节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-09-27
难易度:Medium
关键字:extinct, stripe, muscular, prey, eyesight, decline
Hi, everybody.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
My name is Steve.
Well, our ANIMALS feature this month is about a giant cat known for its strength
and beauty - the tiger.
More specifically, our focus will be on the future of the tiger.
And friends, if you don't already know, it doesn't look good.
The troubling fact is tigers are in danger of disappearing forever.
And you and I could see it happen in our lifetime if nothing is done to prevent
it.
How do we do that?
Well, raising awareness is always a good place to start.
So let's do just that with today's reading which starts on page 50.
(Music).
The Future of Tigers.
This amazing animal could disappear from the wild in our lifetime.
One hundred years ago, over 100,000 tigers wandered the earth, but today there
are less than 4,000 in the wild.
Even more alarming is the fact that unless immediate answers are found, the
tiger could become extinct within a decade.
Tiger basics.
Traditionally tigers have been admired for their strength, size, beauty and bold
colors.
Tigers may look alike, but no two tigers have the same pattern of stripes.
They are the largest of the big cats, with bodies as long as two meters and
one-meter-long tails.
Hello, friends.
Thank you so much for joining us here in the studio.
My name is Kaylah.
My name is Ryan.
Friends, we're taking a look at our ANIMAL article right now.
And this article is all about a very special animal that most of you or, well,
all of you should have heard of - the tiger.
That's right.
This is talking about not just tigers now, but the future of tigers.
What is happening with them?
They are a special animal and one we need to protect.
That's right.
And so we're going to talk about how we need to preserve and protect the tiger.
This amazing animal could disappear from the wild in our lifetime.
Oh. That's so sad.
"To disappear" means to no longer be there, to no longer be seen or visible.
So they could disappear from the wild, which means they would only be growing in
captivity.
So this... this is very sad.
Yeah. And they're... well, we're losing tigers basically in the wild.
One hundred years ago, over 100,000 tigers wandered the earth, but today there
are less than 4,000 in the wild.
This is extremely sad to think that just 100 years ago there were 96,000 more
tigers in the wild.
And now we do have more in captivity, more in zoos and in parks and helping them
reproduce.
But there should be more in the wild.
So it's very sad.
Yeah. They're supposed to wander in the wild.
And that means they are walking different places and living in different places
just like most wild animals do.
But we might think: Well, OK, there are less now.
But we can just do something about it, and they'll be more tigers. We'll be
fine, right?
Well, even more alarming is the fact that unless immediate answers are found,
the tiger could become extinct within a decade.
Oh, goodness.
OK. So no, that's very wrong.
We need to do something now.
We need to find answers now so that they don't become extinct within the next
ten years.
That's right.
As you said, decade is ten years.
Now to be "extinct" means they no longer exist, as in they would die off and
they would no longer be here.
Probably the most easy example of extinct is a dinosaur.
They're no longer here.
And tigers could join that group.
OK. Well friends, let's talk a little bit about tigers before we decide, well,
what can be done to save them.
OK. We need to know the basics.
So "Tiger basics." Let's get started.
All right.
Traditionally tigers have been admired for their strength, their size, their
beauty and their bold colors.
That's right.
So these are things we recognize about them.
Now a bold color. "Bold" means bright and contrasting.
So if you have on... if you think about a tiger, they're orange and black.
They're bright, strong colors and different.
That's right.
And most of the time when you think of a tiger, you think of those same orange
and black stripes.
And you might think, well, they all look alike.
But no two tigers have the same pattern of stripes.
Now "stripes" are a strip on a surface that is a different color from the color
underneath.
So if you look at tigers, they're an orange surface with those black stripes,
those... like pieces, those lines of black on them.
That makes them stripes.
Another animal that is striped is the...
Zebras.
That's right.
They are a striped animal.
So friends, hopefully now you can imagine what stripes look like.
Well, that sentence is our Grammar on the Go sentence.
So let's visit Liz.
Hi, friends.
How are you doing today?
My name is Liz.
And it's time for Grammar on the Go.
Our ANIMALS article this month is talking about the future of tigers and why
it's so important for us to care.
According to the writer:
Tigers may look alike, but no two tigers have the same pattern of orange and
black stripes.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
Notice the second half of the sentence: but no two tigers have the same pattern.
It's another way to say there isn't a tiger that has a same pattern of orange
and black stripes as another tiger.
However, what we see in today's sentence is much more direct and not so wordy.
So when you want to talk about how something is unique or has to be a certain
way,
and it's impossible for something else to be like it, then say "no two..." For
example,
we know that each snowflake is unique in the way... in the way it looks. So
people often say:
No two snowflakes are alike.
Or every person has his or her own unique way of writing.
And although people may share the same writing characteristics,
"No two people have the same handwriting." You can also use "no two" to talk
about what people can not do.
For example:
No two students may share a bus pass; each student must have his or her own bus
pass.
If you want to see some more example sentences, they're available in today's
Grammar Tip section in your Studio Classroom magazine.
That's it for today.
Thank you for joining me here.
This is Liz with Grammar on the Go signing off.
Bye-bye.
All right, friends.
Tigers are the largest of the big cacts.
OK, let's define what big cat is.
Now friends, you might have a cat at home and it'll be like he's fat.
"I have a big cat!" No, you don't.
Here we're talking about lions and obviously, tigers, probably cheetahs and
leopards and pumas and all those big animals, big cats that we talk about in the
wild.
Right. These are usually the type of large cats you'll find in places like
Africa or in the jungles.
OK. So we're looking at the largest.
Now they are the largest of these big cats.
Their bodies are as long as two meters, and they have a one-meter-long tail.
That makes them three meters in length from nose to the tip of their tail.
That's true.
And that's very large.
Now friends, these are beautiful creatures.
Tigers are very strong and very beautiful to look at.
And we don't want them to disappear.
That's right.
Now they are extremely large and very beautiful and very powerful, and we
recognize them as that.
But that doesn't mean that they're going to be OK.
Sometimes nature still needs our help because of the harm that we have caused.
All right.
Now we're going to learn more about how we can fix that harm.
But first we talked about how strong they are; we're going to talk more about
that after we visit the Chat Room.
Hi, Ken.
Is there anything interesting in the news today?
Well, did you hear about the painting that was stolen from the art museum?
Yes, I did hear about that.
But I thought it had been found.
Well, the police thought they found it, but it turned out that what they found
was a fake.
They think the thieves might have put the fake painting there as a distraction.
Ah, planting a look-alike to fool the police.
Now that's pretty clever.
Yes, it is.
Hey, Bryan, did you just use the term "look-alike" as a noun?
Yes, I did.
Good observation, Ken.
You know that when two things look alike, that means they look similar.
"Look-alike," when used as a noun, simply means one thing that looks like
another thing.
I see. Is that written as one word or two?
It's one word, but there's a hyphen between "look" and "alike." You might also
see someone described as a celebrity look-alike if they resemble the celebrity.
I see.
Can you use a person's name with look-alike too?
Sure.
For example, a person who looks like Elvis would be an Elvis look-alike.
OK, that makes sense.
You know, this newspaper article also describes the painting police found as a
forgery.
What does that mean?
OK. A forgery is something that is created to look like another thing.
Criminals sometimes make forgeries of pieces of artwork and sell them as if they
were real.
So what's the difference between a forgery and a look-alike?
Well, a forgery is something that's created intentionally to trick people.
A look-alike is just something that looks like something else.
So "forgery" is a far more negative term.
That makes sense.
You know, I hope the police find the real painting soon.
So do I, Ken.
Well, I'll let you get back to your reading now.
OK. Thanks.