节目资讯
刊物:空中英語教室
日期:2012-03-15
难易度:Medium
关键字:ruin, glimpse, continuously, handicraft, Amish, buggy
(Music).
Hi, friends.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
My name is Steve.
Today in our TRAVEL feature, we want to take you to a place called Dutch
Country.
Now, what makes this place worth visiting isn't the natural scenery, although
the rolling farmland is very beautiful.
No. We're going to Dutch Country to visit a very unusual people group known as
the Amish.
Now visiting the Amish is like taking a step back in time.
Indeed, they live their lives very much like their ancestors did 300 years ago.
Now let's open our magazines and read together Pennsylvania Dutch Country on
page 32.
Pennsylvania Dutch Country.
Plain living among the rolling hills of Pennsylvania.
Neatly painted white farmhouses and well-kept barns rest among the rolling hills
of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
And no power lines ruin the scenic views.
This is Amish Country, where "Plain People" have lived a simple life for nearly
300 years.
Today about 30,000 Old Order Amish live in Lancaster County, driving their
horse-drawn black buggies along the roads.
Here, you can glimpse what rural life was like 100 years ago - and thoroughly
enjoy it!
Hello, friends.
Thank you so much for joining us here in the studio for my favorite article of
the month - the TRAVEL article.
Yes. We hope you are excited to travel with us this month as we take a look at
the Pennsylvania Dutch Country.
Pennsylvania Dutch Country.
Well, Pennsylvania is a state in the northeast United States.
Now the "Dutch" are people from Holland, and the "countryside" is where they
live.
So now we know where we are.
That's right. Now we're talking about these people who are called the
Pennsylvania Dutch.
Now we see: Plain living among the rolling hills of Pennsylvania.
Now I have had the privilege of visiting Pennsylvania a couple of times, and it
does have beautiful rolling hills.
It's got lots of green and farmland.
In the summer, it's beautiful.
And in the winter, it's very cold.
OK. So rolling hills are hills that are very smooth.
And here we're talking about "plain living" in these rolling hills; and the word
"plain" simply means without anything fancy.
That's right.
As you said, it is simple.
It's another way of saying "plain." And that's exactly how they live - very
simple.
Yeah. Now we start off seeing that neatly painted white farmhouses and well-kept
barns rest among the rolling hills of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
That's right.
Now "neatly painted" means they're very clean, very simple, but not easy.
I think that's something we need to make sure... we keep the difference between
plain means simple, but plain does not mean it is easy.
So they have these beautiful homes that are very simple but very nice.
Yeah. And there are also barns, which are buildings that are usually found on
farms.
And they're well-kept, which means they're very organized and clean.
That's right. Now most of our lives should be well-kept.
We should have a well-kept room.
That means it's clean, it's organized.
We should have a well-kept look.
We should be put together nicely, not messy all the time.
That's right. OK. So now we're talking about Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.
And there are no power lines here to ruin the scenic views.
"Ruin" means to make it not good anymore, to take away that which would be good.
OK. And what are power lines, Kaylah?
Well, power lines are how we move electricity through areas.
They're those tall poles that have electrical wires connecting them, and it's
how you get electricity or telephones in your home.
OK. Now you would come here maybe to see these scenic views, these very
beautiful plain areas and the rolling hills, but you could also come here to see
the people.
That's right.
Now the reason that the view is not ruined by this is because the people living
here are Amish.
This is Amish Country, where "Plain People" have lived a simple life for nearly
300 years.
That's right.
Now the definition of the word "Amish" is people who live very simply or very
traditionally.
Mmhm. That's right. It's based off of their religion, but they live a simple
life.
They do not use electricity.
They do not use telephones.
They do not use cameras.
And they've lived this way for 300 years.
That's why they're called "plain." They're just living a simple life.
But we have more information about that, so let's head on over to the
Information Station.
Well, Bryan, the Amish sure have an interesting lifestyle.
Yes, they do, Bill.
But I don't know if I could survive in their culture.
Well, there are some other things you don't know.
So let's go and find out at...
information Station.
So Bill, why is this candle here?
Well, Bryan, that is because most Amish homes have no electricity, so they use
candles and lanterns to provide light.
So Bill, does that mean no TVs, no radios, no computers, no Internet?
That's right.
No e-mail. No Facebook.
No telephones even.
Yeah. But a few Amish they do use mobile phones.
Wow! So Bill, how many Amish people are there?
I would think that their culture is disappearing?
Oh. It's surprising, Bryan.
In fact, there are 250,000 Amish, mostly in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York and
Indiana.
And guess what?
What?
The Amish are the fastest growing group of people in America because each family
has seven kids.
And most kids attend an Amish school, which is just one room in a small
schoolhouse.
The children only attend up to the 8th grade with most of them never going to
high school or college.
Bill, I do know that newly-married Amish couples are pretty lucky, right?
Oh, yes. The whole community gets together soon after the wedding, and they
build a house for them in one day.
Wow, Bill. That is cool.
But still, I don't know if I could survive in this Amish lifestyle.
Oh, Bryan, I'm sure you would be fine.
You look pretty handsome in that hat and beard.
But Bill, raising seven kids would tire me out.
You know, I think I'll just stay here at...
Information Station.
OK. So you can see these traditional Amish people, which have been living the
same way for nearly 300 years.
Well, today about 30,000 Old Order Amish live in Lancaster County.
Now "Old Order Amish" means that they are from a more transitional form of the
Amish faith and traditions.
There are different levels of Amish traditions.
And this is the Old Order, the most traditional.
Right. Like you said, this is a group.
And that word "order" means like a group of people.
And you can see them driving their horse-drawn black buggies along the road.
Now we see that they're Old Order, which means they do not drive cars.
They still use a horse and buggy.
That's right. They don't have iPhones.
They don't have computers.
They don't have cars.
They use these "buggies," which are carts with four wheels that are pulled by a
horse.
That's right.
It's a traditional, an older version, and they're always black.
And you can see pictures of buggies in your Studio Classroom magazine.
It's a very common sight in Lancaster.
That's right. Take a look at page 32.
Now here you can glimpse what rural life was like 100 years ago - and thoroughly
enjoy it!
That's right.
They've held on to tradition so we can "glimpse" it.
That means we can see it, if even for a short time, we get to experience what it
was like.
That's right.
Now we're going to watch this video really fast and then come back after the
break.