-
Series 1
- Study English S1 Ep1: Electronic Crime
- Study English S1 Ep2: Vitamin D
- Study English S1 Ep3: Company Growth
- Study English S1 Ep4: Rising Dollar
- Study English S1 Ep5: Global Warming
- Study English S1 Ep6: Greenhouse Gases
- Study English S1 Ep7: Enviro-Loo
- Study English S1 Ep8: Crocodile Tourism
- Study English S1 Ep9: ADHD
- Study English S1 Ep10: Solar House
- Study English S1 Ep11: Events in the past
- Study English S1 Ep12: Carbon Cycle
- Study English S1 Ep13: Under the sea
- Study English S1 Ep14: Junk DNA
- Study English S1 Ep15: Sea Floor
- Study English S1 Ep16: DVT
- Study English S1 Ep17: Water and ageing
- Study English S1 Ep18: Salinity
- Study English S1 Ep19: Weather report
- Study English S1 Ep20: Torres Strait
- Study English S1 Ep21: Watching Birds
- Study English S1 Ep22: Finance Report
- Study English S1 Ep23: Octopuses
- Study English S1 Ep24: Perfect Siesta
- Study English S1 Ep25: Copyright
- Study English S1 Ep26: Classification
Study English S1 Ep20: Torres Strait
In this episode we will talk about places, locations and directions.
Transcript
Hello. I’m Margot Politis and this is Study English, IELTS preparation.
Today on Study English, it’s geography. How do we talk about places, locations and directions?
Listen to this clip about the history and geography of the Torres Strait.
JOHNNY HARDING: The Torres Strait is situated above Queensland, between the Arafura Sea and the Coral Sea, Cape York Peninsula and Papua New Guinea. Darnley Island, also known as Erub, is the largest volcanic island in the eastern Torres Strait, with a population of around 375. It is surrounded by some of the deepest water in the world, known as the Darnley Deep.
Though we are a seafaring people, 75% of Torres Strait Islanders today are living on the mainland. This is because we were displaced from our island homes since colonisation.
Life for Torres Strait Islanders has been an endurance test ever since colonisation. During the Second World War, hundreds of Torres Strait Islander men were shipped off from their homes to fight for their country, of which they were still not citizens. Uncle Bill Sailor who has gone back to live on his land of Erub and remembers, all too well, the war.
约翰尼·哈丁(JOHNNY HARDING):托雷斯海峡位于昆士兰州上空,介于阿拉法拉海和珊瑚海,约克角半岛和巴布亚新几内亚之间。 达恩利岛(Darnley Island)又名埃鲁布(Erub),是托雷斯海峡东部最大的火山岛,人口约375人。它被世界上一些最深的水所环绕,被称为达恩利深水区。
尽管我们是一个航海者,但如今,托雷斯海峡岛民中有75%居住在大陆上。 这是因为自殖民以来,我们从岛上的家中流离失所。
自殖民以来,托雷斯海峡岛民的生活一直是一项耐力测试。 第二次世界大战期间,数百名托雷斯海峡岛民被赶出家乡为自己的国家而战,他们仍然不是公民。 比尔·塞勒(Bill Sailor)叔叔回到了埃鲁布(Erub)的土地上生活,并且还记得战争。
So that was Johnny Harding talking about his home, the ‘Torres Strait Islands’.
When we want to talk about a place, or where something is in relation to other places, we need to use function words called prepositions.
Some common prepositions include ‘in’, ‘on’, ‘near’ or ‘between’.
Prepositions can also be made up of two or even three words, for example, ‘next to’, ‘surrounded by’, or ‘in front of’.
These are called prepositions of place.
Listen for the prepositions of place in this clip.
The Torres Strait is situated above Queensland, between the Arafura Sea and the Coral Sea, Cape York Peninsula and Papua New Guinea.
Now, let’s go back over the clip and see if we can figure out where the Torres Strait is.
Johnny says that ‘the Torres Strait is situated above Queensland’.
Here’s Queensland.
The islands are situated ‘above’ Queensland, and ‘between’ the Arafura Sea and the Coral Sea, Cape York Peninsula and Papua New Guinea.
So the Torres Strait Islands can be found here:
The Torres Strait is situated above Queensland, between the Arafura Sea and the Coral Sea, Cape York Peninsula and Papua New Guinea.
Learning how to use prepositions correctly can be difficult, because most of them have more than one function.
There are not many rules to help you choose correctly, so you need to learn each expression separately.
Look at the use of the prepositions in the following:
Meet me ‘at’ the front door ‘of’ the department store ‘in’ George Street ‘on’ the corner.
