节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-10-01
难易度:Low
关键字:harsh, untouched, cliff, explorer, spectacular, turmoil
Hi, everybody.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Thanks for joining us today.
My name is Steve.
Well, everyone, we're heading to Canada.
Now Canada has many, many islands.
It's hard to count them all because there are so many of them.
And actually, we don't know exactly how many there are.
One conservative estimate says there are at least 250,000 of them.
Now out of all of those Canadian islands, Studio Classroom carefully chose one
and made it this month's TRAVEL feature destination.
It's Cape Breton in the Eastern Canadian province of Nova Scotia.
So let's visit this special island known as Canada's "jewel of the east"
starting on page 12.
Nova Scotia's Cape Breton.
Discover Canada's "jewel of the east".
Wild, rugged, harsh, soft and beautiful!
All of these words describe one place - Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.
One of Canada's best-kept secrets is an island located off the northeastern
coast of Nova Scotia.
Locals display pride in their island and its one-of-the-kind culture.
And "untouched paradise" closely describes the natural beauty you'll find there.
A drive through the island's rolling hills leads to towering cliffs with
spectacular views.
At any point on the island you are never more than 30 minutes from the ocean.
Hello. Thank you for joining us, friends.
My name is Ryan.
And my name is Kaylah.
And today we are starting the month of October.
So friends, thank you so much for joining us.
We are starting this month with my favorite article.
And of course, that is the TRAVEL article.
That's right.
And this month we are traveling to Nova Scotia's Cape Breton.
OK, friends, "Nova Scotia" might sound like a strange pronunciation.
But that is a province in Eastern Canada.
Now Canada is divided by province, not state.
So keep that in mind as we talk about Nova Scotia's jewel of the east.
OK. Now a jewel is a very beautiful stone that is usually found on jewelry which
you wear, so.
This is a very beautiful place. Right, Kaylah?
That's right.
It's beautiful and precious.
But we have a whole list of adjectives to look at.
We start with "wild, rugged, harsh, soft and beautiful." Now these may seem
contradicting.
So let's look at some of their definitions.
OK, friends. Well, you probably know what "wild" means.
That means that people are not in control of it.
But it is also rugged.
Something that is rugged has a lot of different sharp parts or perhaps is not
very safe.
OK. And then this word "harsh." Harsh means it is unpleasant or unkind, or not
very necessary, maybe even cruel.
So when we talk about the land being harsh, we're not meaning the people of this
island are harsh but the land,
meaning it's very difficult to get over, some of it is... could be cruel if you
were trying to build a farm or trying to cross over it.
OK. Now Kaylah, of these words so far sound very dangerous: things that are
wild,
things that are rugged or bumpy or difficult to travel through and harsh, which
basically means pretty dangerous.
But this place is also soft and beautiful.
So it is a jewel that offers so many different things.
It says all these words describe one place - and that is Cape Breton, Nova
Scotia.
And it is an island on the eastern part of Nova Scotia.
And friends, if you look in your magazine on page 12 up there at the top, you
can see a picture of what the island looks like.
And behind it is a smaller picture of where it is located in Canada.
OK. Well, this is one of Canada's best-kept secrets.
And it is an island which is located off of the northeastern coast of Nova
Scotia.
OK. So it's off the northeastern coast.
So you might think it probably gets pretty cold.
But friends, we're going to look at this island and find out it has so much to
offer in all seasons.
Now locals display a lot of pride in their island and its one-of-a-kind culture.
OK. And of course, they would display a lot of pride, which means you are proud
of something and you want to share it with other people.
And Kaylah, this is still, though, one of their best-kept secrets, right?
That's right.
Even though they're proud of it, and they show how proud they are through
displaying it,
it is a good... it's a well-kept secret, which means a lot of people don't know
it's there.
That's why we're talking about it today.
Right. And it does have a one-of-a-kind culture.
And friends, we're going to learn a lot more about this phrase with Liz in
Grammar on the Go.
Hello, friends.
My name is Liz.
And it's time for Grammar on the Go.
