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Spartan Races 斯巴達障礙賽(上)
空中英語教室 20241101
Spartan Races 斯巴達賽跑或斯巴達障礙賽。 這是一種結合跑步和障礙挑戰的賽事，旨在測試參賽者的體能和意志力。
修正英文文法，保留中文部分，同時將簡體中文修改為繁體中文 Sure! Here’s the revised text with corrected grammar and traditional Chinese characters:
Hey friends,
Welcome to Studio Classroom! I’m John.
My name is Ann Marie,
and today is a great day to learn something new. That’s right!
So let’s do that together, friends.
I’m glad you’re here today because we’re talking about a special
and kind of dangerous type of race
called the Spartan Race. Ann Marie,
have you ever been in a race like a marathon before?
Oh, well,
actually, I’ve done Let’s Run before,
which some of our listeners or viewers may be familiar with.
It’s a 6k or 11k race
that our company puts on every year for charity.
That’s right! So there are all kinds of different races.
Some of them are for fun,
and some of them are really to push your limits.
But what in the world is a Spartan Race?
Let’s find out together!
Spartan races—are you ready to be pushed to your limits?
Long ago, Sparta,
an ancient city in Greece,
became known for its brave and powerful warriors.
Spartan boys, taken away from home to be trained
around the age of 7,
were taught discipline,
physical fitness,
battle skills,
and to obey orders. The training program, called Agoge,
lasted until the young men were around 30
and was meant to produce warriors who were unbreakable,
both mentally and physically.
Hi everyone! Welcome to Language Lab.
I’m Jack. 我們先來看“discipline”這個名詞，它的意思是紀律或訓練。
譬如，“The art teacher encouraged daily
practice and emphasized discipline as the key
to improvement.” 美術老師鼓勵每天練習，並強調紀律是進步的關鍵。
或者，“Staying on a healthy diet requires discipline, but the benefits are worth it.”
保持健康飲食需要紀律，但這樣做的好處是值得的。
“Discipline”也可以當作動詞，
譬如，“Vera disciplined herself to wake up early every day
to write, even on weekends.”
Vera 訓練自己每天早起寫作，即使是在週末也是這樣。
Okay, when you’re competing in an event,
are you ever pushed to your limits?
That’s our question for today.
For you, are you ready to be pushed to your limits?
We all know what a push is, right?
The limit is the edge of something,
so being pushed to your limits means to do as much as possible
or to go to the extreme of something. That’s right!
We often use this phrase to talk about what happens
when someone reaches a point
that they can’t handle anymore. Here’s an example:
“He was pushed to his limits
and lost his temper.” So in this situation,
what was happening
was someone was making this person angry,
and he was able to hold it in,
and then at one point,
he was just pushed to his limits. That’s right!
You can be pushed to all kinds of limits. Today,
we are talking about
being pushed to your physical and mental limits,
and it is all because of a special race
called a Spartan Race. Now we read a little bit about the city
of Sparta.
Yeah, right here!
We see long ago, Sparta,
an ancient city in Greece,
became known for its brave and powerful warriors.
We see that word “warriors” here, friends.
Now a warrior is a brave or experienced
soldier or fighter.
That’s right! You know the word “war,” right?
A warrior is someone who participates in a war,
and you could say,
“The warriors fought against the invading army.” Warriors normally
fight, right?
That’s right!
So here we learned about the Spartan warriors.
They were trained at a young age.
We read, “Spartan boys taken away from home to be trained
around the age of seven
were taught discipline,
physical fitness,
battle skills, and to obey orders.” Wow!
Seven years old!
Can you imagine sending your kids away at seven?
That is so young!
Not only that, they were trained in physical fitness.
Now you might be familiar with this term, friends,
because a lot of times in school,
you’ll have a physical fitness test,
and a physical fitness test is to see how you perform
certain physical tasks.
And a lot of these tasks have to do with sports, your occupation,
or maybe some type of daily activities to see how well
your body can manage it.
That’s right!
