节目资讯
刊物:空中英语教室
日期:2012-01-20
难易度:Low
关键字:set someone apart, junior, preparation, medal, Olympic


























00:00
















09:45





















(Music).
She's an international hero from South Korea.
In 2010, she was named one of "the world's most influential people" by Time
Magazine.
Welcome, everybody, to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
My name is Steve.
And my name is Kaylah.
Today we are talking about 21-year-old Yuna Kim.
She has made a name for herself as one of the most successful figure skaters
ever.
So, what exactly does Kim have that separates her from other world-class
skaters?
Well, her coaches tell us it's Kim's muscles and body structure, which are
perfect for skating.
Judges say it's her strong technical skill, mature artistry, elegance and
strength.
Now let's open to page 37 and learn how all these things came together to put
Kim on the road to Olympic gold.
(Music).
Yuna Kim - South Korea's "Queen of Figure Skating".
The road to Olympic gold.
At 14, Kim was landing what some believed were the best triple jumps in the
world!
But it wasn't just her jumps that set her apart.
No one could match her speed.
Meanwhile, Kim was regularly winning her events.
By 2006, her coach realized that Kim needed more help than he could provide.
So the young skater and her mother moved to Canada.
There, Kim began working with former champion figure skater Brian Orser.
(Music).
Hello. Thank you for joining us.
My name is Ryan.
And my name is Kaylah.
Thank you for coming back as we're talking about Yuna Kim, South Korea's "Queen
of Figure Skating".
That's right.
Yesterday we were talking about how she got her start at the age of 6 when her
coach realized that she was special.
He realized she was special at 6.
And then at 10, she landed her first triple jump, which is a very complicated
figure skating move.
And then at 12, she won her first international competition.
That's right. She won her first competition from... with people competing from
around the world.
Well, today we are now looking at what she did at age 14.
That's right.
This is the road to Olympic gold.
This is her journey.
We talked about a journey being the way you progress in life.
So it is her road to becoming Olympic gold medalist.
Yeah. In English, you can often use the phrase "down the road" to be referring
to the future.
The word "road" can be referring to time as well.
And this road was leading to her Olympic gold.
Now the "Olympics" are an international competition that happens every four
years.
There are the Summer Olympics and the Winter Olympics.
Now ice skating is on ice, so it takes place at the Winter Olympics.
Yes. And people come from around the world to compete in the Olympics.
And it's wonderful to see such good athletes.
Usually people who compete in... in the Olympics are very, very good athletes,
the best.
That's right.
The last Winter Olympics was in Vancouver in 2010.
And we'll see that she did compete there.
Yes. And we see now at the age of 14, Kim was landing what some believed were
the best triple jumps in the world.
Remember, this is a difficult move.
That's right.
And if she started doing these jumps at 10, she's only been working on them for
four years.
Some skaters spend their entire lives skating, working for this kind of jump.
Now she is considered the best in the world at a such an incredibly young age.
Yes, that is a really young age.
A lot of Olympic figure skaters are young, but she was considered the best.
She could do that jump better than anyone else in the world.
Now even though they're young, Ryan, not any of them are as young as Yuna Kim
has been in her road,
her journey of how incredible she is at this young of an age.
Oh, yeah. For her age, she was definitely the best!
Mmhm.
And her jumps were definitely the best as well.
Well, you know, it wasn't just her jumps.
You know, there was more to her that really can set her apart.
Ooh, that's true.
It wasn't just the jumps.
Um, to be "set apart" means you are better than the rest or special.
Usually it's referring to um, if you are different, but if you're usually
better.
That's right. So you can be set apart.
Maybe in school you have very good grades, so you could be set apart from other
people.
Maybe you get more scholarship money or you get to choose a school differently
because you are set apart; you are different then.
Right. She was unique.
But she wasn't unique just because she was different. She was better.
She was one of the best figure skaters of her time.
Now no one could match her speed.
That's right.
So we see her jumping made her special, but that wasn't the only thing.
No one, no one in the ice skating could match the speed that she skated at on
ice.
Now Kaylah, this scares me a little bit because ice is not soft at all.
So people are flying across the ice moving very quickly.
She is one of the fastest, and she's one of the better jumpers.
If there's anything I don't think I would want to do on ice, it's jump.
And I don't think I'd like to go fast.
So she's an incredible skater.
Now there is debate in ice skating, whether speed... how important speed really
is.
What makes Yuna's... Yuna Kim's speed so special is that it is so incredibly
fast, and she keeps that speed.
She doesn't... slow down and go fast throughout her routines.
A lot of times people slow down before a jump, she doesn't.
That scares me even more.
And she continues to improve.
Now meanwhile, Kim was regularly winning her events.
So she was learning her jumps, she was doing incredible speed in competitions,
and she was winning competitions all over the world while she worked on these.
And that's the word "meanwhile" means - is it's happening at the same time.
So even though we're talking about her jumps being incredible and her speed
being fast, she, at the same time, was winning events.
Well, by 2006, her coach realized that Kim needed more help than he could
provide.
Now this is a really good coach for him to see she has such incredible talent
and he wants her to do well,
so he lets her find... helps her find another coach.
Yeah, and so the young skater and her mother moved to Canada.
That's right.
Canada is very famous for ice skating.
It's a colder country, so they do it a lot of the time.
My mom is Canadian.
She grew up ice skating.
It's a very popular and famous sport in Canada.
Yeah. And so it's a great place for them to move to get better training.
And so even though her coach had helped her become a sensation at the age of 14,
she still wanted more.
She needed to continue improving.
That's right.
There in Canada, Kim began working with former champion figure skater Brian
Orser.
Yes. Brian Orser was a former champion.
The word "former" means he had done something before - so he had won in
competitions before.
And that would be a smart person to get advice from.
Well, we're going to take a break.
Before we come back, let's watch today's skit.
Welcome back.
Ms. Kim is still in her warm up.
And we are just getting started on her story.
We are discussing her road to the Olympics.
Yuna is a talented girl, so much so that at age 14, she was set apart from other
skaters by her ability to land some of the best triple jumps in the world.
Not only that, but she skates at an incredible speed.
With all of her international competitive wins, her coach could see that she had
the talent to be the best.
But her coach knew she needed more.
So she moved to Canada to work with former Olympic skater Brian Orser.
A few months later, Yuna Kim won the Junior World Championship.
She continued to win multiple competitions.
But her greatest accomplishment was...
Breaking the Olympic record to win the gold medal!
Hey, that was my line.
Sorry, I gotexcited...