节目资讯
刊物:空中英語教室
日期:2012-02-28
难易度:High
关键字:plunging, accessible, tuck, reservoir, salamander
(Music).
There certainly isn't a shortage of things to see at Zhangjiajie National Park.
It has over 300 points of interest covering an area of over 397 square
kilometers.
Now there are six major scenic spots and over 90 smaller ones.
OK, let's take a look now at page 51, line 13 and continue reading about
Zhangjiajie National Park.
(Music).
Zhangjiajie.
Tucked into the park, the small town has hotels, a bank, a post office, souvenir
shops and restaurants that serve local cuisine.
Suoxi Valley.
Like Zhangjiajie Forest Park, the Suoxi Valley landscape consists primarily of
woods and sandstone pillars.
The valley is home to many species of rare animals, including monkeys, leopards
and giant salamanders.
In the eastern part of the valley lies a network of caves.
In Yellow Dragon Cave, visitors can find cave formations, stone curtains and
nearly 100 passages along with brooks, ponds, waterfalls, a reservoir and
naturally formed halls.
The largest hall is 12,000 square meters, big enough to hold 10,000 people.
(Music).
All right. So we know that it is a place... resources for tourists.
That's right.
Tucked into the park, the small town has hotels, a bank, a post office, souvenir
shops and restaurants that serve local cuisine.
So we said that they are... it's a place, it's a village that can... is a good
resource for tourists.
And it seems like it has a lot of things there.
Yeah. There are a lot of resources that are tucked back here.
And the word "tucked" means it is hidden in something or hidden by something.
That's right. It's in a place that few people can get to or that few people go.
But now that it's a tourist destination, it may be tucked away, it may be
hidden, but people are finding it more often.
Right. And it's a town that has a lot of things to do.
It has hotels that you can stay at as well as places where you can get local
cuisine.
And local cuisine would be food that comes from the local culture or the local
people in that area as well as the local crops.
So you can try whatever food that most people in that area would eat.
That's right.
It really seems like there are a lot of beautiful things to see in Zhangjiajie
Forest Park.
But this national park has more than just the forest park in it.
We said there are three areas.
And now we're going to talk about the second one.
And that one is the Suoxi Valley.
Right. And it consists primarily of woods and sandstone pillars.
Now we learned that the pillars are those tall columns that come up from the
ground.
And they're made of sandstone because the rain has worn them away.
But this... this valley is made up mostly of these pillars.
Right. "Primarily," which means mostly or mainly, it has these pillars and also
woods, which is referring to areas with a lot of trees like a forest.
That's right.
Now we said earlier that this was a park that had a lot of rare animals that are
not found in all places as well as rare plants.
Well, this valley is home to many of the species of rare animals, including
monkeys, leopards and giant salamanders. Eww...
OK. Now these are all different species of animals.
And a specie is a certain group of animals or people.
And of course, here we're talking about things like monkeys, leopards.
But what is a giant salamander?
OK. Well, a "giant" means it's very large.
But a "salamander" is an animal that lives both on land and in the water.
It's kind of like a lizard, except it can live in the water and lizards can not.
Now have you ever seen a salamander?
Actually I've only seen salamanders on TV.
Well, when I was little, I used to play with salamanders in the creek, but never
giant salamanders like these.
Yeah. Now these giant salamanders can get very big, several feet long.
Wow! No, I... OK... That scares me just a little bit to know that these... these
animals even exist!
I'm... They're rare but, wow, special.
Yeah. So here's one reason right there to go visit Suoxi Valley to see some of
these incredible creatures.
Well, in the eastern part of the valley lies a network of caves.
Now this sounds exciting.
Yes. So "network" is referring to when things are connected.
Of course, there are caves, so you can go into the ground.
And these caves, Kaylah, I've heard they are very beautiful.
I imagine that they would be.
A whole network, so they're all connected.
You can go in one and travel through them to come out to another one.
That... that's very cool.
Well, the first one we're going to talk about is the Yellow Dragon Cave.