So the opposite of physical is sometimes mental—
something that’s just in your mind. But if it’s physical,
it’s something your body does. Now here,
they’re being trained physically to fight.
They learn battle skills,
and this is called a training program.
It has a special Greek name.
It’s called Agoge,
and it lasted until the young men were around 30
and was meant to produce warriors who were unbreakable,
both mentally and physically. Wow!
I know people train until 30 to become a doctor
or something like that. Yeah!
I’m doing the math here, and if I’m correct,
that means that these warriors are training for 23 years.
Wow! To be able to be a Spartan warrior, that’s pretty crazy!
Yeah! And here
we have a very important word you need to know:
“produce.” We’re trying to produce warriors.
“Produce” just means to make or to manufacture from raw material,
so you take something that was not the other thing
and you produce that new thing. That’s right!
We also see the word “unbreakable” here in this sentence.
If something is unbreakable,
it just means that it’s not able to be broken. Now,
this could be said for things that are physical
or for things
that are not tangible—things that you can’t see or touch.
For example,
you could say, “The girl and her dog had an unbreakable
bond.” All right, friends,
we have more to learn in just a moment.
Let’s get into our next reading.
Spartan races—
realistically speaking,
Spartan training was incredibly harsh and brutal,
but some Spartan principles, such as discipline,
emotional control,
honor, and courage, are still important today.
They have been incorporated into the exercise
realm in Spartan races.
These fitness
competitions are a grueling type of obstacle course (OCR)
and are all the rage these days. In fact,
Spartan races have been called the world’s premier
obstacle course race.
接下來看副詞“realistically”，
意思是實際的、現實的。
例如，“Realistically, we can’t finish the project in two days,
so we need to change our plan.”
實際上，我們無法在兩天內完成這個專案，
所以我們需要改變計劃。
或者，“TED wanted to travel around the world,
but realistically, he knew that saving up enough money would take a few years.”
TED想要環遊世界，
但現實上，他知道要花幾年時間才能存足夠的錢。
“Realistically”的形容詞是“realistic”，
意思呢是逼真的。
例如，“The special effects in the movie
were so realistic that the audience felt
as if they were in another world.”
電影中的特效非常逼真，
觀眾感覺仿佛置身在另一個世界。
再來看“realm”這個名詞，
意思是領域或範圍。
譬如，“Stepping off the busy sidewalk,
Martha entered the peaceful realm of the park.”
Martha離開了繁忙的人行道，
進入寧靜的公園。
或者，“From the realm of his imagination,
Jim created puppets for a new show that became a hit.”
Jim憑自己的想像力，
為一個新節目創造了木偶，
該節目一炮而紅。
或者，“The political realm
requires constant negotiations with many different interest groups.”
政治界需要不斷與許多不同的利益團體
進行談判。
Okay, we read about the Spartans,
but why are we still
remembering them?
Because as we read,
realistically speaking,
Spartan training was incredibly harsh and brutal.
We’ve got two really good vocabulary words to know there.
So what’s the difference between “harsh” and “brutal”?
“Harsh” means unpleasant.
You could say, “The conditions were really harsh.”
“Brutal” means violent,
and it can also be inhumane.
You don’t want to treat your pets brutally, right?
So “harsh” and “brutal”—how can we use that in a sentence?
Well, if something is very harsh,
we often use it to talk about conditions.
So you could say, “I don’t like living too close to the equator
because the heat is so harsh in the summer.”
But actually, we can use the word “brutal”
if we want that feeling to be even stronger.
“The weather is brutal today”
has the idea that the sun is so hot
that it is probably even going to burn you. That’s right!
Well, we also have some more vocab here.
We read that some Spartan principles,
such as discipline,
emotional control,
honor, and courage, are still important today.
So we call these Spartan principles.
“Principles” are beliefs that control your actions. That’s right!
And we read here
that they have been incorporated into the exercise
realm in Spartan races.
These fitness competitions are a grueling type of obstacle
course race.
Let’s stop there for a minute
and talk about a few things in this sentence. First,
we see that word “grueling.”
How would we describe what that means?
