节目资讯
刊物:空中英語教室
日期:2012-04-03
难易度:Low
关键字:charm, ferry, restore, schedule, strait, vaudeville, workshop
Hi, everybody. Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to study English with us.
My name is Steve.
Well, you know, there are a lot of people in this world who are in need of a
peaceful escape from city life.
Now as we are discovering in our lesson, there's no better place for this escape
to the country than Washington State's Skagit Valley.
This month's Studio Classroom TRAVEL destination has mountains, ocean, beautiful
farmland and more.
Now why don't we open our magazines to page 13 for a second taste of simple
country living.
(Music).
Washington State's Skagit Valley.
Besides flowers, there are special art shows and handicraft sales.
Local artists sell everything from photography to glass art.
But Skagit Valley's charm isn't limited to the festival.
Deception Pass Boat Tour.
Deception Pass connects Skagit Bay to the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
On a one-hour boat tour through the Pass, tourists learn about the area's
history.
The first female ferry captain in Washington State operated her boat through
this pass.
From the top of the tour boat, passengers get a 360-degree view.
They might even spot some whales or eagles!
(Music).
Hello, everyone. I'm Brandon.
And I'm Kaylah.
Thank you so much for joining us as we're continuing our talk about
Washington... State's Skagit Valley.
That's right. We're talking about this beautiful place in Washington State.
It is in the countryside.
We learned yesterday that there are beautiful flowers there called tulips.
That's right.
There are gorgeous flowers that bloom every spring.
They open up and the valley just bursts into color.
But there is even more than just flowers.
That's right.
You can also take a bike ride we learned yesterday.
And today we're learning that there's even more.
There's... even more than flowers.
We see: Besides flowers, there are special art shows and handicraft sales.
That's right.
That phrase "besides something" means other than or even though there are this,
there's even more.
So besides flowers, there's even more stuff going on.
One of those is the handicraft sales and art shows.
That's right.
And a handicraft is something you make with your hands.
So you can go and purchase things that people have made with their hands.
Well, let's find out what kinds of things do people make in this area.
What are we looking at?
Well, local artists sell everything from photography to glass art.
Now that's quite a big difference.
That's right. Of course, photography, you can go and buy different photos.
But you can also have an object made of glass.
"Glass art," someone has taken glass and shaped it in such a way that is art.
Have you ever seen people making glass art, Brandon?
I believe I have.
It's heated up and they can reshape the glass, and it's very interesting,
actually.
It's very beautiful.
It takes a lot of practice and a lot of talent.
So these handicrafts are something you would definitely want to check out.
But there's even more.
Skagit Valley's charm isn't limited to just the festival.
That's right.
And "charm" here just means an attraction that makes you like something.
So there's more to Skagit Valley than just the flowers; there are other things
that would make you want to go there.
That's right.
The word "charm" makes me think of "Prince Charming," some man that would be
very attractive.
So if that helps you remember the word, "charm" is something that attracts you
to it.
Well, that sentence is our Grammar on the Go, so let's visit Liz.
Hello, friends.
Welcome to Grammar on the Go.
My name is Liz, and greetings from Skagit Valley.
According to the writer of today's article: Skagit Valley's charm isn't limited
to the festival.
That's our Grammar Tip sentence.
Notice the phrase, isn't limited to.
It's another way of saying "isn't just only about." In other words,
the writer is saying that Skagit Valley is a charming place not just because of
the festival.
There are other things that makes Skagit Valley charming.
Let's look at some example sentences using this phrase.
Suppose a certain cultural center is famous for displaying the artworks of local
craftsmen, but that's not all.
The center also allows the craftsmen to sell their artwork to the public. So we
can say:
The cultural center's function isn't limited to just displaying local artwork;
it also is a place for craftsmen to sell their works to the public.
Or let's suppose a group of students are looking for internship opportunities
during their final year of school.
Several companies are offering internship opportunities, but they're not all in
the same city as the school.
So the teacher can tell these students:
Your internship is not limited to this city; you can find opportunities with
companies outside our city.
If you'd like to see some more example sentences, they're available in today's
Grammar Tip section.
And that's all the time we have for today.
This is Liz with Grammar on the Go signing off.
Bye-bye.
Thanks, Liz.
Part of Skagit Valley's charm is Deception Pass.
"Deception Pass" is talking about a waterway.
And "Pass" here is just referring to a passage.
That's right.
"Pass" is a shortened form of "passage" or a way to go.
So this is called Deception Pass, the name of the... the passageway.
And you can do boat tours through here, which, Brandon, means we're on water.
That's right. This is getting even more exciting.
We had flowers; now we're going on to the water and taking a boat tour.
We see that Deception Pass actually connects Skagit Bay to the Strait of Juan de
Fuca.
That's right.
So Skagit Bay... we know we are in Skagit Valley.
Now the bay is the area of the ocean near Skagit, so it connects the bay to this
other... this "strait." Now what is a "strait" when we're talking about water?
Well, it's a narrow area of water, and it connects to other bodies of water,
actually.
And so this is what we're talking about here.
We have a passage and a bay and a strait, all referring to water.
That's right.
Different landscapes of water, so different ways to move around.
So a bay would be large; the strait is the narrow passage through it.
So it's very exciting to see all these different pieces connecting.
It makes the valley very beautiful and exciting.
And you can take a one-hour boat tour through the pass.
And when you are on this tour, tourists they actually learn about different
things.
They learn about the area's history, for example.
That's right.
So you can learn not only about the area the beautiful flowers and the
landscape, but also, this area has a very big history involved in it.
So as you boat through, you can learn about the history.
Now what's one fact about history through here?
Well, we learn about the first female ferry captain in Washington State.
Now a "ferry" is a boat that carries passengers.
For example, I have taken a ferry before to go from one area of land to another
area of land.
We had to cross over water. So I had to get on a boat in order to do that.
That's right.
So a ferry is a boat that takes passengers or cargo from one side to another.
So this was the first female captain who's in charge of the boat was doing her
ferry in this pass area.
That's right.
And she operated her boat through this pass, as Kaylah just said.
From the top of the tour boat, passengers, well, they can actually get a
360-degree view.
That's right.
A 360-degree, or 360-degree view means they can see all around them.
You can spin in a circle and see the whole area.
And they might even spot some whales or eagles!
Wow! So flowers, now we have whales and eagles on this boat tour.
It's very exciting.
Washington State has lots to offer when it comes to nature, and Skagit Valley
and this boat tour are no exception.
Well, we need to watch this video.