节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-10-30
难易度:Medium
关键字:architecture, arguably, commision, armor, ornate, vampire
OK, everybody.
Welcome back from the break.
We are looking at six castles from around the world that amaze and inspire.
Our first castle, Germany's Neuschwanstein, was incredibly not designed by an
architect.
The man who thought it up was, in fact, a designer of sets and backdrops for
theatrical performances.
Now let's learn more about magical Neuschwanstein Castle on Line 8.
Cool Castles.
King Ludwig II of Bavaria commissioned the ornate palace in the late 1800s, but
he died before it was completed.
It was opened to the public a few weeks later, and nearly 60 million have
visited since.
Bran Castle, Romania.
Have you heard of Bram Stoker's Dracula?
This 13th-century castle has been called an ideal setting for the famous novel.
But there are no vampires here - the castle is now a museum.
In it you can find art and furniture collected by Queen Marie of Romania, and
weapons and armor from the 14th to 19th centuries.
(Music).
Friends, we are discussing the very exciting architectural design of castles.
Now we talked about a special castle in Germany called the Neuschwanstein
Castle.
That is well-known and famous because it was the inspiration for the Disneyland
Sleeping Beauty Castle.
OK. It's a beautiful castle.
And now let's learn a little bit of how this castle got to be.
Let's learn a little bit of its history.
OK. So it didn't just come from Disney; it's not actually for Sleeping Beauty.
It's from King Ludwig II of Bavaria.
Now he commissioned the ornate palace in the late 1800s.
So let's find out what that means first.
What does it mean to "commission" something?
OK. If something is "commissioned," that means that it is set aside for people
to design or work on or do.
And so this job he gave to some people to create the castle.
That's right. He formally chooses someone to create a piece of work.
So to commission means it doesn't just go out for anybody to design, but you
formally pick one or two people to do the project.
OK. And it is a very "ornate" castle as you can see in the picture.
It has a lot of very intricate, or small, and beautiful decorations.
That's what the word "ornate" means.
Yeah. And intricate, another word for that is "complicated" because it's not...
it's not just really big designs, they're small.
They're... they're special, they're beautiful.
That's what makes this castle so important.
But Ryan, there's a sad part to the story.
That's true. He ended up dying before the castle was completed.
So he never got to see the finished product.
Ah, man! He commissioned the castle because he wanted somewhere beautiful to
invite people to have parties in, and he died before it was finished.
Yeah. It's kind of sad.
But shortly after that time, the castle was opened up to the public just a few
weeks later.
OK. So he died just before it became usable.
And since he was no longer around, there was no real need for the castle.
It was opened to the public, meaning that it wasn't just for the king and his
friends now, but for everyone to come see.
And now since then, nearly 60 million people have visited.
OK, friends. This is a place you can go visit too.
And if you like, tell your friends that you've been to the "real" Disney castle.
I think that's exciting.
It sounds like fun to me.
Well, there are plenty more castles to talk about, so let's move on to the next
one called the Bran Castle in Romania.
Now Romania is a country that is in the southern part of Europe, more towards
the eastern side.
We often think of Europe... as being the western countries like France and
Germany.
Now Romania is further east.
It goes right next to those Slavic countries.
So the... it's got a very special and unique culture.
It's actually where my grandfather is from.
So I'm pretty familiar with this culture and excited to talk about this castle.
OK. Well, I know that not only are you familiar with Romania, Kaylah, but you
are also familiar with Bram Stoker's Dracula, right?
Ooh, I love that book!
It's one of my favorites.
Friends, if you ever get the chance to read Dracula, this is the 13th-century
castle that the whole book was written off of.
And now I love it because it's the original place we meet some of those best
literature monsters.
OK. Dracula is a novel, which is a certain kind of book that includes a long
story, and it has since been written into movies and plays.
That's right.
Now Dracula is set in a castle for about the first half of the book or so.