I'm in Cape Breton today because that's what our article is about.
According to our writer:
Locals display pride in their island and its one-of-a-kind culture.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
Notice the phrase, one-of-a-kind.
It's an idiom that means unique.
And it is usually written without the hyphens in between.
However, when a phrase is used to describe the noun that comes after it, then we
put in hyphens between the words in the phrase.
So in the case of today's sentence, this idiom, "one-of-a-kind" appears before
the word culture.
This idiom describes "culture." And so there are hyphens in between the words in
the idiom.
OK. Let's have a look at some other example sentences.
Joseph is looking for a job that starts at nine in the morning and ends at five
in the afternoon. So we can say:
Joseph is looking for a nine-to-five job.
Or let's say there is a fashion designer who will be displaying a collection of
clothing that's ready to wear. So we can say:
The fashion designer's ready-to-wear clothing collection will be on display.
If you'd like to see some more example sentences, please check out today's
Grammar Tip section in your Studio Classroom magazine.
That's all the time we have for today.
This is Liz with Grammar on the Go, signing off, in Cape Breton.
Goodbye.
Well, that is not all that describes this place.
Our next sentence is "and," meaning "also," "untouched paradise" closely
describes the natural beauty you'll find here.
Now what does it mean to be an untouched paradise?
OK. Well, first of all, something that is "untouched" means that people have not
changed it.
It is still the same way it has always been.
And usually if something is untouched, it's very clean.
And we talked about "paradise" a couple months ago, meaning somewhere that is
beautiful and relaxing and somewhere you enjoy being.
OK. So this is a beautiful untouched place to visit.
All right.
And this is describing the beauty you'll find there.
And you can drive through this island's rolling hills, and that will lead you to
towering cliffs with spectacular views.
So we get to go through rolling hills, which means they are very small and very
gentle, all the way up to spectacular cliffs.
Now a towering cliff - a "cliff" is a very high rock that drops off very steep
on one side.
Now to be a towering cliff means they're extremely tall, which is why they offer
a spectacular view.
Yes. They are "spectacular," which means they're very exciting to look at.
Friends, at any point on this island you are never more than 30 minutes from the
ocean.
Now I think that sounds awesome.
I love being near water.
And being on an island where you're only 30 minutes from the ocean no matter
where you are is really a fun experience.
Well, we're going to talk more about Cape Breton.
But first, we need to visit Ken in the Chat Room.
Hey, Ken.
What are you reading today?
Oh, I'm reading about Pablo Picasso.
Hey, did you know that Picasso was one kind artist?
Are you sure?
I think I read somewhere that he was actually kind of a mean person.
How do we know he was a kind person?
I don't know.
That's what it says in this book.
Let me see.
Ken, I think you need to take a closer look at that sentence.
It says Picasso was truly a one-of-a-kind artist.
One-of-a-kind artist?
So it's not saying he was a kind artist?
No, it's not.
Hey, why don't we contact Studio Classroom Editor-in-Chief Doris and have her
explain what "one-of-a-kind" means.
OK.
When we use "kind" as a noun, it means a class or category.
So the phrase "of a kind" means of the same class or character.
If someone or something is one of a kind, then it's in a class of its own.
If we say Picasso was one-of-a-kind artist, that means he was a unique artist.
OK, I get it.
So a certain place can be a one-of-a-kind place?
Sure. A place might have a one-of-a-kind culture or a unique culture.
What about two of a kind?
Do people say that?
Sure.
If two persons or things are very similar, we can say they are two of a kind.
Let's say you and your friend are both into off-road bicycling, then I can say
you are two of a kind.
I see.
What about three or four of a kind?
Well, if you play poker, you will hear these expressions.
Three of a kind and four of a kind are both poker hands that refer to three or
four cards of the same rank.
I see.
Well, I know you are a one-of-a-kind librarian, Bryan.
I've never met any librarian who is as helpful as you are.
Thanks for the compliment, Ken.
But since I am also a responsible librarian, I'd better get back to work.
OK.