In English we say:
‘at a location’,
‘in the street’
but ‘on the corner’.
The general rule is that we use ‘in’ to talk about large areas, for example:
I live ‘in’ an apartment block, ‘in’ Sydney, ‘in’ Australia.
Use ‘at’ for particular locations:
I live ‘at’ number 2 West Street.
Use ‘on’ to say things like:
My house is ‘on’ the corner’
or
‘ I live ‘on’ the second floor’
And here’s a quick exercise on prepositions. Try describing the position of things in the picture.
Choose from ‘in’, ‘on’, ‘near’, ‘between’, ‘above’, ‘next to’, ‘in front of’.
The chair is __________ the table.
The chair is ‘in front of’ the table.
The orange is ___ the bowl.
The orange is ‘in’ the bowl.
The cup is ________ the vase and the book.
The cup is ‘between’ the vase and the ‘book’.
And why don’t you try more of these exercises at home?
Listen for some more prepositions.
Darnley Island, also known as Erub, is the largest volcanic island in the eastern Torres Strait, with a population of around 375.
It is surrounded by some of the deepest water in the world, known as the Darnley Deep.
Though we are a seafaring people, 75% of Torres Strait Islanders today are living on the mainland. This is because we were displaced from our island homes since colonisation.
OK, so we can use spoken and written descriptions to talk about a number of different subject areas.
In social settings we can describe ‘people’, ‘family’ or ‘relationships’.
In physical settings, we can describe ‘geography’, ‘landscapes’ and other places.
But whatever you’re describing, it’s important to organise and structure your language. You need to carefully plan what you’re going to say and the order you want to say it in.
If you’re describing a country, it’s helpful to list the features you want to concentrate on.
They might include the ‘location’ and ‘size’ of the country, the ‘physical features’, the ‘climate’ and even the ‘population’ and ‘language’ of the people.
Listen to all the information in the clip about Torres Strait.
Can you hear what type of information the speaker is giving us?
The Torres Strait is situated above Queensland between the Arafura Sea and the Coral Sea, Cape York Peninsula and Papua New Guinea. Darnley Island, also known as Erub, is the largest volcanic island in the eastern Torres Strait, with a population of around 375.
It is surrounded by some of the deepest water in the world, known as the Darnley Deep. Though we are a seafaring people, 75% of Torres Strait Islanders today are living on the mainland.
We heard information about the ‘location’ and ‘physical features’ of the islands as well as about the ‘population’.
He could have included information about the ‘economy’, ‘customs’, ‘festivals’ or ‘food’.
There are many choices.
If you’re writing about a place, the first step is to decide which features you want to describe. The next step is to organise the description.
When writing about a place, punctuation is another important tool to help organise your writing and give it meaning.
The rules for punctuation are different in all languages, and knowing which letters to capitalise is a key part of punctuation.
The rules about which words to capitalise need to be learnt.
Let’s review some of these rules, then we’ll go back to the clip and look at how some of these rules apply.
We always capitalise:
‘the first word in a sentence’;
‘the pronoun I’;
‘specific places on a map’, for example, the Torres Strait, or Australia;
‘names of people or nationalities’, like Torres Strait Islanders, or Australians;
‘periods of time, like the Second World War;
and the ‘names of people’, including their title, for example Uncle Bill Sailor.
‘Compass points’ are not capitalised, unless they form part of a formal name for an area.
So the ‘eastern Torres Strait’ doesn’t need a capital on the compass point, but ‘Southeast Asia’ does.
Let’s take another look at the clip, focussing on the use of capitals.
JOHNNY HARDING: The Torres Strait is situated above Queensland between the Arafura Sea and the Coral Sea, Cape York Peninsula and Papua New Guinea. Darnley Island, also known as Erub, is the largest volcanic island in the eastern Torres Strait, with a population of around 375.
Life for Torres Strait Islanders has been an endurance test ever since colonisation. During the Second World War, hundreds of Torres Strait Islander men were shipped off from their homes to fight for their country, of which they were still not citizens. Uncle Bill Sailor has gone back to live on his land of Erub and remembers, all too well, the war.
Remember, if you’re not sure which words to capitalise, check the dictionary.
And that’s all for today.
Don’t forget to practice organising and structuring your written language, and always edit your writing to make sure all your capitals and other punctuation are right.
I look forward to seeing you next time on Study English, bye bye.
Study English S1 Ep20: Torres Strait Study Notes
Study English S1 Ep20: Torres Strait Activity Sheet
For daily English language lessons and tips, like our Learn English Facebook page, follow us on Twitter, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.
Thumbnail credit – Flickr CC: Feral Arts