节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-11-05
难易度:Low
关键字:take something for granted, seasoning, sting, wipe, grease
Welcome back from the break.
The two English words, salary and salad, both have a connection with salt.
"Salary" was the money paid to Roman soldiers for the purchase of salt.
And the word "salad," which literally means salted, comes from the Roman
practice of salting leaf vegetables.
OK. Let's discuss the lesson's first use for salt under the heading: Bug
problems.
Surprising Uses for Salt.
Bug problems.
If you have trouble with ants, put a little salt on the ants' path.
This should prevent them from going any farther.
If you have been stung by a bee or other insect, wet the area.
Then cover it with salt.
This will relieve the pain.
Grease.
Always keep a box of salt near your stove.
If a grease fire starts in a pan, pour salt over it to put out the fire.
For easier cleaning, put a little salt into a greasy pan, and wipe it before you
wash it.
Well, we love to use salt in our food.
It's a great seasoning that makes our food taste so much better.
But it has so many other uses, and we're going to start our list with bug
problems.
Hmm. OK. This has nothing to do with food, friends.
Bugs are insects, little animals that crawl around and we usually don't like
them at all, things like cockroaches and ants.
They're usually really annoying and will cause problems.
So it kind of does connect to food because some... a lot of bugs or insects are
attracted, or come to your home because of food you have laying around.
Now if you have trouble with ants, you can put a little salt on the ants' path.
Ryan, what does it mean to have a path?
Well, a path is simply a line that something moves in.
So if you've ever seen ants the way they crawl, they all walk one behind the
other making a little line.
That is called their path.
Now I... when I see a little ant path in my kitchen, I like to sprinkle water on
it, but that actually doesn't get rid of them.
I need to try this salt tip because this should prevent them from going any
further.
They don't like salt.
Yeah. You might be surprised to find out that ants, when they... well, walk on
something that doesn't taste good to them, they won't walk on it again.
So if there's salt in the way, they don't like salt, so they won't go that way
anymore.
So just block them off and they won't go to your food.
That's right.
They won't go any farther.
And that means they won't continue to keep going in that line towards areas that
you don't want them in.
Now, what's our next one?
OK. Well, if you have been stung by a bee or another insect, then you can wet
the area.
That's right.
And then cover it with just a little salt.
There's our tip for salt to help you with a sting if you have been stung.
What does it mean to be stung?
OK. If you are "stung" by something, that means that you have been injured, that
area hurts because you touch something on that animal.
It touched your skin.
And maybe sometimes something sharp went into you and it maybe gave you a little
bit of poison and it would hurt.
That's right. A sting is when an insect or sometimes even a plant can have a
sting on it.
That's... you said that sharp point that hurts, maybe itches, kind of swells up.
Put some salt on that, and it will help.
And it will relieve some of that pain.
Yeah. So this is great.
A bee, as you know, has what's called a stinger on the back.
That's that sharp point.
And if it goes into you, then you get stung.
And it hurts, so cover it with salt.
And it will relieve the pain.
And to relieve means to help get rid of or to take away that pain.
Now Ryan, I have another tip for salt with bugs.
Ooh. OK, I want to hear yours.
OK. It's not listed in our article here, but there's a bug called a leech.
You get it in really muddy water sometimes.
And they attach to your skin and hold on and suck your blood.
And if you put salt on a leech, they will let go because it... they don't like
the salt either.
It hurts their skin, so they let go.
Oh, there you go.
So friends, if you ever have what's called a leech, a nasty, black-looking thing
that sucks your blood, just put some salt on it.
It'll let go right away.
It's an easy fix.
Salt can help solve your bug problems, but that's not where it stops.
It will also help with grease.
Oh, grease! All right.
Now "grease" is a substance that comes from animal or vegetable fat, and that is
softer than melting oil or the thick substance.
That's right.
So it's not just oil or lard, it's a little thinner.
Grease, if you cook with oil in a pan, and it splatters all over the counter,
that would be considered grease.
Yes. Anytime you cook meat in a pan and then you have all the liquid that's in
there, that liquid is called grease.
And it can cause a lot of cleaning problems later.
That's right.
And grease is actually flammable, which means it can catch on fire.
So always keep a box of salt near your stove.
OK, friends. A stove is what you use to cook with a fire on top and you put pots
and pans there.
And you use it a lot.
And so if a grease fire starts, then just pour salt into the pan and it will put
out the fire.
Friends, an important thing to remember, this is super important.
I know it sounds strange.
You think a fire, I put water on it, that'll get rid of it.
Not true!
With a grease fire with oil, you put water in it, the fire gets bigger.
So please keep a box of salt, and don't put water.
Save yourself.
Right. OK.
So here, Kaylah, if you put water on a grease fire, it'll actually get much
bigger; it'd be dangerous.
So you can't use water, what can you use?
Well, we see here you can use salt; you could also use flour or baking soda.
But salt is a great option because it's inexpensive and easy to find.
And once you're done and that fire is put out, you can use it to clean.
OK, just wipe it before you wash it.
And so if you "wipe" something, that means you slide something around, maybe a
cloth, in order to clean it up.
That's right.
If you got a greasy pan leftover, put a bit of salt in there.
As Ryan said, wipe that out, use the cloth to take the surface off.
And then it'll clean much easier.
Yeah. And then you can just wash it and use it again, no problem.
That's right.
Now friends, it's... we've got some more information, so let's go visit the
Information Station.
Today we learned about many unusual uses for salt.
Yes, we did.
And to learn more about just how valuable salt is, we need to go to...
Information Station.
(Music).
Hey Bill, what are you doing with that bottle?
This is called a saltshaker.
And I'm getting ready to pay Tango Bear.
Pay Tango Bear with salt?
You must be joking.
Salt isn't worth very much.
Maybe it isn't worth much now, but it used to be extremely precious.
The Roman soldiers were paid with salt.
In fact, the English word "salary" comes from the Latin word for: salt.
Wait a minute, Bill.
Some experts say that that's not really true, but it is probably true that the
soldiers used their salaries to buy salt.
Thank you for the correction, Bryan. Hmm.
Either way, salt and salary are closely related.
That's true.
But are you sure Tango still wants to be paid with salt instead of cash?
Oh, yes.
He requested the salt.
He told me he likes to put it on his fish.
Well, it looks like you are giving Tango enough salt for a few hundred fish.
I am.
That's because Tango is a hard worker.
He's really worth his salt.
Tango's worth his salt?
What are you talking about?
That's an idiom.
When someone is worth their salt, they are hard workers and they really deserve
their pay.
Well, that makes sense.
Tango is really worth the money... or the salt, we pay him.
Salt traders in Ethiopia gather salt from huge salt mines.
They used to make blocks of salt as money.
Yes.
Well, on his travels, Marco Polo discovered small cakes of salt stamped with the
image of the Grand Khan.
They were salt coins.
Well, guess what?
I think I have run out of salt.
Oh, wow! Well, I'm sure Tango Bear will still get his fair pay anyway.
And hey, we'll see you all next time here at...
Information Station.
(Music).
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
Well, it's time to wind it up.
I'll see you tomorrow.
Bye-bye.
Thank you, Michelle.
Friends, I'm pretty sure everyone of you keeps some salt in the kitchen.
But do you keep salt anywhere else in the house?
Our TIPS feature suggests that maybe you should.
For example, it might be a good idea to keep some salt in the bathroom medicine
cabinet.
Friends, let me suggest you check the Internet for some English idioms related
to salt.
They are a great way to spice up your English.
Then join us again tomorrow for more surprising uses for salt.
Have a great day.