【英语趣味课堂】特立尼达岛和多巴哥岛-Trinidad and Tobago

Todd: So CleAnn can you talk a little bit about your country?

CleAnn: Sure. My country is called officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. For short, Trinidad and Tobago. And even shorter, Trinidad. However, it is best to just say Trinidad and Tobago cause sometimes people from Tobago may get offended¹ if you just say Trinidad. People from my country are usually just called Trinidadians, but if you are, again, trying to be inclusive² of people from Tobago, we say Trinbagonians.

 

Todd: Trini-bagonians?

 

CleAnn: Trinbagonians.

 

Todd: It’s hard to pronounce.

 

CleAnn: Yeah, exactly. So sometimes we just say Trinidadians. But actually, although Tobago is extremely small. I mean, Trinidad is also small but Tobago is I think probably about 1/6 the size of Trinidad and it’s actually extremely important to the country as a whole because Tobago is our center for tourism. Trinidad doesn’t have much tourism. We are more industry and oil and gas based, but Tobago is very beautiful and is known for tourism, for its natural scenery, and it’s actually an ecotourism destination.

 

Todd: Oh really?

 

CleAnn: Yes.

 

Todd: So Tobago has, I take it, rain-forests and beaches and...

 

CleAnn: Yes, small rain-forests, beaches and there is a very famous place called the Nylon³ Pool. And it’s famous because it’s actually out in the middle of the sea but you can stand out there because the corals have risen to such a height that it’s close to the water. So boats take you out and then you can get off the boat and just stand out in the middle of the ocean on top of corals.

 

Todd: Oh, how nice.

 

CleAnn: It’s very nice and it’s white, just white coral. So it’s really gorgeous⁴.

 

Todd: Yeah, that must be beautiful.

 

CleAnn: Yes. It’s called the Nylon Pool because I think one of the British Monarchies⁵, someone from the British Royal Family, visited Trinidad some years...many years ago and said that the Nylon Pool actually looks like nylon. The water reminded her of nylon so it was named the Nylon Pool.

 

Todd: So if people go to Tobago on vacation, which island do they fly into?

 

CleAnn: They fly to Tobago if you’re going...if you’re coming from England, direct flights are from Tobago. There are no flights from Trinidad to England. Only we have to go to Tobago and then from Tobago to London. From the US, I think you have to come through Trinidad.

 

Todd: Actually how far apart are the islands from each other?

 

CleAnn: By plane, 15 minutes...or less.

 

Todd: So there’s like ferries that...?

 

CleAnn: Yeah, the ferry -- the fastest one right now is about 3 hours, but it’s not a very fast ferry at all. So there’s ferry, we have air transport of course to Tobago also. There's talk now of building a bridge but I don’t know how soon that will be done.

 

重点词汇：

 

Learn Vocabulary from the Lesson

for short

 

For short, we call our country Trinidad and Tobago.

 

When something or someone has a long name, we often shorten⁶ it by using only part of the word or phrase so that it is easier to say. Another word for this is “abbreviation”. Notice the following examples:

 

My full name is Bartholomew, but you can call me Bart for short.

Everyone just calls me “J” for short.

inclusive

 

If you are trying to be inclusive of people from Tobago, we say Trinbagonians.

 

Being inclusive means to include everyone or everything. In other words, everything or everyone can join in a particular group. Study the following examples:

 

The hotel we stayed at was all-inclusive, so drinks and food were included in the price.

We try to make our club inclusive so that everyone feels welcome.

scenery

 

Tobago is known for its natural scenery.

 

Scenery refers to the landscape you see when traveling. For example: mountains, deserts, lakes, rivers, and forests are different parts of the scenery. Look at the two examples below:

 

The mountain scenery in Switzerland is gorgeous.

If you drive through Costa Rica, you will see many different kinds of scenery.

ecotourism

 

Tobago is actually an ecotourism destination.

 

Ecotourism is tourism focused on natural areas. The money often helps to protect and conserve⁷ the plants and wildlife in the area. See the examples below:

 

I wouldn’t take a tour in a rain-forest unless it was an ecotourism project.

We took an ecotour through a wetland in Florida.

ferry

 

It’s not a very fast ferry at all.

 

A ferry is a boat or ship that carries people and often cars too. Usually the distance is short and there is service more than once a day. Notice the following examples:

 

We took a ferry out to the island. It took about 2 hours to get there.

I would much rather take a small plane than a ferry. I get seasick⁸ on ferry boats.

1 offended   

v.触怒( offend的过去式和过去分词 )；得罪；冒犯；使反感令人不适

参考例句：

• They'll be offended if you don't go to their wedding. 你若不参加他们的婚礼，他们会生气的。
• She was offended by the vulgarity of their jokes. 他们那些粗俗的笑话使她大为不快。

2 inclusive   

adj.(of)包括的，包含的；范围广的

参考例句：

• The bill is inclusive of the food and lodging.账单包括吃、住费用。
• It's an all inclusive price;there is nothing extra to pay.这是一个包罗一切的价格，不需再额外付款了。

3 nylon   

n.尼龙；尼龙长袜

参考例句：

• He dresses a nylon shirt.他穿着一件尼龙衬衫。
• How many products are made from nylon? 有多少种产品是由尼龙制造的？

4 gorgeous   

adj.华丽的，灿烂的，美丽的，宜人的，棒的

参考例句：

• The gorgeous costume added to the brilliance of the dance.华丽的服装使舞蹈更加光彩夺目。
• What a gorgeous day it is today!今天天气多好啊！

5 monarchies   

n. 君主政体, 君主国, 君主政治

参考例句：

• It cleared away a number of monarchies. 它清除了好几个君主政体。
• Nowadays, there are few monarchies left in the world. 现在世界上君主制的国家已经很少了。

6 shorten   

vt.弄短，缩小，减少

参考例句：

• Minor accidents can shorten the life of a car.小事故会缩短汽车寿命。
• My dress is too long I must shorten it.我的连衣裙太长了，我得把它截短些。

7 conserve   

vt.保存，保护，节约，节省，守恒，不灭

参考例句：

• He writes on both sides of the sheet to conserve paper.他在纸张的两面都写字以节省用纸。
• Conserve your energy,you'll need it!保存你的精力，你会用得着的！

8 seasick   

adj.晕船的

参考例句：

• When I get seasick,I throw up my food.我一晕船就呕吐。
• He got seasick during the voyage.在航行中他晕船。