节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-05-09
难易度:Low
关键字:hot spot, retreat, complex, evidence, Mediterranean, UNESCO, heritage,
cathedral
Welcome back, everybody.
OK. Right before the break, we got a brief introduction to a fantastic European
vacation destination.
It's not as well-known as other European hot spots, but it's certainly as
praiseworthy.
It's the Dalmatian Coast.
Now let's talk about my favorite part of this whole lesson - the area's rich
history - under the heading Historic Dalmatia.
(Music).
Croatia's Dalmatian Coast.
Historic Dalmatia.
Dalmatia's history is long and complex.
Over the centuries many different countries ruled the region before Croatia
gained independence in 1992.
These days, you can find plenty of evidence of its historic past.
One very important site is in Split, the region's largest city.
The Palace of Diocletian is a wonderfully preserved Roman palace and a UNESCO
world heritage site.
The palace is like a city within a city, with both Roman- and Greek-style
buildings.
Today you can see ruins, temples and a cathedral there.
(Music).
Welcome back.
We were talking earlier about Croatia and Dalmatia's beautiful coast where you
can go to see some beauty, have some activity-filled fun but also to learn.
And now we're going to see what exactly you can learn about.
Well, let's start with history.
There is a great historic past of Dalmatia.
Now it's... often we don't think of this place.
It's not something we're like: Oh, I most commonly think of Dalmatia, Croatia,
when I think of history.
But there is a lot of history that has happened in this area.
That's true.
Now Dalmatia's history is very long and very complex.
Let's talk a little bit about what that means.
Well, when we say it has a long history, that means there is a lot that has gone
on in it.
So it's not a new country, it's not a new area, a new settlement, but it has a
very long history.
It's been going on for a long time.
That's true.
And it's also complex.
Something that is "complex" means that it has many different parts that are all
related to each other, but there are very many of them.
Sometimes it can be a little bit confusing to understand.
And usually when we're talking about a long history, it's usually often complex
too.
Because of how much time there has been, there's going to be a lot of pieces
involved.
OK. So this actually, I think, Kaylah, makes history a little bit more
interesting.
When it's complex, there are more things to learn about.
And we'll see a few of those that you can actually travel to Croatia and see for
yourself.
That's right.
Well, over the centuries many different countries ruled the region before
Croatia gained independence in 1992.
Now Ryan, if we think about this part of the world, near the Adriatic Sea and
the Mediterranean, we have been recording history here for a long time.
And for Croatia to only have found its freedom in 1992 means that there's a lot
that has gone on in this country.
Yeah. That was just 20 years ago.
That's not very long for a country to gain its independence, which means they
are in control of themselves.
They are not being controlled by other countries around them.
When we say "gained independence," that means they have finally earned it.
They finally have taken independence.
So they... it's been a long history and a lot of work for this part of the world
that they do... they... did earn their independence.
OK. So we're learning a little bit about Croatia's history.
And now we want to see how you can experience that for yourselves.
Today, you can find plenty of evidence for its historic past.
Now Kaylah, there it said "these days" at the beginning of that sentence.
What does that mean?
Well, "these days" refers to, like you said, today.
So these days, as in right now or modern times, this is what you can find.
So today, these days, there's lots of evidence of the historic past.
Right. And "evidence" is something that shows that something else happened or is
true.
That's right.
We most often think of evidence being when there is a court case and you are in
court, you need to show evidence to prove your point.
You need to show something to make sure that it's real.
Well, here, the evidence shows us how long this history has been.
Right. In many places, evidence of maybe a war might be buildings that are
broken down or have, you know, holes in the side.
And so you can go and see those places.
And there are some similar type of things that you can see in Croatia here.
That's right.
Now one is a very important site.
That is called "Split." This is the region's largest city.
So the city is called Split.
Yes.
The word "split" means when you take something and break it apart, usually
somewhere down the middle.
But it just means it's broken apart somewhere.
But that's the English definition.
And this is a Croatian word.
So here we're not actually talking about breaking a city.
Instead, we're talking about the name of the city.
That's right. It's called the... Split, and it's the largest city in the region.
That's right.
"In the region," we... we are talking about is not all of Croatia but all of the
Dalmatian coastline.
That's right.
OK. So there's a palace you can find there, it's called the Diocletian.
And it is a wonderfully preserved Roman palace and it's a UNESCO world heritage
site.
OK. So there's a lot of words in there we need to take apart.
First of all, this palace is very historic; it has been preserved.
That means it is saved and been protected.
And it's Roman, which, Ryan, that just shows us how old this history really is
that they have a Roman palace from the Roman Empire a long, long, long, long
time ago.
Right. And that was probably when Rome was in control of that area since they
did not have their independence.
That's right.
So it's this palace that's there.
It's a UNESCO world heritage site.
Now "UNESCO" is a branch of the United Nations.
That stands for United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization.
And their job is to preserve, to protect old historic places.
Yes. And it is, in this case, a historical place and a heritage site.
And the word "heritage" simply means uh, traditions from someone's past that
still exist today.
That's right.
And all over the world there are heritage sites that the United Nations
protects.
Well, the palace is like a city within a city, with both Roman- and Greek-style
buildings.
Yeah. And today you can see uh, ruins, temples and a cathedral there.
And a "cathedral" is referring to a very large building used for Christian
worship.
That's right.
It's a large, large, large church.
So there's lots going on in the city within the city.
It's so big it feels that way.
Well, we need to take a break for the day.
But before we go, we'd like you to watch this video.
(Music).
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
And time really flies.
Don't forget to come back tomorrow for more Language Tips.
Friends, I hope you're enjoying our quick tour of the Dalmatian Coast.
There's plenty more to do and see in this vacation hot spot.
So do join us tomorrow for more.
Before I go, I want to mention our Writing Skills feature found on page 60 in
your magazines.
Each month, we take some of the text from the month's lessons and use it as a
model so you can improve your writing skills.
Try it and take your English to the next level.
And have a great day.