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
Welcome back, everybody.
A paradox, P-A-R-A-D-O-X, is something like a contradiction.
A good example of a paradox is Cape Breton Island.
Now our author describes it as both rugged and soft.
It's harsh, but at the same time, it's beautiful.
OK. Cape Breton is in Nova Scotia, which means New Scotland.
Let's find out how this area got its name under the heading "History and
influences" on line 12.
Nova Scotia's Cape Breton.
History and influences.
Many believe that explorer John Cabot landed on the island in 1497 and claimed
it for England.
Sometime later, people from Ireland, France and a few from Scotland arrived and
made their homes there.
During a time of turmoil in Scotland in the 1800s, many more Scots moved to Cape
Breton.
Their influence can still be seen today, especially in Cape Breton's culture and
music.
Friends, we are talking about Cape Breton in Nova Scotia and how it is an island
that is full of untouched natural beauty.
We know that there are cliffs, and we know that you are always surrounded by
ocean that is no more than 30 minutes away.
That's right.
This island is not very big if you can get to the ocean in 30 minutes.
Now we're going to... we talked about the beautiful landscape, what makes it a
jewel, but what also makes it a jewel is its history and influences.
The culture is very special.
OK. So obviously the history, we're going to see the story of this island, and
we're talking about influences.
What are we... what does that mean, Kaylah?
We're talking about what has been on this island, who came to this island to
make it what it is today, how have they influenced the culture of this place.
OK. Well, let's start with the history.
Many believe that explorer John Cabot landed on the island in 1497 and claimed
it for England.
Now John Cabot was an explorer.
To be an "explorer," that means you are someone who travels to a place where no
one has ever been before to find out what is there.
An explorer is a very exciting job.
Now in the 1400s, there were lots of explorers traveling from Europe to the
Americas trying to find what was there.
You might remember one of the most famous as Christopher Columbus.
Now he... this is John Cabot.
He went further north and something, he is the first to find the small island
off of Nova Scotia.
Yes. And when he landed there, he claimed it for England.
And if you claim something, you say it belongs to you or someone else.
And that's what an explorer was doing.
They... at this time in history, they were going to find a new place, figure out
what was there and claim it so that their country could own it.
OK. Well, so he found this island, he claimed it.
And then sometime later, people from Ireland, France and a few from Scotland
arrived and made their homes there.
So even though it is said to be owned by the English, it had a lot of different
influences.
The Scottish, the Irish and the French, all came in and made their homes there.
They decided to live and to bring part of their culture.
So there's a lot going on on this very small island.
Yeah. A lot of those countries from Europe, lot of people from those countries
started traveling and lived there.
And in that time, there was a time of turmoil.
Now "turmoil" means a very confusing, hard to understand, lots of problems,
nothing's in order, usually someone is in trouble.
This is a time of turmoil.
Now this turmoil was happening in Scotland in 1800s, so many moved... many more
Scots moved to Cape Breton.
So even though it was discovered in the 1400s, lots of different people came
over during that time, once again in the 1800s, more Scots came.
Yeah, because if there's turmoil, you usually don't want to be in it.
It's something that's confusing and maybe scary.
So they all said: Let's get out of Scotland. Let's go to Cape Breton.
That's right. We see this word "Scots." You can also refer to someone from
Scotland as being Scottish.
But to call them "Scots" is also a correct way of referring to them.
Yeah. Instead of having to say Scottish people, we call them Scots.
Now, now that a lot of them moved over to this island in the 1800s, you can see
their influence even today.
That's right.
And their influence, we said, is what they brought to the island, what their
impact has been.
So you can imagine that the culture here is very unique because especially in
Cape Breton's culture and music is how we see these different countries,
these different peoples coming together and blending.
Yes. So now we've talked about the history.
Now friends, we're finally starting to talk about the influence, which we see is
coming from Europe, but mostly Scotland.
Now friends, when you look at European culture, often it is easy to look at the
Great Britain area,
that United Kingdom area as being very similar to each other in culture.
And the... the Irish and the Scottish accents may be hard to understand the
differences as a language learner.
But friends, their cultures are very different, and very special and unique.
So it's really special that they come together in one place.
OK. Well, we see now this culture in Cape Breton has been influenced by the
Scottish people,
especially in Cape Breton's culture and music, which we're going to learn a lot
more about tomorrow.
That's right, friends.
We're going to look at some interesting music and culture that is now taking
place in Cape Breton, what has been saved there.
But first, we want you to see what this place looks like.
So we're going to watch a video of these images.
Hope you enjoy them.
(Music).
(Chinese).
And that's it for today.
I'll see you tomorrow.
Bye-bye.
Thank you, Michelle.
Land and agricultural problems led wealthy Scottish landowners to kick poor
Scottish farmers off of their land.
As a result, thousands and thousands of Scottish people having nowhere else to
live sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to live in Cape Breton.
Two hundred years later, the people of Cape Breton carry on the traditions their
forefathers brought with them from the old country.
And we'll look at some of those tomorrow.
Friends, until then, I and everyone else here at Studio Classroom hope you have
a great day.