move very well and balance.
But wheelchair fencing, it's all about the swords.
And so their swords are flying all over the place trying to hit each other.
That's right.
It has to be very fast, very precise, very careful because these are very long
pieces of metal and you don't want to hurt anybody.
So it would be very exciting to watch.
And I think I might just go find a way to watch it.
OK. Well, we're going to learn more about fencing and ways you can enjoy fencing
as soon as we're done watching the skit.
No, I'm right.
No.
And you're wrong.
No, no. I am right and you are wrong.
I know how to settle this.
Grab your sword.
Are you serious?
You want to settle a disagreement with... with a swordfight?
We will fight to the death.
No, we will not.
Gentlemen once used sword fighting as a way to settle disagreements.
Yes.
But not anymore.
No? What happened?
Well, over time, sword fighting became a modern sport called fencing.
Whoa. Sword fighting is a sport?
Yes. It's fast, safe and exciting.
Safe? That doesn't sound exciting.
Ah, but it is.
There are three types of fighting.
Three types?
Each named after the kind of sword used.
Three kinds?
Three swords.
Yes. Each event requires strength and speed.
Strength and speed, yes.
I got that.
Each has its own rules and traditions and style of fighting.
Footwork and balance.
Yes.
The foil requires strong defensive skills.
Ah, like this?
The epee uses good timing and sword control.
Like this?
And the sabre is aggressive and requires both speed and strength.
Ah, like this!
(Background Noise).
Whatever happened to the old-fashioned sword fighting?
Well, fortunately, it's come a longway.