【英语趣味课堂】一位受欢迎的民族英雄-A Popular Folk Hero

Shirley: Hi Jake, how are you today?

Jake: Good. How are you Shirley?

 

Shirley: Not too bad thanks. I thought we might talk about folk heroes today. I don’t really know much about American folk heroes, are there any that you have a favorite or...?

 

Jake: Actually my hometown in the United States happens to be known as one of the hometowns for Paul Bunyan.

 

Shirley: I think I’ve heard of that name but I don’t know anything about him.

 

Jake: Paul Bunyan was a lumberjack. Like, he would cut down trees and he was supposedly a very giant man. He was huge. And I don’t know if he ever actually lived sometime in the past, but maybe he was just a very large man but somehow the stories have been passed down to say that he was as large as a house or as large as a skyscraper². It completely depends on who you ask.

 

Shirley: Wow, so not sure whether he’s a mythical⁵ character or a real character.

 

Jake: No one really knows for sure.

 

Shirley: What did he do?

 

Jake: Well, some people say that he took his ax⁶ and he dragged it behind his back across the United States and he made the Mississippi river.

 

Shirley: So it’s a kind of story to explain why something exists.

 

Jake: That’s part of it. And also, he had a pet too. His pet is very famous.

 

Shirley: And what kind of pet?

 

Jake: His pet was an ox, but it wasn’t just an ordinary ox. It was a blue ox. And it was also oversized to fit with his size.

 

Shirley: What did his pet do?

 

Jake: Well his pet I think would just carry lumber¹ for him or something...

 

Shirley: So about when did this story start? When did Paul Bunyan become famous? Or when did people know about that story?

 

Jake: Well, I’m not exactly sure, but like your country, the United States is a very young country and has a very young history since the European settlers came there so I think it’s maybe from a couple hundred years ago, maybe at the most.

 

Shirley: Hmm. Ok.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

not too bad

 

“Not too bad” is a common response to the greeting and question, “How are you?” It is another way of saying “good”. It is also used to answer many other simple questions. Note the following example:

 

A: How was the movie?

B: Not too bad, but I thought it would be better.

 

folk hero

 

A folk hero is a real person or fictional⁷ character who is famous in a particular community or culture. See the examples below:

 

Santa Claus is a folk hero who is famous around the world.

In our small town, our local firefighter has become a folk hero for his bravery.

skyscraper

 

A skyscraper is a very tall building. It is called a skyscraper because it is so tall that it seems to scrape³, or scratch, against the sky. Notice the following examples:

 

We could see the entire city from the top floor of the skyscraper.

There are many new skyscrapers⁸ in Beijing.

mythical

 

A myth⁴ is a story that is often used to explain something. Usually, a myth is fictional, or untrue. Mythical is an adjective⁹ to describe something that comes from a fictional story. See the examples below:

 

A unicorn¹⁰ is a mythical animal.

There are many mythical characters in ancient Greek stories.

lumber

 

Lumber is what trees are called when they are cut into boards. Wood that has been prepared to be used for construction is called lumber. See the examples below:

 

One of the main exports in Canada is lumber.

I need to go to the hardware¹¹ store to buy some lumber.

1 lumber   

n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动

参考例句：

• The truck was sent to carry lumber.卡车被派出去运木材。
• They slapped together a cabin out of old lumber.他们利用旧木料草草地盖起了一间小屋。

2 skyscraper   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• The skyscraper towers into the clouds.那幢摩天大楼高耸入云。
• The skyscraper was wrapped in fog.摩天楼为雾所笼罩。

3 scrape   

v.勉强维持；刮擦；n.刮，擦；刮擦声；困境

参考例句：

• We don't have much money but we scrape along somehow.虽然我们没多少钱，但是还可以过得下去。
• The high mountains seem to scrape the sky.峻岭摩天。

4 myth   

n.神话，神话故事

参考例句：

• The story has points of resemblance to a Hebrew myth.这个故事与某个希伯来神话有相似之处。
• The story is a pure myth.这故事纯属虚构。

5 mythical   

adj.神话的；虚构的；想像的

参考例句：

• Undeniably,he is a man of mythical status.不可否认，他是一个神话般的人物。
• Their wealth is merely mythical.他们的财富完全是虚构的。

6 ax   

n.斧子

参考例句：

• He cut a hole through the wall with an ax.他用斧子在墙上砍出一个洞。
• He carried a large ax.他带了一把大斧。

7 fictional   

adj.小说的，虚构的

参考例句：

• The names of the shops are entirely fictional.那些商店的名字完全是虚构的。
• The two authors represent the opposite poles of fictional genius.这两位作者代表了天才小说家两个极端。

8 skyscrapers   

n.摩天大楼

参考例句：

• A lot of skyscrapers in Manhattan are rising up to the skies. 曼哈顿有许多摩天大楼耸入云霄。
• On all sides, skyscrapers rose like jagged teeth. 四周耸起的摩天大楼参差不齐。

9 adjective   

n.形容词；adj.形容词的，用作形容词的

参考例句：

• Don't apply that adjective to me.不要用那个字眼来形容我。
• The adjective loose has several senses. 形容词loose有几个义项。

10 unicorn   

n.(传说中的)独角兽

参考例句：

• The unicorn is an imaginary beast.独角兽是幻想出来的动物。
• I believe unicorn was once living in the world.我相信独角兽曾经生活在这个世界。

11 hardware   

n.重型武器；五金器具；硬件

参考例句：

• He bought a pot and other hardware at the store. 他从商店买了一个壶和其他金属制品。
• That family has carried on a hardware business for five generations.那家已经经营五金生意五代了。