Well, “grueling” means it’s really extremely tiring and demanding.
So something
that really makes you tired—a race could be really grueling.
And what kind of a race?
An obstacle course. An obstacle course is a really special,
really fun kind of race. Yeah!
An obstacle course is a series of challenging physical obstacles
that someone has to go through.
So the idea is that these different obstacles are different,
and there’s some type of barrier to keep you from
getting to the next step.
So as you move through the obstacle course,
you’re having to overcome one challenge after another.
You know, sometimes we just use that word by itself, don’t we?
You could say, “Being on my phone was an obstacle to focusing on my studies.”
Right! You know an obstacle course race—
though I think of my house as an obstacle course.
Sometimes I can see
why you would think that. I’ve been to your house before!
Yeah, there are toys all over the floor, there’s a mess,
there are chairs—
so even just getting to the kitchen can be an obstacle.
How fun kids have playing at your house!
Oh, not that your house is messy. Yeah.
Well, there are fun obstacle courses,
and then there are challenging, grueling obstacle courses.
So we also learned that
this kind of obstacle course is all the rage these days,
and that’s a fun phrase. “All the rage” means everybody
is talking about it,
and everybody thinks it’s interesting.
That’s right! “All the rage”
makes me think of fashion trends. When I was growing up,
Guinea jeans were all the rage,
but these days it seems that baggy jeans are all the rage.
Fashions are always changing, aren’t they? But we read on here,
in fact, Spartan races have been called the world’s premier
obstacle course race. Yeah!
“Premier” just means the number one,
kind of the best thing. Well, friends,
do you think Spartan races are all the rage?
We’ll have to find out more about what
exactly they are, but now it’s time for today’s InfoCloud.
Hello everyone!
Welcome to InfoCloud. Long ago,
some of the most powerful warriors in the world
came from the area that we call Greece today.
The best ones were from the city of Sparta.
Oh, I’ve heard of them! Isn’t there a movie about their battles?
Yes, there’s a famous story of 300 Spartans fighting off
a whole army of Persians.
Though they were defeated, the way they fought helped the Greeks win the larger war. That’s not all the Spartans are known for, though, right?
Hmm, it isn’t. Today, we still use the adjective "Spartan" in our everyday speech. The Spartans were famous warriors, but they also lived very simple lives so they could dedicate themselves to preparing for war.
That’s right! So someone who leads a Spartan lifestyle has a simple life and might own very few possessions. They only keep the things that are essential; everything else is just extra—it’s unnecessary.
I guess that means we can describe simple things as "Spartan" too. Like, you could say, “The room is very Spartan.”
Exactly! One other aspect of a Spartan lifestyle is discipline. You focus on improving your mind and body to make yourself a better person.
Is that what the ancient Spartans did?
That’s what people say. They focused on training for battle and didn’t care much for acquiring treasures.
I think a true Spartan lifestyle would be difficult for many people today.
I agree, but it’s a reminder that sometimes less is more, and living simply can bring clarity and peace.
Spartan 一個人的生活相當簡單，物欲也相當低，過得相當有紀律 我們經常聽到人們形容一些訓練相當的Spartan，也就是斯巴達式的。但是呢，這到底是什麼意思呢？經常跟大家討論Spartan這個用語。Spartan如果當作名詞使用，那就代表古代的斯巴達人。這些Spartan骁勇善戰，他們過的是極簡生活，每天都是為了戰鬥訓練和打仗而活。當一個人的生活相當簡單，物欲也相當低，過得相當有紀律，你就可以說他們的生活是一種Spartan lifestyle，斯巴達式的生活風格。
當一樣東西非常的簡樸，你也可以用Spartan來形容。例如，“This room is very Spartan” 這個房間非常的簡約。這就是今天的 InfoCloud，我們下次云端見！
Spartan races Some people are making a move away from marathons, opting instead for Spartan races, which they consider more exciting and challenging. Indeed, Spartan races are designed to push competitors to their mental and physical limits. In addition to running a distance race, each person must complete a minimum of 20 obstacles.
