节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-10-31
难易度:Medium
关键字:fort, estate, architectural, defense, artillery, Court of France, decor
Hi, friends.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Thanks for joining us today.
My name is Steve.
In this month's HISTORY feature, we're looking at some of the most amazing and
inspiring castles in the world.
Now there's a reason why most of the castles in this lesson are located in
Europe.
It's because Europe has a lot of castles.
In fact, history tells us that there were between 75 and 100,000 castles built
in Europe alone.
OK. Our next European castle sits on a site once ruled by the ancient Romans and
then the Arabs.
Let's read about the Segovia Castle in Spain on page 51.
Cool Castles.
Segovia Castle, Spain.
Its shape makes this castle unusual.
It's built like a giant boat with two rivers flowing around it, joining at its
"bow." Built in 1120 as a fort,
it has served as a prison, Royal Artillery College and museum.
Chateau de Versailles, France.
This estate was "upgraded" to a castle in the 1600s when it became home to the
Court of France.
Fans of French history will love seeing the magnificent decor that represents
the French kingdom at its greatest.
(Music).
Hello, friends.
Thank you so much for joining us right here in the studio.
My name is Kaylah.
My name is Ryan.
Friends, we're back and we're talking about beautiful and cool castles.
Now I'm enjoying this trip because, friends, it's like we're traveling around
the world to different places.
We made our first stop in Germany to see the castle that you would recognize as
the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's castle.
And then we made our way across and south into Europe to go visit Romania and
the Bran Castle, which is very closely related to the Dracula novel.
Yes, it looks similar to what you might imagine that castle would be like.
Well, now we're moving back across Europe again to Spain.
This is now the Segovia Castle.
Segovia Castle in Spain.
Now friends, you can see pictures of all of these castles in your magazine.
Right now we're on page 51 at Segovia, Spain, so it's on the top half.
That picture is what we're looking at.
OK. Now take a look at this picture, friends.
This castle's shape makes it unusual.
Take a look.
It does make it a little unusual.
Yeah. It is built like a giant boat with two rivers flowing around it.
Oh, that is cool-looking.
Friends, you've got to look in your magazine to see this.
OK. Well, take a look at there.
You see there are rivers going around the castle.
It looks similar to the way a boat would look.
And those rivers join on once they get to the other side at the "bow" of the
boat.
OK. So we say the "bow." That's not bow, that's bow.
Ryan, what's a bow?
Well, the bow is referring to what you say is the front of the boat.
And so that's what sticks up out of the water, and that's where the water
breaks.
So friends, look at it.
You can see these two rivers connect right at the front of the castle, which
would be the "bow" of the boat shape.
And it creates a really cool image, a really cool idea of its... the castle's
kind of floating in the river.
Yeah. It looks like it's just kind of... maybe the river's going down and it's
going up the river.
Really cool-looking.
That's awesome.
What a cool design.
Now this was actually built in 1120.
That's a strange year to talk about because of how old that means it is,
friends.
Now it was built as a fort.
OK. Now a "fort" is a building that is designed to protect a city.
Maybe a lot of soldiers would live there.
And they would have all of their weapons and they would try to protect from
other people attacking them.
Now Ryan, as a kid, I know I used to build forts.
Did you ever build forts?
Oh, yeah. Kids build forts all the time.
But they're not the same thing.
No, of course not.
But kids often try to protect themselves with things like pillows and blankets.
And so they use the same word to describe those little "buildings" that they
build.
OK. So originally it was a fort.
And then it has served as a prison.
Now we know that's where you put people who have broken the law.
So this building has been a part of... kind of feels like government and
military.
Yeah. And of course it was also a Royal Artillery College and a museum.
Now "artillery" is referring to the weapons that are very large that usually
have wheels.
And it takes a lot of men to move them around, things like cannons.
OK. It also refers to the men who do that.
So, but they're not putting men in this but it's the men who would attend
college.
So this served as a place to go to school and has been a museum.
What an interesting building in Spain.
It is very unusual, isn't it?
It has an unusual shape and has had many unusual purposes.
That's right, so.
OK, we're... we're traveling in Europe.
We went Germany, Romania over to Spain.
And now we're going back up just one country to France.
All right.
Next is the Chateau de Versailles in France.
This estate was "upgraded" to a castle in the 1600s.
Ooh, so upgraded.
Now it has the name "chateau," so would have been classified first as that,
which is a very nice home, very rich, very large home.
It's a French word.
But it was upgraded to being called a castle in the 1600s.
OK. Of course, it is an estate.
And friends, an estate is a very large area in... on a land that is designed
usually for a larger organization or for a very beautiful or big purpose.
That's right.
"Estates" are usually part of family.
So it's building lots of land and all the buildings on that.
Now estates are owned by very rich people.
Yes. And so now upgraded, it's now a castle, which is even better than an
estate.
Uh... when it became one... uh, when it was the home of the Court of France.
That's right.
It got this name while it was the home for the "Court of France." That is the
court where they would try different uh, jurisdiction.
They had jurisdiction over all different kinds of things.
So it was really just a court house.
Yeah. Now friends, are you a fan of French history?
Well, then you'll love seeing the magnificent decor that represents the French
kingdom at its greatest.
Now "decor" refers to the decoration, the objects in the room, the way the
building and rooms all float together.
So friends, if you get to visit Versailles, enjoy the decor.
We have a couple more castles to look at.
But right now we need to visit the Chat Room.
Well, it looks like you found another good book there, Ken.
Yes, I sure did.
You know, I'm reading this book about ships.
And I just learned that the front of a boat is called the bow.
Oh, I'm afraid you're pronouncing it wrong, Ken.
But look! See, right here.
It's spelled B-O-W, bow.
Well, you are right about the spelling.
But the front of a ship is pronounced "bow." The O-W here is pronounced the same
as in: now.
Bow? But I was assuming it was "bow" like bow tie because I know that bow is a
verb like "bow" before the king.
That's a good instinct, Ken.
It is hard to remember the difference between words like bow and bow, which are
homonyms.
So other than bow as the front of a boat, are there any other nouns also spelled
B-O-W?
Sure. Like you said earlier, there is bow, like a bow tie.
And there's also bow as in bow and arrow.
I've always wanted to shoot arrows with a bow.
Have you ever tried that?
I have, Ken.
And let me tell you, it's quite hard to learn.
But I do enjoy trying to hit the targets.
And the sport that uses bow and arrows is called archery, by the way.
Yeah. That sounds fun.
Well, how about the verb bow?
Are there any other phrases I should know?
Well, you did mention bowing before the king earlier.
In that situation, you can use the verb phrase: to bow down to somebody.
Oh. So if I come before the king, I should bow down to him.
That would probably be appropriate.
Another good phrasal verb to learn is: bow out.
If you bow out of a job, you leave it after working there a long time.
I think I've seen this phrase used to refer to sports teams too.
I'm sure you have.
Often when reports write about a team being eliminated from the playoffs, they
say the team bowed out of the playoffs.
Yes. Unfortunately, that happens to my favorite team a lot.
Well, thanks for the tips, Bryan.
I hope you don't bow out of your position anytime soon.
Thanks, Ken. Not planning on it.