Yes. And in that cave you can find formations, stone curtains and nearly 100
passages along with brooks, ponds, waterfalls and a reservoir and naturally
formed halls.
OK. Wow! That's a long list of things you can find in this cave.
Let's go back to the beginning and talk about a stone curtain?
Yeah. Now a stone curtain is referring to a certain kind of formation in a cave,
which means it's a certain kind of shape.
In this case, Kaylah, it can look like or resemble a curtain.
OK, so they're stone curtains.
There are... what else, waterfalls?
There's a reservoir.
Right.
What's a "reservoir"?
And a "reservoir" is a pool of water, a very large pool of water that can form
in a cave.
So kind of like a lake?
Yeah, a little bit like an underground lake.
Oh. Well, that's exciting.
Now are reservoirs always underground?
No. Now a reservoir is not always underground.
It can be above ground as well.
It's simply referring to a place where a lot of water gathers, but it's not
usually quite as big as a lake.
OK. Well, that's... that's good to know.
But this also has a natural hall inside a cave.
Now we talked about passages, so those would be like hallways that you move
through.
But what would this natural hall be?
Well, a hall underground is basically like a large open space that is still
covered on top.
OK, so it's like a giant room.
Now in architecture, in our homes, in old, old homes, we would say you could
have a hall.
That's just a very large, large room where events happen.
So this would be exactly that - a large room.
Yeah. Now the largest hall is 12,000 square meters.
It's big enough to hold 10,000 people.
Now keep in mind, this is all underground.
This is an incredible network of caves.
And we're going to get to talk more about them, but I'd like to check in with
the Chat Room first.
Hey, Ken. How are you doing?
Oh, pretty good.
I'm reading an article about the Suoxi Valley in Hunan, China.
The article says it's home to many types of rare animals.
Cool. That sounds like a really interesting place.
I think so too.
But that sentence got me wondering what's the difference between saying a place
is home "to" something and saying it's the home "of" something.
Great question, Ken.
There are a few differences between them.
When you a place is home "to" something, that thing should be living, either an
animal or a human.
So a place can be home to animals like in the article, but I shouldn't say that
the library is home to a lot of books?
Right. But you can say a place is the home "of" just about anything, whether
it's alive or not.
Yeah. I saw a restaurant that called itself the home of the two-foot-long hot
dog.
That's a great example.
Restaurants and businesses write things like this on advertisements a lot.
Hey, you mentioned that there were some other differences between home to and
home of.
There's also a difference in grammar.
"Home to" doesn't need an article like an or the.
So I should say "this city is home to thousands of people," not "this city is
the home to thousands of people"?
You're right.
But when "home of" appears in a sentence, you need to use "the" like when you
mentioned that restaurant is "the" home of the two-foot-long hot dog.
Cool. I read a line in a guidebook that said all kinds of people call New York
City home.
That's another way of saying that they live there, right?
Right. But that phrase can be used for animals as well.
You could say: Many types of rare animals call the Suoxi Valley home.
But like the phrase "home to," you can't use, call "home" to talk about things
that aren't alive.
Well, thanks for your help.
Talking with you helps me learn even more from these articles.
No problem, Ken.
I like learning about these interesting places.
(Chinese).
(Chinese).
And that concludes our Language Tips today.
I'll see you tomorrow.
Bye-bye.
Thank you very much, Michelle, for your helpful tips.
OK. "Suoxi Gu" means foggy valley in the Tuija dialect.
The Tuija, the Miao and the Bai are three of the main ethnic minority peoples
living in the Wulingyuan area.
Well, the total population of all the minority peoples in the area reaches
around seven million people.
So you can't help but run into them when you visit this area.
With their special foods, clothing and culture, the ethnic minorities definitely
add a unique flavor to the Zhangjiajie travel experience.
Now if you're thinking about going, why not plan to stay overnight in an ethnic
minority home!
OK, friends, be sure to join us tomorrow when we head out of the forest and up
Tianzi Mountain.
Have a great Tuesday.
Bye-bye.