最後來看片語。In addition to 意思是除了什麼以外。例如，“The park offers hiking trails in addition to a peaceful lake for swimming and an area for picnics.” 公園除了有一條健行步道外，還有一個可以游泳的寧靜湖泊與一個野餐區。或者是，“In addition to the main presentation, there will be a time for questions.” 除了主要演講外，還會有提問時間。或者是，“Bart studies history in addition to working part-time at a local bookstore.” Bart除了學習歷史外，還在當地一家書店兼職。
All right, last time we read that Spartan races are all the rage—they’re the new popular race. But before Spartan races, marathons were thought of as the most difficult race. But now we read that some people are making a move away from marathons, opting instead for Spartan races.
Um, okay, so let’s talk about some of that vocab. First of all, “making a move” means an action of leaving or taking off.
But how else can we use that?
Yeah, if you make a move, it has the idea that you do something in a big way or you do something to put yourself in a different position. Some people make moves at work; it just means that they do something to get the boss’s attention or do something to make a big change.
But we do also see that word “marathon” in this sentence, and we’ve been talking about that a little bit throughout this lesson. But let’s define it here so we don’t get confused anymore. A marathon is a long-distance race, and it strictly won that lasts 26 miles.
So a lot of times you’ll hear people talk about marathons or half marathons—they’re talking about a very specific distance that they’re running.
That’s right! Ernest Finder told me that the first marathon was actually run by a Greek soldier after a battle called the Battle of Marathon. So that’s where it gets its name.
But people are moving away from marathons, and they’re opting instead for Spartan races. “Opting” comes from that word “option”—when you have choices, right? But what’s the definition of opting?
So if you opt for something, it means that you make a choice from a range of possibilities. You often hear people use this phrase when there are a lot of different things to choose from, but they specifically go with one particular choice.
Oh, so I could say, “I opted for a hamburger instead of a salad.” Both were a choice.
Well, friends, we’ve got to keep going here. We read that Spartan races, which they consider more exciting or challenging. So those are two words. “Exciting” means your emotions; “challenging” is often like physically demanding.
Then we read, “Indeed, Spartan races are designed to push competitors to their mental and physical limits.” Okay, we already learned about being pushed to your limits, and we see that again right here.
That’s right! We also see this word “competitors.” Friends, someone who is a competitor is someone who takes part in some type of physical challenge or in just some type of game as well. If you’re used to watching game shows on TV, the people who are competing are called competitors.
So we can use this word in a few different ways. We read on here, “In addition to running a distance race, each person must complete a minimum of 20 obstacles.” So a marathon is just competing in a distance race; however, a Spartan race includes the marathon, yes, but it also includes obstacles as well—a minimum of 20.
Wow, okay, so this makes it a lot more challenging. Obstacles are things that you have to overcome. We already learned that a minimum means the least amount possible or the smallest amount required.
Here’s a question for you, John: What’s the minimum amount of coffee you need to drink in a day?
Oh wow, for me, I like to drink one cup of coffee in the morning and then maybe one in the afternoon.
Okay, I have little kids, so that’s probably not good medical advice for you. Okay, a minimum for me is at least one cup of coffee a day.
All right, friends, well, we have more to learn right now with Ernest Finder in today’s Fun Fact.
Hello, fact friends! I am Detective Ernest Finder, and I have a fun fact for you. Today, did you know that “Spartan” is an adjective that means simple and without comfort?
Is this a Spartan place? You might ask. So if a place is uncomfortable and you don’t want to be rude, call it Spartan! Haha, that would sound a lot cooler. You could go to a place and say, “Oh, it’s pretty Spartan, huh?” And that is today’s fun fact.
Well, we’ve been learning about Spartan races. They definitely sound grueling. Now, I have a question for you.
Okay, we’re talking about pushing limits, right?
That’s right! Have you ever had to push your own limits to accomplish something? Explain.
That’s our “Talk About It” question!
Okay, I’m going to use an example that talks about pushing my mental limits because this makes me think of all of our English learners out there. When I was in language school learning Chinese, wow, my mental limits were really, really pushed! I took classes full-time for over a year, and I was so tired at the end of the day from thinking in another language.
