节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-01-07
难易度:Medium
关键字:surrounding, well-established, rugged, stunning, bush, excursion
(Music).
Hello, everybody.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Thanks for joining us today.
There's a special word in English to describe the trip people take to Africa
when visiting nature and looking at the big and dangerous wild animals.
Have you ever heard of the word?
Safari, s-a-f-a-r-i.
This word comes from the Swahili language of eastern Africa.
And it means tour or expedition.
That's right. Going further back, we find that the Swahili-speaking people
borrow this word from Arab traders.
The Arabic word "safar" means journey.
And now you know.
OK. Let's continue our safari through Kruger National Park with today's lesson
beginning over on the bottom right side of page 17.
(Music).
Kruger National Park: It's Wild.
At the Olifants Camp, you can explore the surrounding bush by mountain bike.
The bike trails allow cyclists to be closer to nature than the usual game drive.
All rides are guided and limited to six people.
And the mountain bikes are included in the excursion cost!
Depending on the route you take, each trip is three to four hours.
If you want a more thrilling adventure, plan a trip on a four-wheel drive trail.
The longest and most well-established trail is the Lebombo Motorized Eco Trail.
(Music).
Hello, friends.
Thank you so much for joining us.
My name is Ryan.
And my name is Kaylah.
And today we are finishing our adventure at Kruger National Park.
That's right.
Yesterday we were talking a lot about places you can stay and the ways you can
see Kruger.
And now we're going to continue talking about the different adventures you can
have.
So yesterday we knew we could maybe take a walk or hire a guide or you could get
a map.
That's right. Just get a map and do it yourself, and like I said, hope for the
best.
Or, at the Olifants Camp, you can explore the surrounding bush by mountain bike.
Ooh! Now this does sound like a lot of fun.
It's a unique way to explore the area; or here it says, the mountain bush.
Now Kaylah, we're not just talking about one bush, right?
Nope. When we refer to "bush" in the wild, that means all of the thick plants in
a certain area.
So trees, bushes, flowers, grass, all of it that is really collected.
That would be considered the bush.
Right. And a "surrounding" bush, which means it is all around you.
In the word "surround," you can actually hear the word "around" a little bit.
And so it is referring to anything that is all around you; the bush that is all
around.
And you can explore that by a mountain bike in this elephant park.
Well, the bike trails allow cyclists to be closer to nature than the usual game
drive.
So it allows you to be a part of the environment.
Yeah. And you're not just in a car like most of the time you're going on a
guided car tour, now you're out on a bike.
That's right. Right there in nature, you're right up next to it.
Although the game drives are a great option, if you are physically ready and
able, a bike could be a fun adventure.
That's right. Now all rides are guided and limited to six people.
So I'm hoping they have a lot of different tour guides, Ryan, because six people
is a small group.
But that makes it wonderful to experience because you can take your time.
You go as a group.
You get to ask questions along the way.
This would be an... a very great experience.
Yes, it would.
Yeah, and it's good thing it's limited.
Of course, the word "limited" means that that is the most you can have.
Only six people can come in a group.
And it's a good thing that, you know, in case there are too many people,
it might be hard if some people are not as strong or want to go in different
directions.
So it's a good thing you'd have a small group.
You know, maybe, Ryan, if you feel up to it,
you could do both a drive and a mountain bike ride so you can see that
difference in the two different ways to experience the park.
Yeah, why not? See the park in more ways.
Now the mountain bikes here are included in the excursion cost!
OK. So a mountain bike is the bike you need on these trails because you're not
driving on a paved road, you are on dirt.
And there's lots of rocks and ditches and roots that might be in the way,
so a mountain bike is made to go over those well, to not break when you go
through that.
But they're kind of expensive.
Yeah. Most of the time mountain bikes are really expensive.
They have special tires and special parts on them so that they can withstand the
rough terrain.
And those, of course, are expensive parts.
But you would want to have that if you were going on an excursion in Kruger.
That's right. And an "excursion" is a short journey that is usually made for
pleasure, often by groups of people.
So this is exactly that.
It is a short trip, a short journey to experience something in a small group of
people.
And you're going have to pay for the guide and the excursion.
But luckily, the bike is included in that fee.
That's right.
Usually these trips aren't too cheap, and so here it's actually a good thing.
You're not just getting the tour, you're also getting a bike to use.
Now, depending on the route you take, each trip is three to four hours long.
So that's a pretty lengthy... a good trip.
So you can do in the morning or in the afternoon still be... have some free time
in the day.
Yeah, it's a good thing it's not any longer because I don't think I would be
able to stay on my bike for three to four hours.
Well, I'm sure with all the incredible terrain and different animals around,
you would want to stay out there as long as you can to experience it.
Now this is all offered at Olifants Elephant Park.
That's right.
Now if you want a more thrilling adventure, plan a trip on a four-wheel drive
trail.
Ooh.
Now Ryan, this would probably be the way I would do it.
I love going on four-wheel drive trails.
Yes. Four-wheel drive is referring to a type of vehicle that it has four wheels,
but four-wheel drive means that power is given to all four wheels so it can
drive easily over rough terrain.
Now right before I left America, I got to experience some four-wheel drive
trails in my home state of Colorado.
And it is so exciting to drive a vehicle up and over rocks and logs.
And here you could do that in Africa!
Yeah, you get to see the amazing scenery of Africa and the incredible animals
while going on this incredible adventure.
Now the longest and most well-established trail is the Lebombo Motorized Eco
Trail.
So it's an "eco trail," which means it's still friendly to the environment even
though it's motorized.
So they do make sure that it does not hurt the environment around it with
human's pollution.
Rather, it becomes part of it.
They use it to educate people, really.
Yeah, so it's a good thing.
It's one of the most well-known trails, which means that many people know about
it.
It is very famous, you could say.
And it's a good thing that an eco trail is famous.
And when you say it's "well-established," that means it is famous.
It is created, and we all know where it is.
Right, well-known, exactly.
So here you can visit this trail, get some adventure, and maybe see some
wildlife as well.
Join us after the break as we wrap up this article.
But first, let's go to the Chat Room.
Hey, thanks for inviting me to dinner last night.
You're welcome, Ken.
I'm glad you got to meet my friend Matt.
I sure did.
He really is a great guy.
I'm glad you got to know him a little bit.
He is one of my closest friends.
Your closest friend?
But I thought you said Matt lived across the country far from here.
No, I didn't mean that he's always near me.
The word "close" can also mean that you have a strong relationship.
OK.
You know, that reminds me of my friend who likes to describe our church as a
close-knit community.
That's a similar usage.
A group of people is close-knit when most of them are connected to each other by
close relationships.
OK. Well, thanks for introducing me to your close friend Matt.
He had a lot of interesting stories to tell.
Yeah. That story he told about the rhinoceros chasing his mountain bike was
really exciting.
He definitely had a close shave there.
Uh, you lost me again.
What does his beard have to do with anything?
Ken, "close shave" is an idiom.
It means that it was dangerous and something bad almost happened, but things
worked out in the end.
Is that similar to a "close call"?
Yes. A close call and a close shave mean exactly the same thing.
OK. That's easy.
I'm glad that Matt didn't get hurt during all the close shaves he had on
vacation.
Me too.
But I must admit, his close calls with wild animals are some of the funniest
stories I've ever heard.
Same here.