节目资讯
刊物:空中英語教室
日期:2012-03-01
难易度:High
关键字:illustrator, lonesome, bizarre, ensure, critter
(Music).
Welcome back, everybody.
If you want to become a great writer, then pay attention because today's lesson
gives us a great tip, which is write what you know.
That's what Beatrix Potter did, and it helped her become a world-famous author.
Let's talk more about the things Potter knew about, like animals, at the top of
page 13.
(Music).
Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit.
Both she and her brother were fond of animals, so much so that they ended up
with a number of bizarre pets.
Among their collection of critters were frogs, bats and, most importantly,
rabbits,
including Benjamin and Peter - two characters that Potter would later write
about in her books.
It has actually been said that Potter loved Peter so much that she took him
everywhere she went.
But Potter's passions included more than just animals.
Her holidays spent in the Scottish countryside and the Lake District of England
ensured her deep admiration for plants as well.
So Beatrix Potter and her brother Bertram were schooled at home, which means
they had very few human friends.
But that did not stop them from making friends with other kinds of animals.
Exactly. And we see that Beatrix Potter and her brother were fond of animals, so
much so that they ended up with a number of bizarre pets.
Now let's take that apart, Ryan, OK?
Uh huh.
Fond, can you tell us what "fond" means?
If you are fond of something or of someone, that means you like them.
You enjoy being around them.
OK. And there's an interesting phrase here at the end of the sentence, a number
of bizarre pets.
So the phrase "a number of something" is a very interesting way to write about
having multiple things or having a lot of things.
Right. It usually doesn't mean that we don't know how many pets.
It means... the same thing as using the word "several." They were fond of
several different kinds of pets.
They had many bizarre pets.
And the word "bizarre" is a great way to spice up your writing.
It means "very strange." So it's more interesting than just writing "strange"
pets.
It gives you the idea of something being maybe a little bit exotic, something
foreign, something not common.
Yeah. Most people have dogs or cats or maybe fish.
But we'll see here that among their collection of critters were frogs, bats and,
most importantly, Kaylah, rabbits, including Benjamin and Peter.
That's right.
So we see they have a list of interesting animals.
Now these would be animals - critters.
Now "critters" does refer to just animals, critters they collected from the
wild.
Ryan, did you ever have pets that you brought in from the wild?
Well, uh, I grew up in Los Angeles, so no, I didn't have any wild pets.
No, there's not very many wild animals in the city of Los Angeles.
No, there's not.
What about you?
Well, I grew up in the countryside in Tennessee, so I did collect a lot of
strange and bizarre pets as well.
I collected a lot of insects.
I had frogs and I had salamanders and I had snakes; I collected weird animals.
Yeah. That is a little bit weird.
What did you do with these pets?
Most often I... would play with them, I'd take time to feed them.
They were fun to just be with and to have something to take care of.
I think that's exactly what Beatrix and her brother Bertram did as well.
It was fun to have something else to interact with, something to take care of.
OK. So you probably can understand Beatrix and her brother when they had some
bizarre pets, including as we saw here, Kaylah, some rabbits.
And they... their names were the same as two characters that Beatrix Potter
would later write about in her books.
That's right. I'm going to assume she wrote her books about her two favorite
rabbits.
So this makes sense to write what you know.
She wrote about the animals she knew.
Exactly. So you can see here how they started to get the idea for her books and
the names that she used in them as well.
It has actually been said that Potter loved Peter so much that she took him
everywhere she went.
So Peter was definitely her favorite rabbit, she would take him everywhere,
which is a little bizarre to take a rabbit with you to random places.
But this was important to her, and it played into her writing later on.
Yeah. And you can see here that he really was important to her because the name
of her most famous book was Peter Rabbit.
Now we see Potter's passion included more than just animals, though.
That's right.
She spent her holidays in the countryside.
And the countryside would be um, the big, open spaces.
And what's special about this is it was the Scottish countryside and the Lake
District of England.
So this is a very beautiful countryside, lots of different animals and grass and
plants and lakes.
It's a gorgeous part of the world.
Yeah. Now the Scottish countryside is referring to Scotland.
And of course, she also spent time in the Lake District of England.
So she lived in Europe and she got to travel a little bit, we see.
But these are very beautiful places with a lot of nature.
That's right. Now being in vacation, going on holiday in these areas ensured her
deep admiration for plants as well.
So there were lots of animals to play with in these areas but also lots of
plants to see.
Now we see the term "Lake District." That is referring to an area where there
are lots of lakes.
So there's lots of water, which means it's going to be a lot of plants.
Hmm. Now that sounds pretty.
I would like to go to a lake district, I think.
Now we also see the word "ensured" here.
Being in these places "ensured" her that she would have deep admiration for
plants.
Now the word "ensured" means to make sure something happens.
So the fact that she was traveling, seeing all this nature, that made sure that
she had deep admiration for plants.
Now that admiration is her like of... she enjoyed them as well.
She enjoyed studying them and looking at them, and I'm going to assume drawing
them because she does become an illustrator.
So there... she had this affection for both animals and plants as well.
OK. So we've seen how Beatrix Potter has begun to enjoy animals and plants.
And join us tomorrow as we start to see how that became the character Peter
Rabbit.
Right now let's visit the Chat Room.
Ah, here it is.
What did you find there, Ken?
This book about the Spanish countryside.
Wow, this looks interesting.
I bet there are some interesting pictures in there.
Yes, there are.
And some of them have houses in them...
Wait, this is not right.
What's not right?
Well, people don't actually live in the countryside, do they?
Actually, they do.
People who live on farms live in the countryside.
But I thought countryside was very remote.
I guess I was wrong.
The countryside is usually full of wide open spaces, but it's not necessarily
too far away from towns or cities.
Are there any other terms to describe places that are hours away from any major
towns?
Oh, sure. "Backwoods" is one.
If you're in the backwoods, you're in a remote part of the countryside.
It must be easy to get lost in the backwoods.
Yes, it is.
That happened to me on my vacation last year.
Another term for remote place is the sticks.
Sticks? Are you talking about tree branches?
No. "The sticks" describes a place or region that is very far from any town or
city, but it carries a negative meaning.
In other words, people who live in the sticks are far away from the city, right?
That's right.
We often add the word "out" and say that a person lives out in the sticks.
Hmm. That does sound remote.
I think I'll stick to traveling in the countryside.
Thanks, Bryan.
Sure, Ken.
(Chinese).
Hi, everyone. I'm Michelle.
(Chinese).
And listening to our program everyday can ensure that your English will improve
in no time.
I'll see you next time. Bye-bye.
Thank you, Michelle.
Friends, let me invite you to visit our Studio Classroom website and take
advantage of this lesson's worksheets, which you can download for free.
You know, often students will ask me:
I have so many English vocabulary words to remember, how can I remember them
all?
Well, the Studio Classroom worksheets are a great way to do just that.
Again, our address is StudioClassroom.com.
Have a great day.
And then join us tomorrow for more of Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit.