节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-10-17
难易度:Low
关键字:big deal, attempt, gym, achievement, rock face, free soloing, straight-A
Welcome back, everybody.
Now in most sports, if you make a mistake, you get a foul.
Or at the very worst, you get kicked out of the game.
But no worries, right?
You can always go back the next day and play again.
The sport of free solo rock climbing is a little different.
If you make a mistake while climbing, even one small mistake, it's game over,
and I mean forever.
Let's read now about how Alex Honnold got his start climbing under the heading A
natural interest.
Alex Honnold - Rock Climber.
A natural interest.
Honnold grew up in California around a climbing culture and started climbing at
10.
He would go to a climbing gym six days a week for three hours a day.
Honnold was a straight-A student in school.
But climbing was his main interest, and free soloing quickly became his favorite
style.
Since those early days, the 27-year-old has made over a thousand climbs.
He is considered by many to be the best climber in the world.
Experienced climber John Long says over half of the well-known free solo
climbers are dead.
According to him, Honnold's greatest achievement is that he's still alive!
Welcome back, friends.
Friends, we do not recommend that you do any kind of free soloing or climbing on
steep cliffs without any kind of safety equipment.
But right now we are looking at Alex Honnold and how he has been climbing...
free soloing for a long time.
And now we'll get to see some of what got him started doing it.
That's right.
So only one percent of climbers attempt it.
We do not recommend that you attempt this, but you can learn from his
experiences.
Now this is a natural interest.
That's the beginning our next section.
Why would this be a natural interest?
Well, something that is natural means that it just happens because of nature,
not because you try to make it happen.
So here in this case, that means it just kind of happened.
He had an interest from the time he was young.
That's right.
Now this... in this case, because it is a human we're talking about,
it means... they just kind of grew up in an area where this would make sense for
them to enjoy,
not it necessary has to do with the nature, though Alex Honnold does spend a lot
of time in nature doing his free soloing.
OK. So he grew up around in California around a climbing culture, and he started
climbing at the age of 10.
Now a climbing culture then would be the climbing community.
So if you know climbers, they do all get together and they go on the same trips
and adventures.
So he grew up around people that did this, so it made sense for him to start
practicing rock climbing when he was just ten years old.
Yeah. He would join them and spend time with them.
And oftentimes climbers don't just go to a mountain, they would go to a place
called a climbing gym.
And so he would join them there six days a week for three hours a day.
Now "gym" is short for "gymnasium" in this situation.
And that refers to a large room for working out or exercise.
And it's usually there to help you increase your strength and your health.
Now climbing is definitely an exercise,
definitely going to increase your strength because you're pulling your entire
body weight with just your hands and pushing off with your toes.
Yeah, especially when he's spending that much time there almost every day of the
week.
Now you might just think then that Alex was just a student who climbed and
didn't really study, he wasn't really a good student.
Well, you might be surprised to find out then that he was a straight-A student
in school.
Wow! He was climbing 18 hours a week, which is a part-time job amount of time,
and still getting straight As.
Now "straight-As," when you get an A in school, that means you got the highest
category of grades available, so definitely up in the 90s out of 100.
And he was straight-A.
Uh huh. If you're straight-A, that means you consistently have very good grades
or you almost always have A grades in your classes.
And that's in all of your classes.
Now I know I got As in English, but I didn't ever get As in math.
He was straight-A, which meant in all of this classes, all the time he got As.
OK, so he was a very good student.
And it takes time to be a good student.
So he was investing time in climbing, and he was investing time in school.
But climbing was his main interest.
That's right, his main interest.
Interest is something that you like to do and what you find interesting.
It's what you like to put time and effort into.
To be the main means the most important.
So this was his most important activity.
Yeah, what he enjoyed the most and what he did the most.
And even though he liked climbing, free soloing became his favorite style.
Now as I said earlier, there's another style that we call bouldering.
There are different styles of climbing that's using different equipment, going
on different kinds of trails or different paths of rocks.
Some you go very high and straight up, some you go under, some you go around.
So this is his style.
Yeah, the certain kind.
Now since he was young, since those early days, he is now 27 years old and he
has made over one thousand climbs.
That's right.
That's a lot of climbs.
Even though he's... he's just young, he's only 27, this is a lot of climbs to
have done.
In fact, he is considered by many to be the best climber in the world!
Well, I certainly hope so, friends.
Just looking at a picture of him holding on to the side of a mountain, that is a
long way down.
If he isn't the best climber in the world, I'd be afraid for his life.
I'm afraid for his life!
I was going to about to say that.
I was going to say I'm a little afraid for him even if he is the best climber.
This is incredible, what he does.
Well, even experienced climber, this man named John Long, says that over half of
the well-known free solo climbers, well, are dead.
OK, friends. Again, make no mistake, this is not a safe activity.
It is very dangerous.
So he says he knows half of the solo climbers... or at least half of the ones he
knows have not survived.
And according to him, Honnold's greatest achievement is that he' is still alive.
Now an "achievement" is something that is very good and difficult to do, but you
have succeeded in it.
Now most would think that your best achievement in rock climbing would be a huge
mountain.
But since he does free soloing so dangerous, his greatest achievement is he's
alive.
OK, friends, join us tomorrow as we learn how Alex Honnold actually does it.
For now, though, let's go to the Chat Room.
Hey, Ken.
Yesterday my wife and I went out to dinner with some friends of ours from
college.
That sounds like fun.
How was it?
It was great.
I hadn't seen them for years, so it was nice to catch up on what they've been
doing.
After dinner, they came back to our house, and we played games and told stories.
It was great.
And we learned about the good old days.
The good old days? When was that?
Well, the good old days can be any good time in the past.
In this case, I meant the time when we were in college together.
I see.
So are the good old days the same as a golden age?
Good question, Ken.
Let's ask Studio Classroom's Editor-in-Chief Doris and see what she has to say
about these idioms.
The idioms "good old days" and "golden age" both refer to good times, but they
are used differently.
"The good old days" always describes a period in the past, what the speaker has
pleasant memories of.
"Golden age" means the time of great success and achievement, but it can be in
the past, present or future.
For example, one might say that a certain century was a golden age of painting,
or that current times are a golden age for technology.
I see.
So it sounds like you really enjoyed yourself in college.
Yes, I did.
I had several very close friends there who did almost everything together.
When we graduated, we all tried to keep in touch.
We met fairly often during those early days, but now we rarely see each other.
That's too bad.
So by early days, you mean right after you graduated?
Yes. Early days or early years means a time period when something was just
beginning.
In this case, it's the beginning of our lives after college.
I see. Well, I'm glad you had such a good time with your friends yesterday.
Maybe now you can see each other more often.
I hope so, Ken.
I'll try to see them again soon.
(Chinese).
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
And time really flies.
Don't forget to come back tomorrow for more Language Tips.
Thank you, Michelle.
In an interview, Alex Honnold said that as thrilling as free solo climbing is,
he doesn't do it for the adrenaline rush.
In other words, he doesn't do it for the thrill.
In fact, if he does start to feel adrenaline pumping through his body, he said,
"That would be an indication that something is terribly wrong." Hmm.
For Alex Honnold to make it to the top, his climbs need to be slow and
controlled, meaning his mind needs to be every bit as trained as his body.
Friends, please join us tomorrow when we learn more about this man who climbs
thousands of feet above the earth... without a rope - Alex Honnold.
Friends, until then, take care.