2015年经济学人 疯狂汽车秀 高辛烷值的滑稽

Top Gear

High-octane antics

Motormouth Jeremy Clarkson is suspended from the BBC's hit show

WHEN Jeremy Clarkson suggests switching off the VSC on a Toyota GT86 sports car to do better doughnuts around the “Top Gear” test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey,

his audience is more than likely to know what he is talking about.

That audience is huge: “Top Gear” is the world's most widely watched factual television programme, with more than 350m viewers in 214 countries.

That presents BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, with a problem, because on March 10th the broadcaster suspended Mr Clarkson for being involved in what it called a “fracas” with one of the show's producers.

The next episode will not be broadcast and another two may be dropped.

Mr Clarkson's satnav seems to steer¹ him towards controversy². In May last year he said he had been given a final warning by the BBC after it was claimed that he had said “nigger” while reciting a rhyme during the filming of an earlier series.

In October 2014 the Top Gear crew had to flee from Argentina after being attacked by angry crowds during a road trip because the registration³ of a Porsche they were using appeared to refer to the date of the Falklands war.

The BBC says it is investigating the latest incident, which, according to some reports, involved Mr Clarkson throwing a punch in a row over a lack of food on an assignment.

“Top Gear” earns a good deal of money for BBC Worldwide and for its star.

The commercial rights to the series used to be controlled by a company called Bedder 6, a joint⁴ venture with BBC Worldwide,

and 30% owned by Mr Clarkson and 20% by Andy Wilman, an executive producer. The dividends⁵ from that company alone made Mr Clarkson a multimillionaire.

In 2012 the pair sold their shares to BBC Worldwide. Mr Clarkson is said to have received ￡8.4m ($12.6m) for his stake.

Mr Clarkson and the show's co-presenters, James May and Richard Hammond, are believed to have been negotiating new contracts with the BBC.

The politically correct and those who have found themselves the butt⁷ of Mr Clarkson's jokes—greens, truck drivers and Mexicans are among those on a long list—

would be happy to see him go. Some think Danny Cohen, the BBC's director of television, shares their feelings:

he hinted last year that he did not see the presenter⁶ as “untouchable”.

The BBC has a strong incentive⁸ to overlook Mr Clarkson's transgressions⁹. But it is a bureaucratic¹⁰ machine that must try to please everybody,

because everybody pays for it. So it could be that commercial rivals such as ITV and Sky will be taking out their chequebooks to sign Mr Clarkson to present a rival series.

They would not be able to use the “Top Gear” brand, but whatever the contracts say it is Mr Clarkson who is the real franchise¹¹ of this show.

An online petition in support of the presenter collected nearly 500,000 signatures in barely 24 hours.

Mr Clarkson might be seen as an overbearing joker, but that is precisely¹² what his fans like.

And, petrolheads all, they know he is not afraid to call a new car rubbish if he thinks it is.

1 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

2 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

3 registration   

n.登记，注册，挂号

参考例句：

• Marriage without registration is not recognized by law.法律不承认未登记的婚姻。
• What's your registration number?你挂的是几号？

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

5 dividends   

红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金

参考例句：

• Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
• Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。

6 presenter   

n.（电视、广播的）主持人，赠与者

参考例句：

• Most people think being a television presenter is exciting.很多人认为当电视节目主持人是一件刺激的事情。
• The programme dispensed with its most popular presenter.这个节目最受欢迎的主持人被换掉了。

7 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。

8 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

9 transgressions   

n.违反，违法，罪过( transgression的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Many marine transgressions occur across coastal plains. 许多海运是横越滨海平原。 来自辞典例句
• For I know my transgressions, and my sin always before me. 因为我知道我的过犯，我的罪常在我面前。 来自互联网

10 bureaucratic   

adj.官僚的，繁文缛节的

参考例句：

• The sweat of labour washed away his bureaucratic airs.劳动的汗水冲掉了他身上的官气。
• In this company you have to go through complex bureaucratic procedures just to get a new pencil.在这个公司里即使是领一支新铅笔，也必须通过繁琐的手续。

11 franchise   

n.特许，特权，专营权，特许权

参考例句：

• Catering in the schools is run on a franchise basis.学校餐饮服务以特许权经营。
• The United States granted the franchise to women in 1920.美国于1920年给妇女以参政权。

12 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。