So keep going, guys! You’ve got it! I know you’re really pushing your limits out there.
That’s right! Push your limits, friends. Hopefully, we can see you tomorrow to talk more about this amazing topic. For now, I’m John. I’m Ann Marie.
We’ll see you next time right here on Studio Classroom. Proud to have you in my life!
Spartan Races 斯巴達障礙賽(下) 空中英語教室 20241102
修正英文文法，保留中文部分，同時將簡體中文修改為繁體中文
Sure! Here’s the corrected version with simplified Chinese converted to traditional Chinese:
Hey friends, welcome back to Studio Classroom! I’m John.
My name is Ann Marie.
And today is a great day to learn something new! Our topic today for you is Spartan races. Yesterday, Ann Marie and I were talking about these grueling races. They sound very challenging, and they come from a certain city, right?
That’s right! We learned about people who were called Spartan warriors. These are people who were trained from the age of 7 until they were 30 to do very grueling and brutal physical tasks.
That’s right! They were trained from seven years old to be warriors—people who could fight. And the training was supposed to make them unbreakable, meaning they’re not going to give up or break.
But we learned that there’s a really fun and very demanding race that you and I can do. It’s called a Spartan race, and it will definitely push you to your limits!
That’s right! It’s different from a normal marathon, which just includes distance running. Spartan races include running but also have a minimum of 20 obstacles.
Wow, 20 obstacles! Why do people like Spartan races?
Well, we’ll have to read together to find out right now!
Spartan races—there are many different Spartan races that are suitable for everyone, from first-time racers to more experienced athletes. Beginners often start with the Spartan Sprint, a roughly 5km run with around 20 obstacles.
Another popular level is the Spartan Beast, which features a run of about 20 km with around 35 obstacles. These obstacles include wall climbing, rope climbing, spear throwing, bucket carrying, log carrying, chain carrying, walking across a balance beam, and so much more!
Hi everyone, welcome to Language Lab!
I’m Jack. 首先我們來看 "roughly" 這個副詞，意思是大約、大致的。例如：
"The population of the town is roughly five thousand people, although it grows during tourist season."
這個小鎮的人口大約是5,000人，但在旅遊季節期間會增加。
或者是：
"Paul needs roughly two hours to complete his daily workout routine."
Paul大約需要兩個小時來完成他的日常鍛煉。
或者是：
"Roughly translated, the saying means welcome in ancient Sanskrit."
粗略的翻譯這句話在古梵語中的意思是歡迎。
接著來看 "spear" 這個名詞，它的意思是矛或是標槍。例如：
"The fisherman used long spears to catch the fish that were swimming in the river."
漁民用長矛捕捉河裡的魚。
或者是：
"The warrior ran into battle, his spear shining in the morning sun."
這位戰士奔向戰場，他的長矛在晨曦中閃閃發亮。
"spear" 如果當作動詞，是指用矛來刺，例如：
"The fisherman speared several fish that were swimming in the river and cooked them for dinner."
漁民用魚叉刺到幾條在河中游來游去的魚，並把它們煮了當晚餐吃。
Okay, Spartan races—what are they? Well, first we read that there are many different Spartan races that are suitable for everyone, from first-time racers to more experienced athletes.
Oh, okay! So there are different kinds. What does that term "suitable" mean?
Yeah, well, if something is suitable for something, it means that it’s right or appropriate for a particular person, a particular purpose, or a particular situation.
I see! So I could use that even with weather. I could say, "The weather today is not suitable for playing soccer."
Right! "Suitable" is one that you definitely should know. It sounds like people from all ages and different athletic abilities can do this race.
How? That’s good! I don’t want to do something too crazy, but I do want to try a Spartan race.
Well, if you’re a beginner, here’s where you start. We read right here that beginners often start with the Spartan Sprint. Now, what is a sprint?
A sprint means that you are running at full speed for a short distance. Now, we kind of looked this up ahead of time, and it seems like the smallest Spartan race, that sprint, is about 5k.
