节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-09-21
难易度:Low
关键字:equipment, wreck, steep, enormous, plankton, snorkel
Hello, everybody.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
My name is Steve.
Thanks for joining us today.
We appreciate it.
We're in our second day of visiting the Philippine diving paradise called
Moalboal.
Now I think there's a little problem here.
We spent all day yesterday walking Moalboal's lay back streets,
visiting dive shops and gazing at the peaceful ocean from open-air restaurants
that serve up fantastically fresh seafood.
Now these are all great things, but, we haven't been in the water yet.
Well, let's fix that right now by diving into our lesson on page 43 under the
heading - Driving Moalboal.
Moalboal: A Diving Paradise.
Diving Moalboal.
Visitors often schedule dives with one of the dive shops.
These trips are very affordable and fun for divers of all skill levels.
The shops rent diving equipment, or you can bring your own.
Most shops offer scuba courses.
You can take a beginner course and experience diving for the first time.
If you're more experienced, you can try a wreck dive or a night dive.
Moalboal's beautiful coral reef has a wide variety of marine life.
Sea turtles, lion fish and starfish are a few of the creatures you may see.
Hello, friends.
Thank you so much for joining us right here in the studio as we travel to the
Philippines.
My name is Kaylah.
And my name is Ryan.
And yes, we are back in Moalboal.
And yesterday we started talking about how Moalboal is truly a diver's paradise.
That's right.
And we know that when we're talking about diving, we're talking about scuba
diving.
And that's the sport of swimming underwater wearing equipment so you can breathe
underwater.
Now it's a fun activity that a lot of people enjoy.
And Moalboal is a definite location you should visit in the Philippines to get
great dive sites.
All right.
Now yesterday we started on the beach, and there you can find resorts where you
can stay and enjoy and relax in the sunshine.
And we talked about restaurants.
You can eat seafood that is caught in the area.
But of course, it is diving central.
You can visit a dive shop, but you want to get into the water as fast as
possible.
So friends, what do you think we're talking about today?
Of course we're talking about diving.
It is the centerpiece of the culture in this town.
So we're going to really dive into it and look into what it has to offer.
All right.
Now friends, visitors often schedule dives in Moalboal with one of the dive
shops you can find on the beaches.
That's right.
We talked about dive shops being the place where you can get a guide, a boat and
equipment that you need.
Now these trips are very affordable and fun for drivers of all skill levels.
OK. Now friends, you can go diving by yourself if you have experience.
I have gone diving a fesw times, Kaylah, and I actually have my scuba diving
license.
And that means that I can just go into the ocean on my own boat and with my own
gear, or own scuba gear, and just start swimming by myself.
But it might be better to go to a dive shop where the trips there are affordable
and they're really fun for everyone of all skill levels.
That's right.
Now "skill" means your ability to do something.
Now you do need to have a certain amount of skill to be diving.
You need to have basic understanding of swimming.
And this... this specific trip, this allows for people of different levels to
enjoy it.
So maybe you've never been diving before, but they have people to help you.
Or maybe you've been on hundreds of diving trips, but you'll still enjoy it
because of what this kind of dive experience has to offer.
Yeah. They are able to change the trip depending on your skill level, how much
experience you have.
And friends, it's affordable.
It's cheap; it's not too expensive.
Well, the shops rent diving equipment or you can bring your own.
So the equipment... "equipment" is the tools, the necessary pieces of clothing
or different parts of the machines that you need to do something.
Now we know that scuba equipment are going to be a mask so you can see
underwater, the tube so you can breathe the air tank in the back.
What... what other kind of equipment do you use when you dive, Ryan?
OK. Well, when you're diving, you want to be able to move under the water.
So you put what are called "fins" on your feet, and so you can kick and move the
water.
And in order to get back up to the surface, or the top of the water, you wear a
vest that has air in it.
OK. Well, most shops offer scuba courses as well.
So if you want to be like Ryan, you can get your license to dive on your own.