And it's not that the book was written off of this castle but the way the castle
- where it is, what it looks like - is said to be an ideal,
meaning a really good option for the setting of this novel.
And it's true because this castle, just like in the novel, is built on the side
of a... near a cliff wall.
And that creates a really cool energy to it.
Yeah. Now I remember the castle from that book as being a little bit scary and
dark but also very beautiful.
That's right.
Now the reason it might be scary or dark is because, of course, Dracula is the
world's first vampire.
Now he is not a vampire like we see in "Twilight" these days.
He is way better than that.
He's the original and the best.
So make sure you read Dracula.
All right.
Now a "vampire" is a person who has died, and then comes back to life and likes
to eat the blood of other people.
But they're not real; they don't really exist.
That's right.
There are no vampires here.
This castle is now a museum.
Now there's no vampires there because vampires aren't real.
So don't freak yourself out thinking about it.
This castle is actually a museum.
OK. In this museum you can find art and furniture that is collected by the Queen
Mary of Romania... or Queen Marie of Romania.
That's right, Queen Marie of Romania.
So she has been collecting different pieces to put in this museum.
And it's great because, you know, sometimes Ryan, we go to a museum, it's just a
building with a bunch of old stuff in it.
But what's exciting about this one is that not only there's cool, old armor
stuff,
it's also the building is really interesting because the building itself is an
antique and very worthy of being in a museum if you could put a building in it.
Yeah, definitely.
So you can find things like art that the Queen collected, but also like Kaylah
said,
you can find old weapons and "armor," which is something that you wear to
protect yourself, from the 14th to the 19th centuries.
That's right.
We know that weapons are what you fight with.
And as Ryan said, "armor" is what you wear as protection.
So a helmet, shield, that big piece of metal on your chest, those are what
protect you.
And you can view them from 14th to the 19th centuries.
Friends, these castles are interesting, they are beautiful, they are cool.
And join us tomorrow as we keep talking about a lot more.
But now let's go to the Chat Room.
Well, Ken, if you and your wife aren't doing anything tonight, I'd like to
invite you to a jazz concert here at the library.
It's free and open to the public.
Yes?
What?
Open to the public what?
Oh no, Ken.
It's open to the public.
"Public" here is a noun, not an adjective.
And I should stress that it's the public, which is another term for the
community or simply society.
So I can talk about the American public or the Japanese society?
Well, you got the first part right with "public," but you don't need to add
"the" to society.
It would just be: Japanese society.
OK, got it.
I've read a lot about things that happen "in public." Does that mean they happen
in the middle of a big crowd?
Well, not necessarily, although you have the right idea.
If you do something or say something in public, you do it openly in front of
people, and possibly even reporters.
In other words, you are not trying to hide anything.
That's right.
A similar phrase is: to go public with something.
But in this case, it usually involves revealing information to the public that
was previously hidden.
I think I've read about some businesses going public.
Is that what you mean?
No, Ken.
That's something entirely different.
Let me give you some examples.
A company might go public with information related to the pollution it caused.
I see.
They would be admitting their mistake to the public.
That's right.
For the other usage you mentioned, "going public" describes what happens when
companies first get listed on the stock market - becoming public companies.
Oh, that's completely different.
Thanks for clearing that up for me.
And I'll ask my wife about that concert.
Good. Maybe I'll see you there.
(Chinese).
(Chinese).
And that's it for today's Language Tips.
Don't forget to come back tomorrow for more.
Thank you, Michelle.
Incidentally, Bran Castle is now owned and operated by Queen Marie's grandson,
Archduke Dominick.
OK, friends.
There are many reasons to visit our Studio Classroom website.
One of them is the Quick Bites feature.
These short videos offer a summary of each lesson as well as some extra
information from our magazine editor.
Check them out.
They're a good way to review, and they're a good way to increase your listening
comprehension.
OK. Let's come back tomorrow for four more amazing castles.
Until then, have a great Tuesday.