Oh, okay! For me, that’s a pretty significant distance. You will definitely sweat if you do a Spartan race! That word "sprint" is one you should know in different situations.
There are definitely Olympic events that are sprints—they’re short races where people go super fast. You could also say, "Running into the store to buy the new shoes was a sprint. I had to race against my brother," or something like that.
But the sprint we call that a 5k or 5km. And then we also read about another level of difficulty.
That’s right! Another popular level is the Spartan Beast. Now, I really like this term because we often use it to describe a very specific type of person. We say that someone is a "beast" if they are strong, skilled, or dominant in some type of activity.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that they are dominant in a physical activity. We could say someone is a beast at sales or someone is a beast at their job. It doesn’t mean that they are a scary creature; it means that they are really, really good at something.
That is right! It is kind of a funny expression too, so have fun with this one! You could say, let’s say, if your daughter did really well on a test, you could say, "Wow kid, you’re a beast! You got an A—that’s great!"
So it’s kind of a fun thing in English. A "beast" just means an animal normally, and we do learn that you have to be a beast to do this because there are a lot of different difficulties.
The Spartan Beast features a run of 20km, like you read, with around 35 obstacles. But these obstacles include wall climbing, rope climbing, spear throwing, bucket carrying, log carrying, chain carrying, and walking across a balance beam, and so much more!
Okay, first of all, a spear—we learned about that—that is a very Spartan thing to do, definitely. And with all of this carrying going on, it seems like you would have to have some really great upper body strength as well as be able to do these runs.
But we see something else here in this sentence that we might not be familiar with, and that is the idea of a balance beam. What is that, John?
Well, you’ll see this in the Olympics. It is a gymnastics apparatus—something people walk across. It’s a wooden beam raised from the floor, so it’s like a long kind of fence that people walk on. You have to, of course, have good balance not to fall.
Yeah, that’s right! I’m usually talking about balance beams when I’m talking about the Olympics because that’s when I’m watching gymnastics. Some of those gymnasts can really land on those balance beams with a lot of grace.
All right friends, well, we’ll be right back after this next reading.
Spartan races—perhaps the most challenging race is the Spartan Agoge, a 60-hour extreme endurance event with 60 demanding obstacles. Racers travel to severe environments in remote locations like Mongolia and Iceland to race 50km across rugged territory. It’s advertised as the most physically and mentally challenging adventure that will forever change your view of yourself.
接下來看 "severe" 這個形容詞，意思是嚴峻的或嚴重的。例如：
"The storm brought severe weather that caused a lot of damage across the whole area."
這場暴風雨帶來了惡劣的天氣，對整個地區造成了很大的破壞。
或是：
"Sam has a severe allergy to peanuts, so he has to carry medicine with him at all times."
Sam對花生嚴重過敏，所以必須隨時帶著藥物。
或是：
"The teacher used a severe tone when she talked to her students about cheating."
老師對學生們談到作弊問題時，語氣非常嚴厲。
Okay, we read that perhaps the most challenging race is the Spartan Agoge. We learned that the Agoge was historically a training program for young Spartan warriors.
And what is in this race? Well, it’s a 60-hour extreme endurance event with 60 demanding obstacles.
This is ridiculous in my mind! I cannot imagine how anyone could compete for 60 hours. These are like superhumans that are doing this.
Yeah, I wonder if they sleep in between. Maybe they could sleep while they’re walking a balance beam. No, that’s not a good idea!
What’s an endurance event, though?
Well, if something requires endurance or if you have endurance, it means that you’re able to withstand an unpleasant situation without giving up.
I see! So you could also use it as a verb to endure something. You could also describe an adjective with this word. You could say, "Oh, that piece of art was really enduring," like it didn’t just go away as fashions changed. So that’s a word you really should know!
But there’s also this word "demanding," and this is a really fun adjective. "Demanding" means needing much skill or effort, so it’s really challenging, right?
That’s right! So we read a little bit more about this race. Racers travel to severe environments in remote locations like Mongolia and Iceland to race 50km across rugged territories.
So these are like total events—people are traveling to other places in the world to compete in these competitions.
Yeah, we see that word "remote" there. What does that mean?
It means that it’s not in a city or even a town; it’s far away from where humans live—a remote location. You know how there’s that word "remote control" for TV? It’s far away from the TV, but you can still change the TV.
Yeah! You could say, "We rented a remote cabin for our getaway because we wanted to get away from the city."
Okay, but we also see this word "rugged" here. What’s the definition of rugged?
Well, if you remember from your magazine a few weeks ago, "rugged" means having rocky and uneven ground. So this would be a difficult place to race; it’s not easy. It’s grueling!
And it’s advertised as the most physically and mentally challenging adventure that will forever change your view of yourself.
Okay, "advertised" is a word you might know already, right?
Yeah, if something is advertised as something, it means that the people who make it or create it are saying that it has the ability to do something or has a way of producing some type of result.
So the people who are creating these races are saying that this is the most physically and mentally challenging adventure that you can have.
And I think this is a really good point to make, John, because sometimes people think that these types of races are mainly physical challenges.
That’s right!
and that they need to be in really, really super good shape to do them, which is true. But there’s another aspect as well, and that is the mental aspect. That’s right—not giving up, even if you can do something. So I think that’s really important to remember in anything: your mind is probably your biggest battlefield, right? So to be a warrior, you need to have a warrior mindset. And that is true for things like learning English as well, right? You might be physically tired from studying, and there’s a time to rest, but make sure that you are focused and have a warrior mindset when you study things like English. It takes a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to learn English, friends. Let’s learn about that phrase in today’s InfoCloud.
Hello friends, welcome to InfoCloud!
Hi Garrett, you look like you’ve been working hard. What’s going on?
Hey Rex, I’ve been putting a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into a project I’m working on, but it’s almost finished now.
Wow, blood, sweat, and tears? That sounds intense!
Don’t worry, Rex, I wasn’t actually bleeding and crying, but I was sweating for a while.
I know; it’s just an expression, but we should talk about it today. Sure! Blood, sweat, and tears just refers to the hard work, dedication, and intense effort someone puts into achieving something. It emphasizes the challenges and sacrifices involved, so it’s about giving everything you’ve got, even if it’s tough.
Exactly! We often say someone put their blood, sweat, and tears into something. That’s because the phrase reflects the idea that you have to sacrifice something to gain or achieve something important. Sometimes achieving your goals does require you to go through difficult and sometimes painful experiences. Can you give an example of how it’s used?
Sure! Let’s say someone is training for a marathon. They might say, "I put blood, sweat, and tears into preparing for this race."
I guess you could also say, "Building this company took blood, sweat, and tears."
Exactly! It’s a powerful way to emphasize the effort and commitment someone is putting into achieving something.
blood, sweat, and tears 當一個人全心全意地投入到一件事情當中，非常努力，你可以用今天分享的用語“blood, sweat, and tears”來形容。
“Blood, sweat, and tears”就是血汗與眼淚，當一個人費盡心力努力做好一件事情，你可以說“he put in blood, sweat, and tears into this”。
當然，這並不代表他真的流出真的血汗或是眼淚，而是他為了這件事情做出了犧牲，或許是休息的時間，或是承受了極大的壓力。
這就是今天的 InfoCloud，我們下次雲端見！
Spartan Races Regardless of which race you choose, once you cross the finish line, you’re officially a Spartan, joining the ranks of nearly ten million other people. Many participants consider it highly beneficial to participate in an OCR. After completing one, many say they leave in true Spartan fashion with the ability and determination to face and overcome life’s obstacles.
最後來看“regardless”這個副詞，意思是不管、無論如何。例如：
"Regardless of the bad weather, the mailman delivered our packages with a smile."
不管天氣多麼糟糕，這位郵差都面帶微笑地送來包裹。
或是："Marion practiced the piano every day, regardless of how tired she felt."
無論有多累，Marion每天都練習鋼琴。
或是："Determined to win, the athlete trained hard every day, regardless of the pain he felt."
這名運動員下決心要贏得勝利，他每天都不顧疼痛努力訓練。
Wow, well, studying English—I don’t know about sweat and blood, but I have had some tears studying English. Maybe you have too!
All right, friends, well, regardless of which race you choose, once you cross the finish line of these Spartan races, you’re officially a Spartan. That sounds exciting! What does it mean to cross the finish line?
Of course, crossing the finish line means ending a race, right? But you use that kind of abstractly too. Yeah, sometimes we use it to say finishing something or completing some type of goal. For example, you could say, "Next spring, she’ll cross the finish line when she graduates high school."
High school is kind of like a race, right? You have to do high school for four whole years, ninth grade through 12th grade, and finally, when you’re done, you cross the finish line.
That’s right! And you’re officially a high school graduate. But if you want to be a Spartan, this is the way to do it, and you’re joining the ranks of nearly ten million other people.
Joining the ranks—that’s a military term, isn’t it?
It is! What this phrase “to join the ranks” means is to be added to the number of people who have already accomplished something. “Ranks” has the idea of some type of hierarchy, and that just means that there are some people who have done it and maybe some people who haven’t. But in this case, we’re saying someone has completed this; they are part of this group—they are a part of this club—and you can be as well!
Wow, so I guess people have survived it—ten million of them so far. Maybe you’ll be one of the next people to become a Spartan!
We read that many participants consider it highly beneficial to participate in an OCR. After completing one, many say they leave in true Spartan fashion with the ability and determination to face and overcome life’s obstacles.
“in true [blank] fashion” is a phrase that you really should know. It means in a way that is expected or traditional of something, that’s right. We often use this type of wording to talk about specific groups. For example, you could talk about the group of optimists. Here’s an example: "In true optimist fashion, he looked on the bright side of the bad situation."
Most optimists will do this, right? They always look on the bright side of things. That’s why we use this phrase—in optimist fashion. But you could use this with a lot of different groups as well.
That’s right! And that word “fashion” really has some different uses; it’s really dynamic. We learned a lot about fast fashion last month, right? And “fashion” is used as the way people dress, but “fashion” can just be the way something is done. You can say, "He completed the race in a really amazing fashion." You know, he was walking on his hands to cross the finish line or something like that, right? The way he did it was in really amazing fashion.
“Fashion” is a very versatile word, friends!
But we see here, with the ability and determination to face and overcome life’s obstacles, I like the way our writer has used this word “obstacles” at the end of our article because we’ve been talking about physical obstacles that people have to go through this whole article, right? Carrying water, walking on a balance beam—those are physical obstacles. But life’s obstacles are different; they’re not things we can necessarily see.
That’s right! We might not throw a spear at life’s obstacles!
Well, friends, it is time for one last fun fact!
Hello, fact friends! I am Detective Ernest Finder, and I have a fun fact for you today! Did you know that Sparta was not a nice place? It’s true! Even kids were treated badly, and many people were slaves. Uh oh! Well, that’s okay; we don’t live in Sparta anymore. But Sparta also had two kings who made the laws and five other people who watched the kings. They made sure the kings didn’t get in too much trouble, I guess. And that is today’s fun fact!
All right, thank you, Ernest! That guy looks really familiar!
Well, Henry, I’ve got a question for you. Are you interested in competing in a Spartan race?
That’s our fun—
That’s our talk about a question today! Can you explain?
No, absolutely not! I am not interested in participating in a Spartan race. I have enough obstacles in my life as it is without adding in intense physical training!
I totally understand. For me, I would love to compete in a Spartan race, though. But the main obstacle for me is that I have three little children, so taking 60 hours to run across rugged terrain in Mongolia is not an option for me—not to mention the training and the travel time. These things take up a lot of time!
Maybe I could practice carrying my kids!
Well, friends, how do you train for a Spartan race? Would you like to do this? You’ll have to let us know! For now, I’m John.
I’m Ann Marie, and we’ll see you next time right here on Studio Classroom!
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