节目资讯
刊物:空中英語教室
日期:2012-02-17
难易度:Medium
关键字:federation, transportation, bob, fiberglass, sled
(Music).
Hello, friends.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to study English with us.
My name is Steve.
And my name is Ryan.
Our SPORTS feature this month, Ryan, highlights three winter sports called
bobsleigh, or bobsled, skeleton and luge.
We've lumped them together because all three races take place on ice - steep
ice!
Now when you first see pictures or videos of these races, you might be tempted
to think they look like a fun amusement park ride.
That is not true.
Right. These races are seriously fast and seriously dangerous.
One slightly wrong move can make the difference between first place and last
place.
One slightly wrong move could send racers tumbling perilously and uncontrollably
over the ice.
Yikes!
OK. I think it's time we open our magazines to page 36 and begin reading about
these three thrilling Amazing Races.
Amazing Races: Bobsleigh, Skeleton and Luge.
Racers compete as they speed over ice and snow!
Thrills and excitement await visitors at the 2012 International Federation of
Bobsleigh and Tobogganing (FIBT) World Championships!
Athletes will race around 20 curves on a 1,455-meter course in Lake Placid, New
York.
The bobsleighs will travel at speeds close to 130 kilometers per hour during the
February 13 to 26 event.
All about bobsleighing.
The sport of bobsleighing is popular today, but it didn't start out as a
competitive sport.
In the beginning, bobsleighing was used for fun and as a form of transportation.
Ryan, that is a bright yellow winter coat that you have on.
Well, yes, it is.
I'm getting ready for some winter sports for our SPORTS article today.
Well, what kind of winter sports are we talking about?
Good question.
We are talking about Amazing Races: the Bobsleigh, Skeleton and the Luge.
Now these are not races that we would usually compete in, right?
That's right.
Most people probably wouldn't compete in these, but the racers themselves speed
over ice and snow.
So this is not something we usually think of.
Usually when we think of ice, we need to go slowly.
If it's cold and slippery, you need to be careful.
But here, instead, they use that slippery ice surface to go really, really fast.
Yeah! So it sounds like there would be a lot of thrills and excitement,
which would await visitors at the 2012 International Federation of Bobsleigh and
Tobogganing.
Well, what are we waiting for, the... at the championship, right?
At the world championships!
That's where the excitement will be.
But we need to know who they are.
Right. First of all, we see the "federation" here.
"Federation" is referring to a group of people or possibly a group of countries
that are gathered together,
and in this case, compete against each other.
Ryan, if we look at the name, the International Federation of Bobsleigh and
Tobogganing, the acronym is FIBT.
That's not in the same order.
You're right. That's not exactly the same.
And that is because that acronym is based off of the French name.
That's right. These sports are considered a French... they are run by a French
federation, so a French organization.
Right. And so here in these world championships, there will be a lot of
"thrills." That means it will be very exciting.
Well, athletes will race around 20 curves on a 1,455-meter course in Lake
Placid, New York.
OK, so it's a long course.
The word "course" means a path that you would race on.
Now you could also have a course for race car drivers to drive on.
Now this path would be made of ice because that is how they compete.
So this will happen at Lake Placid in New York.
So even though it's a French organization, they host their world championships
in different places all over the world.
OK. Now Kaylah, we've told them that these bobsleighs and skeletons and the
luge, they all move very fast.
But we haven't told you guys how fast yet.
Well, the bobsleigh will travel at speeds close to 130 kilometers per hour
during the February 13 to 26 event.
That is extremely fast.
That is very fast.
And this is very fast especially thinking that these are not cars you're driving
in.
We'll learn exactly what each of these events are, and you'll realize how fast
that really is.
OK. So we're going 130 kilometers per hour in a bobsleigh.
Well, let's learn about a bobsleigh.
OK.
OK. The sport of bobsleighing is very popular today, but it didn't start out as
a competitive sport.
That's right.
In the beginning, bobsleighing was actually just used for fun and just as a form
of transportation.
Now Ryan, I cannot imagine using this as a form of transportation.
I mean, it's an exciting sport to watch now, it's... world-renowned, all kinds
of countries over the world have it.
But using it as a transportation?
What an exciting adventure!
Yes. That's because the word "transportation" here means to simply travel from
one place to another.
People use cars, boats and planes for transportation.
That's right.
Now a bobsleigh is not something we commonly think of as transportation.
But what an exciting way to go from one place to another!
That's right. OK, now let's visit the Chat Room.
Hey, Bryan.
Hi, Ken.
Oh, Ken, can you wait a sec?
That book that you've wanted just came in.
Here you go.
Oh. The Joy of Learning English.
Great! You know, this is the book I've been waiting.
... for.
Huh?
It's the book you've been waiting for.
Why do I need to add "for"?
Because you wait "for" something.
You need the preposition after it.
But I've also heard "waiting" something without the for.
I think what you heard was "awaiting" something.
"Awaiting" is a different word.
Oh, awaiting.
So how are "wait" and "await" different?
Good question, Ken.
Why don't we have Doris answer this one.
The biggest difference between "wait" and "await" is that "wait" is intransitive
and "await" is transitive.
So for "wait," you have to add a preposition.
Also, "await" is more literary than "wait." In everyday conversation, we tend to
use "wait" a lot more.
I might say to you, "I'll wait for you," instead of: I'll await you.
OK. So "await" is more literary, huh?
Can you give me some examples?
Sure. We usually use "await" with something figurative.
For example, you can await someone's decision or await someone's arrival.
But we can never say "I'll await for you," can we?
No. We can only await someone or something because, like Doris said, await is a
transitive verb.
So you don't need a preposition after it.
So I've been awaiting the return of this book.
Right. And now your wait is over.
You want me to check that book out for you?
Yes, please.