OK. And you can take these courses or these classes in order to learn.
And I recommend it, friends.
Diving is a lot of fun.
You can take a beginner course, which is the class.
The course refers to a class that you can take.
If your... it's your first time and experience diving for the very first time on
your own and experiencing it in this class.
Now Kaylah, you got a chance to do that a few months ago, right?
That's right.
I did have the chance for my first course, a very small class in learning how to
use scuba equipment.
And I hope to get to experience diving in the future.
Yeah. It was a beginning course.
You just went into a pool and just tried swimming underwater.
And that really is an interesting and fun experience.
That's right.
Now this will help you... for your first-time diving, to prepare you for the
next, for the big ocean.
Now if you're more experienced, you can try a wreck dive or a night dive.
So you don't have to stay with beginners.
There's more that is offered.
All right.
Now a "wreck" is a vehicle that is left over from an accident.
So there could be a "car wreck." That means the car crashed and then the car is
just left there.
But we're talking here about ships.
That's right.
We've talked about shipwrecks before when we talked about the... the outer banks
in North Carolina.
That's when a ship has sunk to the bottom of the ocean, and it is sitting down
there.
And when you dive to it, plants and animals begin to live in and around the
ship.
It creates a lot of animal sealife down there.
So you dive and get to experience it.
It'd be very exciting.
But you can also do advanced night dives - so diving while it's dark.
That's right.
Both of those are very fun.
I personally enjoy wreck diving.
Well, friends, Moalboal's beautiful coral reef also has a wide variety of
marine, or ocean, life.
Now we did talk about coral reefs last month.
We talked about them as we need to protect and preserve them.
And Moalboal has a beautiful coral reef that we should be protecting.
But it attracks a wide variety of marine life.
Now "wide variety" means lots of different kinds of things of these animals and
plants that live underwater.
OK. We have some examples of this... of these creatures: sea turtles, which you
can see a picture of on page 43.
Also lion fish, which are small white and red fish with a lot of long fins.
And also starfish that are almost shaped like your hand.
They are a few of the creatures that you may see here.
So even if you don't get to do a wreck dive, there's still lots to see on the
coral reef.
Well, this is not the end of our section about diving.
There's so much more to do with the scuba diving in Moalboal.
We'll talk about that after we visit the Chat Room.
Hey, Bryan. I'd like to return this.
OK.
Did you finish it?
Yes. And it was great.
Hey, Bryan, you really should read about this guy's "marine" life.
Oh, I might be interested.
What kind of sea creatures did he own?
Sea creatures? Are you kidding?
The life of a marine is very tough.
Oh, I get it.
You're reading about a guy who's in the U.S. Marine Corps.
Of course! What did you think I meant?
Usually when someone says "marine life," they're talking about the animals that
live in the ocean.
Oh. Now I see what you mean.
Marine life can also refer to things living in the sea.
Yep, you got it.
Hey, can marine refer to anything else?
Yes. Marine, the adjective, can also refer simply to the sea in general.
For example, marine exploration is the exploration of the oceans.
That sounds exciting.
Are there any other meanings?
Sure.
The adjective marine can refer to ships, as in marine traffic.
And that would be keeping track of all the ships out on the ocean, right?
Right.
Some schools now offer degrees in a field called Marine Affairs.
What do students study in those programs?
Things related to protecting and managing the ocean's resources.
That sounds like a challenge... challenging field.
But getting back to the noun form of marine, does it always refer to someone in
the U.S. Marines?
Yeah. When most people hear the word "marine," they'll think of a person serving
in the U.S. Marines.
And in that case, Marine is usually capitalized out of respect for the Marine
Corps.
I see.
Does that mean there are other Marines not serving in the U.S. Marines?
Yes. Technically, any soldier serving on a ship or sailing vessel may be called
a Marine.
Thanks for the lesson, Bryan.
Well, it's almost time for lunch.
And for some odd reason, I'm suddenly hungry for seafood.
Go for it.