节目资讯
刊物:空中英語教室
日期:2012-04-16
难易度:High
关键字:apprentice, thirst for knowledge, -dimensional, lifelike, fantastical
Hi, everyone.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
My name is Steve.
How often does it happen that a person comes along and revolutionizes the way we
think?
Not too often, right?
Well, amazingly, there were quite a few world changers alive in Europe during
the 15th and 16th centuries,
a period of intellectual awakening we call the Renaissance.
Without question, at the top of this list of great minds is one man.
Let's open our Studio Classroom magazines to page 32 and read about the man who
changed the way the world thinks - Leonardo da Vinci.
Leonardo da Vinci.
Meet a man who changed the way the world thinks.
Yesterday marked the 560th anniversary of the birth of one of the greatest minds
to ever live.
Leonardo da Vinci was born in the small Italian town of Vinci on April 15, 1452.
As a young man, he was apprenticed to Andrea del Verrocchio, one of the famous
artists of his day.
Da Vinci excelled at the arts and created a number of famous works during his
career, including the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.
But he is also known for his notebooks that detail much of his research and
contain his many fantastical inventions.
Hello, everyone.
I'm Brandon.
And I'm Kaylah.
Thank you so much for joining us today.
We are talking about a HISTORICAL PERSON that you probably already know of.
That's right.
Leonardo da Vinci.
I'm sure you have heard of him.
He is very, very famous.
That's right.
We are talking about Leonardo da Vinci, a man who changed the way the world
thinks.
Now Brandon, when you think of Leonardo da Vinci, what's the first thing that
you think of?
Well, I think of famous paintings.
We... we are talking about a couple of them today.
The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper are a couple that we'll talk about today.
Those are some things that I think of.
That's right.
I think most of us think of Leonardo da Vinci as an artist, not only a painter
but as a sculptor as well.
But we're going to learn that he was so much more than that.
Well, actually yesterday marked the 560th anniversary of the birth of one of the
greatest minds to ever live.
And of course, we're talking about Leonardo da Vinci.
We see here "one of the greatest minds to ever live." That's a very nice thing
to say about someone.
No kidding.
That would be great to say.
Even 560 years later, we still consider him one of the greatest minds.
Now Brandon, that's impressive considering how long ago he lived.
It is!
It's very impressive to still say that about someone today, to say that they are
one of the greatest minds to ever live.
We continue with: Leonardo da Vinci was born in the small Italian town of Vinci
on April 15, 1452.
Now as a young man, he was apprenticed to Andrea del Verrocchio.
Wow, what a name!
Yeah, that's quite a name.
That's very Italian.
That's right.
We have the word "apprenticed" here.
It's someone who follows someone else to learn from them.
And so we see here Leonardo da Vinci learned from Verrocchio.
So Verrocchio is kind of a tutor, tutored him along the way.
That's right.
We usually think of "apprentice" as the noun that... that you are an apprentice.
When you are "apprenticed," that means you are working for them; so it's more of
the verb.
And Verrocchio, well, he was one of the famous artists of his day.
So he must have been very good, Kaylah, because we know that Leonardo da Vinci
did a lot of great work.
That's right.
Well, da Vinci excelled at the arts and created a number of famous works during
his career.
So he not only studied under this famous artist, he took it even further, he
excelled.
That means he was really, really good at it.
And these famous works include the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.
You can see a picture of The Last Supper there on page 33.
That's right.
In your Studio Classroom magazine, look, you can see pictures of both Leonardo
da Vinci and of some of his artwork.
Well, he is also known for his notebooks that detail much of his research and
contain his many fantastical inventions.
That's right.
So there in his notebooks, we can find more information about him and his work.
And we have the word "fantastical" here, fantastical inventions.
"Fantastical" meaning something that is kind of strange, or maybe even you
wouldn't think it reasonable.
Maybe you invent something and people think: Why would we have any use for that?
That's right. It's something very imaginative, something very creative.
Well, Brandon, we see in his notebooks, they are detailed.
Now we see "detailed." Usually we think of "detail" as a noun: That is an
interesting detail.
But here it's a verb.
That's right. It is used as a verb here; and it means to describe something.
So he has descriptions in his notebook.
It's a very good way to use this word.
You can use it as a noun, but you can also use it as a verb if you're talking
about describing something specifically.
That's right. And Brandon, actually in our Studio Classroom magazine,
you can also see pictures from his notebooks of some of his inventions as well
as some of his research.
So if you would like to see his drawings, you can look in your magazine.
Well, we've learned a lot already about Leonardo da Vinci.
And we have much more to learn about him.
But right now it's time to join Ken in the Chat Room.
(Music).
Here you go, Miss.
Enjoy your reading.
Uh, Ken, would you like to check out those books?
Oh... Yeah. Here.
Hey, Bryan. Did you notice the skirt that woman had on?
It was pretty short.
Short? Nah.
All the girls wear that kind of skirt nowadays.
Now back in my grandmother's day, that would have been considered short.
Back in your grandmother's day?
Which day are you talking about?
Oh, no. I wasn't referring to a particular day.
"Back in my grandmother's day" means back in the period of time when my
grandmother was still around.
You know, the old days.
But you said "in her day," singular.
Right. We can use "day," singular, to talk about a period in time.
For example, he was a good singer in his day.
Oh, I see.
Hey, Bryan, isn't there a saying, "Every dog has its day"?
Oh, yeah. That's a good one to know.
You can say that to encourage someone that he will be successful during some
period in his life.
So if someone didn't make the team, I can say:
Don't worry. You'll get chosen next year. Every dog has its day?
Yes, good example.
Another phrase you can use is "day in the sun." If you have your day in the sun,
you get attention and are appreciated.
Because the sun is considered positive?
That's the idea.
We all prefer a sunny day to a rainy day, don't we?
Yeah, that's for sure.
Well, here are your books. Enjoy, Ken.
Thanks.